Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor the world to come.
Matthew 12: 31,32 POWERFUL!
What do you consider to be blasphemy against the Holy Ghost?
Basically it means, if you harbor hatred and blaspheme the Holy Spirit to the point where you refuse to be wooed or drawn to God then how else can you be saved?...you can't because you are rejecting the only invitation you are going to get. For example if there is only one doctor in your town and you think he is a quack, you despise him, talk bad about him and you get sick and refuse his help...can he save you?...no. So it is with the Holy Spirit.
Do you realize when you deny truths in the word of God you are speaking against the integrity of the Holy Ghost.
Such as telling others you discern truth with the human mind.
But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the teachings of God's Spirit. He thinks they're nonsense. He can't understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.
�And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.� (Romans 12:2)
Who is the understood you in this scripture?
The parable of the sower tells very cleary how a man receives the word of God.
A carnal minded man will say things like tithing is a tradition. or discerning truth is done with the mind, etc ,etc.
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Matthew Ch 12: 31-37 KJV
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Luke 12:10 (New International Version, �2010)
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
I agree with The BirdMan. (was that a Thunder Clap!?)
I believe that what Jesus was speaking to is when a person refuses to accept God�s Gift of Salvation (for whatever reason), whether they feel that their sins are too great to be forgiven or they play �Russian Roulette� by sinning than asking for �forgiveness� only to go out and sin again�only to continue with this game of �sin and be forgiven�, without Repentence or just stubbornness of refusing to submit To God�s Will (pride).
The Unforgivable Sin is Final Impenitence�dying in a state of unrepentance. This belief can be shown to go back at least to the time of Augustine. In fact, the Summa Aquinas gives a nice little catalogue of Augustine's passages dealing with the subject.
Pope John Paul II wrote:
�blasphemy' does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross.
If man rejects the 'convincing concerning sin' which comes from the Holy Spirit and which has the power to save, he also rejects the 'coming' of the Counselor . . . If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this 'non-forgiveness' is linked, as to its cause, to 'non-repentance', in other words to the radical refusal to be converted. . .
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person who claims to have a 'right' to persist in evil�in any sin at all . . .� (end quote)
Obviously, blasphemy against the Spirit has nothing to do with cussing; it has to do with mocking the works of the Holy Spirit, with the intent on keeping others from wholeheartedly following Christ.
Jesus alerted the Pharisees to the possibility of them committing this unpardonable sin when they accused Him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. (see Matthew 12:22-32 and Mark 3:22-30).
Did Jesus take this slander personally? No. He, in fact, steers their criticism away from Himself and directs their criticism toward the Holy Spirit. He indicates that their judgment, though it seemed targeted against Himself, was really aimed at the Holy Spirit.
"I drive out demons by the Spirit of God," Jesus proclaimed to His accusers. To criticize a miracle from Jesus was equivalent to criticizing a miracle of the Holy Spirit. His power came from the Spirit.
I'm aware of the differences of interpretation concerning blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. One group says that it is impossible for anyone to commit this sin except those in Jesus' day. But they miss the point. Today is the age of the Holy Spirit. If there ever was a time that a person could commit this sin it would be now.
Another group claims that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is simply the act of rejecting Christ. But they, too, seem to miss the point. The unpardonable blasphemy is not action against Christ, but words against the Holy Spirit. "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven," Jesus assured. The unforgivable sin is not related to Christ but to the Spirit.
The word "blasphemy" is a term that speaks of damnable heresy, not misjudgment. Many, because of poor teaching, misjudge others� that's forgivable. The Pharisees, on the other hand, went beyond judging to trying to keep others from following Christ. Blasphemy against the Spirit is the absolute, permanent, hateful rejection of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the motive to keep others from fully following Christ as well as to keep one's position of power. A person who has committed this sin has no desire for repentance, will divide the body of Christ, judge the salvation of others, and will ultimately die in this state.
