Does God Stop Loving Someone After the Unforgivable Sin?
25 October 2025*This article is part of “Dialogues,” where real questions from people are answered by AI and then reviewed by theologians for clarity, accuracy, and faithfulness to Christian teaching.
Question
“If Jesus says there is a sin that will ‘never be forgiven,’ does that mean God stops loving someone who commits it? Is there a point where God says, ‘I’m done with you’?”
Answer
Jesus does speak about something very serious. He says: Mark 3:28–29 “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” That sounds final. But many people then assume something Scripture does not say: that God stops loving that person. The Bible shows that God’s love is steady, even toward enemies, and that the real tragedy is not God refusing to love, but the human heart refusing to repent.
What Is the “Unforgivable Sin”?
In the scene behind these words, Jesus is healing the sick and casting out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. Certain religious leaders see this good, holy work and call it satanic. They are looking straight at the work of God and naming it evil.
This is what Jesus calls “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” It is not an accidental outburst. It is a deliberate, knowing rejection of God’s saving work. It is basically saying, “I recognize this is from God. I still call it darkness. I do not want it.”
That kind of settled hardness is what Jesus warns cannot be forgiven. Not because God’s mercy is too weak, but because the person is proudly slamming the only door through which mercy comes.
Why Does Jesus Say “Will Never Be Forgiven”?
Forgiveness in Scripture is not something that drops on us while we resist God; it is offered and received. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God gladly forgives those who come.
But if someone rejects the Holy Spirit Himself — the One who convicts the heart and draws us to Christ — John 16:8 “He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment” — then that person is also rejecting the very path that leads to repentance and faith. It’s like refusing the only medicine that can save you. The problem is not that God ran out of love. The problem is that the sinner will not receive love.
Does God Stop Loving That Person?
No. The Bible never teaches that God’s love simply turns off. In fact, it stresses the opposite: God loved us when we were actively against Him. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Paul goes even further: Romans 5:10 “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…” God’s love is described as pursuing people who are not neutral, not friendly, but hostile.
God also reveals His heart through the prophet: Ezekiel 33:11 “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” That is not, “I’m done with you.” That is, “Please turn and live.”
And when Jesus approaches Jerusalem — a city that will reject Him — He laments: Luke 13:34 “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Notice the tension: “I longed to gather you… you were not willing.” His desire to gather is real. Human refusal is also real.
So Scripture’s pattern is not, “God got tired of you.” It is, “God longs to gather you, and you can still refuse Him.”
But What If I’m Afraid I Did It?
Many people who are scared that they committed the “eternal sin” are not hardened against God — they are distressed, ashamed, and want mercy. That fear itself shows a heart that is still responsive, not fully closed.
Jesus gives this promise: John 6:37 “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” He does not say, “Whoever comes to me with a clean past.” He says, “Whoever comes.”
In other words, the one Jesus is warning in Mark 3:28–29 is not the person crying, “Lord, please forgive me.” It is the person saying, “I see Your work, Holy Spirit, and I reject You.”
How Should I Respond?
1. Take hardness seriously. Sin is not harmless. Scripture says, Romans 8:7 “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.” Hearts really can grow proud and stubborn. Don’t train your heart to say “no” to God.
2. Respond when God convicts you. Hebrews 3:15 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Delay makes resistance feel normal.
3. Refuse despair. Despair whispers, “God could never forgive me.” The gospel answers, Romans 5:20 “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” Your guilt is not stronger than Christ’s cross.
Conclusion
So, does God stop loving someone after the unforgivable sin? No. God’s love does not switch off. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
But Jesus does warn us soberly: a person can harden themself so deeply against the Holy Spirit that they refuse the only forgiveness that can save them. The danger is not that God refuses mercy. The danger is that someone no longer wants mercy.
If you still want Christ — if you can still say, “Lord, have mercy on me” — then the door of grace is open to you. John 6:37 “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”