What is the unpardonable sin in Christianity?

The Bible speaks of an unpardonable sin and many a new Christian fears that he or she has committed it and cannot be saved. Is this true? Are there some people that just can't be forgiven?

There are six verses that refer to an unpardonable sin:

“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: 30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:28 –30)

“And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.” (Luke 12:10)

First, let’s look at the context of the verses. In the passage from Matthew, Jesus just cast demons out of a man who was blind and mute. When the church leaders (Pharisees) heard of it, they said that it was not by God’s powers that Jesus cast out the demons, but by Satan’s power. Jesus rebuked them, telling them that the power of Satan couldn’t cast out demons since demons were the servants of Satan. He said, “And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:26)

He went on to tell the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God (meaning Himself) was right in front of them and that they were standing against Him. They were blaspheming God by attributing the miracles of Jesus to Satan. It is the Holy Spirit that is the active force of the Godhead. God is the Mind of the Godhead, Jesus is the Body of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit is the Life-changing force of the Godhead. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus cast out the demons, so it was the Holy Spirit that the Pharisees blasphemed.

The verses from Mark refer to the same incident recorded in Matthew. Jesus is recorded here as saying, “And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (Mark 3:23-24) This is virtually the same thing recorded in Matthew. In the verses from Mark, there is another link that connects the Matthew verses to the same incident. Mark records that Jesus said, “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” (Mark 3:27) Matthew records the very same thing: “Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” (Matthew 12:29)

In the passage from Luke, the scene is not as clear. Jesus is among a multitude speaking with His disciples, warning them to avoid the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (vs. 1). He warns that the hypocrisy will be exposed, that nothing can be kept secret from God, and not to fear men who can only kill the body but to fear God who could cast them into hell. He tells them that those who confess Him on earth, He will confess in heaven and those who deny Him on earth, He will deny in heaven. (vs.2-9)

Though it’s not certain from the text, it would appear that the statement from Luke is from the same incident as the statements from Matthew and Mark. In all cases, Jesus is condemning the action of the Pharisees. In verse 11 of Luke 12, He reassures the disciples that if they are brought before the magistrates in the synagogue they shouldn’t worry about what they are to say, that the Holy Spirit will teach them what to say when they have to answer. This alludes to a need to answer for some crime and when we take these verses with the verses from Matthew, the alleged crime of the disciples might be casting out demons in Jesus name or just being disciples of Jesus. If this is the case, then Jesus is here saying the same thing that He says in the Matthew reference, that attributing the miracles of Christ to Satan is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

If this analysis of the Scripture is correct, then the unpardonable sin is not replicable today. It was sin then because the Pharisees were denying the man in their physical presence was the Christ and were attributing that physical man’s miracles to Satan. Since we don’t have Christ with us in the flesh, we couldn’t commit this sin.

The other theory on the unpardonable sin is that it is a virulent case of apostasy, or falling away from God. To be guilty of unforgivable apostasy, one would have to be in a constant state of rebellion against the Holy Spirit, to such a degree as to deny that sin even exists. Those who are concerned that they have committed the unpardonable sin cannot be in this state of apostasy or they wouldn’t be concerned about the unpardonable sin. So the concern itself relieves the possibility of having committed this sin. Either way, believers cannot have committed the unpardonable sin.

But we do all have sins that require forgiveness. This is not something we do once and are done with it. We will continually need to ask for forgiveness. God is faithful to forgive us when we ask sincerely and put effort into not repeating the sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Once we are forgiven for a sin, we must put forth all effort to avoid repeating it. We are instructed, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” (Ephesians 5:8) And we are promised “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalms 103:12)

Satan will try to confuse and frighten Christians. He knows that if you are afraid, you are not as effective against him. He will try to twist the Word of God and make you believe things that are not true. You cannot be guilty of the unpardonable sin if you are concerned about it. Your concern alone reveals that you wish not to grieve the Holy Spirit. So, go forward in your relationship with God. Ask for and accept His forgiveness, for He is faithful to forgive.

(All Scripture is KJV)