Mat 12:31 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord tells them the true origin of His actions. He acts through the Spirit of God. This means that the kingdom of God has come to them. Of course they do not want to acknowledge that, but the fact remains. In Christ God is busy establishing His kingdom. Therefore He goes into the house of the strong, that is the devil, and robs him of his household goods, that is people who find themselves in his power. The Lord bound the strong man when He defeated him in the wilderness with God’s Word ( ). Then He went through the land, doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil ( ). On the cross He will bruise the devil’s head. With regard to His performance against the kingdom of satan and the plunder of his house, one can only be a follower or an opponent. Neutrality is impossible. He who does not put himself unambiguously by His side, is against Him. He is busy gathering for the kingdom of heaven. He who is not engaged with Him in this, is engaged in the opposite, the scattering, and reveals himself as an opponent of the kingdom. The seriousness of the sin of the Pharisees is so great because they know that the Lord is good and works through the Holy Spirit, but despite all the evidence attribute His work to satan. They are thus guilty of the unforgivable sin of “the blasphemy against the Spirit”. This sin is different from any other sin. For any other sin, forgiveness is possible. Even those who resist the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man can count on forgiveness if that sin is confessed. Every sin that a man does is a sin against the triune God, so against the Father as well as against the Son and the Holy Spirit. What makes the blasphemy against the Spirit so special? This sin is special because it is about the expression of the Spirit in the Person of Christ on earth. It is impossible to inadvertently attribute something Christ does to satan. Whoever says of the Holy Spirit, Who is expressed perfectly in Christ, He is satan, does so consciously. What Christ does is always perfect through the Spirit. He is the Sinless One. In His whole life and His whole being there is nothing of sin or the sinful flesh present. Everything is pure by the Spirit. Someone can be blind to the glory of the Lord Jesus. But if anyone consciously attributes His actions, which He does through the Spirit, to satan there is a hardening of a heart that lives in rebellion against Him and that absolutely does not want to bow before Him. The fact that the blasphemy against the Spirit is specifically to do with Christ, and then also with His personal presence on earth, is apparent from the words that this sin is not forgiven “either in this age or in the [age] to come”. In both cases, this age and the age to come, it is a period that Christ is on earth. This is so at His first coming and His second coming. Therefore it is not possible to commit this sin now, in the present time when the Lord Jesus is not on earth.

‏ Matthew 12:31

Blasphemy Against the Spirit

The Lord tells them the true origin of His actions. He acts through the Spirit of God. This means that the kingdom of God has come to them. Of course they do not want to acknowledge that, but the fact remains. In Christ God is busy establishing His kingdom. Therefore He goes into the house of the strong, that is the devil, and robs him of his household goods, that is people who find themselves in his power. The Lord bound the strong man when He defeated him in the wilderness with God’s Word (Mt 4:1-11). Then He went through the land, doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). On the cross He will bruise the devil’s head.

With regard to His performance against the kingdom of satan and the plunder of his house, one can only be a follower or an opponent. Neutrality is impossible. He who does not put himself unambiguously by His side, is against Him. He is busy gathering for the kingdom of heaven. He who is not engaged with Him in this, is engaged in the opposite, the scattering, and reveals himself as an opponent of the kingdom.

The seriousness of the sin of the Pharisees is so great because they know that the Lord is good and works through the Holy Spirit, but despite all the evidence attribute His work to satan. They are thus guilty of the unforgivable sin of “the blasphemy against the Spirit”. This sin is different from any other sin. For any other sin, forgiveness is possible. Even those who resist the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man can count on forgiveness if that sin is confessed.

Every sin that a man does is a sin against the triune God, so against the Father as well as against the Son and the Holy Spirit. What makes the blasphemy against the Spirit so special? This sin is special because it is about the expression of the Spirit in the Person of Christ on earth. It is impossible to inadvertently attribute something Christ does to satan. Whoever says of the Holy Spirit, Who is expressed perfectly in Christ, He is satan, does so consciously.

What Christ does is always perfect through the Spirit. He is the Sinless One. In His whole life and His whole being there is nothing of sin or the sinful flesh present. Everything is pure by the Spirit. Someone can be blind to the glory of the Lord Jesus. But if anyone consciously attributes His actions, which He does through the Spirit, to satan there is a hardening of a heart that lives in rebellion against Him and that absolutely does not want to bow before Him.

The fact that the blasphemy against the Spirit is specifically to do with Christ, and then also with His personal presence on earth, is apparent from the words that this sin is not forgiven “either in this age or in the [age] to come”. In both cases, this age and the age to come, it is a period that Christ is on earth. This is so at His first coming and His second coming. Therefore it is not possible to commit this sin now, in the present time when the Lord Jesus is not on earth.