T H E    L A W S    O F    H E R E D I T Y

 The transgression and fall of Adam and Eve brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, and man followed his own carnal desires, and changed God’s order.[1]

 Every one should seek to understand the great truths of the plan of salvation, that he may be ready to give an answer to every one who asks the reason of his hope. You should know what caused the fall of Adam, so that you may not commit the same error, and lose heaven as he lost paradise. You should study the lives of patriarchs and prophets, and the history of God’s dealing with men in the past; for these things were “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” We should study the divine precepts, and seek to comprehend their depth. We should meditate upon them until we discern their importance and immutability. We should study the life of our Redeemer, for he is the only perfect example for men. We should contemplate the infinite sacrifice of Calvary, and behold the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the righteousness of the law. You will come from a concentrated study of the theme of redemption strengthened and ennobled. Your comprehension of the character of God will be deepened; and with the whole plan of salvation clearly defined in your mind, you will be better able to fulfill your divine commission. From a sense of thorough conviction, you can then testify to men of the immutable character of the law manifested by the death of Christ on the cross, the malignant nature of sin, and the righteousness of God in justifying the believer in Jesus, on condition of his future obedience to the statutes of God’s government in heaven and earth.[2]

Introduction

The true introduction is the paragraph above. The paragraph provides the aim of the paper, limits its scope, explains its significance. It promises strength and nobility on condition of concentrated study of the paper’s themes. Then do not read quickly. Do not hurry over the more difficult thoughts. May the “whole plan of salvation” be “clearly defined in your mind.”

Certain questions will be addressed in the paper. But to answer them is not the mission statement of this document. The mission statement is in the true introduction. Nevertheless, being aware of the questions will, for some, trigger one’s attention when he stumbles over a hint or an answer.

Here are some of the questions.

Why do we sin? How has Adam’s sin affected us? What is the relation of depravity to guilt?  Was Luther right when he alleged that even his righteous deeds were sin? Can sin be well defined as “essentially a broken relationship with God”? What is the difference between sin and iniquity? Is there a difference between the meaning of sin and the definition of its plural form “sins”? To what extent was Jesus like us in his moral nature? In what manner was He incarnated differently?

Advancing on an inferior force tends to excite soldiers loving plunder and to bore soldiers loving war. Both classes, however, approach an entrenched and better-armed enemy with fear.

Many view the contest between Christ and Satan in terms of a strong man binding a weaker one. Even Jesus used this metaphor. He, the strong man, would bind Satan. Illustrating His own work, Jesus spoke of himself as breaking into the enemy’s home. Christ would spoil Satan’s goods. Unashamed of portraying himself as a mighty thief, the Savior challenged the evil one to defend his property.

The apparently fearless Jesus engaged his foe on earth after expelling him from heaven. Satan trembled. But the plausibility of victory by some dark plot kept Satan from calling a truce or asking for terms of surrender.

The Devil cherished scant hope that he could meet and overcome the Divine Son of God. But four thousand years after Adam’s fall, the human Jesus appeared in a more helpless form than wicked beings had ever imagined he would. Could it be that the Commander of Heaven had so far humbled himself that he might fall prey to temptations?

What about Jesus? Did Jesus fear for the outcome of the controversy? Our gut reaction is “of course not.”

But at Calvary Jesus did, indeed, feel a crushing fear. As we undertake a study that involves a consideration of his human nature we pause here to solemnly meditate on the following statement.

As he felt his unity with the Father broken up, he feared that his human nature would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the prince of the power of darkness; and in that case the human race would be irrecoverably lost, Satan would be victor, and the earth would be his kingdom.[3]

The prospect of such a victory on Satan’s part appeared to evil angels thousands of years earlier. The leader in rebellion inflamed them with his spirit and rallied them to earnest warfare against Christ.

But in the first days of rebellion, in quiet moments, the recently fallen one shuddered. He nearly backed away from the battle on earth before it had started. The decision of other angels to follow his leading moved him to finally brave the consequences.

 Satan cast off his feelings of despair and weakness, and, as their leader, fortified himself to brave out the matter, and do all in his power to defy the authority of God and his Son.[4]

 His courage failed him briefly during the flood when he feared for his own existence. But a greater dread haunted him long before the fountains of the great deep were broken up.

 “When Satan heard that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, he knew that though he had succeeded in depraving human nature and assimilating it to his own, yet by some mysterious process, God would restore to man his lost power.”[5]

 That had been the source of his earlier indecision. He “feared that his purposes might be defeated.”[6] He counted on the depravity now pervading the human race to secure to his wicked self the kingdom of earth.

But what does the statement mean that human nature had been “assimilating” to the nature of Satan? Is the nature of man now satanic?

The Fall and Its Consequences

 Keeping secrets from the All-Knowing God is pointless. When Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden,

 Satan announced his purpose to conform to his own nature the father and mother of all humanity, and to unite them with his own ranks of rebellion. He was determined to efface the image of God from the human posterity, and to trace his own image upon the soul in place of the divine image.[7]

 The deceiver understood the malignant nature of sin. If only we did.

 When the sinner realizes the aggravated character of sin, the transgression of the law, he will cease to sin.[8]

 From the Bible we find several direct results from the sin of Adam. Externally, the ground was cursed “for man’s sake.” Eve was placed in subjection to her husband. Man’s diet expanded to include vegetables. Man was expelled from the garden and so barred from the Tree of Life. It seems that the latter of these consequences was the most significant to Satan. He did not expect, as we might, that sin would lead to a natural death regardless of access to the special plant.

 Had man after his fall been allowed free access to the tree of life, he would have lived forever, and thus sin would have been immortalized. But cherubim and a flaming sword kept “the way of the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24), and not one of the family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal sinner.[9]

 Internally the fall had immediate effects on the nature of Adam. Admitted by all, this fact is yet little understood. Did the five-minutes-since-the-deadly-bite Adam have an evil temper? Was he likely to get sick that evening? Did he overeat that evening? Did he hate God? Love Satan? Was he proud? Was his bodily system beginning to decay? Was his memory weaker than it had been ten minutes earlier? Did God work a miracle, as a punishment for sin, to make his nature corrupt? Did sin work a miracle to make him that way? If corruption was natural, what natural law determined how far and to what extent it would act?

Some results of the fall were natural. Other effects, if they can be called that, were the results of supernatural intervention. The latter will be discussed when we approach the topic of God’s promise to put enmity between the seed of Satan and the seed of Adam.

Adam’s indulgence of appetite brought one change that led to a chain reaction of disasters. Man’s mind was created with two sets of mental organs. The first system, or set of organs, might be called the Will Guidance System. From moment to moment these mental organs would work together to discover and execute God’s will. Ellen White called this system the “Higher Powers” of the mind.

The second system, or set of organs, might be called the Motive and Gratification System. These organs, our desires, appetites, and passions, were created to inform the Will of the needs of the being, and to give man the capacity for enjoying the gratification of those needs. This system has been dubbed the “Lower Powers” of the mind. This has led some to conclude that the system is itself a result of the fall. Not so.

The appetites of our physical nature were given us for important purposes. Kept, as they were at first created, in subjection to reason and to the laws that God made for their regulation, they would have worked only for good.[10]

Eve would have been prompted by per passions to draw nearer to Adam. This motive, a source of thought in the mind, would have been addressed to the higher powers and the will. Conscience, one of the higher organs, would answer “God said man should not be alone.” Reason would concede that two were better than one. The Will, deferring always to the claims of the higher powers, would have moved Eve’s body to approach the man.

God’s order in the nature of man was the essence of God’s image. Reversing this order placed the powers of the mind in a relation to each other that, in practice, rather imitated the mind of Satan than the mind of God. The lower powers were intended, not to subdue the will, but to initiate thought and reasoning. The brief quote that follows the title of this article is a reference to how the fall affected this order.

 The transgression and fall of Adam and Eve brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, and man followed his own carnal desires, and changed God’s order.[11]

 When used aright these desires would preserve man’s physical nature by reminding the higher powers to meet physical needs—i.e. to eat from the tree of life. Spiritual desires would have, in a similar fashion, have tended to the development of spiritual health.

 Their legitimate action would have prompted health and happiness; but the Creator’s benevolent purpose has been interfered with. By the fall, man was brought into bondage to sin. He lost his moral uprightness and his physical perfection. The appetites and passions that were given to him as blessings were perverted, and became warring lusts, the ministers of death. And so man passed under the dominion of the grave. Sin is the cause of physical degeneration; sin has blighted the race, and introduced disease, misery, and death.[12]

 Connected with the reordering of the human nature, with our enslavement to our own desires, are the primary internal results of the fall. The reordering led to:

 

• Bondage to Sin
• Moral Degeneration
• Death
• Physical Degeneration
• Disease

This list is not comprehensive. Myriads of miseries might be added. We will explore, in turn, each of these points and its bearing on our moral nature. God placed a limit to the effects of sin. The method required to place that limit is the object of universal wonder.

 

Jesus Gains for Us the Advantages Possessed by Adam

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented a great gift from heaven. Its presence in the garden informed the holy pair of God’s confidence in them. Trusted to leave it alone, their human natures longed to prove themselves worthy of the trust. Love forbade transgression.

More than a revelation of confidence, the tree was a gift of probation. Before receiving access to unfallen worlds and to the gift of immortality, man’s loyalty was to be tested.

 Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed beyond the possibility of wrongdoing. God made them free moral agents, capable of appreciating the wisdom and benevolence of His character and the justice of His requirements, and with full liberty to yield or to withhold obedience. They were to enjoy communion with God and with holy angels; but before they could be rendered eternally secure, their loyalty must be tested.[13]

 The test chosen was not selected arbitrarily. Man’s freedom, to serve God by following the Spirit or serve self by following passion, determined the nature of the test.

 At the very beginning of man’s existence a check was placed upon the desire for self-indulgence, the fatal passion that lay at the foundation of Satan’s fall. The tree of knowledge, which stood near the tree of life in the midst of the garden, was to be a test of the obedience, faith, and love of our parents . . .. They were also to be exposed to the temptations of Satan; but if they endured the trial, they would finally be placed beyond his power, to enjoy perpetual favor with God.[14]

Adam’s sin forfeited probation. His own case became so miserable, so hopeless. At that moment of his greatest need God announced the plan of Christ’s sacrifice. We, Adam’s children, may thank Jesus for not taking our first parents’ advice during that meeting.

 “In their remorse and anguish they pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the source of all their joy.”[15] “they pleaded to die themselves, or to let them and their posterity endure the penalty of their transgression, rather than that the beloved Son of God should make this great sacrifice. The anguish of Adam was increased. He saw that his sins were of so great magnitude as to involve fearful consequences. And must it be that heaven’s honored Commander, who had walked with him and talked with him while in his holy innocence, whom angels honored and worshiped, must be brought down from His exalted position to die because of his transgression?”[16]

 Though Adam protested the plan of salvation, he stood in dire need of the rescue. Before the fall he had great advantages over men living today. With Jesus on the throne of his heart, the unfallen Adam could have answered the claims of the law for perfect holiness. His moral strength, when empowered by the Spirit of God, rendered him invincible except where he could be induced to yield. This is not the condition of the fallen man.

Adam and Eve, when faced with the prospect that they were about to be driven from Eden, pledged to faithfully obey and asked only that they be given a second chance. Angels explained to them why a second trial would be much more difficult than the first.

 They entreated to be permitted to remain, although they acknowledged that they had forfeited all right to blissful Eden. They promised that they would in the future yield implicit obedience to God. They were informed that in their fall from innocence to guilt, they had gained no strength, but great weakness. They had not preserved their integrity while they were in a state of holy, happy innocence, and they would have far less strength to remain true and loyal in a state of conscious guilt. At these words the unhappy pair were filled with keenest anguish and remorse. They now realized that the penalty of sin was death.[17]

 Analysis of this passage reveals two changes that made obedience so much the more difficult. The first of these was “great weakness.” As this had to be announced to them, it is not reason to suppose that the weakness was physical in nature. The nature of the weakness was the derangement of the faculties of the mind. Without conscience at the helm of the will, man was incapable of resisting temptations.

And though they might choose loyalty again, their “conscious guilt” would sap their steadfastness. While aware of their condemnation and its justice, hope could present no reason to remain true to their commitment. Choosing to do right in face of hopelessness was more than could be expected from re-ordered faculties of the fallen human mind.

Here intelligent beings might ponder well that forgiveness alone, however costly it might be, could not undo the mess that Adam inaugurated. The reclamation of his offspring would require simultaneous solutions to the four-fold problem of forfeiture, guilt, weakness, and derangement.

In the first case, God granted Adam and his posterity a second probation.[18] This required a promise that the death of Jesus would satisfy justice. The consciousness of condemnation, otherwise expressed as guilt, and its incumbent hopelessness, was a more complex problem.

 Saving man from weakness, derangement, and hopelessness involved perilous risk. The method of this grace will occupy the remainder of this essay. In summary, Jesus came as a second Adam and placed mankind on “vantage ground.”[19] His life stood as more than a guarantee to justice.

 Jesus came as Hope.

But to be Hope, Jesus had to be like man in ways that seemed to make holy living hopeless. More than that, He had to overcome while under the crushing disadvantage of conscious guilt. On the first point we read:

 Because man fallen could not overcome Satan with his human strength, Christ came from the royal courts of heaven to help him with His human and divine strength combined. Christ knew that Adam in Eden with his superior advantages might have withstood the temptations of Satan and conquered him.[20]

 The advantages of Adam included divine power operating in his system. He was built for that. It also included access to the light and love of God that, manifested throughout the garden of Eden, warmed the heart and motivating man to devotion. It included personal moral strength derived from the health and right action of the mental faculties.

 [Christ] also knew that it was not possible for man out of Eden, separated from the light and love of God since the fall, to resist the temptations of Satan in his own strength. In order to bring hope to man, and save him from complete ruin, He humbled Himself to take man’s nature, that with His divine power combined with the human He might reach man where he is. He obtained for the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that strength which it is impossible for them to gain for themselves, that in His name they might overcome the temptations of Satan.[21]

 

The Definition of “Sins” and “Sin.”

In its plural form, sin is rather easy to define. Sins are transgressions of the law. Stealing, Lying, Murder are examples of active sins. Hating, Coveting, Lusting are examples of passive sins, violations of commandments 6, 10, and 7 respectively. Not witnessing, not working, not honoring one’s parents are examples of transgression by omission of commandments 6, 4, and 5 respectively.

Exceeding broad in its scope, the law extends its jurisdiction far beyond the bounds of what we call “behavior.” Thoughts and intents (Heb. 4:12) and “every secret thing” among those thoughts will be compared to the law of the Ten Commandments. A question that must be addressed next is whether the law condemns the quality of a man’s moral nature, condemns his poverty of moral worth. These items can not be plural and consequently “sins” are easier to define than “sin.”

Closely related to the idea of sin is the idea of guilt. Most Christian bodies speak of Adam’s sin and its impact on all his children as “original sin.” With most of these, this original sin involves guilt. Perhaps all significant parties confess that we receive guilt from Adam. Because of his sin we are barred from the tree of life. We are appointed to die before the judgement. Such a death, manifestly, can not be the execution of a judgment that has not yet occurred. We die because Adam sinned.

But how have this guilt and its attendant death been passed down? One class maintains that it was a corrupting of the inward soul, and that the creation of each soul at conception involves an inheritance of this rebellion. In this view, the rebellion is itself sinful even before a thought has been formed. The nature is, itself, enmity against God. So man is condemned first, not for thoughts and intentions, but for his relation to Adam.

Adventists, despising dualism, can not buy Calvin’s version of this thought. For decades they bought no version of it at all. But recently the notion has received an Adventist following with the abstract soul being replaced with an equally abstract relationship. Sin, in this mode of thinking, is essentially “a broken relationship.”

There is some evidence that Ellen White viewed sin this way. Guilt follows sin. If we inherit guilt from Adam, it stands to reason that we inherited sin from him in some way. We can not inherit acts of transgression. But we certainly can, and did, inherit an antipathy toward God.

A third class suggests that we receive sin and guilt from Adam in a two-step process. We inherited weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Before we could say “mama” demons had targeted those infirmities and led us to transgression. We were speaking lies at a very early age, perhaps even prenatally.[22] For our transgressions, we suffer as guilty with Adam in choosing rebellion.  The two steps are: 1. Inherit weaknesses  2. Commit sins and experience guilt.

Before progression to the arguments urged in favor of the latter two views, we will spend some time considering arguments made by Satan himself. The answers God has arranged lighten our steps as we approach nearer to truth regarding the nature of sin.

 

Satan’s Arguments

 Satan expected more from the fall than reality delivered. Reasoning from Adam’s position as ruler of the world, the deceiver calculated that Adam’s master was, by virtue of that relationship, master of the planet as well. At least this reasoning was the basis of Christ’s third temptation in the wilderness. Jesus contests, not the flow of logic, but the supposition that Adam was the world’s ruler.

 When Satan declared to Christ, The kingdom and the glory of the world are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it, he stated what was true only in part, and he declared it to serve his own purpose of deception. Satan’s dominion was that wrested from Adam, but Adam was the vicegerent of the Creator. His was not an independent rule. The earth is God’s, and He has committed all things to His Son. Adam was to reign subject to Christ. When Adam betrayed his sovereignty into Satan’s hands, Christ still remained the rightful king.[23]

 Satan’s tends to take partial truths and to work them into apparently logical expressions – expressions of falsehoods. Unhappily, the consistency of Adam’s children demonstrated their moral weakness. Men, the fallen angel argued, were fully depraved.

 After tempting man to sin, Satan claimed the earth as his, and styled himself the prince of this world. Having conformed to his own nature the father and mother of our race, he thought to establish here his empire. He declared that men had chosen him as their sovereign. Through his control of men, he held dominion over the world. Christ had come to disprove Satan’s claim.[24]

 So in one partially true sense, Satan did rule the world. Christ attacked Satan’s claim to be sovereign by showing that men had chosen rebellion and had thus forfeited their delegated authority. If man was fully depraved and incapable of perfect loyalty, who could contest the practical truth in Satan’s claim to rule the intelligences of earth?

 As the Son of man, Christ would stand loyal to God. Thus it would be shown that Satan had not gained complete control of the human race, and that his claim to the world was false. All who desired deliverance from his power would be set free. The dominion that Adam had lost through sin would be recovered. [25]

 God had, Satan alleged, designed a self-serving law. The nature of the law had prompted sinless Adam and Eve to disobey. Their children could do nothing else but disobey. To hold them accountable was cruel. Yet God held them accountable, the devil complained.  God was responsible for the curse, for if man’s resources were not sufficient to make perfect obedience possible how could God enforce death as the penalty of sin? Had God created men to judge them for doing what they could not but do?

 Jesus was to unveil this deception. As one of us He was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences. “In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” Heb. 2:17. If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us. Therefore Jesus was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Heb. 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God.[26]

 Ironically, Satan’s accusations placed Satan as the would-be-benefactor of the race.

 He had been leading them astray by his false representations of God’s character. Claiming for himself the attributes of mercy, goodness, and truth, he had attributed his own character to God. These misrepresentations Christ knew he must meet in human nature, and prove to be false.[27]

 Satan finds promoters for the idea that man is totally depraved. Christ’s sinful human nature provides the key to answering each of these claims. Not recognizing the falleness of Christ’s humanity, false teachers are blinded to heaven’s refutation of Satan’s arguments.

 There are persons professing to be ministers of Christ, who declare with the utmost assurance that no man ever did or ever can keep the law of God. But, according to the Scriptures, Christ “took upon himself our nature,” he “was made in fashion as a man.” He was man’s example, man’s representative, and he declares of himself, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” The beloved disciple urges that every follower of Christ “ought himself also so to walk even as He walked.”[28]

 

Four Fascinating Statements

When reading the four following statements, one must ask the question, “How could Jesus come in the fallen nature of man and not need a Savior himself?”

 Adam sinned, and the children of Adam share his guilt and its consequences[29]

 As related to the first Adam, men receive from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death.[30]

 Human nature is depraved, and is justly condemned by a holy God.[31]

 The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God’s right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption.[32]

 My own first exposure to these four statements brought surprise. Having been exposed to faulty quotations previously, I actually doubted the veracity of one of them. But they are real and exist as you read them above. My suspicion to the contrary arose from a familiarity with so many statements apparently contrary to these. This larger body of statements and their bearing on understanding the truth in these four will be the subject of the next few sections.

 

Corruption as Result of Past Personal Sins

God addressed a string of interesting questions to the Jew’s. If a man that is clean touches an unclean item, does the unclean item become clean? They answered “no.” What if an unclean man touches a clean item? Does the item become unclean? They answered “yes.” Corruption is a one-way street. No volume of cleanliness is sufficient to be combined with a small amount of corruption and to produce purity.

 In like manner, when a man has once broken the law his life is hopelessly corrupted. No amount of subsequent right-doing can suffice to purge away the single wrong. He could never approach God with an offering without a covering for his past record.[33]

 The corruption caused by sin is, however, more than a record in heaven. The sins we commit are, Jeremiah says, written with a pen of iron. They are represented as engraved in the horns of the altar of the sanctuary. In Daniel we find that the sanctuary does contain a record of sins, and this record is in books. Just as the presence of blood on the altars determined the fate of the sinner, so the judgment evaluates sinners in relation to the covering of their sins with Christ’s blood.

Beyond the record in heaven, cleansed in the ongoing course of end-time events, Jeremiah speaks of a record closer to home. They are engraved in “tables of their hearts.” It is “sins” that are written there, as opposed to an original “sin.” Perhaps the most remarkable thing about our experience of corruption is how God has made provision for cleaning the table of the heart.

Cleaning away the defilement of sin was the work of the Hebrew sanctuary. The Levitical laws were established to remove varieties of guilt. The sacrifice of Jesus was prefigured by many symbols, and not one was without significance. Without shedding of blood there was no remission of sins, even in type. Sacrifices in Leviticus were established for sins of ignorance, and some for sins of not-thinking. Sins of omission and commission were disposed of through the system.

But there was no sacrifice to atone for a parent’s sin. No rite required the confession of Adam’s fall. Selah.

While Ellen White writes several times about corruption in terms that apply to men in general– men that at some time in the past have been at enmity with heaven– most of her statements reserve the various forms of the word for a narrower purpose. She uses it much as we would in the sentence “that man is corrupt.” In this wider context corruption can be avoided and reversed, inherited and cultivated.

The statements on inherited corruption shed light on the nature of the first fall. They point out a modern analogue or model that can help us understand the change that came to man’s nature through sin.

 As a rule, every intemperate man who rears children transmits his inclinations and evil tendencies to his offspring; he gives them disease from his own inflamed and corrupted blood. Licentiousness, disease, and imbecility are transmitted as an inheritance of woe from father to son and from generation to generation, and this brings anguish and suffering into the world and is no less than a repetition of the fall of man.[34]

 What does the intemperate man pass on to his children? Inclinations and evil tendencies. This model, Ellen White reveals, is not some lesser legacy than that passed on by Adam.

But an inheritance of inclinations and tendencies is not, itself, “corruption” under either of the definitions Ellen White uses for the word. Such an inheritance would need to be acted on, nourished if you will, before becoming “corruption.” The inheritance only tends to corruption. A stamp of character constitutes the genetic gift.

 Parents give the stamp of character to their children. Children that are born of these parents inherit qualities of mind from them which are of a low and base order. Satan nourishes anything tending to corruption.[35]

 By this formula, a man that has been changed by the grace of God and has been a partaker of the Divine nature, is no longer corrupt. He possesses the graces of God’s Spirit. His corrupt nature has been uprooted. To secure such a man Satan would be at pains to plant that corrupt nature anew.

 Will you permit him to steal from you the graces of the Spirit of God, and plant in you his own corrupt nature? or will you accept the great provision of salvation, and through the merits of the Infinite Sacrifice made in your behalf, become a partaker of the divine nature?[36]

 The two definitions of corruption found in Ellen White’s writings might be summarized as debtor corruption and nature corruption. A concrete understanding of both will smooth our sailing into the next section.

Once we have sinned we are debtors to the law. Were our characters ever so pure, our natures ever so elevated, were we raised incorruptible, yet it would remain true that, without the covering of Christ’s righteousness, that one sin would forever bar our entrance into heaven. Debtor corruption is illustrated by the records of our life made in the books of heaven.

A man that has submitted to the control of his tendencies to evil and has thus cultivated a propensity for sin has corrupted his life. The disorganized faculties of his mind, with the will serving the appetites and passions, constitute a corrupt nature.

This corruption can grow to horrible proportions. Unlike debtor corruption, it is transmitted from generation to generation as an inheritance of tendencies that soon bloom, by consent of the will, into new harvest of corrupt natures.

This latter definition, nature corruption (by inheritance of character), may well be called “depravity.” In the following passage we find how Ellen White understood the relation between these words. In short, when corruption has not been expelled, human depravity remains.

      Those who are enamoured of this religion of fancy[37] do not relish the idea of destroying the old man with his deeds, and bringing into subjection every rebellious thought to the dominion of Christ. They do not desire to submit themselves to the control of the Spirit of God, which works in the human heart to expel every corruption and to establish vital principles of virtue, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and Christlike love.

     Yet those who receive the Spirit of God, though they were dead in trespasses and sins, will experience the active working of that power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The vital power of the Holy Spirit will raise up those who realize their helplessness, and who come confessing their sins and believing in Jesus.

