(Excerpt)
IMPORTANT
PRACTICAL LESSONS.
It is not
merely as a beautiful theory, a mere dogma, that we should consider Christ as
God and Creator. Every doctrine of the Bible is for our practical benefit, and
should be studied for that purpose. Let us first see what relation this
doctrine sustains to the central commandment of the law of God. In Genesis 2:1-3 we find these
words closing the record of creation: "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." The
Jewish translation renders the text more literally thus, "Thus were
finished the heavens and the earth, and all their host. And God had finished on
the seventh day His work which He had made," etc. This is the same that we
find in the fourth commandment, Ex. 20:8-11. [32
Exo
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo
20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo
20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates:
Exo
20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the
sabbath day, and hallowed it.
In this we
find, what is most natural, that the same Being who created, rested. He who
worked six days in creating the earth, rested on the seventh, and blessed and
sanctified it. But we have already learned that God the Father created the
worlds by His Son Jesus Christ, and that Christ created everything that has an
existence. Therefore the conclusion is inevitable that Christ rested on that
first seventh day, at the close of the six days of creation, and that He
blessed and sanctified it. Thus the seventh day—the Sabbath—is most
emphatically the Lord's day. When Jesus said to the carping Pharisees, "For the Son of man is
Lord even of the Sabbath-day" (Matt. 12:8), He declared His
lordship of the identical day which they had so scrupulously observed in form;
and He did this in words which show that He regarded it as His badge of
authority, as demonstrating the fact that He was greater than the temple. Thus,
the seventh day is the Divinely-appointed memorial of creation. It is the most
honored of all days, since its especial mission is to bring to mind the
creative power of God, which is the one proof to man of His Divinity. And so
when Christ said that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath-day, He
claimed a high distinction—nothing less than being the Creator, of whose
Divinity that day stands as a memorial. What shall we say, then, to the
suggestion often made, that Christ changed the day of the Sabbath from a day
which commemorates completed crea-
[33] tion to one which has no
such significance? Simply this, that for Christ to change or abolish the
Sabbath would be to destroy that which calls to mind His Divinity. If Christ
had abolished the Sabbath, He would have undone the work of His own hands, and
thus have worked against Himself; and a kingdom divided against itself cannot
stand. But Christ "cannot deny Himself," and therefore He did not
change one jot of that which He Himself appointed, and which, by testifying to
His Divinity, shows Him to be worthy of honor above all the gods of the
heathen. It would have been as impossible for Christ to change the Sabbath as
it would have been to change the fact that He created all things in six days,
and rested on the seventh. Again, the oft-repeated declarations that the Lord
is Creator are intended as a source of strength. Notice how creation and
redemption are connected in the first chapter of Colossians. To get the point fully before us, we will
read verses 9-19:— "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do
not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according
to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we
have redemption through His blood,
[34] even the forgiveness of
sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of every creature;
for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He
is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the
body, the Church; who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead; that in
all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell." It is not an accident that the
wonderful declaration concerning Christ as Creator is connected with the
statement that in Him we have redemption. No; when the apostle makes known his
desire that we should be "strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power," he lets us know what that glorious power is. When he
tells us about being delivered from the power of darkness, he lets us know
something of the power of the Deliverer. It is for our comfort that we are told
that the head of the church is the Creator of all things. We are told that he
upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3)
Heb
1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
, in order
that we may rest in the assurance that
"The Hand which bears all nature up Shall guard His children well." Note
the connection of Isa. 40:26.
Isa
40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these
things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by
the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one
faileth.
The
chapter presents the wonderful wisdom and power of Christ, in calling all the
host of heaven by names, and in keeping them all in their places, by the
greatness of His might and the strength of His power, and [35]
then inquires: "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel,
My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast
thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no
searching of His understanding." On the contrary, "He giveth power to
the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." His
power is, in fact, the ability to create everything from nothing; therefore, He
can work wonders through those who have no strength. He can bring strength out
of weakness. Surely, then, anything which serves to keep before the mind the
creative power of Christ, must tend to renew our spiritual strength and
courage. And this is just the design of the Sabbath. Read the ninety-second
Psalm,6 which is entitled a psalm of the Sabbath-day. The first four verses are
these:—7
"It
is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy
name, O Most High; to show forth Thy loving-kindness in the morning, and Thy
faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the
psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad
through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands."
