Gospel of Matthew 12:30-37
By your words you will be saved
He that is not with me is against me; he that does not gather with me, scatters.
Men will be forgiven for sin and blasphemy; but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.
Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.
Generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? The mouth speaks what is in the heart. The good man stores up goodness in his heart, and from it brings forth good things; but the evil man stores evil, and brings forth evil things.
And I tell you, that in the day of judgement, men shall give account for every idle word they have spoken. For by your words you will be saved; and by your words, condemned.
Comment on the Scripture
Many people find this the most frightening passage in the Bible. Christ plainly states that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. To be more accurate, he says that "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit" will not be forgiven, and he says it twice.
The passage has gotten an enormous amount of theological interpretation, which we are not qualified to comment upon. But as is usually the case, there is a simple point of truth, understandable to anyone: Don't say bad things about God's Holy Spirit. Indeed, why would anyone want to? The Holy Spirit comes to those who ask for it, and brings comfort, guidance, blessings, power, or some other gift to the fortunate recipient. It seems wiser to pray that the Spirit will abide with us and guide us through our day, that we may live closer to God.