     All the faculties are to be brought under the control of the Spirit of God . . .. When all the wisdom of the schools, all the accumulations of human ability, are brought to bear upon those who are dead in trespasses and sins, they avail nothing for the reformation of character. Human selfishness remains in all its depravity. The Spirit of God alone can make and keep men pure. Its work upon the soul is represented as bringing life to the dead, and freeing the soul from the slavery of sin, which has brought it under the condemnation of the law, where wrath and tribulation fall upon every evil doer.[38]

 

Depravity and Corruption as Unregenerate Activity

Ellen White’s use of the word depravity differs significantly from the use of the word by Calvinists. Non-Calvinists do not tend to speak much about depravity. As a result, the Calvinistic use of the word dominates the theological world.

This means that when an old lady says “that man is depraved” she means something somewhat different by the word than her recently graduated parson. To her, only the unconverted lust-serving man is depraved. To him, saints and sinners share human depravity.

Ellen White used the common man’s definition rather than that of the school men.

 Self is difficult to conquer. Human depravity in every form is not easily brought into subjection to the Spirit of Christ. But all should be impressed with the fact that unless this victory is gained through Christ, there is no hope for them . . .. By His assisting grace, all evil temper, all human depravity, may be overcome.[39]

 [Christians] will not bring human depravity into things small or great. They will do nothing to perpetuate division in the church.[40]

 One thing I wish you to understand, that I have not been in harmony with the expelling of students from the school, unless human depravity and gross licentiousness make it necessary, that others shall not be corrupted.[41]

 We read earlier that Satan has worked to plant his nature in men. Jesus had something to say about what he would do about that implanted depravity.

 Jesus said “I will summon every heavenly power. Angels that excel in strength shall unite with humanity, sanctified to my service to uproot evil. The depravity of man requires all this expenditure of heavenly power, that man may be sanctified through the grace of God. Jesus said, “I will redeem my people from the earth. The perishing shall be rescued.”[42]

 Ironically, the depravity that theologians consider to be universal in its scope is limited by the prophet to working in the personal experience of those “that remain voluntarily and fearfully in the dark.”

 When you see your great spiritual lack you will realize the fact that human depravity, specified in the word of God, is true in your experience. You are both pharisaical, and are in danger of remaining voluntarily and fearfully in the dark in regard to your dangers and your true standing before God.[43]

 Depravity, when allowed to bear sway over little things, deepens. When allowed full liberty it comes to despise restraint. It is the force of the corrupt nature and becomes a predictor of what will happen in a time of testing.

 You are so situated in your responsible position that you must necessarily meet all classes of people with all kinds of characters. It is any wonder that you shall very often meet professed Christians who are inconsistent in practice? The force of a corrupt nature, allowed full liberty over the little things, shall, when brought to the point of decision against inclination, disdain all restraint, and claim entire independence.[44]

 The whole world is verily condemned. Is it because they are transgressors? Or because they are the children of transgressors? They lost Eden for the latter reason and heaven for the former.

 It is by grace that the sinner is saved, being justified freely by the blood of Christ. But Christ did not die to save the sinner in his sins. The whole world is condemned as guilty before God, for they are transgressors of his holy law; and they will certainly perish unless they repent, turn from their disobedience, and through faith in Christ claim the merits of his precious blood. The sin of Adam and Eve lost holy Eden for themselves and their posterity, and those who continue to live in the transgression of God’s law will never regain the lost paradise. But through the grace of Christ man may render acceptable obedience, and gain a home in the beautiful Eden restored.[45]

 Another evidence of the nature of guilt, that it follows sin rather than heritage, is found in the judgement against Jesus. He suffered, not for the nature of man, but in the nature of man; not for the bent of men’s hearts, but for their evil thoughts, evil deeds, and evil words.

 The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world’s Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for retribution upon Himself; for He had become man’s substitute.[46]

 

Laws of Heredity

Deep in the Ten Commandments are gems of thought that illumine today’s controversies. An example can be found in the second commandment where we read of “mercy shown to thousands of them that love [God] and keep [His] commandments.”

Examining the sentence, a searching soul would find, to the following questions, the following answers: Do commandment keepers deserve heaven? No, they need mercy. Do lovers of God receive mercy? Yes, if they keep the commandments. Do commandment keepers receive mercy? Not if they have a formal or legal religion. Love is essential.

So as soon as there was a written law there was a written presentation of the saved-by-grace-through-an-obedient-and-loving-faith gospel.

In the same commandment we find the first Biblical enunciation of the laws of heredity. Briefly yet comprehensively the sentence answers questions regarding the impact of transgressions on future generations.

 “For the Lord thy God is a jealous God visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy to thousands [of generations][47] of them that love me and keep my commandments.”

 God’s jealousy, in hereditary law, signifies that entire obedience is required.[48] God will not bless double-mindedness. Neither the mercy promised to the loving and obedient, nor any other good gift, should be expected by that class.

The laws of heredity play a key roll in answering the questions addressed in this paper. I will adduce one of the most comprehensive of Ellen White statements on the subject.

 Yet this [becoming human] was but the beginning of [Christ’s] wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.[49]

 We want to plumb the depths of this paragraph, and to do so by studying the “great law of heredity.” But before broadening our search, let us take a moment to glean something about the law from this statement’s immediate context.

We know that the “results” of this great law can be seen in the earthly ancestors of Jesus. In a simplified note, the results of the law are something that can be seen in history. The law has a visible impact on human life to such an extent that by studying history one may learn to trace effects of the law.

**************

A brief survey of Christ’s human ancestry is informative. David had a moral weakness and took more than one wife. His son Solomon had greater weakness and took a greater number of wives. Solomon, when unconverted, was an exacting king. His son, Rehoboam, inaugurated his brief reign with an announcement that he would be a great deal more exacting than his father.

Abraham lied about his relationship to his wife. His son Isaac did the same, and for the same reason. But more than that, he gave birth to a son whose lying reached the point of deceiving his own father. Jacob tried to turn the order of the birthright by fraud. His son, Joseph, resisted the order of the blessing chosen by his father at the blessing of Ephraim and Manessah.[50]

 Upon fathers as well as mothers rests a responsibility for the child’s earlier as well as its later training, and for both parents the demand for careful and thorough preparation is most urgent. Before taking upon themselves the possibilities of fatherhood and motherhood, men and women should become acquainted with the laws of physical development–with physiology and hygiene, with the bearing of prenatal influences, with the laws of heredity, sanitation, dress, exercise, and the treatment of disease; they should also understand the laws of mental development and moral training.[51]

 Take encouragement. If the millions of not-yet-parents are here called to understand the laws of heredity, and if they can be understood from examining history, these laws can not be very complex in their operation. Bible history, because it is so concise and so focussed on morality, seems written to aid the study of heredity.

Secular history, which covers either a nation or a war or an era, passes by the likenesses of son to father as expressed in their similarity of moral weaknesses. In the scriptures, these similarities seem to form the basis of inclusion for many of the stories of the patriarchs. Some might see in this interesting circumstantial evidence for the theory that God intended that even young and inexperienced students of scripture understand these things.

Inheritance is an abstraction to most of us. What to our parents give us? Inclinations? Bad habits? Guilt? Weaknesses? A certain human hatred of God? Iniquities or sins?

The law of heredity in the Second Commandment indicates that we receive the iniquities of our fathers, and guilt for those iniquities, and death as a result of that guilt.[52] How iniquities are passed on genetically (or metaphysically) is the subject of hereditary law.

If the nature of heredity allows strong tendencies to be passed on, and if these tendencies were the content of the degeneracy that parents give to their children, we might expect that some would resist and remain unsullied by the inheritance they had received. On the other hand, if actual guilt was passed on despite the compliance of the children, then degeneracy would be unavoidable. In the first case, the cause of future degeneracy would be continued disobedience and transgression. In the latter, it would be the hopeless destiny of the naturally degenerating posterity.

 Adam was carried down through successive generations, and saw the increase of crime, of guilt and defilement, because man would yield to his naturally strong inclinations to transgress the holy law of God. He was shown the curse of God resting more and more heavily upon the human race, upon the cattle, and upon the earth, because of man’s continued transgression. He was shown that iniquity and violence would steadily increase; yet amid all the tide of human misery and woe, there would ever be a few who would preserve the knowledge of God, and would remain unsullied amid the prevailing moral degeneracy. Adam was made to comprehend what sin is–the transgression of the law. He was shown that moral, mental, and physical degeneracy would result to the race, from transgression, until the world would be filled with human misery of every type.[53]

 Again, if the guilt we inherit from Adam is the guilt of his transgression, then the laws of heredity would have corrupted Jesus. On the other hand, if we share the guilt of Adam because we share with him the personal experience of transgression, then Jesus could have submitted to the laws of heredity without accruing personal guilt.

In the latter case everything depends on the action of the will. By our will we chose to join Adam in transgression and by our will choose to flee to Christ for freedom from transgression.

 We have reason for ceaseless gratitude to God that Christ, by his perfect obedience, has won back the heaven that Adam lost through disobedience. Adam sinned, and the children of Adam share his guilt and its consequences; but Jesus bore the guilt of Adam, and all the children of Adam that will flee to Christ, the second Adam, may escape the penalty of transgression. Jesus regained heaven for man by bearing the test that Adam failed to endure; for he obeyed the law perfectly, and all who have a right conception of the plan of redemption will see that they cannot be saved while in transgression of God’s holy precepts. They must cease to transgress the law, and lay hold on the promises of God that are available for us through the merits of Christ.[54]

 By the theory being advocated in this paper, our inheritance from Adam includes wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy in cases where the parents are not loving and obeying God. The law of heredity speaks of the hatefully disobedient particularly.

 “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.” It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents’ guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father’s sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.[55]

 Why do children suffer for the consequences of their parent’s sins? In other words, why do we suffer for Adam’s sin? Because “it is inevitable.” Here we find an insight into the nature of God’s law. God did not mean, in the threatening of the second commandment, that he would arbitrarily curse children for their parent’s sins. But while parents pass on a deranged moral system (with the lower powers in ascendency) it is inevitable that unconverted children will imitate the example of their parents.[56]

 “This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.” I have witnessed the truthfulness of this inspired assertion. And this statement is not the only one of its kind. A grasp of this part of the commandments should move men to obey the rest.[57]

 As noted in the last quotation, wickedness is passed from generation to generation by “inheritance and example.” Do not underestimate the power of example in enforcing the law of heredity. Children grow up from infancy, nay, from times prenatal, forming characters under the shadow of their parents. They watch their parents daily year after year and it can be no wonder that the law of beholding (as found is 2 Cor. 3:18) would mold their minds.

God did not mean in this threatening [of the Second Commandment] that the children should be compelled to suffer for their parents’ sins, but that the example of the parents would be imitated by the children. If the children of wicked parents should serve God and do righteousness, he would reward their right-doing.

But the effects of a sinful life are often inherited by the children. They follow in the footsteps of their parents. Sinful example has its influence from father to son, to the third and fourth generations. If parents indulge in depraved appetites, they will, in almost every case, see the same acted over in their children. The children will develop characters similar to those of their parents; and unless they are renewed by grace, and overcome, they are truly unfortunate. If parents are continually rebellious, and inclined to disobey God, their children will generally imitate their example.

     Godly parents, who instruct their children by precept and example in the ways of righteousness, will generally see their children following in their footsteps. The example of God-fearing parents will be imitated by their children, and their children’s children will imitate the right example their parents have set before them; and thus the influence is seen from generation to generation.[58]

 When the children of rebellious parents are brought into the world, the curse mentioned in the Second Commandment works three ways.

 

1. Children are born with their passions in a position to overpower their conscience
2. Children are born into a family where example leads them astray
3. Children make their own choices based on items one and two, and these react on their character.

The second and third points extend the curse beyond the realms of heredity, for our neighbors will also behold our example.

 Their neglect to cultivate their children in righteous ways will not only be the ruin of their own families, but the wrong principles they inculcated in them, bear fruit in other lives, and are transmitted from parent to child to the third and fourth generation. There will be a harvest to be gathered that will be hard to be reaped. The irreligious practices of the children produced effects in their own characters and in the characters of others, and instead of being a blessing in the world, they became a curse.[59]

 Cultivating a debased character requires neither thought nor attention. It is very natural. To cultivate a righteous character, either in one’s self or in his children, requires all the effort men can make. Each child requires individual attention. If we have more children than we have time and energy to train in righteousness, we break the spirit of the Second Commandment.[60] Our lack of training affects our own neglected children, and their character affects the family’s associates.

By injuring our neighbor we break the last six commandments. Having children who, by our neglect, will be a drain on the race is unchristian. These parents break the law.[61] The same could be said for parents with particularly weak morals or with debilitating mental or physical diseases that are likely to be passed on genetically. Can these have children without being unkind?

 Those who increase their number of children, when if they consulted reason, they must know that physical and mental weakness must be their inheritance, are transgressors of the last six precepts of God’s law. . . . They do their part in increasing the degeneracy of the race and in sinking society lower, thus injuring their neighbor. If God thus regards the rights of neighbors, has He no care in regard to closer and more sacred relationship? If not a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice, will He be unmindful of the children born into the world, diseased physically and mentally, suffering in a greater or less degree, all their lives? Will He not call parents to an account, to whom He has given reasoning powers, for putting these higher faculties in the background and becoming slaves to passion, when, as the result, generations must bear the mark of their physical, mental, and moral deficiencies?[62]

 Realizing the impact of our family government on our neighbors, Christians should study. We should concern ourselves with all that can be known about raising righteous children. To quiet their consciences some might object that even the children of godly parents are wayward. If they can not raise an upright son, how can anyone else be expected to? They excuse their deficiency.

Those who realize their deficiency in a matter which concerns the happiness and usefulness of future generations, should make the subject of family government their most diligent study. As an objection to this, many point to the children of ministers, teachers, and other men of high repute for learning and piety, and urge that if these men, with their superior advantages, fail in family government, those who are less favorably situated need not hope to succeed.

     The question to be settled is, Have these men given to their children that which is their right–a good example, faithful instruction, and proper restraint? It is by a neglect of these essentials that such parents give to society children who are unbalanced in mind, impatient of restraint, and ignorant of the duties of practical life. In this they are doing the world an injury which outweighs all the good that their labors accomplish.[63]

 Intemperance in sexual (sensual) activity costs something. Not only does it increase the likelihood of an unplanned pregnancy, but it leads to a hereditary gift of sensual intemperance.[64]

 

Heredity and the Degeneration of the Race

Earlier we considered an interesting modern analogue to the fall of man—the effects of intemperance in the laws of heredity. Here is the statement again.

 As a rule, every intemperate man who rears children transmits his inclinations and evil tendencies to his offspring; he gives them disease from his own inflamed and corrupted blood. Licentiousness, disease, and imbecility are transmitted as an inheritance of woe from father to son and from generation to generation, and this brings anguish and suffering into the world and is no less than a repetition of the fall of man.[65]

 In 1878 the Health Reformer printed at article giving a more detailed description of the same analogue. In the following extract from the article Ellen White explains the means by which the race degenerates. She comments on how tendencies practiced become propensities, or bad habits. And these propensities, passed on as stamps of character, become “second nature” to those who continue indulging them. In the unconverted the race is fearfully weakened from one generation to another. Emphasis below is supplied.

      Parents who freely use wine and liquor leave to their children the legacy of a feeble constitution, mental, and moral debility, unnatural appetites, irritable temper, and an inclination to vice. Parents should feel that they are responsible to God, and to society, to bring into existence beings whose physical, mental and moral characters shall enable them to make a proper use of life, be a blessing to the world, and an honor to their Creator.

     The indulgence of perverted appetite is the great cause of the deterioration of the human race. The child of the drunkard or the tobacco inebriate usually has the depraved appetites and passions of the father intensified, and at the same time inherits less of his self-control, and strength of mind. Men who are naturally calm and strong-minded not infrequently lose control of themselves while under the influence of liquor, and, though they may not commit crime, still have an inclination to do so, which might result in the act if a fair opportunity offered.

    Continued dissipation makes these propensities a second nature. Their children often receive this stamp of character before their birth; for the appetites of the parents are often intensified in the children. Thus unborn generations are afflicted by the use of tobacco and liquor. Intellectual decay is entailed upon them, and their moral perceptions are blunted.

    Thus the world is being filled with paupers, lunatics, thieves, and murderers. Disease, imbecility, and crime, with private and public corruptions of every sort, are making the world a second Sodom. For the sake of that high charity and sympathy for the souls of tempted men for whom Christ died, Christians should come out from the popular customs and evils of the age, and be forever separated from them.

     But we find in the clergy themselves the most insurmountable obstacle to the promotion of temperance. Many are addicted to the use of the filthy weed, tobacco, which perverts the appetite, and creates the desire for some stronger stimulant.[66]

 When we learn how the race degenerates and falls in the scale of moral worth, we will have a tool for evaluating the nature of the impact Adam’s sin had on his children. The fact is that we have learned something about this already. But the data on degeneration throws even more light on the subject.

The facts in this case reveal something of the content of Christ’s condescension. What degeneration did to mankind, its plague did the same to Jesus.

 What a contrast the second Adam presented as He entered the gloomy wilderness to cope with Satan single-handed. Since the fall, the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up to the period of Christ’s advent to the earth. In order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He humiliated Himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that He might be qualified to reach man and bring him up from the degradation in which sin had plunged him.[67]

 Not all that Cain and Seth received from Adam was negative. There was a reason for the longevity that characterized the race for the millennium following Adam’s death. The antedeluvian lifespan contrasts sharply with that of the race in Christ’s time. The Spirit of Prophecy explains that if Adam had not passed on such a vibrant constitution, one so full of life, that disease would have, ere this, brought mankind to extinction.

In Christ’s day, and ours, the dissolution of the human body has progressed so far that even infants are plagued and subject to mortality. There is no record of any such event as a natural infant death during the first half of earth’s history. By the time of Christ’s appearance, paediatrics had joined the list of needed medical specialities. Children were sick.[68]

 Still more deplorable is the condition of the human family at the present time. Diseases of every type have been developed. Thousands of poor mortals with deformed, sickly bodies and shattered nerves, are dragging out a miserable existence. The infirmities of the body affect the mind, and lead to gloom, doubt, and despair. Even infants in the cradle suffer from diseases resulting from the sins of their parents.[69]

 The cause of this “deplorable” “condition of the human family”, as pointed out by the prophet, confirms the thesis of this paper. The indulgence of appetite has been both the origin and the continued source of moral pollution in the world. Our Father in heaven made choice of a fruit tree as the medium of choice for testing our parents. He had given our parents every fruit tree as a source of food. Meditate a few moments on the fact that the whole test was designed, before the fall, on the ground of the relation of the higher to the lower powers.

The holy desires of Adam and Eve, for food, for human companionship, for intellectual growth, were placed in contradiction to the higher powers of their nature. Their belly and their conscience were to collide over their relation to the tree. The nature of the contest exalts the power of temperance to prevent moral decline. Self-indulgence degrades.

 It was through the temptation to indulge appetite, that Adam and Eve fell from their holy and happy estate. It seemed a small matter to our first parents to transgress the command of God in that one act–the eating from a tree that was so beautiful to the sight, and so pleasant to the taste; but it broke their allegiance to God, and opened the gates to a flood of guilt and woe. And it is through the same temptation that the race have become enfeebled. Since the first surrender to appetite, mankind have been growing more and more self-indulgent, until health has been sacrificed on the altar of appetite. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world ate and drank till the indulgence of depraved appetite knew no bounds, and they became so corrupt that God could bear with them no longer. They filled up the cup of their iniquity, and by a flood He cleansed the earth of its moral pollution.[70]

 When appetite bears sway over reason, men underestimate their danger. They flatter themselves that such a trifling sin as eating could not be punished with much severity. Their moral senses are blunted. They fail to discern in disease and misery an effect that has followed hard on the cause. Indulgence is the cause and decay—the result.

 Yet the fruit of the forbidden tree appeared more desirable to her than the fruit of all the other trees in the garden of which she could freely eat. She was intemperate in her desires. She ate, and through her influence, her husband ate also, and a curse rested upon them both. The earth also was cursed because of their sin. And since the fall, intemperance in almost every form has existed. The appetite has controlled reason. The human family have followed in a course of disobedience, and, like Eve, have been beguiled by Satan to disregard the prohibitions God has made, flattering themselves that the consequences would not be as fearful as had been apprehended. The human family have violated the laws of health, and have run to excess in almost everything. Disease has been steadily increasing. The cause has been followed by the effect.[71]

 

Discounting the Degradation

“Man can not obey.” That has been Satan’s theme. To bolster that claim he developed the arguments mentioned earlier in this paper. His work has been to make these prominent—especially the argument that the race is so depraved that they can not possibly be expected to obey.

Christ has taken the lead in discounting the degradation of the race. Through his own life, and by that of his faithful followers in the last crisis, He shows that men weakened as they are, and loaded with feelings of guilt and worthlessness, may be men still. They may yield to the claims of conscience and bring their appetites back into subjection.

The stigma resting on human nature Jesus removed by representing that nature in the theatre of the universe. Men and angels may see that humanity, combined with Divinity, conquers temptations.

Ellen White addressed these issues in a letter to the captain of Adventism’s missionary boat—the Pitcairn:

 Christ is the Son of God in deed and in truth and in love and is the representative of the Father as well as the representative of the human race. His arm brought salvation. He took humanity, was bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and submitted to all the temptations wherewith man would be beset. He showed in the great controversy with Satan that He was fully able to remove the stigma and discount the degradation of sin which Satan had placed upon the human family. By taking humanity and combining it with divinity, He was able to meet every demand of the law of God, to overcome every objection which Satan had made prominent, as standing in the way of man’s obedience to God’s commandments.[72]

 The objections that stand “in the way of man’s obedience” men may inadvertently revive. To make an issue of the fact that Christ was divinity clothed with humanity, as if His divine nature helped him in some way that it can not help us, undermines the work of Christ. To speak of his person as though he was not crippled by the ailments, the habiliments, that rest on other men, echoes Satan’s prominent theory.

 Who would dare present the case in such a way as to remove the objection to sin because Christ clothed His divinity with humanity! Christ spoke in human nature. The divine and the human were united. Those who are following the will of Christ will have messages condemning sin and exalting righteousness, but always condemning sin.[73]

 Never was the Son of God more beloved by his Father, by the heavenly family, and by the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds, than when he humbled himself to bear disgrace, humiliation, shame, and abuse. By becoming the sin-bearer, he lifted from the human race the curse of sin. In his own body he paid the penalty of that on which the power of Satan over humanity is founded–sin.[74]

 Perhaps many have clouded the issue of Christ’s nature by advocating something very near the truth. To say that Christ had not advantage over men born today is vague. Even men have advantages over men, depending on the circumstances of their birth. These differences are no mean triviality. We have seen already that children may inherit almost unimaginably strong and perverted appetites. They may inherit very little power of self-control. The worst cases are so mentally or morally ill as to be closer to the “brutes” than to their fellow men.

The truth would better be stated “Christ accepted no advantage that men may not gain by partaking of the Divine nature.” Never was it the work of Jesus to prove that men alone could do something well. Rather, he showed what they, with the faculties heaven has provided them, might accomplish by the power of God.

 After the fall of man, Satan declared that human beings were proved to be incapable of keeping the law of God, and he sought to carry the universe with him in this belief. Satan’s words appeared to be true, and Christ came to unmask the deceiver. The Majesty of heaven undertook the cause of man, and with the same facilities that man may obtain, withstood the temptations of Satan as man must withstand them. This was the only way in which fallen man could become a partaker of the divine nature.[75]

 The book of Hebrews describes the nature of Jesus in words like these, “took on him the seed of Abraham,” [Heb. 2:14-] .. [“took flesh and blood, he likewise took part in the same.”]

Our bodies are corruptible. They will never enter heaven without an extreme change.[76] They die and turn to dust…rather than burn and turn to ashes. This was the curse that came upon Adam as a result of sin and Jesus bore that curse in his body. His corpse was spared from rotting only by his self-resurrection. “You will not suffer your Holy one to see corruption,” David prophesied. Yet the corruptible flesh and blood of Jesus carried with it no guilt of its own.

 

Arguments from Reversal

The truth regarding human nature differs from most evangelical positions. By way of contrast, the latter hold that human depravity and corruption to be intrinsic to man in his unglorified state. The former proclaims that much of what sin has done to degrade the race may be undone by the gospel even now.

If this assertion be proved, it demonstrates that Christ may indeed have come just as we may become. He may have taken our nature without partaking in the depravity and corruption that need not be part of it.

Sin degraded men physically, mentally, and morally. Marriage was given to ennoble man in the very ways that sin degraded him.

 “Marriage is honourable”; it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature.[77]

 The first step in reversing the damage done by sin includes making man aware of his corruption.

 Christ must be brought into your life. He alone can cure you of envy, of evil surmising against your brethren; He alone can take away from you the self-sufficient spirit that some of you cherish to your own spiritual detriment. Jesus alone can make you feel your weakness, your ignorance, your corrupt nature. He alone can make you pure, refine you, fit you for the mansions of the blessed.[78]

 Our bodies are the root of our problems. Their desires and passions cry for indulgence. The thoughts of self-gratification they urge upon our mind are to be expelled. This can be done. Done repeatedly, it is the undoing of the work of corruption.

