Blasphemy

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Matt. 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Matt. 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Strongs G988 = blasphemy properly signifies detraction, or slander and reproachful speech damaging to divine majesty. It is not to be conceived that this arises from any greater sanctity in the one blessed Person than the other. These remark so narrow the question that the true sense of our L-rd’s words seems to disclose themselves at once. It is a contrast between slandering "the Son of man" in His veiled condition and unfinished work--which might be done "ignorantly, in unbelief" ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ), and slandering the same blessed Person after the blaze of glory which the Holy Ghost was soon to throw around His claims, and in the full knowledge of all that. This would be to slander Him with eyes open, or to do it "presumptuously." To blaspheme the Messiah in the former condition--when even the apostles stumbled at many things--left them still open to conviction on fuller light; but to blaspheme Him in the latter condition would be to hate the light the clearer it became, and resolutely to shut it out; which, of course, precludes salvation. Pharisees had not as yet done this; but in charging Y’Shua with being in league with hell they were displaying beforehand a malignant determination to shut their eyes to all evidence, and so, bordering upon, and in spirit committing, the unpardonable sin. That sin was the sin against the Holy Spirit. It consisted in charging him with being in league with the devil, or accusing him of working His miracles, not by the “spirit” or “power” of G-d, but by the aid of the prince of the devils. It was therefore a direct insult, abuse, or evil speaking against the Holy Spirit - the spirit by which Y’Shua worked His miracles. That this was what he intended by this sin, at that time, is clear from Mark 3:30, “because they said he had an unclean spirit.” All other sins - all speaking against the Savior himself - might be remitted. But this sin was clearly against the Holy One; it was alleging that the highest displays of G-d‘s mercy and power were the work of the devil; and it argued, therefore, the deepest depravity of mind. The sin of which he speaks is therefore clearly stated. It was accusing Him of working miracles by the aid of the devil, thus dishonoring the Holy Spirit. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven - That is, only on condition that people repent and believe. If they continue in this sin they cannot be forgiven, Mark 16:16; Romans 2:6-9. A word against the Son of man - The Jews were offended at the humble life and appearance of the Savior. They reproached Him as being a Nazarene - sprung from Nazareth, a place from which no good was expected to proceed; with being a Galilean, from Galilee, a place from which no prophet came, John 7:52. Y’Shua says that reproaches of this kind could be pardoned. Reflections on His poverty, on His humble birth, and on the lowliness of His human nature might be forgiven; but for those which affected His divine nature, accusing Him of being in league with the devil, denying His divinity, and attributing the power which manifestly implied divinity to the prince of fallen spirits, there could be no pardon. This sin was a very different thing from what is now often supposed to be the sin against the Holy Spirit. It was a wanton and blasphemous attack on the divine power and nature of the Messiah. Such a sin G-d would not forgive. Speaketh against the Holy Ghost - The word ghost refers here to the divine nature of the Messiah - the power by which He performed His miracles. Neither in this world, nor in that which is to come - The Savior meant simply to say that there were “no possible circumstances” in which the offender could obtain forgiveness. He certainly did “not” say that any sin unpardoned here would be pardoned hereafter.