God Himself said, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." And Jesus unmistakably said, "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." "He that cometh to me shall in no wise be cast off." In Matthew 12, He said, Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.īut for some people that presents an insurmountable problem because the Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, God is righteous and just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." In 1 John 5:16-17, the Holy Spirit speaks of it as "a sin unto death." Elsewhere the Bible calls it "the sin against the Holy Spirit." On one occasion Jesus spoke of it as "the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit." Let's therefore recall what the Bible says about "The Unpardonable Sin." Second, there are people who are in danger of committing this sin which John calls "the sin unto death." They need to be warned against it.
The fact that they worry about it shows that the Spirit is still working in their hearts. That would comfort and encourage them, because it is certain they have not committed it. And every person sitting in a church pew belongs to one of these two categories.įirst, the sincere Christian people who at times fear that they may have committed this sin need to hear what the Bible says about it.
Two kinds of people should hear about this subject. The Bible passages which especially bear on this matter are Matthew 12:31, 32 Mark 3:28 29 Hebrews 6:4-6 10:26-29 2 Peter 2:20-22 and 1 John 5:16,17. In this effort to deal with it I am grateful and indebted to the late Professor Kuiper for his clear and Biblical instruction regarding it. All of this suggests that the subject may interest OUTLOOK readers. One church member, a Christian psychiatrist, remarked that every week he counsels Christians who fear that they may have committed this sin. On occasion when I have preached on this subject I have been overwhelmed by the many expressions of thanks for my doing so.
Kuiper, who was President of Westminster Theological Seminary and later President of Calvin Theological Seminary, suggested that a faithful minister of the Word should preach a sermon on this subject at least once a year. In the pastoral ministry I have often observed much confusion in the minds of God's people regarding the "unpardonable sin." Professor R.
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