That it should not seem absurd, because when a man perseveres in hard impenitence until the end of this life, and speaks much and long against this grace of the Holy Spirit, nevertheless the Gospel has called such long contradiction of an impenitent heart, as if something brief, a word, saying: Whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Spirit
He shall not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the age to come. For even though this blasphemy may be extensive and woven with many words and long, Scripture frequently refers to many words as a single word. For no Prophet ever spoke a single word, yet it is thus read: "The word that came to such and such a Prophet." And the Apostle: "Elders," he says, "are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and doctrine." He did not say "in words," but: "in word." And Saint James: "Be," he says, "doers of the word, and not hearers only." He did not say "of words," but: "of the word," although many words from the Holy Scriptures are read, spoken, and heard in the Church solemnly and publicly. Thus, no matter how much time any of us spends laboring in preaching the Gospel, he is not called a preacher of "words" but of "the word," and no matter how much time any of you diligently and eagerly listens to our preaching, you are called a diligent hearer not of "words" but of "the word." In the same way, as the Scriptures speak and ecclesiastical custom knows, whoever in his whole life, in which he carries this flesh, however long it may be extended, speaks any words either orally or in thought with an impenitent heart against the forgiveness of sins which is granted in the Church, he speaks a word against the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, every other blasphemy, once the sin against the Holy Spirit has been forgiven, is forgiven.
Therefore, not only will the word spoken against the Son of Man be forgiven, but every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men because where this sin does not exist—of an unrepentant heart against the Holy Spirit, by whom sins are forgiven in the Church—all else is pardoned. But how will this be forgiven, which even hinders the remission of other sins? Therefore, all will be forgiven to those in whom this unforgivable sin is not present; but those in whom it is present, since this is never forgiven, neither are other sins forgiven, because the remission of all is hindered by this one sin. Hence, whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, not because the Holy Spirit is greater than the Son in the Trinity, which no one, not even a heretic, has ever said; but because whoever resists and blasphemes the truth, which is Christ, even after such a great proclamation of Himself among men—that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, which is the Son of Man, the same Christ—if he does not speak that unrepentant word against the Holy Spirit, of whom it is said: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit," and again: "Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven," that is, "if one repents, he will receive through this gift the forgiveness of all sins," including that which he spoke against the Son of Man; because to the sin of ignorance or stubbornness or any blasphemy, he did not add the sin of impenitence against the gift of God and the grace of regeneration or reconciliation, which is accomplished in the Church by the Holy Spirit.
Why the blasphemy of the Son is pardoned more easily than that of the Spirit.
Therefore, it must not be thought, as some suppose, that the word spoken against the Son of Man is forgiven because Christ became the Son of Man by taking on flesh, but the word spoken against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven because the Holy Spirit is greater than the flesh, which undoubtedly he is, being equal in his own substance to the Father and the only-begotten Son concerning his divinity, by which also the only-begotten Son is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. For if this had been said because of the flesh, certainly all other blasphemies would be left unmentioned, and only this one which is spoken against the Son of Man would seem forgivable, as if it were with the thought of him being merely a man. But since it was previously said, "Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men" (which is also stated similarly in another Gospel: "All sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they utter"), without doubt even the blasphemy spoken against the Father is included in this general statement; and yet it is only this one which is defined as unforgivable, which is spoken against the Holy Spirit. Did the Father take on the form of a servant, by which the Holy Spirit is greater? Certainly not. But after the universal mention of all sins and every blasphemy, he desired to emphasize more prominently the blasphemy spoken against the Son of Man; because, even if men were bound by that sin, as he remembered when he said, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin" (which also shows in the Gospel according to John to be a very serious sin, where he says about the Holy Spirit himself, when promising to send him: "He will convict the world of sin, and righteousness, and judgment; of sin, indeed, because they do not believe in me"); nevertheless, if that hardness of an unrepentant heart does not speak the word against the Holy Spirit, even that word spoken against the Son of Man will be forgiven.
To forgive sins is of the whole Trinity.
