Our God is a forgiving God. He is merciful, understanding and compassionate. However, there is one sin that the Lord cannot forgive and that is referred to as the unforgivable or unpardonable sin. What sin is this? Is it greed, lust, envy, gluttony, pride, sloth or wrath? No. The unforgivable sin is blasphemy.
What is the unforgivable sin?
Blasphemy is defined as an act of speaking against the Holy Spirit. What makes this sin unforgivable is the fact that blasphemy comes deep within a person's heart. It is not an unintentional sin. You just don't happen to blurt out words against God. There is an emotion involved when you find yourself saying profane things about our Lord Jesus Christ and that emotion is anger. A person who will speak profanely and sacrilegiously about God has deep hatred in his heart.
The main issue about the unforgiveable sin is that it doesn't happen overnight. It is a process and such process progresses. No one can hate another person just like that. With blasphemy, the person begins with resisting the Holy Spirit and rejects him. And once he has finally rejected the Holy Spirit in his life, he has committed blasphemy.
Why is this sin unforgivable?
The main reason why blasphemy is unforgivable and unpardonable is because it is intentional. The person decides to reject God. He is the one responsible for hardening his heart. For him, it is a natural act and it is a personal decision. Blasphemy isn't just about mistakenly saying a few words here and there against God; it's an evil decision made by the heart.
There is what the Bible calls the "final rejection," which allows the person to completely cut any ties with the Lord. Once this happens, the person could care less about what will happen to him and how God will feel. Moreover, such a person can even influence others by convincing other believers to stop following God or prevent other people from following God.
When the blasphemy comes full circle, it is impossible to change that person's heart back and be drawn to Jesus once again. Simply put, to be forgiven, there should be repentance in the heart. Without repentance, it is simply impossible for a person to be forgiven.
Are you guilty?
Have you committed the unforgivable sin? Are you committing it? These are questions we'd often ask ourselves. After all, we are just human and we can make mistakes both intentional and unintentional. You may have grown up in a Christian community, but not everyone has. There are people born into other religions and found their way to God.
However, there are people out there who did not receive Jesus Christ as their one and only savior immediately. There was resistance which could be attributed to many reasons like culture, lifestyle or religious beliefs. But still, such resistance is different from completely shutting out the Holy Spirit.
Another common case is when we question God when life is getting too unfair. Why is God doing this to us? Why do we have to go through this? Sometimes, our faith is tested and we wonder if God really loves us. Are we committing blasphemy in our mind?
The clear answer is no. Actually, the mere fact that you're wondering about all these things show how concerned you are about your relationship with the Lord. The fact that you are worried about your salvation shows immense concern for spending eternal life with the Lord. Blasphemy is the total opposite of this. A person who is blasphemous won't even care about God's feelings or his salvation. For him, eternal life doesn't matter and in his mind, doesn't exist.
Most important of all, we must realize (even if you're already a devout Christian) that we are all lost. We NEED God and it is only Him who can save us. The ability to understand that we need Jesus in our lives is proof that despite our mistakes, we know that the Holy Spirit will always bring us back to God. On the other hand, when a person is committed to rejecting the Holy Spirit, it shows that he has convinced himself that he doesn't need God in his life and doesn't need saving.
This life we live is a gift and oftentimes, I wonder if we deserve it. But whenever I pray to God, I know that He gave us this life for a reason, no matter how hard it can get. We're blessed that Our Father is a loving and forgiving God and we shall never take our blessings and gifts for granted. Always open your heart to the Holy Spirit and always seek God's love in whatever it is you're going through.
