One of the most serious and jolting verses in the Bible is Matthew 12:32. In that verse Jesus speaks about blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, also known as the “unpardonable sin.” I have seen this scripture strike terror in the hearts of many Christians. I don’t blame them because this scripture used to scare me too. Let’s review it together:
“…whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
I have bolded the end of that verse because this is where I believe the seriousness comes in. In traditional Christian doctrine, this is the worst possible outcome anyone could experience—if you can’t be forgiven in the world to come, then you’re damned forever, right?
Another thing that makes this scripture seem so bad is that it’s hard to get out of your head. Once you read it you can’t stop thinking about it because you want to make sure you never commit it! It’s like a curse has been invoked the minute blaspheming the Holy Spirit enters your head. Last but not least, it’s so bad because nobody seems to know exactly what blaspheming the Holy Ghost is! I have heard four or five sermons dedicated to this topic and they all said something a little different. One popular notion states it means to attribute Christ’s miracles to Satan. Personally I think this is pretty lame since that same verse in Matthew also states:
“And whosoever speaks a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him.”
Perhaps a more popular belief about blasphemy of the Holy Ghost states that it means to continually reject Jesus’ offer of salvation. Traditional Christians like this one because it is in line with their belief that all sinners who reject Christ will eventually burn in the Lake of Fire where the sinner is either tormented forever or simply snuffed out of existence.
Both of these scenarios are also false: the soul cannot die, and the universal law of impermanence nixes the notion of eternal torment. So what does it all mean? How do you blaspheme the Holy Ghost? And what did Jesus mean when he said you can’t be forgiven for doing it in the next life?
Once you understand the esoteric nature of the soul the verse becomes crystal clear. It also makes perfect sense. The missing link is the idea of reincarnation.
Reincarnation in the Early Church
The earliest tenants of scripture believed in some form of reincarnation. So did the early church. Besides that fact that you can find this evidence in history, the New and Old Testaments themselves make this belief clear (to learn more, read HERE). The idea of reincarnation was eventually stamped out by the emperor Justinian. The problem is that stamping out this belief made large portions of the Bible devoid of true meaning. The verse about blaspheming the Holy Spirit is one such example.
To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject living by the Christ within you. This is a rejection of salvation, because only living by guidance from the divine spirit within you can properly evolve the soul to the point of salvation. Reincarnation is an automatic process for consciousness when the soul hasn’t evolved past the point of gravitating towards carnality, firmly entrenched by the ego. For those who haven’t completely transcended the ego, reincarnation is an involuntary and automatic process.
This is why Jesus stated that you cannot be forgiven in this life or the next life. When you forfeit the opportunity to evolve the soul, you do not advance consciously. Therefore when your physical body wears out at death, you will incarnate into another physical body at the same conscious level (or slightly lower) than before. In that next life there is no forgiveness for not advancing consciousness in your former life because whatever your conscious level was at death is where it will likely stand (again, depending on your life) in your next incarnation.
There is no reason to fear an eternal torment. It takes many lifetimes to transcend the ego. For most of us, reincarnation is our next option. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make advancements here and now. Every time you break a negative subconscious pattern or overcome a persistent negative emotion you are advancing consciously.
The true irony in all this is that many religious leaders who think they are safe from this “unpardonable sin” are actually involuntary committing it. In fact if you’re reading this blog post it’s probably safe to say that you (and I) committed this sin in a previous life!
Think about this entire scenario as it relates to Adam and Eve. In a sense, they committed an unpardonable sin. God said the moment they ate the fruit, they would die. They died spiritually because they incarnated into the physical world, symbolized by the necessity to labor in the field among “thorns” and “thistles.”
From Adam, the earthly man, to Christ (the divine spirit within you), you gain salvation for the soul. The entire story from Adam to Christ, and everyone in between (Abel, Abraham, Moses, King David, etc.) is an allegory for the development of the soul whereby each character represents an attribute of soul evolution, ending with Christ. Paul told us this about Abraham and his sons in Galatians:
“…Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaind, the other by a freewomen…Which things are an allegory…” (Galatians 4:22-24).