Here perhaps someone may ask whether only the Holy Spirit forgives sins, or whether also the Father and the Son do. We respond that both the Father and the Son do. For the Son Himself says of the Father: "If you forgive the sins of men, your Father will also forgive your sins." To whom we also say in the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven," and among other things we ask this saying: "Forgive us our debts." Concerning Himself, however, He says: "That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." "If therefore," you say, "both the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forgive sins, why is that unrepentance which is never forgiven said to pertain only to blasphemy against the Spirit, as if he who is bound by this sin of unrepentance seems to resist the gift of the Holy Spirit, which by that gift the remission of sins is granted?" Where I also ask whether Christ cast out demons, or also the Father and the Holy Spirit. For if only Christ, what is it that He says: "The Father who dwells in me, He does the works"? For it is said: "He does the works," as if the Son does not do, but the Father dwelling in the Son. Why therefore does He say in another place: "My Father works until now, and I work"? And shortly after: "For whatever things He does, these the Son likewise does"? But what He says in another place: "If I had not done among them the works which no other man has done," He says it as if He alone does them. But if these things are said in such a way that nevertheless the works of the Father and the Son are inseparable, what is to be believed about the Holy Spirit except that He also works equally? For in that very place whence this question we are discussing has arisen, when the Son was casting out demons, He nevertheless says: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
The power and operation of the Trinity are indivisible.
Here perhaps someone may say, that the Holy Spirit is given rather by the Father or the Son than by His own will to do anything; and that it pertains to what is said: I cast out demons in the Holy Spirit, that it is not the Spirit Himself but Christ who did it by the Spirit; so that it may be understood in this way what is said: I cast out demons in the Holy Spirit. , As if it were said: "By the Holy Spirit I cast out." Indeed, the Scriptures are accustomed to speak this way: "They killed with the sword," that is, "by the sword." "They burned with fire," that is, "by fire"; and "Jesus took stone knives, with which to circumcise the sons of Israel," that is: "with which to circumcise the sons of Israel." But those who for this reason take away the proper power of the Holy Spirit should observe what is read as said by the Lord: "The Spirit breathes where he wills." However, when the Apostle says: "But all these things are wrought by one and the same Spirit," it must be feared lest anyone thinks that the Father and the Son do not work these, when he mentions gifts of healings and workings of powers in these works, where the expulsion of demons also surely is. But when he adds and says: "distributing to each one individually as he wills," does he not also manifest the power of the Holy Spirit, but clearly undivided from the Father and the Son? If, therefore, these things are so stated, so that the operation of the Trinity is understood as inseparable; so that, when the operation of the Father is spoken of, it is not understood to work without the Son and the Holy Spirit; and when the operation of the Son, not without the Father and the Holy Spirit; and when the operation of the Holy Spirit, not without the Father and the Son; it is well known to those rightly believing, or even as they can understanding, that it was said concerning the Father: "He does the works," because from Him is the origin of the works, from whom is the existence of the cooperating Persons (because the Son is born of Him, and the Holy Spirit principally proceeds from Him from whom the Son is born and with whom that same Spirit is common), and what the Lord says: "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did," it is not referred to the Father or Spirit, that they did not cooperate in those works, but to humans, by whom many miracles are read to be done, and yet none did what the Son did; and what the Apostle says of the Holy Spirit: "But all these things are worked by one and the same Spirit," it is not said because the Father and Son do not cooperate with Him, but because in these works they are not many but one Spirit, and in His various operations He is not different from Himself.
The unity of the Persons, who act commonly and equally, is substantial.
