In Mark 3:28-30, Jesus mentions a sin, for which forgiveness is impossible. That's kind of a big deal. And I skipped it in this week's sermon. I don't think it was the main point of the passage. It think Jesus just dropped it into the conversation to warn the Pharisees that they were going to far. Let's take a look.
In the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, the unforgivable sin is mentioned only once (each) and each time in the context of a story. The Pharisees were attacking Jesus, claiming that he was working his miracles by the power of Satan, that he was possessed by the devil. Jesus counters that this argument is faulty because then Satan would be fighting Satan, something that Satan would not do. Then, he mentions, "Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29). Then to clarify, Mark adds, "He said this because they were saying, 'He has an impure spirit.'" (Mark 3:30).
Somethings in this passage are really clear, and really important. First, "people can be forgiven all their sins..." That is huge! Any sin can be forgiven (with one exception). But, before we look at the exception, think for a bit on how big of a statement it is that any sin can be forgiven. Murder? Yes...forgivable. Rape? Forgivable. Genocide? Forgivable. Suicide? Forgivable. Is that a good thing? Do we really want a God that could forgive a serial rapist-murder? Yes. Because I want to be able to be forgiven. And sin is not measured by some sin hierarchy that we create. The badness of sin is measured against the person against whom it was done. And every sin is against God. Therefore every sin is of infinite "badness" because it is against an infinite holy and infinite loving God. So rape and my religious pride are of essentially equal evil-ness because both are against a holy God. And so yes, I want every sin forgivable. I want forgiveness. And that is how great the work that Jesus did on the cross is. He bought forgiveness for every possible sin. No sin is so ugly that he could not personally pay the penalty that was due. And he did.
So what sin is beyond the ability of Christ to forgive? When I say it like that, it reveals that there must be something else in play here. Surely no sin is too ugly for the infinite worth of Jesus to pay off. So what of this unpardonable sin? What if it is not the badness of this sin that makes it unforgivable, but the process of this sin that makes it unforgivable. What if in equating the work of the Spirit to the Devil, one effectively rejects the only pathway to associating with the forgiving sacrifice of Jesus? This seems to be the best theory on this passage that I have read.
The Holy Spirit is the agent that changes my hard heart, making it accept the sacrifice of Jesus as my personal sacrifice of atonement. If I reject that agent, for example, by saying that his work is that of the devil, then I have just "killed" my only guide to eternal life. And then I am past hope.
Think about the Lord of the Rings. Remember Gollum? He is the creature that once held the ring, but now is simply trying to get it back (there will be a lot in the analogy that does not fit, so bear with me and don't try and make it expand beyond this application). Gollum has a key role to play in the end. In the end, Frodo can't give up the ring of power. He comes to the end of his mission and turns back, deciding to keep the ring after all. Gollum, also possessed by lust for the ring, attacks Frodo, biting off his ring finger. In the struggle, however, Gollum (and the ring) falls into the lava, destroying the ring. It turned out, that Gollum was essential to the completion of the mission. It turns out that had they destroyed Gollum in the beginning (which they are constantly tempted to do), then the whole mission would have failed. Killing Gollum would have been an "unpardonable sin," in that, they would have done something that would have cause the failure of the mission, though they did not necessarily see his significance at the time.
So can you accidentally kill your chance at eternal life? That is what Jesus is warning the Pharisees about. He seems to be warning them because they had unknowingly stepped across a line. But look what that is...its rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. How do you do that? By associating the work of the Holy Spirit with that which you utterly reject (like the Pharisees reject the devil as the core of evil). For example, when people take all preachers of the gospel, and say that they are utterly worthless. That is the means that the Holy Spirit is using to change them. IF they utterly reject that, there is no other way for them to be saved (Romans 10:14). So its a conscious, rejection of the power of God.
How can you know if you have already done that? If you have any desire for the things of God, then you still have the Holy Spirit working in your life. I've met several people that have been convinced that they are beyond hope because of this passage, and they were in fact not beyond hope. If you have any desire for God, Jesus wants to forgive your sins. He died to forgive you, no matter how ugly you think you are.
