The 40 Questions Most Frequently Asked
About The Catholic Church
By Non-Catholics
23. Unpardonable Sin?
Are there sins that God cannot pardon? Does not Christ speak of this sin against the Holy Ghost in Matthew 12:31-32?
There is no sin which God cannot and will not pardon. This is evident from the text in 1 Timothy
where we read:
- "This is good and agreeable in the sight of God our Savior, who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim. 2:3, 4
St. Matthew, in Chapter 12, is speaking of the Pharisees who attributed the miracle of the curing of
the blind and dumb to the devil. We read this in verse 24 of the same chapter:
- "But the Pharisees, hearing this, said, 'This man does not cast out devils except by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.'"
The unpardonable sin, then, for the Pharisees and for all people is the willful rejection of the grace of
God. Willful rejection means that the sinner refuses to repent despite all the graces God bestows
upon him. He will not receive God's pardon because he will not ask for it and will not do what is
necessary to obtain it. As long as he remains in this condition, of course he cannot be pardoned.
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