 The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it. The words “flesh” or “fleshly” or “carnal lusts” embrace the lower, corrupt nature; the flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God. We are commanded to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. How shall we do it? Shall we inflict pain on the body? No; but put to death the temptation to sin. The corrupt thought is to be expelled. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. All animal propensities are to be subjected to the higher powers of the soul. The love of God must reign supreme; Christ must occupy an undivided throne. Our bodies are to be regarded as His purchased possession. The members of the body are to become the instruments of righteousness.[79]

 The position of those that return to commandment-keeping in the future will reveal tendencies wholly at conflict with humanities deep-seated hatred against God. The contrast will prompt men to accuse the faithful among their brethren as traitors against the government of earth.

 The hostility to heaven will go on to still greater lengths. War, bloodshed, rebellion against God’s law, will reach an aggravating pass that many do not think possible. So deep and increasingly strong is the infernal enmity and hatred to God, which has struck deep its roots into human depraved hearts throughout the mass of humanity, that anyone who shall show any inclination to return to God and keep His commandments, will be denounced as treacherous to the governments of earth.[80]

 These have escaped the corruption that was in the world. Peter revealed that it was appetite, “lust,” that brought the corruption. And the same apostle pointed to promises as the means by which we might partake of the Divine nature and escape the power of those lusts and the corruption that it brings.

 When we are securely anchored in Christ, we have a power that no human being can take from us. Why in this?–Because we are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust,–partakers of the nature of Him who came to this earth clothed with the habiliments of humanity, that He might stand at the head of the human race, and develop a character that was without spot or stain of sin.[81]

 There is wonderful meaning in the words “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, all things are become new.” We have moral tastes, preferences for rebellion or loyalty, that when perverted gravely endanger the soul. Conversion changes these tastes. It makes man into a “good tree” that can be seen by its fruits.

Our experience of regeneration should reflect how we have “learned Christ.” We hear Jesus and are taught by Him to rid ourselves of the “old man” descended from Adam. That old man is corrupt. When renewed in the Spirit of our mind, we are created again in the image of God. The old man was born in sin. The new is “created in righteousness and true holiness.” The heart is changed and from its abundance is to come  nothing corrupt.

 “But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. . . . Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.[82]

Pride, selfishness, passionate temper, these corrupt fruits grow on the “evil tree.” Man may be transformed into a “good tree” and this itself is high-quality evidence that depravity need not be retained.

The question to ask the soul is, “Am I a partaker of the divine nature, represented as being born again? Has a new moral taste been created? If not, the soul is in deadly peril. He who is born of God is a new man. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The old imperious will is gone. The pride is cleansed from the soul. Selfishness is uprooted. The quick, passionate temper no longer masters the man; for Jesus Christ has brought the thoughts into captivity to himself.

     “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let no arrogancy come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.[83]

 This change is paramount to removing both inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil. Think of it. What would it mean if God would remove inherited tendencies to evil? It meant a great deal to brother McCullagh.

 The Lord loves Brother McCullagh because his soul is precious, but He will never excuse sin. If Brother McCullagh will accept of the working of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will pardon him, He will take away his natural and hereditary tendencies. But God will not compel obedience from any soul. The Lord will work with him, if he will repent and be converted, and will give him His Holy Spirit, which will enable him to overcome and receive the overcomer’s reward.[84]

 Our trouble in understanding why Christ had to win the right to live inside of us rests partially on the narrowness of our thinking. We tend to regard the merits of Christ in only legal terms. But the moral value of our Savior’s life is more than a legal credit to cover a man’s sin. Far more than this, his merits infused the race with moral power. Those that depend on his strength may have it. The weakness inherited from our fathers is undone in Christ.

 There is help for us only in God. We should not flatter ourselves that we have any strength in wisdom of our own, for our strength is weakness, our judgment foolishness. Christ conquered the foe in our behalf because He pitied our weakness and knew that we would be overcome and would perish if He did not come to our help. He clothed His divinity with humanity, and thus was qualified to reach man with His human arm while with His divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite. The merits of Christ elevate and ennoble humanity, and through the name and grace of Christ it is possible for man to overcome the degradation caused by the Fall, and through the exalted, divine nature of Christ to be linked to the Infinite.[85]

 Satan understood his situation well. If Christ would withstand his temptations, his tyranny over the race would be doomed to failure and fallen angels doomed to destruction. If he failed to defeat Christ, the example of Christ’s obedience would add power to the race Satan would be too feeble to oppose.

 Satan knew that the plan of salvation would be carried out to its fulfillment, that his power would be taken away, that his destruction would be certain, if Christ bore the test that Adam failed to endure. The temptations of Satan were most effective in degrading human nature, for man could not stand against their powerful influence; but Christ in man’s behalf, as man’s representative, resting wholly upon the power of God, endured the severe conflict, in order that he might be a perfect example to us.[86]

 Through his transgression Adam lost far more than innocence. His power to control self was forfeited and his natural love for God perished from his heart. This was the work of the fall. By it the image of God was nearly obliterated in man. Our question in this section is whether such damage to our nature can be undone here in this earth.

 God said in the beginning, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;” but sin has almost obliterated the moral image of God in man. This lamentable condition would have known no change or hope if Jesus had not come down to our world to be man’s Saviour and Example. In the midst of a world’s moral degradation he stands, a beautiful and spotless character, the one model for man’s imitation. We must study, and copy, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ; then we shall bring the loveliness of his character into our own life, and weave his beauty into our daily words and actions. Thus we shall stand before God with acceptance, and win back by conflict with the principalities of darkness, the power of self-control, and the love of God that Adam lost in the fall. Through Christ we may possess the spirit of love and obedience to the commands of God. Through his merits it may be restored in our fallen natures; and when the Judgment shall sit and the books be opened, we may be the recipients of God’s approval.[87]

 If self control may be restored to our fallen nature, then the lusts of that nature may be subdued. But that is not all the same as purifying the nature. Spiritual leaders have perceived something of the depth of our nature’s defilement. Simple reasoning has led them to conclusions that we must partially share. “We see and are compelled to acknowledge human depravity, but we do not need to stop at this conclusion, for through faith in Christ life and immortality are brought to light.”[88] When we neglect to consider the power  of the Holy Spirit in the life, we may grossly underestimate the kind of victorious experience available to us. We may fatally misrepresent what man must be and do to be saved.

 All human ambition, all boasting, is to be laid in the dust. Self, sinful self, is to be abased, not exalted. By holiness to God in the daily life here below, we are to manifest the Christ-life. The corrupt nature is to become pure and undefiled, subdued, not exalted. We are to be humble, faithful men and women. Never are we to sit upon the judgment seat. God demands that His representatives shall be pure vessels, revealing the beauty of sanctified character. The channel is always to remain unobstructed, that the Holy Spirit may have free course; otherwise, spiritual leaders will gloss over the work that must be done in the natural heart in order to perfect Christian character, and they will present their own imperfections in such a way that they make of none effect God’s truth, which is as steadfast as the eternal throne. And while God calls upon all His watchmen to lift the danger signal, at the same time He presents before them the life of the Saviour as an example of what they must be and do in order to be saved.[89]

 Here we may approach another one of our “fascinating statements.” The word “nature” as used in the last several passages refers to elements in man that may be changed—degraded or purified. The word “depraved” as used in paragraphs earlier in the study connotes unregenerate man. “Human nature” when not qualified by “united with Divinity” is code for man in his morally deranged state, his higher powers serving the lower. The words “a new nature” in the next paragraph show that it is man’s personal rebellion apart from Christ that is “justly condemned” rather than his blood relationship to fallen Adam.

 Human nature is depraved, and is justly condemned by a holy God. But provision is made for the repenting sinner, so that by faith in the atonement of the only begotten Son of God, he may receive forgiveness of sin, find justification, receive adoption into the heavenly family, and become an inheritor of the kingdom of God. Transformation of character is wrought through the operation of the Holy Spirit, which works upon the human agent, implanting in him, according to his desire and consent to have it done, a new nature. The image of God is restored to the soul, and day by day he is strengthened and renewed by grace, and is enabled more and more perfectly to reflect the character of Christ in righteousness and true holiness.[90]

 The nature of human depravity could be summed up this way: It is too weak to obey. That is Paul’s summary. “For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh…” Ro. 8:2.[91] God’s intention was that this might be remedied by providing that nature with “renovating energy.” This is done by a miracle.

 Unless man is given the converting grace of heaven, he will have no disposition to oppose Satan’s counsels, and will become the enemy’s willing dupe. It is God alone who puts enmity to sin in the human heart. The Lord gives man a new mind. He causes the conflict that will not submit to Satan’s deceptive reasoning. It is God who makes a conflict where heretofore there has been unity of action. It is the Lord’s purpose that depraved human nature should, through His divine power, be provided with a renovating energy.[92]

 

The Miracle of Enmity

Lucifer’s statements would have been close to correct regarding the nature of man had the race been left alone to reap their natural harvest. But God promised Satan that the human family would not be abandoned to their vices. Enmity would characterize both camps in the human family, those that served God and those that served their bellies. Jesus reiterated this promise as the purpose of his mission to earth. “I came not send peace, but a sword.”

Without the miracle of Christ’s mission of division, we would be, as a race, thoroughly united in our opposition to God and His throne. The very wording of the promise of enmity against Satan proves that not every member of the race would receive it. The blessings that it brings are reserved for those that accept the gift of enmity personally.

 God declares, “I will put enmity.” This enmity is supernaturally put, and not naturally entertained. When man sinned, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. The lofty usurper, having succeeded in seducing our first parents as he had seduced angels, counted on securing their allegiance and cooperation in all his enterprises against the government of Heaven. . . . But when Satan heard that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, he knew that though he had succeeded in depraving human nature and assimilating it to his own, yet by some mysterious process, God would restore to man his lost power, and enable him to resist and overcome his conqueror.[93]

      It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul that creates the enmity against Satan. Without this grace, man would continue the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding. The new principle in the soul creates conflict where hitherto had been peace. The power which Christ imparts, enables man to resist the tyrant and usurper. Whenever a man is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, when he resists and conquers those passions that have held sway within, there is seen the operation of a principle wholly from above. The Holy Spirit must be constantly imparted to man, or he has no disposition to contend against the powers of darkness.

     Shall we not accept the enmity which Christ has placed between man and the serpent? . . . We have a right to say, In the strength of Jesus Christ I will be a conqueror.[94]

 I find it interesting that the thorough development of Calvin’s view of human nature leads to carnal security. Calvin’s view was Satan’s early view. The evil one was so certain of man’s entire depravity that it led him to the original carnal security. He was sure that he could win the controversy. That faulty feeling of assurance that the Devil persuades men to accept, he felt himself for a brief time. Until he heard the promise of enmity.

 When Satan heard the word, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed,” he knew that man would be given power to resist his temptations. He realized that his claim to the position of prince of the newly created world was to be contested, that One would come whose work would be fatal to his evil purposes, that he and his angels would be forever defeated. His assurance of certain power, his sense of security, was gone. Adam and Eve had yielded to his temptations, and their posterity would feel the strength of his assaults. But they would not be left without a helper. The Son of God was to come to the world, to be tempted in our behalf, and in our behalf to overcome.[95]

 

Division under Adam and Noah – Enmity at Work

Two Righteous men with fallen characters gave birth to three sons each.[96] In each case there were two that grew up to inherit the blessings available through faith in Christ. In each case division was the natural result of the varied choices of the will.

And in none of the cases was the difference in the choices of the will a result of varied inheritance…with some sons inheriting more natural goodness than the rest. In each case the posterity of the three sons, Abel obviously excepted, demonstrated the power of example and inherited tendencies.

 Seth was of more noble stature than Cain or Abel, and resembled Adam more closely than did his other sons. He was a worthy character, following in the steps of Abel. Yet he inherited no more natural goodness than did Cain. Concerning the creation of Adam it is said, “In the likeness of God made He him;” but man, after the Fall, “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.” While Adam was created sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents.[97] But he received also the knowledge of the Redeemer and instruction in righteousness. By divine grace he served and honored God; and he labored, as Abel would have done, had he lived, to turn the minds of sinful men to revere and obey their Creator.[98]

 Cain’s fall involved his will at every step. I have italicized verbs in the following paragraph to highlight Cain’s complicity in his own demoralization.

 Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam, differed widely in character. Abel had a spirit of loyalty to God; he saw justice and mercy in the Creator’s dealings with the fallen race, and gratefully accepted the hope of redemption. But Cain cherished feelings of rebellion, and murmured against God because of the curse pronounced upon the earth and upon the human race for Adam’s sin. He permitted his mind to run in the same channel that led to Satan’s fall–indulging the desire for self-exaltation and questioning the divine justice and authority.[99]

 God cursed Cain after the murder of his brother and Canaan after the sin of Ham. Both curses took in their posterity. In the case of Cain and Seth, one might have expected that their children would be known, Biblically, as Cainites and Sethites. But the record of those early centuries names the children in harmony with the developments in the plan of salvation. Those that inherited the depravity of Adam, that were made in “his image” were appropriately named the sons or “daughters of men.” Those that accepted the miracle of enmity and permitted God to renovate their natures into His image where with equal propriety called “sons of God.”[100]

 The prophecy of Noah [regarding his children and their descendants] was no arbitrary denunciation of wrath or declaration of favor. It did not fix the character and destiny of his sons. But it showed what would be the result of the course of life they had severally chosen and the character they had developed. It was an expression of God’s purpose toward them and their posterity in view of their own character and conduct. As a rule, children inherit the dispositions and tendencies of their parents, and imitate their example; so that the sins of the parents are practiced by the children from generation to generation. Thus the vileness and irreverence of Ham were reproduced in his posterity, bringing a curse upon them for many generations. “One sinner destroyeth much good.” Ecclesiastes 9:18.[101]

 The promise of enmity made a statement not only regarding the repentant woman Eve, but regarding her seed. The miracle of enmity and the uplift that it brings to humanity tends to lift descendents of the righteous. The children of holy men are miraculously blessed. This is the counter-working of God against the work initiated by Satan to deprave the race. David speaks of the blessing of the chosen seed in the 37^th Psalm.

 “How richly rewarded,” in contrast to Ham’s deserts, “was Shem’s respect for his father; and what an illustrious line of holy men appears in his posterity! “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright,” “and his seed is blessed.” Psalm 37:18, 26. “Know therefore that the Lord thy God He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9.[102]

 This is the crowing principle in our study of the Laws of Heredity. Enmity against Satan and power to do right may be inherited through miracle by those that love God and their descendants that chose the same. This law of heredity, embedded in the Second Commandment, required an immense risk on the part of Christ to secure. It is, itself, grace abounding.

 

How Christ Secured the Gift of Inherited Righteousness for His Children

 

The relation of Christ’s humanity to his divinity can be but partially understood. The Jews were expecting a divine man to overawe them into belief. Jesus understood this and his love for them made it a “difficult task” for him to “maintain the level of humanity.” “The Jews utterly failed to understand the spiritual connection which identified Christ with both the human and the divine, and gave fallen man a presentation of what he should strive to become.”[103]

 The sons of God and the sons of man both trace their lineage to God. The former trace their genealogy directly to heaven. They have been “born” again “not of corruptible seed” but of the Word of God. The latter are the sons “of Adam, who was a son of God.”

If Adam had died immediately for his sin, the hope of his posterity would have died with him. A dead man has no children. Eve’s bite placed mankind on the endangered species list. Adam’s could have brought extinction. Being unborn we would be unsaved. In this sense we were “all dead.” We were doomed to not have life.

When the fallen pair were granted a second chance, it opened a door of hope for their children. In the gift of probation, it was the race that was saved from immediate death.

 Adam and Eve were given a probation in which to return to their allegiance; and in this plan of benevolence all their posterity were embraced. After the Fall, Christ became Adam’s instructor. He acted in God’s stead toward humanity, saving the race from immediate death. He took upon Him the work of mediator between God and man. In the fullness of time He was to be revealed in human form. He was to take His position at the head of humanity by taking the nature but not the sinfulness of man.[104]

 Paul spoke of the universal work of Christ in granting life to the race. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall men be made alive.” Someone might ask “how is the resurrection related to probation?” In the case of those that are righteous it is easy to reason that they need to be resurrected…although some might question “why do they need to die in the first place?”

The resurrection of the wicked is even more perplexing. A fuller treatment of this question may be found in an article titled “Authority” found in a collection of my articles online.[105] For the purpose of this paper I would suggest that life is not appropriate for sinners. When a sinless being is granted probation, they may live justly until they sin, and then they may die justly.

But when a sinful being is granted probation, the moments that he spends serving his passions accumulate a weight of guilt that his mortality will not atone for. The pain he inflicts on others must come on him. Were this justice to be executed at the event of the transgression, the mortal body would cease to existence before the gospel would have a chance to win the heart.

 So in mercy God appointed that men should die a death of results before facing a death of justice. “It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.” Do the justified need to die? Apparently the death of the just is not a moral requirement in the Great Controversy, for there are notable exceptions. On the other hand, those exceptions are few. Human life apart from the tree of knowledge does not carry on forever.[106]

 Jesus is the only human that has access to the tree of life. He alone has immortality. He alone has passed the test that acted as a gulf between Adam and eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the only member of the Godhead that has been incarnate as man. He alone can accurately represent man in the judgement. He alone can add to a condemnation and equitable judgement that takes into account the weaknesses and frailties of human nature.

These qualifications combine with a greater one yet to make Him the Mediator. Only by virtue of his sacrifice can man escape immediate death. When heaven relates to a man as though he is not hopelessly doomed to burn, that relation is based solely on Calvary. Christ’s intercession has formed the basis of all communication between heaven and earth.

 Christ is the Ladder; the foot on the earth in His human nature, the top in heaven in His divine nature. His human arm encircles the race while His divine arm lays hold upon the Infinite. All the intercourse between heaven and earth since the fall is by the Ladder.[107]

 Christ laid aside His crown and royal robe, stepped down from His high command, clothed His divinity with humanity, and for our sake became poor, that we through His poverty might inherit the heavenly treasure. He placed Himself at the head of humanity. If we walk in His footsteps, we are accepted by God. By His sacrifice we are “accepted in the Beloved.”[108]

 We accept Christ and become partakers of the Divine nature. That is the new birth. In our first birth, from Adam, we inherited evil things by two avenues: Example and natural tendencies.

When we become connected with God through Christ we are changed in like manner. Jesus becomes our parent. And he takes our training solemnly. For our inherited tendencies He has been given grace to give to us. We have already learned how grace undoes the damage tendencies have done. Christ’s example is no less efficacious.

 But Christ steps in and passes over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeems Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by coming forth from the trial untarnished. This places man on vantage ground with God. It places him where through accepting Christ as His Saviour, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Thus he becomes connected with God and Christ. Christ’s perfect example and the grace of God are given him to enable him to train his sons and daughters to be sons and daughters of God.[109]

 The Law of Heredity that describes the power of example to change later generations is not limited to the example of Jesus. It, rather than genetics, is the basis of the gift of mercy that is shown to “thousands” of generations. Those that understand this law of heredity will strive to gather up the treasures of faithfulness that have been left to us by holy men of old.

 God expects the youth to think soberly and intelligently of how those of past generations toiled and sacrificed to leave to future generations a heritage of light. The patriarchs and prophets and the disciples of Christ received impressions from the Great Teacher, and this light and knowledge they bequeathed to those who live in this age. The youth now have the privilege of improving all the treasures that have been acquired by past generations. The Lord expects these hereditary trusts to be gathered up as golden treasures, and imparted to others.[110]

 For those that would like to see the words “objective gospel” and “subjective gospel” in any article like this, here is your paragraph. Jesus saved us from doom and saves us from sin. He saved the race from doom and can be said, in that sense, to have saved “the world” or “all” or “mankind.” This is the objective gospel and is certainly good news of the highest quality. As a balance to that thought I should add that there is quite some difference between a news headline and the news itself. Were the objective gospel to be presented in too brief terms men might entirely misunderstand. Hope is not security. The subjective gospel is what Christ, by virtue of his sacrifice, does in our experience to fit us for heaven.

The saving of the whole world from doom required more of our Savior than many would guess.

 Christ was tempted by Satan in a hundredfold severer manner than was Adam, and under circumstances in every way more trying. The deceiver presented himself as an angel of light, but Christ withstood his temptations. He redeemed Adam’s disgraceful fall, and saved the world.[111]

 

A Character to Share

Against fallen men the threefold current of degenerate tendencies, evil example, and conscious guilt repressed courage. During the wilderness temptation, as an inauguration to His ministry, Jesus bore even the last of these three in every way as truly as he did at Gethsemane.

 It was not merely the gnawing pangs of hunger which made His sufferings inexpressibly severe, but it was the guilt of the sins of the world which pressed so heavily upon Him. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. With this terrible weight of guilt upon Him because of our sins He withstood the fearful test upon appetite, and upon love of the world and of honor, and pride of display which leads to presumption. Christ endured these three great leading temptations and overcame in behalf of man, working out for him a righteous character, because He knew man could not do this of himself. He knew that upon these three points Satan was to assail the race. He had overcome Adam, and he designed to carry forward his work till he completed the ruin of man.[112]

 The character that Jesus worked out, under the pressure of our sins, is the righteousness that He share with us. The circumstances under which he worked out the character are as essential to its effectual power as the purity he maintained. It is the circumstances that motivate us to stop sinning. They are integral to the example phase of our moral inheritance.

 No one can fully enter into or understand the suffering of Christ, the Son of the infinite God. Proportionate to His majesty, His purity, His innocence, His exalted character, was the depth of His suffering as a substitute and surety for the human race. When the sinner realizes the aggravated character of sin, the transgression of the law, he will cease to sin.[113]

 Unity with the Father constitutes the Christian’s strength. That was no less true of Christ. During his life, under the power of that unity, he chose right, disciplined self, gained victories over the impulses of his lower nature. He “learned obedience by the things which he suffered” and “was perfected.”  The end of this struggle was that the human Jesus had developed a righteous character, one like Adam could have developed in the garden by resisting the temptations of the knowledge tree.

But he had not the advantages of Adam. The thought of what those final moments of struggle, when separated from the Father, might bring filled Jesus with fear. Fear of failure is one of the crushing weights that men bare in the struggle of life. It was a point in which Christ was tempted like as we are.

 He must not call his divinity to his aid, but as a man, he must bear the consequences of man’s sin and the Creator’s displeasure toward his disobedient subjects. As he felt his unity with the Father broken up, he feared that his human nature would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the prince of the power of darkness; and in that case the human race would be irrecoverably lost, Satan would be victor, and the earth would be his kingdom. The sins of the world weighed heavily upon the Saviour, and bowed him to the earth; and the Father’s anger in consequence of that sin seemed crushing out his life.[114]

 Christ’s righteousness stands, not only in contrast to Adam’s fall, but to Satan’s. In order to reconcile the race, the world, our Lord took the sins of all. Again, this was essential even to open the door of communication between Heaven and earth. It was a one-way reconciliation that paved the way for angels to work and God to empower humans. So eager are the angels to do evangelism that they recruit us to win our fellow fallen brethren.

 Now it was seen that for the salvation of a fallen and sinful race, the Ruler of the universe had made the greatest sacrifice which love could make; for “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. It was seen, also, that while Lucifer had opened the door for the entrance of sin by his desire for honor and supremacy, Christ had, in order to destroy sin, humbled Himself and become obedient unto death.[115]

 The very angels who, when Satan was seeking the supremacy, fought the battle in the heavenly courts, and triumphed on the side of God; the very angels who from their exalted position shouted for joy over the creation of our world, and over the creation of our first parents, who were to inhabit the earth; the angels who witnessed the fall of man and his expulsion from his Eden home, are most intensely interested to work in union with the fallen, redeemed race in the development of that power which God gives to help every man who will unite with heavenly intelligences to seek and save human beings who are perishing in their sins. If men will become partakers of the divine nature, and separate selfishness from their lives, special talents for helping one another will be granted them.[116] If all will love as Christ has loved, that perishing men may be saved from ruin, O, what a change would come to our world![117]

 Probably there are readers that have already felt frustrated at the repetition in this article. How often must one writer say that “we can’t do anything by ourselves”? We know we need Christ’s righteousness, but why so much repetition about the need for a holy life? Why the focus on “righteousness,” as if men don’t know what it means?

 Of the Comforter which he was to send to his disciples, he says, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” The natural heart does not enjoy this constant reproving of sin and continual exalting of righteousness. Men feel disgusted when they are represented as helpless to do good; yet Jesus declares, “Without me ye can do nothing.” The word of God requires humility and practical godliness, and the picture of man’s dependence upon God is mortifying to the selfish independence of man, to his grand ideas of eloquence and finery and parade, which he esteems as essential for the conversion of the world.[118]

 Add somewhere: Rom. 16:18 and the following:

 You may obtain strength from Christ to stand unsullied amid the pollutions of this corrupt age. “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Keep the eye steadily fixed upon Christ, upon the divine image. Imitate His spotless life, and you will be a partaker of His glory, and with Him inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. {2T 49.2}

 Insert somewhere the issue of “iniquities” and “sins” from the article “Iniquity, the data.”

