What Is Blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

In Mark 3 and Matthew 12 are passages where Jesus talked about blaspheming the Spirit as an unforgivable sin. I never really understood these verses because they seemed to contradict the Bible in other places where it talks about the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for our sins:

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." - 1 Peter 3:18, NIV 

"For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified." - Hebrews 10:14, Holman

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." - John 3:16-17 

These are beautiful verses: Jesus Christ's death on the cross covers and forgives our sins - once for all time - for those who receive it by faith. That's what the Bible teaches. So what is this unforgivable sin, and why is it not clear what it is? Honestly I have been ignoring those verses because they just didn't make sense to me.

Well, I started watching a new video from Jonathan Kleck this week. He began by warning the audience about attributing insights in his videos to the work of Satan. Apparently someone had left a comment on a video saying Kleck's interpretation was from Satan. By Kleck's reasoning, since his interpretations were really from the Holy Spirit, attributing them to Satan was blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Therefore this commenter was irredeemably consigned to hell. Kleck's statement so appalled me that I shut off the video and, after praying about it, left this comment:

"Jonathan, why don't you let God condemn people to hell for not believing in his Son Jesus Christ, rather than you condemn people to hell for not believing you and attributing it to Satan." 

Kleck replied, "I'm trying to stop others from making his mistake."

Okay, I think he genuinely believes that. Kleck believes that if he says, for instance, the Vatican looks like the head of a snake, and someone comes along and replies, "Oh, what you said is satanic," then that person committed the unforgivable sin and will go to hell no matter what - based on the verses about blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

The next morning, blaspheming the Holy Spirit again appeared in a post on my friend James' blog. I took it as a confirmation that the Lord wanted me to look closely at it. So my wife and I read and discussed it and both came to the same conclusion. I will try to explain it here, though please bear with all the detail. This is not something I can explain in a cursory way.

When I encounter difficult verses like these, I tend to set them aside until God gives me more insight into how they fit in. God's truth, while it may be multi-faceted, does not contradict itself. His word in the Scriptures never changes. All of it will be fulfilled. This is why we should study the Bible as a whole, using Scripture to interpret Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to arrive at the truth. Otherwise we risk taking a verse out of context, assigning a meaning that contradicts the rest of Scripture and getting into error.

The Bible is like a complex tapestry with many thousands of colored threads woven together to form a magnificent picture of the truth of God. Each thread conveys part of the picture. But it must be woven perfectly with the other threads, otherwise it becomes a snag that that hangs out and distracts. If pulled too hard, it can unravel the picture.

Here is the full passage in Matthew 12:

"Then some people brought him a man controlled by demons who was blind and mute; and Yeshua [Jesus] healed him, so that he could both speak and see. The crowds were astounded and asked, 'This couldn't be the Son of David, could it?' But when the Pharisees heard of it, they said, 'It is only by Ba`al-Zibbul' -- the ruler of the demons -- 'that this man drives out demons.' However, knowing what they were thinking, Yeshua said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not survive. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; so how can his kingdom survive? Besides, if I drive out demons by Ba`al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you! Or again, how can someone break into a strong man's house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? After that he can ransack his house. Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering. Because of this, I tell you that people will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. One can say something against the Son of Man and be forgiven; but whoever keeps on speaking against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither in the present age nor in the age to come. If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. You snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil. Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned.'" - Matthew 12:22-37, Complete Jewish Bible

First, let me ask a question: What if this verse and the parallel account in Mark 3 were not in the Bible? What would be the unforgivable sin? Would God forgive hatred, murder, war, adultery, abuse, theft, idolatry, deceit? Yes, He will forgive all those things - if we believe in the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. When we stand before God on Judgment Day, the only unforgivable sin is never accepting Jesus as our Savior. If we are with Jesus, then everything is covered by his blood sacrifice. If we are not with Jesus, then nothing is covered and God's wrath remains.

