The Unpardonable Sin

Sam Stringer

Dec 30, 2024

Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by

Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every

kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against

itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his

kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the

kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his

goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not

with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to

you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not

be forgiven men. Anyone who 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, either in this age or in the age

to come.

Matthew 12:24-32

I’m going to tackle a harder point of theology today, though you may or not agree, and that’s okay. Let’s

perhaps think of the goal rather to be thought-stimulation than necessarily total agreement. Have you

ever considered what is the “unpardonable sin”? Now, at least in my circles, we talked about this many

times over the years. I don’t know how all groups tend to look at it, but for Baptists especially, the general

idea often put out there was that unbelief was the unpardonable sin. I’d like to challenge that in today’s

devotion because maybe you’re wondering about it, maybe you’ve wondered if somebody, even yourself,

has committed it. I would like to argue (positively) with you today that you cannot commit the

unpardonable sin, predominantly because of its contextual and time-sensitive nature when Jesus spoke

it. Reading this, you may conclude that disbelief is still the issue, and you may be right; I think what I will

be proposing to you, though, goes beyond simply disbelief and steps into willful rejection, even to the

point of recognition of Christ and refusing Him regardless.

Now, I probably have your attention, and I hope you’re not too worked up. This particular passage has the

context of Pharisees seeing the miraculous works of Jesus, which have intrigued the crowds to ask

whether He is the Son of David (v. 23). Perhaps a couple of deeper things could be discussed here today.

Let’s start with number one: what is the point of signs in the Bible? Well, a sign, like a road sign, is meant

to direct attention. I used to travel nearly every year as a kid with my family down to Florida, where my

grandma lived, and back then, there were road signs nearly every few hundred feet advertising all of the

cool attractions to come. So many signs for Disney World and the like, and as a kid, when I started seeing

the signs, I knew we were getting closer and my imagination started to drift me off into a world of fun and

excitement with palm trees here and there. The signs were not there for us to pull over, gaze and gawk,

get out a picnic lunch and just revel in the majesty of those signs. The signs were there to whet our

appetites for what was possible. The signs of Jesus pointed to Him being the Son of God. Who but the

Maker of creation could alter the function of creation in supernatural ways at His desire? Miracles (signs)

pointed to the Miracle-Maker. The works of the Holy Spirit were meant to attest to Jesus as the Son of

God. When people got caught up in the miracles and lost sight of Jesus, they just wanted more and failed

to see why He was doing the miraculous at all. That’s my first point on deeper things.

Secondly, the Pharisees saw the signs along with the rest of the crowd and instead of drawing the proper

conclusion, they refused to admit it and accept it and instead attributed it to the Devil. If you watch the

Pharisees throughout the Gospels, you will find that they have a progressively harder time denying what

Jesus is doing. They have to put their fingers in their ears, close their eyes and play make believe; by the

time of the raising of Lazarus, they know they can’t win anymore and that if they don’t find a way to kill

Jesus, they’re going to lose all of their following. On your own time, I’d encourage you to read John 11-12.

You will see that Palm Sunday actually shows Lazarus present, and that the Pharisees don’t just want to

kill Jesus, but also Lazarus whom He raised (John 12:10) to put a stop to all of it. The unpardonable sin, if

I read this context right, is to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit and to attribute it to the Devil. My

seminary Greek teacher pointed this out years ago, and I agree, that the possibility of the unpardonable sin today may not be there because of Jesus’ direct presence in those times versus now. Of course,

people can attribute things God is doing to Satan right now, but not in the same way of seeing Jesus

healing people, raising them from the dead, feeding thousands with little food multiplied and so forth.

Jesus, God the Son, stood before them, did these miracles and they weren’t going to have it. There’s a

qualitative difference between seeing Christ do the miraculous right in front of you and refusing to believe

in a God you’ve never seen like many do today. This is kind of like a flip-flop with how Jesus says to

Thomas in John 20:21, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who

have not seen and yet have believed.” Well, there were those who saw Jesus and not only didn’t believe,

but also did everything they could to deny what they saw.

There is a strong case to be made here that no matter the level of evidence one may have, salvation is

never an act simply of logic; it is a modern-day miracle when anyone should hear this message and

believe it in their hearts, because it is a work of the Holy Spirit that one be convicted and convinced of the

truth. Without Him bringing people unto Himself, it does not matter how close they’ve come to death, how

many wonderful blessings they’ve received, arguments they’ve been given or whatever it may be, every

soul saved is won over by the Spirit of God.

Whenever I write or teach or preach, I have learned that unless God grabs people’s attention and tugs at

their hearts, they may appreciate what I’ve put out there (or sleep right through it), but nothing’s going to

happen in a spiritually meaningful way if God isn’t in it. Rest in His work, follow the Spirit as He leads, and

remember that “success” is only contingent upon the work of the Holy Spirit through the use of the

Scriptures. Be brave, but don’t rest in your bravery; trust in Him.

