Is There an Unforgiveagle Sin?
Part 1 of the "Questions" message series
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:23-26 (NASB)
The BIG Idea:
How do we know if we have committed the unforgivable sin? Will we spend eternity in hell if we make that one mistake? God is faithful and just to forgive every sin and blasphemy we commit when we humbly repent and confess our sins to God.
We ALL have wronged others and sinned against God. We ALL need forgiveness.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.– Ephesians 1:7-8 (NASB)
While we may believe that absolute forgiveness exists theoretically, perhaps we struggle to believe that for ourselves practically.
Who are we to determine what sins are forgivable and what sins are not? We do not have that power. Only God possesses that power!
Jesus speaks of a sin that will not be forgiven.
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see. 23 And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. – Matthew 12:22-32 (NASB)
28 “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit;29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”-- 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” – Mark 3:28-30 (NASB)
When we stand before God in judgement, we will NOT be judged primarily by the sin we committed, but by the Light we rejected.
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. – John 3:20 (NASB)
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. – II Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NASB)
The opposite of truth is not error. The opposite of truth is sin. They wanted their sin!
We cannot have our sin and have God’s Truth at the same time.
To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to attribute the miraculous works of Jesus to the work of Satan instead, in an attempt to turn people away from glorifying God.
ILLUSTRATION: The one who says that the Church only cares about money or image.
Blasphemy is something that is knowledgeable. (People don’t do it in ignorance.)
Blasphemy is purposeful. (It is not accidental or haphazard.)
Blasphemy is vocal. (It doesn’t just pop into our heads.)
Blasphemy is the rejection of Jesus and His work by “Satanizing” the work of the Holy Spirit.
A hardness of heart will never be softened with zero repentance.
“If you are worried about the possibility of committing this unforgiveable sin, then it is likely that your heart has not hardened to a point that you choose not to repent and receive the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.” (Mathis, “What is the Unforgiveable Sin?”)
God will never be able to fill anyone who is full of themselves.
37 Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. – John 6:37-39 (NASB)
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – I John 1:9 (NASB)
Questions for Reflection
Have you ever been afraid to ask a question at school, work, or Church that you really wanted to know the answer to in that moment? What prevented you from asking that question?
Did someone else eventually ask that same question you wanted to know the answer to? If not, were there any consequences of not asking that question?
Have you ever accidently hurt someone because of careless words or action?
Have you ever deliberately chosen to do something that you know would deeply hurt someone you love?
How did the person react to what you did? How did you feel when you realized that something you did or said had negatively impacted that person?
Before today, what sin, or sins, would you have described as “unforgivable?” Why did you feel like God would not forgive that sin?
Has your opinion of what God chooses to forgive now changed? If so, how has it changed?
How would you explain what the unforgiveable sin is to someone who is worried about committing it; or to someone who is worried that they have already committed it? What could you do or say to encourage them that forgiveness is available to all who are willing to repent of their sin?
The BIG Idea:
How do we know if we have committed the unforgivable sin? Will we spend eternity in hell if we make that one mistake? God is faithful and just to forgive every sin and blasphemy we commit when we humbly repent and confess our sins to God.
We ALL have wronged others and sinned against God. We ALL need forgiveness.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.– Ephesians 1:7-8 (NASB)
While we may believe that absolute forgiveness exists theoretically, perhaps we struggle to believe that for ourselves practically.
Who are we to determine what sins are forgivable and what sins are not? We do not have that power. Only God possesses that power!
Jesus speaks of a sin that will not be forgiven.
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see. 23 And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. – Matthew 12:22-32 (NASB)
28 “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit;29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”-- 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” – Mark 3:28-30 (NASB)
When we stand before God in judgement, we will NOT be judged primarily by the sin we committed, but by the Light we rejected.
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. – John 3:20 (NASB)
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. – II Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NASB)
The opposite of truth is not error. The opposite of truth is sin. They wanted their sin!
We cannot have our sin and have God’s Truth at the same time.
To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to attribute the miraculous works of Jesus to the work of Satan instead, in an attempt to turn people away from glorifying God.
ILLUSTRATION: The one who says that the Church only cares about money or image.
Blasphemy is something that is knowledgeable. (People don’t do it in ignorance.)
Blasphemy is purposeful. (It is not accidental or haphazard.)
Blasphemy is vocal. (It doesn’t just pop into our heads.)
Blasphemy is the rejection of Jesus and His work by “Satanizing” the work of the Holy Spirit.
A hardness of heart will never be softened with zero repentance.
“If you are worried about the possibility of committing this unforgiveable sin, then it is likely that your heart has not hardened to a point that you choose not to repent and receive the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.” (Mathis, “What is the Unforgiveable Sin?”)
God will never be able to fill anyone who is full of themselves.
37 Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. – John 6:37-39 (NASB)
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – I John 1:9 (NASB)
Questions for Reflection
Have you ever been afraid to ask a question at school, work, or Church that you really wanted to know the answer to in that moment? What prevented you from asking that question?
Did someone else eventually ask that same question you wanted to know the answer to? If not, were there any consequences of not asking that question?
Have you ever accidently hurt someone because of careless words or action?
Have you ever deliberately chosen to do something that you know would deeply hurt someone you love?
How did the person react to what you did? How did you feel when you realized that something you did or said had negatively impacted that person?
Before today, what sin, or sins, would you have described as “unforgivable?” Why did you feel like God would not forgive that sin?
Has your opinion of what God chooses to forgive now changed? If so, how has it changed?
How would you explain what the unforgiveable sin is to someone who is worried about committing it; or to someone who is worried that they have already committed it? What could you do or say to encourage them that forgiveness is available to all who are willing to repent of their sin?