The Unforgiveable Sin
Matthew 12:30-32 reads:
“I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
This passage is a bit anxiety-provoking. What does it mean? Read paragraph 1864 of the Catechism:
“There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by he Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”
The unforgiveable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is a refusal of God's love. It is a refusal to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness of sins. Because we have one God in three Persons, the sin of blasphemy is also against the Father and the Son . Why does Jesus say that it is specifically against the Holy Spirit?
Appropriation is attributing an action of God to one Person in the Holy Trinity, which helps us to grasp a little bit better the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Goodness is appropriated to the Holy Spirit.
Like I mentioned above, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a rejection of his goodness. A facet of God’s goodness is his mercy and forgiveness. But rejecting God’s forgiveness is a rejection of his goodness and thus a rejection of the Holy Spirit.
Out of love, God gave us free will to choose him or not to choose him. We aren’t forced to love him and we can make the choice to turn away from him. Take Peter as an example; he sought forgiveness after denying Jesus. Judas did the opposite after betraying Jesus. He did not have hope and refused to seek reconciliation with God.
We do need to repent from sins and seek forgiveness with contrite hearts and attend the sacrament of reconciliation. The Catechism reads:
"Among the penitent’s acts, contrition occupies first place. Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again,” (1451).
It is important to always remember that no matter had bad a sin is, we can always be forgiven by God and we can have hope that we will spend eternity with him. “It is I, I who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more,” (Isaiah 43:25).
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness,” (Lamentations 3:22-23).