Question: What is the “unpardonable sin” really about and where is it found in the Bible? Is it related to divorce, or suicide, or something else?
Question: What is the “unpardonable sin” really about and where is it found in the Bible? Is it related to divorce, or suicide, or something else?
Bill Warren answers: The adage that “if you’re worried about having committed the unpardonable sin, you haven’t” is actually more biblical than most realize, as can be seen by looking at the Bible’s teaching regarding the “unpardonable sin.”
The primary texts are found in Mark 3:28-30 and the parallel passages in Matt.12:31-33 and Luke 12:10, with the wording in Mark 3:28-29 being the basis for the concept of the “unpardonable sin:” I assure you: people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’–because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’
The larger context for this passage runs from Mark 3:20-31.
Jesus’ popularity was skyrocketing with large crowds gathering, such that even some of his family members (perhaps extended family, but we can’t be sure of that) were becoming worried by his actions (not eating) and the reactions of others to him (“he’s out of his mind”).
And as if to validate their concern, the religious scribes from Jerusalem begin to attack him in verse 22, claiming that Jesus is actually not in league with God, but rather finds his power source by being possessed by the leader of the demonic world, Beelzebub, who is Satan himself.
Jesus has to confront this public attack on his reputation, and does so by showing logically that Satan would not be destroying his own house, thereby refuting the logic of the scribes.
No, the power of God working in Jesus is due to the fact that Satan has been bound and overcome, thereby allowing for the plundering of the domain of evil by godly forces as seen in the ministry of Jesus.
This context then leads to the passage about the unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit. Notice the last phrase in Mark 3:30, because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’
This phrase provides the real key for understanding the concept of the unpardonable sin. Jesus says that while his own earthly reputation may be attacked and impugned by ones like the scribes (v. 28), they need to be careful that they are not actually attacking the reputation of God by rejecting the very working of God in their midst (v. 29). Jesus does not say that they have definitely crossed this line, but he warns them that they are very close.
Based on this emphasis, the normal way of defining the unpardonable sin is to see it as the rejection of the work of God in our midst, with final rejection being the defining trait that would make forgiveness unavailable. This context is why we normally say that the unpardonable sin is about someone rejecting the work of God in Christ as if it were not of God (something evil). In other words, the rejection of God in a person’s life is the real essence of the unpardonable sin, not a single act of disobedience or a specific sinful act. If someone dies, having rejected what God has done in Christ, there is no hope for forgiveness beyond this world.
Bill Warren is Professor of New Testament and Greek in the Landrum P. Leavell II, Chair of New Testament Studies and Founding Director of the H. Milton Haggard Center of New Testament Textual Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served on the NOBTS faculty since 1990.