Most believers, at some point, have asked themselves if they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. This question generally originates with the fear of doing something against God that you can’t be forgiven for. The scripture forms this consideration in Luke 12:8-10. Jesus said, “Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”
Jesus is teaching two types of blasphemy; one is against the Son of Man, and the other is against the Holy Spirit. The first is forgiven, but the second is not. This idea can be frightening if you don’t understand blasphemy, but avoiding this path can be easy once you do.
Blasphemy is no different than any other sin in that it can be forgiven. The apostle Paul even said he was a blasphemer, yet Christ forgave him, and he became His loyal friend and coworker. (1 Timothy 1:12-13) Though he spoke evil of Jesus and the saints who served Him, it’s obvious that He never spoke evil of the Holy Ghost, and that’s why Christ could forgive Him of many sins. His aggression was against the saints, but he did not understand how to stop the work of the Spirit. Paul confessed that with great fury, he would punish the saints of Jesus and try to get them to blaspheme His name. (Acts 26:9-11) He had ill intent against the name of Jesus and its work in the saints, but once he understood the Spirit, he repented and was converted.
Let’s ask the question, What is blasphemy?
To blaspheme is to speak evil of something by calling what is good evil and what is evil good. It’s to rail on, denounce, curse, and speak slanderous words against someone or something with evil intent. Blasphemy is an evil sin and can be used to destroy the kingdom of God in people.
Jesus helps us understand blasphemy in application to our life. He said if you call the Son of Man (which is to say His image) evil, that is sin, but it can be forgiven. But calling the Spirit of God (who has no image) evil is another thing altogether. This is where the beast man comes in; one who doesn’t understand. (Jude 10) Generally, blasphemers are beasts that don’t understand the Spirit of God and speak evil of persons.
Is one sin more condemning than another?
In this context, Jesus says one sin is more condemning than another. In this case, the first part speaks evil against the image, and the second speaks evil against the Spirit. In the New Testament, all those who lived by the flesh, and didn’t understand the spiritual work, blasphemed Jesus as the Son of God. They rejected His image as the representation of the Spirit because they didn’t understand it. (John 10:33) They spoke slanderously against His works and agreed to His murder by crucifixion. Many were deceived into agreeing with His death and committed blasphemy in their deception.
Even though they said they worshipped God, who is Spirit, they spoke against Jesus because His flesh did not align with what they thought it should be, so they cursed Him with every opportunity.
Blasphemy against the man is bad enough by itself. But when blasphemy is committed against the Holy Spirit, that’s a crime that won’t be forgiven.
Why? Because the Holy Spirit is GOD. He is the life source of all things, and everything in heaven and earth is measured by Him and for Him. Without Him, nothing exists. To slander and discredit the Spirit tries to remove the ONE TRUE GOD and replace Him with some other sovereign being. (In most cases, it’s men trying to be God in the flesh.) To blaspheme the Spirit is to eliminate GOD. That’s why it is much more condemning.
Why is it so bad for us to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
We who walk in the Spirit need a guide, a reference point—a light to guide our way. If you remove God as the point of reference, our life has no order or significance beyond the flesh. There is no beginning or end, just indulgence in the flesh. Our flesh is now our god and is our beginning and ending. When the Spirit is not revered and lifted up, there is no longer a point to life or death. If God is not life, then death no longer has value either; it is just your ending place.
The fact that the Spirit is life means that there is hope in death, which is why the resurrection of Jesus is of great value. Only the Spirit could raise Him from the dead—the man Jesus depended on the Spirit to raise Him. Jesus Himself said the Spirit quickens, but the flesh profits nothing. He knew He couldn’t raise Himself in the flesh.
Interestedly enough, if we blaspheme the Spirit and remove Him from existence, there would have been no creation of the world, no first man and woman, and no you and I. Jesus wouldn’t have been born of a virgin by the Spirit, nor would the Spirit have raised Him when He died. All of these things only happened because of the Holy Spirit. But because the Spirit is true, we also can be raised from the dead and live with Him, but we need the Holy Spirit to do it.
To say the Holy Spirit is evil is to remove all power from God. No wonder Jesus said if you are guilty of blasphemy against the Spirit, you will be condemned to eternal sin, also known as eternal damnation. (Mark 3:28-30)
This sin is only for those who try to rise above God and remove His sovereignty. No one will blaspheme the Holy Spirit and get away with it. God will have the final say. This may seem severe but imagine a world where God does not exist in people’s consciousness and evil is allowed to reign without any governor. How dark our light would be.
Those who follow the Spirit have a greater hope than those who put their trust in the flesh. To place your trust in the Spirit means you have hope of a resurrection after death. For those who trust the flesh, their hope ends when it dies.
With all of this in mind, it becomes easy to see why the Lord Jesus leads His people to follow after the Spirit and not the flesh. When you rely on the Spirit with all your heart, you will never blaspheme the source that gives you life.