“Past the Point of no Return”
Matthew 12:22-37
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” [Matthew 12:28]
What is “the blasphemy against the Spirit”?Is there an “unpardonable sin”?
What is clear in Scriptureis that denying Jesus as Lord after beingexposed to Him and the Gospel, is unpardonable. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16]
This verse, among others, clearly teach that eternal life is available to “whosoever believes in Him.”The invitation is all-inclusive, even for the gravest sinner,and yet exclusively around Jesus. Paul is a fitting example, who was the chief of sinners before coming to Christ [ref. 1 Ti 1:15].
So, if you feel too dirty to come to Christ, you are wrong. No sin is greater than God’s forgiveness. But note, it is only through Jesus that forgiveness and eternal life comes. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” [John 14:6] That work of redemption was completed on the Cross of Calvary. We are pardoned if we believe on that work by faith.We are unpardoned if we donot.
But as we delve deeper into our passage this morning, we will see that rejecting Christ is a process.The Scribes and Pharisees are proof of concept examples. After rejecting truth repeatedly, their conscience seared, they were no longer able to receive Christ. God affirmed their hardness of heart, and when He did that, they becamepast the point of no return.It was, however, a process.
Pharaoh is another example. Notice the digression in Exodus 7-11. Eight times Pharaoh hardened his own heart toward God, but after the seventh time God began to harden Pharaoh’s heart.
Paul describes thesame dynamic. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts” [Rom 2:24]. “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions” [Rom 2:26]. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind.” [Rom 2:28] Notice the unrepentant digression.They passed the point of no return.
We can choose to reject God’s Word for only so long. Unrepentant sin devolves into a lifestyle of sin and hardness of heart. And it is inthat hardened state that God begins to affirm one’s resistance. It is then that a dangerous line is crossed!
BUT GOD is always ready to receive repentance. He desires mercy and His grace is available now! Even if you are deep in the world today, repent, turn away from the world and turn toward Him, and He will receive you as His own.
