Jesus declared only one sin is unforgivable: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that blasphemy against Him or the Father is forgivable, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Many Christians have identified the unforgivable sin as murder or adultery. But this is a sin that is spoken; spoken evil of. If only blasphemy is unforgivable, are all other sins forgivable? The answer is yes.  One needs to understand the power of repentance.

We have three books in the bible that reference this sin:

  • “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32).
  • “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation—because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”.”(Mark 3:28-30).
  • “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.” (Luke 12:10).

Of the three passages, Mark 3:28-30 gives more explanation of exactly why it is unforgivable. Let’s look at the setting when Jesus warned told the Pharisees of this unpardonable sin.
In Matthew 12, scripture shows that there was a demon-possessed man brought to Jesus, where Jesus cast out the demon and healed him of blindness and his inability to talk. After the followers of Jesus saw His power, they asked, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” (this miracle pointed to the promised “descendant” of David, the Messiah.) The Pharisees saw the crowd was believing Jesus was the Messiah, so they discredited the source of the power that Jesus displayed by saying, “this man casts out demons only by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.” Jesus proceeded to explain “if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided and his kingdom will not stand; he would defeat himself”. Jesus also showed them how crazy the comment was by asking “if your disciples or sons claim they cast out demons, they must also be in league with demons”. After Jesus showed them how absurd they were, he continued to tell them that the Spirit of God cast the demons out. He tells them they can speak evil of Him, but those that speak evil of the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

What the Pharisees (religious council) did was call the Holy Spirit an unclean spirit of Satan. The question is, can Christians commit this unpardonable sin? The answer is no. Christians are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God would never indwell in someone that considers Him a demon of Satan. God says, “I knock on the door, and you choose whether to let me in” (Rev 3:20); we are not forced. Christians are new creatures with eternal life and no one can snatch us out of His hands. I have heard Christians angry with God or Jesus but never heard them blasphemy the Holy Spirit. If a Christian ever became so harden to call God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit one of Satan’s minions, it is impossible for them to have ever been one of God’s children.