Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
It is written that Jesus said all sins will be forgiven men except the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31). He did not say why, but I imagine that it is because the Holy Spirit makes is possible for us to receive the grace of God (Hebrews 10:29). This means without acknowledgement or acceptance of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be saved.
Even when God imparted His grace in the Old Testament, it was by His Holy Spirit. At the time, the Holy Spirit did not fill the believer, but now, in the New Testament, He does. So this high honor of receiving and accepting God's love, when despised, is considered blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and is unforgivable.
I have found 5 ways from Scripture that someone could blaspheme the Holy Spirit, they are:
- To speak against or treat Him with irreverence (Matt. 12:31), such as to say to someone "You are working for Satan", when he is actually witnessing to you the saving grace of God and Christ.
- To deceive or lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11).
- To utterly reject Christ, the Son of God (Heb. 10:29).
- To quench the Holy Spirit i.e. to suppress, despise, ignore, reject or resist His inspired teaching, instruction or warning; be it passively or aggressively, rejecting the Witness of Christ is blaspheming the Holy Spirit, because it is only with His help and power that His witnesses are able to be witnesses of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:19, Acts 7:51).
- To betray and murder His prophets (Acts 7:51-60).
The consequence for blaspheming the Holy Spirit is—no forgiveness. This may sound incredulously extreme, but blaspheming the Holy Spirit denotes utter rejection of God's love, by denying His Son, Jesus Christ; to spurn enduring faith in One Whom has saved us (John 3:16).
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit constitutes rejection of Christ because the Scripture says the Holy Spirit seals us until the end (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30). Without the Holy Spirit, God does not recognize you as a Christian on the great day of redemption.
And if you think logically, you would realize that repentance must precede salvation. We must repent of our sin before we can receive forgiveness, and be saved (1 John 1:9). So if we are never sorry for our sin, even after the Holy Spirit has corrected us (using His prophets, teachers, pastors, or His Direct Word), how can we be cleansed. Please see #4 above.
In other words how can we blaspheme the Holy Spirit and be forgiven?
We saw earlier that there is no forgiveness for blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The ramification of this consequence—blaspheming the Holy Spirit is death—the penalty for all sin (Romans 6:23). The only safeguard against committing the unforgivable sin is a redeeming relationship with God, and through Jesus Christ, His Son.
To begin your journey to salvation, say this prayer out loud, from your heart:
Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner, but I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins. And I believe that You raised Jesus from the dead, and made Him Lord. Heavenly Father, please forgive me of my sins. I don't want to sin anymore. I welcome Jesus into my heart and my life as my Lord and Savior right now. Please help me to live like Jesus. In the Name of Jesus I pray, and give you thanks. Amen.
Next, according to Acts 2:38, you must repent—turn away from sin. Get baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. And maintain your relationship with God through Christ by keeping the faith—praying, reading the Word of God, and obeying Him everyday, i.e. giving Him first place in your life.
Then you will be well on your way to salvation.
Yours in Christ's Love,
Denise
PS If already saved, when were you filled with the Holy Spirit?
