Chapter 9 -- CONCLUSION
In the Form of a
Slave
Php 2:7 But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant (KJV)
But Himself He made
void a form of a slave taking Philippians 2:7 (Translated from Greek)
Php 2:7 But emptied
Himself, taking the form of a slave… (LITV)
William H. Grotheer
January, 1974
Chapter 9 -- CONCLUSION
Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness for by it God was manifest in the flesh.
God-like-ness - godliness - is God manifest in human flesh. This Christ
revealed even in the slave-form of man. Those who partake of the "divine
nature" again manifest God in their slave-forms. God dwells in them, and
walks in them. 1
2Co 6:16 And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people.
"Higher than the
highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. Godliness -
godlikeness - is the goal to be reached." 2 "All who
long to bear the likeness of the character of God shall be satisfied. The Holy
Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto Jesus. He takes the
things of Christ [the life-giving energies] and shows them unto him. If the eye
is kept fixed on Christ, the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is
conformed to His image. The pure element of love will expand the soul, giving
it capacity for higher attainments, for increased knowledge of heavenly things,
so that it will not rest short of the fulness." 3
There is revealed in
the Bible another mystery, the mystery of iniquity. 4
2Th 2:7 For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then
shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even
him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie:
2Th 2:12 That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
The
power of this mystery is declared to be "the working of Satan"
(enrgian tou satana), and because of a "strong delusion" (enrgian planhV),
permitted by God. The Greek word in both instances for "working" and
"strong" transliterated is "energy". The mystery of
iniquity has energy, but instead of being life-giving, it produces death.
Fenton has translated these verses well. They read:
This outlaw's arrival will be
accompanied by the energy of Satan with all powers, and signs, and terrors of
falsehood; and with all the deceit of injustice among the perishing, who
accepted not the love of the truth, so that they themselves might be saved.
And, because of this, God will send to them an energy of error, for themselves
to make the Falsehood credible; so that in every way those who do not trust to
the truth, but on the contrary, approve falsehood, may be condemned.
5
p 69 -- When each
mystery has run its course in time, certain results will become manifest. Of
those who have yielded to the energies of Satan, it is prophesied:
Through yielding to satanic
influences, men will be transformed into fiends; and those who were created in
the image of God, who were formed to honor and glorify their Creator, will
become the habitation of dragons, and Satan will see in an apostate race his
masterpiece of evil, - men who reflect his own image. 6
Of those who have
yielded to the life-giving energies which Christ brought with Him into
humanity, and which through the Holy Spirit are ministered to each believer, it
is written: We must learn of Christ.
We must know what He is to those He has ransomed. We must realize that through
belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so
escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed
from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful
propensity.
As we partake of the
divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from
the character, and we are made a living power for good. Ever learning of the
divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature, we cooperate with God in overcoming
Satan's temptations. God works, and man works, that man may be one with Christ
as Christ is one with God. Then we sit together with Christ in heavenly places.
The mind rests with peace and assurance in Jesus. 7
Again:
