"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man (of God) it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world (age), neither in the world (age) to come."—Matthew 12:31, 32.

"And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be, divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily, I say unto you, All sin shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is ‘in danger of eternal damnation. Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."—Mark 3:22-30.

We are discussing this morning the unpardonable sin, and may I say in the very beginning that my own position relative to the unpardonable sin is original. Believe it or not, my position has alienated me from many of my Baptist colleagues. My position not conform to the position that most all religious bodies I know of no other subject in all the Word of God that has been more abused, misused and maltreated than has the subject of the unpardonable sin.

When I was a boy preacher I had the opportunity to read two, I thought, marvelous sermons on the unpardonable sin. One was by Dr. Frank Norris, and the other was by Dr. George W. Truett. They both said practically the same thing. Their position, of course, conformed to the common position of all religious faiths today. Dr. Norris and Dr. Truett both said that the unpardonable sin was not one specific sin so much but a combination of sins that culminated in one’s final rejection of Jesus Christ, and God’s withdrawing from that individual His saving grace, that he finally crossed the deadline; thus, his destiny was sealed and he was doomed.

Now that is fine as far as it goes. That’s wonderful, except for one thing: there is not a word of TRUTH in it.

This subject has been used by high pressure evangelists for many, many years to scare children and adults, to make them entertain the fallacious and most ridiculous idea that they have committed the unpardonable sin.

Several years ago the thing that caused me to make a specific and thorough study of the unpardonable sin was what a man said to me in my own home. "I have committed the unpardonable sin," said he. "Nothing that you can do, nothing that anyone can do will help me in the least. I want to see my family saved, but as far as I am concerned, many years ago I crossed the deadline and thus my destiny was eternally fixed."

I thought the man was telling me the truth. I thought if any man should know, be ought to know whether or not he had crossed that so-called deadline. I had been taught there was such a line that men could cross. I was taught that men could live out their day of grace—we will get to that in a moment—so I was in sympathy with the fellow, and I prayed hard for that man.

One time during a regular Sunday afternoon meeting he came to church and I was thrilled at his presence. I thought, "Here is a golden opportunity for me to win him to Christ." I insisted upon him coming down to the mourner’s bench, and, brother, we had a happy time. I was going to pray him right on through and get him saved. But the longer I prayed the colder I got, and suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that God was not in that thing at all. I got up from my knees, dismissed the audience, and the man said, "I don’t feel any better than I did. I don’t feel a bit different."

I said, "No, I don’t guess you do."

But I could have told him something else. I felt a great deal different after the prayer was over than I did before I prayed. I felt like I had stolen a sheep, right ridiculous, rather foolish. That is when I decided, the Lord being my Helper, I would study the Word of God on the unpardonable sin and see just exactly what it was, and if all my Baptist colleagues left me, if they were alienated from me and I had to stand alone on my position, then I would stand alone.

Their position stated simply is this: that men can reject Christ until they live out their day of grace. Whoever heard of a lost man having grace? That’s foolish and without scriptural foundation, that a lost man has grace in the first place. "For by grace are ye SAVED . . ." (Eph. 2:8).

Now the thing I want you to see is this: if a man rejects the Lord Jesus Christ there must be a CAUSE for his rejection of the Lord. I believe in CAUSE and EFFECT. For every effect there has to be a cause; for every cause there is an effect. Then man’s rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ—if you want to call it that, I prefer to call it something else—then, that is the effect of some cause, and that cause has to be UNBELIEF. Then it boils down to this: the modern and common accepted position of the unpardonable sin is simply unbelief, and then if it is unbelief, then you are guilty of it, so am I; because I lived in unbelief at one time and so did you. Then we are ALL guilty of unbelief and everybody is LOST, nobody will be saved and Heaven will be for rent. IF that position commonly accepted among the religious bodies of this age be true, then there never HAS, never WILL, and never SHALL be a single soul saved, for the simple reason that EVERYBODY has disbelieved before they became believers. Then, if they have disbelieved, according to the accepted modern conception of the unpardonable sin, they have committed it; therefore, they have sealed their destiny and Heaven will be empty, vacant, a lonely ghost city.

I do not accept that. It will not stand the acid test of the truth of God’s Word. For example, let us examine the Bible; it is supposed to be the finality to our thinking and opinions. As far as Baptists are concerned, the Bible is a perfect guide to faith and practice. We pride ourselves in speaking where the Bible speaks, and being silent where the Bible is silent. Then, let us be honest with the Word of God and stand for something if we have to stand ALONE. Let us be true to God’s Word.

