Sin against the holy spirit which has no forgiveness
« On this account I say to you, Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. For example, whoever 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, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come »
(Matthew 12:31,32)
The sin against the holy spirit is a stubborn attitude against the active force of God, and more generally against his purpose. Whoever sins against the holy spirit, practices sin stubbornly. Jesus Christ, when on earth, pointed out that some of the the Pharisees had sinned against the holy spirit: « Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Ge·henʹna twice as much so as yourselves. (…) Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna? » (Matthew 23: 15,33). The Gehenna was the dumping ground, at the south of Jerusalem, outside the walls, which symbolized everlasting destruction and in the words of Christ, the death without resurrection.
How did some of these men come to sin against the holy spirit? The disciple Stephen summed up the spiritual process very well: « Obstinate men and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the holy spirit; as your forefathers did, so you do. Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? Yes, they killed those who made announcement in advance concerning the coming of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers YOU have now become, you who received the Law as transmitted by angels but have not kept it » (Acts 7:51-53).
These religious leaders have seen the miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit through the many healings and resurrections performed by Jesus Christ. As an example, after the resurrection of Lazarus, it is written in the Gospel of John that the Pharisees sought to kill not only Jesus Christ, but also Lazarus (John 11:45-53 (the decision to kill Jesus); John 12:10 (The decision to kill Lazarus)). In the context of the declaration of Christ about the sin against the holy spirit, the Pharisees said that Jesus performed miracles with the spirit of the devil. It represented blasphemy against the active force of God, the holy spirit (Matthew 12:22-30). Those who sin against the Holy Spirit are completely wicked people.
How to avoid this extreme? The apostle Paul gives the answer: « Wherefore, now that you have put away falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are members belonging to one another. Be wrathful, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state, neither allow place for the Devil. Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need. Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers. Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which you have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom » (Ephesians 4:25-30).
Therefore, one should not grieve the holy spirit, that is, not engage in conduct contrary to the biblical commandments. Those who use to be engaged in this misconduct, the next step can be to « resist » the holy spirit, as the Pharisees did. Some might ask, with quite legitimate fear, whether they have sinned against the holy spirit. How to know it? We can be reassured while remaining vigilant regarding this question.
It is God who judges through his Son Jesus Christ, to know who has sinned against the holy spirit. It is interesting to re-read and think about the narrative of the prodigal son (Luke 16:11-23). Jesus Christ portrays the mercy of God in the guise of a father who patiently allows his son to follow his path, which ranges from a fundamentally evil attitude to one that leads to repentance. This illustration shows how Jehovah God is ready to detect the slightest hint of repentance in order to forgive (1 Kings 18:13 (Jehovah saw something good in the heart of the son of king Jeroboam (an evil king))). Some humans have their conscience charged by serious sins they have committed, some of them serious. The fact that the conscience reacts and condemns us for our evil deeds, causing great sadness, is an important clue that the irreversible has not been reached from the point of view of God.
Indeed, there is a sadness which leads to repentance: « Hence even if I saddened you by my letter, I do not regret it. Even if I did at first regret it, (I see that that letter saddened you, though but for a little while,) now I rejoice, not because you were just saddened, but because you were saddened into repenting; for you were saddened in a godly way, that you might suffer no damage in anything due to us. For sadness in a godly way makes for repentance to salvation that is not to be regretted; but the sadness of the world produces death. For, look! this very thing, your being saddened in a godly way, what a great earnestness it produced in you, yes, clearing of yourselves, yes, indignation, yes, fear, yes, longing, yes, zeal, yes, righting of the wrong! In every respect you demonstrated yourselves to be chaste in this matter » (2 Corinthians 7:8-11; Isaiah 1:18 « Come, now, you people, and let us set matters straight between us,” says Jehovah. “Though the sins of you people should prove to be as scarlet, they will be made white just like snow; though they should be red like crimson cloth, they will become even like wool »).
However, let us remain constantly vigilant as to the use of our language because it is with it, that this irreversible sin can be committed, according to Jesus Christ: « For by your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be condemned » (Matthew 12:33-37; compare with Matthew 5:22 « Whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ will be liable to the fiery Gehenna »). The whole of Chapter 3 of the Disciple James Letter is describing the correct and misuse of the tongue. In this chapter, James also shows that it is with the tongue that this unforgivable sin can be done: « Well, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by Gehenna » (James 3:6). Let us manifest wisdom from above to protect ourselves spiritually from committing the irreparable from the point of view of God and of his Son Jesus Christ, to whom he has entrusted judgment: “But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical. Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace » (James 3:17,18).
To commit a sin
or to practice sin
Whoever practices sin, comes from the devil: « Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know, too, that he was made manifest to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Everyone remaining in union with him does not practice sin; no one who practices sin has either seen him or come to know him. 7 Little children, let no one mislead you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, to break up the works of the Devil. 9 Everyone who has been born from God does not practice sin, for His seed remains in such one, and he cannot practice sin, for he has been born from God. 10 The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Whoever does not practice righteousness does not originate with God, nor does the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother. And for what reason did he slaughter him? Because his own works were wicked, but those of his brother were righteous » (1 John 3:4-12).
The apostle John mentions the practice of sin, that is to say having a continuous and voluntary conduct in sin. In verses 7 and 8, he contrasts the man who practices justice as a way of life with the man who practices sin, as other and different way of life. Thus, the practice of sin is different from the fact of committing a single sin, resulting of a human weakness. The apostle Paul has shown, like the apostle John, that this kind of single sin, made by weakness can be forgiven on the basis of the atonement value of the sacrifice of Christ (Romans 7:21-25).
John gives an example of practice of sin, a continuous feeling of hatred against his neighbor: « Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed over from death to life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has everlasting life remaining in him. 16 By this we have come to know love, because that one surrendered his life for us, and we are under obligation to surrender our lives for our brothers. 17 But whoever has the material possessions of this world and sees his brother in need and yet refuses to show him compassion, in what way does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, we should love, not in word or with the tongue, but in deed and truth » (1 John 3:13-18).
As Jesus Christ said, sin by intention in the heart, or by the expression of bad feelings of hatred in the heart, is a serious sin, even if it is not materialized in actions (like a homicide or murder) (Matthew 5:28). John writes that someone who has hatred for his brother, is already a homicide and therefore he no longer fulfills the conditions required by God, to obtain everlasting life.
Sin that does not incur death
or sin that incurs death
« If anyone catches sight of his brother committing a sin that does not incur death, he will ask, and God will give life to him, yes, to those not committing sin that incurs death. There is a sin that does incur death. It is concerning that sin that I do not tell him to make request. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and yet there is a sin that does not incur death. 18 We know that everyone who has been born from God does not practice sin, but the one born from God watches him, and the wicked one cannot take hold of him » (1Jean 5:16-18).
As the apostle Paul wrote, the wages sin pays is death (Romans 6:23). Thus, according to the apostle John, there is a sin that does not incur death, allowing the forgiveness of God, on the basis of the atonement value of the sacrifice of Christ. The sin which incurs death, according to verse 18, is the practicing of sin, in this case, the sacrifice of Christ does not apply, it is not even useful to pray for those who are practicing it. The apostle Paul wrote a similar idea on the practice of voluntary sin, which cannot be forgiven and which, therefore, incurs death: « For as regards those who were once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly free gift and who have become partakers of holy spirit 5 and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, 6 but have fallen away, it is impossible to revive them again to repentance, because they nail the Son of God to the stake again for themselves and expose him to public shame » (Hebrews 6:4-6).
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