Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

By Chris Good



A common criticism levelled against those who seek to test modern claims to prophecy, miracles and healings by God's Word is that we are in danger of 'blaspheming against the Holy Spirit'. This is a very serious charge, which (if true) would mean that such people cannot be saved! Indeed, many are so intimidated by this charge that they bury any doubts, relying on the claimant's self-proclamation for proof of the validity of the claims, rather than testing it by the Word.

It is important then that we understand what 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' is and whether one who is fulfilling the Holy Spirit's own mandate to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1) could commit it.


1) 'Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' defined

Reference to the 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' occurs in 3 passages in Scripture: Matthew 12:22-37; Mark 3:20-30 and Luke 12:8-10. The most comprehensive account is in Matthew:

Matthew 12 (NIV):
22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

It is important to notice the context here. Jesus has been performing undoubtedly genuine miracles (v22), the reality of which the Pharisees could not (and did not) deny. On top of this, these were messianic miracles (Luke7:20-23 - cf Isaiah 35:5 and 61:1) so the Pharisees should have acknowledged Jesus as Messiah because of them. Yet despite their knowledge of these facts, and despite this undeniable testimony by the power the Holy Spirit (v28) concerning Jesus - the Pharisees in their obstinate unbelief rejected the miracles and accused Jesus of operating by Satan's power instead (v24).

In response, Jesus points out the futility of their argument: Satan is doomed if he fights against himself (v25-29)! By rejecting the Spirit's testimony (in this case via the miracles) to Jesus, the Pharisees were in danger of "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit"(v31). This sin is unforgivable "either in this age or in the age to come" precisely because it rejects the only means of salvation - namely the Spirit's witness to Christ (v32). These Pharisees exposed their 'bad hearts', by their 'bad fruit' of persistently rejecting the Spirit's witness to Christ (v33-37).

From the above observations, we can conclude that 'Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' is fundamentally an informed, self-conscious and persistent rejection of the Holy Spirit's witness to Christ. In this particular situation it manifested itself in the form of the rejection of the miracles undeniably wrought in the power of the Spirit by Jesus.


2) This definition confirmed by parallel passages

That 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' is a 'persistent knowledgeable rejection' of the Spirit's witness to Christ can be seen in the parallel passages that also speak of this unforgivable sin. (We know that it is the same sin mentioned in these passages, as Scripture speaks of only one unforgivable sin (1 John 5:16). We know that 'blasphemy against the Spirit' is unforgivable - so it is this sin.)

Hebrews 6:4-8
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Here we see that someone who has clear understanding of the gospel and participated in the life of the church and then turns around and actively and persistently opposes it cannot repent and be forgiven, as they are denying Christ. As with the Matthew passage above, such apostasy exposes the person as having a hard and unfruitful/unconverted heart. All that is left is judgement.
Hebrews 10:26-31
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
In this passage, the writer expands on the nature of the unforgivable sin mentioned in Hebrews 6. Note that more than a normal rejection of the gospel is meant here - but rather a persistent and knowledgeable rejection of the Truth. Once again - the unforgivable nature of this sin and severity of its punishment is stressed.

1 John 5:16
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.

Here again John urges Christians not to pray for the salvation of those who who have consciously and actively rejected the Holy Spirit's testimony. Why? Because they have cut themselves off from the only means of grace that can bring their salvation.

Note that in these passages there is no mention of rejection of miracles - yet the unforgivable sin (ie: 'blasphemy against the Spirit') occurs. Hence in the Matthew passage we can safely conclude that the rejection of Jesus' genuine miracles was the manifestation of the Pharisees committing this sin, rather than the essence of it.


3) Are we committing this sin by 'testing the spirits'?

Having defined and confirmed what 'blasphemy against the Spirit' is we can now return to the question of whether someone following the Holy Spirit's own injunction to "test the spirits" is committing this sin. Several things need to be considered:

From the analysis above it is clear that 'blasphemy of the Spirit' consists of a knowledgeable and persistent rejection of the Spirit's testimony to Christ. In the historical context of the Pharisees - this manifested itself in the rejection of the genuine miracles of Christ in the power of the Spirit. With Judas - it manifested itself in his betrayal of the Lord (Matthew 27:1-5). The contemporary expression of this same sin in a church context is in the persistent apostasy from and opposition to the gospel message (as seen in the Hebrews passages above).

It needs to be recognised that testing modern dubious or disputable claims and teachings is not in the same category as questioning Jesus' genuine and indisputable miracles (the reality of which even the Pharisees did not deny). If people really believe that their teachings and miracles are genuine, then the Truth should have nothing to fear from being examined by the Word - a thing we are commanded and commended to do (1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11)

Scripture clearly and repeatedly warns against the danger of false claimants and commands us to test these things by the Word (1 John 4:1 cf Matthew 24:23-25; Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 14:29; Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; etc.). It goes without saying that one cannot 'blaspheme against the Spirit' while obeying His commands! Indeed - Scripture is emphatic that failure to test can lead eventually to deception.

From these considerations we can safely conclude that no-one seeking to faithfully test practices and teaching against God's Word is in danger of committing this sin. (Indeed - it was precisely because the Pharisees refused to apply the test of the clear Scriptural testimony concerning Christ's miracles, person and work that they evidenced their apostasy.)


4) Have I committed this sin?

Some sensitive Christians, often those deeply conscious of their sinful failings and unworthiness, are sometimes greatly troubled with the fear that they may have committed this sin and be beyond the possibility of forgiveness.

Seeing that 'blasphemy of the Spirit' is a hardened opposition to Him and His work, someone who worries about having committed it certainly has not - for anyone who has (like these Pharisees, and Judas) would not care - and probably not even realise they had.

Even in the midst of these fearful passages there are precious promises to those who are truly saved, whose hearts have been changed, that they will not perish but will heed these warnings and persevere (eg: Hebrews 6:9 & 10:39).


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Friday, 19 January 2007