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Sins Against the Holy Spirit
Keith
Sharp
People often ask me, "Is there a sin God
will not forgive? Is there a chance I have committed it?" Also, many
inquire, "What is the sin against the Holy Ghost?" Actually, since
the Spirit is a Person in the Godhead, all sin is against him (Psalm 51:4).
But several sins are especially noted as offenses against the Holy Spirit.
They are in a peculiar sense directed against Him rather than against the
other Persons in the Godhead. What are the sins against the Holy Spirit?
Blasphemy
This transgression raises the problem, "Is
there a sin God will not forgive?" The Scriptures plainly affirm the
comforting fact that God is abundantly willing to forgive even the vilest of
sinners (Isaiah 1:18; Ezekiel 18:21-23; Matthew 9:13; 1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Peter
3:9), Yet, the Lord strictly warned:
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 (Matthew 12:31-32).
Hew does one reconcile the Master's ominous
reproof with the Father's gracious promise?
The context of Jesus' statement helps resolve
the difficulty. The Lord had cast a demon out of one who had been blind and
mute (Matthew 12:22), whereupon the people confessed him to be Christ (verse
23). The Pharisees replied by charging that, rather than being "the Son
of David," Jesus actually cast out demons "by Beelzebub the ruler
of the demons"(verse 24). The Master then devastatingly demonstrated the
absurdity of this charge (verses 25-30). In reality, Jesus "cast out
demons by the Spirit of God" (verse 28; cf. Luke 4:14). Thus, by
attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, the Pharisees
"blasphemed" the Spirit of God. They employed "impious and
reproachful speech injurious of the divine majesty..." (Thayer. 102).
Thus, Christ warned them sternly of blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew
12:31), "Because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit'" (Mark
3:30).
Why is such a sin unpardonable? The Spirit
empowered Jesus to work miracles for the express purpose of producing saving
faith in Christ (John 20:30-31). One whose heart was so hardened with
prejudice that he would attribute the miracles produced by the might of the
Spirit of Light to the prince of darkness could never believe (cf. John
12:37-40). It was and is not a. case of the unwillingness or inability of God
to forgive a sin. It was and is a matter of the unwillingness and inability
of those with hardened hearts to believe that they might be forgiven of sin.
There are yet infidels and agnostics who are so
"uncircumcised in heart and ears" that they ridicule the evidence
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that the Bible is the Word of
God. Unless their attitudes change, they can never be saved (Hebrews 2:1-4).
This is not because the Father is unwilling or unable to forgive. It is because
they cannot believe that he might pardon them.
Tempt
When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the apostle Peter concerning the price
of their land, they lied "to the Holy Spirit" (Acts 5:1-3). This
was because Peter was a Spirit-filled apostle, able, this passage necessarily
implies, to discern their spirits, i.e., to read their minds (cf. 1
Corinthians 12:10). Thus, Simon Peter rebuked Ananias,
"You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:4). The apostle later
chided Sapphira, "How is it that ye have
agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?" (Verse 9; King
James Version) The Holy Spirit, being God, cannot be tempted to sin
(James 1:13). Rather, the word "tempt" here denotes "to test"
(Thayer. 498) or try. In trying the ability of the Spirit to know the secrets
of their hearts and actions and in testing his determination to punish sin,
they were bound to lose.
When we sin we tempt or try God by testing his
knowledge of our hearts and activities and his will to punish the guilty
(Hebrews 3:7-9). We are bound to lose.
Resist
When Stephen was hailed before the sanhedrin on trumped up charges, he reviewed the history
of the Jewish nation, demonstrating how they had in each successive generation
rebelled against a merciful God. He closed his defense abruptly and
devastatingly by accusing his accusers:
You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You
always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the
prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold
the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and
murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not
kept it (Acts 7:51-53).
The term translated "resist" literally
means "to fall upon, run against," a definition dramatically
illustrated by the council's violent reaction to Stephen's speech, and is
here used to mean "to be adverse, oppose, strive against"
(Thayer. 51). The Jewish nation did not merely refuse to hear the prophets;
they persecuted them. The council did not simply reject Christ; they murdered
Him. This very council unwittingly further confirmed Stephen's scathing
accusation by stopping their ears and violently rushing him to an unlawful,
mob action death (Acts 7:54-60).
To "resist the Holy Spirit" is to
refuse to hear the preaching of the truth which proceeds from the Spirit of
Truth and to actively oppose the one who proclaims it. Shortly after my wife
and I moved to Northern
New York State,
I approached a preacher here about studying together to resolve our doctrinal
differences on the basis of the Scriptures. He not only publicly, adamantly
refused to study with me, he has continuously
vilified and slandered me and the Tri-County Church of Christ throughout the
area in the decade since. When one closes his mind to open discussion of the
Scriptures and actively opposes the teacher of the Word of God, he is
fighting, not just man, but God (Luke 10:16).
Grieve
The beloved apostle Paul exhorted the Ephesians,
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption"(Ephesians 4:30). This word means "to make
sorrowful; to affect with sadness" (Thayer. 383). Godly parents are
grieved terribly when their children abandon their teaching to lead sinful
lives. The Holy Spirit is saddened when we forsake his teaching to sin, and
the Father is sorrowful when we through transgression depart him (Hebrews
3:10-13).
Quench
Paul admonished the Thessalonians, "Do not
quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). This denotes "to
suppress; stifle" Him (Thayer. 572). First century Christians could
quench the Spirit by discouraging the use of or failing to use spiritual
gifts (1 Thessalonians 5:20; 2 Timothy 1:16). We are guilty of a parallel sin
if we fail to use our abilities and opportunities in the service of Christ or
if we discourage others from doing so (Matthew 25:14-30).
Insult
The writer of Hebrews warned:
Anyone who has
rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three
witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought
worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit
of grace? (Hebrews 10:28-29)
To "insult" is to "act with
insolence" (Vine. 1.300) or "to treat shamefully" (Thayer.
633), The context demonstrates that one can do this by turning back from
Christ (Hebrews 10:26-30). Those who turn back from following the Spirit of
truth, having once believed and obeyed his Word, insult him. Their threatened
punishment is dreadful beyond imagination. May we never be "of those who
draw back to perdition" (Hebrews 10:39).
Conclusion
The danger of sin against the Holy Spirit is
grave, and we must be on guard. Unbeliever, do not harden your heart to
blaspheme the Holy Spirit by ridiculing his testimony. Disobedient, do not
resist the Spirit of truth by closing your ears to the Gospel and opposing
those who proclaim it. Christians, do not tempt and grieve the Spirit by sin,
quench him by apathy or insult Him by falling away from Christ. If you are
not a Christian, please heed the Spirit's invitation.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'
And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever
desires, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).
Works
Cited
Thayer, J.H., A Greek-English Lexicon of the
New Testament.
Vine, W.E., An Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words.
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