To reject Jesus is not terminal, but to reject the Spirit’s testimony to him is. Sins of ignorance are pardonable. The case of Paul, blasphemer, persecutor, and apostle proves this (1 Tim. 1:12–17; Acts 8:1–3; 9:1–4). This implies that blasphemy against the Spirit must be a deliberate act. Hebrews 6:4–6 and 1 John 2:18–24 suggest it is a sober, measured rejection of Jesus against all the evidence, which the blasphemer has both heard and felt.197 Both passages describe people with extensive knowledge of the truth. They have once “been enlightened, . . . have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away” (Heb. 6:4–6). They heard the facts and tasted the goodness of the truth, then spurned it. Similarly, 1 John 2:18–24 concerns people who have abandoned a community that has profound knowledge of Christ. The Pharisees sin heinously when they see Jesus’ works and judge him evil, but they do not yet blaspheme the Spirit. It is rejection of the evidence for Christ, clearly attested by the Spirit, that is unpardonable (cf. John 14:17, 26). It is impossible to repent after experiencing all the evidence for Christ, feeling its weight, then spurning it (Heb. 6:4–6).
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