I'm not sure how that would go over with the people on site, but it appears at first blush that this is what the Bible teaches. Here are the relevant verses.
Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Mark 3:28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
Luke 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Other passages that might be relevant.
Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrew 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Now compare these verses with the wonderful promise in 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.
A few tentative conclusions:
a. What is in view in these passages is not a lapse into neglect of one's faith, or an indiscretion. My heavens, consider Simon the Sorcerer in the book of Acts chapter 8 who at first believed the apostles' message concerning Jesus, was baptized into the fledgling church, and then thought he could purchase the power of the Holy Spirit with his own money:
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria...11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Simon was guilty of what one could say was a heinous crime--perverting God's grace by thinking that he could buy it with money. Peter made himself rather clear that Simon might consider disabusing himself of that notion. Despite such wickedness, Peter still held out hope that Simon could be forgiven (for free, Simon, for free) by God. Whether Simon ever did avail himself of God's grace is left unanswered, and certainly he became a symbol for wickedness in the centuries to come. Nevertheless, the clear indication is that he had not committed an unforgivable sin.
One can think of other Scriptural giants who were guilty of great wrong yet who still found forgiveness and acceptance by God. King David, for instance, was an adulterer and a murderer. Yet in Psalm 19 he wrote that the law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul (v. 7). In the beloved 23rd Psalm, it is God who restores his soul (v. 3). The Hebrew word for 'restore' means that a person, having strayed from a place, is now restored to that same place. In this case, the place is God's arms.
Other Scriptural passages appear to indicate that "falling away" from the faith is a live prospect; e.g., 1 Corinthians 10:11-12; Hebrews 2:1-3, 3:12-13. Why be warned about the dangers of abandoning or distorting one's faith if it is not possible? But as we see with Simon and David, in such situations God's pardon is still available.
b. Whatever this sin is (and it seems to me that it can't be one act of disobedience but some kind of settled state), its effect is to prevent the person in question from wanting forgiveness, or being able to ask for it. It seems to me as well, particularly from the Hebrews chapter 6 and 10 passages, that the person whose sin is unpardonable is one who should have known better because s/he had had some significant experience with the Holy Spirit. This would certainly apply to Lucifer (Satan) and his demons who had had first hand experience with the Triune God, but through overweening pride and a desire to be God's equal, had fallen and were assigned a permanent place in Hell (i.e., abandonment by God).
This gets harder and harder! Maybe the next thing to consider is the role of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we shall yet be enlightened.
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