What happens when you push away the Holy Spirit

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In John 6, Jesus’ disciples comment that His words were “hard sayings.” Pastors are often asked, “What is the unforgivable sin?” Remember Jesus’ response to this question:

“Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matt. 12:31–32)

This is an amazing pronouncement about forgiveness. What an astonishing statement. 

God, this majestic, glorious being, who has authority and power, whose kingdom endures through all generations, forgives sinners. Even from the cross, we hear Jesus beseech the Father for us, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Yet there is a seeming contradiction here: 

“Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” 

How can we resolve this paradox? D.A. Carson suggests that we take the first statement externally. 

There is no sin that cannot be forgiven. That corresponds to what we see in Scripture. 

  • Think of David’s adultery, murder, deception, and hypocrisy. Yet he is forgiven. 
  • Peter denies Christ three times. 
  • Paul persecutes the church. 
  • Consider the sex offenders, greedy, idolaters, slanderers, thieves, drunkards, and swindlers mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6. 

They are forgiven through faith in Christ. From the external side, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven.

From the internal side, if you push away the Holy Spirit, if you refuse to confess your sin, if you do not cast yourself on Christ’s mercy, that sin cannot be forgiven. 

There is no other plan by which forgiveness may be granted. If you hear the truth and the Holy Spirit authenticates the truth to you and you harden your heart, refusing to repent, there is no forgiveness. There is no alternative means by which forgiveness can come.

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit overcomes all resistance and moves God’s people to repent and believe. 

Apart from this irresistible grace, none would ever come to Christ. It is also true that the general conviction of sin can be resisted. In the words of Romans 1, the truth can be suppressed. We can push away the Spirit’s conviction. The truth can be ignored to one’s peril. That is Christ’s warning in Matthew 12.

There is a promise and a warning here. The promise is that all manner of sin will be forgiven. The warning is to never resist the conviction of sin. The good news of this passage is that no one is unforgivable, but if we harden our hearts to the Word of God and push away the work of the Holy Spirit, we can become unrepentant. In the words of Isaiah 55, “Seek the Lord while he may be found” (Isa. 55:6).


Dr. Tedd Tripp

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