I came across this excellent post by “accident” today, http://www.tillhecomes.org/sermons/matthew/matt_12_31-32/
and some very insightful, and a few kind of, ‘unsettling,’ comments.

Doesn't God Forgive ALL?

1) The Universalist Response(s): It reminds me of the ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People’ mentality. How can it be possible an All-Knowing, All-Loving, All-Powerful God condemn anyone to ‘eternal damnation?’ I’ll keep it simple,”Fear only two — the Creator and he who has no fear of Him.” — Chassidic saying.

“‘Thy Will be done,’ or God will say to them, ‘Thy will be done.’” C.S Lewis.

“Odd, the way the less the Bible is read the more it is translated.” — C.S. Lewis

Make no mistake, God will not violate his gift to us of choice and free-will.

I am one that has come to believe the King James Version is the result of God’s Word being preserved (certainly, any god worth his salt can accomplish that, you think)?

An excellent start for understanding how the Gospel has become corrupted, it helps to see the reference sources cited in various translations. All I would add is to go to http://www.avpublications.com and do a little reading with an open mind. I know Ms. Riiplinger has taken a lot of heat, but her research is impressive.

I did a little checking in a couple of respected commentaries. I see where Adam Clarke’s, *Commentary on the Bible* states in part,

“Neither in this world, neither in the world to come – Though I follow the common translation, yet I am fully satisfied the meaning of the words is, neither in this dispensation, (viz. the Jewish), nor in that which is to come, viz. the Christian. עולם הבא olam ha-ba, the world to come, is a constant phrase for the times of the Messiah in the Jewish writers. The sin here spoken of by our Lord ranks high in the catalogue of presumptuous sins, for which there was no forgiveness under the Mosaic dispensation. See Num_15:30, Num_15:31; Num_35:31; Lev_20:10; 1Sa_2:25. When our Lord says that such a sin hath no forgiveness, is he not to be understood as meaning that the crime shall be punished under the Christian dispensation as it was under the Jewish, viz. by the destruction of the body? And is not this the same mentioned 1Jo_1:7, called there the sin unto death; i.e. a sin that was to be punished by the death of the body, while mercy might be extended to the soul.

He continued:

Dr. Lightfoot has sufficiently vindicated this passage from all false interpretation. “They that endeavor hence to prove the remission of some sins after death, seem little to understand to what Christ had respect when he spake these words. Weigh well this common and, most known doctrine of the Jewish schools, and judge.”

Understanding the varying doctrines of the times seems imperative.

Dr. Lightfoot: “In the world to come. – Some phrases were received into common use, by which, in common speech, they opposed the heresy of the Sadducees, who denied immortality, Of that sort were עולם הבא olam ha-ba, Αιων ὁ μελλων, The world to come. גן עדן gan aden, Παραδεισος, paradise: גו הנום gei hinnom, Γεεννα, hell, etc.
“At the end of all the prayers in the temple (as we observed before) they said עד עולם ad olam, for ever. But when the heretics (i.e. the Sadducees) brake in, and said there was No Age but one, then it was appointed to be said for ever and ever. מן העולם ועד העולם min ha-olam, vead ha-olam. Bab. Beracoth, fol. 54. This distinction of עולם הזה olam hazeh, this world, and of עולם הבא olam ha-ba, the world to come, you may find almost in every page of the rabbins.”

Albert Barnes’ *Notes on the Bible* sums it quite nicely (for me),

“Speaketh against the Holy Ghost – The word “ghost” means “spirit,” and probably refers here to the “divine nature” of Christ – the power by which he performed his miracles. There is no evidence that it refers to the third person of the Trinity; and the meaning of the whole passage may be: “He that speaks against me as a man of Nazareth – that speaks contemptuously of my humble birth, etc., may be pardoned; but he that reproaches my divine nature, charging me with being in league with Satan, and blaspheming the power of God manifestly displayed “by me,” can never obtain forgiveness.”

Neither in this world, nor in that which is to come – That is, as Mark expresses it, “hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” This fixes the meaning of the phrase. It means, then, not the future age or dispensation, known among the Jews as the world to come, but it means that the guilt will be unpardoned forever; that such is the purpose of God that he will not forgive a sin so direct, presumptuous, and awful. It cannot be inferred from this that any sins will be forgiven in hell. The Saviour meant simply to say that there were “no possible circumstances” in which the offender could obtain forgiveness. He certainly did “not” say that any sin unpardoned here would be pardoned hereafter.

Since I doubt many have access to these classic works to read the extensive comments I did not copy and paste,they can be obtained for free as part of the most excellent and free http://e-Sword.net program.