What Is It?
We have all heard someone use the word “blasphemy”, and if you have been around any church for very long, you have probably heard a few people use the word to say someone is doing something wrong in accordance with God’s character or the misinterpretation of scriptures in the Bible. I think anyone who has been around any group of people that have even just a small amount of Bible knowledge has heard the term “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” as well. But what is “blasphemy” exactly? It seems like there are times people use this word an absurd amount just to try to prove their own ideas about the Bible correct or rather disprove others’ ideas about the Bible and God’s character. I would say it is safe to say that Christians should know who the Holy Spirit is, or at least who it is referenced too, which is God’s Spirit in the Trinity, so let’s look into some of the aspects of the word “blasphemy” to see if we can figure out what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is.
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary 1, the word “blasphemy” has two meanings, a. the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, and b. the act of claiming the attributes of a deity. Also, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the word’s verb form, “blaspheme” has two meanings, a. as an intransitive verb, to speak in a way that shows irreverence for God or something sacred, and b. as a transitive verb, to speak of or address with irreverence; revile, or abuse. Well, none of these sound like misunderstanding God’s words do they? This sounds like a respect for authority issue doesn’t it? Merriam-Webster also gives synonyms for these words, blasphemy and blaspheme, let’s look at them also: curse, cuss, swear, defilement, desecration, impiety, irreverence, profanation, sacrilege. Wow, using these words, it sounds like we are cussing someone out doesn’t it? Another great way to learn what a word really means is to look at its opposite words, or antonyms instead of the word’s synonyms. These are: adoration, glorification, and worship. All of this is sounding like our heart’s condition toward God’s Spirit in the way that we treat Him rather than interpreting scriptures wrong, but I don’t want to get this wrong if it holds such dire consequences, so let’s go to the scriptures and the original writings of them shall we?
Here are three New Testament scriptures 2 that use the word “blasphemy” in its verb form “blaspheme”. Better yet, the scriptures here are Jesus’ own words, and for context purposes we’ll throw in the verse before and after the word is used: Luke 12:9-11, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say; Matthew 12:30-33, Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.; and to use even more context, let’s use all the scripture from Mark’s account: Mark 3:22-30, And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And He called them to Him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand . And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is going to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” – for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”. Oh my!! What a slap in the face! These scribes accused Jesus of doing the work of the Devil himself and Jesus called them out on it. Not only did He call them out, He told them that blaspheme of the Holy Spirit was an unforgivable sin! The most cleanest, purest, truest person ever on the face of our planet, worthy of all praise, adoration, honor, and glory, was listening to a mere human call Him unclean and demon possessed! My first thought is that of a good father who tells his child, “I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it!” These scribes had absolutely no regard for Jesus, no adoration, no glorification, and no worship for Him. They were defiling, disgracing, desecrating, had irreverence for, profaning, and making a sacrilege of Him. Let’s also look at that word “sacrilege” while we are using it. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary once again defines it as: a gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing. Yep, all these things are what those scribes were doing to Jesus the Christ. Pretty scary place to be, don’t you think? But let’s be sure we are using the right word here as well, because we don’t want anything lost in translation either.
All three times the word “blaspheme” is used in these three areas of scripture, it is all the same Greek word, blasphemeo, which means: to vilify, specially to speak impiously, curse, denounce, deride, malign, rail at, revile, slanderously, speak of as evil, to treat with irreverence and scornful insolence, especially to revile God and divine things. The one time in these scriptures the word “blasphemy” is used, the Greek word for it is “blasphemia” which means: vilification (especially against God), slander, reviling, evil speaking, backbiting, abuse, railing, unbelief, impiety, insult, hurt, reproach, and defamation. Again, oh my! This is definitely not a mere misinterpretation of the scriptures and God’s character. This is outright trying to turn God into the Devil! Not a mere wrong judgement calls on what the Bible says, but outright denying that God is God and that He is good! It is definitely a total disregard and irreverence for Jesus, who is God, and not just shrugging Him off, oh no! This is going so far as to making fun of Him, jeering at Him, and outright slamming Him down as being evil. I’ve heard the saying, “how low can you go”, but this is beyond ridiculous. What a total insult to the creator, to have His creation tell Him that He is doing the Devil’s work. How absolutely sad it is to know that these people should have been coming to worship the King of the world, the Maker of the universe, the most Holy and precious Lamb sacrifice for all of our sins, and what were they doing? Insulting Him by accusing Him of being the Devil and doing his work. How sad! Just heartbreaking! But perhaps there is hope still for these people. After all, the scripture does say, “all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter”. The unforgivable sin is, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”. So who is the Holy Spirit then? Let’s see if we can figure this one out.
I have found seventy-four scriptures in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts alone that use the words “Holy Spirit”. That is quite a few, I think we can derive who the Holy Spirit is with so many instances of scripture mentioning Him. Let’s look at a few: Acts 10:38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 13:2 & 4, While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”, So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. Acts 5:32, And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. Acts 5:3, But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” Luke 2:25-26, Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Luke 3:16, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Luke 3:22, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.” Luke 4:1, And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness. I think there is enough scriptures here to make some pretty concise conclusions, don’t you?
First, the Holy Spirit is obviously God in one of His Trinity forms because He cannot lie but only speaks truth, He is all powerful, all knowing, and all present everywhere. Second, He chooses to dwell in those who believe in our Lord, Jesus Christ, and who worship Him. Third, He is against the Devil and his work. Fourth, He is for God and doing His work. Fifth, it is very important to note that He is living inside of Jesus Himself. Sixth, and probably the most important of all, Jesus Himself baptized people with the Holy Spirit. In other words, He has the power to give the Holy Spirit to others, to give it away, only God can do that. One more proof that Jesus is God!! Just as great and worthy of honor and praise is the fact that Jesus can give the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is God and Jesus is God, so all three are working together because they are all doing the work of themself, which is God’s work. Whoa… drop the mic! Hold the phone! What?! # Turn up the worship music now! Seriously! Time to get our praise on! … oh no… I just remembered the scribes who were making fun of Jesus. Uh oh. Not good. Do you see it? By “blaspheming” Jesus, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit weren’t they? So if you blaspheme one part of the Trinity, you blaspheme them all by default, because they are all one God. Bummer for those scribes!
Let’s sum all of this up now. Blasphemy is not just a simple difference in opinion in what the deeper meaning of scripture is, as long as we are not going so far as to say God is doing the Devil’s work or God is not absolute truth and love. Blasphemy is turning God’s character around a complete 180 degrees, in other words, doing the opposite things we should be doing for God, which is worshiping, praising, honoring, glorifying, loving, cherishing, serving, and completely and whole heartedly adoring Him! It is dishonoring God, calling Him a liar, saying He is the Devil or doing the Devil’s work, saying He is unworthy, unloving, unholy, and not giving Him His due praise and glory. The Holy Spirit has a character, and that is to do God’s work which is to gather God’s people to Himself, to bring people to Jesus (to God), and to edify His people. Those who work against God work for the Devil, and those who work for God work against the Devil. Believe in God the Son, Jesus Christ, God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father, God! Give Him all your praise, honor, worship, sacrifice, glory, and love! Matthew 22:37-40, And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend on all the Law and the Prophets.” Honor God with your love, don’t blasphemy Him by hating Him, for He loves you!