 Not one in twenty of those who have a good standing with Seventh-day Adventists is living out the self-sacrificing principles of the word of God. But let not their enemies, who are destitute of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, take advantage of the fact that they are reproved. This is evidence that they are the children of the Lord. Those who are without chastisement, says the apostle, are bastards and not sons. Then let not these illegitimate children boast over the lawful sons and daughters of the Almighty.  {1T 632.2}

 

Intercessory_Prayer_for_Revival_of_the_Holy_Spirit

How_to_Know_Gods_Will_for_Your_Life

How to Know God’s Will for Your Life

Who is burdened of soul to make plans or devise means whereby agencies may be put in operation for the advancement of truth?—Ellen White

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.—David, the son of Jesse

David had been held more than once by bit and bridle. His lying stay with Achish[1], preceding immediately his ascension to the throne of Israel, was not heaven’s plan A. This study will present a system of truth that, incorporated into the life, will assure safe guidance in the choosing of a career, and even in the smaller things in life. The truths here have the power to keep you from your Achish. They will show that there is a less painful way to be led than the method required for mules.

And more than that, they promise to reduce your anxiety regarding the future and to leave a “plain path before your feet.” You will, child of God, make the right decision, if you follow closely.

The Bible makes most precious promises for those that feel their need of Heaven’s help in decision making. These promises are not without instructions on how and when to use them, and on the conditions under which they will be fulfilled. Consider the promises from the Psalms.

The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. Ps 25:9

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Ps 31:3

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Ps 32:8-9.

For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death. Ps 48:14

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Ps 73:24

Who will God lead? The meek. Those that are not determined to have their own way, who are searching for the right path, who feel their need of help and are distrustful of self. They will be led.

How will God lead them? He will guide their judgement. They may feel that they are simply thinking, but their thinking process is greatly helped by the One that undertakes to guide them.

How will God guide their judgement? He will teach them His way. He will guide them with His counsel. As they become familiar with His counsel and with the general plan that He has ordained for the work, their judgement will be sanctified.

Why will He guide them? God guides us for His own sake. We can pray that way, as did David. The work on earth is His. The loss or gain that will come from our ill or well-made decisions is His own. When we pray that He will guide us for His own sake we pray in harmony with His will. “He will lead us in the path of Righteousness for His own sake.” Psalms 23.

When will He guide us? From our youth to our death He will make His counsel available. If we will not heed it, He does not say that He will guide us forcefully as a man may guide the mule. The implication is that if we do not follow, we may not arrive. But if we have failed to follow in the past, if we are not in the way of Righteousness, in short, if we are lost, then there are more promises even for us.

Our own generation, refusing the latter rain in preference for its own sins, is invited to accept God’s guidance as were the Jews in Jeremiah’s time. See Jeremiah 3:1-4. And it is a promise to Adventists in particular (those who “ask of Me the ordinance of justice” and who “build up” the old paths and who are to “call the Sabbath a delight”) that, though they have been wicked, yet they may repent. Then, meeting the conditions, the promise is theirs:

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Isa 58:11. Emphasis supplied.

What are those conditions?

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: v. 6-7, 9-10.

We could add a study on each of these points, but that would be beyond the scope of this paper. Notice, however, that there is a distinct relation between our loving service to others and God’s personal guidance in our lives. If we are to claim the promise of continual guidance, we would do well to read these conditions often as we aim to implement them.

Besides specifying that God should be our guide, the Bible also points out a number of influences that should not determine our direction in life. You may have heard someone say “just follow your heart.” The Bible indicates that this is getting the cart before the horse.

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Pr 23:19

The heart is to be guided, if you will, by the wisdom that comes from hearing the Word of God. If we follow that Word with truest sincerity, it will not fail us. Doing what we know to be right is integrity.

The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Pr 11:3

So our heart is not to guide us. But most men are guided by their hearts. And we are not so very adept at knowing which men are leading themselves astray. For that reason the Bible is very clear that we can not depend on men to guide us:

Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. Mic 7:5

If this seems out of harmony with the counsel that in a multitude of counselors there is safety (c.f. Pro. 11:14; 24:6) then see the latter portion of this study that deals with this point. For the place of human authority, whether parental or ecclesiastical or governmental, see an essay by the author of this one titled “The Draft and Its Relation to Believers in the Present Truth.”

God’s guidance is not always recognized by our conscious mind. He leads us while we seem to be making our own plans. His guidance takes us on the right path when we know not that we are being directed.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way;

A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps; And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Ps 37:23; Pr 16:9; Isa 42:16

But when we feel our need of knowing, we can claim the promises of direct intervention. They will be fulfilled as we believe them whether or not we perceive the guidance.

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Isa 30:21

Besides our daily decisions, there are areas of life that require constant guidance from heaven. One of these is our need to know what is true. The promise of Jn. 16:13 is that the Spirit will guide us into all truth. Being thus led by the Spirit is the hallmark of a true Child of the King. Rom. 8:14. But the guidance that leads to the truth is itself a study. Contact the author for more information on this topic.

Armed with the promises, we are ready to tackle the nitty-gritty job of finding out God’s specific will for our lives. We are opposed in this effort. The following statements will help a great deal.

Satan and his evil angels, combined with wicked men, are seeking by every possible device to bear before the world a testimony against the truth of God’s word. The enmity of Satan against Christ is determined and unrelenting, and in the great controversy between good and evil, while Satan and his confederacy are bringing in their false testimony against God and his truth, in order that men may not receive the love of the truth, but believe a lie, who is burdened of soul to make plans or devise means whereby agencies may be put in operation for the advancement of truth? Will those who profess to believe the truth stand in idleness, when Satan and his hosts work with intense activity for the overthrow of the cause of truth? Will the professed followers of Christ allow him to preoccupy the field? Who will be a volunteer to witness for God in these far-off lands? Who will open the Scriptures to those who are ignorant of the words of life? Who will let his light shine out to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death? {HM, September 1, 1892 par. 3}

First, there is sometimes a limit to how far in advance we can know God’s will for our personal lives. This should not stop the church from making large and long-term plans.

They felt sufficient in themselves for all things, and realized no need of a higher wisdom to direct their acts. But the Son of God was surrendered to the Father’s will, and dependent upon His power. So utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself. He accepted God’s plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will. {DA 208.2}

There are three ways that God speaks to us:

There are three ways in which the Lord reveals His will to us, to guide us, and to fit us to guide others. How may we know His voice from that of a stranger? How shall we distinguish it from the voice of a false shepherd? God reveals His will to us in His word, the Holy Scriptures. His voice is also revealed in His providential workings; and it will be recognized if we do not separate our souls from Him by walking in our own ways, doing according to our own wills, and following the promptings of an unsanctified heart, until the senses have become so confused that eternal things are not discerned, and the voice of Satan is so disguised that it is accepted as the voice of God. {5T 512.1}

Another way in which God’s voice is heard is through the appeals of His Holy Spirit, making impressions upon the heart, which will be wrought out in the character. If you are in doubt upon any subject you must first consult the Scriptures. If you have truly begun the life of faith you have given yourself to the Lord to be wholly His, and He has taken you to mold and fashion according to His purpose, that you may be a vessel unto honor. You should have an earnest desire to be pliable in His hands and to follow whithersoever He may lead you. You are then trusting Him to work out His designs, while at the same time you are co-operating with Him by working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You, my brother, will find difficulty here because you have not yet learned by experience to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, and this places you in doubt and peril. You ought to be able to distinguish His voice. {5T 512.2}

 

The previous statement said that God will not guide us if we are not resisting the impulses of our unsanctified hearts. The impressions are not for the big decisions (where to go, who to marry, whether or not to surrender self), but the decisions that “will be wrought out in the character.” Impressions may say “you have had enough to eat,” “she needs you to listen right now,” “don’t jump to conclusions,” “the Sabbath is starting soon, be ready.” God does not want us to be victims of our imagination, going from place to place because we are thus “impressed.”

 

When we make plans, they may not be good ones. Since we can not see the end from the beginning, we should make our plans in wet concrete (still able to change when Providence makes it plain that we should.)

 

Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, “Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.” This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ. {SC 70.1}

 

But we should not confound our lack of contentedness, our itchiness for something new and different, with God’s providence. We should be determined to do our duty even if it is as distasteful to us as going to Nineveh was to Jonah.

 

Many are dissatisfied with their lifework. It may be that their surroundings are uncongenial; their time is occupied with commonplace work, when they think themselves capable of higher responsibilities; often their efforts seem to them to be unappreciated or fruitless; their future is uncertain. {MH 472.3}

Let us remember that while the work we have to do may not be our choice, it is to be accepted as God’s choice for us. Whether pleasing or unpleasing, we are to do the duty that lies nearest. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10. {MH 472.4}

If the Lord desires us to bear a message to Nineveh, it will not be as pleasing to Him for us to go to Joppa or to Capernaum. He has reasons for sending us to the place toward which our feet have been directed. At that very place there may be someone in need of the help we can give. He who sent Philip to the Ethiopian councilor, Peter to the Roman centurion, and the little Israelitish maiden to the help of Naaman, the Syrian captain, sends men and women and youth today as His representatives to those in need of divine help and guidance. {MH 473.1}

Our plans are not always God’s plans. He may see that it is best for us and for His cause to refuse our very best intentions, as He did in the case of David. But of one thing we may be assured, He will bless and use in the advancement of His cause those who sincerely devote themselves and all they have to His glory. If He sees it best not to grant their desires He will counterbalance the refusal by giving them tokens of His love and entrusting to them another service. {MH 473.2}

In His loving care and interest for us, often He who understands us better than we understand ourselves refuses to permit us selfishly to seek the gratification of our own ambition. He does not permit us to pass by the homely but sacred duties that lie next us. Often these duties afford the very training essential to prepare us for a higher work. Often our plans fail that God’s plans for us may succeed. {MH 473.3}

 

But the fact that we our plans are not always God’s plans should not prevent us from making plans. It should not make us incline back and forth between options.

 

Sometimes various ways and purposes, different modes of operation in connection with the work of God, are about evenly balanced in the mind; but it is at this very point that the nicest discrimination is necessary. And if anything is accomplished to the purpose it must be done at the golden moment. The slightest inclination of the weight in the balance should be seen and should determine the matter at once. Long delays tire the angels. It is even more excusable to make a wrong decision sometimes than to be continually in a wavering position, to be hesitating, sometimes inclined in one direction, then in another. More perplexity and wretchedness result from thus hesitating and doubting than from sometimes moving too hastily. {3T 497.3}

 

When we claim God’s promises for guidance and use all our mental powers to weigh options, God works miracles to bring the right information our way. God can and does bring the needed information to those that are searching for it. We should “take counsel” with our reason, thinking clearly about what we already know about God’s will. If we are willing to surrender to that counsel, to what we know is right, we will be “guided by the Lord.”

O if men in exalted positions only knew their weakness and God’s strength and sufficiency and fullness, they would pray most earnestly ‘let thy word be my counselor.’ I tell all who have any connection with our institutions, Take counsel with sanctified reason, surrendered wholly to God. Then you will be guided by the Lord. Many of you have kept the truth far away from the citadel of the soul. A man can not continue in sin, and be a Christian. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. Men may labor in connection with the work of God as did Noah’s carpenters, and yet resist the divine influences. The spirit of God is beckoning heavenward, to imperishable honors. The love of God pervading the soul possesses a re-created power through the Holy Spirit.—1888 Materials p. 1387 (Also in 17MR p. 114)

When we follow His plan for knowing His will, even our honest mistakes will be made to serve His interests. But we must move forward quickly. Taking too long gives the Devil time to trick us by his deceptions and false “providences.”

I have been shown that the most signal victories and the most fearful defeats have been on the turn of minutes. God requires promptness of action. Delays, doubtings, hesitation, and indecision frequently give the enemy every advantage. My brother, you need to reform. The timing of things may tell much in favor of truth. Victories are frequently lost through delays. There will be crises in this cause. Prompt and decisive action at the right time will gain glorious triumphs, while delay and neglect will result in great failures and positive dishonor to God. Rapid movements at the critical moment often disarm the enemy, and he is disappointed and vanquished, for he had expected time to lay plans and work by artifice. {3T 497.4}

There are some rules that would ensure that we will chose the right occupation.

We need to follow more closely God’s plan of life. To do our best in the work that lies nearest, to commit our ways to God, and to watch for the indications of His providence–these are rules that ensure safe guidance in the choice of an occupation. {Ed 267.3}

God chooses not to guide us by chance methods. He longs for us to develop mental power, and this comes from thinking from cause to effect. If He gave us visions when we prayed for guidance, we would be inclined to not think carefully about the consequences of our choices. Our mental powers would be shrinking, our imagination existing for only vain purposes.

 

You endeavor to reach correct decisions regarding religious duties, and to make decisions regarding business enterprises, by the tossing up of a coin, and letting the position in which it falls decide what course you shall pursue. I am instructed to say that we are not to give encouragement to any such methods. They are too common, too much like sleight-of-hand movements. They are not of the Lord, and those who depend upon them for direction will meet with failure and disappointment. Being nothing more than a matter of chance, the influence of adopting such tests regarding duty is calculated to lead the mind to depend on chance and guesswork, when all our work and plans for work should be established on the sure foundation of the Word of God. {2SM 325.2}

The people of God can come to a correct understanding of their duty only through sincere prayer and earnest seeking for the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. When they seek aright for instruction concerning their course of action, these strange and unreliable methods will not be accepted by them. They will then be saved from haphazard work, and from the confusion that is ever the result of depending on human devisings. . . . {2SM 325.3}

Asking for Signs is often the same as flipping a coin. God prefers to guide us by sound principles. If lives are at stake, if the future of God’s church is on the line, as was the case in the story of Gideon, and if you are doubtful that your direct revelations are from God, there might be an excuse to asking for a sign. But even Gideon recognized that asking unwisely might displease God.

But now a doubt arose, since wool naturally absorbs moisture when there is any in the air; the test might not be decisive. Hence he asked that the sign be reversed, pleading that his extreme caution might not displease the Lord. His request was granted. {PP 548.2}

If you must ask for a sign, ask for only miraculous signs, and do not pray out loud. For example, ask that a blue colored light will appear in the sky over the moon if you should go to place A, or a red color light over the moon if you should go to place B. In the great majority of cases, you will get neither. That is because God does not prefer to use signs. But if you make the mistake of asking for a one-sided sign (like, a red light over the moon if I should go, and no light if I shouldn’t) you virtually try to force God to guide you by a sign, because if He does nothing, you will consider it a sign. This is not wise. I do not say that it is good to ask for signs like this (it is bad), only that asking for signs in this way will help to prevent self-deception when God does not give one.

It is a haphazard method, which God does not approve. To men who have suggested such tests, I have said, “No, no.” The sacred things which concern the cause of God must not be dealt with by such methods. God does not instruct us that we are to learn His will in any such way. {2SM 327.2}

Will it furnish us with experiences that will glorify God, for us to decide what is His will by the dropping of a card or a coin, and observing how it falls? No, no. Such tests as this will spoil the religious experience of the one who adopts them. Everyone who depends upon such things for guidance, needs to be reconverted. {2SM 327.3}

After the great disappointment of the Adventist people in 1844, we had all these things to contend with over and over again. Then I was raised up from a bed of sickness, and sent to give a message of reproof for such fanaticism. They used different methods. They would select a sign, and then follow the course indicated by the sign. {2SM 327.4}

In one case they would not bury a child that had died, because they understood from the sign that they had set, that the child was going to be raised from the dead. {2SM 327.5}

I was sent to bear my testimony regarding the fallacy of these things that they were using as signs. According to the light that God has given me, there is no safety for us except to take a “Thus saith the Lord.”

God also teaches us through nature and through Godly counselors and through the Spirit of Prophecy. But these are not an addition to the three ways first mentioned. The Bible was the first way, and it enforces the other three. Nature helps us reason from cause to effect and subdues our souls. Godly counselors lead us back to scripture and help us understand the providential leadings in our lives. The Spirit of Prophecy is enforced by the Word and provides a solid platform to build on in our studies.

Through nature and revelation, through His providence, and by the influence of His Spirit, God speaks to us. But these are not enough; we need also to pour out our hearts to Him. In order to have spiritual life and energy, we must have actual intercourse with our heavenly Father. {SC 93.1}

There are a thousand temptations in disguise prepared for those who have the light of truth; and the only safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for “in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” {5T 293.1}

Did you take notes while you were reading? If not, read this article again with a pen in hand. Share what you learned and it will become yours for keeps.

 This study compiled by Eugene Prewitt, adventexpositor@gmail.com Please feel free to contact the author with questions, corrections, or comments.

[1] I Samuel 28-29.

How_to_Deal_with_Pain

Hebrews_4_Article

Hebrews and the Rest that Remains

An Essay by Eugene Prewitt

The Problem

Hebrews four, at least as it reads in the King James Version, combines a number of statements about “rest” in such a way as to confuse me. And I think it is fair to extrapolate that fact to say that it confuses many.

The rest looks, sometimes, future. Other times, it looks to be at present. It looks to be God’s rest of the Sabbath that has been here for millennia. Then it looks like the rest of heaven (which most commentators have concluded it to be.) Some persons use the passage to prove that we should keep the Sabbath. Others use it to prove that born-again persons are spiritually keeping the Sabbath by their restful dependence on the grace of God.

And frankly, it is the devil’s very normal mode of operation to preach error and take for his text a confusing passage. If we feel that we can’t say what the passage really means, we hesitate to say that anyone else is wrong regarding its meaning. And so the Devil is bolder.

It is also normal for me to undervalue what I do know about a passage when struggling to understand a portion that I do not really understand. I will resist that tendency in this essay.

The Context and Message of Hebrews

Hebrews opens with one big idea. God spoke to His people many ways before Jesus came to earth. But at the last, God spoke through Jesus. This is the Jesus that created all things. And this is the Jesus that will inherit all things.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Heb 1:1-2

The remainder of chapter 1 contrasts Jesus with the angels. He is in every way more exalted. He is the Creator and they the created ones. He sends them to help us and they are sent.

That is how chapter two is introduced. In view of its Source, we ought to give special heed to the truth that angels have communicated.

For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; Heb 2:2-3

And why do men receive such valuable service by the angels? Why do they serve us and not rather we them? Because of our relation to Jesus, the one we have seen that is “appointed heir of all things.” Initially it was a man, Adam, that was set over the works on this planet. And that is the point Hebrews is making. Adam was set over the works of God’s hands.

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Heb 2:5-7

And this brings us back to the original point. Jesus is destined to inherit all things. But He has not inherited them yet. The things on earth are not “subject to him.”

But now we see not yet all things put under him. Heb 2:8

The next few verses address the important question: How does Christ’s exalted destiny benefit us? And the answer is that Jesus became a man, and so became the “captain” of our race. He tasted death for us so that we might taste the joys of what He deserves. He lives as our Priest to assure that we can inherit with Him the things that he inherits. He lives to comfort us.

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. Heb 2:18

Chapter 3 begins by inviting us to “consider” Jesus in these dual roles of priest and apostle (one that has been sent). The Hebrews are invited to compare Christ to Moses. What do they have in common: They were faithful. How do they differ? Christ built the household of which Moses was a member.

And this brings us to our portion of Hebrews. Under what condition are we counted as part of Christ’s household, the one He created and faithfully cares for?

And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Heb 3:5-6

Endurance Makes the Difference

So being part of Christ’s “house” is not conditioned on an event. Those that are faithfully faithful to death are counted as His seed. (Faithfully faithful – that is, we should be talking and acting as if our faith were invincible, holding our “rejoicing” “firm” despite the changes in our feelings.)

If faithfulness is the condition of being part of Christ’s family, then Satan will aim at interrupting that very thing, faithfulness.

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, ‘To day if ye will hear his voice, 8  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Heb 3:7-8

The passage goes on to quote a large portion of Psalm 95 that will be referred to over and over again in chapters 3 and 4. The idea is that “to day” is the day to be faithful. Today is the day to believe and obey rather than to “harden” the heart.

When the quotation from Psalms 95 closes (with the right parenthesis), the book comes right back to this point: Unbelief leads away from faithfulness and causes us to depart from “the living God.” In view of the significance of holding fast we are to encourage each other every day to be faithful.

‘So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.’) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Heb 3:11-14

So Psalms 95 is brought into the narrative to encourage life-long faithfulness. What exactly does the passage say? This is the last half of the Psalm, the part used repeatedly in Hebrews:

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Ps 95:7-11

The idea is very much like that of Hebrews 3. We are his flock, but on condition. We won’t be made to lie down beside green pastures any more than the ten spies were if we grieve the Lord the way they did. “Today” is the day to believe, to obey. And what is this word “rest” that concludes Psalm 95?

Rest in Scripture

Psalm 95 is rehearsing a story that is found in Numbers 14. Where Psalm 95 says “they should not enter my rest” the story in Numbers says “they shall not see the land that I swear unto their fathers.” “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land.” “And ye shall know my breach of promise.” Numbers 14:23, 30, 34.

Such oaths are found elsewhere. “And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, ‘Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.’” Deuteronomy 1:34-35.

Was Canaan the promised rest? Joshua and Caleb and the second generation entered the land. And there they had a type of rest. They had rest from war[1], the gift of safety. Without such rest the promised land could hardly be a possession that fulfilled the promises.

… ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and … he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Deuteronomy 12:10

… the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it. Deuteronomy 25:19

… And the land had rest from war. Joshua 14:15

If this kind of rest was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise (Genesis 12 and 15) then Joshua did, indeed, give the people this kind of rest. But, in fact, that kind of rest was only an early installment of the rest that the “fathers” were looking for. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had the new earth in mind when they were thinking about the “promises.” They were looking “afar off” into the future for the fulfillment of God’s covenant.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God…. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. . . Now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:8-16

The condition, that we have already observed, of being counted as part of the family that inherits this eternal rest, is holding fast to faith. How long must someone hold on? Until death. And so it is, in scripture, that death is pictured as the first installment of that eternal rest. Westerners have adopted this idea into their phrase “rest in peace.”

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Revelation 14:13

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Revelation 6:11

Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Acts 2:26

This places the timing of the conscious portion of our “rest” at the very end of time, at the resurrection of the just. That is when the unconscious portion of our rest ends. And for those that are troubled here on this earth, being relieved by Christ’s coming is a very sensible rest.  That is the rest we anticipate.

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 2 Thessalonians 1:7

As Canaan is to heaven, so is respite to the same. The refreshing seasons here are foretastes of the future. According to Baxter in The Saints Everlasting Rest it is our troubles that make us sensible of how precious our eternal rest will be. Rest from persecution was a welcome change to the early church. Acts 9:31. And a temporary rest from wearing labor was treasured by the apostles.

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Mark 6:31

These external periods of restfulness have their spiritual parallel. When we feel secure and right with God, when we are conscious of the grace that surrounds us, we have an internal rest that coexists well even with intense work, even with external troubles.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28-29

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jeremiah 6:16

God’s Rest

God is not inactive. Neither does Deity die. Nor is our Lord perplexed by the multitude of cares. So the rest we have described so far hardly applies to Him. Nevertheless, the Bible speaks of God’s rest. God rests securely “in His love.” He is confident regarding his people when they have no such confidence regarding their own future.

The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

And the Bible story very early notes God’s rest. After six days spent creating the world God rested. From other Bible information we might even gather that this rest was far more significant than it appears. If men were the last of the created intelligences and earth the last of the created habitats, then God rested from a much larger work than the creation of the planet. He rested, rather, from having finished the making of “all the hosts” of the heavenly bodies.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Genesis 2:1-3.

God wasn’t tired. His rest must be some parallel to what we call a refreshing experience. The Greeks had an active verb that means “to cause to rest.” It is translated as “refreshed” in the New Testament. Faithful brethren refresh us (1 Cor 16:18; 2 Cor 7:13; Philemon 1:7, 20).

And the Hebrews had a word for active refreshing “rest” – Sabbath, the original rest of God.

Summary of Rest in the Scripture

Outside of the book of Hebrews we find that God offers several varieties of rest to men. Abraham was promised a prosperous inheritance from the Euphrates to the Nile. He had in mind a city with foundations that would be built by God and just such a city will eventually land there. Those who are faithful to death will have part in that eternal rest.

But in the meantime, they may experience rest here. The Sabbath is the closest to what is coming and is, in fact, a remnant of the rest given in Eden.

And God may grant men other periods of refreshing rest from their labor. He may at times give them rest from oppression. At the end of their lives they rest in the grave, free both from temptation and affliction.

But the greatest rest is that one called “peace” in the promise “My peace I give unto you. In the world ye shall have tribulation, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It begins here in a place where it does not match our circumstances. It continues over yonder where it matches all things well. It is the rest of grace, the “answer of a good conscience toward God.” It is the rest found in the “old” and “good” paths, for those that will walk in them.

Rest in Hebrews

The idea of rest in the book of Hebrews is a microcosm of what is found in the rest of scripture. The discussion is built around Psalm 95 and so had particular reference to the rest that was promised to Abraham and that was lost by the contemporaries of Joshua.

In Hebrews 3:15-18, the psalm is reviewed with the addition of the fact that Moses brought them out of Egypt but was unable to bring “them that sinned” (v. 17) and them that “believed not” (v. 18) into the promised land. In the psalm itself, it is those that always “err” in their “heart” and who have not “known [God’s] ways.”

