It is completely understandable that people whose eyes are closed, who are not called by God, who have been "hardened" by God, Himself, would be able to blaspheme against Jesus and still be forgiven. They could see by His miracles and by what He taught that He was from God, yet they could deny that He was the Messiah and that He was the Son of God - clearly blasphemy - and still be forgiven of that sin.

Again, because of their ignorance - lack of knowledge and understanding - their refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God and their understanding may well constitute blasphemy against Jesus, the Son of Man. But because they do not believe, they have not received nor comprehended the Holy Spirit and cannot commit blasphemy against that which they do not understand, i.e., the Holy Spirit.

However, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is a completely different matter: The Holy Spirit was not given to men until the day of Pentecost. God worked through certain individuals throughout the time of the Old Covenant, but did not "pour out" His Spirit on "all flesh" until the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:16-21)

If you want to know more, read on.

Matthew 12:30-37 "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.  Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

What is the difference in blasphemy of the Son of Man (which I understand to be Jesus) and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?  There is virtually no disagreement among the various translations of the Bible regarding these verses. I have transcribed the New International Version for this discussion: " And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:31-32, NIV)

The Greek word blasphemia is the origin of the English "blasphemy". A Greek dictionary defines blasphemia as "vilification, evil speaking, railing". Webster's definition adds "the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God," and "the act of claiming the attributes of deity," and adds "profane" as a synonym for "blasphemous". "To profane" is further defined by Webster's as "to treat something sacred with abuse, irreverence or contempt; to debase by a wrong, unworthy or vulgar use."

We quote these definitions to show that blasphemy is not something that one does by accident, or by ignorance. To commit blasphemy, one must have knowledge of the person, object or idea blasphemed.

One may blaspheme Jesus, the "Son of Man", other religious beliefs, and other religious figures and be forgiven of that, according to Jesus, Himself. Why would that be?

The explanation is that not all human beings are "called." Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:44, NIV)

Jesus elaborated on this matter further: " The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to the people in parables?' He replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." ' " (Matthew 13:10-15, NIV)

Because of their ignorance, their refusal to see, hear and understand does not constitute blasphemy.  This also applied to some of the Jews of that day, as the apostle Paul explained: "What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." " (Romans 11:7-8, NIV)

We cannot always understand God's way. Why would God deliberately hide understanding from some people? Why would he "harden" certain people, give them a "spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear"?

Paul gives us the answer (if this excerpt is not understandable, read the whole context of Paul's dissertation on the fate of the Jews in Romans chapters 10 and 11: " For if God did not spare the natural branches (Israelites and Jews), he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!  I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As far as the gospel is concerned, they (the Jews who were "hardened") are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. " (Romans 11:21-32, NIV)

In order to receive the Holy Spirit, one most often had to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, repent of one's sins, and be baptized in the name of Jesus. (Acts 2:38) One cannot understand, or comprehend the "Holy Spirit" unless one has first believed in Jesus, repented of sins and completed the acts of submission to the will of God.

If, after this belief, confession, repentance and submission has taken place and a person has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, a person then deliberately, and with full knowledge, blasphemes (vilifies, insults, profanes, rails against and treats with contempt) that self-same Holy Spirit, then that person has turned against God, Himself and has chosen the path to destruction. A person in this state has no hope of forgiveness because, by definition, will not ask the Being whom he hates for forgiveness.

The author of the book of Hebrews (most likely Paul) explains this further: " If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. " (Hebrews 10:26-31, NIV)

The reason there is no forgiveness is not because God is not merciful and loving but because a human being who deliberately turns away from God has no recourse - no way of obtaining forgiveness.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit:  See Matthew 12:22-32. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out a devil by using the power of Satan. Jesus explained to them the error and folly of their "logic". After having explained that He was casting out demons by the Spirit of God, Jesus warned them that blaspheming the Spirit of God by calling it the devil would not be forgiven.

Matthew 12:22-32 "Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." And knowing their thoughts He said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.  "And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?  "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges.  "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.  "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.  "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.  "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come."

Here are the important elements of this account:

1. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is clearly defined as the act of saying that the Spirit of God is the devil.

2. Saying that the Spirit of God is the devil will not be forgiven. God is righteous. The devil is evil. God will not forgive those who identify Him as being evil......calling Him the devil.

3. Sound logic clearly shows that the good works of freeing people from the bondage of the devil would not be done by the devil himself.

4. Jesus gave the Pharisees a chance by explaining the situation to them.

5. After giving the explanation of the truth, Jesus gave them a warning to accept the truth or continue in the lie about the Holy Spirit and be cut off from God by never being forgiven.

With your mind's eye, picture the situation.....Jesus is traveling around doing the good works of God.....He is here on earth to declare the kingdom of God and represent the righteousness of God. But as He travels, doing the works of God, here are the Pharisees following Him around saying He is doing the works of Satan. Jesus was reaching out to the multitudes of people through His sermons and works. It is important to see that He wanted to reach the multitudes.

Notice the chronology of some events: The multitudes glorified God after seeing Jesus do a miracle: Matthew 9:8 But when the multitudes saw this, they were filled with awe, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

The multitudes again marveled at the works of Jesus: Matthew 9:33 And after the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the multitudes marveled, saying, "Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel."

The Pharisees made their false accusation about Jesus: Matthew 9:34 But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."

Notice in Matthew 9:36 the change in the multitudes because of the Pharisees. When the multitudes first saw the miracles of Jesus, they glorified God, but the influence of the Pharisees was having an impact on them. They were now bewildered, harassed, distressed, dejected and helpless (Amplified Bible...Matthew 9:36). They were like sheep without a shepherd....confused....who should they believe?....the Pharisees or Jesus?

Matthew 9:36 And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.

John the Baptist might also have wondered, unsure about Jesus: Matthew 11:2-6 2 Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 "And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me."

This brings us to the first passage that we considered... Matthew 12:22-32. Jesus did the miracle, but the multitudes were confused about it...verse 23. Then we see the Pharisees again making their false accusation trying to confuse the multitudes and turn them against Jesus.

Jesus wanted to make it clear that He was doing the work of God through the Spirit of God and He was NOT IN ALLEGIANCE WITH THE DEVIL IN ANY WAY!

After being continuously harassed by the Pharisees over a period of time in which they were hindering His ministry of reaching the multitudes, Jesus finally gave them a strong rebuke and warning. If they continued with their false accusation about the Spirit of God, they would never be forgiven....meaning they would be cut off from God. Their actions would no longer be tolerated without consequence. Jesus gave them a strong deterrent encouraging them to stop their blasphemy. He wanted them to stop their We see that God will not tolerate being identified as the ultimate evil....Satan. (I believe that it must also be grievous to God when He and His righteous works are identified as Satan).

Summary: Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the act of directly saying that the Holy Spirit is the devil.... Satan.

If you desire to know more about this Jesus Christ who loves you, and you want to ask Him  into your heart, receiving His Saving Grace please click on this Salvation Prayer