3821 — Sinning Against the Holy Ghost
Will you kindly explain what Jesus meant in Matt. 12:32, "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come"? There are two great means which the Bible reveals for man's salvation, which God uses for that purpose. The one is set forth as the blood of the covenant, and the other the Spirit of grace. See Heb. 10:29. Through the blood, or sacrifice, of our Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. He died for our sins. Through the Spirit of grace we are created anew, born from above, and God's law is written in our heart. He has no other agencies for the salvation of men. When, therefore, man, having the light, turns from the very thing that would save him, there can be no salvation for him. It is not that God is not willing to forgive, but man rejects the very things by which forgiveness and peace and righteousness can come to him. Sin becomes unforgivable because it is unrepentable. If a soul is sinking on the sea, and a life-buoy is thrown him, and he will not grasp it when he can, what help is there for him? He chooses to die. Take, for instance, the experiences of Jesus which called out these words. He had been casting out demons, relieving poor, distressed souls that had been under the bondage of Satan. He had given manifest evidence that the power that He exercised was the mighty, loving power of God. But the Jews said, "He casteth out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons." They attributed the work of the Spirit of God to the spirit of evil. See Mark 3:22-30. Note especially the last verse, "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit." Now it is possible for one who knows nothing of the working of the Spirit of God to speak against it, or blaspheme it, and still be saved. This seems to have been the case with the apostle Paul, for he declares, "I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." 1 Tim. 1:13. But to him who does it in the face of such light as the Jews themselves had, or to one who continually rejects the Spirit of God until the heart becomes hardened, there comes a condition at last that yields no response to the pleadings of the Spirit. The danger does not lie in God's unwillingness to forgive; the danger lies in our putting ourselves in such an attitude toward God that He can not reach us.