Mark 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out the demons. 28 Truly I say to you that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they blaspheme, 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin. 30 He said this because they said, He has an unclean spirit.
In 3:28 and 29 the Lord says that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and all blasphemies. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit "has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin," a sin that will not be forgiven forever. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit differs from insulting the Spirit (Heb. 10:29). To insult the Spirit is to disobey Him willfully. Many believers do this. If they confess this sin, they will be forgiven and cleansed by the Lord's blood (1 John 1:7, 9). But to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to slander Him, as the scribes did in Mark 3:22. It was by the Holy Spirit that the Lord cast out a demon. But the scribes seeing it said that He cast out demons by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons. This was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In the economy of the Triune God, the Father conceived the plan of redemption (Eph. 1:5, 9), the Son accomplished redemption according to the Father's plan (1 Pet. 2:24; Gal. 1:4), and the Spirit reaches sinners to apply the redemption accomplished by the Son (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2). If a sinner blasphemes the Son as Saul of Tarsus did, the Spirit still has the ground to work upon him and cause him to repent and believe in the Son that he may be forgiven (see 1 Tim. 1:13- 16). But if a sinner blasphemes the Spirit, the Spirit will have no ground to work upon him, and there will be none left to cause him to repent and believe. Hence, it is impossible for such a person to be forgiven. This is not only logical, according to reason, but governmental according to God's administrative principle, as revealed here by the Lord's word. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 113-114. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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