10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
What
We Believe and Why
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
MATTHEW 12:31-32
We believe the sin which shall not be forgiven, which Jesus called "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 12:31), consists of crediting the miraculous deeds done by the Holy Spirit through Jesus, and later the Apostles, to Satan. We do not believe that prolonged rejection of salvation, turning excessively vile in one's thinking, suicide, or committing terrible sins is to commit the unpardonable sin of which Jesus spoke. In fact, we believe since the cessation of the miraculous works of the Holy Spirit which were performed through Jesus and in the Apostolic age, it has been impossible for anyone to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. Thus we do not believe anyone today can commit the unpardonable sin. To the contrary, we believe anyone in sane mind could be saved, if he would be; which would be equavilant to ALL his sins being forgiven.
I. The unpardonable sin not only involved the "words" of truth; but also a miraculous demonstration or "work" by the Holy Spirit to confirm that the words were truth:
A. These "words" and these "works" are rightfully considered two witnesses of the truth:
1. In John 3:11, Jesus spoke of His own testimony as being a witness to His hearers. (Repeatedly He bore verbal witness that He was the Christ. John 8:55-58, John 10:24-25)
2. But, Jesus also said the works that He did were another witness of the truth:
a. He said in John 10:25, "the works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
b. In John 5:36 He said, "But I have greater witness than that of John: (John could only witness that Jesus was the Christ with words) for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.
B. So, Jesus Himself claimed the strength of a two-fold witness:
1. His words in John 8:18 are, "I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me:"
a. Notice first that He bore record of Himself through His words.
b. But, also notice the Father bore record of Him through His works.
2. Jesus thus said, "I am the Son of God (His own witness through words). If I do not the works of My Father (the second witness being that of the Father through works), believe Me not." John 10:36-37.
C. The occasion upon which Jesus introduced the doctrine of the unpardonable sin was a case where a mighty work had been performed through Him in order to cause those who heard and saw it to believe in Him:
1. In the context, you will see that Jesus had performed a mighty miracle work of healing on "one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw." Matt. 12:22.
2. Remember that Jesus said the purpose of such mighty works were to prove who He was and that He spoke the truth, thus causing men to believe in Him. John 5:36.
3. After Jesus cast out this devil, He spent considerable time showing that the miracle was proof that He was of God not of Satan. Matt. 12:25-30.
4 So, the occasion was one where the two-fold witness was in view: Jesus' words (Matt. 12:25-30) and a mighty work of the Holy Ghost through Him. (Matt. 12:22)
5. The reaction to this two-fold witness was that some believed and some didn't:
a. Some "were amazed, and said, Is not this the Son of David ? " Matt. 12:23.
b. "But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doeth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." Matt. 12:24.
6. Now it was this latter group, which was exposed to a two-fold witness; but which, inspite of such positive proof, rejected the truth and credited the mighty work and witness of the Holy Spirit to Satan himself; which Jesus said was guilty of the unpardonable sin in Matt. 12:31-32.
II. Had there not been a two-fold witness, specifically a miraculous work by the Holy Ghost to confirm the words, then there'd have been no blasphemy against the Holy Ghost or unpardonable sin:
A. Jesus made that truth extraordinarily clear in John 15:24 when He said, "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father."
1. The sin Jesus spoke of here must be the unpardonable sin for the wide variety of common sins are commited by all men (Rom. 3:23; Eccl. 7:20), even those who never saw Jesus' works.
2. So, Jesus refers here to some specific sin which could not be committed separately of the witness of the mighty works of the Holy Spirit, and the only sin of which we are aware in that connection is the unpardonable sin.
3. Notice well that Jesus said if the mighty works had not been done, then they'd have had no sin.
B. This truth is typified and symbolically illustrated in the Old Testament:
1. Under the law, two witnesses were required to put anyone to death. Heb. 10:28 says, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses."
2. Never could anyone be executed upon the strength of only one witness: "one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die." Num. 35:30.
3. God's directive was, "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death," Deut. 17:6.
4. So, even as two physical witnesses were required to put a man to death physically, so two heavenly witnesses are required to put a man into the category of those who've commited the unpardonable sin and so seal his fate to eternal death.
III. We believe that when the miraculous works of the Spirit ceased, thus ending the time of the two-fold witness; it became impossible for anyone to commit the unpardonable sin:
A. In the age of Jesus, and in the Apostolic age which followed, the word was accompanied by miraculous works of the Holy Spirit. Thus, a two-fold witness was established and the unpardonable sin could be committed:
1. It was this of which Jesus spoke when He said, shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come," Matt. 12:32.
2. The word "world" is from the Greek word "aion" and is used in the sense of "an age"; not to refer to some planet or new creation.
3. So, when Jesus spoke of "this world" or His own age, we know from the foregoing points that it was an age of words and mighty works of the Spirit, so man could commit the unpardonable sin then.
4. In "the world to come" or the age which followed, which was the age of the Apostles, words and mighty works were also the order of the day, thus men were still able to commit the unpardonable sin:
a. Of God's men in that age Heb. 2:4 says, "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost.
b. Paul, an Apostle, said, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom . . . but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. " I Cor. 2:1-4.
5. Thus, of men in these ages, who heard the words of truth and saw the mighty works of the Spirit in confirmation of the words; yet who didn't believe, but credited the works of the Spirit to Satan; it is said:
a. "Ye cannot hear my word. " John 8:43.
b. "They could not believe", John 12:39 and they "cannot cease from sin" II Peter 2:14.
c. "The last state" was said to be "worse than the first, "Matt. 12:45.
B. At the end of the Apostolic age, as the Bible was finished, the miraculous signs or works of the Spirit ceased. I Cor 13:8-10:
1. See the chapter in this book on "The Completion of the Apostolic Ministry."
2. No longer do we see the miraculous works which accompanied Jesus Christ and the Apostles, thus the two-fold testimony has ceased.
3. Today we have one testimony: that of the Word of God:
a. In this age, "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, " Rom. 10:17.
b. Today, if men will not believe the single witness of God's Word, we have no mighty signs or works of the Spirit by which we can confirm God's Word to be true.
C. Men today must believed upon the strength of a single witness: God's Word. Jesus said of such people, "blessed are that which have not seen, and yet have believed. " John 20:29.
C. Since the unpardonable sin involved the two-fold witness of the Word and the works; and in specific was the act of those, who saw the works, crediting those works to the devil; and today men have only the single witness of the Word, and do not see miraculous works to accredit to either the Holy Ghost or Satan; we conclude it is impossible for them to sin the unpardonable sin:
1. If the circumstances under which the sin could be committed still existed, then it could be committed, but they don't.
2. These miraculous works of the Spirit are not now performed, thus no man today is offered the opportunity to credit them to Satan and in so doing commit the unpardonable sin.
3. The unpardonable sin was a specific type sin limited to the ages specified by Jesus Christ, and He did not include this age in those in which men could commit that sin.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"