An aged minister thought that he had committed the Unpardonable Sin. At last, after much conflict, he submitted to what he mistakably considered was the will of God, for him to be lost. Then something within him whispered: “Suppose you are going to hell, with your disposition and habits, what would you do there?” The quick answer was, “I would set up a prayer-meeting,” and with those words, God’s revelation light dawned on his heart, and he saw how absurd he was. The fact that one fears that he has committed this sin is sure proof that he hasn’t.1 Why You Shouldn’t Let the Enemy Torment You about the Unpardonable Sin, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This week’s call is:
Obey your conscious and keep your heart always towards God and His Word. That will keep you safe and growing in all His will.
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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:
Question: Have you ever encountered a person who committed the Unpardonable sin? Please consider leaving your story in the comments section below.
Episode Resources:
You can find additional information on the subject of Suicide and the Unpardonable Sin in the resources listed below.
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- #S6-030: Is Suicide the Unpardonable Sin?[Podcast]
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes
So, What Is the Unpardonable Sin?
Hebrews 6:4–6 (ESV) — 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
- So, in a previous podcast, we’ve talked about how some have taught that suicide is the Unpardonable Sin.
- We saw that suicide wasn’t the Unpardonable Sin, but this account in Hebrews six is.
- If you look closely, we will see in a bit, there are five qualifications if you could say it that way, necessary to commit this sin.
- The Unpardonable Sin appears in other places in the New Testament.
The Unpardonable Sin in the Scriptures
1 John 5:16–17 (ESV) — 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
- Did you hear that in verse sixteen?
- There is a sin that leads to death.
- The writer is not talking about physical death here.
- He is talking instead of spiritual death.
- All wrongdoing is sin, but there is one that leads to death.
Matthew 12:31 (KJV) — 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
- If you are wondering what the sin is, this passage begins to let you in on what it is, and it’s magnified out for us in the passage in Hebrews six.
Hebrews 10:26–29 (ESV) — 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
- So, if we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
- The Greek word ‘deliberately’ means willingly or in a manner disposed or inclined toward something.
- So, this is an intentional ‘I meant to do it no matter what’ kind of sin.
Five Unpardonable Sin Qualifications
- Let’s look at the five qualifications for sinning the Unpardonable Sin.
- The purpose of this is to dispel the thinking that someone might have that maybe, just maybe, they might have committed this sin.
- You see, the devil tries to torment people with this thought.
- You will see that there is no ‘maybe’ or ‘might have.’
Unpardonable Sin Qualifier One: Once Enlightened
Hebrews 6:4–6 (KJV) — 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened…
- What does the word ‘enlightened’ mean?
- In Greek, the word means to make known in reference to the inner life or transcendent matters and thus enlighten, enlighten, give light to, shed light upon.2
- Helen Keller was physically blind, but she saw infinitely more than most people with good eyesight who are blind in the soul.
- She wrote the following:
Dark as my path may seem to others, I carry a magic light in my heart. Faith, the spiritual, strong searchlight, illumines the way, and although sinister doubts lurk in the shadow, I walk unafraid toward the Enchanted Wood where foliage is always green, where joy abides, where nightingales nest and sing, and where life and death are one in the presence of the Lord.3
- When the writer of Hebrews spoke of a person who was ‘enlightened,’ he is referring to the light shed on the person of Jesus.
- The sunlight of God’s light dawned upon this person’s heart at some point and because it did, they saw who Jesus is.
- To be enlightened then means then to be convicted of your lost state.
- It means to see it, recognize it, AND know that there is no way to be saved except through Jesus Christ.
- This person saw all of this inside their heart: faith to receive rose within them for salvation.
- Now comes the next qualification.
Unpardonable Sin Qualifier Two: Tasting of the Heavenly Gift
Hebrews 6:4 (KJV) — 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, AND have tasted of the heavenly gift…
- Notice the word AND in the text.
- In the show notes, I’ve highlighted it, underlined it and boldfaced it.
- The word means that there is something more to the Unpardonable Sin than just being enlightened.
- There is something on the other side of AND.
- You have to be enlightened AND taste of the heavenly gift.
- In other words, once this person is enlightened and faith arises in their hearts, then they say YES to that enlightenment and give their hearts to Jesus.
- This individual didn’t just see Jesus as the way; they accepted Him as the way.
- Because they did, now they are born again.
- So, this Unpardonable Sin is one that a sinner cannot commit.
- The Unpardonable Sin is not a ‘sinner’s sin.’
- It’s a believer’s sin.
- Sinners wouldn’t be sinners if they came to Jesus.
- It is THE ONLY SIN a believer can commit after they receive Jesus, which will nullify their salvation and earn them a one-way ticket to the nether region below.
