Today’s reading is Luke 12: 1-21

In our reading from this morning, we see one of the more fearful passages in all the Bible, the concept of blasphemy.  Jesus tells us that it is the unforgivable sin.  But why?  What makes it unforgivable.  What is so bad about it, that makes it worse than anything else?

Notice what He says, “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”  Here is why that is the case.  The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through who we interact with the divine.  It is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin.  It is the Holy Spirit that calls us forward to grow.  It is the Holy Spirit through whom we receive grace.

In short, it is the Holy Spirit that allows us to know that we have done wrong, that gives us the grace to repent of our sin, and then gives us the assurance of salvation. As you can see it is the Holy Spirit that actually makes Christian growth possible.

Well, the reason why blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgivable is because when you do this, you are cutting off your means of conviction, repentance, and assurance. Without the Holy Spirit, you cannot know these things.  To blaspheme the Spirit is to attribute the works of God to the devil. It is to make evil good and good evil.  It is to attribute what God does to Satan.

If you are doing this, you have cut yourself completely off from God and, you aren’t able to be forgiven because you are so far from God you won’t ask.  That is what makes it unforgivable.  You won’t ask. I’ve met many people in my ministry that feel like they’ve blasphemed.  I always ask them do they feel bad.  They say yes, and then I say, well then you haven’t because if you had, you would not feel bad.  ​

Blasphemy, in the end, is unforgivable because you won’t ask for forgiveness.

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