A gracEmail subscriber asks about the sin which will never be forgiven, mentioned in Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30. What is the “unpardonable sin?” Can someone commit it today?
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This is the only time the Bible specifically states that a sin will never be forgiven. The situation involved unbelieving religious leaders who accused Jesus of performing miracles by the power of the devil, when in truth Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God.
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to a similar condition, in the case of one who permanently rejects Christ after encountering him and experiencing a taste of divine blessing (Heb. 6:4-6). Such people will not be forgiven for the same reason that Jesus’ opponents in the Gospels will not be forgiven — they have placed themselves beyond repentance, which also means refusing to receive God’s forgiveness. The author of Hebrews expresses confidence, however, that his readers are not in that category (Heb. 6:9).
To knowingly and intentionally reject Jesus, the only Savior, and thereby to reject the Father who sent him, is unpardonable, because the person who is fixed in such an opinion will never look to Jesus for forgiveness and pardon. No sin is beyond God’s forgiveness for which a sinner will truly repent and seek God’s pardon through Jesus Christ.
