SEVEN DEADLY SINS
DR. JIM DIXON
UNPARDONABLE SIN
MARK 3
MARCH 18, 1990
In 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned previous president Richard M. Nixon for crimes committed in the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon was legally pardoned, but in the hearts of millions of men and women in this country and around the world, he remained unpardoned. Some people felt that Richard Nixon committed unpardonable sin and have actually said that if he were to fall on his face and repent and cry out for mercy, they would still not forgive him. I think it’s safe to say that God is more forgiving than most people. God is a God of grace and a God of mercy, and He is willing to pardon us, if we confess our sin. The Bible says he is faithful and he is just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have just completed a series on the seven deadly sins – pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, greed, and slothfulness. God is willing to pardon these sins. He is willing to forgive, but there’s one sin that God will not forgive. It is oftentimes called the unpardonable sin, and that’s our subject this morning.
When children hear of the unpardonable sin they are oftentimes afraid that they’ve committed it. They don’t know what it is, but they’re afraid that maybe they’ve done it. They suspect taking the Lord’s name in vain is the unpardonable sin. Of course, the Bible doesn’t tell us that taking the Lord’s name in vain is the unpardonable sin. It’s not right, but it is certainly not the unpardonable sin. Some adults suspect that suicide is the unpardonable sin, and certainly suicide is sin to take what God has made what he has created to destroy the crown of his creation. However, the Bible does not indicate that suicide is the unpardonable sin. Throughout church history, there have been Christians who have suspected that perhaps deliberate willful sin, premeditated sin is beyond pardon. However, the Bible doesn’t tell us that premeditated, willful sin is beyond pardon. We can be thankful for that because if it were beyond pardon, none of us could be pardoned because we’ve all committed premeditated sin, willfully, deliberately with eyes wide open we have done what we knew to be wrong. So what is the unpardonable sin?
Perhaps some of you have heard of the snake called the black mamba. It’s found in Africa and its venom is extremely poisonous. It is considered the deadliest snake in all the world. The black mamba is able to kill with one bite. Killing humans in less than 60 seconds. Perhaps you’ve heard of the death cap toadstools so deadly that with one bite, death is imminent. You see, some people think the unpardonable sin is like that. So deadly that if you take one bite, it’s all over. God writes you off and you can’t be forgiven. The Bible doesn’t indicate that the unpardonable sin is like that. In fact, the Bible indicates that the unpardonable sin is a kind of process that leads to spiritual death. In first John chapter five, the Bible speaks of the sin unto death.
This passage says there are two types of sin, sin, which is not under death, and the sin that is under death. The Greek word thanatos does not simply refer to it as physical death, separation of the soul and the spirit from the body. But the word thanatos refers to spiritual death, separation of the soul and the spirit from God. There is sin which can lead to eternal spiritual death, sin that is not pardoned. The unpardonable sin is actually described in our passage of scripture for today in Mark chapter three, where our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, all sin will be forgiven. The sins of men, whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is what the Bible describes as the unpardonable sin. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
In the context, it’s really not that difficult to understand because Jesus Christ is talking to the Pharisees. We see this in the parallel passages of Matthew 12 and Luke 12 where Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. Jesus revealed himself to the Pharisees demonstrating His power over the forces of darkness, casting out demons, and performing miracles. He revealed himself in deity and in light, and yet they have rejected him. In fact, the Pharisees said that what He did, He did by the power of Satan. It is in that context that Jesus Christ warned them about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the sin which could never be pardoned. The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit lives to reveal the light. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The Holy Spirit lives to reveal the Son of God to bear witness to the Son of God. In John chapter fifteen, verse twenty-six, our Lord Jesus Christ tells his disciples, before he goes to Calvary’s cross, he says, I’ll send the Holy Spirit and he will bear witness to me. In John chapter sixteen, Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and take what is His and declare it to them.
