Mark 3:28 Commentary and Bible Study

‘But is in danger of eternal damnation.’ That is interesting! Why ‘in danger of’? There seems to be an inherent contradiction in these words. ‘Never forgiven’, on the one hand; on the other hand, only ‘in danger of’. But it is intentional, because, of course, even extreme unbelief can be repented of, and forgiven, but not the very most extreme unbelief, which is rejection of the Holy Spirit – not rejection in name, but in action. Those scribes and Pharisees saw close up the divinity and power of Christ, and rejected it in full light of day, close up. The most extreme will never repent. Take the apostle Paul – why was he forgiven? Wasn’t he like these Pharisees who opposed the work of Christ so vigorously? Wasn't he virtually one of them, ‘a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious’? Wasn’t he hardened in unbelief, even to the point of wanting to see those who profess Christ imprisoned and put to death? He was so bigoted and so determined, so angry and furious at them, yet he was forgiven. Yes, he tells us, ‘but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief’ (1 Timothy 1:13). He never had the full light of day of the scribes and the Pharisees, who saw the Lord and his work close up; he never had that undeniable evidence of his power. So there's an extreme, which is the unpardonable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit: turning back his work.