Taking Hebrews and Psalms together you can gather that to know God is to trust him and that obedience is a function of the heart. And finally, that knowing God insufficiently to believe and obey is to be excluded from the promised rest.

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:19

If Abraham’s descendants failed to realize the promised rest, then there is reason to fear that we might not fare better. That is the thought of the next two verses.

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Hebrews 4:1-2

If the unbelievers will not enter the rest, then it remains that believers will enter it. And what do we know about the rest? It is, God says in Psalm 95, “my rest.” We have already observed that God’s rest from creating the universe began when this earth was finished. So for us the “rest” has an ancient origin and a current enjoyment. This is the message of the next verse.

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:3.

The Sabbath rest is used to prove this point, that “all” God’s works were finished creation week. And this rest of God is, emphatically, the rest referred to in Psalm 95 when God says “my rest.” He rested in a perfect and complete creation. So the next two verses communicate.

For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Hebrews 4:4-5.

Now while we have the Sabbath, we do not have a perfect and complete creation. The fulfillment of Abraham’s promises waits for the creation of a “new heaven and a new earth” more than a thousand years from now. So the enjoyment of Sabbath is a foretaste of God’s rest, of what is coming. Not until heaven will the Sabbath be the very thing itself.

The descendants of Abraham received the promises first. That is, they heard them first. Now the message has gone to all the world and that is a good reason for us to profit from their failures. By unbelief they judged themselves unworthy of “eternal life.”

Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief[2]: Hebrews 4:6.

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46.

Now this is where we need to use our memory. We noted in chapter 3, when Psalm 95 was first introduced, that the condition of being counted as part of Christ’s family is life-long endurance. And that is the reason that God designates a specific day for being faithful. Which day? “Today.” As long as we serve God today, and for today, every day, our hearts will never be hardened.

Again, he ^{[“designates” YLT]} a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Hebrews 4:7

If Joshua’s conquest of Canaan had been the promised rest then God wouldn’t have warned us against missing that rest. The rest that was established at Creation still exists for God’s people. We are still to rest refreshingly in the creative power and accomplishments of the Creator. This restful dependence on the grace of Christ is so much like the Sabbath that it is called, in Hebrews 4, sabbatismos. In many versions it is called “a Sabbath keeping” while in the KJV (Hebrews 4:9) it is called “a rest.”

8  For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day ^{[“today”]}. There remaineth therefore a rest ^{[that will fulfill the promise that was not fulfilled in Canaan}] to the people of God ^{[who are the believing persons, like Joshua and Caleb].} Hebrews 4:8-9.

Unlike Joshua, Jesus has gone before us into heaven and is set down on the right hand of God. When on earth, Jesus was our example of a believing and obedient soul that refused to speak his own words or to do his own works. He refreshingly rested from these in true dependence on the Creative power of his Father. Whether it is he, as our example, or we as his followers, that is designated by “he” in verse 10, I do not know.

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works[3], as God did from his. Hebrews 4:10

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. John 14:10

But as the footnote indicates, there is quite a connection between Sabbath keeping and the rest of grace. Those that repudiate their own words and ways to honor the Sabbath are learning by blessed experience what it is to depend moment-by-moment on the life-giving power that animated the man Jesus.

We are to cease from sin. 1 Peter 4:1-2. Through obeying the law we are to be freed from the Law, and that is part and parcel with “no longer” doing our own works. It is Jesus that is to live in and through us. Galatians 2:19-20.

And so it is true in more ways than one that a Sabbath-keep remains for the people of God. It remains that we shall keep the Sabbath in the New Earth where we will rest every day in the completed creation of God.

And it remains that we are to keep the Sabbath here that was given us (with marriage) in Eden and preserved to us after the fall.

And it remains that we are to believe and obey today and so to rest in the security of salvation by faith.

It is the last of these three that seems to fit the next verse best. It sounds very much like the rest Jesus promised in Matthew 11 to those that are “weary” and “heavy laden” and who are willing to yoke up with Christ.

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Hebrews 4:11

 Our “labor” is to believe in the most practical way. But belief is a very internal motive. We may not even judge well whether or not we believe. And this emergency is met with the wonderful discerning power of the living Word of God.  It can point out for us our fatal unbelief. God sees our unbelief already. It is via the Word that He reveals it to us.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:12-13.

Summary of Rest in Hebrews

The rest of God, set aside for our benefit in the Sabbath, to be experienced best in the New Earth, is the consoling gift of a grace-controlled life today. It comes to the believing soul and never to any other class. We ought to be conscious of the danger of missing it and encourage each other to faithfulness. Ultimately the best of the rest comes only to those that are faithful to death. And so “today” is the day to avoid hardening our hearts.

Moral Metaphors and the Sabbath in Hebrews

Some have, when noting that the Sabbath is commemorative of the rest that will characterize the new earth, concluded that the Seventh-day Sabbath is part of the ceremonial sabbaths. The effect of this conclusion is that the very passage that says that a Sabbath-keeping remains to the people of God is used to prove that Sabbath-keeping is not obligatory.

I admit that the Sabbath in Hebrews 4 is made into a metaphor of sanctified living. But am I thus admitting that the Sabbath is not part of the moral law?

Commands make ideal metaphors. Adultery represents illegal spiritual union of church and state. Marriage represents the bond between Christ and the church that is broken by that spiritual “adultery.”

Theft represents a lack of evangelism in Jeremiah 23 as does debt in Romans 1. In a reverse metaphor, we are to “covet earnestly the best gifts.” Men’s bellies are their gods in Romans 16:17-18. And in Hebrews 4 the Sabbath well represents the work of sanctification, of resting from our works while depending on the powerful grace of God.

But does the metaphor of Christ and the church make the seventh commandment into a ceremonial law? Hardly. Husbands and wives have a moral obligation to each other and to any children they may have. That obligation is no empty form. When it is ignored human woe escalates.

And just so with the fourth commandment in Hebrews 4. How ironic it is that the command that begins “remember…to keep holy” is relegated to ceremonial laws on just such reasoning as this: Christ is our “rest” and therefore we no longer obey Him? The Sabbath-keeping illustrates our relation to Him and so we are under no requirements to keep it any longer?

Adventists have long taught that the Sabbath is a sign of sanctification. We have recognized the illustrative value of the Sabbath since before we were organized as a religious body.

Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. Eze 20:12

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exodus 31:13

The passage indicates that the moral value of the sign is that in promotes a knowledge of the Lord as the sanctifying Agent. He that set aside a day as holy and blessed it, can do as much for a man. As God’s creative power gave existence to the Sabbath, so His creative power works in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. And as he was refreshed on the Sabbath at the experience of a job well completed, so we can be refreshed any day of the week at the thought that Jesus spoke meaningfully when he said “It is finished.”

It would be too bad if some believers in the present truth began to shy away from the metaphoric value of the Sabbath over fear that it would belittle the importance of keeping the command. On the contrary, let us exalt the Sabbath as the sign of sanctification. And as Isaiah 58:13-14 suggests, let us look for the blessing that comes to the obedient.

Jesus as our High Priest

This passage (Heb 3-4) is buttressed at both ends with direct references to Jesus as our High Priest (Heb 2:17-3:1; Heb 4:14-16). The high priest is the one person that, on earth, entered into the Most Holy Place. And in heaven Jesus certainly enters there, as Hebrews testifies.

What is in the Most Holy Place? In Revelation, where Jesus shows up dressed as High Priest, we twice see in the heavenly sanctuary evidence that the Ten Commandments (“the testament” or “testimony” in the “ark of the testament”) are there.

And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. Rev 1:13

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: Revelation 11:19

And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: Revelation 15:5

It would be too ironic if the passage that exalted Christ as High Priest were used to undermine the authority of the Law that resides in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary.

Conclusions Regarding Hebrews 3-4 and the Sabbath

Hebrews 3-4 is about Christ as our High Priest. It is about enduring to the end. It is about the heart-hardening nature of unbelief. It is about the restful nature of obedient faith.

Its backdrop is the off-repeated (in scripture) story of the Exodus. Men on that trip failed to please God because of their unbelief. Yet they had plenty of evidence on which to base their faith in the love and power of God. They had reason to belief. God said, regarding their situation:

The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, Deuteronomy 1:30-32

And when, despite the evidence, they believed not, “the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.” v. 33-34.

But there were exceptions. And they help us know how we can avoid the mistakes of their peers.

Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. v. 36

“Wholly” following the Lord is the same thing as believing him (See also Numbers 32:11). It is the same idea found in Jeremiah 6. There some persons try to help God’s people. Their method is to preach “peace, peace.” But though the people feel better, they are not much helped. They have not learned to be ashamed of their wickedness. And so they will fail of entering the rest.

Nevertheless, the rest is offered to them.

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jeremiah 6:14-16

And as in Jeremiah, so in Hebrews, it is in the “old ways” of obedient believing, that men find “rest” for their “souls.”

The rest is for those that hold fast to their faith. And it is ironic that the passage of Hebrews 3-4 would be used by some to say “turn away from the good old paths” when the passage is written to keep us in the same. We are to “hold fast our profession” in view of the fact that Jesus is the High Priest.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrews 4:14

Yes, to believe and to obey are synonyms in this passage. Hebrews 3:12-13; 3:17-19.

     Those who are unwilling to give the Lord faithful, earnest, loving service will not find spiritual rest in this life nor in the life to come. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. . . . Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fail after the same example of unbelief.” The rest here spoken of is the rest of grace, obtained by following the prescription. “Labor diligently.”  {PUR, November 7, 1901 par. 6}

One quarter of the Bibles references to “unbelief” are in Hebrews 3-4. Another quarter are in Romans 11. Our unbelief hinders the “mighty works” of God. Matthew 13:58. Yet unbelief only has that power when it is unconfessed. When we pray “I believe, help my unbelief” that prayer is answered. Matthew 17; Mark 9.

And in Hebrews 3-4, unbelief hardened the heart. Belief refreshes the soul.

And for those that know by experience, that it what the Sabbath does. It is the rest of the Lord, given to us in Eden. And it well illustrates the 24-7 rest that comes from yoking up with Christ. That is how Paul uses it in Hebrews, as an excellent illustration.

Those that rest the most in the power of grace during the six work days most appreciate the special time set apart for resting on the Sabbath.

Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16

— The End

Appendix

Richard Baxter on Hebrews 4:10

“The Saints Everlasting Rest” by Richard Baxter is about the Hebrews 4 passage and is entirely predicated on the idea that the rest is that of heaven. He mentions the Sabbath and Canaan as illustrations of the heavenly rest.

Adam Clark on Hebrews 4:10

For he that is entered into his rest The man who has believed in Christ Jesus has entered into his rest; the state of happiness which he has provided, and which is the forerunner of eternal glory.

Hath ceased from his own works–No longer depends on the observance of Mosaic rites and ceremonies for his justification and final happiness. He rests from all these works of the law as fully as God has rested from his works of creation.

Those who restrain the word rest to the signification of eternal glory, say, that ceasing from our own works relates to the sufferings, tribulations, afflictions, as in #Re 14:13. I understand it as including both.

In speaking of the Sabbath, as typifying a state of blessedness in the other world, the apostle follows the opinions of the Jews of his own and after times. The phrase shabbath illaah, veshabbath tethaah, the sabbath above, and the sabbath below, is common among the Jewish writers; and they think that where the plural number is used, as in #Le 19:30: Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, that the lower and higher sabbaths are intended, and that the one is prefigured by the other. See many examples in Schoettgen.

 

We need not be left a prey to Satan’s power. . . . The children of God should not permit Satan to place himself between them and their God. If you permit him to do this, he will tell you that your troubles are the most grievous, the sorest troubles that any mortal ever bore. He will place his magnifying glasses before your eyes, and present everything to you in an exaggerated form to overwhelm you with discouragement…. Take the Word of God as the man of your counsel, and humble your doubting soul before God, and with contrition of heart say, “Here I lay my burden down. I cannot bear it. It is too heavy for me. I lay it down at the feet of my compassionate Redeemer.” . . .  {OHC 319.3}

[1] It was this kind of “rest” that was prophesied to characterize the reign of Solomon. He was to be a “man of rest” and God promised to “give him rest from all his enemies round about” and to “give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.” 1 Chronicles 22:9

 

[2] Jude 1:5  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

[3] Is 58:13  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

God_and_Pain_–_an_Essay_on_Why

Forensic_Justification

Forensic Justification

A Synopsis of Basic Misunderstandings

 

(This short paper was prepared in the fall of 2007 for an audioverse.org listener who wrote to ask me what I thought about this doctrine.)

What was accomplished by the death of Christ? Almost any true answer that could be given would be an understatement. An article by Ellen White with this question as the title was published.

Yet, in terms of exposure, the article is comparatively obscure.

One organization that has worked diligently to promote the value of the cross is the 1888 Message Study Committee. Two of its founders, Robert Wieland and Donald Short, proposed a special doctrine of “Forensic Justification.”

The phrase literally means “legal justification” and perhaps this term is preferable for its ease of understanding. Its proponents believe a number of ideas that, combined, make up the doctrine. Let me try to enumerate these components.

1. God is agape love.
2. God’s love takes the initiate in our salvation.
3. Jesus died bearing the sins of all men – both of the eventually lost and of the finally saved.
4. When men understand the love of God and of His Christ, their hearts will be melted.
5. When they understand that God has already justified them many will turn to Him.
6. All men are born into the doomed family of Adam, and so are doomed through his sin.
7. All men are “dead.”
   1. Their doom has been reversed by the death of Jesus.
   2. They died with Him.
8. When we accept the fact that we are already saved, we are changed.
   1. Our faith turns the theory into an experience.
   2. We are now “Justified by faith.”
9. It is difficult to refuse the facts that are urged on us by our Loving Father, and so, difficult to be lost. This is the “good news” of the gospel.

Items 1, 2, 3 and 4 are so true that they deserve an ever increasing exposure. Hearts are changed and lives renewed by the emphasis on the power of Christ’s cross.

But items 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are all a mixture of truth and error. The truths in these statements could be worded as follows.

1. When men understand the sacrifice of Jesus in their behalf many will turn to Him.
2.  All men would be born hopeless, as a result of Adam’s sin, had not Christ interposed. Adam forfeited the probation that was granted him in the garden.
3. See item 6. All men are doomed through their connection with Adam.
   1. But Jesus paid their sin and restored to them probation.
   2. All will be raised from death to receive judgment for their use of their purchased probationary time.
4. When we are moved by the truths of redemption to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God we are changed.
   1. Our faith is counted as righteousness.
   2. Christ’s life is credit to our account and we are justified.
   3. It is difficult to refuse the pleadings of the Spirit. But it is also perfectly natural to do so. Our natures recoil from “death to self” and it is a continual struggle to keep the “body under” and so not to be a “cast away.”

Ec 11:9  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Ec 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Mt 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Mt 25:41-43  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Re 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Re 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. {hell: or, the grave}

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Yet Wieland’s confirmation of this point was not the most interesting part of the conversation.

The Elder explained that neither Jones nor Waggoner seems to have understood the doctrine of forensic justification until the mid 1890’s. Their copious writings and sermon transcripts from 1888-1991 contain no such ideas.

While this is no argument for or against the truthfulness of legal justification, it most certainly is an argument regarding the connection of the doctrine with 1888.

The In-Christ Motif

And there are other issues worthy of addressing. One is the mistake of literalizing a metaphor. In Hebrews the ministry of Jesus is contrasted with that of the Levites. Christ’s ministry is compared to that of Melchisedec. The Bible argues that Christ’s ministry is greater than the Levitical in as much as Melch’s was greater than Levi’s. And to illustrate a contrast between Melch’s and Levi’s, the book makes the following statement:

Heb 7:9-10  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

The phrase “and as I may so say” alerts the reader to an upcoming metaphor. Not that Levi literally paid tithes in an event that happened to his great-grandfather, but that his ancestor, one greater than him, paid tithes to Melchisedec.

The illustration says simply that Christ’s ministry excels Levi’s. But when literalized it begins to teach some incomprehensible ideas.  Suddenly I am culpable or praiseworthy for things that I did before I was born. And this idea, extracted from a literal reading of a metaphor, is made the basis for an idea that is just too abstract for human reasoning:

We were “in Jesus” at the cross, so were killed there. We were “in Christ” during his life, so lived a perfect one. “In Christ” our sins our paid for and our righteousness is established. And this is no “vicarious substitution.” This is literal reality.

Now I would hasten to add that if a prophet taught such a thing we ought to believe it. The fact that an idea is abstract or beyond our comprehension may be no argument against its truthfulness. We are weak-minded.

But prophets teach no such thing and it is often true that Satan introduces ideas that are somewhat mind-boggling so as to encourage the average hearer/reader to skip over the logic of the thing and to accept it uncritically.

Section 2

Justification and Romans 5

The first uses of the word “justify” in scripture refer to the judicial clearing of accused, yet innocent, persons. Ex 23:7; De 25:1; 1Ki 8:32; 2Ch 6:23; Pr 17:15; Is 5:23.

To Job’s friends, self-justification was the root of Job’s problems. This Job denied early saying “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me.” Job 9:20. See Job 11:2; 13:18; 25:4; 27:5; 32:2; 33:32.

Israel did try to justify “herself” while practicing idolatry. But God’s people, by their sins, rather tended to justify the wicked. That is, the comparatively evil habits of the chosen people tended to wrongly excuse the wicked habits of other nations. Jer. 3:11; Ez. 16:51-52.

David’s first (of two) use of the word, in Psalm 51:4, is quoted by Paul in Romans 3. It makes apparent reference to a judicial clearing of God himself, but while God is acting still as Judge. In other words, God’s judgment is evaluated and ratified and David’s confession of sin contributes to the process. The confession of sinners in Christ’s day also “justified God.” Perhaps 1 Ti 3:16 also alludes to God’s justification, but by the spiritual life of Jesus.

Ps 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Ro 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Lu 7:29  And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

No man will be justified in God’s sight while daring to second guess God’s judgments. Ps. 143:2.

If nations could accurately describe the past and tell the future it would be judicial evidence that they have the truth. If individuals had rational answers with which to meet their accusations they should use them and be justified. But they have them not. Is. 43:9, 26.

The first use of the word “justify” in a sense similar to “forgive” is half way through the Bible in Isaiah 45:25. (See Is 45:22-25.)

Isa 45:25  In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Similar is Isaiah 50:7-9. This seems to be the passage alluded to in Romans 8.

Isa 50:7  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8  He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9  Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

And a direct connection of the word Justify with the gospel is found in Isaiah 53.

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

This concludes the Old Testament use of the words derived from “justify.”

The first New Testament use, by Jesus, indicates that truth is attacked by the masses but is justified by “her children.” Mt 11:19. (See also Lu 7:35.)

In Matthew 12 Jesus indicates that men will be evaluated in the judgment on the basis of their “words.” It appears that we are judged by our words and, following, the Judge is vindicated for His execution of justice.

Mt 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

As confession of sin tends to “justify God” (see Lu 7:29 quoted earlier), an unwillingness to confess translates into a willingness to justify one’s self.  When Pharisees made light of Jesus’ plain teaching he accused them of self-justification. Lu 10:29; 16:15.

A short time later Jesus delivered a parable that showed what kind of words lead to justification and which kind of self-justifying words do not.

Lu 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Outside of the controverted text, Romans 5:9-20, there are 25 other verses that use forms of the verb “justify.” 100% of these are given below.

And all of these teach a straight forward doctrine. Men that truly believe, and no others, are justified. Men whose belief is sufficient to lead them to works of obedience are justified, and no others. Men whose works do not proceed from faith are not justified. Emphatically, in the passages, justification is by faith.

Ac 13:39  And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. [Note: Who are justified? “all that believe”]

Ro 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.  [Note: Who are justified? “the doers of the law”]

Ro 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.  [Note: By what means are the doers of the law justified? Not by virtue of the lawful “deeds”.]

Ro 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  [Note: By what means are men justified? By God’s grace made available through Christ.]

Ro 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. [Note: Who are justified? “him which believeth in Jesus”]

Ro 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. [Note: In conclusion, who are justified and how? Those having faith, but without any merit from their obedience.]

Ro 3:30  Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. [Note: Which Jews are justified? Which Gentiles? Those having “faith.”]

Ro 4:2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

Ro 4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. [Note: Who are justified? Ungodly persons who have faith that God justifies ungodly persons. ]

Ro 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. [Note: Why was Jesus raised? “For our justification.” Then were we justified at the cross? No. Our justification is connected with his meditorial work.]

Ro 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: [Note: Who has peace with God? Those who are “being justified by faith.”]

Ro 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. [Note: The chosen (ie, predestined), the justified, and the glorified are all the same class.]

Ro 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. [Note: Who are justified? “God’s elect.”]

1Co 4:4  For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [Note: Paul’s justification is connected with his judgment by the Lord Jesus.]

1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. [Note: Who are justified? Those who are “washed” and “sanctified” in submission to “the Lord Jesus.”]

Ga 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. [Note: Who are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ? “we [who] have believed in Jesus Christ.” Our belief in Jesus was chosen so “that” it might be that way.]

Ga 2:17  But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. [Note: Is being justified by Christ something to seek for? Apparently yes.]

Ga 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Ga 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Ga 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [Note: Who are justified? Those brought to Christ by the law, those living “by faith.”]

Ga 5:4  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Tit 3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Jas 2:24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Jas 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? [Note: Rahab and Abraham were justified by a faith that operated successfully in their lives. Their lives showed that those who “believe” in Romans 3 are the same as those who are “doers of the law” in Romans 2.]

Summary:

We have observed, in this paper, 57 of the 60 verses using “justify” or its derivates in scripture.

These we have found to teach that both men and God are seeking justification. Most men seek it either by works or by stubborn refusal to confess their sins. Some seek it humbly by faith – and these are faithfully obedient.

Those that seek justification by faith freely confess their sins and thus justify God’s verdicts. Those who are professed servants of the king but whose lives ill-accord with their profession rather negate the validity of God’s judgments. Their lives tend to justify the wicked by way of comparison. Who can condemn a wicked man for doing wrong if even God’s people are living that way?

Those who by faith seek to be justified are dependant on Christ’s intercession. They were not justified at His death, though His death was the sacrifice that paid for their sins. They were purchased by His death and are justified by His mediatory work.

Ro 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

They are the “elect” that Jesus is justifying and to accuse them of wrong-doing is to second the work of Satan. See Romans 8:30, 33 above.

This is a fair summary of the Bible Doctrine of Justification. Three verses remain to be noticed. If they are obscure or difficult to comprehend, we should not be surprised. Peter warned us (2 Pe 3) that Paul wrote things of that nature. If they use the word “justification” or “justified” we should be predisposed to understand those words in harmony with the testimony of the rest of scripture.

This many persons do not do. And by giving to the idea of “justification” found in these verses an alternate definition they fall into some doctrinal pit holes.

Here is the passage with the three verses, and with commentary relevant to the doctrine of justification:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Note: Here we launch into a beautiful truth. God takes the initiative in wooing us to Himself. Our sins were placed on Christ before we even desired it to be. Provision[1] has been made for our justification.]

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement[2]. [Note: Who is justified “now”? Is it all men? Or the presumed Christians of Rome? Very apparently the latter. The status of “enemies” is a past status for the “we” in this passage. And the “we” in this passage “joy in God.” And the mid portion, “saved by his life” reminds us strongly of the truth found in the previous chapter of Romans, that Jesus was “raised for our Justification.” It leads to the conclusion that Justification by Faith does not mark the end of our need of Christ’s ministration.]

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: [Note: Following this sentence Paul introduces quite a long parenthetical passage. This sentence, for this reason, helps us understand the next verse after the parenthetical passage. Sin came into the world by Lucifer, by his angels, by Eve. But not until Adam ate the forbidden fruit did the entire human race succumb to rebellion. Adam’s sin brought death. But why did death pass to his posterity? “For that all have sinned.” That is a simple idea explained several times earlier in the book of Romans. “And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” is the way James says it. Sin “reigns unto death” is the way this chapter says it a few verses later. The wages of “sin is death” is the most familiar way to say it. Adam’s posterity have each followed his path of sinning. And so each has merited death.]

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  [Paul carefully proves that the Law existed prior to Sinai. The fact that men were held accountable for sin, the fact that men died between Adam and Moses, proves that Law existed. And the Law had an existence outside of the consciences of men. Some men broke it without ever choosing to break it. They, too, had to die. In this category would fall many infants and many heathen. And those that died were locked in their graves. The grave reigned over them showing their accountability to the universal Law of God. Moses was the first being ever to be resurrected from the grave. He is the first man in the Bible that we witness receiving the Law of God. His resurrection (See Jude, Matthew 17) interrupted the reign of death without threatening to undermine the reign of Law. This the life and death and resurrection of Jesus also did, making Moses a type of his Savior. The gift of Jesus differs from the effect of Adam’s sin. How? It is larger in power and in significance. How many are dead now through Adam’s transgression? Most. Not Moses. Not Enoch. Not Elijah. Not “many others” raised with Christ. Not all reside under the captivity of the grave, but “many be dead.” And how many have been blessed by the abundance of grace? “they which receive” that grace and who also, “reign in life” by Christ’s power. The other contrast in this passage relates to judgment and justification. One man “having sinned” [YLT] is sufficient to bring judgment. Adam’s one sin did so. One sin of mine is sufficient to condemn me. But the gift is so much larger that it covers, not one offence of mine, but all my offences.]

