I can't count the number of times I've seen — or being asked — this question of what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means.
Today, and finally, I'm happy to pen this down here on the No.1 Expository Christian Blog in Africa so that anyone, and everyone, who needs answer to this Bible question won't bother looking elsewhere but here.
So, "What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?"
Before I answer this question, let me bring this to your notice that the best answer that can ever be given to any Bible question must come from the Bible, itself.
For two decades, I've come to realize that there is no question in this world — not just only biblical question — that the Bible has no answer to.
This proves and confirms the power of the word of God that even though the Bible was penned down thousands of years ago, it answers any question outside its written age as if it is a new book purposely written to answer those questions, in the first place.
In fact, in thousands of years to come, if Jesus tarries, the Bible will still be as relevant as ever, in tackling any question that will ever arise.
To add to that, at any point in time you need answers to any Bible question — like...what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? — ensure whatever answer you get comes directly from the Bible, and not from the knowledge of any Bible preacher or teacher.
Now to answer the question...
I will be making reference to the exact meaning of the word blasphemy as it is found in the Hebrew Bible.
Thereafter, I will show you what the scholars of the Bible, ancient, times referred to as blasphemy.
Then, I will point out what blasphemy really means in the new testament days according to the Greek Bible.
To add to that, I will then state the meaning of blasphemy as penned them by new testament gospel writer.
Above all, I will end this Christian educating post with the exact meaning the Almighty God, himself, gives to blasphemy.
Onward...
Take a deep breath as I pick it one after another.
The Hebrew Meaning Of Blasphemy According To The Hebrew Bible.
Take note that just as we have part of speech in English, so do we have it in Hebrew. In other words, there are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and so on and so forth in Hebrew language.
It is for the above stated reason do we have two words for blasphemy in the Hebrew Bible.
The first one is נְאָצָה (n'atsah) — this is the Hebrew word translated "blasphemy" — while the second one is נָקַב (naqab) — of course, that is the Hebrew word translated "blasphemed".
As you can see, the first word is a noun while the second one is a verb.
The two words actually mean the same thing. Both of them mean a feeling of seeing someone or something as worthless. And of course, whatever is worthless to one is contemptible, thereby losing one's respect.
In a layman's language, you cannot respect what you abhor.
This is why any form of disrespect for the Almighty God is counted as blasphemy in the old testament days.
As an instance, read 2 Kings 18:28-35 -. Below....
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
29 Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand;
30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." '
31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;
32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us."
33 Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?' "
From that passage, we can deduce that the King of Assyria insulted the Almighty God. And that disrespectful act was tagged as a blasphemy by Hezekiah, the king, in 2 Kings 19:3...
And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and BLASPHEMY; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.
Had it not been for the power of the King of Assyria, he would have been stoned to death by the people of Israel, as that measure was the exact punishment ascribed to blasphemy by God himself in Leviticus 24:16...
And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord SHALL SURELY be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.
The Meaning Of Blasphemy According To The Scholars In The New Testament Bible Days
Matthew 9:1-3
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.
2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."
3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"
Scholars in the Bible days, known as the Scribes (lawyers), believed taking the place of God as human is blasphemy.
Of course, that belief is true and sound, but, on the contrary, they didn't know Jesus was God in a human flesh.
Had they known this fact about Jesus, they wouldn't have counted his benevolent act of forgiving the sins of the paralytic man as blasphemy.
Therefore, and intuitively, the meaning of blasphemy according to Bible scholars, otherwise known as Scribes, in the Bible says is human being taking the place of God.
Onward, to the meaning of the word blasphemy according to the Greek Bible in the new testament record...
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The Greek Meaning Of Blasphemy According To The New Testament Bible
As you know, the new testament Bible was written in Greek language.
Moving on, let me state the exact meaning of the word blasphemy as best as I can by translating the blasphemy Greek word to english.
The Greek word blasphemy is βλασφημία (blasphémia). If I'm to transliterate that Greek word to English, the right word will be defamation, which is an act of making false statement about a person that injures the person's reputation.
That implies...any false statement about God made by anyone is blasphemy according to Greek language.
The Meaning Of Blasphemy According To Luke, A Gospel Writer
Luke 23:39-42
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Going by the conclusion of the second thief on the cross, one can easily deduce that the first thief who spoke badly to Jesus knew who he was.
He knew Jesus was Christ (the Messiah to save the world), yet he tempted him by laying emphasis on his identity.
Just as the Devil knew who Jesus was before he came to tempt him to turn stone to bread in order to prove his identity as the Son of God, so did that thief tempted Jesus to save himself and save them to prove his deity.
Of course, he had no need to prove his deity, as the Son of God, to anyone after all the undeniable proofs he had provided already before the time of his crucifixion.
In fact, no one in the Bible says would deny Jesus was not a special being before the days of his crucifixion.
The statement that the thief on the cross made was termed blasphemy by Luke, who wrote that gospel. See it again below...
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
In other words, telling God to do something for you in order to prove he is God to you is nothing but blasphemy.
That statement is worth repeating again...
...telling God to do something for you in order to prove he is God to you is nothing but blasphemy.
Surprisingly, a lot of Christians are not even aware of that. They tell God in prayer to prove himself to them by doing something for them.
They seem not to understand that that is tantamount to telling God he is not God if he refuse to do their bidding. And of course, that is tempting God, according to Luke, like the Devil did because God will still be God even if he refuse to do what you want him to do.
To wrap this up, as you've known that blasphemy, according to Hebrew language, is disrespecting God in any form, and that blasphemy, according to Greek language, is making false statement about God, and also that blasphemy, according to Bible scholars who lived during Bible days, is trying to take the place of God as human.
In addition, blasphemy is telling God to prove he is God to you by doing something for you.
May I bring this to your notice... If you go through the Bible, you will come across lots of people who did all these things to the Almighty God and nothing happened to them.
Mind you, their blasphemy was against God the Father (Jehovah) and God the Son (Jesus).
You see those things I mentioned earlier...
1. Disrespecting God
2. Defaming God (making false statement)
3. Replacing God (trying to take the place of God in another person's life)
4. Tempting God to prove himself, that he is God, to you by doing something for you...
must NEVER been done against the Holy Spirit, as there is no forgiveness of such sin, either in this age or in the age to come.
That is why I tell people who are Christians in this age that we are in THE MOST SOPHISTICATED AGE OF CHRISTIANITY.
Why that statement?
Because the triune God who rules this age does not entertain nonsense of any kind, you mess up, he messes you up.
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This is why Matthew 12:31-32 is the scripture that scares me most in the Bible...
Matthew 12:31
“Therefore I say to you, EVERY SIN and BLASPHEMY will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Matthew 12:32
ANYONE speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Onward...
If you really want to know more about the Holy Spirit, like never before, just read my eye-opening article about the Holy Spirit from the post link below...
And if you've been enlightened by this post on the explanation of blasphemy, kindly share this article with other Christians on Facebook, WhatsApp groups and other social media NOW using the share button below this article.
GOD BLESS AS YOU DO SO.
