See Matthew 12:22-32. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out a devil by using the power of Satan. Jesus explained to them the error and folly of their "logic". After having explained that He was casting out demons by the Spirit of God, Jesus warned them that blaspheming the Spirit of God by calling it the devil would not be forgiven.

Matthew 12:22-32
22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." 25 And knowing their thoughts He said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. 26 "And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? 27 "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges. 28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.

Here are the important elements of this account:

1. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is clearly defined as the act of saying that the Spirit of God is the devil.

2. Saying that the Spirit of God is the devil will not be forgiven. God is righteous. The devil is evil. God will not forgive those who identify Him as being evil......calling Him the devil.

3. Sound logic clearly shows that the good works of freeing people from the bondage of the devil would not be done by the devil himself.

4. Jesus gave the Pharisees a chance by explaining the situation to them.

5. After giving the explanation of the truth, Jesus gave them a warning to accept the truth or continue in the lie about the Holy Spirit and be cut off from God by never being forgiven.

With your mind's eye, picture the situation.....Jesus is traveling around doing the good works of God.....He is here on earth to declare the kingdom of God and represent the righteousness of God. But as He travels, doing the works of God, here are the Pharisees following Him around saying He is doing the works of Satan. Jesus was reaching out to the multitudes of people through His sermons and works. It is important to see that He wanted to reach the multitudes.

Notice the chronology of some events:

The multitudes glorified God after seeing Jesus do a miracle:

Matthew 9:8
But when the multitudes saw this, they were filled with awe, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

The multitudes again marveled at the works of Jesus:

Matthew 9:33
And after the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the multitudes marveled, saying, "Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel."

The Pharisees made their false accusation about Jesus:

Matthew 9:34
But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."

Notice in Matthew 9:36 the change in the multitudes because of the Pharisees. When the multitudes first saw the miracles of Jesus, they glorified God, but the influence of the Pharisees was having an impact on them. They were now bewildered, harassed, distressed, dejected and helpless (Amplified Bible...Matthew 9:36). They were like sheep without a shepherd....confused....who should they believe?....the Pharisees or Jesus?

Matthew 9:36
And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.

John the Baptist was also wondering and unsure about Jesus:

Matthew 11:2-6
2 Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 "And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me."

This brings us to the first passage that we considered... Matthew 12:22-32. Jesus did the miracle, but the multitudes were confused about it...verse 23. Then we see the Pharisees again making their false accusation trying to confuse the multitudes and turn them against Jesus.

Jesus wanted to make it clear that He was doing the work of God through the Spirit of God and He was NOT IN ALLEGIANCE WITH THE DEVIL IN ANY WAY!

After being continuously harassed by the Pharisees over a period of time in which they were hindering His ministry of reaching the multitudes, Jesus finally gave them a strong rebuke and warning. If they continued with their false accusation about the Spirit of God, they would never be forgiven....meaning they would be cut off from God. Their actions would no longer be tolerated without consequence. Jesus gave them a strong deterrent encouraging them to stop their blasphemy. He wanted them to stop their We see that God will not tolerate being identified as the ultimate evil....Satan. (I believe that it must also be grievous to God when He and His righteous works are identified as Satan).

Summary:

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the act of directly saying that the Holy Spirit is the devil....Satan.

This cannot be done accidentally. It is done deliberately after having received an explanation that something is from God.....not Satan.

Jesus had a particular reason for giving the Pharisees that warning at that time.

This account also illustrates an important principle from God......God will tolerate harassment of His ministers for a period of time, then He will authorize His ministers to take action to stop the harassment. Other Biblical accounts verify this principle. Actions will vary from situation to situation depending upon the varying factors involved with each situation.

Questions or comments? Please submit them to me via my response form, thanks.