“That Believers Can Commit the Unpardonable Sin” — The Rejection of Errors, Fifth Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort (4)

Having set forth the orthodox teaching, the Synod rejects the errors of those

Who teach that those who truly believe and have been born again can commit the sin that leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit).

For the same apostle John, after making mention of those who commit the sin that leads to death and forbidding prayer for them (1 John 5:16–17), immediately adds: “We know that anyone born of God does not commit sin” [that is, that kind of sin], “but the one who was born of God keeps himself safe, and the evil one does not touch him” (v. 18).

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The issue raised here is whether a Christian can commit the sin unto death mentioned in 1 John 5:16–18. The Canons of Dort, Fifth Head of Doctrine, Article 6, specifically teach that God does not permit his elect to fall so far that they commit the sin unto death or the sin against the Holy Spirit (the so-called “unpardonable sin”) and plunge themselves into eternal ruin. The Canons do not deny that genuine believers can fall into serious sin; rather, they affirm that God preserves them from final apostasy and eternal destruction. John writes, “we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18). According to John, those born of God are protected from continuing in sin and from the wiles of the Devil (the evil one).

As noted in the previous articles on the fifth head of doctrine regarding perseverance, Arminians insist that salvation ultimately stems from an act of the human will—choosing to trust in Jesus Christ. Of course, Arminians argue that universal grace is available to all who seek it, but such grace remains merely provisional and conditional unless people avail themselves of it. If this is true, then it naturally follows that one can, through an exercise of the will, cease believing, fall from grace, and ultimately be lost.

The mention of a sin that leads to death in 1 John 5:16 is used as a proof text to support the idea that, should a Christian commit this sin, they do indeed fall away, nullifying the Reformed doctrine of final perseverance.

This is why it is important to notice that John makes a distinction here between sin that leads to death and sin that does not. John does not define this sin, and Christians have long been divided over its meaning. Some take this to refer to a specific sin, such as those mentioned in the Mosaic law as capital offenses (to be punished by death). Some of the church fathers interpreted this to mean that there were sins of ignorance and other sins stemming from wanton rebellion against God—the latter leading to death. This eventually led to Rome’s distinction between venial sin and the so-called seven deadly “mortal sins.” Rome’s view is in error, given the arbitrary nature of the distinction. It certainly does not fit the context here.

Others take John to be referring to the sin of apostasy. If true, John would be referring to a situation similar to that described in Hebrews 6:4–6.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who 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, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

The author of Hebrews is referring to someone who returns to Judaism and works-righteousness after professing faith in Christ. If John were affirming the same situation here, the apostle would be saying that those who embrace the docetic Jesus of the antichrist commit a sin that severs them from Christ. If correct, this would pit John against himself. A Christian cannot commit such a sin: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). But if John is referring only to a professing Christian (and not a true believer)—someone who eventually reveals their unbelief by imbibing the spirit of antichrist and then committing apostasy—this interpretation would carry considerable weight. Remember, John does speak of those who have gone out from us because they were not of us (1 John 2:19).

A third option is that John is referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—a sin committed by the Pharisees, as recounted in Mark 3:28–30. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin—for they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.’” The circumstances mentioned by Mark and those John describes are completely different. The Pharisees had just witnessed Jesus heal and perform exorcisms and then attributed God’s power to the work of Satan.

We do not know with certainty what sin John is discussing, although I think the evidence tends to point toward the apostasy of a professing Christian. At the very least, we must say what John says: There is a sin that leads to death, and this cannot be said of those born of God.

Two caveats apply here. The first is that any Christian who is afraid that they have committed such a sin has not. This sin can be committed only by those who are too hard of heart to worry about having committed it. The second caveat is given to us by John himself in verse 17: “all wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.” All violations of God’s law (in thought, word, and deed) are sin, and we must repent of them and seek forgiveness. All sin must be taken seriously and confessed.

Given John’s warning, in verses 18–20 John once again seeks to ensure that his readers have assurance of their salvation and understand that he has not been referring to them when he speaks of a sin that leads to death.

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

The Arminian view that a Christian can commit a sin unto death and be lost is in error.