Among other things, Jesus promised His followers a full and abundant life (Jn. 10:10). As mentioned last week, living in a shadow of doubt can be an indication of unrepentant sin. Though, arguably the most difficult command we have been called to obey, repentance leads to what Peter describes as “times of refreshing…from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). For whatever reason, some continue to carry a burden Jesus has long-since carried away. There are several passages in the New Testament which, when improperly applied, can produce unnecessary doubt concerning the forgiveness of our sins.
After Jesus had healed a man whose demon-possession had made him both blind and mute, the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons (Mt. 12:22-24). In other words, they attributed to the devil the work of the Holy Spirit and, in this way, committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Subsequently, Jesus commented, “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31–32).
We have long said that any sin of which a person can repent—of that sin, he can be forgiven. Those who had blasphemed the Holy Spirit by attributing His work to Satan exhibited such hardness of heart as to bring them to a point where repentance was no longer possible.
Keep in mind that Jesus knew their hearts just as He knows our hearts better that we ourselves (Mt. 12:25; Hb. 4:13). As human beings, we could never make such a determination about another person in as much as we are incapable of knowing another’s thoughts or intentions.
The situation Jesus describes is unique in that His miracles were open and subject to scrutiny.
Yet, no one offered objection to the validity of any of His miracles. They could not be denied.
But, rather than allowing these miracles to testify about the identity of Jesus as the Christ, they spoke against the Holy Spirit through whom Jesus had performed them. This is a situation which cannot be duplicated in our day. Jesus is no longer physically present on earth. Through His fully-confirmed word, His identity is abundantly manifested. And, in obeying His will, we have assurance of the cleansing power of Christ’s blood (1 Jn. 1:7-9).
–Glen Elliott–