And yet it is said not in vain, but reasonably and truthfully that the Father said, not the Son or the Holy Spirit: "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; but although this miracle of the audible voice from heaven pertains only to the person of the Father, we do not deny that the Son and the Holy Spirit cooperated in it. For neither because the Son, bearing flesh, was conversing with men on earth at that time, was He not also in the bosom of the Father as the only-begotten Word, when that voice came from the cloud; nor can it be wisely and spiritually believed that God the Father separated the operation of His audible and transient words from the cooperation of His Wisdom and His Spirit. Similarly, when we most rightly say that neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son walked on the sea, as it was the flesh of that one and the feet resting on the waves; yet who would deny that in that work of such a great miracle the Father and the Holy Spirit cooperated? For thus we most truly say that the Son alone assumed that flesh, not the Father or the Holy Spirit; and yet anyone who denies that the Father or the Holy Spirit cooperated in this incarnation, which pertains to the Son alone, does not think rightly. Likewise, we say that neither the Father nor the Son, but the Holy Spirit alone appeared both in the form of a dove and in tongues as of fire and gave those in whom He came the ability to proclaim the mighty works of God in many and various languages; from which miracle, pertaining to the Holy Spirit alone, we cannot separate the cooperation of the Father and the only-begotten Word. Thus, the works of each individual in the Trinity are operated by the Trinity, with the two cooperating with the one working, in agreement in action among the three, not lacking in effectiveness in one. And because these things are thus, it is for this reason that the Lord Jesus casts out demons in the Holy Spirit. For neither could He alone fulfill this, nor did He assume that assistance as if it were insufficient for this work; but a spirit divided against itself is fittingly expelled by that Spirit which the Father and the Son have in common, not divided against themselves.
Outside the Church, sins are not forgiven.
Thus, sins are not forgiven outside the Church; they must be forgiven in that Spirit by whom the Church is gathered into one. Finally, if someone outside the Church regrets their sins yet remains unrepentant for the great sin of being alienated from the Church of God, what does such repentance benefit them? They speak a word against the Holy Spirit merely by being separated from the Church that has received the gift so that forgiveness of sins can occur within it in the Holy Spirit. Although the Trinity enacts this forgiveness, it is especially understood to pertain to the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in whom we cry, "Abba, Father," enabling us to say, "Forgive us our debts." And: "By this we know," says the Apostle John, "that Christ abides in us, by the Spirit he has given us." The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. It is to him that the society pertains which makes us into the one body of the only Son of God. Therefore, it is written: "If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit..." Because of this society, those into whom he first came spoke in the tongues of all nations. For it is through tongues that the fellowship of the human race is established; thus it was necessary for this society of the sons of God and members of Christ to be signified through the tongues of all nations. So, as it was evident then that one had received the Holy Spirit by speaking in the tongues of all nations, so now one recognizes that they have received the Holy Spirit by being held in the bond of peace of the Church, which is spread across all nations. Hence, the Apostle says: "Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.
But that He Himself is the Spirit of the Father, the Son Himself says: He proceeds from the Father, and in another place: For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. But that He Himself is also the Spirit of the Son, the Apostle says: God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father, that is, "causing to cry." For we cry out, but in Him, that is, He who pours out love into our hearts, without which anyone who cries out cries in vain. Hence he also says: But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. To whom, then, in the Trinity would the communion of this fellowship properly belong, if not to that Spirit who is common to the Father and the Son?
Outside the Church there is no Holy Spirit.
This Spirit, which those do not have who are separated from the Church, the apostle Judas very clearly declared, saying: "These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." Hence, also, the apostle Paul, reproving those who in the Church were attempting certain schisms under the names of men, although constituted in its unity, among other things says: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned." He shows what he meant by "receiveth not," that is, "he does not comprehend the word of knowledge." He calls those in the Church who are still infants, not yet spiritual, but carnal, and to be fed with milk, not with solid food. As to infants, he says, in Christ, "I have fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not able, neither yet now are ye able." Where it says "not yet" or "not as yet," there certainly is no despair, if the direction is that what is not yet may someday be. For he says, "ye are yet carnal." And showing whence they are carnal: "For whereas there is among you envying and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" And more plainly exposing this: "For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are ye not carnal?" What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? "Ministers by whom ye believed." These, therefore, that is, Paul and Apollos, were united in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace: yet because these people began to divide them among themselves and to be puffed up for one against another, they are called men, and carnal, and natural, not being able to receive the things of the Spirit of God; and yet, because they are not separated from the Church, they are called infants in Christ; whom certainly he desired to become angels or gods, though he reproved them for being men, that is, in these contentions savoring not the things of God but the things of men. But of those who are separated from the Church, it is not said: "They do not receive the things of the Spirit," lest it should be referred to the perception of knowledge; but it is said, "not having the Spirit." Yet it does not follow that he who has the Spirit also comprehends by knowledge what he possesses.
