Teaching Pastor Megan Marshman was with us today, leading us through the fourth week of our series "The Read Letters." Anchored in Matthew 12, Pastor Megan talked about forgivable sins, forgiveness, and the unforgivable sin.
1. Forgivable Sins
Matthew 12:31 says, "And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." Megan said that this verse can feel like a contradiction, but encouraged us not to overlook the first half of the verse. God is able and willing to forgive us of absolutely everything. He desires to be in relationship with us. And yet, the truth is we can put ourselves outside God’s power to forgive (we'll get to that later in the message recap).
Magan continued by showing us all through Scripture the truth about God: He doesn’t lie or change (Heb. 6:18, Mal. 3:6), or take away his love/faithfulness—he will not break a promise (Psalm 89:34). He doesn’t despise broken hearts (Psalm 51:17). God won’t stop loving you (Jer. 31:3). He wants to forgive us!
2. Forgiveness
Megan then continued with her second point about forgiveness. She said, "Forgiveness is a really big deal, and it’s grounded in truth." She also shared that forgiveness doesn't mean you forget what happened or that it doesn’t matter. Forgiveness is a matter of justice. When we forgive another, we are saying, I choose not to hold this against you. Our view of forgiveness is what makes the gospel so powerful in our lives.
Forgiveness also takes time, as making things right is not easy and can be quite hard. When you forgive, you die to revenge and your idea of justice, and you trust God to handle it. Even still, it can be painful and costly. It doesn't exactly feel good, but we are called to forgive. Because the truth of the Bible is that our sin is not ignored, it is absorbed into another—Jesus. Megan said, "Forgiveness is costly to give away, but I wonder if it’s costlier not to give away?"
When we allow Him to work in us first, we can do the outward work of forgiving.
3. Unforgivable Sin
Matthew 12:32 says, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." Pastor Megan shared that while verses 31 and 32 seem like they are a contradiction, they really are not. If we look closely, we see that part of verse 32 is addressing our external reality and the other part is addressing our internal reality.
Verse 31 says that every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven. And we see this all over the Bible. Megan pointed out the lives of Paul and David and read 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." We cannot out sin the cross.
Megan then shared that when she was preparing for this message, she too was wondering, what is this sin that is so bad? It must be something really dark and heinous. But it's not. It's resisting the work of the Holy Spirit to lead you to repentance. If we resist the work of the Holy Spirit, then we will not admit we are wrong, repent, and turn to Jesus. Megan said, "There is a remedy for everything if you repent; there is a remedy for nothing if you don’t."
The Holy Spirit is trying to reveal God as the one promised. In the context of today's Scripture, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders who think they are saved by the outward work they are doing. But the work of the Holy Spirit is an inward work that is then reflected outward. And this cannot be reversed.
Megan then said, "If you're afraid you committed the unpardonable sin, you haven't. Because simply worrying that you may be missing God is an anxiety produced by the Holy Spirit. So for today only, I say: celebrate your anxiety."
Megan closed with a fictional story about two fathers during the first Passover. Each did as they were instructed by God and covered their doorposts with blood. One had full confidence that God would do what He said He would do. The other had serious doubts. She then asked us the question, "Which father lost their son that night?" The answer is neither. Big faith, small faith, any faith—it’s not the size of our faith that matters. It’s the object of our faith that matters.
