Eternal Sin, Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and The Backslider

Many have been misled about these to the point that they have, in terror, contacted our ministry to learn if they could ever be forgiven for their many sins or are they hopelessly doomed to go to hell!

Folks, please lay aside all preconceived ideas and verify the Scriptures about to be cited for yourself. The best place to begin is Mark 3:22-30:

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

In those verses, you read that Jesus’ enemies committed eternal sin (or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) when they believed and said Jesus had a demon and by the power of the devil he drove out demons. That is exactly what it is, according to the Lord Jesus, the only one who ever mentioned it.

NOTE: In spite of all the sinful people Jesus came into contact with, the only ones Jesus said who committed unforgivable sin were the ones saying Jesus had an evil spirit and by the power of the prince of demons he is driving out demons. Remember that. That is vital to know about eternal sin.

It has NOTHING to do with sexual immorality, murder, homosexuality, drunkenness, theft, swindling, greed, lying, witchcraft, etc. Eternal sin deals only with the sin and blasphemy of saying Jesus had an evil spirit and by the power of the devil he was driving out demons. Hence, unless you have believed and said such, you have not and cannot commit eternal sin. It is impossible.

So there is hope for the backslider. The backslider can return in sincere repentance to God and get saved again. The ultimate proof of this is also from the Lord Jesus, when he taught about the prodigal.

That younger son departed into wild living with the prostitutes. After an undesignated time period he realized his folly and turned from all of that wickedness to return to the Father to serve him. The Father ran to meet him and kissed him. Then we are given Luke 15:24, which says:

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.

In other words, the Prodigal did NOT commit eternal sin. He was able to get forgiven and saved again even after deliberate wicked living which brought about a spiritually dead and lost condition.

God had mercy on him because he sincerely repented and desired to serve God. He is a prime example of a backslider, who God was happy to forgive and have back in his presence again.

Sincere repentant backslider, ponder those truths and stop allowing the devil to fill your mind with his torturous lies designed to destroy you! It isn’t God who is telling you, you can not get forgiven of sexual sin, drunkenness, murder, etc. It is the father of lies, the devil.

Besides that clear Prodigal teaching we have Peter, who lost his salvation by disowning Jesus. He also fell away at that point, according to Mt. 26:31. Afterwards, Peter repented and got saved again too. He turned back to the Lord or got converted when he repented (Luke 22:32). Hence, neither sexual immorality with prostitutes or disowning Jesus is beyond forgiveness, with these examples!

Other Scriptures show King David got forgiven of adultery and murder and saved again, and Manasseh came to first time salvation after a whole host of some of the vilest acts, according to 2 Chron. 33.

Certainly some are wondering about Heb. 6:4-6 and Heb. 10:26-29.  In both passages we read of those who deliberately committed eternal sin, so they could return to the synagogues, according to the history of that time period. They could not come to repentance again, unlike the prodigal, Peter, David, the unnamed in James 5:19,20; and many others.

In summary: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or eternal sin is only committed when a person believes Jesus had a demon and by the power of the devil he performed his miracles.

Also, remember, eternal sin (though unforgivable) is NOT the only sin that will drag one to hell. There are various ways to go to hell and most people will be there in the end.

Folks, remember forgiveness and freedom from sin’s addictions are only found in the Lord Jesus. All who do evil will be thrown into the fiery furnace:

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  (Mat 13:41,42)

Turn from your sins and place a submissive faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation. No person or sin is worth going to hell over. The real salvation issue is this: Are you following Jesus NOW—not if you have ever been born again, but where are you at this present time?

This teaching is also important http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/newconverts.htm God Bless You.