One of the most common questions I get as a pastor, particularly from younger believers, is, “Have I committed the unpardonable sin?” When Jesus mentions this sin (Mark 3:22-30; Matthew 12:22-32) it’s a terrifying thought to a true believer, so the spiritually sensitive understandably tremble. In the end, my beloved mentor Dr. J.I. Packer would say that the one unpardonable sin is impenitence, but people want more and deserve more of an answer than that. So I’m excerpting two small discussions in Packer’s book Concise Theology which together comprise a fuller but still succinct answer. The second excerpt directly addresses the question of the unpardonable sin, but I’m including the excerpt before it on perseverance, as it sets up Dr. Packer’s answer about the unpardonable sin.
Perseverance: God Keeps His People Safe
“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified”—Romans 8:30
“Let it first be said that in declaring the eternal security of God's people it is clearer to speak of their preservation than, as is commonly done, of their perseverance. Perseverance means persistence under discouragement and contrary pressure. The assertion that believers persevere in faith and obedience despite everything is true, but the reason is that Jesus Christ through the Spirit persists in preserving them.
Scripture emphasizes this. John tells us that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is under promise to his Father (John 6:37-40) and to his sheep directly (John 10:28-29) to keep them so that they never perish. In his high-priestly prayer before his passion Jesus asked that those whom the Father had given him (John 17:2, 6, 9, 24) would be preserved to glory, and it is inconceivable that his prayer, which still continues (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), will go unanswered.
Paul sees the sovereign plan of God for the salvation of his elect as a unitary whole, of which the glorifying of the justified is part (Romans 8:29-30). On this basis he builds the triumphant peroration of Romans 8:31-39, in which he celebrates the present and future security of the saints in the almighty love of God. Elsewhere he rejoices in the certainty that God will complete the "good work" that he began in the lives of those Paul addresses (Philippians 1:6; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:12; 4:18).
Reformed theology echoes this emphasis. The Westminster Confession declares,
They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (XVII.1)
The doctrine declares that the regenerate are saved through persevering in faith and Christian living to the end (Hebrews 3:6; 6:11; 10:35-39), and that it is God who keeps them persevering. That does not mean that all who ever professed conversion will be saved. False Professions are made; short-term enthusiasts fall away (Matthew 13:20-22); many who say to Jesus, "Lord, Lord," will not be acknowledged (Matthew 7:21-23). Only those who show themselves to be regenerate by pursuing heart-holiness and true neighbor-love as they pass through this world are entitled to believe themselves secure in Christ. Persevering in faith and penitence, not just in Christian formalism, is the path to glory. To suppose that believing in perseverance leads to careless living and arrogant presumption is a total misconception.
Sometimes the regenerate backslide and fall into gross sin. But in this they act out of character, do violence to their own new nature, and make themselves deeply miserable, so that eventually they seek and find restoration to righteousness. In retrospect, their lapse seems to them to have been madness. When regenerate believers act in character, they manifest a humble, grateful desire to please the God who saved them; and the knowledge that he is pledged to keep them safe forever simply increases this desire.”
In the following short chapter, Dr. Packer directly discusses the unpardonable sin:
Unpardonable Sin: Only Impenitence Cannot be Forgiven
“I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin”—Mark 3:28-29
“When Jesus warned the Pharisees that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was unpardonable both in this world and in the next (Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:29-30), it was because they were saying that he exorcised demons by being in league with Satan (Beelzebub). His warning revealed his view of their spiritual state.
He could, and later did, pray for the forgiveness of those whose blasphemy against himself was the fruit of ignorance: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). But that was not how he saw the Pharisees.”
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“It is possible for people to be enlightened to the point of knowing inwardly that Jesus is the divine Savior he claims to be, and still not be willing to admit it publicly, because of all the behavioral changes that such an admission would make necessary. It is possible to try to make oneself feel good about one's own moral dishonesty by inventing reasons, no matter how absurd, for not treating Jesus as worthy of one's allegiance. Jesus evidently perceived that in calling him Satan's servant the Pharisees were doing exactly that. They were not ignorant; they were stifling conviction and smothering real if unwelcome knowledge; they were resolutely shutting their eyes to the light and callousing their conscience by calling it darkness. The madness that Jesus exposed in what they were saying (Matthew 12:25-28) was an index of the pressure of conviction that they were feeling; irrational reasoning is a regular sign of conviction being resisted.
By attributing exorcisms wrought through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28) to Satanic power, the Pharisees were blaspheming (speaking impiously) against the Spirit. Such a sin would become unforgivable when the conscience had been so calloused by calling good evil that all sense of the moral glory of Jesus' mighty works (which were in a real sense his credentials: Matthew 11:2-6; John 10:38; 14:11) was destroyed. This hardening of heart against Jesus would preclude any remorse at any stage for having thus blasphemed. But nonexistence of remorse makes repentance impossible, and nonexistence of repentance makes forgiveness impossible.
Callousing one's conscience by dishonest reasonings so as to justify denial of God's power in Christ and rejection of his claims upon one is, then, the formula of the unpardonable sin. Another version of it, this time in professed Christians who fall away from Christ, is described in Hebrews 6:4-8. Christians who fear that they may have committed the unpardonable sin show by their very anxiety that they have not done so. Persons who have committed it are unremorseful and unconcerned; indeed, they are ordinarily unaware of what they have done and to what fate they have sentenced themselves. Jesus saw that the Pharisees were getting close to committing this sin, and he spoke as he did in hope of holding them back from fully lapsing into it.”
By quoting from Packer’s book so generously, I owe it to his estate to encourage you to buy it, making this an advertisement. Concise Theology is a marvelous work in its brevity and clarity. You won’t find anecdotes or stories—just straight-out systematic theology in bite-sized bits. It would be perfect for a Sunday school class or small group to go through, looking up the verses and getting a seminary-level understanding in the process.
Dr. Packer used to talk about “putting the cookies on the lower shelf” to make them easier to get to, and he has accomplished that admirably here. It is of course Reformed (Calvinist) to the core but he’s fair-handed in handling alternate views. While I am not a five-point Calvinist, I treasure this work.
You can order a copy HERE and I heartily encourage you to do so.