Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, or the unpardonable sin, consists of progressive resistance to truth that ends in a final and irrevocable decision against it, deliberately made in the full knowledge that by so doing a person is choosing his own action in opposition to God’s Word.
The conscience is seared by continued resistance to the warnings of the Holy Spirit, and one may not know that he has made the deadly decision. So, a person troubled with a fear that he has committed the “unpardonable sin,” has a definitive evidence that he has not committed it.
A person whose conscience troubles him may fix the problem and remove the tension in one of two ways: He may yield to the changing power of the Holy Spirit and respond to the warnings of God by repenting of his sins, or he may sear his conscience and remove its painful promptings by silencing the Holy Spirit. The Lord urges people, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
The person who takes the second path cannot repent, because his conscience has been forever made insensitive, and he does not want to repent. He has purposely set his heart beyond the reach of divine grace. His persistent wrong choice results in the loss of the power to differentiate between good and evil. Evil finally appears to be good, and good appears to be evil. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 also Micah 3:2 ). Such is the foolishness of sin.
The conscience is often called the eye of God in the heart of man. God implanted it to warn men that they may live in obedience to the light that has been revealed to them. To ignore it is to risk one’s salvation. Deliberate and persistent disobedience to God finally becomes a habit that cannot be broken. This is called the “hardening the heart” (Exodus 4:21).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