Sam Stringer

The Unpardonable Sin

Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by

Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every

kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against

itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his

kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the

kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his

goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not

with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to

you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not

be forgiven men. Anyone who 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, either in this age or in the age

to come.

Matthew 12:24-32

I’m going to tackle a harder point of theology today, though you may or not agree, and that’s okay. Let’s

perhaps think of the goal rather to be thought-stimulation than necessarily total agreement. Have you

ever considered what is the “unpardonable sin”? Now, at least in my circles, we talked about this many

times over the years. I don’t know how all groups tend to look at it, but for Baptists especially, the general

idea often put out there was that unbelief was the unpardonable sin. I’d like to challenge that in today’s

devotion because maybe you’re wondering about it, maybe you’ve wondered if somebody, even yourself,

has committed it. I would like to argue (positively) with you today that you cannot commit the

unpardonable sin, predominantly because of its contextual and time-sensitive nature when Jesus spoke

it. Reading this, you may conclude that disbelief is still the issue, and you may be right; I think what I will

be proposing to you, though, goes beyond simply disbelief and steps into willful rejection, even to the

point of recognition of Christ and refusing Him regardless.

Now, I probably have your attention, and I hope you’re not too worked up. This particular passage has the

context of Pharisees seeing the miraculous works of Jesus, which have intrigued the crowds to ask

whether He is the Son of David (v. 23). Perhaps a couple of deeper things could be discussed here today.

Let’s start with number one: what is the point of signs in the Bible? Well, a sign, like a road sign, is meant

to direct attention. I used to travel nearly every year as a kid with my family down to Florida, where my

grandma lived, and back then, there were road signs nearly every few hundred feet advertising all of the

cool attractions to come. So many signs for Disney World and the like, and as a kid, when I started seeing

the signs, I knew we were getting closer and my imagination started to drift me off into a world of fun and

excitement with palm trees here and there. The signs were not there for us to pull over, gaze and gawk,

get out a picnic lunch and just revel in the majesty of those signs. The signs were there to whet our

appetites for what was possible. The signs of Jesus pointed to Him being the Son of God. Who but the

Maker of creation could alter the function of creation in supernatural ways at His desire? Miracles (signs)

pointed to the Miracle-Maker. The works of the Holy Spirit were meant to attest to Jesus as the Son of

God. When people got caught up in the miracles and lost sight of Jesus, they just wanted more and failed

to see why He was doing the miraculous at all. That’s my first point on deeper things.

Secondly, the Pharisees saw the signs along with the rest of the crowd and instead of drawing the proper

conclusion, they refused to admit it and accept it and instead attributed it to the Devil. If you watch the

Pharisees throughout the Gospels, you will find that they have a progressively harder time denying what

Jesus is doing. They have to put their fingers in their ears, close their eyes and play make believe; by the

time of the raising of Lazarus, they know they can’t win anymore and that if they don’t find a way to kill

Jesus, they’re going to lose all of their following. On your own time, I’d encourage you to read John 11-12.

You will see that Palm Sunday actually shows Lazarus present, and that the Pharisees don’t just want to

kill Jesus, but also Lazarus whom He raised (John 12:10) to put a stop to all of it. The unpardonable sin, if

I read this context right, is to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit and to attribute it to the Devil. My

seminary Greek teacher pointed this out years ago, and I agree, that the possibility of the unpardonable sin today may not be there because of Jesus’ direct presence in those times versus now. Of course,

people can attribute things God is doing to Satan right now, but not in the same way of seeing Jesus

healing people, raising them from the dead, feeding thousands with little food multiplied and so forth.

Jesus, God the Son, stood before them, did these miracles and they weren’t going to have it. There’s a

qualitative difference between seeing Christ do the miraculous right in front of you and refusing to believe

in a God you’ve never seen like many do today. This is kind of like a flip-flop with how Jesus says to

Thomas in John 20:21, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who

have not seen and yet have believed.” Well, there were those who saw Jesus and not only didn’t believe,

but also did everything they could to deny what they saw.

There is a strong case to be made here that no matter the level of evidence one may have, salvation is

never an act simply of logic; it is a modern-day miracle when anyone should hear this message and

believe it in their hearts, because it is a work of the Holy Spirit that one be convicted and convinced of the

truth. Without Him bringing people unto Himself, it does not matter how close they’ve come to death, how

many wonderful blessings they’ve received, arguments they’ve been given or whatever it may be, every

soul saved is won over by the Spirit of God.

Whenever I write or teach or preach, I have learned that unless God grabs people’s attention and tugs at

their hearts, they may appreciate what I’ve put out there (or sleep right through it), but nothing’s going to

happen in a spiritually meaningful way if God isn’t in it. Rest in His work, follow the Spirit as He leads, and

remember that “success” is only contingent upon the work of the Holy Spirit through the use of the

Scriptures. Be brave, but don’t rest in your bravery; trust in Him.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.