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. [How did Adam’s sin lead to the judgment coming upon all men? The verse before the parenthesis answered “all have sinned.” It was by a change in the people that Adam’s sin led to their loss. “Many were made sinners.” What about the “free gift”? Does it change persons? Yes, “by the obedience of one [past] shall many be made righteous [future].” This is manifestly parallel in thought to the “justification of life.” And it is manifestly in harmony with the 69 other references to justification that we have examined up to this point. The weight of all these witnesses points to one conclusion: The free gift of Justification was made available by Jesus to all men. It “came” their way. It recommends itself to them and promises life.

But to gather from this phrase that all men have been justified is to reason backwards. It is to force the obscure to interpret to the clear, to twist straight-forward statements into fitting a faulty reading of this one. Does Paul anywhere else speak about the gift being “unto all” yet being restricted in its justifying effect to believers? That is the main idea of Romans 3:20-26 where the “righteousness of God” is “unto all and upon all them that believe.” There is no difference between believers in that passage. They have all sinned. They all depend on Christ’s righteousness, whether they died before or after the cross. And Christ’s death, in that passage, allows God to be “just” and the “justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Section Three – Hebrews 7 and being “in Christ”

One of the most common phrases in the New Testament is “in Christ.”  In that precise form it appears 77 times in scripture. That number could be expanded by including references to “in Jesus” and “in Him.” What does this phrase mean? In Greek, as in English, prepositions are very flexible in usage and meaning. And several different prepositions are used in phrases translated as “in Christ.” More than that, the dative case of the word “Christ” may be translated “in Christ.”

So what does this mean? It means that you need a larger framework than the phrase “in Christ” to know what that phrase means in a certain passage. It could mean “inside of Christ”, “in relation to Christ,” “in regard to Christ,” “by means of Christ,” “because of Christ,” or “leaning towards Christ.” And, in fact, all of these except the first are obvious meanings of the phrase in various places in the New Testament. “In relation to Christ,” being the most flexible and most generic of the series, could accurately be substituted for “in Christ” in most cases.

But that is not how many persons see it.

Before progressing to the reason they see it differently I must pause. Jesus is my Savior. Christ is His Holy Title as Messiah. My soul is repelled from entering into an argument about a preposition (a very small thing) that is so tightly united to my Prince (a unfathomably mighty Person.)

And, in fact, this may be the root of Satan’s desire to cause argument about this phrase. It may be simply a sly way to cause us to break the Third Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord thy God in Vain.”

Then, with reverence, let us consider a few of the glorious truths that stand in relation to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We may have “faith in Christ”

Ac 24:24; Ga 3:26; Eph 1:12; Col 1:4; Col 2:5. In the last of these Paul commends men for the steadfastness of their “faith in Christ.” This would not be a sensible thing to do with the faith was actually the faith of Jesus during his earthly life.

We are “justified freely” by the “redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” – Ro 3:24

Persons freed by the Spirit have “life in Christ Jesus.” – Ro 8:2

The “love of God . . . is in Christ Jesus.” Ro 8:39.

We make speak the “truth in Christ” – Ro 9:1

Christians are “one body in Christ.” – Ro 12:5

Our fellow workers are “helpers in Christ Jesus.” – Ro 16:7.

While in our spiritual infanthood, we are “babes in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Co 3:1[3]

We have many “instructors in Christ Jesus,” and perhaps one spiritual father – 1Co 4:15.

Our way of acting, our visible behavior, may be “in Christ.” – 1Co 4:17.

The righteous dead are “asleep in Christ.” – 1Co 15:18.

The righteous living have “hope in Christ.” – 1Co 15:19.

We may have rejoicing “in Christ Jesus.” – 1Co 15:31.

The church is established together “in Christ.” – 2Co 1:21.

We may speak, in the sight of God, “in Christ.” – 2Co 2:17.

The simplicity of the gospel is “in Christ.” – 2Co 11:3.

Our liberty is possessed “in Christ Jesus.” – Gal 2:4.

God’s covenant with Abraham was confirmed “In Christ.” – Gal 3:17.

Races, genders, and economic statuses are all united “in Christ Jesus.” – Eph 1:1

We are blessed with heavenly and spiritual blessings “in Christ.” – Eph 1:3.

All beings will eventually be gathered together “in Christ.” – Eph. 1:10

There is comfort, fellowship, and consolation “in Christ.” – Php. 2:1

We “may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.” – 2Ti 2:10.

Peter prayed “peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.” – 1Pe 5:14.

Most of these passages are clearly referring to the relation a believer has to Jesus. It is in our connection to Him experientially that we experience so many blessings.

But do we have any corporate relation to Jesus outside of our personal experience? Surely we do. Many refer to this fact as the “objective truth of the gospel.”

In fact, it is the objective truth of the gospel that gives force to the judgment. The fact that Jesus has died for all men has placed all men under immense obligation to live a holy life. The greatness of the gift demands accountability for how it is received and handled. If Christ had not died for men it would have been sufficient for them to have died natural deaths and to have received either the natural results of their wickedness or God’s judgments here. There would have been no need for a resurrection or future judgment.

But the facts of the gospel, that Jesus died for all, that all have been under Spirit-prompted pressure to repent, make a natural death insufficient to meet the demands of Justice. In our relation to Adam we inherited a corruptible body that can not live forever. In our relation to Jesus we have been granted an obligation to face judgement. And so it is that:

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. – I Cor 15:22-25.[4]

One time when the phrase takes on a very literal meaning is in reference to God being “in Christ.” Our probation is an evidence of the objective facts of the gospel. Because of Christ’s payment for sins men have not, generally, been the objects of Divine wrath while on earth. They have been granted sun and rain and access to grace, all undeservingly. An empty cup of probation has been given to them and until it has been filled, charges have not been accepted against them by the Divine Judge.

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. – 2Co 5:19 

But while these passages demonstrate well that the phrase “in Christ” may be used to describe Christ’s relation to the race, they can not negate the fact that the term, as generally used, refers to believers. For example:

Persons “in Christ Jesus” are not condemned. On this all parties agree. But Romans 8:1 adds that they are the ones who “walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”

Persons “in Christ Jesus” are not born that way. Paul’s relatives, Adronicus and Junia, were “in Christ” before He was. Ro 16:10.

Persons “in Christ” are always being caused to “triumph” and to make God’s knowledge attractive in “every place.” 2Co 2:14.

Persons “in Christ” can understand the Old Testament symbols pointing to Jesus. 2Co 3:14.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2Co 5:17.

Persons who are now close to God and are now “in Christ” were once “far off.” Eph 2:13.

The introduction of this paper spoke about Hebrews 7 and Levi’s tithe payment to Melchizedec. If you read that section again you will see how a literalizing of a metaphor combined with a literalizing of a preposition has turned an illustration into a sermon of its own.

In Summary

My relation to Jesus means everything to me. In relation to Him I have peace, hope, love and joy. My faith in relation to him leads to my forgiveness and my participation in the grace that comes through His sacrifice. This is what is meant, generally, by the phrase “in Christ.”

It is neither a reference to my metaphysical presence in Christ’s body long ago, nor is it a reference to the quality of my interpersonal communication with Him. Rather, it is a reference to the boundless gifts that are available to me through Him.

My metaphysical presence in Christ, what does it mean? There is no true answer to this question. The idea, it seems, springs from a desire to seek out something new or strange that will reignite the power that the gospel had in yesteryear.

But the power of the gospel in the past derived from its simplicity, not from its cunning. It will enliven souls today as before when presented in clear and distinct lines. The beauties of Jesus, of holiness, of faith and forgiveness, of repentance and confession, of the cross and the glory that follows – these are sources of power.

Section Four – Common Misunderstandings that Follow Forensic Justification.

The average audience is intelligent yet mentally undisciplined. This places a burden on teachers of the truth to teach in such a way as to be well understood.

Forensic Justification is poorly understood by many that are most attracted to its presenters. The burden rest on the presenters of the doctrine to make it very clear to struggling men that:

1. They are not saved in their sins.
2. That confession and repentance are conditions of being accepted with God.
3. That a life of faith is most obedient, is most holy, is always feeling unworthy.

I do not mean to create a straw man. The primary teachers of forensic justification could ascribe to these three statements, or at least to the first and third. But the use of the word “justification” in ways that contrasts sharply with 68 of 70 Biblical uses does, not surprisingly, give way to many simple minded persons supposing that all is well between them and their Lord while they have yet to “bring forth fruits meet for repentance.”

That error is one that follows the less careful persons.

Another error clings to many that are more prominent.

They distinguish between “vicarious” substitutionary atonement (the idea that Jesus paid for my sins as a third party taking my place) and the truth (as they see it, that Jesus involved me in his death so that I died there in reality.) By their understanding there is no justice in one dying for the sins of another. And so they impugn the wisdom and justice of the central idea of the atonement.

Yet the atonement is just and wise on a scale men can not fathom. As Creator of agents with free will Jesus stands in a unique place among the inhabitants of the universe. He can justly take their sins on Himself. While not responsible for their decisions, and thus being innocent, He may gracefully volunteer to take the horrible weight of guilt men incurred by the use they made of their gift of free will. Justice permits the infinite immensity of His Life to bear all the sin of his personal possessions.

By owning them twice

And having much life

And having one death that still pays

He graciously claims

Not by legal games

To justly atone for men’s ways

 

Yet I will be quick to confess that I understand it not. I have faint ideas that match all that I have been able to gleam from inspiration. These point me in a direction that makes the cross seem as just as it does seem merciful. Still, not because of these ideas do I believe that Christ can rightly take my sins on Himself.

I believe it because God has said it. God is Wise. I bow my intellect before the Judge and confess that whatever He does is justice.

Man, with his human, finite judgment, cannot safely question the wisdom of God. Hence it is unbecoming for him to criticize the plan of salvation. Before the theme of redemption, let man lay his wisdom in the dust, and accept the plans of Him whose wisdom is infinite.  God grants men a probation in this world, that their principles may become firmly established in the right, thus precluding the possibility of sin in the future life, and so assuring the happiness and security of all. Through the atonement of the Son of God alone could power be given to man to establish him in righteousness, and make him a fit subject for heaven. The blood of Christ is the eternal antidote for sin. The offensive character of sin is seen in what it cost the Son of God in humiliation, in suffering and death. All the worlds behold in him a living testimony to the malignity of sin, for in his divine form he bears the marks of the curse. He is in the midst of the throne as a Lamb that hath been slain. The redeemed will ever be vividly impressed with the hateful character of sin, as they behold Him who died for their transgressions. The preciousness of the Offering will be more fully realized as the blood-washed throng more fully comprehend how God has made a new and living way for the salvation of men, through the union of the human and the divine in Christ.  – ST, December 30, 1889 [5]

 

Those who understand this matter in its true bearing will more fully comprehend the glorious, wondrous plan of salvation. They will not desire to argue just what is meant by Christ being our righteousness, nor will they desire to try to explain questions that do not in any way make more plain the terms of salvation.— WB, September 9, 1902

 

Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. We can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the atonement that has been made. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” No man of earth, no angel of heaven, could have paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In Him divinity and humanity are combined, and this was what gave efficacy to the offering on Calvary’s cross. At the cross, mercy and truth met together; righteousness and peace kissed each other. As the sinner looks upon the Saviour dying on Calvary, and realizes that the Sufferer is divine, he asks why, this great sacrifice was made; and the cross points to the holy law of God, which has been transgressed. The death of Christ is an unanswerable argument to the immutability and righteousness of the law. In prophesying of Christ, Isaiah says, “He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” The law has no power to pardon the evil-doer. Its office is to point out his defects, that he may realize his need of One who is mighty to save, realize his need of One who will become his substitute, his surety, his righteousness. Jesus meets the need of the sinner; for He has taken upon Him the sins of the transgressor. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with his stripes we are healed.” The Lord could have cut off the sinner, and utterly destroyed him; but the more costly plan was chosen. In his great love He provides hope for the hopeless, giving his only begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. And since He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift, He will withhold from man no needed aid that he may take the cup of salvation, and become an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ.  BEcho, March 15, 1893

 

All legalism, all the sorrow and woe by which you may encompass yourself, will not give you one moment of relief. You cannot rightly estimate sin. You must accept God’s estimate, and it is heavy indeed. If you bore the guilt of your sin, it would crush you; but the sinless One has taken your place, and though undeserving, He has borne your guilt. By accepting the provision God has made, you may stand free before Him in the merit and virtue of your Substitute.  BEcho, July 2, 1894

 

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

Isa 53:4-6 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Ro 3:25-26  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the jus Re 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.tifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

These and many texts like them establish the facts that God is both Just and merciful is His granting to us of a Substitute.

In summary, the doctrine of substitutionary atonement remains the glorious center gem of righteousness by faith. There is sad irony in the efforts of men who promote faith (“living by every word…”) when they rise above the Word and second the demonic arguments that the doctrine, as plainly stated by many prophets, is unjust.

And we can not be greatly surprised that the followers of such often become confused in regard to the personal terms of justification by faith. This confusion, on such a vital theme, threatens to destroy a man’s eternal life. This error always tends to do – even when held most sincerely by the kindest of men.

Section Five – The Converting Power of Truth with a Twisted Ankle

Truth has power. Those familiar with the Bible know that Jesus credits truth with setting men free. Through it they are sanctified. By the Word of truth they are born again into a life that can endure.

Truth has such power that a man preaching it need not be exactly accurate to benefit his hearers. If a man preaches that the death of Jesus can save a poor sinner from burning in hell forever, that preacher may benefit someone indeed. The truths in the verses he shares retain their potency despite his misunderstanding.

Truth can do wonders when sprinting by God’s power. When lurching forward on crutches its muscles still bulge and its back still ripples with strength. That is the preciousness of truth.

Error shares the same characteristics, but in the negative. As it confuses the mind, misdirects the affections, palliates the still-burdened conscience, error destroys a man. It weakens his faith, dampens his zeal for holiness, his earnestness to please God.

And almost always truth and error are preached together in such a complex mesh of ideas that it is difficult to ascertain the net effect.

Not so with many of the preachers of forensic justification. Their love for Ellen White, their respect for God’s messengers, their devotion to the cross, their adherence to the present truths for this time, their exaltation of the truth regarding “beholding”, and their teaching of kindred precious truths – these are tremendous forces for good.

Truth when preached along with “forensic justification” charges forward on a twisted ankle. Its courage atones some for its injuries. Its efforts excel those of another ideas, they being more healthy but less mighty.

In summary, the gospel has a power that can survive the misunderstandings of its teachers. Great good has been done by the teachers of forensic justification. More good would be done by them if they would drop the error in favor of a more homogenous mixture of truth.

Section Six – The Historical Teaching of Forensic Justification

What did A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner believe about “justification of life” in Romans 5:18? Perhaps surprisingly to some, they believed much the same regarding this phrase as did Storres, Andrews, and Loughborough before them.

The articles of Jones and Waggoner discuss the entire passage of Romans 5:12-21. They emphasize the following points:

1. Everyone was made a sinner by Adam, but only when they confirmed their inherited weakness by a personal choice to sin.
2. Everyone has been redeemed from Adam’s fall, but they are only
3. They constantly make reference to the “provision” made for men at Calvary.
4. They repeatedly stress that being “in Him” is a characteristic of believers only.
5. Jones indicates that the contrast between Adam and Christ was that one sin of Adam did damage and many sins in Christ were healed.
6. What Jesus did, Jones explains, gives resurrection to all men just as what Adam did gives death to all. But those resurrected include the “unjust.”
7. What Jesus has given to every man is “freedom” to chose. No one “is compelled to be righteous.”
8. When any man asks for “forgiveness” he is asking that God “give for” his sin Christ’s “righteousness.” God does, as promised in Romans 5:18.

The following section is copied and edited from the Adventist Pioneer Library. Initials represent first the author (ATJ = A. T. Jones). Then follows an abbreviation representing the title of the document (GCB95ATJ14 = General Conference Bulletin, 1895, Jones Sermon # 14.) Emphasis is supplied.

 

ATJ  GCB95ATJ14  pp 267-270      O, He is a complete Saviour.  He is a Saviour from sins committed and the Conqueror of the tendencies to commit sins.  In Him we have the victory.  We are no more responsible for these tendencies being in us that we are responsible for the sun shining, but every man on earth is responsible for these things appearing in open action in Him, because Jesus Christ has made provision against their ever appearing in open action.  Before we learned of Christ, many of them had appeared in open action.  The Lord hath laid upon Him all these and He has taken them away.  Since we learned of Christ, these tendencies which have not appeared He condemned as sin in the flesh.  And shall He who believes in Jesus allow that which Christ condemned in the flesh to rule over Him in the flesh?  This is the victory that belongs to the believer in Jesus.

It is true that, although a man may have all this in Jesus, He cannot profit by it without himself being a believer in Jesus. Take the man who does not believe in Jesus at all tonight.  has not Christ made all the provision for him that He has for Elijah, who is in heaven tonight?  And if this man wants to have Christ for his Saviour, if he wants provision made for all his sins and salvation from all of them, does Christ have to do anything now in order to provide for this man’s sins or to save him from them?  No.  That is all done.  He made all that provision for every man when He was in the flesh and every man who believes in Him receives this without there being any need of any part of it being done over again.  He “made one sacrifice for sins forever.”  And having by Himself purged us from our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.  Thus it is all in Him and every believer in Him possesses it all in Him and in Him is complete.  It is in Him and that is the blessedness of it.  “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily.”  And God gives His eternal Spirit and us eternal life–eternity in which to live–in order that that eternal Spirit may reveal to us and make known to us the eternal depths of the salvation that we have in Him whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity.

Now let us look at it in another way.  Turn to Romans 5:12:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Now, leaving out the verses in parenthesis for the moment and reading them afterward, read the eighteenth verse:

Therefore, as by the offense of one [that man that sinned] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [that Man that did not sin] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience [that man that sinned] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [that Man that did not sin] shall many be made righteous.

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Adam, then, was the figure of Him that was to come.  That one to come is Christ.  Adam was the figure of Him.  Wherein was Adam the figure of Him?  In his righteousness?  No.  For he did not keep it.  In his sin?  No.  For Christ did not sin.  Wherein, then, was Adam the figure of Christ?  In this:  That all that were in the world were included in Adam, and all that are in the world are included in Christ.  In other words:  Adam in his sin reached all the world; Jesus Christ, the second Adam, in His righteousness touches all humanity.  That is where Adam is the figure of Him that was to come.  So read on:

But not as the offense, so also is the free gift: for if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

There are two men, then, whom we are studying:  That one man by whom sin entered; that one man by whom righteousness entered.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.  For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one [that is, by the first Adam]; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ [the second Adam].

Read another text in connection with this before we touch the particular study of it.  1 Cor. 15:45–49:

So it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

The first Adam touched all of us; what he did included all of us.  If he had remained true to God, that would have included all of us.  And when he fell away from God, that included us and took us also.  Whatever he should have done embraced us, and what he did made us what we are.

Now here is another Adam.  Does He touch as many as the first Adam did?  That is the question.  That is what we are studying now.  Does the second Adam touch as many as did the first Adam?  And the answer is that it is certainly true that what the second Adam did embraces all that were embraced in what the first Adam did.  What he should have done, what he could have done, would embrace all.

Suppose Christ had yielded to temptation and had sinned.  Would that have meant anything to us?  It would have meant everything to us.  The first Adam’s sin meant all this to us; sin on the part of the second Adam would have meant all this to us.  The first Adam’s righteousness would have meant all to us and the second Adam’s righteousness means all to as many as believe.  That is correct in a certain sense, but not in the sense in which we are studying it now.  We are now studying from the side of the Adams.  We will look at it from our side presently.

The question is, Does the second Adam’s righteousness embrace as many as does the first Adam’s sin?  Look closely.  Without our consent at all, without our having anything to do with it, we were all included in the first Adam; we were there.  All the human race were in the first Adam.  What that first Adam–what that first man, did meant us; it involved us.  That which the first Adam did brought us into sin, and the end of sin is death, and that touches every one of us and involves every one of us.

Jesus Christ, the second man, took our sinful nature.  He touched us “in all points.”  He became we and died the death.  And so in Him and by that every man that has ever lived upon the earth and was involved in the first Adam is involve in this and will live again.  There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust.  Every soul shall live again by the second Adam from the death that came by the first Adam.

“Well,” says one, “we are involved in other sins besides that one.”  Not without our choice.  When God said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed,” He set every man free to choose which master he would serve, and since that, every man that has sinned in this world has done it because he chose to.  “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”–not them who had no chance to believe; the god of this world blinds no man until he has shut his eyes of faith.  When he shuts his eyes of faith, then Satan will see that they are kept shut as long as possible.  I read the text again:  “If our gospel,”–the everlasting gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ which is Christ in you the hope of glory, from the days of the first Adam’s sin until now–“if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.”  It is hid to them “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds.”  And why did he blind the minds?  Because they “believe not.”

Abraham, a heathen, born a heathen, as all the rest of us are, and raised a heathen, grew up in a family of heathens, worshiping idols and the heavenly hosts.  He turned from it all unto God and opened his eyes of faith and used them, and Satan never had a chance to blind his eyes.  And Abraham, a heathen, thus turning from among heathens unto God and finding God in Jesus Christ in the fullness of hope–that is one reason why God has set him before all the world.  He is an example of what every heathen on this earth may find.  He is a God-set-forth example of how every heathen is without excuse if he does not find God in Jesus Christ, by the everlasting gospel.  Abraham is set before all nations in witness of the fact that every heathen is responsible in his own way if he does not find what Abraham found.

Therefore, just as far as the first Adam reaches man, so far the second Adam reaches man.  The first Adam brought man under the condemnation of sin, even unto death; the second Adam’s righteousness undoes that and makes every man live again.  As soon as Adam sinned, God gave him a second chance and set him free to choose which master he would have.  Since that time every man is free to choose which way he will go; therefore he is responsible for his own individual sins.  And when Jesus Christ has set us all free from the sin and the death which came upon us from the first Adam, that freedom is for every man,  and every man can have it for the choosing.

The Lord will not compel any one to take it.  He compels no one to sin and He compels no one to be righteous.  Everyone sins upon his own choice.  The Scriptures demonstrate it.  And every one can be made perfectly righteous at his choice.  And the Scriptures demonstrate this.  No man will die the second death who has not chosen sin rather than righteousness, death rather than life.  In Jesus Christ there is furnished in completeness all that man needs or ever can have in righteousness, and all there is for any man to do is to choose Christ and then it is his.

So then as the first Adam was We, the second Adam is We.  In all points He is as weak as are we.  Read two texts:  He says of us, “Without me ye can do nothing.”  Of Himself He says:  “Of mine own self I can do nothing.”

These two texts are all we want now.  They tell the whole story.  To be without Christ is to be without God, and there the man can do nothing.  He is utterly helpless of himself and in himself.  That is where the man is who is without God.  Jesus Christ says:  “Of mine own self I can do nothing.”  Then that shows that the Lord Jesus put Himself in this world, in the flesh, in His human nature, precisely where the man is in this world who is without God.  He put Himself precisely where lost man is.  He left out His divine self and became we.  And there, helpless as we are without God, He ran the risk of getting back to where God is and bringing us with him.  It was a fearful risk, but, glory to God, He won.  The thing was accomplished, and in Him we are saved.

When He stood where we are, He said, “I will put my trust in Him” and that trust was never disappointed.  In response to that trust the Father dwelt in Him and with Him and kept Him from sinning.  Who was He?  We.  And thus the Lord Jesus has brought to every man in this world divine faith.  That is the faith of the Lord Jesus.  That is saving faith.  Faith is not something that comes from ourselves with which we believe upon Him, but it is that something with which He believed–the faith which He exercised, which He brings to us, and which becomes ours and works in us–the gift of God.  That is what the word means, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”  They keep the faith of Jesus because it is that divine faith which Jesus exercised Himself.

He being we brought to us that divine faith which saves the soul–that divine faith by which we can say with Him, “I will put my trust in Him.”  And in so putting our trust in Him, that trust today will never be disappointed anymore than it was then.  God responded then to the trust and dwelt with Him.  God will respond today to that trust in us and will dwell with us.

God dwelt with Him and He was ourselves.  Therefore His name is Emmanuel, God with us.  Not God with Him.  God was with Him before the world was;  He could have remained there and not come here at all and still God could have remained with Him and His name could have been God with Him.  He could have come into this world as He was in heaven and His name could still have been God with Him.  But that never could have been God with us.  But what we needed was God with us.  God with Him does not help us, unless He is we.  But that is the blessedness of it.  He who was one of God became one of us; He who was God became we, in order that God with Him should be God with us.  O, that is His name!  That is His name!  Rejoice in that name forevermore–God with us!

 

AT JONES, Lessons on Faith, RH 1899

The righteousness of God is revealed to faith.  Rom. 1:17.

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God, expecting that word to do what the word itself says.

Is there, then, righteousness spoken by the word of God, so that people can depend completely upon that word, that the word shall accomplish what the word says?

There is.  Indeed, that is the very object of the gift of Christ. For him “God hath set forth . . . to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”  Rom. 3:25.

Seeing then that God hath set forth Christ expressly to declare, to speak, the righteousness of God, it is certain that the word of God has been spoken, upon which there can be complete dependence, expecting that word to do what that word says.  In other words, there is righteousness that can be received by faith.

