Blasphemy of the Spirit
It reads in Matt. 12:31
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Now most people who wrestle with this passage read this part and then are left with questions, but there is another part that must also be considered so that the text is understood properly.
If you notice in verse 31 there is the word "Wherefore or therefore in some translations. When ever you see that word at the beginning of a sentence you need to go back and read the previous text that has application to the one in question because there will be things in it that give you the understanding of what is being said. So lets go back to verse 22 and it reads.
22
Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
23
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
25
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
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And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
27
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
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But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
29
Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
26
And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
27
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
28
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
29
Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
In verse 22 we see that Jesus heal a person.V22
Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
In 23 we see that the people are all amazed and are beginning to believe on the possibility of Jesus being Messiah, because they now had enough light to make some kind of conclusion. 23
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
Then in 24 we see that the Pharisees try and stop the belief of the people. Keep in mind that the Pharisees actually were more responsible then the regular people. They had been studying the scripture and should have known beyond a doubt who this man was and they also were following His every step according to other scripture to watch Him. So they were without excuse as to who he really was. The passage reads; 24: But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Notice that it says when they heard what Jesus did "they said." Then the scripture says; 25: And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
The main point here is the one word translated "thoughts". Jesus knew what they said, but He made His statements on what the blasphemy is, not simply on what they said, but also on WHY they said what they said and that was on there "thoughts. The Greek word can also mean "devise" or "to devise."
So lets put this all together. When a person who has had overwhelming light or evidence that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and then the person rejects that light and goes so far as to slander (blaspheme) the Holy Spirit who does the convicting of men to come to Christ, then that person is committing the blasphemy and is no longer able to be saved.
It all has to do with the intent of the person and the knowledge they have as well as what they say. The scripture says in chapter 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
We certainly do need to take care of what we say and what we says always comes from the heart. The scripture says in Jeremiah 17: 9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
That is not saynig we cannot know another's heart, but that we cannot know our heart.
Many times our hearts lie to us and tells us that we are better then we really are, but when something happens we say what is in it and we are exposed. So listen carefully to what you say, even under stressful conditions and tragedy. In the case of the Pharisees it was not something hidden or something that took some event to drag out. They had evil in there hearts along with knowledge that they had rejected, and their speaking brought on them the blasphemy and locked them into an eternity of torment.
So if any person has enough light to know that Jesus is the Christ yet they reject that light and then they blaspheme the Spirit (speak against Him) because they willfully rejecting Christ then they are guilty of the blasphemy. If they do this then they will not be concerned with the fact that they have done this nor will they ever be convicted of sin in regards to God. The Holy Spirit does the convicting to bring people to Christ and where there is no hope He just does not work to convict.
In my life as a Christian I have know only one person who I felt fell into this blasphemy. He was a man that had studied the bible and believed that it was true. He would argue the scripture, but he wanted his sin and would not repent. He finally began to turn from accepting what he had learned and finally rejected all he once believed to the point of speaking against the Spirit. He and I often talked and he would tell me that the bible belonged on a shelf along with the grimes fairy tales. In questioning him he had no desire what so ever of God and never attributed his sin as being against God since he no longer had any belief that God is. While the judgement will give clear and final evidence as to if this man committed the blasphemy I have always felt that this was one that possibly did.
So to sum up a person can today blaspheme the Spirit if they have enough light to convince them that Jesus is who He said He is and yet they are so hard of heart that they speak against the Spirit with clear willfullness to blaspheme. Such a person will never come under conviction to get saved and will remain lost.
On the other hand any person who fears that they may have done this and fear their relationship with God has not blasphemed the Spirit since they hold a desire to be right with God and that can only come from Spirit conviction. Keep in mind that Satan will try and convince you that you have done this to rob you of your joy and peace. Those who actually have done it will never feel guilt for it towards God and never want a real relationship with Him.
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