Is There An Unpardonable Sin?

by adam harbinson

Bill Shankly, a former Liverpool FC manager once made the memorable statement; 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude,’ he continued. ‘I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'

Was he serious? Who knows, although clearly, football was very important to him. He devoted his life to the game, both as a player and later as a manager and I often think it a shame that so many of us are casual, even careless about matters that are more important than life or death.

One that’s been on my mind of late is the reference in the Bible to the unpardonable sin. Jesus said, ‘Anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.’ Now, is that scary, or is it very scary? And yet have you ever know anyone who has tried in a determined way to find out what it means? Have you ever heard a preacher try to explain, simply and clearly what he thinks it means? Maybe you have; I haven’t. Indeed over the years I’ve asked many people to help me understand it but all I’ve ever got has been waffle, or, ‘Hmm, interesting question that,' with a few honest folk thrown in who admitted that they hadn’t a clue.

But if there is such a thing as a sin that can never be forgiven, wouldn’t you think that somewhere, someone would have figured out an answer? And if Jesus really was saying that there’s absolutely no hope for anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit, don’t you think he would have mentioned it more than once? Wouldn’t Paul or some of the other New Testament writers have elaborated on it? Even once?

But no, not a peep, and so here we are, over two thousand years later; theologians still debating the subject and we’re no further on. Could it be that there’s a simple explanation, too simple for lofty minds? For example, the context in which Jesus said what he said was one of his frequent clashes with the religious folk, who hadn’t much time for him and who finally got rid of him by orchestrating his death. It was they he was addressing because they had just accused him, who was pure good, of working miracles by the power of Satan, who was pure evil. And yet the first thing Jesus said when they had him nailed to the cross was, ‘Father, forgive them...’ – including the unpardonable one perhaps?

Dare we suggest that at that cataclysmic moment, everything changed, including the relationship between heaven and earth, between God and men, so that Paul could say, ‘I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.’