Unpardonable Sin Qualifier Three: Tasting of the Heavenly Gift
Hebrews 6:4 (KJV) — 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, AND have tasted of the heavenly gift, AND were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
- So, here’s a second AND.
- Again, there is something on the other side of AND.
- Here is the third qualifier.
- You have to be enlightened AND taste the heavenly gift AND become partakers of the Holy Ghost.
- In other words, once a person is enlightened, and faith arises in their hearts, and they then say YES to that enlightenment and give their hearts to Jesus, and then they move on from there and receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues.
- Many believers never qualify to commit this sin because they lack the infilling of the Spirit.
- Think of all the denominations who have not experienced the ‘infilling.’
- Now, just in case you may be thinking this: Don’t engage the ‘I want to be held responsible, so I would rather stay ignorant’ line of thinking.
- This immature mindset seeks to stay neutral so that they put themselves at risk.
- But, you do want to be filled with the Spirit.
- You desire to do all you can for the God you love.
- That is if you really do love Him and He is the Lord of your life.
- In your heart of hearts, you want all of God.
- And that’s what being filled with the Spirit is.
- It is a deeper dimension of God.
- You know down inside your core you want the Spirit of God to use you.
- And you know what, He wants to use you.
- Who else is going to use?
- God has to use somebody, why not you?
- Miracles should be the new normal in your life.
- You desire action by the Spirit’s unction.
- And so, you want what’s on the other side of AND.
- But there’s more; there is another qualifier.
Unpardonable Sin Qualifier Four: Tasting the Good Word of God
Hebrews 6:4–5 (KJV) — 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, AND have tasted of the heavenly gift, AND were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 AND have tasted the good word of God…
- So, there’s a third AND.
- Again, there is something on the other side of it.
- Here is the fourth qualifier.
- You have to be enlightened, AND taste of the heavenly gift AND become partakers of the Holy Ghost AND taste the good Word of God.
- In other words, once a person is enlightened, and faith arises in their hearts, and they then say YES to that enlightenment and give their hearts to Jesus and then they move on from there and receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, and then they get into their Bible and begin to grow spiritually.
- That is they are no longer spiritual babies like the passage in 1 Peter 2:2 references.
1 Peter 2:2 (ESV) — 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
- So, this believer is saved, filled, and growing in God’s Word.
- I say growing because there is always more room to grow.
- You never really arrive; you should be growing until the day you die.
- In your spirit, you desire all that there is to the Bread of Life, the whole loaf.
- Without any doubt, you want to swallow the Bible whole.
- Don’t you?
- So, this believer who willfully turns his back on Jesus, who, with thoughtful intent, denies Him, is an individual who has some experience in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- The willful sinner is not a lightweight in the things of God but a heavyweight; a singer of Psalms a quoter of Proverbs, a reader of the Epistles.
- But yet, there is still one final AND.
The Unpardonable Sin Five: Tasting the Powers of the World to Come
Hebrews 6:4–5 (KJV) — 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, AND have tasted of the heavenly gift, AND were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 AND have tasted the good word of God, AND the powers of the world to come,
- So, here’s the final AND.
- Again, there is something on the other side of it.
- Here is the fifth qualifier.
- You must be enlightened AND taste the heavenly gift AND become partakers of the Holy Ghost AND taste the good Word of God AND taste the powers of the world to come.
- So once again, here is a person who is enlightened and faith arises in their hearts and they then say YES to that enlightenment and give their hearts to Jesus and then they move on from there and receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, and then they get into their Bible and begin to grow spiritually and then the flow in the powers of the world to come.
- What are the ‘powers of the world to come?’
- They are the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians twelve.
The Gifts of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:4–10 (ESV) — 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
- So a person who qualifies to commit the Unpardonable Sin is a person who is a born again, spirit-filled, tongue-talking, mature, flowing in the gifts of the Spirit, believer.
- He has enjoyed the deeper dimensions of God.
- You know the scripture says that deep calls unto deep.
Deep Calls unto Deep
Psalm 42:7 (ESV) — 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
- So here is this person with all these deeper dimensions of Jesus and they decide, they don’t want him anymore.
- That decision is unpardonable.
- This person says with willfully thought and intent, “I don’t want to be a Christan anymore, forget the Holy Spirit, forget about His gifts,” – now you are over into that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit part we read about in Matthew – and on top of that says, “I don’t care what the Word says, I want to do what I want to do.”
- For this person, functioning at this level of relationship and experience in God who then turns his or her back to a life of sin, for that person, there is no forgiveness.
- That’s the unpardonable sin, and this is the reason why we said last week that suicide doesn’t qualify.
- Now, let’s talk about this willful sinning piece.
- You always want to be watchful about willful sin.
The Unpardonable Sin Is Willful Sinning
- George Eliot said these words about willful sin.
I couldn’t live in peace if I put the shadow of a willful sin between myself and God.4
- Responding to your conscience is a good God thing.
