5×5×5 Bible Plan
Read: Mark 3
Meditation: Mark 3:28-29
“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”
Shift Your Focus… Jesus revealed unlimited forgiveness through his death by which God’s great grace covers all our sin. All our sin, with the exception of one: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—the unforgivable sin as it has been called.
These three words—the unforgivable sin—have caused untold anguish for many who have misunderstood their meaning and thought they had committed this grievous sin of sins. Maybe they had become angry in a time of bitter disappointment or loss and let their rage fly, cursing God. Perhaps they fell into a sin they had vowed to God never to commit again. Maybe they had toyed with something Satanic, or mocked the work of the Spirit in a church service only then to be hit with the terrifying thought that they had insulted and blasphemed the Holy Spirit and so, based on this passage, were hopelessly and eternally damned.
But one of the chief problems with this passage is that it is always the wrong people who obsess over it. It’s usually either those who have a high degree of moral sensitivity and care deeply about their relationship with God, or it’s those who suffer the religious symptoms of a psychological illness.
The context of this confrontational encounter gives us a better understanding. Jesus has been performing many outstanding miracles (Mark 3:10-11, see also Matthew 12:22-30 and Luke 11:14-28), plainly evident for all to see. Most of the people were astounded by Jesus’ power over disease, demons and death, but out of sheer jealous and condescending elitism, the religious leaders scorned Jesus’ ministry as the work of the devil.
So Jesus’ declaration of this unforgivable sin here is clearly a response to the sin of these few. It is not the sin of blurting out some momentary blasphemy against the Spirit of God. It’s the much more sinister offense of looking into the very face of Truth and calling it a lie. The teachers of the law were seeing the undeniable healing imprint of God’s Spirit and still deliberately calling it a work of evil.
We need to understand that these leaders were not simply ignorant or perhaps confused in this matter; they knew exactly what they were doing. It is worth noting that verse 30 doesn’t translate very well from the Greek text in most English versions. An imperfect tense is used which suggests that theirs was a chronic attitude. In other words, they were continually declaring that Jesus had an evil spirit. This was not simply a spur-of-the-moment declaration, but an ongoing fixation.
Why couldn’t they be forgiven? Not because God’s grace was withheld from them, but because with each denial, they became increasingly incapable of responding to the Spirit of Grace.
Now here is the real danger in this—and the message for us who read this sobering text: When we deliberately choose a lie when confronted with God’s Truth, it is not that God then withholds his Truth—or his love and redemption for that matter—but that with each such deliberate choice, we become less able to respond to these graces.
Bottom line: There is such a thing as an unforgivable sin. It is the steadfast refusal to be forgiven! The only sin that cannot be forgiven is un-repentance. However, when we bring to him a soft and sorrowful heart, we find as King David did, that “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
“God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.” ~Augustine
Hello, I’ve been struggling with this fear for about a year now. I’ve hand memories come into my head and a OCD like attack of tormenting blasphemy, accusing or convicting me. Can you please pray for me.
A year ago I came to Christ , well I accepted the truth. The attacks or convictions go like this. There are 3 memories of things I said. I’m not even sure I said them but that’s what my mind is saying.
First one is I’m watching tv and someone was talking in tongues and I said that person was possessed.
Second one is I’m driving down the road and it was around Halloween and these kids were dressed as devils at a church, I said there devil worshipers .
The third one is. That I called god a evil spirit. I tried to remember why I’d say such a thing and I don’t even know why, I didn’t know who god was and after knowing him I couldn’t say them things, I think I was saying them things cause of how evil this world is. But it’s not him it’s the ruler of this age who is bad.
Now I don’t believe these things. And like I said I don’t even remember if I said these things. I never liked religion or knew much about God or Jesus. But one day I started looking for the truth about life and came to the bible after looking at many other religions and science theory’s. anyone willing to talk to me? I’ve prayed a lot over this and tried to explain myself to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
Any help would be awesome. Prayers would be nice also, I’ve confessed and repented with tears and fear like no other to these things even though I don’t remember if I did them or not. Should I have done that? Please help.
With Love
Charles
Charles~ I would suggest you memorize, meditate on and pray the promise of I John 1:9 back to our gracious, forgiving God until it becomes a part of your spirit. Your thoughts and feelings aren't truth; the guilt and remorse the Enemy whispers in your ear is not truth. God's Word is truth. Lean into it.