WHAT IF YOU HAVE COMMITTED “THE UNPARDONABLE SIN”? (You Haven’t)
There are few words in the Bible more sobering than those of Jesus in Matthew 12:31–32. He said that every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, “but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” The context is vital. Jesus had just healed a man who was both blind and mute. The people were amazed, but the Pharisees, seeing what they could not deny, chose to attribute His power to Satan. They saw the Son of God in the flesh, performing a miracle by the Spirit of God, and yet with cold deliberation, they said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul.” This was no mere slip of the tongue. It was a hardened rejection of divine truth. It was calling the light darkness.
The word “blasphemy” in Greek means to slander or speak evil against. Jesus was saying that to knowingly attribute the work of the Spirit to the power of the devil was a sin of such rebellion that forgiveness would be impossible—not because God’s mercy was too small, but because such a heart would never seek it. The unpardonable sin, therefore, was not a moment of doubt or anger or even a careless word; it was the deliberate rejection of God’s truth when that truth had been fully revealed in Christ Himself.
No one living today can commit that sin in the same way the Pharisees did, for no one today sees Jesus in the flesh performing miracles. That moment in history cannot be repeated. Yet the principle still remains: any sin a person will not repent of becomes, in that sense, unpardonable. God will not forgive a sin that one refuses to confess or turn from. The only unforgivable sin is the persistent, willful rejection of the Holy Spirit’s call to repentance and faith in Christ.
Modern theological scholarship affirms this. Many scholars note that the “eternal sin” of Mark 3:29 (aiōnios hamartia in the Greek) was a unique act of rebellion against the Spirit’s testimony about Jesus. Murray J. Harris has observed that anyone who fears they may have committed the unpardonable sin shows by that very fear that they have not, for such sensitivity is the mark of a heart still open to God. Others remind us that since Christ no longer walks among us performing miracles, we cannot repeat that historical sin. What remains possible is the condition of the heart that refuses to repent.
The Bible gives us the response of grace. The apostle Paul said, “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy” (1 Timothy 1:13). He was forgiven because he turned to Christ in faith. If even Paul could be cleansed from blasphemy, then no sin is beyond the reach of grace. Every sin can be forgiven when it is confessed. Only the one who will not come to the cross is left unforgiven.
Therefore, no believer today should live under the shadow of fear that they have committed an unpardonable sin. If you grieve over your sin, if you desire forgiveness, if you long to be restored—then you have not committed it. The Spirit who convicts is the same Spirit who comforts. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. The mercy of God is greater than your past, stronger than your failures, and deeper than your fears.
The unpardonable sin was a deliberate rejection of the visible Christ, performed before the very eyes of those who knew better. That cannot happen again. But its warning still speaks: do not resist the Spirit of grace. Come to Him while the door is open. Confess freely and rest in the promise that “he who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” The power of forgiveness remains the same. The grace of Christ is still sufficient. And no one who truly desires His mercy will ever be turned away.
BDD