Now I object to that position I was discussing a moment ago, and the only reason that I object to it is because the Bible objects to it. This position, beloved, denies the foreknowledge of God. Did you know that? It renders God powerless and brings God down to the level of man. This position does not make one single concession to God; it denies the foreknowledge of God altogether. Don’t you believe—if you believe the Bible at all you MUST believe—that God KNEW what He was doing when He made a man. If you believe the Bible at all, you MUST believe that God KNOWS more than man knows. If you believe the Bible at all, you MUST believe that God KNEW from the beginning who was going to be saved and who wasn’t, or He is like a grasshopper, and I don’t accept that. (Isaiah says that WE are the grasshoppers.)

Now I don’t want you to leave here this morning and misquote me, saying, "Brother Cox preached this, thus and so," when Brother Cox didn’t and shall not. But you follow me in this discussion with the Word of God, then after the service is over, if you don’t believe what I introduce, tell me about it—tell ME about it, don’t go off and tell my enemies; let them find out the best way they can. So turn with me to Romans 8:29 where we read these remarkable words:

"For whom he did FOREKNOW, he also did PREDESTINATE to be CONFORMED to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Now did you get that, beloved? God PREDESTINATED those whom He FOREKNEW. Now to WHAT did God predestinate them? "To be CONFORMED to the IMAGE of His Son," the ultimate purpose of salvation, itself. God doesn’t save people just in order to save them from their sins. God doesn’t save men just in order that they might glory in and enjoy God, but God saves men for the purpose that mankind might become a JOY to GOD and ultimately be conformed to the image of God’s Son. That is the ultimate purpose of salvation.

Turning now to 1 Peter 1:2 we read, "Elect (chosen) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Now then, these two verses harmonize; they are not antagonistic one toward the other, but they harmonize perfectly. So God foreknew some folk, and those whom He fore-knew He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. And, Brother, ‘those He foreknew He also CALLED, there is no getting around it. So the position that the religious groups take denies the foreknowledge of God, denies it completely, and salvation is by chance—if they be right.

I heard a man one time, standing in the courtyard at Henderson, Tennessee, take a text that he could not handle; finally, before he had finished with his discussion, he was bewildered, befuddled, and confused. He said that salvation was like "spinning a bottle," it was by chance; if the bottle pointed at you all right; if it didn’t all right.

But salvation is NOT by chance. Everyone in the world that God has ever saved, He saved on PURPOSE and not by chance or accident. You know, if God had saved me by accident, I might accidentally lose my salvation if God was just passing by and accidentally saved me. I don’t accept that. The Bible, beloved, doesn’t teach or infer in the remotest sense such an idea as that, for the Lord saves men on PURPOSE. He purposed to save men and He saves; He doesn’t TRY, He actually does save.

Jesus said, "The Son of man is come to SEEK and to SAVE . . ." (Luke 19:10). Jesus never has TRIED to save anybody. I can’t accept that. If Jesus did what lie said, and He said that lie came to "seek and to SAVE that which was lost," then folk should quit trying to make Jesus say something that He didn’t say. Jesus actually and literally saves and He doesn’t try to do the job, He does it: He SAVES folk. And for any man, woman, boy or girl to deny that is to deny the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and render Him incompetent and incapable of saving anybody.

Then second, this position that I introduced in the beginning of the discussion, denies God’s GIFT to His Son.

You say, "Well, salvation is a gift." (Why SURE.) "Faith is a gift." (Why SURE.) "Christ was a gift to us." (Why SURE.) But you know that God didn’t leave out His Son, He gave Him a GIFT. Now let us see what the Lord gave to His Son. I know there are Baptists no doubt right here in this audience this morning who will get hopping mad and deny this great cardinal truth, that God gave unto His Son certain ones and those certain ones are going to be saved. To deny that is to deny the Word of God; salvation is not based on a guess so, who-shot-John basis; it is based on a plan, and God is going to execute that plan and save those for whom Christ died.

One time I attended a meeting in its death throes, shall we say. The preacher standing there with a big overcoat on, the pianist playing up a storm, not soft but loud, and he was talking over the piano. He used John 6:37, the last part: ". . . he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," and I thought, "Why don’t you use ALL that verse?"

I’ll tell you why, beloved: people are afraid of the Word of God. If the Bible doesn’t conform to men’s preconceived ideas and notions, they’ll quote the part that they want to quote, they are afraid of the rest.