- Do it and stay safe.
Why Christians Choose to Sin
- One author gave a list of “Why Christians Choose to Sin.”
- He asks the following question: “Why would Christians choose to sin rather than choose what they know that God wants them to do? Four answers come up today.”
- First, Some would point to Romans 8:16 – ‘now we are children of God – and explain that Christians who willfully sin have forgotten their true identity as “children of God.” While it is true that Christians can forget who they are and sin; as a result, Christians can also be well aware of who they are and sin anyway.
- Second, some say Christians choose to sin because they have lost sight of what God has done for them. 2 Peter 1:9 indicates that Christians can be “blind or short-sighted, having forgotten [their] purification from [their] former sins.”
- Third, some wisely states that Christians consciously choose to sin because they have forgotten that God will severely discipline disobedient believers.
- Fourth, some have said that Christians who consciously sin have lost their focus on the future. These Christians have forgotten that God will reward in heaven only those who have lived faithfully for Him here on earth (1 Corinthians 9:24). Christians who fail to keep eternity in mind often sin in the here and now.5
- Now, let’s go back and look at our verses in Hebrews ten.
Deliberate Sin
Hebrews 10:26–29 (ESV) — 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
- Look at the two words ‘sinning deliberately.’
- The word deliberately means willfully.
- That means you committed this sin of rejecting Jesus on purpose.
- You cannot commit this sin by accident.
- If you think, you might have slipped and somehow committed it; you didn’t.
- You cannot commit this sin ‘under emotional duress’ which is the realm of suicide.
- If a person ever commits this sin, they will KNOW IT, and they will have that knowledge FOREVER.
- There is no way back for this person.
- You cannot intercede for them.
You Cannot Pray for a Person Who Commits This Sin
- What I mean by that is that it won’t do any good to pray for this person.
1 John 5:16–17 (KJV) — 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
- There is a sin unto death.
- John says, “I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
The Unpardonable Sin: A True Story
- I heard Kenneth Hagin tell this story about a person who committed the Unpardonable Sin.
- It’s a sad story.
- I want you to hear it today.
Suddenly in the vision I saw a woman. I immediately recognized her as being the former wife of a minister. I had been introduced to her and her husband on one occasion. Other than that, I didn’t know either of them and I had no communication with either of them in any way. I only knew that she had since left her husband.
“This woman was a child of mine,” the Lord said. “She was in the ministry with her husband. She was filled with the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit were operating in her life. One day an evil spirit came to her and whispered in her ear, ‘You are a beautiful woman. You could have had fame, popularity, and wealth, but you have been cheated in life by following in the Christian walk.’
The woman realized that this was an evil spirit and she said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ The spirit left her for a period. “By and by the same spirit returned. He sat on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, ‘You are a beautiful woman, but you have been robbed by taking this lowly walk of Christianity and living a separated life.’ Again, she recognized this as Satan and said, ‘Satan, I resist you in the Name of Jesus,’ and he left her for a while.
“But he came back again and sat on her shoulder, whispering the same things in her ear. This time she began to entertain these thoughts, for she liked to think she was beautiful. As she began to think along the lines the devil suggested to her, she became obsessed with that thinking.”
Then in the vision I saw the woman become as transparent as glass, and I saw a black dot in her mind. “That dot represents the fact that she is obsessed in her thinking with this spirit,” the Lord said. “At first she was oppressed on the outside, but as she allowed the devil’s suggestion to take hold of her thoughts, her mind became obsessed. She wanted to think, ‘I am a beautiful woman. I could have wealth and popularity, but I have been robbed in life.’ Still, it wasn’t too late. She could have resisted; she could have refused to think those thoughts. Then the evil spirit would have fled from her and she would have remained free. But she chose otherwise.
“Finally she left her husband and went out into the world, seeking the fame and wealth which the devil offered. She took up with one man after another. After a time that thing got down into her spirit.” In the vision I saw the black dot move from her head to her heart, and then the woman said, “I don’t want the Lord anymore. Just leave me alone.”
“Lord, what will happen to her?” I asked. “She will spend eternity in the regions of the damned, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,” He answered. And in the vision I saw her go down into the pit. I heard her awful screams. “This woman was your child, Lord. She was filled with your Spirit and had part in the ministry. Yet You said not to pray for her. I cannot understand this!” The Lord reminded me of the following Scripture: “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it” (1 John 5:16).
- That’s the Unpardonable Sin
- Keep your heart towards God and stay safe.
- You have a great God week, and we will see you again for another edition of Light on Life.
References:
- D. L. Moody, Anecdotes, Incidents, and Illustrations (Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1898), 80–81. ↩
- William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1074. ↩
- Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 42. ↩
- Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 716. ↩
- Why Christians Sin, J. Kirk Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 3, Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩
