So, You Have Committed Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit…What Now?

We have all met the sensitive, newer believer who expresses concern about sin and sinning as a Christian. Foremost in their view is the eternal, unforgiveable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:31). In a world of hardened hearts and seared consciences, we respect anyone who is serious about sinning against God. In fact, this is one mark of the true believer — she believes the Law of God that exposes the names and nature of sins against God. Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4).

There is no such thing as sinless perfection in this world, except for the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Christians sin against the God and His Law, but the difference is that they are justified before the judgment of God. Because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all the sins of all believers in Jesus are forgiven (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7). As the substitute for those He came to save, Jesus endured the wrath of God on behalf of and in the stead of God’s chosen people. He redeemed His bride, His church, the Israel of God, as the just Lamb of God, who gave Himself over to death on a cross. His motive was love for His sheep, the people of God’s pasture.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who have been transferred from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Rom 8:1; Col 1:13). This transfer also means a transformation, legally (justification) and spiritually (sanctification). Sanctification, like justification, is an exclusive work of God. The Holy Spirit employs the instrument of the Word of truth, the Bible, to craft the spiritually maturing Christian into conformity to the image of Christ, the icon of God.

The Spirit transforms the mind that was in futility, set on the things of this world. The mind of Christ is the Word of God that starts as an external reality. It is then introduced to the mind of the born again, who grows in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, via the Teacher, the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26; 2 Pet 3:18). This is not just an intellectual transformation, as the heart is the home of the indwelling Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11). The Spirit of the Lord produces a holistic transformation from the fading natural glory to the ever-renewing glory of Christ’s whole being. When the Christian is glorified, body joining soul, we shall see Jesus as He is because we will be like Him (1 Jn 3:2).

The blessed assurance of salvation is provided by God’s Word for Christians. Worried about sin? You have an Advocate with the Father. His plea for you is always His own blood shed on the cross. He alone is the Mediator between God and man, and He ever lives to make intercession on our behalf (Rom 8:34; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 7:25). Now pause and consider all that God has done for you, even just what has been listed here, and consider the probability you would ever blaspheme against God the Holy Spirit.

So, who actually does commit this eternal, unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who brings us the Word of truth. With it, He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He also gives life to those upon whom God has set His love (Jn 6:63; Rom 5:5; 1 Jn 3:1). It is the truth that sets captive sinners free. Jesus is the truth and so is the Holy Spirit, asking, “Who has believed our report?” (Is 53:1). The answer is…the one who has been granted repentance and faith by the grace of God (Acts 5:31; 11:18; Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:29).

Now we ask, “Who does not believe God’s report?” The answer is the one who does not receive God’s Spirit. This is the one who does not belong to Jesus Christ because his or her soul was not given by God the Father to God the Son because God the Father had not predestined this person to adoption as a child in the family of God. God always does His will (Eph 1:11), and in His will, He did not decree the salvation of reprobate sinners (Rom 9:13, 22), in the same way he decreed no salvation for Satan and His demons.

My dear reader, examine your reaction to the previous paragraph. Did it offend your sensitivities, derived from the false teaching of Universalism or Arminianism that you have been taught? Did it humble you in recognition of God’s mercy bestowed upon you as one of His chosen people?

The candidate for calling the Spirit of truth “a liar,” as He reveals the truth of so great a grace unto salvation, is not the believing soul who has been saved, as evidenced by the permanent indwelling Spirit. It is the reprobate unredeemed, unregenerate, unbeliever who calls the Gospel of God, “foolishness” (1 Cor 1:18).

When the hater of God (Rom 1:30) persecutes the lover of God (1 Jn 4:19), as Jesus said they would (Mt 5:11; Jn 16:33), their disdain is really for God and His Gospel message, but they have and will kill the messengers (Jn 15:18–25). A Christian in whom the light of Christ shines dimly will not suffer near to the extent of one who is unashamed to proclaim Christ to all nations and creation (Mt 24:14; Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8).

Christians who faithfully preach Christ, who is the truth of God enfleshed (Jn 1:14; 14:6), do not wish to provoke reprobate sinners to wrath, but that is exactly what happens when they do speak of the Holy One of Israel. The exceptions are when God is calling His lost elect to repentance and faith. Their response is to repent and believe God’s Word revealed to them. This is when the effectual call of God leads to conversion, following regeneration.

Many of the reprobate will have significant exposure to the things of the Spirit of God, but invariably they fall away (Heb 6:4–6). Those who received the knowledge of the truth, but have no heart to turn from their sin, retain the terrifying expectation of judgment. They trample the Son of God, make a mockery of His precious blood, while insulting the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:26–31). Here is the guilty sinner charged with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:31).

Is the Spirit of truth a liar? May it never be! God is true and every man is a liar (Rom 3:4). He who judges God in this manner is an abomination, worthy of eternal punishment in the fiery hell of the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15). Your final test, today, is what you think about the just punishment that is assured by God’s Word for reprobate sinners. If you do not believe it, then you are calling God a liar, based on the revelation of His Word. Calling God a liar is mocking God, and do not be deceived by thinking that action is anything less than blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and His witness of the Word of truth.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

June 26, 2022