To refuse Jesus Christ as God's exclusive way of redemption is, I believe, exactly what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. To see why, read this passage in context very closely. I would suggest at least five times. Pay close attention to each phrase and how they build upon each other. Note who Jesus is talking to and what are the arguments He is making.

First of all, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, the religious leaders who consistently opposed Jesus during his ministry. The Pharisees were learned men who felt threatened by Jesus' teaching, miracles and appeal to the masses. They were self-righteous and thought they knew it all. Therefore, the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus in order to accuse him of blasphemy or discredit him. For instance, they cleverly asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? This was a no-win question. If Jesus said yes, they could accuse him of being disloyal to the nation of Israel, because Rome was a foreign occupier. If He said no, they could accuse him of being a rebel and agitator against the state. Jesus asked to see a denarius, a coin used to pay taxes, and asked whose image and inscription was on it. "Caesar's," they replied. So Jesus told them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Wow! They were amazed at his response. He answered the question but avoided their trap.

So Jesus often dealt with the Pharisees in clever and indirect ways. He spoke in parables and used double meanings and surprising turns of logic. This passage in Matthew 12 is no exception.

In the passage, Jesus healed a demon-possessed man, which prompted crowds to ask if He might be the Messiah (Son of David is a reference to the hoped-for Messiah). The Pharisees, true to form, said no, Jesus was driving out demons by Baal-Zibbul, the prince of demons. They hoped to discredit the notion that Jesus was the Messiah or Savior. That's what this whole passage is about - whether Jesus is the Messiah and whether a person is for or against him.

Jesus refuted their argument by pointing that Satan would not tear down his own work. If he did, Satan's kingdom would fall. Next, Jesus said if He is driving out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon them. According to prophecy, who were the Jews expecting to usher in the Kingdom of God? The Messiah, the prophetic "son of David." Jesus was saying that since He drove out demons by the Spirit of God, the Kingdom of God had come and, by implication, He was the Messiah.

In verse 30 Jesus made a definitive, black-and-white statement: "Those who are not with me are against me." This is a claim He also made elsewhere in the gospels, such as in John 14:6 when He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus offers the exclusive way of reconciliation with God. The logic and rhythm of that statement continues for the rest of this passage.

"and those who do not gather with me are scattering." Again, people are either with Jesus (gathering) or against him (scattering).

"Because of this, I tell you that people will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy [with Jesus], but blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven [against Jesus]." Those who are with Jesus will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy. Those against Jesus are guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, because they deny Jesus operated by the Spirit of God, deny  the Kingdom of God had come, and therefore deny Jesus is the Messiah. Do you see, this is all one thought, one interconnected statement that Jesus was making.

"One can say something against the Son of Man and be forgiven [with Jesus]; but whoever keeps on speaking against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither in the present age nor in the age to come [against Jesus]." The logic of "with Jesus or against Jesus" continues. A person can have spoken against the Son of Man and be forgiven, like the Apostle Paul who persecuted Christians prior to his conversion. Or the Apostle Peter who denied knowing Jesus three times on the night before his crucifixion. They are "with Jesus" and therefore forgiven. Those who speak against the Holy Spirit and by extension deny Jesus is the Messiah will never be forgiven... unless they repent and believe and become "with Jesus."

"If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good [with Jesus]; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad [against Jesus]; for a tree is known by its fruit." People who are with Jesus bear good fruit. People against Jesus bear bad fruit.

"You snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. The good person brings forth good things from his store of good [with Jesus], and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil [against Jesus]." Blasphemy is a sin of speech, but Jesus pointed out that words flow from the heart. The real problem with the Pharisees was their evil, unbelieving hearts, which is why they were against Jesus.

"Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned." On Judgment Day, our fates will be decided by whether we spoke with our mouths and believed with our hearts that we are "with Jesus."

