Basic Christian theology is that Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price for all sin.
But there are references in the gospels to sin that can’t be forgiven. It seems to tie in with references to ‘“Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”. What does this mean?
There are indeed some misunderstandings about this. Some Christians even seem to think it means swearing using God’s name. They can get quite upset about believing they’ve committed some sort of unforgivable sin. This may delight Satan if you are inclined to personify your theology in this way.
There is indeed such a thing as an “Unforgivable Sin”, and yes, this comes straight from Jesus himself in the gospels, so it’s not as if we are depending on the interpretations of Paul, or some subsequent Christian church doctrines for this knowledge. However, it is often misunderstood.
The shortest and most concise gospel is that of Mark. It’s worth reading Mark 3: 22-30 to understand the circumstances in which Jesus spoke. Wisdom always involves considering multiple perspectives, especially surrounding circumstances. Here’s the extract from the NIV translation.
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
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.”
It’s got nothing to do with swearing or whatever. Here’s how it works.
In Christianity the understanding of Divine Grace and the forgiveness of sins works by:
confessing the sin,
repenting and asking for forgiveness,
and accepting (believing) that through Christ’s sacrifice one has received it.
Christ’s sacrifice is seen as being complete and ALL sufficient for ALL sins. This is an article of faith as alluded to by the reference to “the forgiveness of sins” in various versions of the Creed.
So if this is the case, for ALL sins, it follows that the only way any sin can be “unforgivable” is if something is blocking the way the process works.
The process can be blocked in just 3 ways.
One doesn’t confess the sin.
One don’t truly repent and ask for (or for some reason want) forgiveness.
One don’t accept that one has been forgiven.
What can cause this?
1 - One doesn’t confess, because one is proud, stubborn, or ONE DON’T RECOGNISE THAT ONE HAS SINNED.
2 - One doesn’t ask or repent because ? (I don’t know. Maybe one’s proud and stubborn or one wants to punish oneself or something. It’s kind of like saying “I know I was wrong, but I’m damned if I’m going to ask for His forgiveness.” Well - yes, you are.) I have indeed heard that said before in lover’s tiffs, and by a son regarding his father, but by a Christian about God? No, I’ve never heard of that one. But I guess it’s possible. One could argue that Satan himself is in this position. However, it is true that a lot of the time people do not truly repent, which is a whole other issue as discussed here. (Not yet linked)
3 - Some people don’t seem to believe they deserve to be forgiven for some of the things they’ve done. Some people don’t seem to believe that forgiveness can be that simple, or that Christ’s sacrifice is really all sufficient. Some people seem to think that forgiveness can’t work without them doing some sort of penance. It seems they feel they must suffer before they can forgive themselves. Christianity only says that God forgives them. Forgiving yourself is a whole different thing, albeit related. (Not yet linked)
The Unforgivable Sin to which Jesus is referring in Mark is the sin you don’t recognise as being a sin.
In Mark’s passage Jesus is performing miracles as God incarnate in the full power of the Holy Spirit. Yet some of the Scribes were saying he was possessed by an evil demon and was performing these miracles by the power of Satan. (Beelzebub is just another of the many names given to, or used to refer to Satan, aka the Devil).
We all have a moral compass that is supposed to guide us regarding what is right and wrong. We may not always follow that compass, but we usually have one.
But what if your moral compass is so screwed up that you can’t even tell the difference between right and wrong? What if you can’t even tell the difference between God and Satan, the Holy Spirit and Beelzebub, The Son of God and the Devil himself? Well then, you can’t distinguish between good works from sin.
Jesus is saying that the moral compass of the scribes is so screwed up that they can’t tell good from evil, or the works of the Holy Spirit from Satan anymore.
And when you start calling the The Holy Spirit “Satan” that is indeed blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
And it’s unforgivable because when your moral compass is so screwed up that you can’t tell a good work from a sin anymore, it follows that when you sin you can’t recognise it, and therefore YOU CANNOT CONFESS YOUR SIN. When you can’t tell the works of the Holy Spirit and the Son of God from those of Satan himself, you are really screwed up. The sin is in confusing the Holy Spirit for Satan. Actually saying it out loud is merely a symptom of the sin - that’s not the unforgivable sin itself.
That’s why Jesus refers to it as being unforgivable, because it can’t be confessed.
When one can’t recognise one has sinned, one can’t confess or repent of that sin. So it can’t be forgiven. Grace cannot operate. One is well and truly ***** and damned to boot. And that’s what Jesus was talking about as being “Unforgivable Sin.” It’s not that Christ’s sacrifice is in any way insufficient, but because these particular sins can never be confessed and repented, that stops Grace and forgiveness from operating.
Very clearly this has nothing to do with swearing. If someone swears and knows he’s sinned, he just has to say, “Sorry Lord. Please forgive me,” and mean it, and accept that he’s forgiven. That’s the end of the matter. Nothing unforgivable about a little thing like that.
Hope this helps.