31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Reading this verse in context helps to understand it. The religious leaders have just accused Jesus of casting out demons by using the power of Satan himself. They were attributing the power of God to Satan. They were taking what is the sole domain of God and making it the property of Satan. They were saying that the power being seen was Satan’s and that Jesus was wielding that power. If you are not willing to admit that Jesus’ power is God’s power, then it is impossible to be forgiven. I alone have the power to post to this blog. If you say that this power belongs to someone else other than me, you are “blaspheming” me. You are taking what is mine and assigning it to someone else. What would be even worse would be to say that the real person writing was an Islamic Imam spreading the superiority of Islam. I would take great offense at that accusation. When we assign the work of God to Satan as these religious leaders were doing, we are not recognizing the power of God. We are rebelling against what God is doing. We are refusing to yield our will to God’s will. That is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It is an active rejection of God’s will. That is why it will not be forgiven. It can’t be forgiven, because forgiveness requires recognizing and acknowledging that Jesus’ power is God’s power.
The Arnold Journey 