Psa
92:1 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give
thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
Psa
92:2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy
faithfulness every night,
Psa
92:3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the
harp with a solemn sound.
Psa
92:4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph
in the works of thy hands.
Psa
92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very
deep.
Psa
92:6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand
this.
Psa
92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of
iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
Psa
92:8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.
Psa
92:9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish;
all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
Psa
92:10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall
be anointed with fresh oil.
Psa
92:11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears
shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
Psa
92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like
a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa
92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in
the courts of our God.
Psa
92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat
and flourishing;
Psa
92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him.
What has
this to do with the Sabbath? Just this: The Sabbath is the memorial of
creation. Says the Lord: "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
[36] them." Eze. 20:12.
The Psalmist kept the Sabbath as God designed that it should be kept—in
meditating upon creation and the wondrous power and goodness of God displayed
therein. And then, thinking of that, he realized that the God who clothes the
lilies with a glory surpassing that of Solomon, cares far more for His
intelligent creatures; and as he looked at the heavens, which show the power
and glory of God, and realized that they were brought into existence from
nothing, the encouraging thought would come to him that this same power would
work in him to deliver him from human infirmity. Therefore he was glad, and he
triumphed in the work of God's hands. The knowledge of God's power, which came
to him through a contemplation of creation, filled him with courage, as he
realized that the same power was at his disposal; and, grasping that power by
faith, he gained victories through it. And this is the design of the sabbath;
it is to bring man to a saving knowledge of God. The argument, concisely
stated, is this: 1. Faith in God is begotten by a knowledge of His power; to
distrust Him implies ignorance of His ability to perform His promises; our
faith in Him must be in proportion to our real knowledge of His power. 2. An
intelligent contemplation of God's creation gives us a true conception of His
power; for His eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things which He
has made. Rom. 1:20. 3.
Rom
1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
It is
faith [37] that gives victory (1 John 5:4);
1Jn
5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
therefore, since faith comes by learning the
power of God, from His word and from the things that He has made, we gain the
victory, or triumph through the works of His hands. The Sabbath, therefore,
which is the memorial of creation, is, if properly observed, a source of the
Christian's greatest re-enforcement8 in battle. This is the import of Ezekiel 20:12: "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." That is, knowing
that our sanctification is the will of God (1 Thess. 4:3; 5:23, 24),
1Th
4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…
1Th
5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th
5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
we learn,
by means of the Sabbath, properly used, what the power of God is that is
exerted for our sanctification. The same power that was put forth to create the
worlds is put forth for the sanctification of those who yield themselves to the
will of God. Surely this thought, when fully grasped, must bring joy and
comfort in God to the earnest soul. In the light of this, we can appreciate the
force of Isaiah 58:13,
14:—
"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, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing
thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words;
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."
That is,
if the Sabbath is kept according to God's
[38] plan, as a memorial of His
creative power, as bringing to mind the Divine power that is put forth for the
salvation of His people, the soul, triumphing in the work of His hands, must
delight itself in the Lord. And so the Sabbath is the grand fulcrum for the
lever of faith, which lifts the soul to the heights of God's throne, to hold
communion with Him. To put the matter in few words, it may be stated thus: The
eternal power and Godhead of the Lord are revealed in creation. Rom. 1:20.
Rom
1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
It is the
ability to create that measures the power of God. But the Gospel is the power
of God unto salvation. Rom. 1:16.
Rom
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek.
Therefore
the Gospel simply reveals to us the power which was used to bring the worlds
into existence, now exerted for the salvation of men. It is the same power in
each case. In the light of this great truth, there is no room for the
controversy about redemption being greater than creation, because redemption is
creation. See 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24.
2Co
5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Eph
4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness.
The power
of redemption is the power of creation; the power of God unto salvation is the
power which can take human nothingness and make of it that which shall be
throughout eternal ages to the praise of the glory of the grace of God.
"Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."
1 Peter 4:19. [39]
Christ And
His Righteousness.
E.J.
