Acts 5 Lesson

WHAT IS BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Of all the sins in the world, there is only one that the Bible teaches will never be forgiven, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. 

What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

To answer that question, we must first define the word blasphemy itself.

Google Dictionarydefines blasphemy as:

• “The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things.”

The word sacrilege means:

• “Violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred.” (Source: Google Dictionary)

Therefore, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be defined as:

• “Speaking in a way that violates or misuses the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Virtual Bible Study™)

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE BOOK OF ACTS

Luke writes about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.

Luke’s account begins with Peter addressing the Apostles and a crowd of one hundred twenty people that had gathered in Jerusalem.

This was shortly after Jesus had appeared to the Apostles for forty days following His resurrection.

During that time, Jesus had commanded the Apostles to not leave Jerusalem until they were:

• “Baptizedwith the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 1:1-5.

The Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit was a big deal!

Just like it is when we receive the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit goes to work in our lives, wonderful, even miraculous things can happen!

Luke’s account of these days in history is proof of that.

In the Book of Acts, Luke writes about incredible things that were taking place at this time among the believers.

Luke writes:

• “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” – Acts 4:32-35.

There was a real unity that was going on in the lives of Christians at this time.

Luke writes that not only were they close and helping one another, but they were also “of one heart and soul.”

How glorious the world would be if we were able to achieve that same level of closeness today.

The work of the Holy Spirit was plain to see for all who observed it, just like the crucifixion of Jesus was.

One group in particular was witness to all of these, and other notable events of that time, and that is the Pharisees.

The Pharisees witnessed firsthand Jesus’ teachings and many of His miracles.

They knew that Jesus was the Messiah.

But they did not give God the credit or the glory for what was going on.

Why?

Two reasons:

1. Greed,
2. Jealousy.

Instead of giving God the credit and the glory, the Pharisees deliberately told lies and said that it was the power of Satan, not God, that was making all of these miracles possible.

That certainly meets the definition of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit we discussed earlier:

• “Speaking in a way that violates or misuses the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Virtual Bible Study™)

“ATTRIBUTING TO THE DEVIL WHAT THE SPIRIT DID”

Samstorms.org has some wonderful thoughts on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, including these three passages below:

1. “Their sin was against the Holy Spirit because it was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus performed his healings and miracles. Jesus himself said in Mathew 12:28 that it was “by the Spirit of God” that he “cast out demons.” Once again, we see that the life Jesus lived, he lived in the power of the Spirit. The miracles he performed, he performed in the power of the Spirit.”  
2. “Thus their sin was attributing to the Devil what the Spirit did.”
3.  “They didn’t deny the existence of the supernatural. They didn’t deny the reality of the miracle. They simply said, in a remarkable display of hardness of heart and spiritual blindness: the Devil empowered you to do it.” (Source: samstorms.org)

CONCLUSION

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the only sin that the Bible says God will not forgive.

To commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit means:

• “Speaking in a way that violates or misuses the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Virtual Bible Study™)

Our words are powerful.

They should be used to build others up and glorify God.

They should never be used to give credit to Satan for something that God has done, or in a way that violates or misuses the Holy Spirit. That would be blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and that is the only sin that God will not forgive.

We will end today’s lesson with the following two scriptures. They remind us to choose our words carefully and to use them to build others up, not to tear them down.

1. “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.” – James 3:8-10,
2. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” - Ephesians 4:29.