Wherein is this word spoken?  It is spoken in the word “forgiveness.”  “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”; “there is forgiveness with thee.”

Now what is the meaning of forgive”?  The word “forgive” is composed of “for” and “give,” which otherwise is give for.  To forgive, therefore, is simply to give for.  For the Lord to forgive sin is to give for sin.  But what does the Lord give for sin?  He declares “his righteousness for the remission of sins.”

Therefore when the Lord forgives–gives for–sin, He gives righteousness for sin.  And as the only righteousness that the Lord has is his own, it follows that the only righteousness that God gives, or can give, for sin is the righteousness of God.

This is the righteousness of God as a gift.  As all men have only sinned and if they are ever clear must have forgiveness entirely free, and as the forgiveness of sin–the righteousness of God given for sin–is entirely free–this is the righteousness of God as a free gift “upon all men unto justification of life.”  Rom. 5:18.

Every soul, therefore, who ever asks God for forgiveness of sin, in that very thing asks God to give him righteousness for sin.  Every soul who asks God for forgiveness asks it solely upon the word of God, which speaks forgiveness.  And faith is entire dependence upon the word for what the word speaks.  Thus righteousness is altogether of faith.

“Every one that asketh receiveth.”  You have asked the Lord many a time to forgive your sins; that is, you have asked him to give for your sin.  But when you ask the Lord to give for your sin, in that you ask him to give the only thing that He does or can give for sin, which is righteousness.  That is what it is to ask forgiveness of the Lord.

And He does forgive–He does give for–your sins when you ask Him. He says He does, and He does.  “He is faithful”–that is, He will never fail–“and just to forgive us our sins.”  And the only thing He gives for sins is His righteousness.

Then why not thank Him for the righteousness that He freely gives for your sins when you ask Him to?

Do you not see that righteousness by faith is just as plain and simple as the asking God for forgiveness of sin?  Indeed, it is just that.

To believe that righteousness is given for your sin, when you ask forgiveness, and thankfully to receive that righteousness as the gift of God–this is what it is to exercise faith.

Yet how true it is that “we suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief and of our ignorance of how to exercise faith.”

Hast thou faith?”  Have the faith of God.  “Here are they that keep . . . the faith of Jesus.”                                               Review and Herald, 3/14/1899

The Gift of Christ.

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0015 paragraph 2           This grace and peace come from Christ, “who gave Himself for our sins.”  “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”  Eph.4:7.  But this grace is “the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”  2Tim.2:1.  Therefore we know that Christ Himself is given to every one of us.  The fact that men live is an evidence that Christ has been given to them, for Christ is “the life,” and the life is the light of men, and this life-light “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0016 paragraph 1           John 1:4,9; 14:6.  In Christ all things consist (Col.1:17), and thus it is that since God “spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,” He can not do otherwise than, with Him, freely “give us all things.”  Rom.8:32.  “His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.”  2Pet.1:3.  The whole universe is given to us in Christ, and the fullness of the power that is in it is ours for the overcoming of sin.  God counts each soul of as much value as all creation.  Christ has, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man (Heb.2:9), so that every man in the world has received the “unspeakable gift” (2Cor.9:15).  “The grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many,” even to all; for “as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  Rom.5:15,18.

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0016 paragraph 2           The question is asked, “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?”  (1Cor.1:13), the answer obviously being in the negative.  In that Christ is given to every man, each person gets the whole of Him.  The love of God embraces the whole world, but it also singles out each individual.  A mother’s love is not divided up among her children, so that each one receives only a third, a fourth, or a fifth of it; each one is the object of all her affection.  How much more so with the God whose love is more perfect than any mother’s, and who Himself is love!

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0017 paragraph 1           Is.49:15.  Christ is the light of the world, the Sun of Righteousness.  But light is not divided among a crowd of people.  If a room full of people be brilliantly lighted, each individual gets the benefit of all the light, just as much as though he were alone in the room.  So the life of Christ lights every man that comes into the world, and in every believing heart Christ dwells in all His fullness.  Sow a seed in the ground, and you get many seeds, each one having as much life as the one sown.  So Christ, the true Seed, whence everything of worth comes, gives to all the whole of His life.

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0017 paragraph 2           Christ “gave Himself for our sins.”  That is to say, He bought them, and paid the price for them.  This is a simple statement of fact; the language used is that commonly employed in referring to purchases.  “How much did you give for it?” or, “How much do you want for it?” are frequent questions.  When we hear a man say that he gave so much for a certain thing, what do we at once know?–We know that that thing belongs to him, because he has bought it.  So when the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ gave Himself for our sins, of what should we be equally sure?–That He has bought our sins, and that they belong to Him, and not to us.  They are ours no longer, and we have no right to them.  Every time we sin we are robbing the Lord, for we must remember that Christ has purchased not merely the specific acts of sin that we have committed, and that are in the past, but the sins that are in us, and which break forth.  In this faith there is righteousness.

EJW GTO 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL. page 0018 paragraph 1            This follows from the fact that He has purchased our sins, to deliver us from ourselves.  Our sins are part of ourselves; nay, they are the whole of us, for our natural lives are nothing but sin.  Therefore, Christ could not buy our sins without buying us also.  Of this fact we have many plain statements.  He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity.”  Titus 2:14.  “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price.”  1Cor.6:19.  “Ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.”  1Pet.1:18,19, R.V.

EJW GTO 03 REDEEMED FROM THE CURSE, TO THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM. page 0123 paragraph 1          Christ bore the curse, in order that the blessing might come to us.  He bears the curse now, being crucified before us, and in us, and we with Him, that we may continually experience the blessing.  Death to Him is life to us.  If we willingly bear about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, the life also of Jesus will be manifested in our mortal flesh.  2Cor.4:10,11.  He was made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  2Cor.5:21.  What is the blessing that we receive through the curse that He bears?  It is the blessing of salvation from sin; for as the curse is the transgression of the law (Gal.3:10), the blessing consists in turning away every one of us from our iniquities (Acts 3:26).  Christ suffered the curse, even sin and death, “that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.”  And what is the blessing of Abraham?  The writer of this Epistle, having stated that Abraham was made righteous by faith, adds:  “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”  Rom.4:6-8.  And then he shows that this blessing comes on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews who believe, because Abraham received it when he was uncircumcised, “that he might be the father of all them that believe.”  The blessing is freedom from sin, even as the curse is the doing of sin; and as the curse reveals the cross, so we find that the very curse is by the Lord made to proclaim the blessing.  The fact that we live, although we are sinners, is the assurance that deliverance from the sin is ours.  “While there’s life there’s hope,” says the adage.  Yes, because the Life is our hope.  Thank God for the blessed hope!  The blessing has come upon all men; for “as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  Rom.5:18.  If any one has not this blessing, it is because he has not recognized the gift, or has deliberately thrown it away.

Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 1           “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”  Romans 5:10, 11.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 2           The eleventh verse states one of the fruits that must follow from a knowledge that we are “saved by his life.”  When men have a well-grounded assurance that they are saved by the life of Jesus Christ, when they realize it is so till it becomes a part of their very being, they will joy in God through Jesus Christ their Lord.  There can be nothing but joy in the heart of an individual when he knows that he is saved by the life of Christ.  That is the secret of joying in tribulation.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 3           “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 4           This verse contains a partially stated proposition.  You will notice that commencing with the thirteenth verse and continuing down to the end of the seventeenth, there is a parenthesis.  Then in the eighteenth verse, the proposition is taken up again and completed.  The first part of the eighteenth verse is merely an equivalent to the first part of the twelfth; it is the same truth expressed in other words–“Therefore as by  the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.”  Then the closing portion of the verse completed the proposition:  “Even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 5           We can notice but briefly the intervening verses. They contain rich truths, but the time allotted for this subject is so limited that our remarks must be confined to the major points of the chapter.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 6           In the fourteenth verse we have reference to the “reign of death.”  What is the reign of death?  What was this passage of death upon all men?  The apostle says that “death reigned from Adam to Moses.”  He does not mean by this that it did not reign at any other time and that it does not reign at the present time.  The part of the verse referring to Adam and Moses is a part of a great argument, which has its starting point back in chapter four.  It is a part of his argument on Abraham.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 7           The argument in a nutshell is, that the entering in of the law did not in any way interfere with the promise to Abraham.  In Romans 4:13, 14 we are told that the promise “that he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.”  In these verses the apostle is proving in a practical manner that the law does not enter into man’s justification at all; that justification is solely by faith and not by works.  Why is it that the law does not enter into the justification of man?  “Because the law worketh wrath.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 8           If Abraham had been left to be justified by the works of the law, there would have been nothing to be placed to his account but wrath, for that is all that the law can work.  But on the other hand, when he is not justified by the law, which could only be the means of imputing wrath to him and is justified by faith, then there is life placed to his account.  And life is what is wanted, not wrath.  Life is what all men desire, not wrath.  Whoever seeks to be justified by his works will reap only wrath. Abraham will receive the inheritance only by the virtue of the promise and he will receive his righteousness only by the faith that he had.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 9           Some think that there are two ways of being saved, because the Lord gave the law at Sinai and death had reigned till that time, so of course that means that the law brought life.  It is true that the Lord gave the law at Sinai, but the law was in the world long before its giving at Sinai.  Abraham had the law,  and through the righteousness of faith he was able to keep that law.  So the entering  in of the law at Sinai did not militate against the promise of God to Abraham.  There was no different phase of the plan of salvation introduced at Mount Sinai or at the time of the Exodus.  There was no more law after that time than there was before it.  Abraham kept the law.  If there had not been any law there, Abraham could never have been justified, but he kept the law by his faith.  Death reigned through sin before the time of Moses, but righteousness was imputed unto life.  This shows that the law was there already, although they did not have it in that written, open form, that they had it afterwards.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 10        In regard to the reign of death, I am persuaded that we lose much of the good and the encouragement that there is in this fifth chapter simply by the misapplying of these words–“death reigned,” and also the expression “death passed upon all men, for that all had sinned.”  Why did death pass upon all men?  Because that all had sinned!  By one man sin came into the world.  There are many who will stop at this point and philosophize and question as to how this could be and try to figure out for themselves the justice of it.  They will query why it is that we are here in this sinful condition without having had any choice or say in the matter ourselves.  Now we know that there was one man in the beginning, and he fell.  We are his children, and it is impossible for us to be born in any higher condition than he was.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 11        Some will shut themselves out of eternal life because they cannot figure that thing out to a nicety and see the justice of it.  The finite mind of man cannot do this, so it is better for him to leave it alone and devote himself to seeking for the proffered salvation.  That is the important point for all to consider.  We know that we are in a sinful condition, and that this sinful condition is a lost condition.  Seeing then that we are in a lost condition, is it not best for us to devote our energies to seeking to attain to that state whereby we may be in a saved condition.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 12        What would you think of a man drowning in the ocean who, when someone throws him a rope, looks at it and then says, “I know that I am drowning and that the only hope I have lies in my getting hold of that rope, but I will not take hold of it unless I know that it has really been my own fault that I fell into the water.  If it was my own fault, then I will take it, because I am the only one who is to blame for my being in this condition.  But if, on the other hand, someone pushed me into the water and I could not help myself, then I will have nothing to do with that rope.”  Such a man would be considered devoid of common sense.  Then, acknowledging that we are sinners and in a lost condition, let us take hold of the salvation that is offered to us.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 13        “Death reigned,” it “passed upon all men.”  The twelfth and eighteenth verses tell us what this death is.  Why did it pass?  Because that “all have sinned.”  “Judgement came upon all!”  What for?  What to?  Condemnation.  We are familiar with death; we see people being placed in their graves every day.  But is that the death referred to?  Good men die, with only two exceptions, all the good men that have ever lived upon the earth have died.  Do they die under condemnation?  No, certainly not.  Do they die because they are sinners?  No, if they were sinners, they were not good men.  There has been no man in this world upon whom the death sentence has not passed, for there never was a man in this world that was not a sinner, and if he became a good man so that he walked with God as Enoch did, it was by faith.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 14        If we say that the death which comes to all men–good and bad, old and young alike–is the carrying out of that judgment which “came upon all men to condemnation,” then we take the position that there is no hope for anyone who has died.  For there is no such thing as probation after death [this is the hole is Waggoner’s argument in these paragraphs. There is no probation after death. But there is a judgment after death. It is “appointed unto men to die, and after that, the judgment.” “As in Adam all die, even so, in Christ, shall all men be made alive.” The first death, from Adam, is the one that has passed on all men and it would have been final had not Jesus died.] and therefore the man who dies in sin can never be accounted righteous.  If it is said that the good do not die in sin, but only because of sins previously committed, the justice of God is impugned, and His imputed righteousness denied.  For when God declares His righteousness upon the one who believes, that man stands as clear as though he had never sinned, and cannot be punished as a sinner, unless he denies the faith.  Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life.”  John 5:24.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 15        When Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, the Lord told him, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  That does not mean “dying thou shalt die,” as the marginal reading has it.  That expression is neither Hebrew nor English.  It means just what it says, that in the day that Adam ate of the fruit of the true of knowledge of good and evil, in that day he died.  In the very day that Adam ate of the fruit, he fell, and the death sentence was passed upon him, and he was a dead man.  Sentence was not executed at that moment, and for that matter we know that Adam was a good man and that the sentence never was executed upon him.  Christ died for him.  But he was in the same condition, after he had eaten of the fruit of the tree that Pharaoh was in after the first-born of all the Egyptians had been killed, when he arose by night and said, “We be all dead men.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 16                                                                                                                                            When sentence has been passed upon a murderer, he is to all intents and purposes a dead man.  But it was more than that in the case of Adam.  He When sentence has been passed upon a murderer, he is to all intents and purposes a dead man.  But it was more than that in the case of Adam.  He was dead, and the Son of God was to make him alive.  It was only a matter of time till he should be blotted out of existence.  But Christ comes in to give man a probation and to lift him up.  All that Christ has to give to man is summed up in that one word–life.  Everything is comprised in that.  This fact shows that without Him men have no life.  Said Christ to the unbelieving Jews, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”  Probably they replied, “we do not need to come, because we have life already.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 17                                                                                                                                 In Ezekiel 13:22 we read, “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.”  There is no life to the wicked.  They have no life.  They are dead.  Said Christ, “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  Christ came to give life to the dead.  He gives life only to those who conscientiously lay hold of that life, who bring His life into their lives, so that it takes the place of their forfeited lives.  He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.  He is dead.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 18                                                                                                                                 So Adam died, and because of that, every man born into the world is a sinner, and the sentence of death is passed upon him.  Judgment has passed upon all men to condemnation, and there is not a man in this world but has been under the condemnation of death.  The only way that he can get free from that condemnation and that death is through Christ, who died for him and who, in His own body, bore our sins upon the cross.  He bore the penalty of the law, and suffered the condemnation of the law for us, not for Himself, for He was sinless.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 19                                                                                                                                 “As by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin . . . even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  What is the free gift?  It is the free gift by grace and it “As “As by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin . . . even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  What is the free gift?  It is the free gift by grace and it appertaineth unto many.  The work of Adam plunged man into sin; the work of Christ brings men out of sin.  One man’s single offense plunged many into many offenses, but the one man’s obedience gathers the many offenses of many men and brings them out from beneath the condemnation of those offenses.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 20                                                                                                                                 Then the free gift is the righteousness of Christ.  How do we get the righteousness of Christ?  We cannot separate the righteousness of Christ from Christ Himself.  Therefore in order for men to get the righteousness Then the free gift is the righteousness of Christ.  How do we get the righteousness of Christ?  We cannot separate the righteousness of Christ from Christ Himself.  Therefore in order for men to get the righteousness of Christ, they must have the life of Christ.  So the free gift comes upon all men who are justified by the life of Christ.  Justification is life.  It is the life of Christ.  “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous.”  These are simple and positive statements.  No good can come to man by questioning them.  He only reaps barrenness to his soul.  Let us accept them and believe them.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 21                                                                                                                                 “The free gift came upon all men to justification of life.”  Are all men going to be justified?  All men might if they would, but says Christ, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”  All are dead in trespasses and “The free gift came upon all men to justification of life.”  Are all men going to be justified?  All men might if they would, but says Christ, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”  All are dead in trespasses and sins.  The grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared unto all men.  It comes right within the reach of all men, and those who do not get it are those who do not want it.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 22  “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous.”  That settles the whole question, as to whether you and I can do works that will make us righteous.  It is by the obedience of one man.  Now which man shall that be?  Can I do righteousness that will do you any good?  No.  Can you do righteousness that will do me any good?  No.  Suppose that one man could do righteous works that would be set to his account as making him righteous–who shall he be?  I cannot do it for you and you cannot do it for me.  Then who is the man?  Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 23                                                                                                                                 This settles the question as to whether justification by faith comes by the law.  By the obedience of Christ are many made righteous or obedient.  Righteousness is obedience to the law.  Did you ever read or hear of This settles the question as to whether justification by faith comes by the law.  By the obedience of Christ are many made righteous or obedient.  Righteousness is obedience to the law.  Did you ever read or hear of any human being who kept the law perfectly?  Or did you ever hear of anyone, however high his standard was set, who did not find something beyond, that he had not attained to?  Even worldly men often have an ideal of their own, but the nearer they can come to that ideal, the greater lack they see in themselves.  Anyone who is sincere in trying to reach a high standard, when he gets there, will see something beyond it.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 24                                                                                                                                 There is one spotless life.  There is one man, the man Christ Jesus, who resisted successfully all the powers of sin when He was here upon earth. He was the Word made flesh.  God in  Christ reconciled the world to There is one spotless life.  There is one man, the man Christ Jesus, who resisted successfully all the powers of sin when He was here upon earth. He was the Word made flesh.  God in  Christ reconciled the world to Himself.  He could stand before the world and challenge any to convict Him of sin.  No guile was found in His mouth.  He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,” and by His obedience shall many be made righteous.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 25                                                                                                                                 Then comes the question, how can this be?  It is the same question that the Jews propounded to Christ, when He said, “Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you.”  Said they, “How can this Then comes the question, how can this be?  It is the same question that the Jews propounded to Christ, when He said, “Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you.”  Said they, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  There are many today who may be found asking the same question when they say how can I have His life or His righteousness?  Could Jesus explain to them how He could give them His flesh?  He could not do it except by the words He spake unto them–they are spirit and they are life.  The plan of salvation cannot be explained to man.  It was made by an infinite being, and we cannot understand it.  As to how it takes place we are ignorant.  Through all eternity we will not understand how it was done.  It is only infinite power that can or could do it.  It is only infinite wisdom that can understand it.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 26

If we will eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood, we will have the life of Christ.  If we have His life, we have a righteous life; His obedience works in us and that makes us righteous.  This does not leave any room for the statement that Christ obeyed for us and that therefore we can do as we please, and His righteousness will be accounted unto us just the same.  His obedience must be manifested in us day by day.  It is not our obedience, but the obedience of Christ working in us.  By those “exceeding great and precious promises,” we take the divine life into us.  The life we live is the life of the Son of God.  He died for us, and loved us with a love that we cannot fathom.  The righteousness that we have is His.  Thanks be to God for the unspeakable gift.  He lets us get all the benefit of that obedience, because we have shown our intense desire for obedience.  That is why He gives it to us.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 27  When you go to God, take these Scriptures on your lips, “We shall be saved by His life.”  “By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”  Take them to God in prayer.  They are true, for the Lord Himself has said so.  How can these blessings be obtained?  By faith!  Take it by faith, and it is yours, and no one can take it from you.  Then you will have it, although you do not understand how it can be done.  When you have it, you have life.  What life?  The divine life.  Then when you come up to the time of temptation, the time when you have usually fallen, you can tell Satan that he has no power to make you fall beneath that temptation, for it is not you, but Christ that dwelleth in you.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 9: Romans 5:10-21 page  paragraph 28  There never was a time in the life of any man when of himself he had power to resist temptation.  We cannot do it.  That proves that we must have a life different from our natural life in order to resist sin at all.  That must be a life that sin has never touched and can never touch.  Repeat the glorious words over and over again, “His life is mine, I cannot be touched by sin.  His strength is my strength; His obedience is my obedience, and His life is my life.  That was a sinless life, and by faith I have it, I hold to it, because it is mine, and sin cannot touch it.”  That is the only way to resist them, and that will be successful every time.

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 13: Romans 8:17-31 page  paragraph 22   Now we are “called” and “elected.”  Sometimes we get wonderfully afraid of that word, “elected.”  Is there any need to be afraid of that term?  No.  For every individual can be a candidate and every candidate can be elected.  Here is something that everybody can have, and the fact that one is elected does not debar everyone else from being elected.  In 2 Timothy 1:9 we read, “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”  Mark you, His own purpose is a purpose of grace, and the free gift by grace comes upon all unto justification of life.  Now note what the election is:

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 13: Romans 8:17-31 page  paragraph 23   “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

EJW  EJWSR Study No. 13: Romans 8:17-31 page  paragraph 24  “He hath blessed us in all spiritual blessings!”  In what?  In Christ; therefore just the moment you give up self and take Christ instead, you have everything that Christ has to give.  Why have all these blessings been lodged in Christ?  Because He is able to bless you, “in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”  Acts 3:26.  So since we have given to us by God Himself all the blessings that can be given to deliver us from sin and to turn us from our iniquities, we can have joy and peace in Him.  Peter says, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”  Everything that is necessary for life and godliness is given unto us.  In whom?  In Christ.  Therefore the soul that stands in Christ may stand and does stand as firm and secure as the Rock of ages.

[Much of the following material is duplicate with the article “The Free Gift” given later and in its entirety]

There is probably no passage in Romans [considered] more difficult to understand than verses 12-19. The reason is that there is so long a parenthesis in the midst of the main statement, and there is so much repetition of the same form of expression. There is really no greatly involved argument. In this study we shall not attempt to deal with every particular, but will note the main thought running through the whole, so that the reader can read and study it more satisfactorily for himself.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0098 paragraph 3 First Principles.  It will be seen from verse 12 that the apostle goes back to the very beginning. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” There can never be any presentation of the gospel, if these facts are ignored.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0099 paragraph 1 Death by Sin.  Death came by sin, because sin is death. Sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death. See James 1:15. “To be carnally minded is death.” Rom. 8:6. “The sting of death is sin.” 1 Cor. 15:56. There could be no death if there were no sin. Sin carries death in its bosom. So it was not an arbitrary act on the part of God that death came upon men because of sin. It could not possibly be otherwise.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0099 paragraph 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Righteousness and Life.  “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Rom. 8:6. “There is none good but one, that is, God.” Matt. 19:17. He is goodness itself. Goodness is his life. Righteousness is simply God’s way. Therefore righteousness is life. It is not merely a conception of what is right, but it is the right thing itself. Righteousness is active. As sin and death are inseparable, so are righteousness and life. “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.” Deut. 30:15.

Death Passed upon All Men.  Note the justice here. Death passed upon all men, “for that all have sinned.” “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Eze. 18:20. And this is also a necessary consequence of the fact that sin contains death in it, and that death can not come in any other way than by sin.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0099 paragraph 4 The Conclusion.  It will be noticed that the twelfth verse begins a proposition that is not completed. Verses 13-17 are parenthetical; we must pass on to the eighteenth verse to find the conclusion. But as the mind would naturally lose the first part of the statement on account of the long parenthesis, the apostle repeats the substance of it, so that we may perceive the force of the conclusion. So the first part of verse 18 is parallel to verse 12. “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men to condemnation.” The conclusion is, “Even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0099 paragraph 5 The Reign of Death.  “Death reigned from Adam to Moses.” That does not imply that death did not reign just as much afterwards. But the point is that Moses stands for the giving of the law; “for the law was given by Moses.” John 1:17. Now since death reigns through sin, and sin is not imputed when there is no law, it is evident from the statement that “death reigned from Adam to Moses,” that the law was in the world just as much before Sinai as it was afterwards. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” 1 Cor. 15:56.

There can be no sin imputed when there is no law; but wherever there is sin, there death reigns.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0100 paragraph 2 Adam a Figure.  “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.” How is Adam a figure of Him that was to come, namely, Christ? Just as the following verses indicate, that is, Adam was a figure of Christ in that his action involved many besides himself. It is evident that Adam could not give his descendants any higher nature than he had himself, so Adam’s sin made it inevitable that all his descendants should be born with sinful natures. Sentence of death, however, does not pass on them for that, but because they have sinned.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0100 paragraph 3 A Figure by Contrast.  Adam is a figure of Christ, but only by contrast. “Not as the offense, so also is the free gift.” Through the offense of one many are dead; but through the righteousness of One, many receive life. “The judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.” There is contrast all the way through. Everything that came through Adam’s fall is undone in Christ; or, better still, all that was lost in Adam is restored in Christ.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0100 paragraph 4 “Much More.”  This might be taken as the key-note of this chapter. Not only is everything that is lost in Adam restored in Christ, but “much more.” “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

And there is no chance of finding fault with the inevitable fact that we are inheritors of a sinful nature through Adam. We can not complain that we are unjustly dealt with. It is true that we are not to blame for having a sinful nature, and the Lord recognizes the fact. So he provides that just as in Adam we were made partakers of a sinful nature, even so in Christ we shall be made partakers of the divine nature.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0100 paragraph 6 But “much more.” “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.” That is, the life of which we are made partakers in Christ is much stronger for righteousness than the life which we received from Adam is for unrighteousness. God does not do things by halves. He gives “abundance of grace.”

