Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Is blaspheming the Holy Spirit possible?

This question bothered me a lot when I first came to Christ. One passage in Matthew 12:31-32 states, "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."

I was mortified that I would, in a fit of anger, speak wickedly of God and lose my salvation. Of course, this begged the question of whether or not I could regain it...simply to lose it again! What if I died after a moment in which I had lost my salvation? My "religion" had become one of fear because I knew that I could not live up to the goodness God demanded of me. For this, I was thankful to have friends who pointed me to Christ in order to reassure me that once I was saved I could not lose my salvation or reward in heaven. My salvation is not built upon the foundation of my works but upon the foundation of God. My ability to blaspheme has been nailed to the cross.

The word of God provides our comfort, brothers and sisters: "Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

One might say that the given verse is talking about cursing Jesus so it doesn't apply to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Remember though, Jesus said that he (the Son of Man) could be blasphemed and would forgive the blasphemer. Even then it is not possible, as we read above, to speak against the Christ through the Spirit. If we cannot curse Jesus with the Spirit, then how could we curse the Spirit with the Spirit? A house divided against itself cannot stand.

In the ways of God, love and hate are mutually exclusive emotions and though we sometimes disdain those we should love, God's love is perfect. As 1 John 4:10 states, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." We are saved by His perfect love for us; not our shifting love for Him. He cannot, by His very nature, redeem us and then turn His back on us and judge us. Though we sin against Him, His love is so much more powerful than our sinfulness. He has separated us from our sin as far as the east is from the west. Jesus destroyed death for those who would call Him Father. He has buried death in the grave for us.