If you haven’t already, I recommend that you read the ESOTERIC JESUS series to see the progression and evolution of the soul at work through the Christ in the Gospels. This might help you understand his life as a symbol for all mankind instead of the water-downed version you might receive in church.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, so feel free to comment.
Blessings.
Hello Joshua,
This is the only bible text that ever spooked me during my early teens, not because it was preached about so much in church because actually it never was! They could not actually deny that hell existed but certainly never emphasized it. Maybe it was this loss of any context that stimulated by fantasy. I thought it was about what you said or thought about the Holy Spirit himself (of course he was masculine!) and that in turn gave me uncontrollable compulsive thoughts which immediately made me afraid that I now had already committed that sin. But then Love won out after a while and I could not believe that a loving God would ever say or do such a thing so I let it go.
As far as this sin as you describe it goes, I am sure I have committed that too. Jeshua, who is channelled by Judith Coates, once said that we all (including he himself) have committed every imaginable sin that ever has been committed on earth during our many lives. That should make us less judgmental about others who are committing these sins now. It simply means that they are still asleep but they will wake up just as we are waking up now, and there is no judgment anyway. So should not judge either and send love and light to those persons in order to enable them to wake up from the nightmare they are living in.
Anny,
You stated: “I thought it was about what you said or thought about the Holy Spirit himself (of course he was masculine!) and that in turn gave me uncontrollable compulsive thoughts which immediately made me afraid that I now had already committed that sin.”
I know there are a of people who could identify with that experience. I also knew someone in the church who went through the same thing. It almost drove him mad!
Hello Joshua,
You wrote: “It takes many lifetimes to transcend the ego.”
Edgar Cayce, in one of his readings said it takes at least
30 incarnations before one could attain perfection.
I became an A.R.E member this year and, as a result,
have thrown mainstream churchianity in the trash can.
The truth will (truly) set you free!
Love,
Joe Riley B.
Congrats on the journey, Joe. Even though we don’t personally judge the people or the experience of traditional church, it’s nice to know we have moved on!
You’re right Joshua,
Please forgive the statement because of my EGO.
All Souls are related. WE ARE Brothers/Sisters.
Every one. Saint and Sinner.
For a moment I forgot why I joined A.R.E.
Thank you for correcting me.
“Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.”
Joe Riley B.
The funny thing is, you’re the teacher.
And I’m OLDER than you!
By a mile!
Joe Riley B.
LOL,
Joe, no correction intended. I have to remind myself of the same thing. My emphasis served only to judge myself. Blessings my friend!
Hey Joshua,
Love your posts, this is the first one I am actually commenting on because I feel that I had to say that I am happy and refreshed to read this particular post.
I too have been very intrigued by this verse along with the true meaning of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. When I was growing in church I wasn’t taught that blasphemy were the examples you had given, but something much more miniscule and harder to control. It was the “using the Lord’s name in vein.” This was hard for me to swallow being a teen in the beginning of the texting era where “OMG” (Oh my God) was a widely used saying, regardless of if I wanted to, it was just engrained in my brain. So every time the preacher talked about blasphemy I would choke up thinking I was some dirty-mouthed sinner who would not be forgiven for my choice of expression.
It wasn’t until I really started thinking for myself and about who or what God was to me. Then I would think, ” God is infinite, how could the name God possibly contain “his” presence? How could an infinite Being have a name, thus limiting him.”
The thought came into my head, “hey, I didn’t even choose my own name! If someone where to make fun of my name it wouldn’t affect me because they are making fun of something that in no way represents who I truly am. So why would God be so petty and make that the ultimate sin?”
I’ve already wrote more than I planned, so I’ll wrap it up quick. Basically, through many sources (to you whom I must also give much credit) I began learning that all these stories and lessons were about ourselves and not a jealous deity. Two sections in two of the books of John really opened my eyes to this.
This verse is of Jesus responding to the Jews who picked up stones to Stone him for blasphemy.
