CG7 on the ‘unpardonable sin’ and offer of salvation

Straight Path in Tobago
A slightly difficult uphill and narrow way in Tobago

An issue of CG7-Denver’s Bible Advocate had the following by Arlo Gieselman:

Jesus said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:31). Blasphemy had a death penalty (Leviticus 24:16), and the wages of sin is still death. Jesus did not sin but died for our sins. No one will be forced to accept Him as Savior. You can pay for your own sin in the resurrection of damnation if you wish. Everyone has the choice of eternal death or eternal life. The unpardonable sin comes in two forms. The first is refusing to repent. This does not mean a one-time refusal by someone first told about Jesus or salvation. It is an attitude or lifestyle of unrepentance over a lifetime. I offered a Bible to a Muslim woman, who calmly said, “No, I just believe what my parents taught me.” Not having God’s Spirit, she did not commit the unpardonable sin. Her chance for salvation will be when God opens her mind. God wants all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). There are physical harvest seasons and spiritual harvest seasons. In the Old Testament, only a few were called to knowledge of the truth. Joseph in Egypt did not reveal himself to his brothers the first time, just as Jesus hasn’t revealed Himself to most Jews yet. Joseph revealed himself the second time (Acts 7:13), just as Jesus will be revealed to all Jews during the one thousand-year reign (Romans 11:25-32). As many as 50 billion people have lived and died. Most never heard of Jesus, the only name for eternal life (Acts 4:12). If these are the only days of salvation and most of those 50 billion are lost, then Christianity is a logical failure. God has several resurrections at the millennium of Revelation 20, while Satan is bound. All the dead will be resurrected but not all the same day. Verse 6 guarantees eternal life to all in the first resurrection. The resurrection of damnation at the end is for those who committed the unpardonable sin. Between the two are the resurrections of grace (1 Corinthians 15:23). The sin of blasphemy is as simple as refusing to repent after the Spirit of God reveals truth. The second way to commit the unforgivable sin is to fall from grace and turn back. We can enjoy sin so much that we refuse to quit, which is why we are warned to remember Lot’s wife. Hebrews 6:4-6 says it’s impossible to bring people back if they had the Holy Spirit but fall away. This would be like a dog returning to his vomit (2 Peter 2:22). If we sin willfully after having knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26). To struggle against sin while trusting in Christ is not unpardonable, but to abandon self to sin and unbelief may be irreversible. (July-August 2012)

Despite the fact that perhaps a couple of things should have been slightly re-worded, I was very pleased to see that CG7 agreed to publish the above. Several years back I spoke to the editor of the Bible Advocate, Calvin Burrell about the idea that God had a plan to offer salvation to all who ever lived. And he told me then that although it was not the official teaching of CG7, that there were many in CG7 who believed it. He and I also discussed biblical texts that supported that belief and he asked me to send him my article Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis, which of course, I did.

Now, the not-so-good news is that CG7 still does not officially teach this doctrine as it decided to put the following disclaimer after that particular article:

Arlo Gieselman attends the Church of God Kansas City in Independence, MO, and conducts a ministry to truckers at nearby truck stops. Though Arlo is a good friend of the editor and of CoG7, not every idea in his Viewpoint necessarily represents positions adopted by the Church.

But despite the disclaimer, this was a positive doctrinal step for CG7. And while in many respects, CG7-Denver has lost a lot of prophetic knowledge over the years, the fact that it went so far to publish Arlo Gieselman’s article was a real positive.

God’s plan for humanity is to show love through the forgiveness of sins, to ultimately reveal His loving plan of salvation to all, to give more to human beings than they can even imagine, and so that all will to be able to show love to others throughout eternity. CG7 is starting to grasp more of that.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

What is the Unpardonable Sin? What is it? Can you repent of it? Do you know what it is and how to avoid it? Here is a link to a related sermon video The Unpardonable Sin and the Prodigal Son. Can you repent of it? Do you know what it is and how to avoid it?
Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Will God call everyone? Will everyone have an opportunity for salvation? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account? Related sermon videos include Universal Offer of Salvation I: God is love and Universal Offer of Salvation II: The Age to Come and the ‘Little Flock’ and Universal Offer of Salvation III: All Are to Know Jesus, But When? and Universal Offer of Salvation IV: Will the Guilty be Pardoned? and Universal Offer of Salvation V: All Israel Will be Saved? A version of the main article was also translated in the Spanish language: Oferta universal de salvación: Hay cientos de versículos en la Biblia que apoyan la verdadera doctrina de la Apocatastasis.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differ from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? There is also a video titled What is the meaning of your life?
Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of at least partially trace their history through this group. Whaid Rose is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?