The unpardonable/unforgivable
sin or “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”
is mentioned in Mark 3:22–30 and Matthew 12:22–32.
Jesus said,
“Truly I tell you,
people can be forgiven all their sins
and every slander they utter”
(Mark 3:28),
but then He gives one exception: “
Whoever blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit
will never be forgiven; they are
guilty of an eternal sin”
(verse 29).
According to Jesus, the
unpardonable or unforgivable sin is
unique.
It is the one iniquity that will never be forgiven
(“never” is the meaning of “either in this age or in the age to come”
in Matthew 12:32).
The unforgivable sin is blasphemy
(“defiant irreverence”)
of the Holy Spirit
in the context of the
Spirit’s work
in the world through Christ.
In other words, the particular case of blasphemy seen in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 is unique.
The guilty party,
a group of Pharisees,
had witnessed irrefutable evidence that
Jesus was working miracles in the
power of the Holy Spirit,
yet they claimed that He was possessed
by the prince of demons, Beelzebul
(Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:30).
The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day committed
the unpardonable sin by accusing
Jesus Christ
(in person, on earth)
of being demon-possessed.
They had no excuse for
such an action.
They were not speaking out of
ignorance or misunderstanding.
The Pharisees knew that
Jesus was the Messiah
sent by God to save Israel.
They knew the prophecies were
being fulfilled.
They saw Jesus’ wonderful works,
and they
heard His clear presentation of
truth.
Yet they deliberately
chose
to deny the truth and slander
the Holy Spirit Standing
before the
Light of the World, bathed in
His glory,
they defiantly closed their eyes
and became willfully blind.
Jesus pronounced that sin to be unforgivable.
Impurity is the condition
of
being defiled
The word impurity can also
refer to the
contaminant itself:
an unwanted substance
that
makes something unclean.
The concepts of purity and
impurity are important
in the Bible’s presentation of holiness
Impurity
could be
ceremonially passed to others:
any personal contact with someone
unclean would make a
person unclean himself.
There were so many ways one could become unclean that every Israelite, male and female alike, was sure to spend at least some time in a state of ceremonial impurity.
When someone had a ceremonial impurity
and was declared unclean,
she was separated from the community
and not allowed to worship
at the temple
during the period of the
impurity or uncleanness
(Numbers 5:1–4).
God is holy, and He demands
holiness of
the people who follow Him. “
A little leaven
leavens the whole lump”
(Galatians 5:9, ESV);
a little impurity negates integrity;
a little
sin destroys holiness.
ceremonial impurity illustrates
moral impurity
One vivid example of this is leprosy--
one of the skin diseases
that rendered a person ceremonially
impure or unclean.
Because there was no cure for leprosy,
a person who contracted leprosy was often
permanently unclean.
Lepers
were outcasts for life.
They were not permitted to
associate with others
due to the
contagiousness of their disease;
they could not live with their families
or worship at the temple
or work at jobs.
Their impurity was so severe
that, if they were in a
public area, they were
required
to identify themselves
by shouting,
“Unclean! Unclean!”
so that others could clear out
and
avoid any contact with them
(Leviticus 13:45).
Lepers
had to resort to begging,
relying on the mercy of others
to spare them food
and other
daily necessities.
The impurity of leprosy
is like
sin in that it
isolates us from our communities,
separates us from God,
and
eventually leads to
death
Jesus’ power is such that He can rid us of all impurity:
physical, moral, and spiritual.
Impurity really includes
all kinds of sin and
encompasses any activity,
thought, word, or action
that does not conform to
God’s will for our lives. “
God did not call us to be impure,
but to live a holy life”
(1 Thessalonians 4:7).
The slightest sin is still
a lethal contaminant in our souls,
and this is bad news for us:
“Of this you can be sure:
No immoral, impure or greedy person . . .
has any inheritance
in the
kingdom of Christ and of God”
(Ephesians 5:5; cf. Revelation 21:27).
Like lepers, we are all in desperate need of God’s mercy and grace to reach out and cleanse us from the impurities that defile us. We need Jesus’ touch and the gift of His righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). “Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them” (Psalm 32:2).
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