There's a sin that God won't forgive?

One of the most basic fact of Christianity is that Jesus died on the Cross to pay our penalty for sins. His sacrifice covers the sins you’ve committed and the ones you haven’t yet, and there’s nothing He can’t forgive. But someone brought up the topic a while back about an “unforgivable” sin.

This is a common question among Christians today.

The idea of God not forgiving a particular sin felt counterintuitive to me. After all, He sent Jesus to die in our place to FORGIVE sins. I’m finding out that I may not be the only one who’s been confused by this topic. Let me say it up front so I can take away some stress you might feel because of the topic: if Jesus is your Savior and paid for your sins on the Cross, you CANNOT commit the “unpardonable sin.” Let me explain.

Let’s talk about some Biblical context. The unpardonable sin is mentioned in Mark 3:28-30 and Matthew 12:31-32. The Billy Graham website says Jesus had been performing miracles in public that happened to be witnessed by the Pharisees.

He was driving demons out of people through the Holy Spirit’s power. But, instead of recognizing the source of Jesus’ power and accepting Him as the Son of God, the religious leaders accused Him of being possessed by the devil and using the devil’s power to drive out demons.

Jesus then said, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” Without considering the rest of the context and what was happening, that’s an extraordinary (and frightening) statement from the Son of God.

Here’s the real meaning behind the unpardonable sin. According to the Got Questions website, the group of Pharisees committed the unpardonable sin by accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed. They’d witnessed irrefutable evidence that Jesus was working miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, yet they claimed He was possessed by Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24 and Mark 3:30).

The unpardonable sin is maliciously rejecting the Holy Spirit

There is the “unpardonable sin.” They accused Jesus (to His face) of being demon-possessed, and there was no excuse for that behavior. They weren’t ignorant, and they knew exactly what was happening. They saw the prophecies getting fulfilled before their eyes. They saw the miracles and heard His clear presentation of the truth. But they deliberately chose to close their eyes and become blind.

If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you haven’t blasphemed the Holy Spirit; what you’ve done is ACCEPT the Holy Spirit’s witness that Jesus is the Son of God. The Billy Graham site explains it this way: “To commit this unpardonable sin, one must consciously, persistently, deliberately, and maliciously reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit’s witness to the deity and saving power of Jesus.” If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, there’s NO WAY you can commit the unpardonable sin. Does that make sense?

The only unpardonable sin in this day and age is unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who’s rejected Jesus once they leave this world. God provided for our salvation in His Son (John 3:16). Forgiveness is found exclusively in Jesus (John 14:6). To reject the only Savior is to be left with no means of salvation, and rejecting the only pardon is, obviously, unpardonable.

Again, if you’ve accepted Jesus, there is no worry about committing the unpardonable sin. It’s impossible. Isn’t that good news?!