In the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, the unforgivable sin is mentioned only once (each) and each time in the context of a story. The Pharisees were attacking Jesus, claiming that he was working his miracles by the power of Satan, that he was possessed by the devil. Jesus counters that this argument is faulty because then Satan would be fighting Satan, something that Satan would not do. Then, he mentions, "Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29). Then to clarify, Mark adds, "He said this because they were saying, 'He has an impure spirit.'" (Mark 3:30).
Somethings in this passage are really clear, and really important. First, "people can be forgiven all their sins..." That is huge! Any sin can be forgiven (with one exception). But, before we look at the exception, think for a bit on how big of a statement it is that any sin can be forgiven. Murder? Yes...forgivable. Rape? Forgivable. Genocide? Forgivable. Suicide? Forgivable. Is that a good thing? Do we really want a God that could forgive a serial rapist-murder? Yes. Because I want to be able to be forgiven. And sin is not measured by some sin hierarchy that we create. The badness of sin is measured against the person against whom it was done. And every sin is against God. Therefore every sin is of infinite "badness" because it is against an infinite holy and infinite loving God. So rape and my religious pride are of essentially equal evil-ness because both are against a holy God. And so yes, I want every sin forgivable. I want forgiveness. And that is how great the work that Jesus did on the cross is. He bought forgiveness for every possible sin. No sin is so ugly that he could not personally pay the penalty that was due. And he did.
So what sin is beyond the ability of Christ to forgive? When I say it like that, it reveals that there must be something else in play here. Surely no sin is too ugly for the infinite worth of Jesus to pay off. So what of this unpardonable sin? What if it is not the badness of this sin that makes it unforgivable, but the process of this sin that makes it unforgivable. What if in equating the work of the Spirit to the Devil, one effectively rejects the only pathway to associating with the forgiving sacrifice of Jesus? This seems to be the best theory on this passage that I have read.
The Holy Spirit is the agent that changes my hard heart, making it accept the sacrifice of Jesus as my personal sacrifice of atonement. If I reject that agent, for example, by saying that his work is that of the devil, then I have just "killed" my only guide to eternal life. And then I am past hope.
Think about the Lord of the Rings. Remember Gollum? He is the creature that once held the ring, but now is simply trying to get it back (there will be a lot in the analogy that does not fit, so bear with me and don't try and make it expand beyond this application). Gollum has a key role to play in the end. In the end, Frodo can't give up the ring of power. He comes to the end of his mission and turns back, deciding to keep the ring after all. Gollum, also possessed by lust for the ring, attacks Frodo, biting off his ring finger. In the struggle, however, Gollum (and the ring) falls into the lava, destroying the ring. It turned out, that Gollum was essential to the completion of the mission. It turns out that had they destroyed Gollum in the beginning (which they are constantly tempted to do), then the whole mission would have failed. Killing Gollum would have been an "unpardonable sin," in that, they would have done something that would have cause the failure of the mission, though they did not necessarily see his significance at the time.
So can you accidentally kill your chance at eternal life? That is what Jesus is warning the Pharisees about. He seems to be warning them because they had unknowingly stepped across a line. But look what that is...its rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. How do you do that? By associating the work of the Holy Spirit with that which you utterly reject (like the Pharisees reject the devil as the core of evil). For example, when people take all preachers of the gospel, and say that they are utterly worthless. That is the means that the Holy Spirit is using to change them. IF they utterly reject that, there is no other way for them to be saved (Romans 10:14). So its a conscious, rejection of the power of God.
How can you know if you have already done that? If you have any desire for the things of God, then you still have the Holy Spirit working in your life. I've met several people that have been convinced that they are beyond hope because of this passage, and they were in fact not beyond hope. If you have any desire for God, Jesus wants to forgive your sins. He died to forgive you, no matter how ugly you think you are.
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