Grace Big Enough For Any Sin

Read Mark 3:20-35
²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." ²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." ²³ And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. ²⁸ "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— ³⁰ for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." ³¹ And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." ³³ And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" ³⁴ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

I sat at the bedside of a dying man, his family pleading for me to share the message of the gospel with him, hoping that as a pastor I might have better success than their years of previous attempts. As I spoke with the man, I will never forget his response. “If God thinks I’ve done something wrong and wants to forgive me, so be it. If not, that’s his choice. I don’t regret anything I’ve done in my life and I don’t need God.”

I think that is an example of the “unforgivable sin” Jesus speaks of in today’s reading. But we need to understand this clearly. It’s not because of what was said, how it was said, or why it was said, as if there is a sin God can’t or won’t forgive. Christ’s death was a sacrifice big enough for any sin. The cross is powerful enough to forgive any sin. But when hearts are so hardened that the Holy Spirit can no longer do His work of bringing someone to faith in Jesus as their Savior, there is no way for someone to experience the forgiveness God desires to give in Christ.

As we consider others, we don’t pass judgment, because only God knows the work he is doing in their hearts. Instead, we hold them up in prayer. As we consider ourselves, we guard against being calloused in our sin, but also guard against despairing in our sin. “Those who in their hearts are troubled whether they are guilty of this (unforgivable) sin can be sure that they have not committed it. Their concern shows the Spirit is still carrying on His work in their hearts.”¹