"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).

In this passage, Jesus warns the Jews of the consequences of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. The word "blasphemy" (blasfemia) refers to a railing or a reviling; speech that injures another person's good name.

"Blasphemy is from the Greek word blapto and means "to hurt" and phemi which means "to speak." Therefore, to blaspheme means to speak to hurt, to speak against, to speak irreverently, impiously, to profane, or to speak evil of good. There is always the idea of hurt or injury in blasphemy; the speaker means to do harm or to speak evil of one" (Michael Hardin, "The Holy Spirit, His Personality and Work," page 71).

To understand the meaning of what Jesus called "the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" one must look at the context in which this warning was given.

In Matthew 12:22-24, Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man. His enemies could not deny that a miracle had taken place, but sought to disregard the miracle as the working of Satan.

Jesus showed that the charge was absurd, stating that no man could work against himself and hope for his effort to stand. Also, their own people had cast out demons, and they could testify that demons are not cast out by the power of Satan (Matthew 12:25-27).

Jesus then indicated the spiritual truth that was confirmed by His miracle. His ability to cast out these demons was evidence that the kingdom of God had come upon them and that His kingdom was more powerful than the kingdom of Satan (Matthew 12:28-29).

In this setting, Jesus gave these Jews the warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32). These Jews were blaspheming "the Son of Man" in that they were dismissing His claims by crediting His works to the power of Satan. Jesus said that they could reject Him and still receive the forgiveness of their sins. This was because one more opportunity to hear and repent was coming through the work of the Holy Spirit (who was poured forth on Pentecost - Acts 2), but if they rejected the Holy Spirit, there would not be another opportunity for them to receive the forgiveness of their sins.

This is illustrated in Acts 2. Peter said that these Jews had rejected and killed the Son of God (vs. 23, 36), yet they received the gospel given through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (v. 33) and were saved (vs. 38, 41). They did not blaspheme or speak against the Holy Spirit. Instead, they received His message, met the conditions set forth, and were forgiven of their sins.

The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not confined to a single word or phrase that is spoken against the Holy Spirit. It is the action of rejecting God's final means of offering salvation to the world - the Holy Spirit.

Those who have become so bold as to reject the evidence for God's existence, the reality of their sin, the appeal made by God through the gospel, and any concern for their soul's salvation, and thus persist in sin, are blaspheming the Holy Spirit. There is no forgiveness for such a person because they reject God's offer of forgiveness.

Some people are concerned about having committed the "unforgivable sin." There is no "unforgivable sin" in the sense that God refuses to forgive a particular sin. The Bible says that if we repent and confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Any sin that is unforgivable is not because of God's refusal to forgive, but because of our refusal to accept the truth of the gospel and meet the conditions of the gospel.