Unforgivable?

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Mark 3:22–30
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Unforgivable?
This is a famously difficult passage to understand. It speaks of a sin so great that it is unforgivable, yet we know that Christ died on the cross and with Him all sins. Therefore, it seems that there should not be any unforgivable sin. These verses equate blasphemy of the Holy Spirit with the unpardonable sin of an unyielding refusal to believe the Gospel and a rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work to create faith in Jesus. Luther correctly writes, “Whoever despairs in his sin or relies on good works sins against the Holy Spirit and against grace.” In this, we understand that those who refuse to recognize Jesus as God’s Son and acknowledge His works as signs of the Holy Spirit remain under the power of the devil. But Jesus has overcome the devil. Those baptized into Christ have received not only Christ but also His promised Holy Spirit. May the Lord preserve us from the power of the devil, and remove any lingering doubts we might have, that we might be confident in the fact that He has bound the devil and rescued us from his dominion.
Mark 3:22–30
+
Unforgivable?
This is a famously difficult passage to understand. It speaks of a sin so great that it is unforgivable, yet we know that Christ died on the cross and with Him all sins. Therefore, it seems that there should not be any unforgivable sin. These verses equate blasphemy of the Holy Spirit with the unpardonable sin of an unyielding refusal to believe the Gospel and a rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work to create faith in Jesus. Luther correctly writes, “Whoever despairs in his sin or relies on good works sins against the Holy Spirit and against grace.” In this, we understand that those who refuse to recognize Jesus as God’s Son and acknowledge His works as signs of the Holy Spirit remain under the power of the devil. But Jesus has overcome the devil. Those baptized into Christ have received not only Christ but also His promised Holy Spirit. May the Lord preserve us from the power of the devil, and remove any lingering doubts we might have, that we might be confident in the fact that He has bound the devil and rescued us from his dominion.
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