“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 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 – Matthew 12: 31 – 32
Many people have used this scripture to say that we cannot ‘complain’ to God. That if we complain, we are speaking against the Holy Spirit. When I hear this, I often question whether the person has ever forayed into the book of Psalm for it is awash with what can certainly be termed as complaining. Furthermore, not being able to speak our minds to a God who willingly killed Himself for us when we did not deserve it seems a little bit unreasonable. Trust me, God can handle our complaints. In fact, He is interested in hearing our hearts rather than our lip service. Our phony lip service just reveals that our heart is filled with fear-based deceit.
Speaking of hearts, the scripture tells us that man speaks out of the abundance of his heart (Matthew 12: 34). Therefore, whatever a man speaks reflects what is in his heart. If he speaks against the Holy Spirit, it is because his heart is against the Holy Spirit. If his heart is against the Holy Spirit, it is clear that he does not have the Holy Spirit within him. No man willingly receives something his heart is set against.
Light-bulb moment: A receptive heart is central to receiving the Holy Spirit
Our marquee passage of scripture above reveals to us that the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Though God has made it possible to be saved in this life and the next through the reception of the Holy Spirit, the onus still lies on man to answer the calling of God unto salvation. While other sins will be forgiven, the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit will lead to eternal separation from God. There simply is no forgiveness for that rejection.
Since the only way to receive the Holy Spirit onto salvation is to accept Jesus as God (Romans 10:9-10), it becomes clear that the unpardonable sin is also the rejection of Jesus. But what about speaking against Jesus the man? Well, the bible says we can be forgiven of this (Matthew 12:32). If you disagree with and speak against Jesus turning water into wine, you will be forgiven this sin. If you disagree with Jesus turning over the tables in the synagogue because you think all anger is bad, again you will be forgiven. But is you reject Jesus as your Lord and Savior, well this is a different story.
Light-bulb moment: The sins of rejection some of the things Jesus did as man out of ignorance will be forgiven, but the sin of rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior (God) will not.
See, the rejection of Jesus itself is sin because this rejection comes out of pride and stubbornness. How so? This is because the nature of God and the godhead is revealed throughout creation (Romans 1:20). Hence, no one on earth can claim lack of knowledge of God and the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is God, He will always lead us to Jesus. Why does the Holy Spirit lead us to Jesus? It is because only through Jesus can all of our sins be forgiven for He is the one that lived a spotless and sinless life. Without being spotless through forgiveness upon confession, the Holy Spirit would not have been able to make its home in us.
So, I beg you not to commit the sin of rejecting Jesus today. Trust God, this sin will not be forgiven.
Food for Thought: Rejecting Christ is tantamount to accepting death.
SuperChamp 