I apologize for such a tedious explanation, but I hope this clarifies what "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" is. Some Christians have wondered whether they might have committed an unforgivable sin by something they said and perhaps lost their salvation. I'm here to tell you that if you are "with Jesus," you will be forgiven "any sin and blasphemy." Jesus said so. Just repent and let the blood of Christ cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

The Hard Rain

I woke up early this morning to hear to the sound of a rainstorm pounding the roof. It takes a lot to wake me up so this was LOUD. This thought came to me: The blood of Christ cleanses our souls from unrighteousness like the hard rain.

Message from the Wildfire - The Light Has Come into the World

Last week a wildfire erupted around midnight on Table Rock, an iconic geological formation in the foothills behind Boise, Idaho. Table Rock has a prominent cross on it that lights up at night, which you can see here in this previous photo (from TripAdvisor):

My neighbor rang my doorbell at about 12:45 a.m. to warn me. I looked out my window and saw a wall of fire burning across the mesa next to Table Rock. My house sits at the base of the foothills about a mile away. I stayed up all night because the fire was moving toward my house until fire crews stopped it the next morning.

Note: Last fall my five-year-old daughter, who doesn't normally share her dreams, said she dreamed about a "volcano" that came to our neighbor's house but stopped before it reached our house. The morning after the fire, my daughter pointed to the scorched-black mesa and said, "That's a volcano."

The event was spectacular and had an apocalyptic feel. Crackling fire and smoke, flashing lights of emergency vehicles, people in the streets, lightning from the sky came down on the burn area and arced overhead.

The day after a someone sent my wife this image of the fire. I don't know who took the photo, but there's a message in it:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  

For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 

But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

- John 3:16-21

My Story, Part One: Lost to Found to Lost Again

A Search for Meaning

One night when I was a teenager, I fell asleep on my bed at home. My dreams took me to a place that was like my backyard. It was nighttime and dark, and I was alone. There I felt the presence of some unknown evil. I heard words being chanted, the same phrase over and over. The exact words escape me now, but I remembered them at the time. They spoke of the nature of the darkness and its malicious intent. This darkness was pursing me.

I woke up feeling a dreadful, spine-tingling fear, as if the darkness were still present in my room. Instinctively, I reached for a Bible on the bookshelf, which was a gift from my mother, and held it close to my chest like a talisman. I believed in God, though religion was not a large focus of my life. Yet somehow I knew that God could protect me. When I awoke again the next morning, I was still clutching the Bible. I do not normally wake up during the night or remember my dreams, but this one remains in my memory even today, a quarter century later.

A few years after that, during my senior year of high school, I was lying on my bed at night again, only this time not sleeping. Thoughts raced and swirled through my head. They were nothing in particular and everything in general: A math exam. Where I might attend college. A girl I was interested in. The district cross country meet. The girl I used to date but broke up with. The school dance on Friday. My grades. Going out with friends on Saturday…

Then a deeper thought crept into my consciousness: What is the purpose of all this activity and frenzy? What is the meaning of it? This philosophical question haunted me. During the busyness of the day I could ignore it, but at night on my bed as my thoughts raced, it surfaced like a behemoth from the deep and demanded an answer. What is the meaning of your life? I did not know.

In English class we read the poem Ozymandias by the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

An ambitious classmate jokingly repeated the phrase, “Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” as if to taunt others about his achievements. But those were not the words that stood out to me. It was the end of the poem, the decay and boundless sand, that resonated. Here again was the question, what is the point of it all, if this also is my end?

That winter a friend invited me to attend a Christian youth retreat in the mountains of Idaho. My family was planning a vacation trip to Disney Land at the same time, but I decided to forego the vacation and attend the retreat – so heavily were these spiritual questions weighing on my mind! There I heard about the concept of a God-shaped void in every person’s heart. People try to fill this emptiness with many things – human relationships, achievements, entertainment, chemicals, thrills, denial – but ultimately God only fits because we are created to be in communion with him. We are made to experience, serve and know God above all. That resonated with my heart, and deep down, I believed it to be true.

