St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

Here is a clean interpretation of the sins against the Holy spirit.let this realisation transform our sinful life.

I think I have committed the unpardonable sin.  You will know if you have committed this sin. The desire  to be a Christian will be forever past. No spiritual impressions will ever again come to your soul. A hardening process will have taken place. 

Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a Word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age, or in the age to come (Mt. ,32). He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation. (Mk. 3: 29).

The tragedy lies in the eternally unforgiven soul. Since the Holy Spirit leads a person to conviction and conversion, there can be no rebirth without the Spirit. To sin against the Holy Spirit is to sin against ones own soul. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to shut yourself off forever from access.

The scriptures from Genesis to Revelation reveal Gods infinite love and forgiveness for his people. Jesus made a tremendous impact when he explained to the Pharisees: For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love (Lk ).

Can you really understand what our Lords words meant to this sinner? A new life full of hope in Gods loving care lay ahead of her. Forgiveness is at the very heart of Christian faith and makes it full of joy and hope.  

So Christians must believe that God forgives our sins. The climax of our confidence is the moment when Jesus, on the Cross, cried out, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do (Lk.23: 34). Here, even the personal sins against Jesus Christ were forgiven. We would even want to believe that God forgives us when our repentance is not perfect. We may want to change, but the power of temptation is strong, thereby making our repentance half-hearted. 

Some sins such as jealousy, resentment, self-pity and self-indulgence are so beguiling we almost know in our hearts that, even if we repent today, we are going to commit them again tomorrow. Even so, because there is an innate desire to repent and be clear of these sinful tendencies, we can be sure in our hearts that God will forgive. Our deep assurance that we can triumph over awareness that God himself dwells within us. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory (col.1: 27). After all, he knows that the person in whom he resides is a sinner. So we live in his constant forgiving love. 

Every sin committed grieves the Trinity, but only sin persisted in, cuts one off from God eternally. Even the worst of sinners, like Manasseh, have repented. For Yahweh, your God, is gracious and merciful. If you come back to him, he will not turn his face from you (2Chron.30: 9). The more we sin, the harder it is to repent. Compulsive sins or habitual sins can be overcome only by constant personal prayer, fasting and at times, with the aid of a deliverance ministry. 

Our Lord made a most heart-warming and glorious statement: I tell you solemnly, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter. (Mk 3:28). But in the very next verse he says: If anyone blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin (Mk.3: 29). This verse teaches us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven a fact that has bewildered many. 

It is important to know what the Holy spirit has so clearly revealed in the Scriptures, in creation, and through Christ, because we too are without excuse if we withhold from him the recognition and honour that is due to him. Indeed, many believe that to ignore the Holy Spirit is the one unforgivable sin. The unpardonable sin is not an isolated act or utterance, but a constantly defiant attitude, which rejects the light that is offered and prefers the darkness. 

We also know that because the Holy Spirit is a person, he can be grieved and blasphemed against. Being a person implies having the capacity for intelligence, love, anger and grief. This is graphically confirmed by the Prophet Isaiah, But  if they rebelled, they grieved his Holy Spirit. Then he turned to be their enemy, and himself waged war on them (Isa.63: 10). It is imperative for us to understand the Holy Spirits nature as completely as possible if we are to fully grasp why blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

In the Synoptic Gospels, supreme importance is naturally given to the person of Jesus Christ. The task of the Holy Spirit is not to draw attention to himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine (In -14). The Holy Spirit played a crucial role in the life and works of Jesus Christ and this is especially true of the resurrection of our Lord. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists in attributing the works of Satan to Jesus Christ. A word against the Son of Man might still be forgiven because the Holy Spirit could convict one of that sin, by testifying to the reality of Christ. But when the total testimony of the Holy Spirit is rejected, there must also be eternal punishment to accompany it. The sin is unforgivable by its very nature in so far as it excludes the elements, which render forgiveness possible. 