Waggoner
(Excerpt)
*******
June --
THE DIVINE PROVISION -- Part 1 --
Consider
the following texts of Scripture: Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man. (l)
For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty
of all. ... So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty. (2)
The whole
duty of man is summed up in the Law of God, and by it he is to be judged.
Further, if a man keeps the laws, statutes, and judgments of God, he shall find
life therein. To this divine way of life -keeping the commandments -God signed
His name. After declaring - "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my
judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them" - He stated - "I
am the Lord." (3) This is the same principle which had been
enunciated in Eden. Do and
thou shalt live; disobey, and thou shalt die (4) We are
told: The conditions of eternal life,
under grace, are just what they were in Eden, - perfect righteousness, harmony
with God, perfect conformity to the principles of His law. The standard of
character presented In the Old Testament is the same that is presented in the
New Testament. (5)
In the
light of these statements from Scripture, and the summation given in the Gift
of Prophecy, would you say with Paul: I consent unto the law that it is
good. ... I delight in the law of God after the inward man. (6)
BUT in the
same Book, I also read the following: Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good,
that are accustomed to do evil. (7)
0 Lord, I
know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to
direct his steps. (8)
The heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it? (9)
But we are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we
all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind,
P 2
-- have
taken us away. (l0)
In the
light of these verses, would we also confess with Paul - I see another law
in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 0 wretched man that I am
who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (11)
Now let us
do some very fundamental reasoning and honest thinking -as free as possible
from the deceitfulness of our own hearts. By coming to Jesus in confession, my
past is covered. God declares the righteousness of Jesus "for the
remission of sins that are past." (l2) Do I have anymore
strength today to direct my steps than I had yesterday, before I came to Jesus
confessing those yesterdays? In other words, can I walk alone, now that I have
been justified? Suppose the day I come to Jesus in confession, I stop eating
meat, drinking coffee, using dairy products; then that day I stop sinning
because I did these things. Ridiculous, you say - and you are right!
Dare I
call the mere adoption of reforms the objective of sanctification? Such a
concept leads to a spiritual pride equaled only by the most rigid devotees of
the pharisaical way of life in the times of Jesus. We read: The proud
hearts strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven [justification] and our fitness for
heaven [sanctification] are found in the righteousness of Christ. The
Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own
weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the
control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow.
From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has unrestricted
access to Him in whom all fullness dwells.(l3)
What then
is heaven waiting to bestow, since man cannot of himself obtain righteousness,
whether it be justification or sanctification? Read carefully and
thoughtfully: Because man
fallen cannot 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 Satan, and conquered him. He also knew that it was impossible 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
obtains 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 may overcome
the temptations of Satan. (l4)
From this
reference, let us note certain salient
points: 1) Man fallen - out of
Eden - cannot resist the
temptations of Satan in his own strength.
p 3
2)
Jesus Christ took man's nature, and with divine power combined with the human
brought hope to man where he was. He obtains a specific strength - "that
strength" -by which they, in His name, may overcome temptation.
Since man
out of Eden cannot in his own strength overcome Satan, but yet since man to
obtain eternal life must meet the same conditions operative in Eden
-"perfect righteousness ... perfect conformity to the principles of
[God's] law" - how is he to be saved? "Neither is their salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved," save in the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. (l5) This is the Gospel in its fullness - not just
justification, but both justification and sanctification. Christ coming from
the courts of heaven brought divine power, and in returning to heaven has
obtained for us that additional power we must have that we might "in His
name ... overcome the temptations of Satan."
What was
the divine power He brought? What has He obtained for the fallen sons and
daughters of Adam? What is the Divine Provision? These questions we shall
discuss as we continue the study in the next thought paper.
(1) Ecclesiastes
l2:l3
Ecc
12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep
his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
(2) James
2:l0, l2
Jas
2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point,
he is guilty of all.
Jas
2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty.
(3) Leviticus
l8:5
Lev
18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a
man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
(4) Genesis
2:16-17
Gen
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen
2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
(5) Ellen
G. White, Thoughts from the Mount
of Blessing , p. 116
(6) Romans
7:16b, 22
Rom
7:16 …, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom
7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man
(7) Jeremiah
13:23
Jer
13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
(8) Jeremiah
10:23
Jer
10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
(9) Jeremiah
17:9
Jer
17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?
