THE UNPARDONABLE SIN: PART TWO

Can the unpardonable sin happen today? The answer is both NO and YES. The reason your answer is correct if you answered "NO," is that it cannot be exactly duplicated today, because Jesus Christ is not standing in our midst performing spectacular miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, which unmistakably confirmed that He was Israel's long-awaited Messiah.

There is also a reason you would be correct if you said "YES." The convicting work of the Holy Spirit has not changed; He still provides the lost individual with the faith necessary to accept Jesus as both Lord and Savior. In Ephesians 2:8, Paul wrote that we are given faith to believe. Since it is the Holy Spirit who "visits us" when He chooses, and since He is the Agent whereby a lost person has the opportunity to become born again, it is quite clear that "His visit" is to offer the gift of faith. John wrote:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (Jn. 3:3-8).

In the Greek, the word translated "wind" in verse eight is πνεῦμα (pneuma), and in the same verse, the word translated "Spirit" is πνεὐματος (pneumatos). They are the same word. In addition, pneuma is also translated "breath." Most Bible students believe it was the Spirit of God who breathed into Adam "the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7).

It is my opinion that the Holy Spirit, from time to time, convicts the lost individual that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He gives man the faith required to believe, and when he accepts the Gospel message as truth, the Holy Spirit breathes into him spiritual life: he was born of water (natural birth), and he is now born again (spiritual birth). To deny the convicting work of the Spirit is to call Him a liar. And that is unpardonable!