The unpardonable, or unforgivable, sin is a dreadful thing to commit. Many Christians who don't understand what it is fear that they have committed it, and are therefore unforgivable before God. What is it? How do we know if we have committed it?

Clearing up the fog

The Lord Jesus Himself explained what this sin is. We read Him saying in Mark 3:28-30,

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation."

By this we understand that the unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines "blasphemy" as "an injury offered to God, by denying that which is due and belonging to him, or attributing to him that which is not agreeable to his nature."

When we read the whole passage in context, Mark 3:20-30, we will see that the Lord Jesus said that in response to the scribes who kept rejecting His work. Earlier in Mark 3:1-12 we read that Jesus healed the sick (v. 5, 10) and cast out demons and evil spirits (v.11).

Then in verse 22 we read the scribes arrived and attributed the Lord's work to the devil:

"And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.""

The scribes, who happened to spend a lot of time copying Scripture, rejected Christ's work as from God, and instead accused Him of being the devil's worker. They rejected the very grace of God that works to save them.

Not just a one-time thing

Dr. David Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Radio, noted how the word "said" in verse 22 gives us an idea of what the unforgivable sin is:

"The verb form for "said" is in the imperfect tense. It can be translated as, "They kept on saying.""

What this means is that the scribes didn't just reject the work of the Holy Spirit once. They kept rejecting it and reached a point where repentance seems impossible.

Well-known author and Pastor, John Piper, agrees with this, saying,

"I think the issue is that when the Holy Spirit begins to work and testify to the living Christ in your heart, and you continually resist, there comes a point where your resisting is unforgivable."

So to summarize all of that, the unforgivable sin is the act of continually rejecting the testimony of Christ that saves us. The unforgivable sin is when someone chooses to reject the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting him of sin (see John 16:8). The unforgivable sin is when a person chooses not to repent of sin, until his heart gets calloused and he loses the ability to repent.

How do I know if I have committed it?

Now here's the important part: how to know if a Christian has committed it.

Truth is, if we've already confessed and repented of our sins before the Lord, we won't commit it. The unforgivable sin is a sin that keeps avoiding repentance right from the start, therefore those who have already repented cannot commit it any longer.

Perhaps we're wondering if at any point in our lives we've committed it. Well, the fact that we're anxious about is says we haven't, and the fact that we want to repent says we really haven't. The unforgivable sin happens when a person is beyond the point of repentance. This is what the Lord Jesus meant when He said in John 3:18-19,

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

Dear Christian, are you worried? Worry not. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit lives in every person who has believed in Christ. He is at work sanctifying the believer and making him holy and Christ-like. The Holy Spirit can never do these in a person who has rejected Him.

As such, Christians who have genuinely repented cannot commit this sin.