The Sin That Will Never Be Forgiven
Truth Taught- The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, it is an eternal sin.
The Bible speaks of the natural man. The natural man is the man who is lost and does not possess the Holy Spirit. This person cannot understand spiritual things.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Unless God works within us to bring us to life spiritually then we cannot understand biblical truth on the spiritual level.
Here, we are introduced to what may be a new name for some, Beelzebul.
Beelzebul, also known as Beelzebub, is a name associated with a high-ranking demon or the prince of demons in biblical literature. The name is often linked to Satan and is mentioned in the New Testament in the context of Jesus’ ministry and His confrontations with demonic forces.
Our Lord has already made it one of His goals to go out and defy tyrants. He would not go along with their man-made laws, which were no more than their attempt to resist God and His true law. Jesus had defied their false teaching…
He refused their demands made concerning the Sabbath. He went against their attempts to set Him up and always turned the tables on them. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, they asked Him…He healed on the Sabbath, so I guess it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. He went on to tell them He is Lord of the Sabbath. He corrects their theology and gives them rhetorical rebukes…Have you not read? Do you not understand? The Pharisees hated Jesus. This is the sentiment that is building fast.
Do you see the beginning of this massive conflict that will soon take Jesus to the cross? They went out to scheme how they could destroy Him.
There are so many things that those engaged in a works religion cannot comprehend. They can answer the questions, they seem to be godly they make sure that they do things to make themselves seem godly but while they are questioning Jesus about some letter of the Law they are lying and being deceptive themselves and probably blinded by their false religion.
Here’s the background context that Matthew gives us concerning this event.
Matthew 12:22-24
22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
This is a passage where Jesus wants His hearers do come to a conclusion based on the evidence they observe and have observed. Notice He doesn’t say whether or not He’s the Son of David, whether or not He’s the Messiah, whether or not He, Himself is possessed by Satan or by what power He casts out demons. He rather wants the crowd to believe based on what they have seen. We too must conclude based on the logic of Jesus whether He is the Son of David or not.
Mark records this event with the idea in mind, that we must decide whether Jesus is doing these great miracles in Satan’s power or in God’s power. It’s important for us to see that there was no one saying Jesus did not do these great miracles because everyone there witnessed the miracles. The question was in whose power and by what authority was Jesus doing these miracles.
If the leadership of Israel was as good with the Bible as they were with evil, if they could discern biblical truth as much as they could fabricate loopholes and tradition to seek to justify themselves, they would have reached the right conclusion…Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and all He did was done in God’s power.
The people concluded Jesus was everything He claimed to be and the Scribes concluded He was satanic. The difference lies in their conclusions. Where the conclusions are different is where did Jesus get the power to do this? Matthew does this very well. He shows us the distinct difference; in fact, the conclusions are exactly the opposite concerning where Jesus got the power to do this miracle.
The people are amazed and they conclude that Jesus is the Son of David or we would say, the Messiah. Their conclusion is based on information they have from the OT, from current teaching and from what they just saw occur.
The OT tells us that in the days of the Messiah there will be great healing miracles…
Isaiah 35:5–6 (ESV)
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
Jesus does this over and over again. This time it’s a little different, the blindness and the fact that the man also cannot speak comes from what had been known in ancient days as a dumb or mute demon.
Please Stand…
Mark 3:22–30 (ESV)
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
1. The Delegation of Legal Specialists (3:22)
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
The Scribes here consisted of a delegation that came down to Capernaum from Jerusalem. Their sole purpose was to make a declaration that Jesus was not of God but actually of Satan.
This was in accordance with…
Deuteronomy 13:12–15 (ESV)
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.
Acts 5:27–29 (ESV)
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
While these Scribes or as they are specifically known, Sanhedrin, could declare Jesus and His followers apostate and teaching another religion and arrest them.
They were out to destroy Jesus and they were seeking to declare Capernaum a seduced city that had fallen prey to an apostate preacher.
These scribes bring two charges against Jesus…
-Jesus is possessed by Satan
-Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan
That was their assessment of Jesus…He is possessed by Satan and does what He does in Satan’s power.
2. Satan Cannot Cast Out Satan (3:23-27)
23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Here we discover absolutely who Beelzebul is. Jesus uses his more common name here, Satan.
Jesus begins to explain in parabolic fashion.
Satan cannot cast out Satan because that would mean the household of the devil is divided and if it is divided, then it will fall on its own. Jesus is answering their allegations by logically denying that He is not possessed by Satan and doing these miracles in Satan’s power.
Jesus’ response is basically this, if what you say is true there exists the impossible circumstance that Satan is destroying his own realm on purpose. It is self-evident that a kingdom divided against itself will always fall. Their charge does not hold up.
