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Christians: What is your view on the "unforgivable sin"?
This used to pose difficulty for me because Christ said that blasphemy against the Father AND against Him were forgivable, but blasphemy against the Spirit was not. What I could not understand that if all are God, then how could blasphemy against one person of God be forgiven, but blasphemy against another not be forgiven?
What dawned on my was the fact that to believe in God, and then to go further and believe in Christ requires a "leap of faith" where you go beyond what is absolutely provable to acceptance based on trust. Christ realized that not everyone would make that leap, and hence the reason that blasphemy against the Father and Son could be forgiven. Christ forgave the non-believing Jews and pagans who crucified Him from the cross "for they know not what they do."
However, the Spirit speaks to the heart of each individual through their consciences. No matter what faith or lack thereof everyone knows right from wrong. To blaspheme the Spirit then becomes to turn your back on His call through your conscience. It is to so dedicate yourself to evil that you have blacked out its call.
What are your opinions of this view? Or what different views can you offer that would explain how blasphemy against either of the first two persons of the Trinity could be forgiven, but blasphemy against the third not be?
Mike: Neither of those explanations answer the question. To say that non belief in God or in Christ certainly could be considered by some to be blasphemy against either of them, which Christ said was forgivable, but that is nothing to do with the Spirit. I think His own crucifixion could be the biggest blasphemy against Christ that anyone could think of. Yet Christ forgave those who did not believe in Him for crucifying Him.
Likewise I cannot see how attributing miracles done by the Spirit to be blasphemy.
believer: I agree that "blasphemy against the Spirit" can be viewed as "refusing God's forgiveness." I sincerely believe that "hell" is self-imposed by just not allowing yourself to feel the love of God.
But I completely disagree when you say "Blaspheming the Holy Spirit simply means saying that what the Holy Spirit says in the Scriptures about Christ is false. When we do that, we reject Christ and all He has done for us—and we are committing the only unforgivable sin." You are essentially transferring the blasphemy against Christ to be a "blasphemy" against the Spirit. Yet the Jews and pagans who crucified Him were forgiven from the cross "For they know not what they do.". From that we can obviously see that KNOWLEDGE of wrong doing is crucial. Those who reject Scripture are not doing so KNOWING that they are wrong. The vast majority of the people of this world have never opened the Scriptures... they have no know
3 Answers
- Mike KLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
Hello,
According to theologians,there are two schools of thought on what this is as it is not clear in scripture:
1) Dying without believing in God and thereby refusing to accept Christ as taught.
2) Attributing miracles and works done by or through the Holy Spirit to demonic entities.
Christ warned some Pharisees about #2.
Cheers,
Michael Kelly
Edit - Look Dave, I'm just reiterating what various theologians, ministers and priests have said in this matter which I have heard discussed off and on over the last 40 years and I am sure their answers are as valid as anyone eleses.
- Anonymous9 years ago
The Bible says only one sin is unforgivable—and that is the sin of refusing God's forgiveness. If we turn our backs on God and refuse to have anything to do with Him, then we will eventually pay the consequences for our stubbornness.
But it doesn't need to be this way! God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He yearns to forgive us and welcome us back to Himself. He loves us so much that He has done everything possible to win us back, by sending His only Son into the world to pay the price for our sins. We deserve to die for our sins—but when Christ died on the cross, all our sins were placed in Him, and He took the punishment we deserve. The Bible says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Jesus warned, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:29). Blaspheming the Holy Spirit simply means saying that what the Holy Spirit says in the Scriptures about Christ is false. When we do that, we reject Christ and all He has done for us—and we are committing the only unforgivable sin.
May that not happen to you, or to anyone else reading this column. Instead, turn to Christ and by a simple prayer of faith invite Him into your life today. Jesus' promise is for you: "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37).
- Anonymous9 years ago
The only unforgivable "sin" is willful ignorance, as on display here.