The Holy Spirit lives to draw men and women to the Son of God. Wherever and whenever the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit works to draw the hearts of men and women to the Son of God. When we reject the gospel, it can be forgiven. When we reject Jesus Christ, it can be forgiven. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, but it can be forgiven. As we hear the gospel again and we hear the proclamation of Jesus Christ again, and we reject it again, we begin to grieve the Spirit more and more. And over a process of time, we can actually reach the point of spiritual death where our heart is totally hardened. We can no longer respond to the light we have reached the unpardonable sin. And to put it as simply as possible, the unpardonable sin is simply this ultimate and final rejection of the Holy Spirit’s testimony to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Everybody knows John chapter three verse sixteen and often ignore the three verses that immediately follow John 3:16. In those verses, the Bible says, “God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned. He who does not believe in him is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. This is the testimony God has sent light into the world. Men love darkness rather than the light.” That’s the unpardonable sin to ultimately love darkness rather than light and refuse to believe in Jesus Christ whom the Father has sent.
Recent surveys tell us that thirty-two percent of people in the United States claim to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Whether or not they really believe in Christ as Lord and Savior, God only knows, but thirty-two out of a hundred people in the United States of America claim to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That means almost seventy percent of the people in this nation do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Bible tells us a true Christian is someone who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. This means that 70% of the people in the United States of America, if they have, if they have actually heard the gospel, and if they have received the light, have by their own testimony rejected it. They are grieving the Holy Spirit and they are in danger of committing the unpardonable sin. God says he is not willing or wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. He loves you. God loves you. God loves every single person on this earth, but God will not force anyone to spend eternity with Him. He invites people to embrace His reign through his son Jesus Christ. We long to see people come to Christ here and long to see people accept Christ as Lord and Savior to embrace his forgiveness of sins.
Recently we were at a mission’s conference at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church, in Birmingham, Alabama. We were told that the Holy Spirit today is raising up a new kind of church. See, traditionally churches existed primarily for worship and for the building up of believers. Christians came to church to worship and to be built up into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. Evangelism took place in other places like revivals and tent meetings. But you see, the Holy Spirit is raising up a new kind of church today, a church that combines worship and discipleship with evangelism. A church where Christians can come and worship the majesty of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – where Christians can come and be built into the fullness of the measure of the likeness of Christ. It’s a church where non-Christians can come and be welcomed, come and hear the gospel, where non-Christians can come and be loved, come and be invited to embrace salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I hope you know we are such a church. We exist not simply for worship and discipleship though that is critical to us, but we exist also for the purpose of evangelism. We long to see men and women embrace the Son of God. Nothing gives us more joy than seeing someone come to Jesus Christ embracing him as Lord and Savior.
It has been suggested, and I don’t know how accurate this is, that in this church, Cherry Hills Community, perhaps a thousand to fifteen hundred non-believers attend every Sunday. God only knows. If you’re a non-believer, you’re welcome here. We love you. God loves you, and we long to see you embrace His Son as Lord and Savior. We thank God for every one of you who believe.
I’d like to ask a couple of questions and it is not my intention to make anyone uncomfortable. I’d like to ask, how many of you embraced Christ as Lord and Savior through a televangelist on TV? Okay, not very many. How many of you became a Christian by simply reading the Bible or some other Christian book by yourself, and you decided to ask Christ in your heart? A few. How many of you have become Christians and have invited Christ to be your Lord and Savior through your mom and dad? They shared the gospel with you and you said, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart.” Quite a few of you. That’s how I accepted Christ when I was five years old. How many of you became Christians through a friend that shared the love of Christ with you? Raise your hand. Quite a few of you. How many of you have embraced Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and through the ministry of this church or some other church, through the ministry of the church, you’ve asked Christ to be your Lord and Savior? Raise your hand. Most of you. How many of you don’t have a clue how you came to the truth, you just know you believe?
You know what God wants us to understand? It doesn’t matter whether the agency was through a television evangelist, the Bible itself, your mom or dad, a friend, or this church or some other church. In truth, you were drawn by the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit draws men and women to Christ. I wouldn’t preach the gospel if I didn’t believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit is the power and he draws men and women unto himself. I believe even now in this moment; the Holy Spirit is working. I have no power. The Holy Spirit has power. He’s working. We want to invite you today. If you’ve never embraced Christ, this can be your day. Every day you neglect Christ is one less day to repent in. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Don’t risk blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. We want to invite you to receive Christ today. We’re going to say a prayer and in the quietness of the moment in your heart, we invite you to let Christ come be your Lord and Savior. Let’s close with prayer.