Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I am interpreting the question to be referring to Jesus' discussion of "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit", as recorded in Matthew 12:22-32 (and also Mark 3:22-30).

Jesus had performed miracles (such as the healing of diseases and the casting out of demons) as clear evidence and proof of His identity as the Messiah, and as an indication of the working of God the Holy Spirit -- both in the miracles themselves, and also in the calling of those who witnessed those actions to accept Jesus as the way of salvation. 

However, Jesus' opponents among the Jewish religious leaders had refused to accept these miraculous acts as originating from God, and had instead said that Jesus was able to command the demons because He Himself was a demon, or because He derived His power from demonic sources.

These accusations by the religious leaders were what prompted Jesus to say that they were blaspheming (or speaking against) the Holy Spirit, in that they were deliberately (that is, not out of ignorance, but with full knowledge of events that they had seen with their own eyes, and through which the Holy Spirit was prompting them to believe) denying and rejecting the manifest proof of the working of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' miracles, and even characterizing that working as demonic. It was this specific set of circumstances that made their actions unforgivable.

In my opinion, this sin could not be committed today, because Jesus is no longer physically present on earth to offer the same type of unmistakable evidence of His miracles being the work of God.

Now that Jesus has lived His sinless life; died His atoning death on behalf of all humanity; been resurrected as proof of God's acceptance of that death as full payment for the sins of all who put their faith in it; and ascended to heaven until He comes again at the close of the present age, the only sin that cannot be forgiven by God today is the complete unwillingness of an individual (despite being exposed to the Gospel and to the prompting of the Holy Spirit) to acknowledge his need of the salvation and eternal life that God has offered to humanity only through Jesus, and the individual's willful and final refusal to put his faith in that salvation (rather than depending on his own works or goodness to make himself acceptable to God) prior to the end of his earthly life.

July 21 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report