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"Unforgivable" sin

Question: Is there an "unforgivable sin" that is beyond the reach of Christ's atonement?

Jesus taught that there was an unforgivable sin

Why did LDS apostle Bruce McConkie write that a man may commit a sin so grievous that it will place him beyond the atoning blood of Christ (Mormon Doctrine, 1979, p. 93) when the Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7)?

Bruce R. McConkie's book "Mormon Doctrine" is not an official publication of the Church.

In this particular case, however, Elder McConkie is in good company since Jesus taught that there was an unforgivable sin:

31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:31–32, emphasis added)

Latter-day Saints understand the "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" to be a few things

Thus, it seems that 1 John is best interpreted as meaning that any forgivable sin is cleansed through—and only through—the blood of Christ. Latter-day Saints understand the "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" to be a few things.

1. Doctrine and Covenants 132:27 states that the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost “is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant[.]”
2. Alma 39:6 states that “if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is unpardonable.”

Thus, denying the Holy Ghost when it is within you and you know that it is the Holy Ghost is an unpardonable sin. Murder, after someone has had a testimony of Jesus and received the ordinances of the temple, is also an unpardonable sin and considered blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

In addition to these, Latter-day Saint scripture states that other things are unpardonable or may be unpardonable:

1. Jacob 7:19 has Sherem who fears that he has committed the unpardonable sin against God “for,” he says “I have lied unto God; for I denied the Christ, and said that I believed the scriptures; and they truly testify of him. And because I have thus lied unto God I greatly fear lest my case shall be awful; but I confess unto God”
2. Doctrine and Covenants 42:18 states that “he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.”

John seems to follow the line of thought about denying Christ after receiving testimony of him as unforgivable since he later qualifies his statement making clear there is a sin that is unforgivable.

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it 1 John 5:1.

The counsel here is to pray for those who sin unless they have committed the "sin unto death" which cannot be forgiven. Obviously, if one rejects the atonement of Christ, one cannot be saved by it, and so one will not be forgiven for that sin.

See also: Unpardonable sin in anti-Mormon polemic

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

Notes