If someone sins against the Holy Spirit and is not forgiven, does he [still] have a chance to go to heaven?
We cannot go beyond the inspired Scriptures. The Bible clearly declares that there is only one sin which will not be forgiven. – Matthew 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Context: The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to proclaim the truth about His life, death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit’s work is to convict people of their sin, guilt and need of a Savior. – John 16:7-9 I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me.
Commentary: All must choose how we think about certain passages in the Bible which are not clearly explained in a way that our intellect can fully comprehend. This passage in Matthew 12:32 is one where we have chosen to agree with those theologians who would believe that this particular sin against the Holy Spirit was specifically applied to that particular point in history or is representative of a person who continually, until their death, rejects the truth about Jesus.
The theological positions we find most helpful would be the following:
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has to do with accusing Jesus Christ of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled. This particular type of blasphemy cannot be duplicated today. The Pharisees were in a unique moment in history: they had the Law and the Prophets, they had the Holy Spirit stirring their hearts, they had the Son of God Himself standing right in front of them, and they saw with their own eyes the miracles He did. Never before in the history of the world (and never since) had so much divine light been granted to men; if anyone should have recognized Jesus for who He was, it was the Pharisees. Yet they chose defiance. They purposely attributed the work of the Spirit to the devil, even though they knew the truth and had the proof. Jesus declared their willful blindness to be unpardonable. Their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was their final rejection of God’s grace. They had set their course, and God was going to let them sail into perdition unhindered.
Jesus told the crowd that the Pharisees’ blasphemy against the Holy Spirit “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). This is another way of saying that their sin would never be forgiven, ever. Not now, not in eternity. As Mark
3:29 puts it, “They are guilty of an eternal sin.” Another theologian helps us with the following explanation:
Blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven: Jesus solemnly warned the religious leaders against rejecting Him. Their rejection of Jesus – especially considered what they had seen of Jesus and His work – showed that they were completely rejecting the Holy Spirit’s ministry. That ministry is to testify to Jesus, hence the warning of committing the unforgivable sin.
- The Holy Spirit’s main ministry is to testify of Jesus (He will testify of Me, John 15:26). When that testimony of Jesus is fully and finally rejected, one has truly blasphemed the Holy Spirit and essentially called Him a liar in respect to His testimony about Jesus. The religious leaders were close to this.
- To reject Jesus from a distance or with little information is bad; to reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit about Jesus is fatal.
- Many sincere people have been grievously troubled with apprehensions that they had committed the unpardonable sin; but let it be observed that no man who believes the Divine mission of Jesus Christ, ever can commit this sin: therefore let no man’s heart fail because of it, from henceforth and for ever, Amen.
With gratitude we share the above thoughts with you, but we do not want to leave you without returning to the clear proclamation of what it means to be totally forgiven of every sin through trusting in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
Salvation and Eternity in Heaven with God: We are all guilty of violation of God’s Law of Love. All of us have sinned against God and our neighbors time and time again.
God’s Holy Law of Love: – Mark 12:29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
There is only one remedy for sin: Death. God in His gracious mercy and perfect Love declared He would accept the perfect life and death of His Son Jesus as just payment for the sins of any person who would believe, trust and love Jesus.
It is clear that Saving Faith is totally dependent upon what one believes to be true about Jesus Christ. What one believes about Jesus and the discarding of anything untrue about Jesus are the single most important thoughts an individual will ever have! Why? One’s eternity, either in heaven or in hell, depends on the answer.
The Holy Spirit comes to each person and convicts them of the reality of their sin and hopelessness to erase even one single sin. He then declares that believing and trusting in Jesus Christ will allow a perfectly righteous God to accept Jesus’ death as our Substitute in our place.
When a person turns from this witness of the Holy Spirit he/she is declaring God to be a liar. This springs from a willfully dead heart intent on rejecting Jesus Christ. At that point there is nothing left for that individual but to receive what he/she has chosen, which is eternal separation from God in a place called hell prepared for the devil and his angels. – Matthew 25:41
We have attached a link to our “I BELIEVE” statements, which help clarify truths about who Jesus is. We hope and pray your heart will be inclined to read, trust and believe in Jesus Chirst as your Savior and Friend. https://wasitforme.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/I-Believe.pdf
As you have the opportunity and desire to respond, we would be pleased to attempt to answer any other questions you might have. We deeply care about your eternal future.
All our love to All, In Christ – Jon + Philis + Friends @ WasItForMe.com
