The unforgivable sin!
Matthew 12:32
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
I don’t know about you but the first time I ever read this verse I was terrified of either deliberately or accidentally committing this sin. A sin so great, it’s unforgivable, and that means the hell of separation from God and eternal damnation; something that every living soul should be terrified of. But can this sin be committed today, and if so, how?
What comes out of the mouth can defile us not the food that we eat, we read this in Matt 15:11 “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
The words that we speak reveal what we think and believe to be true. So, it stands to reason that if we say nasty bad things, our words reveal the evil that resides deep in our hearts. Words are the fruit of our hearts, good hearts bring forth good fruit, but rotten hearts bring forth bad or rotten fruit.
The tongue has often been described as a double edge sword or blade that when used to speak evil, harms those to who the evil words are directed, but they also harm the person who speaks them. If our hearts are good then the fruit of our lips, our words, are wholesome and a blessing that brings good to both speaker and listener. Words can speak love, give praise and encouragement, and lift a person up out of the depths of despair. But equally, they can tear a person down in shreds, mentally destroying them and making them feel worthless.
It’s worth keeping in mind that there is a millstone ready for anyone who causes a little one to stumble! so be wise and think before you speak. My better half has often reminded me that God gave us two ears but only one tongue, so listen hard and think before you speak!
Wise words, with the benefit of hindsight, often echo in the ears when we are just a bit too quick to speak. But notice also that in this lesson that Jesus tells us that words said against Him are forgivable, but not those spoken against the Spirit!
So, does this mean that the Holy Spirit is more important than Jesus Christ, God’s son? Surely this can’t be the case. There’s not a day that passes when we hear God’s name or Jesus’ name used profanely or in blasphemy; on the TV, in the workplace, in shops, everywhere. But we rarely hear the Holy Spirit’s name being used in this way. So why can God forgive words spoken against Jesus but not those spoken against the Spirit?
While thinking over this, it occurred to me that Jesus said these words during his earthy ministry, when he walked the earth. Isaiah prophesised in chapter 53 about the messiah saying “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him”. Meaning Jesus Christ, to all intents and purposes looked just like any other man. So, naturally, his revolutionary words and teachings were questioned, argued over, disagreed, and agreed with. So while he walked this earth, the words said against him were forgivable. But after his death on the cross and resurrection three days later, revealing Him as God’s son, the words that people said against Him after this, could no longer be forgiven.
When the Spirit of God came in Pentecost, filling the Apostles with His power, anyone who spoke against or rejected the witness of the Spirit through the apostles was speaking against the Spirit, which was final and unforgivable, because God wasn’t sending us any more witnesses!
When God’s chosen people rejected the prophets, they rejected God the Father, when they rejected Jesus, they rejected God’s Son, and from the day of Pentecost when God sent the Holy Spirit, anyone who rejected the apostles, priests, preachers, and missionaries empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel; by reject them, they reject the Holy Spirit.
After the witness of the Holy Spirit, there are no more witnesses and therefore rejection of the Holy Spirit means no hope of forgiveness because after this is the judgment. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, whoever rejects His witness, will not be forgiven, in this age or the next.
Have a great day, and God bless,
Trev.