What Does This Scripture Mean? Luke 12:8

I was reading Luke, chapter 12:8 today and I was wondering if someone could help me understand this scripture:

“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. 10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."

when they say anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be NOT be forgiven what exactly does that mean...does it mean not believing in Christ or does it mean literally "cursing," the name of God or the Holy Spirit?

Could someone explain to me please? thank you
 
As Jesus is a historical figure, blaspheming Him can take place at a mental and spiritual level. The first instance would be solely at a mental level. The second, bearing in mind that the Holy Spirit is here to reveal Jesus and scripture (which points to Jesus and brings conviction of sin) to us, would be blaspheming Jesus at a spiritual level (committing the unpardonable sin).

Consider the fallen angels. They were in the spirit and rejected / blasphemed God. A SINGLE act got them kicked out of heaven for eternity. Because we are in the flesh, our cursing God is not instantly going to be at the same level of intent as the fallen angels. But should we repeatedly curse Jesus (grieve the Holy Spirit) it does eventually lead to a point where we do truly curse the Holy Spirit (spiritually reject Jesus / God).

So when atheists sign a petition saying that they have cursed the Holy Spirit and accept hell, it is only at a mental level. If someone had truly committed the unpardonable sin, they would be dead. As God would not be able to protect them from the devil. Hence, God must have hope for all the living.
 
I see it a little differently.
What Jesus said was in response to the good done through Him by the Holy Spirit, being credited to Beelzebul....Satan.
The fact that Jesus made that statement and issued that warning shows that it is a real hazard. Looking to Matt 12:32. we see the context.
Matt 12:24. Crediting Satan with the majestic works of God through His Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is what evoked the warning by Jesus.
Compare Mark 3:29. The idea is that this sin renders the person unforgivable then and there. No forgiveness in this life or the life to come//never has forgiveness; same thing.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is doing just what the Pharisees did... Giving glory to Satan and defaming the Holy Spirit.
 
The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit may refer to the sin of seeing the HS working and openly opposing it, such as attributing the works of Jesus to the power of Satan.

It can also refer to an act which shows a state of sin in which there is a wilful, determined opposition to the power of the HS. That would IMO represent a gradual progression in sin. Jesus does not accuse a man of such a sin, but warns against anyone coming into such a problem.

THey (the disciples) do not yet posses the HS and Jesus will very soon tell them that He is just like Him.
Therefore......to reject the HS would be exactly the same as rejecting Christ.
 
I recall an example that kind of settled it for me.

At Pauls conversion on the road to Damascus. He was going to kill Christians (Blaspheming Jesus). If He was to reject what Jesus told and shared with him in his spiritual encounter and continue to kill Christians, it would be blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
 
I see it a little differently.
What Jesus said was in response to the good done through Him by the Holy Spirit, being credited to Beelzebul....Satan.
The fact that Jesus made that statement and issued that warning shows that it is a real hazard. Looking to Matt 12:32. we see the context.
Matt 12:24. Crediting Satan with the majestic works of God through His Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is what evoked the warning by Jesus.
Compare Mark 3:29. The idea is that this sin renders the person unforgivable then and there. No forgiveness in this life or the life to come//never has forgiveness; same thing.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is doing just what the Pharisees did... Giving glory to Satan and defaming the Holy Spirit.
I have googled your view and found a few that see it like this. But it confuses me. Example: If someone were to be miraculously healed and they said it was the ''atheist / unGodly'' doctors or medicine. Would that be blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Or would they have to mockingly say it was the devil? and if so, who would say that? I have never heard that said nor can picture an example. The pharisees spoke in ignorance.
 
I have googled your view and found a few that see it like this. But it confuses me. Example: If someone were to be miraculously healed and they said it was the ''atheist / unGodly'' doctors or medicine. Would that be blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Or would they have to mockingly say it was the devil? and if so, who would say that? I have never heard that said nor can picture an example. The pharisees spoke in ignorance.
OK, last things first. The pharisees spoke in ignorance...true but the spoke with malice as well. Consider Job's three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. They spoke of the Lord in ignorance, but they did so thinking to help Job in his affliction. Finally in Job 42:7. After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
They are in strife alight, but they are not spoken of as being just so much 'dead meat'.

In the case of someone who is miraculously healed not giving the glory to the Lord, they (in your scenario), are not taking from the Lord and consciously giving to Satan as the Pharisees were. They would no doubt be spiritually dead, but there is still hope of salvation. That is a different case from a conscious and deliberate transfer of Glory from the Lord to Satan.

I think more importantly, the pharisees were specifically seeking to undermine the work of the gospel by trying to make out that the good things Jesus was doing were in fact evil, and that salvation lay in following them and their false teachings and turning away from Jesus.
 
"Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" is a reduction of the previous line: denying Jesus before men. But, if you turn from that to God, then that is no longer true.

A believer can't make a statement in ignorance, or accidentally misspeak about God, or express something incorrect out of misunderstanding, and suddenly have his/her name erased from the Book of Life.

The devil works steadily and constantly to expand the mean of "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" to bar people from seeking God. He tells them there is no chance left for them because the said/did this thing or that thing.

Pray. Read. Seek. Sanctify self. Follow Jesus. Never give up.
 
There are several good points here and I must admit that I struggle with this as well. Without sounding to kooky, sci-fi like; I guess I look at it as we are multidimensional beings. (dichotomy/ trichotomy whatever your preference) Whereas our mouth can blaspheme Christ and God in the physical, once you are touched (saved) by Christ and are blessed with the Holy Spirit, How could you deny the Holy Spirit in your spiritual conscience?

Do we not fight on two (or three- dependent on your perspective) battlefronts: the physical and spiritual? Is not the battle of the believer more of a spiritual battle? Without the Holy Spirit-how good would you be in a spiritual battle? Ephesians 6
 
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil, knowing it is the Holy Spirit who is doing the work. This is the context of the part of Luke you quoted. Matthew 12:30-32 is a more detailed version of this event. You will notice in Matthew 12:24 what the Pharisees say and how Jesus responds afterwards.
 
Back
Top