There Is An Unpardonable Sin

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝟏:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟓; 𝟐:𝟏-𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟗:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟔, 𝟏𝟔, 𝟖-𝟗 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟔 

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆,” (𝒗.23) 

        Like the Pharisees of old, we could be committing the so-called unforgiveable sin when we dishonor God not only by our actions that are incompatible with the Christian standard but also out of the blasphemous words that come out of our lips.

        And we will most certainly ask how come there is an unforgiveable sin when God is known to be a forgiving God. The truth is there exists an unforgiveable sin and the Pharisees may have committed it without their knowing it when they attributed the healing miracles of Jesus to Beelzebub, the prince of demons (𝐯.𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟔). A similar event reported by Mark quoted Jesus describing this claim of the Pharisees as blaspheming the Holy Spirit (𝐌𝐤 𝟑:𝟐𝟗).

         To blaspheme is "𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞." Thus, to speak ill of the Holy Spirit who empowers Jesus to heal the mute (𝐯.𝟏𝟒) was a grievous sin because it was tantamount to calling the Holy Spirit a demon. Hence, when the Pharisees ascribed the miracles of Jesus to the prince of demon, they denied that Jesus was truly from God thus divesting themselves of any hope of forgiveness that comes only through Jesus.

        To help you understand what this unpardonable sin is all about, let me fill you in on what the Church teaches about this matter, and we’d better know this because we could be committing some of these sins and not know that we are already being cut off from the grace of God.

         What this gospel reading was pointing to pertains to what is referred to as the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or the “𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥” to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness (𝐂𝐂𝐂 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟒) and there are six types  of this sin which we take for granted: (𝟏) 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫; (𝟐) 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧; (𝟑) 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭; (𝟒) 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐲; (𝟓)  𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝟔) 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. Now let me run you through what each one means.

         𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 is regarded as a sin because a person who is in such a state gives up hope for his personal salvation from God (CCC 2091) and this is opposed to the theological virtue of hope, which is, in part, a reliance on the Grace of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1817). 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 is also a sin against the Holy Spirit because a person should never presume that he can save himself apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit or that God will save him without conversion CCC 2092).

         𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 is considered a sin because it prevents the Holy Spirit in leading us to conversion and repentance (CCC 1430-33). 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐲 is similar to impenitence, because an impenitent person not only resists the grace of the Holy Spirit, but he knowingly persists in committing a grievous sin.

         𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 is the act of resisting what has been revealed by the Holy Spirit that is necessary to shape our divinity and our Christian faith. An example of this is heresy which separates a heretic from God (CCC 2089). And perhaps a sin that we normally shun as unimportant is 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 because it was because of the envious nature of Satan that sin and death had entered the world (CCC 2538). Envy is an act of desiring that which belongs to another, and this puts the person on the same level of Satan who wanted God’s glory for Himself rather than humbly accepting the gifts God had given him (Ezek. 28:11-19).

         What the Pharisees did in this gospel passage could be summed up in what 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 12:32 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔: “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.” So, the question now is how are we going to reconcile this passage with what we have been taught about the Father’s infinite love and mercy “𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆” (𝑱𝒏 3:16).        

         We can find the answer from a commentary by Sain John Paul II on the Scriptural prohibition of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit: “𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, '𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘺' 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴; 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴” (𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘦𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰. 46).              

         Thus, we can deduce from this commentary that there actually is no limit to the mercy of God but anyone who deliberately and with willful intent refuse to accept God’s mercy through repentance is actually guilty of rejecting the forgiveness of his sins as well as the salvation offered by God through the Holy Spirit. This hardness of heart is what will lead an impenitent person to eternal loss and damnation (CCC 1864.)

         And when Jesus told the Pharisees: “𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔” (𝒗.23) He was simply making it clear, and he is also telling us now that we cannot be neutral in our ways. It’s either we are on the side of Jesus, or we are not, it’s as simple as that because there are only two choices we have. Do we want to enter the kingdom of God or do we want to remain in the kingdom of darkness. There are no ifs and buts when it comes to our salvation.

         As we celebrate the Month of the Holy Rosary, let us also make it a habit to pray the Holy Rosary which is in fact a historical and spiritual account of the life of Jesus and spend a few moments reading the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and God Himself assures us that it will be a time well spent.

          We should look at the Bible as our personal manual of operations that teaches us how to remain on the road leading to the kingdom of God. To disobey these sacred instructions from God, we open ourselves to the influence of the evil one whose main objective is to separate us from the Grace of God. This is why Jesus must fill our souls and he will provide us the strength to resist the evil one.

          What then is the best protection that brings lasting security to our lives? Scripture tells us that true peace and security come to those who trust in God and obey his Word. "𝑶𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖" (𝑱𝒆𝒓 7:23). The struggle between choosing to do good or evil, yielding to our will or God's will, God's way or our way, cannot be won by human strength or will-power alone.

          Our enemy conspires with the world and our flesh to lead us into sinful desires. Peter the Apostle tells us that the devil prowls the earth seeking the ruin of souls (𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓:𝟖-𝟗). In this light, God Himself offers us Grace and protection if we are willing to obey his Word and resist the devil. “𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔.” (𝑷𝒔𝒂 91:9-11) (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 10, 2025)