Audio Transcript

The unpardonable sin — is there a sin so heinous that to do it is to have violated God so seriously that you can no longer be saved? When you boil down and try to summarize the whole history of this podcast (which I was dumb enough to attempt), this is likely the most commonly asked question of all the questions asked. I’d say it is the existential dread that tops all other dreads. “Have I committed the unpardonable sin because of something I said or something I did in my past that was so heinous and so wicked and so premeditated that surely there’s no longer any hope of forgiveness for me?” A lot of ground has been covered here, from so many different angles — so much that I had to make two separate sections on this theme in the Ask Pastor John book, on pages 323–326 and 337–339.

We return to it in this email from an anonymous woman: “Pastor John, I have carried the weight and guilt of a past sin for many years, feeling like I’m unforgivable. No matter how much I beg for forgiveness or repent, I feel as though I can’t be saved because of what I did. Reading about Paul being called the ‘world’s worst sinner’ has encouraged me, but the feeling of being unaccepted and facing inevitable judgment still lingers. To give some context, I once believed in God but experienced doubts during a college biology class, which led me to intentionally turn away from him. I essentially told Jesus to leave me so that I could engage in sinful activities without feeling guilty, and I truly felt like he left me to my sin, as I requested.

“Now I deeply regret that decision, and I long for a close relationship with Jesus again. My question is, can I still be forgiven, especially after deliberately rejecting him? Does he see my heart now and offer salvation to someone who once chose to turn their back on him? I know I would never have acted so recklessly if I knew then what I know now, and I’m desperate for assurance that his forgiveness is still available to me.”

Well, Lord, make these few thoughts a means to the miracle of assurance, I pray, in a true saint, a true daughter.

There are two very large issues in this question. One is the issue of whether someone who turns away from Christ can find their way back to repentance and forgiveness. That’s one issue. And the other issue is whether it is possible that someone does indeed find his way back, receives forgiveness, and yet still struggles with feeling forgiven. Those are the two issues that are raised in that question.

I’m much more concerned about the first, even though she is wrestling on the surface with the second. I’m much more concerned about the first than I am about the second because the person who is truly forgiven and yet doesn’t always feel forgiven is in an infinitely better position than the person who is not forgiven. There is a huge difference between the battle to be forgiven and the battle to feel forgiven.

So, let me say a word about both issues because they both really do matter. God wants his children to feel forgiven — to be forgiven and to feel forgiven. He wants that. That’s his work. He does both of those.

Spurning and Returning

First, some thoughts about the possibility of repenting and being forgiven if one professes faith and then turns away. Now, this is tough because I’m aware of passages like 1 John 5:16 that say there is a kind of sinning that puts one beyond repentance and salvation: “I do not say that [you] should pray for that [one to be forgiven].” I’m aware of the warnings in Hebrews 6:4–6 and Hebrews 10:26–29 that there is a kind of apostasy that tramples the Son of God and profanes the blood and outrages the Spirit such that a person cannot be restored again to repentance. And I’m aware of Jesus’s warning about the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Spirit (for example, in Mark 3:28–29).

And I am equally aware — toe-tappingly-happily aware — of the amazing promises of mercy for those who are still able, by grace, to repent.

Who can return?

Here’s Jeremiah — listen to this. This is Jeremiah 3:6: “The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: ‘Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?’” Then this is Jeremiah 3:12–13: “Go, and proclaim these words toward the north [that’s where Israel is], and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God.’” Jeremiah 3:14: “Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master.” Jeremiah 3:22: “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” That’s hopeful.

And here’s Romans 10:11–13: “‘Everyone who believes in [the Lord] will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” Let me say that again: “[He bestows] his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Everyone.

“There is a huge difference between the battle to be forgiven and the battle to feel forgiven.”

Here’s Paul’s explanation for why God saved him after letting him become a Christian-hater and a Christian-killer: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason” — this is what she said gives her encouragement sometimes, and indeed it should — “that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15–16).

That’s simply stunning. Paul says in Galatians 1:15–16 that God had planned, while Paul was still in his mother’s womb, for him to become an apostle, a Christian apostle, only after he had become the worst of Christian-killing sinners. God didn’t have to do it that way. Yet he did it that way. Why? The text is clear: so that people who feel they have sinned themselves out of the possibility of salvation would take heart. That’s why God did it, and that’s amazing.

Or consider Luke 18:24–27 and the rich young ruler. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). And those who heard it said, “What? Then who can be saved?” (see Luke 18:26). And Jesus did not say, “Oh, you’re right. I overstated it.” He said, “What is impossible with man” — namely, being saved — “is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Which means, God can (if he pleases) overcome that man’s love for money or an unbeliever’s love for anything.

I think we are supposed to hear that and be amazed that the people we think are simply too far gone to be saved are indeed too far gone, humanly speaking — and they are absolutely not too far gone for God, because God does what is impossible for man.

Who decides?

I think the bottom line, in the teachings of Jesus, 1 John, Hebrews, and Paul, is that there does come a point where God gives a person up and hands them over to their own rebellion (Romans 1:24–26, 28 says that) so that they’re not able to repent and be forgiven. But what that means is that if a person will repent from the heart and believe in the mercy of God, in the death of Jesus, they will be forgiven. They’ll be saved.

In other words, we don’t know what that point is where God gives up a person. What we do know is that, if they can still humbly repent and believe, that dreadful point has not been reached. Hebrews 12:17 says, “You know that afterward, when [Esau] desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no [place of repentance], though he sought [the repentance] with tears.” God had given him up — meaning, if he had repented, he would’ve been accepted, and so would everybody else.

So, that’s my understanding of the first issue. God decides who is able to repent and be forgiven. We don’t. Our position is to hope and love and pray for the miracle of repentance because all things are possible with God.

The Gift of Assurance

Now, concerning this second issue — namely, the battle to feel forgiven by God — my main response is to rehearse all the hope-filled texts that I just read. In other words, the answer to the first issue is my main answer to the second issue, which is why I spent all my time on the first issue.

Dear friend, rehearse the mercies of God over and over. Never take your eyes off of Christ crucified, because Romans 5:8 tells us that’s where God spoke most loudly about his love: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That’s where he puts it on display. So, don’t take your eyes off the love of God in Christ crucified.

I know that there are people who, for spiritual reasons (like being under attack) or personality reasons, find it extremely difficult to feel the sweetness and restfulness of being accepted and forgiven by God. There are so many personality factors and family factors that go into that. We’ve all felt this. It is always possible for them, or even us, to bring another argument for why the mercy of God does not apply to me. You can give this person ten good biblical reasons and five good experiential reasons from their own life for why they should think of themselves as a true, forgiven, loved child of God, and they are able to say, “Yes, but . . .” There’s always a yes, but — always. You can never get to a point where you can’t think of a new reason why you shouldn’t be a child of God. There’s no end to them.

So, the bottom line on this issue is that, after all the arguments are done, assurance is a gift. It’s a gift. How many people have I prayed with, after services at the front of the sanctuary, who were wrestling with assurance? Week after week they come forward and, in the end, we settle here: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).

So, dear friend, keep looking steadfastly at the mercies of God in his promises and in the blood of Christ, and pray for the gift of assurance. I’m praying that for you.