[NOTE:  This is a guest post by my wife Kathy]

Matthew 6:15 and Mark 11:26 say:

“If you do not forgive neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you.”

This is the Bible lesson we were learning in my 4K classroom in 2004. One of my students raised his hand and asked this question, “Mrs. Mapp, does God forgive Satan?”

I was stopped dead in my tracks. What a question, and from a 4 year old! All I could think of at the time was, “A little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6 & Matthew 19:14). I told Jacob that was a very good question and I would have to get back with him. I would have to check the scriptures. He said ‘OK’. The year flew by and still I had no answer for Jacob, my student.

The next school year began and I was assigned to teach the kindergarten class. Jacob was in my class. Once again we were studying the importance of forgiveness and he asked me the same question. I still had no answer for him. That year I said that Jacob should pray and ask God to help us find the answer.

For me, the question was not so much about Satan but the nature of God.  All I could think of at that time was that God would never ask us to do what He had not already done through Christ. John 3:17 says that Jesus came to save the world, not condemn it. But I had no scripture memory nor could I find a scripture that directly said that God did forgive or would forgive Satan after all of Satan’s evil and rebellion. But if I looked at who God says He is to Moses in Exodus, and who John says God is in the first Epistle of John, the nature of agape love as written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, and who Jesus says He is, God has to have forgiven Satan or at least been willing to forgive him.

Thirteen years has passed by and now I have an answer. I was discussing this question in an open forum at our church when a very respected woman of God said, “Satan would never ask for God’s forgiveness.”

BINGO — that was it. That was the answer. At that very moment God began to connect all the dots from the previous searching out of His nature forgiving Satan. Here is what I believe He showed me:

1. Satan had been cast out of heaven to earth and banned from ever returning (Revelation 12: 7-9). So his last frontier was the earth, so to speak.

2. His demons dwelled in the dry places when they were cast out of people by Jesus (Matthew 12:45) — by association, a place where Satan was familiar. So Jesus went to the wilderness (Satan’s turf).

3. Holy Spirit was all about getting the encounter with Satan underway. He drove Jesus into the wilderness (Mark 1:12).

4. Holy Spirit is the most powerful convictive force to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16: 5-13).

5. Jesus was, and is, the Word of God (John 1: 1-2, 14) and powerful to the uttermost.

6. “The Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit” (Hebrews 4:12).

So, into the wilderness they go to be confronted by Satan or to confront Satan – the greatest convictive force, Holy Spirit with the most powerful Word of God, Jesus the Christ. In this event I believe God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit presented the Word of life to Satan. After the final encounter Satan departed, unchanged and condemned. The scriptures say, Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.” Then the devil left Him. (Matthew 4:10-11a)

This encounter in the wilderness is not only preparation for Jesus’ ministry but the event that convinces me of Gods willingness to offer forgiveness to Satan. God, Himself offers it and Satan refuses. Thus, my answer for Jacob is “Yes, absolutely, but Satan would not receive it.”

And a side note to this discovery is that on the very day I received my answer to this 13 year search I also received an announcement of Jacob’s graduation from high school, and I could finally tell him the answer. We serve a very intentional God.

I also think this answers the question that arises from the scripture found in Matthew 12:31-32: “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

In the wilderness Satan blasphemed the Holy Spirit. He saw himself to be equal to or even superior to God.  “Blasphemed” means to speak reproachfully or with scorn. And scorn means having an opinion or belief of someone or something as common, in this case, God and an opinion of his own self as superior and of great worth. So when Satan tried to recruit Jesus to his team but refused the Power of the Word of God, he was showing contempt toward God, the Holy Spirit. So, men will be forgiven but Satan will not be forgiven the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as written in Matthew 4.

I might add one final note for anyone who needs this.  If you love the Lord, relax.  He loves you more, and scorn is not in your vocabulary.  If you scorn the awesome loving God, your soul is in jeopardy of the same end.  Jesus said it best:  “Repent (change your mind), for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”