(10) Isaiah
64:6
Isa
64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away.
(11)
Romans 7:23-24
Rom
7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.
Rom
7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?
(12) Romans
3: 25
Rom
3:25 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;
(13) Ellen
G. White, The Desire of Ages,
p. 300
(14) Ellen
G. White, Selected Messages,
bk. i, p. 279
(15) Acts
4:l2
Act
4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
"The
Theology of Imitation -Is Salvation by Imitation or by Grace?"
A brief
paper carrying this title and subtitle is being circulated under the initials
-"R. D. B." It is an undisguised attack on the present Sabbath School
lessons, although the lessons are not mentioned in particular. This paper
should have been more accurately entitled - "The Tree of the Knowledge of
God and Evil" - with a subtitle: "In Written Form for Your
Consumption." There are many of the devotees of the "Ford-Brinsmead
mateship" who will think they perceive in this paper much "to be
desired to make one wise" (Gen. 3:6), and they will eat, and urge that
others eat also of this same tree. The result will be another in the long line
of successive falls that have taken place since the first Fall. (See Review & Herald , March 4,
l875.)
In this
paper, "R. D. B." quotes with approval a definition of
"heresy" which reads, "the picking and choosing of a part,
instead of comprehensively embracing the whole of truth." Then he charges
that the advocates of the doctrine of the Incarnation who teach that the
"humanity of Christ" embraced the same nature as is inherited by
p 4
all the
fallen sons and daughters of Adam are heretics of "distortion". (pp.
18-19) BUT by his own use of the Spirit of Prophecy in seeking to show that
Sister White did not teach this concept of the Incarnation, he became the
arch-heretic by his own definition. A series of statements lifted from various
parts of the Spirit of Prophecy are given, but no where in the entire paper do
the following clear-cut statements
appear: In Christ were united the divine and
the human - the Creator and the creature. The nature of God, whose law had been
transgressed, and the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus - the Son
of God, and the Son of man. (Ms
141, 1901)
Think of
Christ's humiliation. He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature,
degraded and defiled by sin. (Youth's
Instructor, Dec. 20, l900)
Christ did
in reality unite the offending nature of man with His own sinless nature,
because by this act of condescension He would be enabled to pour out His
blessings in behalf of the fallen race. Thus He has made possible for us to
partake of His nature. (Review and
Herald, July 17, l900)
[A whole
series of these statements appear as Appendix C in the manuscript - An
Interpretative History of the Doctrine of the Incarnation as Taught by the
Seventh-day Adventist Church. May be requested.
Let us
consider the last statement in the light of R. D. B.'s own definition of heresy
as a distortion. He affirms -"What is true of the nature is true of the
Person." He uses the illustration that because Christ's human nature
suffered hunger and thirst, it would be correct to say that "He was hungry
and thirsty." Then he draws the analogy that if Christ's human nature was
sinful, it would be correct to say that Christ was sinful. (p. 2l) But here is
distorted logic, and only frail human reasoning, because R. D. B. chooses to be
a heretic by his own definition and does not take into consideration all
aspects of truth. Did Christ - perfect, eternally perfect - become sinful
because He chose to unite the "offending nature of man" with Himself
so that fallen man might be blessed? He was made to be sin for us, and in this
fallen state of existence, He condemned sin in the flesh. (II Cor. 5:2l; Romans
8:3) Then to top off his heresy, R. D. B. concludes - "The principle is
true of the saints too. As long as they have sinful natures, they are
sinners." (Op. cit.)
Evidently, he is willing to ignore, or perhaps he no longer believes what
Sister White wrote concerning the living saints prior to their shedding of the
"vile bodies." She heard "a voice, musical, and triumphant, ...
saying: 'They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled.'" (Great Controversy, p. 636) Perhaps, R.
D. B., if he still believed the servant of the Lord, and would cease being a
heretic, could understand that these living saints had accepted the blessings
to be obtained through Christ's incarnation in taking upon Himself our sinful
nature, and had in turn become "partakers of His nature."