Now turn with me to John 6:37 and read it. Let us be honest with God and we are talking about God’s GIFT to His Son. Here is what the Lord Jesus said: "All that the Father giveth me SHALL come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

Is that true, or isn’t it true? Did Jesus say that or didn’t He say it? Did He mean what He said, or didn’t He mean it? Then why don’t people just leave the Bible alone and let it speak for itself and quit tampering with the Word of God? "ALL that the Father GIVETH me shall COME to me"—and, brother, that word SHALL, when it is used in the second or third person, always carries with it the meaning of grim determination; I am determined that this SHALL come to pass, that is the meaning.

Now did Jesus say that God had given Him somebody? He said so, didn’t He? Now why make the Lord out a liar? Oh, I know somebody will say, "What about John 3:16?" Uh-huh, what ABOUT 2 Corinthians 5:19, where He says the whole world became reconciled to God? I ask YOU this morning, "Was ALL the world reconciled? Is all the world saved?" Then John 3:16 means exactly what it means in 2 Corinthians 5:19. The whole world hasn’t been saved and never shall be saved. Jesus didn’t die to save the whole world anyway. Let us be true with God’s Word.

Let’s quit lying on God. Let’s quit putting words in Christ’s mouth; let’s let the Lord say what He means and mean what He says. "ALL that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out." Well, is that TRUE? I think so—in fact, I KNOW it is so. Bless your hearts, I happen to be one He gave to Jesus.

Now turn to John 17 in the marvelous prayer of Christ. In John 17:2, Jesus said, "As thou hast given him (Christ) power over all flesh (now then, what was He to do, was Christ in a dilemma?) that he should give eternal life to as MANY as thou hast GIVEN him." Now why not just leave it that way; there is no use trying to explain it away—there it is. There is no use taking the scissors to God’s Word—there it is. Did Jesus tell the truth when He said that everyone that God GAVE to Him would COME to Him, and they that came would not lose their salvation?

Now the man who says that one can live out his day of grace hasn’t a leg to stand on, does he? But I am not through. In fact, I am just getting warmed up. It denies the elective purpose of God.

You know, I have been called "Hardshell" by some and Arminian by others. I take the middle road, the Bible ground; I am not an extreme electionist, neither am I Arminian. I will go with the extremist as far as they are with the Bible; I will go with the Arminian as far as they are with the Bible, but when either of them leave the Word of God I divorce myself from them.

I believe in Divine election, and the person that does not, doesn’t believe the Word of God, I’ll tell you that for sure. This position that I introduced in the beginning, denies the elective purpose of God. But in Ephesians 1:4, 5, it says, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

Do I BELIEVE that? Why, I MUST believe it; I cannot deny it. "According as he bath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. . ." In other words, before the foundations of the everlasting hills were laid, God knew some folk, and those whom He foreknew He elected.

Now turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14—and I am giving you time to turn there, I don’t want you to go away saying that I took the scissors to God’s Word. "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

See the PURPOSE again? To do WHAT? "To the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might be conformed to the image of his Son." That is the purpose of salvation itself.

There are two things I would like to say: first, you will notice that God elected some men to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit; and second, the belief of the truth. In fact, the BELIEF of the truth came after the sanctification of the Spirit or the impartation of life. You can’t deny that. Well then, how did God CALL them? He called them by the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ. What FOR? "To the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ." Being conformed to the image of His Son, then, is the ultimate purpose of salvation.

Then again, the position that I introduced in the beginning of the discussion denies the EFFECTUAL call of God. Let us see if the effectual call isn’t taught in the Word of God. For example, in John 6:45, the Lord Jesus said, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that bath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."

They who have HEARD and have LEARNED of the Father. Now we raise ‘the question: who is going to HEAR, and who is going to LEARN? The Lord Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say’ unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall HEAR the voice of the Son of God: and they that HEAR shall LIVE" (John 5:25).

"But," someone will say, "Brother Pastor, we cannot hear the voice of the Son of God."

Is that so? He speaks to us in thunderous tones out of His WORD. In Luke 10:16 we read: "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and lie that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." You have to be careful about despising the truth and those who present the truth.

Now you will notice what He said in John 5:25: "The hour is coming, and NOW is when the dead (He is talking about the spiritual dead) shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." Not those who do NOT hear, but those the Holy Spirit makes to HEAR, they will come to Christ. And in 2 Timothy 1:9, "Who bath saved us, and CALLED us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world was" (began). So our calling is an EFFECTUAL calling, and they that hear the effectual call have had life imparted.

Then again, the position that I introduced in the beginning, denies the POWER of God. Somebody might say, "Why, I didn’t know that."