The text underlines the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit. The sin of blasphemy Because of the hardness of ones heart, is the act of one who deliberately rejects or refuses to accept that he has sinned at all. It is the rejection of all the works of the Holy Spirit and also a rejection of the redemptive power of Christs Precious Blood, which purifies the conscience from any dead works. This sin is unforgivable because in such a frame of mind, repentance is not possible. The recognition of sin is lost and Gods offer of mercy is, in effect, peremptorily refused. To be in this perilous condition is to cut oneself off from the source of forgiveness. 

We learn from his letter to the Hebrews, that the Holy Spirit is a person who can be outraged. A man who has violated the Law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of Grace? (Heb.10: 28-29). This outrage against the Holy Spirit is totally in keeping with the words of Jesus He will glorify me.

This is the presumption of obtaining salvation on our own terms, and not through the saving merits of Jesus Christ who won salvation for us his death on the Cross. The language of the Cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as Gods power to save¦Do you see now bow God has shown us the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was Gods wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ (1Cor. -23).

It is presuming to obtain salvation in any way other than through Jesus Christ who said: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me¦you know him and have seen him(In.14: 7). This is another manifestation of the original sin of pride and disobedience.

It is proper to acknowledge that we are not worthy of salvation, because by nature we are sinful beings. you know I was born guilty; a sinner from the moment of conception (Ps.51: 5). Yet it is presumption to say that we are beyond the saving grace of God through his Holy Spirit. We can all claim the free gift of salvation even though we are sinners. Both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited Gods glory, and both are justified through the free gift of his grace be being redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith¦and he justifies everyone who believes in Jesus (Rom.3:24). In short, to despair of salvation is to deny the sovereignty of God, at work in this world through his Holy Spirit. 

 

This is to deny the working of the Holy Spirit when it is very obvious to us. It was the sin of the Pharisees when they ascribed the work of Jesus in casting out demons to Beelzebul (Math.12:22 -24). Stephen made his striking utterance before the high priest just before his own death, when he accused the Sanhedrin; You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do (Acts.7: 51). His earthly reward for this teaching was death by stoning. The Jews did not appreciate being told the truth. We also may recoil at the thought that we are capable of resisting the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless Stephens rebuke applies to us too.

All goodness and all grace come from God through the Holy Spirit, mediated to us through Jesus Christ. God apportions his gifts and goodness in a manner that he knows is best for us. it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given up from above. It comes down from the Father of all Light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of change (Jas.1: 17). Therefore, we are to be content with what he has given us, and never be envious of anyone through whom he is able to work, or upon whom he has poured out his goodness. John the Baptist, while speaking of Jesus, said: He must increase, but I must decrease (In.3: 30). St. Paul says: Each one of us has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it¦And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles, some, prophets; some, evangelists; some pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ (Eph.4:  7-13). In the light of these Scriptures, envy of anothers spiritual good is clearly a sin against the Holy Spirit.

The letter of St. Jude reminds us that in the end there will be those who will remain stubborn in their sinfulness; scoffers who follow their own ungodly passions and refuse to turn away from sin. The Holy Spirit has explicitly said that during the last times there will be some who desert the faith and choose to listen to deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from the devil. The cause of this is the lies told by hypocrites whose consciences are branded as though with a red-hot iron (1Tim.4:1-2). Clearly, stubbornness in sin is unforgivable.

Eternal punishment is talked about in the Gospel of Mathew 25: 46 And they (the unrighteous) will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life. The state of cold obstinacy has been eternal and so we could call this same truth by the term eternal sin. This occurs when a person has become impervious to the love and goodness of god and therefore to the Holy Spirit. To be lost means to be entirely closed within oneself, without contact with others or with God. This is the second death mentioned in the book of Revelation Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them and everyone was judged according to the way in which he had lived. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the burning lake. This is the second Death, the lake of fire (Rev.20: 14). The Holy Spirit is vitally important to the believer. He does everything for us. In fact, most of the time, far more often than we realize, it is the Spirit of God who brings to us the salvation provided by the Father through the son. He is everything we need throughout our earthly sojourn. The Holy Spirit comes to those who earnestly seek him. Therefore, Ask and you shall receive (Matt.7: 7).