Any sin of which a person can repent—of that sin, he may be forgiven. Forgiveness is conditioned upon repentance; but the heart can become so hardened as to move beyond the point of repentance. So, the problem is not forgiveness but repentance.
As mentioned last week, Jesus highlighted blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as a sin for which a person could not be forgiven (Mt. 12:22-32). Because the Pharisees had attributed to Satan miracles they knew were from God, Jesus said their sin could not be forgiven. Their hearts were beyond repentance.
A second passage to be considered is Hebrews 6:4-6 which reads: “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
Addressed to Jewish Christians tempted to go back under Judaism in order to avoid persecution, the book of Hebrews powerfully shows the superiority of following Christ. Those mentioned in this passage had fully experienced all the joys and blessings of being a Christian; but had fallen away. As indicated in the original language, they had dropped out, forsaken and abandoned the Christian faith. Of these, he says, “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance…” (vs. 6). Repentance is forever at the door to forgiveness. Where there is no repentance, there can be no forgiveness.
We are incapable of knowing precisely when a person’s heart becomes so hardened by sin as to be beyond repentance. But, abandoning Christ after fully experiencing the benefits of being a Christian is tantamount to crucifying afresh the Son of God (cf. Hb. 10:29). One who is worried about whether or not they have sinned away the grace of God is unlikely to have reached the point of no return. However, we know that hardness of heart is a progressive spiritual disease and that persistent rejection and resistance to God’s loving call to repentance will one day render His voice so faint as to be no longer heard. So, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Hb. 3:15).
–Glen Elliott–