Mark 3:28-30 The Message
“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”
Mark 3:28-30 NLT
What is the unpardonable sin? That question came up in a discussion this week. Let's see what a couple of our study resources have to say about it.
From the NIV Study Bible, copyright 1985,1995, 2002, 2008, 2011 by Zondervan and the fully revised edition of the NIV Study Bible
28-30 Jesus follows this story with a solemn pronouncement: forgiveness is available for all the sins and blasphemies of humans except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What is that sin? Verse 30 suggests an explanation. Jesus had done what any unprejudiced person would have acknowledged as a good thing. He had freed an unfortunate man from the power and bondage of evil through the power of the Holy Spirit, but the teachers of the law ascribed it to the power of Satan. To call light darkness or good evil or Jesus' work satanic because of prejudice in one's heart is the worst sin of all.The words of v.29 have caused great anxiety and pain in the history of the church. Many have wondered whether they have committed the "unpardonable sin." Surely what Jesus is speaking of here is not an isolated act but a settled condition of the soul—the result of a long history of repeated and willful acts of sin through hardness of heart (cf. 3:5). On the other hand, any who are troubled about this sin give evidence that they have not committed it. If the person involved cannot be forgiven, it is not so much that God refuses to forgive as it is the sinner who refuses to allow him.
From the fully revised edition:
In Mk 3:29 Jesus says that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (cf. Lk 12:10). Matthew’s account adds that even blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:31–32). What is this unforgivable sin and why is it associated with the Holy Spirit (cf. 1Jn 5:16 and note)? Doesn’t the blood of Christ cover every sin?Mark gives us some help for interpretation by noting that “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit’ ” (3:30). Jesus has been healing the sick and casting out demons in the power of the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:28; Lk 11:20). Yet the religious leaders attribute the work of the Spirit to Satan (Mk 3:22; cf. Mt 12:24; Lk 11:15). In other words, they look right into the light and then turn to the darkness. The key to the unpardonable sin, then, seems to lie in the role of the Holy Spirit, which is to reveal God and draw people to the truth. Anyone who rejects the work of the Spirit in their life is essentially rejecting any hope of salvation (Jn 16:8; 1Co 2:14).The assumption would seem to be that by directly rejecting the Spirit’s work, the religious leaders have reached the point of no return, since the truth will never be clearer than at this point in time. In this way they have committed a sin that will never be forgiven.Of course, we as humans are not the all-knowing God and so we don’t know when a person has actually reached this point. We therefore keep proclaiming the gospel and calling for repentance, assuming no one is beyond the opportunity for forgiveness. Furthermore, no one in Scripture who wants to repent is told they cannot. Those who genuinely seek repentance show that they cannot have committed any unforgivable sin.
Prayer:
Father,
Thank You for the Truth of Your Word to shine the light on the scariest of thoughts and to dispel the darkness. We are SO grateful that we are able to find the remedy for everything we face already written for us. Give us hearts of understanding. Holy Spirit, guide us into all Truth. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen
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