SUMMARY Today we tackle the very heavy subject of the unforgivable sin. There are so many assumptions and misinterpretation form this section of Scripture. As we take a deeper and wider look at this passage we see why this sin is so offensive to Jesus- and even more so to the Holy Spirit. MATTHEW 12:30-32 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. We are continuing with our slow walk through the book of Matthew o For those of you who are new this is what we do o We study the Bible verse by verse Today we re covering unpardonable sin (or unforgivable sin ) o Which is The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Blasphemy (in a biblical context)= speaking evil against God, saying things about God that are not true about Him, speaking of God in a derogatory / evil manner It is a defiant irreverence. o This subject = much fear / insecurity / confusion - for Christians Lots of questions What is the specific sin? Have I committed it? Does that mean God s grace / forgiveness is limited? We ll try to provide some clarity with this subject.
o Today is going to sound like a theology class Lots of mental gymnastics But we have to take the time to really understand the text In the end we ll work to connect it to the real world / life. But here s my goals for today: That you would go into further study of this subject o (we can t exhaust this subject in 30 minutes) That you would leave today o hating sin, o moving towards repentance, o and being fully convinced of you security in Christ But I will say this at the start: IF YOU ARE CONCERNED WEATHER YOU HAVE EVER COMMITTED THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN THEN YOU HAVE NOT (x2) IOW if you are worried / anxious / afraid that maybe you ve done it because of your fear of God or because you desire to be right with Him then rest assured you have not sinned this way. o The very fact that you are concerned is the evidence that tells me you have not sinned this way. o Before we get to the details let s zoom out How did we get here? What prompted Jesus to mention this?
Since the beginning of chapter 12 Jesus been dealing w/ Pharisees o V.1-2 disciples accused by Pharisees of violating the Sabbath Jesus gave them a lesson in the OT o V. 9-10 Pharisees asked Him is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Jesus heals a man with a withered hand Jesus made them see their own hypocrisy o V. 22-24 (last week) Jesus heals a demon-oppressed man Crowd asked Can this be the Son of David? (messiah) The Pharisees: It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons that this man casts out demons. Jesus explains how absurd / illogical that is And that is what prompts Jesus to tell them about unpardonable sin. o Jesus says: (v.32) but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Keep that idea close let s zoom out a little more Since this is about the Holy Spirit o Two ideas we must see about H.S. (3 rd Person of the Trinity) 1. The work of the H.S. in the life of Jesus 2. The work of the H.S. in the life of a Believer specifically as it relates to Salvation 1. The work of the H.S. in the life of Jesus
Jesus was empowered by the H.S. o All over the N.T. you see this truth Mark 1:10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, o Also in Luke 4 - Jesus reads the Isaiah scroll: The Spirit of God is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He was drenched by / filled by / empowered by the H.S. In essence: Jesus work on earth, was the Spirit s work. The Spirit testified of Jesus in the hearts of people o John 15:26 But when the Helper (H.S.) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. IOW The H.S. will testify about me, to convince you of me 2. The H.S. s work in a Believer in relation to Salvation. To be spiritually alive. the ability to believe is the Spirit s work o Ezekiel 37:14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'" The gift of faith.the ability to call God- Father from the Spirit
o Galatians 4:6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." It s the H.S. who convicts / changes / sanctifies / matures our heart o 1 Peter 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. So here s the roles of the Trinity in Salvation o God the Father initiates / administers Salvation Put the plan together He sent Jesus to die for sins He sends the Holy Spirit to complete the work o God The Son (Jesus) is the atonement / the sacrifice / the payment He died for sins Forgiveness is through Him He absorbs God s wrath We are justified through faith in HIM o God The Holy Spirit - moves in the hearts of people changes / convicts hearts introduces people Christ Sanctifies us makes us like Christ You have to keep this in mind because the sin we are talking about.is against the Holy Spirit o It s against His work / role in salvation.
30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Once again Jesus declares: there is no neutral ground If you are not gathering, you are scattering o That s the great blunder of agnosticism I don t have enough information so I m undecided. But that s not an option according to Jesus It s either you re in or you are out Either: you are following HIM or you war waging war There is no middle ground o That s why Jesus is so offensive. (v.31-32 together) 31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. also in Luke 12:10 / Mark 3:29 Right off the bat we notice 3 things: 1. This is against the Holy Spirit - (Not against Jesus / the Father) 2. All other sins (including sin against Jesus) can be forgiven 3. It has eternal consequence (forever) either in this age or in the age to come. Before we learn what IT MEANS Let s see what it DOESN T MEAN
o There s so many assumptions about the unpardonable sin Throughout church history they assumed what it is Incest Suicide Murder Idolatry You name it (they ve said it) o but Jesus didn t mention any of those He only said Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit What s the general definition of blasphemy? o Merriam-Webster defines Blaspheme as the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God o Paul was a blasphemer (by his own admission) but was forgiven. 1 Timothy 1:13 (Paul talking) Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. Paul persecuted Jesus Hunted / Killed Christians He was a blasphemer (by his own admission) o He hated Jesus o Wanted to expose Jesus as a fraud He said of himself I was the chief of sinners (1Tim 1:15) But God forgave him.and even used him mightily So what does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit?
