I am very careful. You are correct its an "ETERNAL SIN" to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but you missed THAT requires there must be "less than eternal sins" that can be forgiven.
[#R]
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men…in the age to come.”
All who knowingly oppose Christ are opposed to Christ and can't be forgiven: All knowingly against Jesus who is God the Son are also committing ETERNAL SIN, just as those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. But those who blaspheme the "Son of Man" see only Jesus' human flesh, and therefore can be forgiven:
Sins committed in ignorance can be forgiven (
Heb. 5:2;
9:7;
1 Tim. 1:13;
Lev. 5:18;
Ez. 45:20;
Lk. 12:48). That is why blasphemy against the Son of Man whose Incarnate Deity is veiled by Human Flesh can be forgiven. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven as His Deity was fully revealed in the Divine Truth and miracles only God can do.
Ignorance of Christ determines if one belongs to the “many” whose sins are covered by His eternal sacrifice (
Heb. 9:26-28). The timing of this forgiveness begins at Christ’s Second Coming when He appears to those eagerly waiting for Him for salvation which is when “the age to come” (ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι
Mt. 12:32;
Eph. 1:21) begins:
At Christ’s second coming those “in the grave” who died in ignorance of Christ are forgiven “every sin and blasphemy” and if they obey the gospel of Christ preached “also” to them they will be “judged according to men in the flesh” covered by the sacrifice of Christ for sins and rise in the resurrection to life when Christ appears “a second time…for salvation” (
John 5:28-29;
1 Pet. 4:5-6;
Heb. 9:27-28;
1 Thess. 4:13-17;
2 Thess. 2:1;
1 Cor. 15:23,
51-57).
This excludes all who committed eternal sins like blaspheming the Holy Spirit (
Mt. 12:32), stumbling one of God’s children (
Mk. 9:42-48), accepting the Mark of the Beast or worshipping him (
Rev. 14:9-11).
So you missed Christ's point entirely. Its a contrast between sins done in ignorance, and willful sin.
Mark 16:16 isn't pertinent to sin done in ignorance.
I agree baptism isn't required for salvation, baptism was how people proved they truely believed. Baptism was a public confession Jesus is LORD.
When Jews were baptized in Jesus' Name they were cast out of the synagogue and persecuted, sometime to death. So true belief was indicated by baptism. If they weren't baptized they weren't true believers. True believers (sent by Christ to evangelize) also proved their identity by doing miraculous signs:
12 After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.
13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mk. 16:12-20 NKJ)
Those who claimed to be apostles sent by Christ manifested signs proving they were "true believers". This prophecy was fulfilled by Christ's disciples in the 1st century.
But its not relevant to Eternal sin, or sins done ignorantly.
You weren't careful when interpreting this scripture. You confused them.
