What is the unforgivable sin? Fr. Matthew Spencer provides clarity on this complex biblical concept. Learn about the Church’s interpretation of the unforgivable sin and how it relates to despair and disbelief in God’s mercy. Discover the importance of trust in God’s forgiveness and how to overcome anxiety about committing this sin.
Transcript:
I’m going to go to Memphis, Tennessee. Charles is in Memphis. Thank you for the call. Charles, go ahead with your question for Father Matthew Spencer. Yes, sir. I just had a question regarding the unforgivable sound. Okay. You know, we see in the Bible, it’s in Scripture, and then the church fathers sort of deviate on have different interpretations. The didache, if I’m pronouncing that right, has an interpretation. And I was just wondering, how can we know and rest assured that we know what the sin is nowadays?
Oh, very good question.
I worry about if I’ve committed it or not.
I see. I see. Well, first of all, I’m glad that you call Charles because it gives us the opportunity to ponder and consider what this is. But before I do, I just want to harken back to the last hour we had John Papino in the studio with Cy. And one of the observations he made, I felt was important, you know, that the church fathers recognized that there are many different ways to interpret Scripture. And not because Scripture itself is not clear, but because God’s teachings can come to us in multiform ways and God, the richness of God’s teaching can be expressed in Scripture in a beautiful variety of ways. So, for example, sometimes we hear a passage, and that passage resonates with us in one way and speaks, illuminates some part of our heart and our life at that point that we need.
And then later in life, we hear that passage, and it gives us a different insight. And that’s certainly, of course, the Spirit helping us to connect with Scripture in that way. And I would say, therefore, that this particular Scripture passage you’re referring to, Mark 3, 28, or Matthew 12, 31, also found in Luke, generally has an interpretation that I’m going to give to you, but is not definitively defined by the church. The church doesn’t say dogmatically that there is only one interpretation of what Jesus is referring to in the one unforgivable sin. So generally, the way that we interpret this is that it is a form of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which also for us could be a failure, a despair of God’s mercy.
These are two different ways of saying the same thing, that essentially, if I don’t believe that I can be forgiven, because I think that God’s mercy is limited or something like this, then of course, I’m not going to be able to be forgiven, because to be forgiven requires that I’m open to that particular forgiveness. So this is generally how we explain and understand this particular sin. And therefore, Charles, I would say, if you are going to God’s mercy, then you don’t need to worry at all that you are not repenting of this particular sin.
Why? Because you are trusting, in fact, in God’s mercy, and you are wanting God’s forgiveness in your life. So I would say to you, Charles, don’t let that doubt that seems to sometimes trouble you about maybe there’s a sin there that you’re not aware of, and maybe that won’t be forgiven. No, that is not the way that God works. It’s not the way that forgiveness and mercy works. It’s not like a game we’re trying to play where God is hiding sins from us and not allowing us and maybe going to hold back forgiveness because we didn’t think about this. No, he wants us to be forgiven. He wants us to experience his mercy. The only time that he couldn’t give us his mercy is if we didn’t want it, and if we just despaired of that mercy and pushed it away. So as long as you’re open to God’s mercy, then you certainly wouldn’t be offending against some blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Okay, Charles?
Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Thank you.
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