John 10: 34-36
“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came- and Scripture cannot be broken- do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
The second big point I saw in 1 John was this…
1 John 4: 2- 3
“2)By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
3)And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
In conclusion: These two chunk of verses really led me down the path that I am on now, revealing to me that Blasphemy is not a sin that needs to be controlled, it’s denial of our true nature. Just as Jesus said, We are Gods, and if we are not filled with the Christ Spirit than we are an Anti-Christ (the opposite of Christ, not some evil Being that is going to come and bring the end of all life). I believe that Blasphemy is labeled “unforgivable” because it is essentially just denying our true selves (the Christ Spirit that dwells within us), and in doing this we will never reach true salvation because it is something that we don’t believe we hold the key to.
Blasphemy is not making fun of God/rejecting God/ using God’s name in vein, but is denying the fact that we are God and thus living in the illusion that we are not (Hell).
I wrote way more than I intended but am glad I got the chance to do so, but I am at work so I don’t have time to proof-read so ignore any issues in that department.
Thank you for all your posts and time you put into this site. Let me be an example of someone who reads all your posts and really thinks about the things you say but never acts on it via commenting or emailing. There are tons of people who follow your site and are very appreciative of the work you do.
God speed!
Anthony,
Great comments. Thank you. I came to the same conclusion about God’s name. There seem to be a lot of scriptures that emphasize his name, but the true meaning rests in the “authority” of the higher self, not an individual name. Blessings.
Joshua, loved this post. I also came to the same conclusion. It excites me that you are putting this out there and helping others untwist what was twisted on them. I remember how this one was so twisted and used to scare our church. Even Kenneth Copeland would say he knew what it meant but wasn’t going to “Share it” because people weren’t ready yet. Uh, huh…. Mocking the Church with all his Ego.
Having learned what I have so far and having read what you posted. It now feels like I have always “Known” this. Like it was always there and I’m just now remembering. 🙂
Anthony, I very much enjoyed your comments. I too, had come to the conclusion that Taking the Lords name in Vain was not saying, Jesus Christ when you stubbed your toe or G D it.
Where is the Vanity in that? That was what I knew at the time. I also realized that it was attaching something to God that he didn’t have anything to do with. Like when the Pastors would stand up in Church and say “The Lord told me we need another offering to make the church bigger because more people are coming”. The Church would give and give. The Pastor got a new office, bathroom, Daycare rooms for his daughters business…but no more people ever showed up in church. Where I was at, I saw that was vanity. This was taking the Lords name in Vain. It seemed crazy that everyone else was worried about you saying Jesus’ name as a swear word. Like you, I knew God could care less about such stuff.
Now I realize that It’s the Ego that people use God’s “name” for their own Ego’s purpose that is taking the Lords name in vain. Now I understand a little deeper of what I already knew.
Thanks for sharing, Laurie.
THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN!
What is the unforgivable sin?
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin.
How is the unpardonable sin committed?
THE EXAMPLE OF THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN!
Mark 3:22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He cast out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
Mark 3:28-30 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
These scribes were committing BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT because they said Jesus was casting out demons by the power of an unclean spirit, when in fact it was by the power of THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is proclaiming that Jesus was possessed by Satan and using Satan’s power; when in fact Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY CHRISTIAN BLOG. http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com
Your site has many esoteric concepts and beliefs first revealed in the Hindu Vedas and Egyptian texts. It was common in the ancient philosophy to hide spiritual truths in mythology and symbolism. You definitely are on the right path by interpreting scripture in an allegorical manner.
I have a different opinion of what the bible is referring to with the epithet “unpardonable sin.” Just as you, I believe reincarnation was an underlying belief of the ancient philosophers and prophets. Assuming this, then the purpose of each life is to learn a spiritual lesson by developing one consciousness, thereby progressing up the ladder to cosmic consciousness. The one sin or act that denied this universal law is suicide. It is a refusal to accept gods plan and to accept life itself. Every sin can be forgiven, even murder and blasphemy, as we have an immortal soul and all eternity to learn. But it is only suicide that cannot be forgiven because the person has thrown away their opportunity to progress spiritually. So you see it isn’t God who is condemning the person, but their own decision to refuse life that can’t be forgiven
Joseph, thanks for visiting the site. I can respect your opinion here. Suicide would also negate spiritual growth in this lifetime, and would deny any chance of it until the next cycle.