Matthew 12:31-32 reads—“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 12:31-32, NKJV). This very alarming warning has caused much debate as to exactly how to understand what constitutes the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Let’s consider what Jesus is teaching here.

     The Lord’s teachings on this issue are found in three passages: Matthew 12:31-32 (quoted above), Mark 3:28-30 & Luke 12:10. The accounts in both Matthew and Mark come immediately after the Pharisees claimed—“It is by the ruler of demons that He casts out demons”(Mark 3:22). To which Jesus responds—“How can Satan cast out Satan?” (Mark 3:23). If Jesus’ miracles were done by the power of Satan it would make no sense for Satan to work against himself!

     Apparently there were some among the Jews who were also able to cast out demons. Jesus appeals to this fact as a challenge to their accusation, asking them—“By whom do your sons cast them out?” (Matthew 12:27). It is then that Jesus shows clearly that His power comes from God declaring - “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). The Jews were not ready to accept that, so they rejected the fact that God’s Spirit was the source of Jesus’ power. Acts 10:38 states -“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.” Jesus did miracles through the Holy Spirit.

     When the Jews accused Jesus of acting by Satan’s power they were doing more than simply reviling Him, they were reviling the Holy Spirit. In John 14:11 Jesus said - “Believe Me that I [am] in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” There were two witnesses that established who Jesus was: His words and His works. If they not only rejected His words but then refused to acknowledge that the Spirit of God was the source of His power, there was no hope for them. They had blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

     In Matthew and Mark the context suggests that the kind of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which Jesus is addressing in these passages was accusing Jesus of acting by Satan’s power. Mark even tells us that Jesus said what He did about blasphemy of the Spirit—“because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit’”(Mark 3:30). If this is the case it is no longer possible to commit this kind of blasphemy since Jesus is no longer physically present performing miracles through the Holy Spirit.

     The third passage which records Jesus’ teaching on this issue, however, falls in a different context. In Luke 12:8-12 Jesus is not responding to the Jews accusations but teaching the importance of confession of Him before men. Notice the full context:
1.) If we confess Jesus, He will confess us (vs. 8).
2.) If we deny Christ, He will deny us (vs. 9).
3.) Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable (vs. 10).
4.) The Apostles are promised that the Holy Spirit will guide their words (vss. 11,12).
Here Jesus is not addressing people’s response to His miraculous works done through the Holy Spirit, but what the Holy Spirit would do in revealing the gospel. The Holy Spirit would reveal to the Apostles the completion of the gospel message (John 14:26 & 16:13). When they spoke and wrote they were giving God’s commandments through the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 14:37). When someone rejected or spoke against this revealed message they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit. They could have no hope of some other means of forgiveness, neither “in this age or in the age to come.”

     If the passage in Luke expands the doctrine beyond witnessing and then accusing Jesus of working through Satan, what remains to be explained is under what conditions one “who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10). Does this mean a single word spoken at anytime or a complete rejection of the way of salvation which God has revealed through the Holy Spirit?

     The latter possibility matches more fully the record of Scripture. For example, we know that before his conversion the Apostle Paul spoke in opposition to what the Holy Spirit had revealed to the Apostles. In I Timothy 1:13 he calls himself a “blasphemer” and declares in Acts 26:11 that he even compelled the Christians he was persecuting to blaspheme. It is difficult to see how this could not have been blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and yet he repented, was forgiven and obeyed the very teachings of the Holy Spirit which he once had blasphemed.

     What is the condition of the person who rejects the gospel altogether? Can they look for and expect some other opportunity for forgiveness? They may pray for and desire forgiveness in this age, or in the age to come but they will not receive it. Unless they obey the gospel they will be lost (II Thessalonians 1:8). Is rejection the same as speaking against something? Jesus said,—“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30). Stephen told the Jewish leaders who rejected his teaching that were resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). When someone refuses the gospel they have rejected and spoken against what the Holy Spirit has revealed. When they remain in that condition they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.