But it does. In John 17:9, Jesus said, "I pray for THEM: I pray NOT for the world, but for them which thou hast GIVEN me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." You know, folk, praying for the world, well, Jesus didn’t. People get up and pray long prayers: "O, Lord, save the world," but Jesus said, "I pray for these, I pray not for the world. I pray for them which thou gayest me."

Now watch it. Jesus said in John 17:20, "Neither pray I for these alone (those twelve apostles before He left them), but for them also which shall believe on me through their WORD."

Now if these were given to Christ, so are all believers given to Christ, and if He prayed for all of them, there shall not be a one of them that shall fail of salvation. Then let us see if God ALWAYS hears His Son. John 11:41, 42, you will notice here that Jesus at the grave of Lazarus said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me ALWAYS: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me."

God always hears His Son, and if Jesus had prayed for the world then every one of Adam’s race would have been saved. But Jesus didn’t pray for the world; He prayed for the GIFT which God had given to Him, and that gift was BELIEVERS.

Now you ask me this morning, "Brother Cox, what is the unpardonable sin?"

Well, the Bible is plain about what it is. In Matthew 12:32, Jesus said that it was speaking a word against the Holy Spirit, and that was the sin that has "neither forgiveness in this age or in the age to come." And in Mark 3:30, "Because they said he hath an unclean Spirit." Thus, ascribing the work of the Holy Spirit to devils is the unpardonable sin.

But let us notice the CONDITIONS at the time that these remarkable words were spoken. You know, we have a ridiculous group today that claim to heal, thus and so, and if you tell them they are of the Devil, they tell you, "You have committed the unpardonable sin." That’s a lie. Anything this side of Christ cannot be Christ’s church anyway. But I want you to get it now: ascribing ‘the work of the Holy Spirit to devils is the sin that "hath neither forgiveness in this age or in the age to come." Blasphemy is to speak injuriously, that is, to speak injuriously against the Holy Spirit of God. He is the last witness.

Then let us examine the conditions that prevailed at the time that Jesus spake these words: He was casting out devils; in short, He was performing miracles. He was healing the sick, casting devils out of people, raising the dead, restoring sight to blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears and unloosing dumb tongues, but when they saw what Jesus was doing they said, "He is casting out devils by the power of the prince of the devils," and Jesus said, "It is not so; for the devil is not divided against himself." Then He said that if He were, his kingdom would not stand. And then it was that He said, "Every sin, every word that is spoken against God and his Son shall be forgiven men, but he that speaketh a word against the Holy Spirit hath not forgiveness in this world or in the world to come." And in Mark 3:30, "Because they said, He hath an unclean Spirit." What words could be PLAINER than that?

Now this age in which we live is not the day of miracles, I don’t care what others say notwithstanding. After the New Testament was finished about the year 80 A. D. there has not been one single miracle performed that is called miraculous. Now you may say I am crazy, but if I am, the Bible is also. 1 Corinthians 13:8, 9, 10, ". . . but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is done in part shall be done away."

Now what was done in PART? In 1 Corinthians 12, nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are enumerated. All right, one man had one gift and another man had another gift. Even the writing of the New Testament was in part. Here the Apostle Paul said, "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is done in part shall be done away," and the only gifts of the Holy Spirit left today are told us in 1 Corinthians 13:13: "Faith, hope and love." lie spells them out, T-H-R-E-E, three, and the "greatest of these is love." That’s the only three you have—faith, hope and love; don’t let anybody kid you.

For twenty years I have been after these fellows. I have begged them almost on my knees to trot out one single solitary miracle, just ONE. I want to see one, not two, but in twenty years I haven’t seen a single one—and even if they did, I would not believe it in this day; for the man of sin has power to do miracles (Rev. 13, read it sometime). Don’t be carried away with divers spirits, beloved.

All right, what is the unpardonable sin? A word spoken against the Holy Spirit. What were the CONDITIONS at the time? The day of miracles. This is NOT the day of miracles, and He said this in conjunction with performing miracles. I doubt very much if a man can commit the unpardonable sin today. I doubt it seriously—you didn’t think I was going to say that, did you? I doubt it seriously for the simple reason that this is not the day of miracles, and He said this in conjunction with performing miracles. If a man CAN commit the unpardonable sin today, it is simply this: saying that Jesus Christ was illegitimate. You folk that don’t believe in the virgin birth of Christ had better watch out. In Luke 1:35, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." And the angel said in Matthew that she was to conceive of the Holy Spirit. The man who says that Jesus was conceived by a German soldier has come close, if not in fact, COMMITTED the unpardonable sin. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ, I’ll tell you that for sure. Amen.