The Condemnation.  “Death passed upon all men;” or, as stated later, “judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. All have sinned, and, therefore, all are in condemnation. There has not a man lived on earth over whom death has not reigned, nor will there be until the end of the world. Enoch and Elijah, as well as those who shall be translated when the Lord comes, are no exceptions.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0101 paragraph 2 There are no exceptions, for the Scripture says that “death passed upon all men.” For the reign of death is simply the reign of sin. “Elias was a man of like passions with us.” Enoch was righteous only by faith; his nature was as sinful as that of any other man. So that death reigned over them as well as over any others. For be it remembered that this present going into the grave, which we so often see, is not the punishment of sin. It is simply the evidence of our mortality. Good and bad alike die. This is not the condemnation, because men die rejoicing in the Lord, and even singing songs of triumph.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0101 paragraph 3 “Justification of Life.”  “By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” There is no exception here. As the condemnation came upon all, so the justification comes upon all. Christ has tasted death for every man. He has given himself for all. Nay, he has given himself to every man. The free gift has come upon all. The fact that it is a free gift is evidence that there is no exception. If it came upon only those who have some special qualification, then it would not be a free gift.

It is a fact, therefore, plainly stated in the Bible, that the gift of righteousness and life in Christ has come to every man on earth. There is not the slightest reason why every man that has ever lived should not be saved unto eternal life, except that they would not have it. So many spurn the gift offered so freely.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0101 paragraph 5 “The Obedience of One.”  By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. Men are not saved through their own obedience, but through the obedience of Christ. Here is where the skeptic cavils, and says that it is not just that one man’s obedience should be counted as another’s. But the man who rejects the counsel of the Lord does not know anything about justice, and is not qualified to speak in the case.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0101 paragraph 6 The Bible does not teach us that God calls us righteous simply because Jesus of Nazareth was righteous eighteen hundred years ago. It says that by his obedience we are made righteous. Notice that it is present, actual righteousness. The trouble with those who object to the righteousness of Christ being imputed

to believers is that they do not take into consideration the fact that Jesus lives. He is alive today, as much as when he was in Judea. “He ever liveth,” and he is “the same yesterday and to-day, and forever.” His life is as perfectly in harmony with the law now as it was then. And he lives in the hearts of those who believe on him.

Therefore it is Christ’s present obedience in believers that makes them righteous. They can of themselves do nothing, and so God in His love does it in them. Here is the whole story: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0102 paragraph 2 Why Not All?  The text says that “by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Some one may ask, “Why are not all made righteous by the obedience of One?” The reason is that they do not wish to be. If men were counted righteous simply because One was righteous eighteen hundred years ago, then all would have to be righteous by the same obedience. There would be no justice in counting righteousness to one and not to all, if it were in that way. But we have seen that it is not so.

EJW  EJWOR GRACE WHICH MUCH MORE ABOUNDS page 0102 paragraph 3 People are not simply counted righteous, but actually made righteous, by the obedience of Christ, who is as righteous as he ever was, and who lives today in those who yield to him. His ability to live in any human being is shown in the fact that he took human flesh eighteen hundred years ago. What God did in the person of the Carpenter of Nazareth, he is willing and anxious to do for every man that believes. The free gift comes upon all, but all will not accept it, and therefore all are not made righteous by it. Nevertheless, “many” will be made righteous by his obedience.

The Free Gift

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 1 In the [first] portion of the fifth chapter [of Romans], we learned of the wonderful love of God, so great that He gave Himself for His enemies, in order that they might be reconciled to Him; and that, as in the death of Christ we receive the life of God, and are thereby one with Him, so by the continuation of that life in us we are saved from sin.  Without any further review, we may proceed with the following verses, which present

A Series of Contrasts.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 2 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; (for until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.  But not as the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.  For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinner, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”  Romans 5:12-19.

 

Questioning the Text.

 

Joy in God!–The eleventh verse should have been included in last week’s lesson, as the thought is the same as in the preceding verses.  By the same life by which we receive the reconciliation and salvation, “we also joy in God.”  Christ’s life is a joyous life.  When David had fallen, he prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.”  Ps. 51:12.  The brightness of the heavens, the beauty of the infinite variety of flowers with which God clothes the earth, and the glad songs of the birds, all indicate that God delights in joy and beauty.  Brightness and song are but the natural expressions of his life.  “Let them also that love by name be joyful in thee.”  Ps. 5:11.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 20                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         There is probably no passage in Romans more difficult to understand than verses 12-19 of this fifth chapter.  The reason is that there is so long a parenthesis in the midst of the main statement, and there is so much repetition of the same form of expression.  There is really no greatly involved argument.  We shall not in this study attempt to deal with every particular, but will note the main thought running through the whole, so that the reader can read and study it more satisfactorily for himself.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 21                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         First Principles.–It will be seen from verse 12 that the apostle goes back to the very beginning.  “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed on all men, for that all have sinned.”  There can never be any presentation of the Gospel, if these facts are ignored.  The story of the fall of man must be as literally true as the story of the cross; for the latter depends entirely upon the former.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 22                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Death by Sin.–Death came by sin, because sin is death.  Sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death.  See James 1:15.  “To be carnally minded is death.”   Romans 8:6.  “The sting of death is sin.”  1 Cor. 15:56.  There could be no death if there were no sin.  Sin carries death in its bosom.  So it was not an arbitrary act on the part of God that death came upon men because of sin.  It could not possibly be otherwise.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 23                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Righteousness and Life.–“To be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  Rom. 8:6.  “There is none good but one, that is, God.”  Matt. 19:17.  He is goodness itself.  Goodness is His life. Righteousness is simply God’s way.  Therefore righteousness is life.  It is not merely a conception of what is right, but it is the right thing itself.  Righteousness is active.  As sin and death are inseparable, so are righteousness and life.  “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.”  Deut. 30:15.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 24                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Death Passed upon All Men.–Note the justice here.  Death passed upon all men, “for that all have sinned.”  “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.  The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”  Eze. 18:20.  And this is also a necessary consequence of the fact that sin contains death in it, and that death can not come in any other way than by sin.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 25                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The Conclusion.–It will be noticed that the twelfth verse begins a proposition that is not completed.  Verses 13-17 are parenthetical; we must pass on to the eighteenth verse to find the conclusion.  But as the mind would naturally lose the first part of the statement, on account of the long parenthesis, the apostle repeats the substance of it, so that we may perceive the force of the conclusion.  So the first part of verse  13 is parallel to verse 12.  “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” is paralleled by, “As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.”  The conclusion is, “Even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 26                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The Reign of Death.–“Death reigned from Adam to Moses.”  That does not imply that it did not reign just as much afterwards.  But the point is that Moses stands for the giving of the law; “for the law was given by Moses.”  John 1:17.  Now since death reigns through sin, and sin is not imputed when there is no law; but wherever there is sin, there death reigns.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 27                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Adam a Figure.–“Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.”  How is Adam a figure of Him that was to come, namely, Christ?–Just as the following verses indicate.  That is, Adam was a figure of Christ in that his action involved many besides himself.  So Adam’s sin made it inevitable that all his descendants should be born with sinful natures.  Sentence  of death, however, does not pass on them for that, but because they have sinned.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 28                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A Figure by Contrast.–Adam is a figure of Christ, but only by contrast.  “Not as the offense, so also is the free gift.”  Through the offense of one many are dead; but through the righteousness of One, many receive life.  “The judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift if??? of many offenses unto justification.”  “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.”  It will be seen that there is contrast all the way through.  Everything that came through Adam’s fall is undone in Christ; or, better still, all that was lost in Adam’s restored in Christ.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 29                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         “Much More.”–This might be taken as the key-note of this chapter.  Not only everything that is lost in Adam restored is Christ, but “much more.”  “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”  And there is no chance of finding fault with the inevitable fact that we are inheritors of a sinful nature through Adam.  We can not complain that we are unjustly dealt with.  It is true that we are not blame for having a sinful nature, and the Lord recognizes the fact.  So He provides that just as in Adam we were made partakers of a sinful nature, even so in Christ we shall be made partakers of the divine nature.  But “much more.”  “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.”  That is, the life of which we are made partakers in Christ is much stronger for righteousness than the life of which we are made partakers in Christ is much stronger for righteousness than the life which we received from Adam is for unrighteousness.  God does not do things by halves.  He gives “abundance of grace.”

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 30                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The Condemnation.–“Death passed upon all men;” or, as stated later, “judgment came upon all men to condemnation.”  “The wages of sin is death.”  Rom 6:23.  All have sinned, and, therefore, all are in condemnation.  There has not a man lived on earth over which death has not reigned, nor will there be until the end of the world.  Enoch and Elijah, as well as those who shall be translated when the Lord comes, are no exceptions.  There are no exceptions, for the Scripture says that “death passed upon all men.”  For the reign of death is simply the reign of sin.  “Elias was a man of like passions with us.”  Enoch was righteous only by faith; his nature was as sinful as that of any other man.  So that death reigned over them as well as over any others.  For be it remembered that this present going into the grave, which we so often see, is not the punishment of sin.  It is simply the evidence of our mortality.  Good and bad alike die.  This is not the condemnation, because men die rejoicing in the Lord, and even singing songs of triumph.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 31                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         “Justification of Life.”–“By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  There is no exception here.  As the condemnation came upon all, so the justification comes upon all.  Christ has tasted death for every man.  He has given Himself for all.  Nay, He has given Himself to every man.  The free gift has come upon all.  The fact that it is a free gift is evidence that there is no exception.  If it came upon only those who have some special qualification, then it would not be a free gift.  It is a fact, therefore, plainly stated in the Bible, that the gift of righteousness and life in Christ has come to every man on earth.  There is not the slightest reason why every man that has ever lived should not be saved unto eternal life, except that they would not have it.  So many spurn the gift offered so freely.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 32                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         “The Obedience of One.”–By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.  Men are not saved through their own obedience, but through the obedience of  Christ.  Here is where the skeptic cavils and says that it is not just that one man’s obedience should be counted for another.  But the man who rejects the counsel of the Lord does not know anything about justice, and is not qualified to speak in the case.  The Bible does not teach us that God calls us righteous simply because Jesus of Nazareth was righteous eighteen hundred years ago.  It says that by His obedience we are made righteous.  Notice that is present, actual righteousness.  The trouble with those who object to the righteousness of Christ being imputed to believers, is that they do not take into consideration the fact that Jesus lives.  He is alive to-day, as much as when He was in Judea.  “He ever liveth,” and He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.”  His life is as perfectly in harmony with law now as it was then.  And He lives in the hearts of those who believe on Him.  Therefore it is Christ’s present obedience in believers that makes them righteous.  They can of themselves do nothing, and so God in His love does it in them.  Here is the whole story:  “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”  Gal. 2:20.

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 33                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Why Not All?–The text says that “by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.”  Some one may ask, “Why are not all made righteous by the obedience of One?”  The reason is that they do not wish to be.  If men were counted righteous simply because One was righteous eighteen hundred years ago, then all would have to be righteous by the same obedience.  There would be no justice in counting righteousness to one and not to all, if it were in that way.  But we have seen that it is not so.  Men are not simply counted righteous, but actually made righteous, by the obedience of Christ, who is as righteous as He ever was, and who lives to-day in those who yield to him.  His ability to live in any human being is shown by the fact that He took human flesh eighteen hundred years ago.   What God did in the person of the Carpenter of Nazareth, He is willing and anxious to do for every man that now lives.  The free gift comes upon all, but all will not accept it, and therefore all are not made righteous by it.  Nevertheless, many will be made righteous by His obedience.  Who will be one of the many?

EJW EJWAG 19 The Free Gift page 0019 paragraph 34                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         –Signs of the Times, March 12, 1896

 

The decision of the judgment has, therefore, been rendered before even the separation of the two classes described in Matt.25:32; for the gift of immortality is a part of the righteous judgment of God in rendering to every man according to his deeds.  Rom.1:5-8.  And in particular, the resurrection which makes a part of mankind equal to the angels (Luke 20:35,36), which makes them immortal (1Cor.15:51-54), which shows them to be blessed and holy, and incapable of the second death (Rev.20:6), and which shows that they were that part of the dead which belonged to Christ (1Cor.15:23; 1Thess.4:16), this resurrection which our Lord terms the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14), is, in the expressive language of Paul, declared to be the “justification of life.”  Rom.5:18.  This free gift of God, which is open to all men, like the gift of grace and righteousness in the previous verse, will be shared by those only who accept the grace and righteousness offered in the gospel, and will only be conferred on them after they have been pronounced just in the judgment; for the change to immortality, which precedes the act of the angels who are sent by Christ to separate the two classes, is demonstrative of the fact that those changed in this manner have already been pronounced just in the decision of the judgment.  The resurrection to immortality is, therefore, the “justification of life.”  Our Lord does not pronounce the decision of that judgment which he thus begins to execute, until he has conferred upon his saints the gift of immortality.  And when he does it, it is in words which imply that the Father has already rendered decision in favor of the saints.  Matt.25:34. JNA  JUDGEMENT CHAPTER 8 THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS. page 0109 paragraph 1

Andrews, WHY THE LAW, WHEN IT ENTERED, CAME ONLY TO THE HEBREWS. page 0039

Rom.5:15,17-19: “The gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” “They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. By the righteousness of one [Christ] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. By the obedience of one [Christ] shall be made righteous.”

Such is the wonderful series of antitheses between Adam and Christ, presented in Rom.5.  The first Adam, by his transgression, brought sin and death upon all his race.  The second Adam, by his obedience and his death, brings righteousness and life to all who obey him.  Heb.5:9.

 

Loughborough, AN EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE  page 0134-137     We understand that Christ’s death, to a certain extent, affects every man. He by the grace of God tasted “death for every man.” He proffers to all men life again. As they have passed into the grave, as a consequent on Adam’s transgression, and not as a reward for their own sin, he will give them all a resurrection from that death. See the testimony of Paul on this subject. Rom. v, 18. “Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” This life is not eternal life; for as we have already shown, that is to be obtained by believing in Christ…. Paul’s testimony is, in 1 Cor. xv, 22, 23,  “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterwards they that are Christ’s, at his coming.” But you inquire, What is the order of the resurrection of the wicked? I answer, according to Rev. xx, 5, They live not again until a thousand years after the resurrection of the saints. We understand the saints will reign with Christ until the last enemy is destroyed. John says they will reign a thousand years. The destruction of the wicked cannot take place until after they are raised; so these testimonies would seem to give the order of the resurrection of the wicked, as in the close of the thousand years after Christ’s second coming. . . . .But we will present Scripture testimony on the subject. We have already referred to Paul’s statement in Acts xxiv, 15, that he had “hope toward God, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Also 1 Cor. xv, 22, that, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” And, that “the free giftshould come upon all men unto justification of life.” We will now show that Christ taught the same sentiment. See John v, 25. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” It was but a short time after this (as we see by chapter xi) that he raised Lazarus. In verses 28, 29, Christ adds, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Storres   Soul Sleep VI. page 0135-136     Also, Rom.5:17 – “If by one man’s offence, death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ; therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, [i.e. unto death;] even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, [i.e. in its offer,] unto justification of life.  That as sin hath reigned unto death, [i.e. unto condemnation to death,] even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”…..              That the death spoken of, here, is a literal death the context clearly shows; it was that death that came into the world by one man’s sin (verse 12,) and which “reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression:” (verse 14.)  If then the death is literal so is the life offered, and promised; and that life is only to be obtained “through righteousness,” or becoming righteous, and “by Jesus Christ.”

Prescott   The Head of the Human Family.  [This is the only article, of all appearing in the APL Library, that bears a significant similarity in thought to the views of the current proponents of Forensic Justification.]

Now what does it mean to us that Jesus Christ became the second head of this human family?  It means this: Just as, when Adam was created, all the members of the human family were created in him, so also when the second man was created “according to God in righteousness and true holiness,” all the members of that family were created in him.  It means that, as God saw in Adam all the members of the human family, so he saw in Christ, the second father of the family, all the members of the divine human family; so he saw in him all his sons, all his daughters, all his descendants; all that belong to the family.  No matter whether they were born into the family or not.  Before Jacob and Esau were born, God saw two nations there.  No matter whether born into the divine-human family or not, yet God createdin Christ Jesus, the new man, all the members of the divine-human family that should afterward be born into that family.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 1 Now the fact that Christ took our flesh, and that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, means a great deal more than that there was a good man who lived then, and set us a good example.  He was the second father, he was the representative of humanity; and it was when Jesus Christ took our human nature and was born of a woman, that humanity and divinity were joined.  It was then that Jesus Christ gave himself, not simply for the human family but to the human family.  That is to say, Jesus Christ joined himself to humanity and gave himself to humanity, and identified himself with humanity and became humanity; and he became we, and we were there in him.  It means that Jesus Christ in himself joined humanity and divinity to all eternity to take our human nature and retain it to all eternity, and is to-day our representative in heaven, still bearing our human nature, and there is a divine-human man in heaven to-day, – Jesus Christ.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 2 Read it in Heb.10:11,12: “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God.”  There is a man sitting on the right hand of God, and we sit there in him.  That is what this scripture in the seventh of Hebrews, to which we have referred, has illustrated, how it is that God saw in Adam all the human family, and how that when he created Adam he created all the human family.  This Scripture means a great deal more than that.  Read again Heb.7:9,10: “And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.  For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him.”  When Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, Levi paid tithes in him, for he was in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him.  All that Abraham did, Levi did in him.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 3 Read further in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verses 21 and 22: “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”  You may stop a moment to think that they both came by a tree; death came by a tree, life came by a tree.  Adam ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree, so death came upon the human family.  Christ bore all our sins upon a tree, and by that means brought life to the human family.  “By man came death; by man came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”  Adam is the man through whom death came; Christ is the man through whom comes the resurrection from the dead.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 4 Read also Romans 5:12 and onward.  As we read this scripture, bear these principles in mind, and this parallel between the first Adam and the second Adam, and what we gained through the first Adam and what we gained through the second Adam.  From the first Adam, sin, transitory life, death; from the second Adam, righteousness, life, – eternal life.  “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”  Revised Version, “for that all sinned.”  Just one act in a point of time wholly past.  For that all sinned; for all did sin.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 5 “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure (or type) of him that was to come.  But not as the offense, so also is the free gift; for if through the offense of one many be dead (Revised Version, many died) much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification,” or righteousness.  So the contrast is between condemnation and justification, or righteousness.  Death came by sin.  “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made [or `became,’ or Dr. Young’s translation, `many were constituted’] sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made [or constituted] righteous.”

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 6 Now see the contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam; the first father of the family and the second father of the family.  From one, judgment to condemnation; the other, justification of life.  Through the disobedience of one, many were constituted sinners; through the obedience of one, many were constituted sinners; through the obedience of one, many were constituted righteous in him.

GCBQ95 page 0010 paragraph 7 And the idea further that jesus Christ gave himself to us.  Think of that for a moment.  It is not that Jesus Christ, as some one apart from us, as it were entirely outside of our connection in any way, just simply came forward and said, “I will die for man.”  No, he became man, and divinity was given to the human family in Jesus Christ.  But divinitywas joined to humanity by birth, and Jesus Christ became flesh and blood relation, – near of kin to every one of us.

GCBQ95 page 0011 paragraph 1 Read the foreshadowing of that in Lev.55:47-49: “And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself upon the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family, after that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him, either his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.”  Now that is where humanity is.  Humanity is sold under sin.  Now if humanity is able, it may redeem itself.  Is it able?  Is humanity able to redeem itself?  No.  Well, then, some one that is nigh of kin may redeem it.  But who is nigh of kin that is able to redeem it?  He who took part of our same flesh and blood.  So that, as is expressed in Eph.5:30, “We are members of his body and of his flesh, and of his bones.”  And he is nigh of kin.

GCBQ95 page 0011 paragraph 2 Now read again in Heb.2:11, and see how this relation is recognized.  “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren.”  You remember in his last prayer, just at the close of his work (John 17:26), he says, “And I have declared unto them thy name.”  “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.”  And he did it; and one of his last words was, “I have declared unto them thy name.”  They were his brethren.  “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”  And again, “I will put my trust in him.”  And again, “Behold, I and the children which God hath given me.”  Second father of the family.  Behold the children.

GCBQ95 page 0011 paragraph 3 Mark 3:31: “There came then his brethren and his mother [Now these were those that were actually related to him by the ties of the natural flesh], and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.  And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.  And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?  And he looked round about on them that sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”  That is, whoever is born into this family of God is as closely related to Jesus Christ, and that by flesh and blood, as is a mother to her own son.

GCBQ95 page 0011 paragraph 4 Read in Luke 11:27,28, and it is a touching thought: “And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.” As this woman looked upon Jesus Christ and heard his teachings, there arose in that mother’s heart a feeling of what a wonderfully blessed thing it must be to be so closely united to that man as is a mother to her child.  What did he reply?  Oh, he said, “Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”  Because they are united every one of them to him just as is a mother to her own child.  That is, by the very closest ties possible in this world is every son of God united to Jesus Christ, his Brother, his Father, his Saviour, his Redeemer…..

GCBQ95 page 0043 paragraph 2 Let us read that scripture in the second chapter of Col., beginning with the sixth verse: “As ye have therefore received Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and builded up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  Beware lest any man spoil you,” rob you, make a spoil of you, make you naked, strip you.  You see we are to be in Christ Jesus; we are to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now you beware lest any man strip off that wedding garment of the righteousness of God which we have in him.  “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.  For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” not in a lump, but “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead,” in a body, corporeally; because a body was prepared for him.  “Thou hast clothed me with a body.”  Now in that body, that is, in the flesh, “dwelleth all the fullness of the God head,” and all the fullness of the Godhead was in the body, dwelt there bodily.  You see the force of that, – bodily, in the body, not in a lump, but because he was clothed with a body.  “And ye are complete in him.”  Better, as the Revised Version reads, “Ye are made full in him.”  What are we without him?  Nothing, nothing.  If we try to be anything, we can simply be the form of something.  That is formalism.  You remember that the law came by Moses, but grace and truth, – or as the Syriac Version reads, “Grace and the reality came by Jesus Christ.”  Now it is true that in the law we have the form of truth, but the reality is in Jesus Christ.  Now any man who attempts to make himself better, who attempts to meet the requirements of God’s law without Christ, is simply a formalist.  He has the form merely.  It is nothing but a dead form.  It is all right to have the form, but the form must be filled.  Now “in him ye are made full.”  The same form is there, the law is there just the same, but instead of being simply as a dead form, a kind of skeleton of the law, it is something alive, and “we are made full in him.” GCBQ95 page 0043 paragraph 4        Take the parallel again between the first and the second Adam.  By the offense of one, by the disobedience of one, many were constituted sinners, – that is, Adam by disobedience permitted sin to come into the flesh, and every descendant of Adam,

as a consequence of that one act, had a tendency to sin, and if he would not struggle against it, he would commit sin himself, but no moral guilt would attach to any descendant of Adam unless he himself yielded to that tendency.  But if he does not struggle against it, he will yield and sin will appear in him.

GCBQ95 page 0044 paragraph 1 Now by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous; or by one man’s obedience the free gift came upon all men to justification of life.  That is, by this union of the divine with the human in Christ, and by this meeting of our humanity in Jesus Christ, and from the fact that the punishment met upon him for all men, “he has caused the punishment of all to meet upon him.”  Because of that, every human being receives a tendency or feels a drawing toward righteousness; and if he does not resist, he will be drawn to righteousness, but he will receive for himself no consideration because of that righteousness or of that drawing to righteousness unless he, himself, yields to that tendency.  He will be drawn to Christ, he will be in Christ, and then he will personally receive the benefits of justification of life which cam upon all men, just as in the other case when he yields to the tendency to sin he receives the condemnation personally which came upon all men in Adam.

GCBQ95 page 0043 paragraph 3 These thoughts can be carried much further, as you perceive, because this idea runs all through the Scriptures.  It is everything in him.  And these thoughts throw very much light upon the subject of justification and sanctification.  They have cleared up in my mind much that was dim, that was indistinct, about this matter of justification and sanctification.  Let us read again in the fifth chapter of Romans.  It would be well to read considerable of the chapter, but we will turn directly to the 17th, 18, and 19th verses.  “For if by one man’s offense, death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.  Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,” were constituted sinners, “so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous,” or be constituted righteous.  Now is it not perfectly clear from the 18th verse that as condemnation came upon all men, so justification of life came upon all men?  Perfectly clear.  The thought seems to me to be this, – that in Jesus Christ all men were justified.  8th verse: “But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  Did he die for all?  “That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”  Now if all human beings should decide at once to repent and turn to God this very hour, would it be necessary for God to make any change in his plan?  Do you not see he has done it all, for all men?

 

Forbid_Them_Not_–_Adventist_Affirm_Article

What are the limits of church authority? Can your pastor forbid you

to have group Bible studies in your home? As a pastor, how can you slow down

the spread of heretical opinions? What rights do self-supporting workers have?

This article addresses these questions. It was published in Adventists Affirm.

End_Time_Charity  How much should I give and when? Can I go to an extreme in giving?

How can you tell which persons that use a gift of tongues are really gifted by God’s Spirit?Tongues Tongues