The true Christian obtains an
experience which brings holiness. He is without a spot of guilt upon the
conscience, or a taint of corruption upon the soul. The spirituality of the law
of God, with its limiting principles, is brought into his life. The light of
truth irradiates his understanding. A glow of perfect love for the Redeemer
clears away the miasma which has interposed between his soul and God. The will
of God has become his will, pure, elevated, refined, and sanctified. His
countenance reveals the light of heaven. His body is a fit temple for the Holy
Spirit. Holiness adorns his character. God can commune with him; for soul and
body are in harmony with God. 8
p 70 --
1 II
Corinthians 6:16
2 Ellen G.
White, Education, p. 18
3 Ellen
G. White, The Desire of Ages,
p. 302
4 II
Thessalonians 2:7-12
5 II
Thessalonians 2:9-12 Translation by Farrar Fenton
6 EIlen G.
White, Review & Herald,
April 14, 1896
7 Ibid., April 14, 1900
8 Ellen G.
White, Letter 139, 1898 (7BC:909)
p 71 -- Appendix A --
Theories of the Incarnation -- Roman
Catholic -- The Roman Catholic concept of the Incarnation is expressed in
the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception enunciated by Pope Pius IX. It was
stated thus: We define that the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception, by the singular
grace and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original
sin. 1
Commenting on the
meaning of this dogma, Cardinal Gibbons has written:
Unlike the rest of the children of
Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin, even in the first moment of
its infusion into the body. She alone was exempt from
the original taint. 2
The meaning of this
doctrine to the individual sinner in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ
can be best illustrated in a contrasting diagram:
There is a gap between
the level to which Christ came in the Catholic Dogma of the Incarnation,
and where man is. This "gap" had to be bridged, and so between
the Catholic church member and Jesus has been placed priests, cannonized saints,
angels, and finally Mary herself. A sainted doctor of the church has
stated "that all graces are dispensed by Mary, and that all who are
saved are saved only by the means of this Divine Mother, it is a necessary
consequence that the salvation of all depends upon preaching Mary, and exciting
all
p 72 -- to
confidence in her intercession." 3 Thus the instrumentalities
created by the church become the door to heaven rather than Jesus Christ
being the way, the truth and the life.
The Evangelical
-- The position held by the Evangelicals in general is expressed by the
authorities cited by William G. T. Shedd in his Dogmatic Theology. a
a The
section of Shedd's Dogmatic
Theology regarding the Incarnation was abbreviated in the Ministry, December, 1957, at the time
thatQuestions on Doctrine was
published. In a preface note to the article, it was stated that an Evangelical
publishing house had provided "a classic three-volume reprint edition of
Dr. Shedd's very helpful work." Then the suggestion was made - "These
volumes provide much valuable material which could be used by our [Seventh-day
Adventist] workers."
Pearson is quoted as believing:
"The original and total sanctification of
the human nature was first necessary to fit it for the personal union with the
Word, who out of His infinite love humbled Himself to become flesh, and at the
same time out of His infinite purity could not defile Himself by becoming
sinful flesh. Therefore the human nature, in its first original, without any
precedent merit, was formed by the Spirit, and in its formation sanctified, and
in its sanctification united to the Word; so that grace was co-existent and in
a manner co-natural with it."
Owen is also quoted as
follows: "The human nature of
Christ, being thus formed in the womb by a creating act of the Holy Spirit, was
in the instant of its conception sanctified and filled with grace according to
the measure of its receptivity." 4
Shedd himself then
comments: The quickening of a portion of
the human nature in the Virgin Mother was by the creative energy of God the
Holy Ghost. This miraculous conception, consequently, was as pure from all
sensuous quality as the original creation of Adam's body from the dust of the
ground, or of Eve's body from the rib of Adam. As the dust of the ground was
enlivened by a miraculous act, and the result was the individual body of Adam,
so the substance of
p 73 -- Mary
was quickened and sanctified by a miraculous act, and the result was the human
soul and body of Jesus Christ. 5
Between this doctrine
and the Catholic Dogma, there is but a "generation gap". While the
entire "soul" of Mary, according to Catholic dogma, was preserved
free from the fallen nature of mankind, the Evangelical doctrine teaches that the
"human soul" of Christ was thus preserved. While the distance between
Jesus and man is narrowed in the Evangelical theory, there is still a gulf to
be bridged. This is bridged by the concept that man solely by faith - sola fide
- accepts what was done in his behalf by Christ. This becomes primary in
emphasis, because if there is no experimental model of what God can do in
fallen human flesh, then there is no example for the Holy Spirit to emulate
in working out the victory in the fallen human nature of each believer.
Such teaching makes
impossible the doctrine of perfection, for if the Holy Spirit achieved the goal
of the righteousness of Christ in the fallen nature of any human being, then
there would be a victory obtained such as Christ only obtained in a sanctified,
unfallen state. How then could Christ in all things have preeminence?
6 Thus the true doctrine of perfection of character, and the
doctrine of the incarnation are inseparably linked.
If the doctrine of the
incarnation - that Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh - is altered,
then the doctrine of perfection of character in our fallen nature becomes only
a theory, impossible of realization.
