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NASB | Matthew 12:31 ¶ "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 12:31 ¶ "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven. |
Subject: Why is it not relevant today? |
Bible Note: Hello Psalm 52, I have heard arguments both on the side that the unforgivable sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is still a possible sin today and that it is not possible to commit this sin today. On the side of it still being possible the basic gist is that all who die unsaved are guilty of the sin. In fact, as the argument goes, it is the disavowing of Christ's work on the cross that amounts to the sin. On the other side of the argument I have never heard it taught that, as you put it, "The reason it is not relevant today is it was directly addressed to the pharisees as "they were the ones blaspheming the Holy Spirit giving credit for the miracles to Satan." I don't know the answer myself, though I can't understand how your statement about it might in any way suggest the sin was uniquely relevent only to those pharisees. We might perhaps rule out gentiles whom might have likewise given credit to the miracles of Christ to Satan; as they had not been entrusted with the law and the Scriptures. They really had no basis from which to attribute the Lord's work to the one true God. The Gentiles were not well versed in the Scritpures nor awaiting the promise of the Messiah. But what of other Jews who witnessed the miracles of Christ? The argument that it does not apply to today that makes most sense to me is as follows. Those who personally witnessed the man Jesus perform miracles and works (not heard about them but witnessed them) and had knowledge of what to expect in the Messiah; having seen and being unwilling to believe and furthermore basing their rejection on the attribution to Satan were guilty. The argument continues that because our Lord has ascended and it is impossible for any to witness Jesus the man perform a miracle, it is impossible to commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in our time. As I stated, I don't know the answer myself, but I don't agree that it was only possible for those pharisees based on the fact that Christ "directly addressed" them or they were the ones in that specific event who made the accusation. I am a bit confused too by your last statement "the one and only unforgivable sin is refusing to believe in Jesus". Does this amount to saying that refusing to believe in Jesus and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit are the exact same thing? If we were to agree that this is true, we would have to conclude that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is as much possible today as at any time. Would you agree? In any case, your post has encouraged my deeper thinking on the issue so thank you. God bless, Jeff |