The “Unpardonable Sin” Part 3

So far I have hoped to established the following from scripture:

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable” sin according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

Now we must consider the intended audience of the teaching on the "unpardonable sin". 

Clearly Jesus’ words are directed toward His immediate audience as recorded in the narrative. His audience includes “the multitude” (Mark 3:20), Jesus’ family/people (Mark 3:21) and the scribes (Mark 3:22). However, like other narratives about Jesus and teachings from Jesus found in the gospels, the ability of people to fully grasp Jesus’ identity and message is minimal at best and often non-existent. Clearly it takes the hindsight of looking back after the resurrection to fully get who Jesus is and what He accomplished. This is evidenced by the teaching Jesus did about Himself to the disciples between His resurrection and ascension (Luke 24:13-27, 44-49, Acts 1:1-3). Even post resurrection, having good information about Jesus is not enough to bring understanding or belief. In fact the Scriptures tell us that without the Holy Spirit in us, it is impossible to understand or accept the things of God (John 3:3-5, 16:13-14, Rom. 8:5-9, 1 Cor. 1:22-24, 2:12-14, 1 John 2:19-21). If that is true, then it follows that this passage and any other is primarily for future born-again believers in Jesus Christ to learn about Him and His will for them (2 Tim. 3:16, Heb. 4:12, Rev. 2:7). 

So we see –

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable sin" according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!                      

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

D. All scripture, including the teaching on the “unpardonable sin”, is written primarily for the instruction of born again believers in Jesus Christ.

These truths now can be brought back and considered in relation to Jesus’ immediate audience in the narrative. In Mark’s account we have a mention of Jesus’ own “people” or family (in some versions) coming to take Jesus away saying He is “out of His mind” (3:21). Now we will assume Jesus’ family meant well and acted out of ignorance and unbelief in Jesus’ Messianic identity. We also have the scribes who accuse Jesus of having a demon and driving out demons by Beelzebub (Mark 3:22). Jesus’ true identity was not grasped well by the people, but it had been made known in several ways prior to this event including: by John the Baptist (John 1:29-34), by the Father (Mark 1:11), by Himself (Mark 2:10-11, Luke 4:18-21), by the demons (Mark 3:11), not to mention the witness of His miracles and various teachings that pointed to His identity as the promised Messiah. Neither those following or those opposing Jesus could plead complete ignorance of His identity, even if it was an excuse for blasphemy, and we know it is not (Rom. 1:18-20).

Mark’s gospel says Jesus’ teaching on the “unpardonable sin" is in response to the charge the scribes made that Jesus had “an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:30). This would be blaspheming against God under OT Mosaic law and they are justly condemned, even eternally, for attributing the Holy Spirit (God's) work to the Devil. However, this does not necessarily mean the scribes were the target audience of Jesus’ teaching regarding these statements. 

What would be the more shocking truth, the one that needed an explanation/teaching for future believers – the fact that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (God) was unforgivable and deserving eternal condemnation or the fact that blasphemy against Jesus (God) can be forgiven?

Now, if we put ourselves in the place of these family members that suggested Jesus was crazy, add the three-time denial of Him by Peter, consider the shouts of the people to crucify Him before Pilate, and finally consider Saul/Paul the persecutor of the church who is asked by the resurrected Jesus, “Why are you persecuting Me”! We must ask - who would look back on this story and wonder if they had crossed a line that made them un-savable? 

Did God have this recorded for the sake of the scribes so they could look back and know for sure they were condemned? Did He want believers to be forever wondering if they had committed this sin and doubting their salvation? Or, is it a source of assurance for future born-again believers who would look back on their own blasphemous, pre-salvation lives and their less-than-perfect following of Jesus and struggle to believe God could/would forgive such sinners as they! 

Based on what we have seen so far, all of the following points are validated - 

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable sin" according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!                      

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

D. All scripture, including the teaching on the “unpardonable sin”, is written primarily for the instruction of born again believers in Jesus Christ.

E. It is at least reasonable to assume that the “unpardonable sin" teaching is meant to be a source of assurance/comfort for believers.

Next I will attempt to demonstrate how we get assurance/comfort from this teaching specifically?

Remember, as I stated in part 1, I am working toward seeing this passage as a lesson about “The Amazing Pardonability of Sin in Jesus Christ”