Christians should be careful not to speak against the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the least known member of the Trinity. Many Christians know much about God the Father and God the Son but many do not know anything about God the Holy Spirit. Some denominations do not even acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is God.

According to Barna research in 2021: “The study shows, in general, that while a majority of America’s self-identified Christians, including many who identify as evangelical, believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and is the Creator of the universe, more than half reject a number of biblical teachings and principles, including the existence of the Holy Spirit.”

Lack of knowledge of who the Holy Spirit is has led to lots of blasphemy against Him. Even some who believe in Him are not aware of His personality. Some use inanimate pronouns to describe Him because they do not know that He is a person (John 16:7). Many grieve Him because they do not know that He has feelings (Ephesians 4:30). Many things have been said about the Holy Spirit that are sacrilegious, offensive and profane by those who are supposed to revere and worship Him. Ignorance is the greatest mountain of opposition in Christianity and the earlier we get informed the better it is.

The Holy Spirit is the executive arm of the Trinity. The world was created by Him as He moved upon the face of the waters in Genesis 1. He was the one who wrote the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).  He was responsible for the miraculous birth of Jesus (Luke 1:35). All miracles which Jesus did were done by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 12:28). Jesus was able to go to the Cross to be crucified for the salvation of humanity by the leading of the Holy Spirit (Hebrew 9:14). Jesus would have remained in the grave if not for the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). After Jesus commissioned the Apostles and the other disciples, they had no motivation of preaching the Gospel until the Holy Spirit enabled them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). There is no way we would have come to know Jesus if not for the conviction power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit is powerful in more than one way.

I developed strong awe for the Holy Spirit when I read what Jesus said about speaking against Him. “I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Mathew 12:31-32 ). This warning of Christ is frightening and should be carefully and strictly adhered to. Eternal sin is an offence that no one can sweep under the carpet no matter how gracious we think God is.

It should recall that Jesus made the above statement when He observed that the Jews were saying that He was casting out demons with the power of demons. What this means is that denying the works of the Holy Spirit and attributing them to some other powers is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. When “Powerful men of God” abuse their office, they are getting dangerously close to blasphemy. Prophecy is one of the vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit, and abusing the gift of prophecy and saying what the Holy Spirit did not say is a blasphemy against Him.

Blasphemy is a serious offence in the three Abrahamic religions. For example, in Islam blasphemy is an offense that carries with it the death penalty. Even back in Jesus’ day, blasphemers would be executed for blasphemy:

“But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ They all condemned him as worthy of death” (Mark 14:61-64).

Christ was crucified for an alleged case of blasphemy.

Christianity is different from Islam and Judaism because of the unmerited favor of God towards humankind through the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. Christians do not condemn anyone to death because of blasphemy, but should we continue to blaspheme that grace may abound? God forbid! It is important that we take heed to the warning of Christ not to say a word against the Holy Spirit because the sin is unforgivable here on earth and the afterlife. If blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, what will be the fate of those who are ignorantly engrossed in this sin?

Christians should avoid reckless talks against the Holy Spirit. Those who deny His existence are guilty of the sin of apostasy. Those who fake miracles, prophecies and testimonies are guilty of blasphemy. We should not be too familiar with God to the extent of taking His words for granted. Hiding this warning of Christ in our hearts and exercising caution is a sure way of escape from this unpardonable sin.