The Neo-Seventh-day
Adventist -- As a result of the conference between Evangelical
representatives and certain leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church, Questions on Doctrine was
published. 7 In this book, there appeared a different teaching
on the
p 74 --
Incarnation than the church had previously held and taught. 8 It
borrowed the very word, "exempt" as used by Cardinal Gibbons in his
comments on the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and applied it to the
nature that Christ assumed in becoming man. The statement reads:
Although born in the flesh,
He[Christ] was nevertheless God, and was exempt from
the inherited passions and pollutions that corrupt the natural descendants of
Adam. 9
While the book, Questions on Doctrine, does not teach
that Christ took the nature of Adam before the Fall in so many words [the
concept is implied], an article written the same year of the book's publication
and directed to the ministry of the church by the head of the Ministerial
Association of the General Conference so stated. It read:
When the incarnate God broke into human
history and became one with the race, it is our understanding that He
possessed the sinlessness of the nature with which Adam was created in Eden.
10
The Neo-Adventist
teaching paralleling the Evangelical theory was fully published in the
book, Movement of Destiny.
In this book, Dr Froom tells of an exchange of correspondence with Dr. Schuyler
English, editor of the Evangelical publication, Our Hope. The editor had written:
"He [Christ] was perfect in His
humanity, but He was none the less God, and His conception in His incarnation
was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit so that He did not partake of the fallen sinful
nature of other men." 11 In response to this concept,
Froom wrote - "That, we in turn assured him, is precisely what we
[Seventh-day Adventists] likewise believe." 12 In
another section of the book, Froom asserted - "Christ was like Adam before the Fall - 'a pure, sinless
being, without a taint of sin upon Him."' 13
Thus a gap is created
in the new Adventist theology between Jesus, and the individual member of the
church. At the present writing, it has not yet
p 75 -- been
clarified what the church will substitute to fill the "gap", but ever
since the introduction of this new doctrine on the incarnation, along with
other doctrinal deviations, the emphasis has been placed on the infallibility
of the organization and its leadership. The laity have been told that the
incorporated church is going through so stay with the organization. The concept
of "organization", and "church" has been made to appear as
one. Thus verily as the Roman Catholic church substituted human mediators
between the individual and Jesus, so likewise there is being substituted a
human organization between the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist church and
the Saviour of mankind. Indeed as the prophet to the church declared, the
leadership is following "in the track of Romanism." 14
Addendum -- At
the time when the masthead of the Review
& Herald carried the notation - "Devoted to the
Proclamation of 'the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints'" -
the editor, W. W. Prescott, wrote: In
order that the character of God might be manifested in sinful men who would
believe on Him, it was necessary that Jesus should unite divinity and humanity
in Himself, and that the flesh which He bore should be the same as the other
men in whom God was thus to be manifested....
This is not a mere
matter of theory. It is intensely practical in all its bearings. If the son of
God did not dwell in sinful flesh when He was born into the world, then the
ladder has not been let down from heaven to earth, and the gulf between a holy
God and fallen humanity has not been bridged. 15
p 76 --
1 Pii
Papae IX, Bulla Dogmat.,
quoted in The Faith of Our Fathers,
88th Edition, p. 171.
2 James
Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our
Fathers, 88th Edition, p. 171.
3 St.
Alphonsius Maria DeLigouri, The
Glories of Mary, 2nd Edition, p. 8.
4 The Mininstry, December, 1957, p. 14
5 1bid, p. 39
6
Colossians 1:18
7
See Movement of Destiny,
Chapter 21
8 Wm. H.
Grotheer, An Interpretive History
of the Doctrine of the Incarnation as Taught by the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. This is documentary manuscript on the subject.
9 Questions on Doctrine, p.p. 383
10 R. Allan
Anderson, "'God with Us'", The
Ministry, April, 1957, p. 34
11 L. E.
Froom, Movement of Destiny,
p. 469
12 Ibid., p. 470
13 Ibid., p. 497 Emphasis his.
14 Ellen G.
White, Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 363
15 Editorial,
"'In... Sinful Flesh'", Review
& Herald, December 21, 1905
p 77 -- Appendix B --
Diagram Illustrating Science of Divine
Culture --
Jesus made Himself
void in His "slave-form" so that the Father alone appeared in His
life. He humbled Himself still further, and became "obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:8) He who would be a follower of
Christ must likewise accept his cross, thus denying his-self. (Luke 9:23) The
life that one lives who has accepted the cross, and who continues to die daily,
is a life in which the Holy Spirit alone operates. Through the working of the
Holy Spirit, the "divine nature" appears in the life as the
"life-giving energies" are imparted. This is the science of that
experience which is life unto eternal life - the divine culture that leads to
perfection.
Luk 9:23 And he
said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow me.
Php 2:8 And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross.
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