The Unforgivable Sin Contradiction

[Rational Agnostic]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

 

[dianaiad]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

Just from what you posted...I didn't look either reference up:

the difference SEEMS to be that 'if" word. That is, in the second sentence says that IF you don't forgive others, your Father won't forgive yours.
Therefore it's possible to repent. That is, as soon as you DO forgive others, then the Father will forgive you. Repentance is possible. In that sense, forgiving others is just like any other sin; you have to repent of them before they are forgiven. When you do, you are gold.

However, in the first sentence, there is no ...as far as I can see...option for repentance. You blaspheme against the Spirit, you are done.

Now this is simply a reaction to what YOU wrote. I didn't look at the context; I figure that whatever you posted here is the context you intended. If it is, then...that's the difference I see.

Now if you are going to ask what I personally believe about this, er....that's a whole 'nuther discussion.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

Just from what you posted...I didn't look either reference up:

the difference SEEMS to be that 'if" word. That is, in the second sentence says that IF you don't forgive others, your Father won't forgive yours.
Therefore it's possible to repent. That is, as soon as you DO forgive others, then the Father will forgive you. Repentance is possible. In that sense, forgiving others is just like any other sin; you have to repent of them before they are forgiven. When you do, you are gold.

However, in the first sentence, there is no ...as far as I can see...option for repentance. You blaspheme against the Spirit, you are done.

Now this is simply a reaction to what YOU wrote. I didn't look at the context; I figure that whatever you posted here is the context you intended. If it is, then...that's the difference I see.

Now if you are going to ask what I personally believe about this, er....that's a whole 'nuther discussion.

Honestly that seems to be a reasonable explanation.

 

[Skwim]

Perhaps it's suppose to be taken as:

If you forgive others their sins every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven exceptin' for blasphemy again' the Spirit.

Perhaps.

.

 

[dianaiad]

Perhaps it's suppose to be taken as:

If you forgive others their sins every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven exceptin' for blasphemy again' the Spirit.

Perhaps.

.

That...would be between them and God, and not your problem, yes? Besides, it's not YOU that is required to punish or 'not forgive' anybody for 'blaspheming against the spirit." for one thing, how would you know?

Disagreeing with your opinions regarding God wouldn't qualify as blaspheming the spirit, I don't think.

 

[Twilight Hue]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

You do realize the whole concept of sin is purposely designed to keep people in church.

 

[leov]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

15“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
There is difference between sin and transgression in this Gnostic text. Sin is ignorance, transgression is a deed. Text is very specific.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

God forgives sin when the sinner repents and asks to be forgiven. The sin that cannot and will not be forgiven is the sin that is not repented. God does not force forgiveness on anyone but the person who does ask for forgiveness will not recieve it.

 

[PureX]

I interpret this to be referring to the sin of "spiritual perversion". That is the willful and conscious rejection of that which is divine (love, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, honesty, humility, etc.,..) purely for the sake of doing it. Making the conscious, active choice to be a destructive agent in the world.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

You do realize the whole concept of sin is purposely designed to keep people in church.

I am curious, what do you call murder, stealing, etc, if Not sin ____________________

 

[URAVIP2ME]

God forgives sin when the sinner repents and asks to be forgiven. The sin that cannot and will not be forgiven is the sin that is not repented. God does not force forgiveness on anyone but the person who does ask for forgiveness will not recieve it.

I find at 2 Peter 3:9 that it is either ' repent ' or one can ' perish ' (be destroyed )
So, to me it is No wonder that the wicked will be 'destroyed forever' as per Psalms 92:7

 

[URAVIP2ME]

15“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
There is difference between sin and transgression in this Gnostic text. Sin is ignorance, transgression is a deed. Text is very specific.

In Scripture I find sin is either: on purpose or not, intentional or not, willful or not, premeditated or not, accidental or not.

 

[Milton Platt]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

I am an atheist, but I can see the rationalizations coming. You could argue that not forgiving others sins is in fact a sin against the Holy Spirit.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I am curious, what do you call murder, stealing, etc, if Not sin ____________________

It's called nature.

 

[leov]

In Scripture I find sin is either: on purpose or not, intentional or not, willful or not, premeditated or not, accidental or not.

. from Strong's
"an error of the understanding " - Strong's Greek: 266. ἁμαρτία (hamartia) -- a sin, failure
it is ignorance, as almost everything in NT has double leads, one for psychic one for pneumatic. not cured ignorance, unforgivable ignorance, sin..

 

[dianaiad]

It's called nature.

That makes it acceptable, does it?

 

[Twilight Hue]

That makes it acceptable, does it?

There's no choice and none of us are responsible for it because we too are nature. No more or no less.

 

[Deeje]

How many unforgivable sins are there? As we can see, according to Matthew 12:31, there is only one, namely, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But, in Matthew 6:15, we see another unforgivable sin mentioned, namely, the failure to forgive others of their sins, which is clearly different from the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31. This is a clear contradiction. I have never seen a Christian even attempt to explain away these contradictions. They are rarely even discussed, but they are quite obvious:

Matthew 12:31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:15:

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, I'm curious. Christians, how do you attempt to rationalize this biblical contradiction?

@dianaiad has given a good response here.

But perhaps an example may help explain it a little more.

Judas, as one of Christ's disciples was a partaker of the holy spirit with the use of Jesus' name; as an apostle, and seeing the spirit in operation, healing the sick and even raising the dead....he had no reason to betray Jesus....but he had tendencies that emerged when given the responsibility of handling the group's finances. He began to steal money out of the treasury box. It obviously wasn't enough, so he schemed with the religious leaders to pay him to betray Jesus to them. He became a tool for satan.

Luke 22:3-4 says...
"Then Satan entered into Judas, the one called Is·carʹi·ot, who was numbered among the Twelve, 4 and he went off and talked with the chief priests and temple captains about how to betray him to them."

Judas was guilty of the unforgivable sin. He even expressed remorse for what he did after the fact, and threw the money back into the temple. But the deed was done and it was unforgivable. He couldn't live with what he had done so he committed suicide.

Matthew 26:24...
"True, the Son of man is going away, just as it is written about him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Hebrews 6:4-6...
"For as regards those who were once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly free gift and who have become partakers of holy spirit and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, 6 but have fallen away, it is impossible to revive them again to repentance, because they nail the Son of God to the stake again for themselves and expose him to public shame."

Those who forgive others will see God's forgiveness themselves, but it is a conscious choice.

Once anyone has sinned against the spirit, there is no choice to repent.....as with Judas, there was no forgiveness even though he was remorseful. (Matthew 27:3-5)

 

[Skwim]

That...would be between them and God, and not your problem, yes? Besides, it's not YOU that is required to punish or 'not forgive' anybody for 'blaspheming against the spirit." for one thing, how would you know?

Disagreeing with your opinions regarding God wouldn't qualify as blaspheming the spirit, I don't think.

Whaaaaaaa???. . . . . . Never mind.

Have a good day.

.

 

[pearl]

These verses reflect a set pattern called “Principles of Holy Law.” Human action now will be met by a corresponding action of God at the final judgment.
Do we not find the same response when we pray the Our Father, 'as we forgive others'?