As another
example of the errors in this paper resulting from being a heretic - by his own
definition - is to be found in his distorted "logic" which stated:
"Because Jesus [in His incarnation] was still God in the highest sense, He
did some things which we can never do - things which we could not imitate
without blasphemy." (p. 9) (Some of the items listed support his
"logic" and are true. This is why the paper
p 5
should
be called - "The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" - because
other concepts disprove his logic, and reveal his heresy.) He evidently
overlooked the plain words of Jesus Himself which read: Verily, Verily, I
say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John
l4:l2)
And these
words were said, while bearing our humanity! R. D. B. cites what he thinks to
be an irrefutable example of what Jesus did that no mortal will ever do. He
even used the Spirit of Prophecy for proof to continue to beguile his devotees
who still believe in her gift. The
Desire of Ages is quoted: When the voice of the mighty angel
was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the Saviour came
forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself. ...In His divinity,
Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. (p. 785)
BUT he
omitted - Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become
one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth
from the grave, -not merely as a
manifestation of the power of Christ, but because through faith, His life has
become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him
into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ
dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the
beginning of the life eternal. (Desire
of Ages, p. 388)
Now I
recognize that to accept what is written in The Desire of the Ages on p. 388 is to spell the
death-knell to R. D. B.'s distorted "gospel" which he is presently
advocating. Thus from his viewpoint, it is best to not give the whole picture;
but by so doing - by his own definition - he is a heretic!
We can
pursue this point a bit further. In the section (pp. 13-14) attempting to prove
that "Imitation Theology" denies the real strength of Christ's
temptation, R. D. B. quotes the following from the pen of sister
White: It was as difficult for Him to
keep the level of humanity as for men to rise above the level of their depraved
natures, and be partakers of the divine nature. (7 Bible Commentary, 930)
While the
statement is true, it does not prove his point, and says far more that R. D. B.
would really like for it to say. While it was difficult for Christ to keep to
the level of humanity, He did do it! And while it is also recognized as
exceedingly difficult for us with our depraved natures to rise above such a
level, it will be accomplished in us who believe and surrender, and to those
who so do, they will become partakers of the divine nature. But according to R.
D. B., this is a subjective gospel. Now we will let him explain what it means
to become a partaker of the divine nature, and what it means that Christ became
one flesh with us that we might become one spirit with Him, and that by this
being accomplished "in us", we now have the beginning of the life eternal. (Desire of Ages, p. 388)
p 6
In seeking
to disprove that a follower of Jesus can imitate the example set, R. D. B.
takes partial sentences from two references completely out of context. (p. l4)
The partial quotes is -"We cannot equal the pattern ..." (2T:549, 628) In context this is
talking about the sacrifice Christ made in coming down to earth to be our
Saviour. How can we equal such a sacrifice, when we never had a preexistence
which involved us as part of the Godhead? To apply these references to the
character revealed by Jesus when He came to show not "what a God can do,
but what a man could do through faith in God's power to help in every
emergency" (Our High Calling,
p. 48) - is the worst type of heresy as defined by R. D. B. himself.
Not only
is heresy interwoven throughout the paper with some truth, but also just plain
bold-faced lies are stated. For example, to smear if possible the messengers
whom God sent to this people in l888, R. D. B. says - "Waggoner and Jones
... together with Dr. Kellogg developed what E. G. White called "the alpha
of deadly heresies [pantheism] around the turn of the century." (p. 23)
Now why this lying attack on Jones and Waggoner? Because both Jones and
Waggoner taught the doctrine of the Incarnation according to what he calls the
"Theology of Imitation" which is to him anathema. But does such a
false attack on these men destroy the truth they taught regarding the
Incarnation? Absolutely not.
Waggoner
taught: The fact that Christ took upon
Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of sinful man, that is, that the
flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which
fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He "was
made of the seed of David according
to the flesh." David had all the passions of human nature. He says
of himself, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me." Ps. 5l:5. (Christ
and His Righteousness, pp. 26-27 Emphasis his)
Jones
taught: In Jesus Christ as He was in
sinful flesh, God has demonstrated before the universe that He can so take
possession of sinful flesh as to manifest His own presence, His power, and His
glory, instead of sin manifesting itself. And all that the Son asks of any man,
in order to accomplish this in him, is that the man will let the Lord have him
as the Lord Jesus did.
