“‘Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” (Mark 3:28-30)
Over the past few years, many American Christians have become divided along partisan political lines. Being a member of any political party or ideology is not sinful, though espousing sin as part of that ideology is. And although the Word of God condemns abortion and sexual immorality as sins, some Christians claim that under the laws of our nation, everyone has to right to do as they please even if it is sin. The Word of God also commands us to protect and care for the downtrodden and the needy even those who are in our nation illegally. Though Christians disagree on these and other issues, their sins and sinful endorsements, no matter how bad, are, according to Jesus, forgivable. True, there will be consequences, but God can and will forgive those who repent of any sin, any sin, that is, except one.
As bad as most sins are the only really unpardonable sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This amounts to the rejection of the mercy of God in Christ. In essence, this means calling God a liar which the Bible tells us is really calling God the devil himself, the father of lies. This may happen through outright unbelief, intense despair, or by the hardening of the heart. Thus only the rejection of faith in Christ will send anyone to hell. While that may be comforting to many, the bad news is that there are billions of people down through the millennia and living today who have done exactly that.
Now sin is indeed a serious offense against the Lord. We cannot accept it as good nor can we try, like Adam and Eve, to excuse it or redefine it as something good, as an acceptable lifestyle choice. Rather we need to seek the Lord’s strength and grace to admit and repent of sin, overcome it and not give in to the temptation which we daily experience. We cannot do it on our own.