As a constant reader of your splendid paper, Present Truth, I find in the issue of Nov. 20, reference made to sin against the Holy Spirit. [This was from an article by Ellen G. White, titled, "Our Defense Against Evil," published in the Present Truth, November 20, 1902. It can also be found in the book, The Desire of Ages, p. 323-325. I have included it in the Appendix] You have thrown light through your columns on many different passages in the Word of God; and as this question of sin against the Holy Spirit has caused me great anxiety, as I am sure it has thousands of others, I shall feel most grateful if, as soon as your space will permit, you will give this subject a careful explanation, as far as the Spirit has shown you the truth.
This subject seems wrapped in mystery. I have heard people swear by the Holy Ghost; would this be the sin to which are attached such awful consequences?
An early reply through your "Private Corner" will bring light and comfort to thousands of hearts.
It is not at all to be wondered at that the question, "What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?" has caused many people much anxiety; for Jesus said: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matthew 12:31,32)
I well remember how I trembled when I read this passage as a boy and young man, fearing lest I had unconsciously committed the sin that never could be pardoned; and during my ministry of the Gospel I have met very many people who were firmly convinced that they had sinned beyond the hope of pardon, and who could scarcely be persuaded to the contrary.
One of my most precious treasures is the knowledge, conveyed to me some time after the event, that a man who was in despair over the thought that he had committed the unpardonable sin, and was about to commit suicide, was turned from his fearful purpose, and restored to a joyful faith in Christ, through what the world would call a "chance" reading of an article that I had written on the subject. So I know that it is a most practical question for consideration.
People often get the idea that the unpardonable sin is simply an exceedingly great sin, that is, that it differs from ordinary sins only in degree, or that it is a vast accumulation of sins. It is no uncommon thing to a hear person say, "I am so great a sinner that the Lord can never pardon me."
Now that this is not so, is made very plain in the same text that tells us about the unpardonable sin. "All manner, of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." (Matthew 12:31)
And it matters not that the sin is great; for: "The law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20) "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
There is no such thing as great and small, difficult and easy, with the infinite God. He creates by His Word, and it is just as easy for Him to speak a universe into existence as to create a single blade of grass, or a single grain of sand. It is by the same Word of life that He forgives; and it is just as easy for Him, since He is love itself, to speak pardon to the hardened sinner of fourscore as to forgive the child who has taken his first step in the broad way.
Since the sin against the Holy Spirit is the only one that has no pardon, wherever we find mention of any sin from which there is no salvation, we shall know that it is the same one. Now there are a few other texts besides the one already quoted, which speak of such a thing, and they help to a better understanding of the subject.
These texts are all in Hebrews, and we will read them together. The first is this: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)
This should be compared with some verses in chapter 10. After speaking of the "new and living way, which [Christ] has consecrated for us through the veil," (Hebrews 10:20) as a reason why we should "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," (Hebrews 10:22) the Apostle continues: "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; ... For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:23,26-29)
If you lay all these texts side by side, and consider them carefully, you will see that the one thing which they all mention in common,--the sum, indeed, of them all,--is the willful, deliberate rejection of the means of salvation.
Turn back to Matthew, and read the verses in the 12th chapter, which immediately precede the statement concerning the sin against the Holy Spirit. We see that they contain an account of the attitude of the Pharisees toward the work of Jesus. They said that His miracles were wrought by the aid of the prince of the devils; but we know that they were by the power of the Spirit, as He himself said. (Luke 4:18) This leads to the thought that the unpardonable sin is the utter rejection of Christ's work, and the placing of the Holy Spirit on the same plane as the devil. That is to say, All manner of sin may be pardoned, except the sin of rejecting and treating with contempt the only means of pardon and salvation.
This is corroborated by the statement in Hebrews 9:14, that Christ "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, [to] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:14)
The eternal Spirit is that which fills the universe, upholding all things, and filling all with life. Now if this universal Spirit is treated contemptuously, there can be no hope of pardon, seeing that the source of all power is rejected. Thus we are exhorted, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)
In short, all sin may be pardoned, except the rejection of pardon. And this rejection must be with purpose. Nobody does it unconsciously. It is impossible for a man to commit the sin against the Holy Spirit, and still to be in doubt about it.
Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean that the one who has committed the unpardonable sin will necessarily know that he has done so; on the contrary, he will most likely be utterly indifferent, hardened, and having no conscience of sin. He will have lost the power to distinguish between good and evil; for he has virtually said, with Satan, "Evil, be my good," [Originally, "Evil, be thou my good," quoted in Milton's Paradise Lost, Book IV, as the words of Satan] and will very often not fear hell any more than he longs for heaven. But it may be set down as a certainty that whoever is in doubt whether he has committed the unpardonable sin or not, and is troubled over his sins, has not sinned beyond the hope of pardon. There is hope as long as one is willing to be saved.
What a wonderful salvation! How long-suffering and patient and kind and forgiving God is! Though one sin against Him seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again, saying, "I repent," He freely forgives. (Matthew 18:21-22) Though our sins are more in number than the hairs of our head, (Psalm 40:12) He will forgive them all. "Who is a God like unto You, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:18-19)--Present Truth, January 1, 1903--Note: This topic was covered in another article of the same name, about a year ago. See, "The Unpardonable Sin (1902)."