There are thousands of people who are terrified that they may have committed the unpardonable sin. This is a shame, considering the fact that their very repentance (or desire to repent) is evidence that the Holy Spirit is still working in their lives. If God had given up on them,they would have no desire for a right relationship with Him.

It is important that we have an understanding of the historical context in which Christ spoke of the sin that could not be forgiven. In Matthew 12:32 , Jesus said that speaking against the Son of Man can be forgiven but speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Jesus was referring to the sin of those Pharisees who stood at the crossroads of redemptive history and saw the evidence of Christ’s goodness, but still accused Him of being under the influence of an evil spirit. They saw the Messiah perform miracles of goodness and love,and they called it the work of Satan. They did nothing less than attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to satanic power!

These Pharisees stood in a unique place. While claiming to be God’s representatives to Israel, they deliberately and willfully attributed Jesus’ power to Satan. They did this in the face of direct evidence that Jesus was in fact the sinless Son of God. It was a shocking act of wickedness.

People living today aren’t in the position to personally reject Jesus Christ in the same way the Pharisees did. If there is an unforgivable sin today, it would be the sin of consistently and continually denying the truth of the gospel throughout one’s life, gradually hardening one’s heart against God and His revelation of Himself in Christ.

Remember this important point: No one has committed the unpardonable sin (the sin against the Holy Spirit) if he or she is concerned about having committed it. A person who sins against the Holy Spirit has no love for God or any desire to be reconciled to Him.