Yay1 We agree on something.It is nor
Matt. 12:31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either …
31 Because of this (διὰ τοῦτο) I am saying (λέγω) to you (ὑμῖν) every sin (πᾶσα ἁμαρτία) and slander (καὶ βλασφημία) shall be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, future passive indicative) to men (τοῖς ἀνθρώποις) (but the slander of the Holy Spirit (ἡ δὲ τοῦ πνεύματος βλασφημία) will not be forgiven (οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται , future passive indicative).
32 And (καὶ ) whoever (ὃς ἐὰν) spoke/speaks (εἴπῃ . aorist active subjunctive) a word (λόγον ) against (κατὰ) the son (τοῦ υἱοῦ) of man (τοῦ ἀνθρώπου) it shall be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, future passive indicative ) to him (αὐτῷ); but whoever (ὃς δ᾽ ἂν) said/says (εἴπῃ , aorist active subjunctive) against the Holy Spirit (κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου) it shall not be forgiven (οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται , future passive indicative) to him (αὐτῷ), either in this age (οὔτε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι) or in the coming
one (οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι).
What we have here in the Greek of verse 32 is a particular verbal construction -
"whosoever + aorist active subjunctive.... future passive indicative, followed by
"whosoever + aorist active subjunctive... negation + future passive indicative .
The structure is used to express a conditional based on a general rule that holds true for all points in time.
In English we use the simple present to express a general fact, e.g. -
At sea level pure water boils at exactly 100 degrees Celsius.
John comes here to eat on Wednesdays.
If we make these into conditional statements we could say -
If a pot of pure water rests over a flame at sea level, it will boil at exactly 100 degrees Celsius.
If John eats here, it will be Wednesday (because he only ever eats here on a Wednesday)
Now if we make the consequence negative, we might say -
If a pot of salty water rests over a flame at sea level, it will never boil at exactly 100 degrees Celsius.
If Mary eats here, it will not be Wednesday. (Because Mary does not come to study on Wednesdays)
And if we make the subject universal, we might say -
Whatsoever liquid rests over a flame at sea level and boils at exactly 100 degrees Celsius, it will never be salty, neither in this month, in the next.
Whosoever comes here to eat on Sunday, a meal will never be served to them, neither this month, nor next month.
These last sentences would use the
Matt. 12:32 structure in Greek.
Now is it true that "Whatsoever liquid rests over a flame at sea level and boils at exactly 100 degrees Celsius, it will never be salty, neither in this month, in the next," is a claim that any water that has at some time been put over a flame at sea level and it boiled at exactly 100 degrees Celsius, that water can never
become salty?
No, it is a claim that it can never be salty
while it is fulfilling the condition of having a 100 degree Celsius boiling point at sea level. But we can add salt to it and it will become salty.
And is it true that "Whosoever comes here to eat on Sunday, a meal will never be served to them, neither this month, nor next month," is a claim that anyone who once came here to eat on Sunday, a meal will never be served to them, even if they come on a different day of the week?
No. It is a claim that they can never be served a meal while coming for a meal on Sunday, but they can come on Monday and receive a meal.
We need to understand Jesus' words in matt. 12:31-32 in the same way. Anyone who is fulfilling the conditions he states for being held guilty of slander against the Holy Spirit, will never be forgiven while continuing to fulfil those conditions. But if they stop meeting those conditions they can be forgiven. While we are slandering the Holy Spirit, we will never be forgiven. But if we stop slandering the Holy Spirit, we can be forgiven.
I will find some biblical examples where this structure is used elsewhere, and we do not read into it the absolute denial of future change, and post those in a separate post.