Blaspheming the Holy Ghost
Why do message believers often fail to witness to non-believers about Christ? Some are afraid that they might evoke a bad reaction to the Gospel, thus causing a person to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Rather than risk this, they choose to remain silent.
But what does the Bible say about this?
What the Bible teaches
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is mentioned in 3 places in the New Testament.
In Matt 12:31-32:
- Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.[1]
In Mark 3:29:
- but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.”[2]
And in Luke 12:10:
- And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.[3]
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit fundamentally means rejecting the Spirit’s testimony about Jesus and his redemptive work. Rather than speaking negatively about the Holy Spirit, blaspheming the Spirit involves rejecting his mission, which is to reveal our sinfulness and bring us to Christ. The sin entails calling the Spirit a liar by denying his witness about our need for salvation and Jesus’ identity as God’s Son and Savior.
The historical context illuminates this sin’s gravity. When Jesus cast out a demon and restored a man’s sight and speech, most people recognized this as evidence of his messianic identity, but the Pharisees attributed his power to demonic sources. By attributing Christ’s miracles to Satan rather than the Holy Spirit, they committed the unforgivable sin—deliberately refusing to acknowledge God’s power in Christ4.
Importantly, this sin unfolds over time, not in a single moment of rebellion. It cannot be committed accidentally; it results from a sustained pattern of rebellious acts3.
Regarding assurance: You likely haven’t committed this sin if you’re concerned about it. Those genuinely worried they’ve blasphemed the Spirit can be confident they haven’t, since those who actually slander God’s Spirit never worry about the implications. Believers sometimes fear accidental commission, but only those who have completely rejected God need worry—and they won’t seek forgiveness because they’ve rejected the very force that leads to repentance. The presence of genuine sorrow for sin and desire for forgiveness indicates you haven’t committed this offense.
Quotes of William Branham
Sure, Nazarene… There's nobody can say a word against them fine religious people; they're just as nice as they can be. Church of God, Nazarene, Free Methodist, those people are real, but when it comes down to the works of the Spirit, they say, "Oh, oh, that's the devil." And what'd they do there? Blaspheme the Holy Ghost. When they do that… Now, what is blasphemy? There's no forgiveness. Is that right? He that once enlightened, made partakers, and tasted of the heavenly gifts (partasted—tasted of God's sanctification: cleaned up from cigarettes, and filthy women, and all kinds of life like that)—and tasted of the heavenly things (to see that they'll walk up to that borderline like those spies did that eat part of the grapes… See? But what do they have to do? They had to break up their denomination to come over into this. See? Say—See?)—tasted of the heavenly gifts; seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and count the Blood of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing.[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Mt 12:31–32.
- ↑ New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Mk 3:29.
- ↑ New American Standard Bible (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 2020), Lk 12:10.
- ↑ 64-0830M - Questions And Answers #3, para. 293