After that came more questions. Which church or religion has the right God? There are many religions in the world, and even within Christianity, there are numerous denominations and points of view. How can Jesus be both God and man? That Christian doctrine seemed fantastic and hard to accept. I attended a Bible study affiliated with the church that sponsored the retreat. I talked to people about these questions and read spiritual books.

Eventually I concluded that the answer to my search for meaning was not in a religion, but in a person, Jesus Christ. He claimed to be the way and the truth and the life, God in the body of a man and the one who could fill the void I so keenly felt. And I believed. The meaning I craved welled up inside as my heart centered upon God’s Son. A sense of forgiveness and joy also followed. I do not recollect a specific day or moment when this happened, but after a long journey I finally arrived at heaven’s gate.
A Time of Growth and Excitement

Next came a time of exploration, growth and excitement in my new-found faith. After graduating from high school, I went to a state university to study engineering and lived in a dormitory with roommates from my hometown. One afternoon I heard a knock on the door. It was a man with a campus Christian ministry who was surveying students for their spiritual interests. Through this introduction, I joined the group and also attended a local evangelical church.

The campus Christian ministry emphasized Bible study, Scripture memory, prayer, fellowship and evangelism. They adhered to a literal interpretation of the Bible, which I adopted, and stressed the importance of obedience to God’s word.

After participating for a while in a Bible study, the leader said the next meeting would be an evangelism outing where we would go door-to-door in the dormitory. I felt nervous and fearful about it. When the day arrived, I decided to go with my roommate to study at a coffee shop instead. On the way I happened to walk by the ministry leader, and he asked where I was headed. I told him and he looked a little disappointed, but said, “Alright.” The guilt set in as I sat at the coffee shop. I decided the right thing was to go on the evangelism outing after all, so I left the coffee shop. Mostly I stood by as he did the talking, but it was my first experience in stepping out in a bold way to share my faith.

A spiritual practice I learned that remains with me even now is a “quiet time,” which is spending some time alone with God in meditation, reading and prayer. More than anything else, quiet times help me to settle down, tune out life’s distractions and reconnect with what is important. I remember reading through the Old Testament book of Isaiah in a series of quiet times, sitting in an easy chair with a yellow coffee mug in hand.

I dated a girl during my first summer break, and after returning to school in the fall, the ministry leader and his wife discouraged me from continuing this relationship. They felt dating would be a distraction to my spiritual growth and certainly discouraged any sort of physical intimacy. He also recommended I wait for at least a couple years after college before concerning myself with marriage. I conceded and broke off the dating relationship.

During my second summer break I traveled to Ivory Coast, West Africa, for a six-week service project with another fellow from the U.S. We participated in a variety of Christian ministries. It was arranged on the other end by a missionary affiliated with the same campus Christian ministry. Afterward I wrote a summary of the trip afterward entitled “My Summer Vacation.” Here is an excerpt:

We left to go to a Bakwé village (a tribe of about 7,000 to 10,000 people spread out in south-western Ivory Coast) with a Wycliffe missionary named Csaba. He and his wife were in the process of learning the Bakwé language in order to translate the Scriptures into that dialect. They had recently come back from furlough and were preparing to go back to the village called Touadji Deux. We spent a week there helping him make repairs on his “bush house” while his wife and children waited at the headquarters in Abidjan.

The morning after we arrived, we walked around the village of about 200-250 people in order to greet the villagers. Csaba had taught us the Bakwé salutations, which we were expected to use. The villagers gave my partner Dave the name Yaowa and me the name Digbi, which means “strong.” (Who are they kidding?) A group of about ten children followed us as we walked from house to house. Often, one or two of them would hold our hands as we walked along. They were cute.

Dave built a table and some shelves. I helped Csaba with some electrical wiring (he had two solar panels on his roof) and with building a screen door. I had a cold that week, which brought my energy level down. We had a fun time, though, and were able to accomplish quite a bit.

