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What is the Unpardonable Sin?

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What is the Unpardonable Sin?  Jay Zinn


THROUGHOUT MY 40 years as a pastor, I have often encountered questions about the "unpardonable" sin. Jesus addressed this particular sin when the Pharisees accused him of accessing Satan’s power to cast out demons to heal the blind and mute man. He warned his opponents that they inadvertently blasphemed the Holy Spirit when they said these things because his power to heal comes from Him. Jesus could overlook this slander against himself, but their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was unpardonable and an eternal sin (Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:28-30; and Luke 12:10).


Christians aren’t in the habit of accusing Jesus of using demonic powers to heal. However, there is an indication in the letters of Hebrews and 1 John that an “unpardonable sin” can be committed by those who have “insulted the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).

Let’s paint a hypothetical picture of this. A person gets legitimately “born again” because they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, convicting their conscience of sin. In response, the person repents for their sins and tastes the heavenly gift of salvation and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. They go on to enjoy this relationship with God for a season but are later derailed and backslide from their faith. Something causes them to become bitter and hardened toward God.


Over an extended period of time, the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit’s effort to restore their relationship gradually diminishes. Their hearts eventually become so callous that they’re incapable of conviction, which leads to repentance. Though this takes many years, when the point of “no return” arrives, bringing them back to repentance is impossible. Their deliberate, willful acts of sin result in their having an impenetrable heart, incapable of returning to the salvation they've forfeited.


They have trampled underfoot the Son of God and treated as an unholy thing the blood of the new covenant that once sanctified them. Christ’s sacrifice for their sin has been terminated, with no sacrifice left to protect them from the raging judgment of God’s wrath against all his enemies. This is where the "point of no return" occurs, where the Holy Spirit is insulted―essentially blasphemed―and is the sin that leads to eternal spiritual death.


I bring this to your attention because many have come to me for prayer, fearful they committed the unpardonable sin. But I assured them they had not reached that point. If they had come to that state of “forfeiture,” we wouldn’t be having this conversation because if you commit the unpardonable sin, the sin that leads to death―you would not care if you had. Any concern proves the Holy Spirit can still penetrate your heart with conviction, leading to repentance.


Scriptures: Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:26-27, 29; 1 John 5:16

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