Summary of the “Unforgivable
Sin”
Matthew 12:31-33
31“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
31“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
33“A
tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If
a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.
“The unforgivable Sin” as St. Augustine[1]
says: is to die, while still refusing
to repent from sin. This is the unpardonable sin against the Holy
Spirit. To die while still refusing the goodness of
the Father.
It is to permanently reject Christ (John
3:18; 3:36).
To permanently
resist the Holy Spirit.
Yes, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is
any sin that a person clings to by continually resisting the convicting
power of the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that there
is not one specific
sin that is unforgivable, such as lying, stealing or murder, but
rather a perpetual hardening of the heart and willfully sinning against God and
man (1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15). In Acts 7:51 Stephen says the
following to the Pharisees, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart
and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do
you.” In a nutshell the unforgivable, or unpardonable, sin is any sin that a
person doesn’t want to give up, confess, or even ask forgiveness for and
additionally doesn’t want to hear any more about it from the Holy Spirit and
then die in the state of
un-repentance.
[1] "Saint Augustine says . . .
(Enchiridion lxxxiii) that 'he who dies in a state of obstinacy
(stubbornness / unwilling to listen to the Holy
Spirit) is guilty of the sin against the Holy
Ghost,' and (De Verb. Dom., Serm. lxxi) that 'impenitence ( showing no sorrow or regret for sin) is a sin against
the Holy Ghost,' and (De Serm. Dom. in Monte xxii), that 'to resist fraternal (friendship
with God’s) goodness with the brands of envy is
to sin against the Holy Ghost,'