I learned so much from Csaba’s house boy Janvier. He is a Christian from Burkina Faso, the country to the north of Ivory Coast, whose love for God was contagious and whose effervescent joy brought tears to my eyes. He was so excited to see Csaba when we arrived that he was jumping up and down and saying, “Le Seigneur est bon!” (“The Lord is good!”) He ran and gave Csaba a hug.

That man’s faith was so simple and childlike that it made me feel ashamed. Csaba was told by two European missionaries who lived in his house while he and his family were gone that they were having a problem with mice. They set a trap, but did not catch any mice. Janvier said that he would pray about where to put the traps. Who would think to pray about where to put a mouse trap? To us, that might seem almost silly, but it was not to Janvier. Janvier reported back and said that God had shown him in a dream to put the mouse trap in a certain spot on top of a wall in the house, as the house had no ceiling. In three days they caught twenty mice! Janvier reminded me that God cares so much about even the small things (see Luke 12:28). Also, his enthusiasm and love for all people and his desire for them to know the Lord warmed my heart.

Honeymoon Fades

As my heart for God and people grew, I steadily lost my passion for studying engineering. It seemed abstract, esoteric and uninspiring. So I thought about changing to a more relational major like counseling or teaching. In fact, three times I nearly made the switch, but after discussing it with numerous people including a college dean as well as another leader in the campus Christian ministry, I decided to stick with engineering and finish my degree.

Early on in Bible study I learned about a Christian doctrine called eternal security. It claims that once a person believes in Christ and becomes a child of God, he cannot lose his salvation. It gave me great comfort knowing that I belonged to God and nothing could snatch me out of his hand. One day ministry leader told me he doubted eternal security and said it might be possible for a person to lose his salvation. This surprised me because earlier he had advocated for eternal security, so I asked him what he would tell a new Christian about this issue. He said he would reassure them with eternal security and wait until later to bring up this thornier issue. The duplicity angered me, but the idea itself made me fearful and anxious. Was he right? Was my salvation necessarily secure?

I felt a great burden, a compulsion, to always obey God. I constantly studied the Bible to understand God’s precepts and learn how I should live. I was reluctant even to jaywalk, copy music or drive faster than the speed limit because the Bible said we should follow governmental laws. I felt compelled to share my faith with people. My knowledge of the Bible was strong, but it led to a kind of “analysis paralysis.” I could argue from Scripture both ways on eternal security. Life became tedious and exacting, and my faith was a source of continuous anxiety. It occurred to me that I was happier and freer and a more enjoyable person in my pre-Christian days. How could that be? Christianity was supposed to be a religion of peace, goodness and joy.

While still in college, I fell in love with a Christian woman and considered asking her to marry me. More to the point, I really thought God was leading me in that direction. When I brought this up with the ministry leader, he did not like it and strongly discouraged pursuing it. Who was he to say that? I felt very upset. This issue precipitated a break with the campus Christian ministry. I later asked the woman to marry me and sent the leader a postcard informing him after the fact.

Faith on the Back Burner

The spiritual conflict and discouragement continued, though I was still involved at church. I became ill with mononucleosis, which evolved into chronic fatigue syndrome. I was tired and slept all the time, except when I pulled myself out of bed to go to work. The only spiritual activity that comforted me was prayer.

One morning, as I walked across the lawn, the psychological and emotional turmoil reached such a degree that I was afraid I might snap or somehow come apart. I made a decision, then and there, to let go and put my faith on the back burner. I had to.

I turned my attention to things I enjoyed. I went back to school for a master’s degree in business administration. I studied, worked and traveled in Europe. Life was happier and freer and I felt more alive. God blessed me with some good times during those years. While I distanced myself from matters of religion, God did not distance himself from me. He would later renew my faith. Because it is true: The Father gives eternal life, and no one can snatch us out of his hand (John 10:28).

For part two, see Lost to Found Again!