Then God
will so take us, and so use us, that our sinful selves shall not appear to
influence or affect anybody; but God will manifest His righteous self, His
glory, before men, in spite of all ourselves and our sinfulness. That is the
truth. And that is the mystery of
God, "Christ in you, the hope of glory," - God manifest in
sinful flesh. (General Conference
Bulletin, l895, p. 303)
POSTSCRIPT --
Throughout this brief comment, I have used the initials - "R. D. B."
- because this is the way it appears on the title page. It did not say Robert
D. Brinsmead is the author, but merely that he initialed it. Who all the authors
of this paper might have been is anybody's guess - Ford, Paxton, or some
professor at Andrews University -who knows? But Brinsmead did initial it!
p 7
THE
LUTHERAN CHURCH -MISSOURI SYNOD -- Several have written asking, what I
thought was the intent of the series of editorials in the Review which focused on why a
schism developed in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. I have read carefully
these six editorials by R. F. Cottrell, starting with the January l3, l977
issue, and concluding in the February 17th number. In this analysis - dry as
the hills of Gilboa - Cottrell was careful to use certain terms in describing
the contending groups. No group was "liberal" -they were only
"moderates" seeking to keep the "conservatives" from taking
their church to a place theologically where it would be termed a
"sect." (Review & Herald,
Feb. l7, l977, p. l0) There can be no question but this series of comments on
the problems of the Missouri Synod were written because, whether we like it or
not, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is facing the same crisis.
The real
issue that the membership of the Missouri Synod faced is not written in the
regular paragraphs of the editorials but in the fine print of the footnotes.
Footnote #l of the last editorial (Ibid, p. 11) needs to be carefully read. It
states: In a paper presented to a Synod theological convocation in the
spring of 1975, Dr. Ralph A. Bohlman, now president of Concordia Seminary, said
that "considerations of truth must take precedence over considerations of
[brotherly] love, should these be in conflict."
How
Cottrell views this issue of priorities can be seen in his summary which states
that "a spirit of brotherhood [must be] paramount over every other
consideration, and that [it] controls all discussion and action." (Ibid)
Reduced to simple terms it means that our internal PR - personal relations -
should predominate over "considerations of truth." In other words,
unity within the human organization is more important than truth which is of
divine origin. Here is a crisis of the greatest magnitude that each individual
in the church will need to face for himself.
Through
our evangelistic programs we have produced a situation within the Church very
similar to what the early church faced when following a period of persecution
an influx of membership occurred. It reads: -"When Christians consented to
unite with those who were but half converted from paganism, they entered a path
which led farther and farther from the truth." (Great Controversy, p. 45) Not only have we baptized numbers
who have little real knowledge of basic Adventist Truth, but we have adopted
Babylonian techniques to achieve this outward success. This has only compounded
our problem. The tempo has not been altered, nor the techniques corrected.
Now faced
with a crisis over the unity of the Church with the "liberals"
calling for more representation in administration, and the
"traditionalist" controlling the curia on the Sligo, and the
Evangelical orientated faculty of theology dominating the Seminary, we are
really in a worse situation than the Missouri Synod was prior to its schism. So
what is the solution - "the ounce of prevention" which Cottrell
recommends? Our internal PR must become paramount even if truth is sacrificed!
How did the faithful in the early church react to this kind of philosophy?
Note: After a long and severe conflict, the
faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she
still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that
separation was an absolute necessity
p 8
if they
would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own
souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children and
children's children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any
concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would
be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be
secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be
difference, and even war.
Well would
it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those
steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God's professed people. There is
an alarming indifference in regard to the doctrines which are the pillars of
the Christian faith. The opinion is gaining ground, that; after all, these are
not of vital importance. This degeneracy is strengthening the hands of the
agents of Satan, so that false theories and fatal delusions which the faithful
in ages past imperiled their souls to resist and expose, are now regarded with
favor by thousands who claim to be followers of Christ. (Great Controversy, pp. 45-46).
June 1977 "Watchman, What of the Night?
" Thought Paper. Adventist Laymen's
Foundation. (Excerpt)
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