The Unpardonable Sin - Are You Guilty?

Most of this study is taken from a previous study I posted not long ago on losing salvation located here. I brushed it up a little and am re-posting it here so you don't have to read the really long version to get this same information.

The 1 sin that if you commit buys you a one-way ticket on the fast train to hell

I've heard many sermons, theories, and beliefs regarding the one unpardonable sin – commonly referred to as the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The unpardonable sin is discussed in all three of the synoptic gospels. Matthew 12:31-32 says, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” This is something a lot of people feel like they have done. Some background to this is as follows: Jesus was essentially using miracles to claim He is using the powers of the Messiah. He is healing people and casting out demons, and the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of using the Satanic powers to heal people and perform other miracles. Blasphemy of the holy spirit is properly defined by attributing to Satan what is accomplished by the power of God.  Blasphemy means to speak evil against. Oftentimes, people read this and they think, “I’m afraid I did that.”  Note that Jesus didn't tell these Pharisees who accused Him of using the powers of the devil that they actually committed the unpardonable sin.  Jesus simply said they were close to it. It is important to also note that John’s gospel doesn't mention the unpardonable sin, Jude never mentioned it, James never mentions it, Paul never mentions it, and Peter never mentions it. So, I believe that if you actually were living there in the time of Jesus and credited the works of Jesus to the devil; you were close to committing this unpardonable sin. If you lived after Jesus, it would be pretty hard to accuse Him.  I believe that is why other writers in the New Testament never mention this. Don't you think that if there was one sin that you could commit that would cause you to lose your salvation, that Paul, Peter, Jude, or John would have mentioned this to us? As important as this topic is, I believe it is not something they would have just skipped over. When they were writing their books, Jesus already was risen. Unless you were a Pharisee facing off with Jesus while He was proclaiming Himself to be the Messiah, I don’t really believe you have anything to worry about. The only sin that is unforgivable and will surely send you to hell is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ for the rest of your life. If you confess your sins, He is faithful to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Salvation in a nutshell defined

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  So, we are saved by grace (God’s unmerited favor), and that not of yourselves (nothing you did yourself, everything that Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary), it is a gift of God, not of works (Not from my good works or lack of sin), lest anyone should boast (so nobody can claim they saved themselves). A very important concept to grasp here is this: If our works do not save us, then they cannot preserve our salvation either.

There are many people who teach a works type of salvation. If works are required to save us, then we are all in trouble. We are all sinners. There are also those who teach only certain types of sin can cause you to lose your salvation. I don't know about anyone else, but when I hear preachers teach that this sin or that sin can cause you to lose your salvation, immediately, I think, “OH NO!! I have done that!” Let’s get something straight here. No matter who you are, you are never PERFECTLY adhering to or following the will of God for your life. Only Jesus was able to do that! Certainly I would not want to discourage anyone from trying their best to follow the perfect will of God for your life, but let us be completely honest about who we are and our temporal nature. 

To believe that we can lose our salvation based on some sin we commit is to completely over estimate our own level of righteousness on our best day. 

We are all sinners, saved by grace. We are not burdened by obtaining our own salvation.  1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” If anyone thinks that on their best day, they are not a sinner, they have fooled themselves! Don’t kid yourself, we are all sinners – the saved and the unsaved alike. John boldly calls us a liar if we claim we are not sinners. Some faiths claim that some sins can cause you to lose your salvation while others simply require a visit to the priest or something similar. To esteem one sin higher than another can be dangerous. I would argue that some sins God hates more than others (such as pride), yet any sin causes us to be in need of a savior. We are all sinners – Again, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The only thing that determines whether or not I am saved is my faith in Jesus, that through His unmerited favor, He has freely forgiven me of all my sins – past, present, and future. I’m saved by grace, not by living a sinless life. I’m not advocating that it’s safe to freely sin. I am saying we all sin regardless of whether or not we are saved. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 says, “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”  Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” So, obviously, God does not want to give us a license to sin and be disobedient. We respond in love and obedience to the gospel of grace.