WHAT IS THE UNPARDONABLE SIN?
By Elmer F. Otis
God’s salvation is eternal. Heb. 5:9. So also you recall that his love, mercy, and long-suffering shall be attributes of his character throughout eternity. We must then conclude that if a man is lost, it is entirely due to his unwillingness to be saved. “I am come that they might have life.” John 10:10. “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:40. Then the only question is as to whether man will surrender his own will to be used of God. If he absolutely refuses, then he by that act places himself beyond the reach of the gospel call. “I gave her space to repent; . . . and she repented not;” or, as the Rotterdam Translation puts it, “I gave her time to repent; . . . but she does not choose to.” Rev. 2:21. The same thought is expressed in Eze. 24:12–14: “She hath wearied herself with lies. . . . I have purged thee [allowed you to reap your evil sowing. Gal. 6:7], and thou wast not purged. . . . According to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.” Having fully rejected God’s only means of reproving them, there was left no hope of salvation. In other words they had committed the unpardonable sin by rejecting the Holy Spirit—the power that unites humanity to divinity. Every one who shall be lost will be in this same condition. They all will have held their wills where God could not get access to them. Finally every individual will come to a place where he will fully decide either to obey or disobey God. The decree that goes forth announcing the close of probation simply says, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” So also, “he that is righteous, . . . and . . . holy, let him be . . . still.” Rev. 22:11. We therefore conclude that each one individually closes his own probation. Whether he is found on the right or on the wrong side depends, not on where he happened to be at that time, but on where he deliberately chose—willed—to be. Like Ananias and Sapphira, the one act did not settle their doom; but it indicated a long course of such actions. To show that no one might accidentally have been lost who wanted to be saved, we read that “the first thought of every one who arises in the second resurrection is to unite with Satan against God.” This is perfectly natural because they had fully decided to do so, before they died. Many Christians look upon the “close of probation” as some dreadful event that might suddenly happen when the arbitrary time of God’s appointment had arrived. It is to correct this idea that I make these suggestions. One additional thought that I wish to impress is this: Would it not be better to spend less time wondering just how many days or years will elapse before the close of probation, and more time in seeking that living connection with God whereby he can fully use us to do his bidding, and whereby we shall be saved and safe whenever probation may close. We are thus prepared for the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power. Then when we are fully used of God, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord [margin, “by knowing the glory of the Lord”],” as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. 2:14.