Little ones in Christ, having the Spirit, do not yet perceive the things of the Spirit.
Therefore, those who are children in Christ, still natural and carnal, have this Spirit in the Church, though they are unable to comprehend what they have, that is, to understand and know it. For how could they be children in Christ unless they were reborn from the Holy Spirit? And it should not seem strange that someone has something and does not know what they have. For, to say nothing of the divinity of the Almighty and the unity of the immutable Trinity, who can easily grasp what the soul is with knowledge? And who does not have a soul? Finally, to know with absolute certainty that children in Christ, not comprehending the things of the Spirit of God, still have the Spirit of God; let us look a little later at how he scolds them, saying: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Surely he would not say this to those segregated from the Church, who are said to not have the Spirit.
False Catholics, heretics, and schismatics do not have the Holy Spirit.
But neither can it be said that he is in the Church or pertains to this society of the Spirit who, with a feigned heart, mingles with the sheep of Christ only by bodily mixture. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the feigned. Therefore, whoever is baptized in schismatic or heretical gatherings, or rather segregations, although they are not reborn of the Spirit, like Ishmael, who was born according to the flesh of Abraham, not like Isaac, who was according to the Spirit, because of the promise, nevertheless, when they come to the Catholic Church and are added to the society of the Spirit, which they undoubtedly did not have outside, the washing of the flesh is not repeated for them. For even outside they did not lack this form of piety, but what is added to them, which cannot be given unless within, is the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. For such were they before they were Catholics, of whom the Apostle says: Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. For indeed, the visible form of a branch can be, even outside the vine; but the invisible life cannot have roots unless in the vine. Thus, the bodily sacraments, which are carried and celebrated even by those separated from the unity of the body of Christ, can exhibit the form of piety; but the invisible and spiritual power of piety cannot be in them, just as sensation does not follow a member of a man when it is severed from the body.
The remission of sins does not occur outside the Church.
Since these things are so, the forgiveness of sins—since it is not given except in the Holy Spirit—can only be given in that Church which has the Holy Spirit. For this is done by the forgiveness of sins, so that the prince of sin, the spirit who is divided against himself, does not reign in us; so that, having been rescued from the power of the unclean spirit, we may henceforth be made a temple of the Holy Spirit; and from Him by whom we are cleansed by accepting indulgence, we receive Him as the inhabitant to create, increase, and perfect righteousness. For even at His first coming, when those who had received Him spoke in the tongues of all nations, and the apostle Peter addressed those who were astonished and pricked in the heart, they said to Peter and the Apostles: "What then shall we do, brothers? Show us." And Peter said to them: "Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Certainly, in the Church, both things were done, that is, the remission of sins and the reception of this gift, in which the Holy Spirit was. But they did this in the name of Jesus Christ, because when He was promising the same Holy Spirit, He said: "Whom the Father will send in My name." For the Holy Spirit does not dwell in anyone without the Father and the Son, just as neither the Son without the Father and the Holy Spirit, nor the Father without them. Indeed, Their habitation is inseparable, as is Their operation; but often, They are shown individually through the signs of creation, not through Their substance; just as the spacings of time occupy syllables pronounced separately by voice, yet are not separated by any intervals and moments of time. For They can never be said together, since They can only always be together. But, as we have often said, the remission of sins, by which the divided spirit is overthrown and the kingdom is expelled, and the unity of the Church of God, outside of which there is no remission of sins, is, as it were, the proper work of the Holy Spirit, with the Father and the Son certainly cooperating, because the Holy Spirit Himself is, in a certain way, the association of the Father and the Son. For the Father is not commonly considered Father by the Son and the Holy Spirit, because He is not the Father of both; and the Son is not commonly considered Son by the Father and the Holy Spirit, because He is not the Son of both; but the Holy Spirit is commonly considered by the Father and the Son, because He is the Spirit of both.
It is suggested from Luke that impenitence is to be understood by the name of unforgivable blasphemy.