Q&A: What is the Unpardonable Sin?

Question: What is the “Unpardonable Sin” and how can I know if I have committed this sin?

The answer to this question it straightforward. All people have sinned and will therefore be judged by God their Creator. However, Jesus the physical incarnation of the Word of God, self-sacrificed Himself on behalf of the sins committed by His creation mankind. Now all people can freely accept or refuse a judgement pardon. Jesus is called a "person’s Savior" because He can save a person from judgement, death and eternal separation from God. All they need to do is repent their sins, acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour, be indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and they are saved. It is a free offer that cost God the life of His only begotten Son.

However, while this is a free choice, it is none the less a choice. Therefore, if a person willingly and knowingly refuses their pardon, then they will not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as their defense. They have denied the sacrifice made by Jesus, and denied the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. So, the unpardonable sin, is a knowing refusal by a person to receive a free sin pardon. To put this another way, this sin of rejecting a pardon is then an unpardonable sin as a person has refused their pardon. They have no defense in Christ so must now plead guilty to committing innumerable sins against God during their lifetime. They have in essence, judged themselves.

To fully understand what Jesus meant by His statement, we need to understand what He said, who He said it to, and why. Jesus said, "Therefore, I say to you, All manner of sin and blaspheme will be forgiven unto men: but the blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven unto men. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man (Jesus), it will be forgiven him: but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matthew 12:31-32) "Oh generation of vipers, how can you being evil, (possibly) speak good things? … A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: an evil man … brings forth evil things....and by your words you will be condemned"(Matthew 12:34-37).

Jesus made this statement after He performed miracles including the casting out of demons in front of various religious leaders (Matthew 12:22-24, 28). They eye witnessed the miracles and even publicly admitted they were in fact miracles, yet still adamantly refused to accept Jesus as Messiah. The only way they could think to refute the power of Jesus as being from God, was to ascribe His power as being derived from Satan (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22). And it was still not this blaspheme against Jesus that was unforgivable (Matthew 12:32). It was their adamant refusal to accept an obvious truth that the Spirit of God was clearly at work. Their hearts were so hardened with hate that they deliberately and publicly slandered the works and character of God Almighty by attributing the miracles to Satan. So, they will never be forgiven because they will never repent and ask to be forgiven. Because they saw themselves as righteous under the Law, there was no need to ask God for forgiveness as they had already earned that.

Today we can grieve the Holy Spirit, but this is not the same as Jesus' warning to the religious leaders of His day (Ephesians 4:30). Today, the only thing a believer or non believer should worry about is to be presented with the truth of Jesus as Saviour, consider the idea and then reject it. Thus maintaining a heart that can become so recalcitrant, and at such odds with God's Spirit, that it has become incapable of repentance. A person, much like the religious leaders, who willfully espouses a persistent and flagrant rejection of what God had obviously revealed. In other words, it is not that forgiveness is not granted, but that it is not sought.

Scripture is clear that one of the great works of the Holy Spirt is to convict and expose a person's sins as a way that hopefully leads them to accept the salvation work of Christ (John 16:8). So, as long as a person rejects the Spirit, they can never find forgiveness for their sins. Someone who hardens their heart against the ministry of the Holy Spirit, refuses to repent of their sins and turn to Christ in faith, has committed the sin that can never be forgiven.

That said, all people from Adam until the time of Jesus' ministry were never given the choice to accept Him as Messiah. However they, "...believed {in} the Lord; and He {God} counted it to him {them} as righteousness."(Genesis 15:6; James 2:23) There are currently billions of good, honest, hard working, God fearing people living in isolated Muslim, Hindu and atheist societies that have never even heard of Christ. So, what happens to their spirits at death? First, Scripture tells us that all people are born with a genetic cognitive instinct or knowledge that there is a Creator God (Romans 1:19). Further, Scripture tells us that every person will know the name of Jesus, bow to Him as their Creator, and confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). And last but not least, Jesus assures us that all people will know Him as no one can come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). So it is clear that everyone who has ever lived will have the opportunity to know and accept, or reject Christ. Jesus preached the Good News of who He was to the righteous spirts in Sheol. He later led them up and out of Sheol the evening of Resurrection Sunday (Matthew 27:52-54; Ephesians 4:7-10).

As to how one can know if they have committed the unpardonable sin, the answer is also straightforward. If you are worried that you have committed this sin, that proves you have not committed this sin.

As previously stated, Jesus said, “…I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life; No one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) This means that Jesus is the final judge as to who receives eternal life in the presence of God and who does not. So, the only guaranteed way to eternal life is repenting of your sins, declaring faith in Christ, and receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit plus nothing else.

In closing, there is no other religion in the world that has a founder like Jesus. He was immaculately conceived, lived a life without sin, performed hundreds of verified miracles, self sacrificed Himself on behalf of His followers, resurrected Himself from the dead, publicly ascended into Heaven, is seated to the right of God the Father, and is waiting to return and rule the earth. All other religions have founders who have died and have turned to dust. They left behind only books full of rules, regulations and customs that they themselves admitted in no way ‘guarantee’ a persons' salvation or eternal life.

If you have not made the guaranteed choice, please consider doing so today!