They had not concluded that He was deranged, they concluded that He was demonic. This is far more sinister, far more potentially fatal. They are the center of authority; they’re scribes from Jerusalem. But they’ve made up their minds already. Didn’t take them long. They had made up their minds by chapter 3, verse 6. Along with “the Pharisees,” they “began conspiring with the Herodians against Him as to how they might destroy Him.” They wanted to destroy Jesus. Why? Because they had decided He was satanic. That’s verse 22: “He is possessed by Beelzebul.” Luke adds that title means “the ruler of the demons.” They called Him satanic.
Their claims are not based on any facts or any logic. Their strategy is that if they say something loud enough and repeat it long enough the masses will begin to believe it. If they plaster it all over the media, print it and preach it the masses will begin to believe it. Even if what they are saying goes against all science, all observable proof, and all reasoning. Here’s what they said, Jesus is actually doing all these miracles by the power of Satan. Their claim has not one shred of proof. Their logic is flawed. If they are those who are working on God’s behalf (That’s their error) and they cannot cast out the demon but Jesus can then He must be playing for the other team. The real issue is they are on Satan’s side and don’t even know it.
They think they are on God’s side when actually by their assessment, they prove they are on Satan’s side. It’s often the case that those in rebellion against God will make claims about others that are actually true of themselves. Jesus is casting out demons because He is led by Satan…this was actually true of them not Jesus.
However, there is one truth that fleshes itself out here, they are on opposite sides.
Holy Lord of heaven is identified as satanic in the vilest possible slander and blasphemy. That was the Jews’ final verdict; that’s what’s so important. And the reason they had Him executed was because they were, to the very end, convinced He was a blasphemer.
Jesus’ next parable…
27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Satan is the strong man who has a vast army of demons doing his bidding. This demonic realm has captured countless souls and had control over many demon possessed people. Satan had enslaved many through sin, possession, disease and death. Satan is the champion who exercises his strength and authority in the sphere of death and the demonic.
Only Someone stronger than him can enter into his realm, bind him, and plunder his goods. That’s what Jesus has done. He has entered into the realm of Satan and every demon cast out and every person freed from Satan’s realm is Jesus gathering the plunder of His ultimate victory.
The source of Jesus’ power cannot be Satan because it is Satan that He is binding. So the One entering into the realm of the strong man to bind him must be stronger than the strong man. The Holy Spirit is the power behind Jesus and His ability to strip Satan of his choke hold and bind him powerless.
So, we see the great eternal mistake the religious leaders claim Jesus is possessed by an unclean spirit when in fact it is the Holy Spirit of God. They think they are doing God’s work when, in fact, they are on the side of Satan doing his bidding.
3. Entering the Realm of the Unpardonable Sin (3:28-30)
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus begins with Amen here. So let it be…Jesus is the true witness of God and declares what He is about to say as absolutely true.
Our Lord affirms that our sins are open to forgiveness with one fearful exception…29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”
Blasphemy is an expression of defiance and hostility against God. It is profaning His name in utter unbelief.
The Holy Spirit has been given to Jesus at His baptism and is the power by which our Lord achieves His amazing miracles. To see the wonderful acts of grace but then attribute them to Satan is telling God He is a liar (profaning His name) and it is hostile toward God in the fact that Jesus is doing these great things by the Holy Spirit but some are saying no its Satan at work. It’s choosing to call light darkness.
I mean, ultimately it’s what you do with Jesus Christ. But what you do with Jesus Christ will be determined by whether or not you think the power under which He operated was the Holy Spirit or hell itself. Should be obvious. Should be obvious. You can speak a word against the Son of Man and be forgiven; you can speak a word against the Father and be forgiven. But if you reject the testimony of the Spirit of God, and His whole purpose was to point to Christ, if you reject His testimony, there’s no way to repentance. “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit”— with regard to His testimony concerning Christ—“is guilty of an eternal sin.”
You say, “Does that apply to us?” Well, not in the sense that we were alive when Christ was here, but in the sense that the Spirit of God wrote Scripture, right? So the Scripture is the testimony of the Holy Spirit to Christ, and it’s a sufficient testimony to lead you to the right conclusion.
Conclusion…
Do you believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit as you read the Bible. If you don’t then you cannot be saved. You are guilty of an eternal sin. You have rejected the only testimony of God’s grace for sinners.
You read the account of Christ in the New Testament. It doesn’t lead you to conclude that He’s delusional; it doesn’t lead you to conclude that He’s demonic; it leads you to conclude that He’s divine, because that is the Spirit’s intention. An eternal sin that can never be forgiven: to make the wrong evaluation of Christ. Here is the evidence…remember, your evaluation will determine your eternity. Is Jesus crazy? Is Jesus demon possessed? Or is Jesus everything that’s recorded for us in the Bible?
But for those who follow the influence of the Holy Spirit written on the pages of Scripture—that’s right, we have the full record of His life repeated four times—for those of us who see this and understand it and affirm His divinity, we have eternal life. “If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” That’s the right option.
Resources Used:
Mark by William Lane
Mark by J C Ryle
Words of grace
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