As we try to understand what IT MEANS let s remember the context o Matthew 12:22-24 Jesus heals a demon-possessed man people started to wonder if Jesus was the messiah Pharisees (with the same info/exposure as the crowd) responded, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. o blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has to do with their response to Jesus words and actions. Which in reality was actually the Spirit s work Remember the H.S. s work was: o to empower Jesus (in earthly ministry) o to work at the hearts of people convict / change o to testify of Jesus in the hearts of people IOW the H.S. role was to help people see that Jesus was really the messiah. Let me read to you what a couple smart people have written: o Louis Berkhof (professor / author / theologian): talking about the unpardonable sin he says: The sin itself consists, not in doubting the truth, nor in the simple denial of it, but in a contradiction of it that goes contrary to the conviction of the mind, to the illumination of the conscience, and even the verdict of the heart. In committing that sin, man willfully, maliciously, and intentionally attributes what is clearly recognized as the work of God to the influence and operation of Satan. (He goes on to say) It is not so much as sin against the person of the Holy Spirit, as a sin against His official work in revealing, both objectively and subjectively, the grace and glory of God in Christ. o Herman Bavinck (seminary professor) says: this unforgivable sin is a sin against the gospel in its clearest revelation. A sin that consists, not in doubting, or simply denying the truth. But in a denial that goes against the conviction of the intellect, against the
enlightenment of conscious, against the dictates of the heart in conscious, willful, and intentional imputation to the influence and working of Satan of that which is clearly recognized as God s work. o John Calvin But no man curses the Spirit who is not enlightened by him, and conscious of ungodly rebellion against him; IOW: The Pharisees didn t simply reject the countless evidence but because of their hate/hostility for Jesus they rejected the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and they even credit the Holy Spirit s empowering of Jesus to the Satan s power. Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. It was one thing to say o Jesus was a sham o I don t like Jesus o believing in him is foolishness o there s not enough evidence Jesus says that can be forgiven o But to see the overabundance of miracles and to hear the convincing words to observe undeniable power and then say that which empowers you is the devil.is a violation of reason, conviction, and understanding And is therefore unforgivable. Remember what Paul said I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. He really didn t understand which meant his unbelief was based on ignorance.
Remember even those who killed Jesus Jesus himself said forgive them, for they know not what they do the Pharisees position was not an ignorant one. o Just the opposite they had everything they needed to see it rightly in fact the fact that the crowd concluded that Jesus was the messiah was a testimony against them they all saw / heard the same thing. there was nothing more to show nothing more to explain they were not ignorant they were not missing anything they weren t simply NOT believing That s the context // zoomed-in / Let s zoom out again Let s ask the question you ve been wanting to ask: o Have I committed this unforgivable sin? o If you are asking because you are concerned / worried then the answer is NO. o Here s the reason: at the core of this sin is an unrepentant, unapologetic, hard denial against Jesus which is against the HS Because convincing the world about Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. the greatest evidence that you have not committed this sin is the fact that you are worried that you committed this sin.
Because it means you don t want to commit this sin. The fact that you don t want to commit this sin but rather you want to be right with God is a work of the H.S. o So be at peace with that. The danger is when you don t care weather or not you ve committed this sin or not. o Cause that means the H.S. s work is being ignored (or worse) it is being blasphemed. CLOSING // (3) Take-Aways #1. SIN IS SERIOUS God hates sin o In fact God hated sin so much He crushed His own son We must hate it too o We can t.play around with it o We can t.let it grow / fester o We cant.ignore it / nurse it o We can t.keep it in the basement and feed it little chicken macnasties o We have to cut it out / eradicate it o There is some very harsh language in the Bible about sin o Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Sin should make us squirm / uncomfortable We actually misunderstand grace if our sin doesn t makes us feel sorrowful o 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. o Our sin should weigh heavy on us o It should make us uncomfortable o And it should move us to repent (which brings us to our next point) #2. REPENTANCE MUST BE A PART OF OUR LIVES To repent = Not just to be sorry o to change positions / change direction. o to actively walk away from our current sin Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, Here s a note: o if you have never followed Jesus.if you have rebelled against Him or simply ignored HIM Repent and follow Him from now on o if you were once following Jesus with zeal / energy / passion but now you feel far from Jesus (because of your sin) do the same thing: Repent and follow Him from now on Paul Washer said the greatest evidence that we are Christians, is not that we once repented, but that we continually repent even today. (x2)
#3. THERE S ASSURANCE FOR YOUR SALVATION We ve covered a lot of thoughts today that could possibly make you insecure or worried about your salvation. o As I said in the beginning those who hear messages like this, and as a result would want to fall in line to ask if they ve committed this sin are not the ones who should ask it. Your concerns shows the H.S. is at work in you. In fact, I ll go a step further: just in case you feel that maybe I don t ever want to slip up and do the sin I m convinced that genuine believers cannot do this. God s work is to keep you safe in Him In the end you are in Christ because of God Himself more of an assurance o John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. o 1 Peter 1:3-5 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. o Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Which means if you are in Christ, nothing can reverse that.
That s a work of God in you you can rejoice and be secure in that.