What The Bible Says About The Unpardonable Sin

(Text: Matthew 12:24-27)
By: Barry L. Cameron


* Jesus presented Himself to Israel as the King, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. The Jewish mentality had gone from indifference clear to blatant rejection, led by her leaders.

* By the time you get to Matthew 12, the consensus among Jewish leadership is that Jesus cannot be ignored. He must be contended with because He is satanic. (They concluded the exact opposite of the truth because of the blindness of their hearts and made the conclusion that Jesus was demonic. Further, they concluded that the demons He cast out—He cast out by the power of Satan.)

We pick up the narrative in verse 24 of Matthew 12.
- Jesus says that the issue here is that Satan cannot be casting out Satan. (That would divide himself.)
- Then, Jesus zeroes in on the problem: verse 28.
- “The Kingdom of God has come upon you and not only have you missed the Kingdom—you’ve missed the King.

Now, notice verses 31-32: Here is the “unpardonable sin.” Jesus is very emphatic (twice—once in each verse) that you will not be forgiven.

What is it that you can’t be forgiven of?
* Some say it is rejection of Jesus Christ. But, it can’t be that because you can reject Him at one point in your life and accept Him at another and be forgiven. (Isn’t that true?)
* Some charismatics have erroneously said that the “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is when you say the experiences they claim to have experienced aren’t valid. (That isn’t even the issue here—nobody’s talking about that.)

Here’s the issue: Jesus did what He did under the power of the Holy Spirit. It was one thing to say something against the Son of man. (i.e. To say something about His earthly presence or His earthly work.) But, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit was quite another thing.

Here’s what it means: These people had received all the revelation they could possibly receive. They had heard Jesus teach. They had seen miracle after miracle. Here were a group of men, the leaders of Israel, who had the epitome of revelation.
- The fulfillment of all messianic prophecy in the Old Testament.
- The corroboration of the statements and deeds of Christ, that He was indeed the Messiah.

. . . and their conclusion was that He was of Satan.

* With all the revelation that God could possibly give them, they’d concluded the exact opposite and Jesus said to them, “It’s impossible for you to be saved.” They were hopeless.

* This is the “unpardonable sin.” It was an historic thing. It was committed at a very specific period and time. By some specific people who saw Jesus face to face and attributed the works He did to Satan. (When they’d evaluated all that Jesus said and did, they determined He was of the Devil.)

* This was the opposite of the truth. And Jesus said, “After all you’ve seen and heard—you decide that I’m of Satan—you’re done.” (Because, they couldn’t get any more revelation than they had already received. Nothing else could be done to convince them otherwise.)

* The Greek construction has to do with Christ. Being able to see literal, physical presence and hearing His actual“spoken” words. People will see Him and hear Him, just like they did here in Matthew 12, and will conclude He is of the Devil.

Note: The phrase, “either in this age or in the age to come” is a key aspect to understanding this verse. It refers to the fact that this sin will happen again in the Kingdom when Christ will set up His Kingdom here on earth for the 1,000 year millennial reign mentioned in Revelation 20. It is clear you and I cannot commit this sin, since it must take place in the literal, physical presence of Christ. (Only possible during His days on earth as recorded in the New Testament and when He comes again to establish His millennial reign.)

* There are more prophecies in the Word of God concerning the Millennium than any other period of time.

Daniel 2:44-45. The prophet saw the course of world history in the likeness of an image. He saw, last of all, a stone cute without hands falling from Heaven, which struck the image and smashed it to pieces. The stone then grew to become a great mountain that filled the entire earth. (Ref: Isaiah 2:2-4; Matthew 19:28)

* Jesus will sit on the throne of David’s heir as promised in II Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:20-37; Isaiah 11:1-16; and Jeremiah 33:19-21.

* The first time, Jesus came as a King (Luke 1:32,33), was rejected as a King (Mark 15:12-13; Luke 19:14) and died as a King (Matthew 27:37).

WHEN HE RETURNS: He will again come as a King. (Revelation 19:16; Jeremiah 23:5-6).