The Just Shall Live By Faith.

(Excerpt)

PREFACE

The Epistle to the Galatians, together with its companion, the Epistle to the Romans, was the source, through the Spirit, of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, the key-note of which was, "The just shall live by faith." The reformation then begun is not yet complete, and the same watchword needs to be sounded now as then. If the people of God will become filled with the truth so vividly set forth in this epistle, both the church and the world will be stirred as profoundly as in the days of Luther. May this speedily be the case, and thus the times of restoration of all things be hastened!  6

THE GLAD TIDINGS

It is quite common, in writing upon any book in the Bible, to spend some time on an "Introduction" to the book in question-setting forth the nature of it, the circumstances under which it was written, and the probable purpose of the writer, together with many other things, partly conjectural, and partly derived from the book itself. All such statements the reader has to take on the authority of the one making them, since, not having yet studied the book, he can not judge for himself. The best way is to introduce him at once to the study of the book, and then he will, if diligent and faithful, soon learn all that it has to reveal concerning itself. We learn more of a man by talking with him than by hearing somebody talk about him. So we will proceed at once to the study of the Epistle to the Galatians, and let it speak for itself. 

Nothing can take the place of the Scriptures themselves. If all would study the Bible as prayerfully and as conscientiously as they ought, giving earnest heed to every word, and receiving it as coming directly from God, there would be no need of any other 8 religious book. Whatever is written should be for the purpose of calling people's attention more sharply to the words of Scripture; whatever substitutes any man's opinions for the Bible, so that by it people are led to rest content without any further study of the Bible itself, is worse than useless. The reader is, therefore, most earnestly urged to study, first of all, the Scripture text very diligently and carefully, so that every reference to it will be a reference to a familiar acquaintance. May God grant that this little aid to the study of the Word may make every reader better acquainted with all Scripture, which is able to make him wise unto salvation.

 01 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE REAL GOSPEL

"PAUL, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  "I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from Him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel; only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. For am I now persuading men, or God? or am I seeking to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.  "For I make known to you, brethren, as touching the Gospel which was preached by me, that it is not after man. For neither did I receive it from man, 10 nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it; and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood; neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus.  "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but they only heard say, He that once persecuted us now preacheth the faith of which he once made havoc; and they glorified God in me." Galatians 1, R.V. 

The Glad Tidings

By E. J. WAGGONER

(Excerpt-  To be continued)

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(WWN -  EXCERPT)

Special Report -- JESUS --THE MODEL MAN -- Part 1 -- This is the subject of the Sabbath School lessons for the Second Quarter of 1977. They were authored by Dr. Herbert Douglass, former associate editor of the Review, who is now president of the Carlson Mortgage and Development Company of Bismark, N. D. The focus of these lessons will be "on Jesus, God become man. . . . Over the centuries great biblical themes have become isolated from their connection with Jesus. The major reason for this misunderstanding is that Christian thinkers became confused about Jesus. The misunderstanding by Christian thinkers of Jesus' identity, origin, mission, and intercession seems automatically to warp and distort their view of every other biblical topic." (Teacher's Edition, p. 16)

In these lessons the subject of Jesus' incarnation is presented in harmony with the historic position of the church. This is the first time since the book -Bible Readings for the Home Circle - was altered in 1949 to reflect a new view on the incarnation and the sinless life of Jesus in relationship to the believer, that there has been a clear cut in-depth presentation of the human nature of Christ, and what it can mean for the believer for the church to study in the Sabbath School. It is true that Dr. Douglass authored a brief series of editorials bearing on this theme in 1972 which has been the basis for the anathema expressed by Dr. Ford and the faculty of Avondale College. The study of these lessons are to be highly recommended, not only by the regular members of the church, but also by any and all dissident groups who have discarded the regular quarterlies because of their insipid and philosophically orientated approach and content. This would be a good quarter's lessons to renew the habit of daily lesson study for every member of all Sabbath schools. We would also recommend in connection with these lessons some research to familiarize one's self with the deviations that have occurred in our teaching of the doctrine of the incarnation since 1950. This has been provided in the manuscript -An Interpretative History of the Doctrine of the Incarnation as Taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Naturally, such an abrupt return to the historic teaching of the church has not gone unchallenged by the forces within the church who followed the leadership during the decades following 1950, and who have continued to accept this apostasy and compromise with truth. This Special Report will note only one reaction - the reaction of the group referred to by Dr. Douglass in a letter dated, March 11, 1975, to a church member in Australia as "the new and strange Ford-Brinsmead mateship." Other centers of apostasy in regard to the incarnation, such as Andrews University, and some of the theological departments of our Senior Colleges, have yet to be heard from. It is possible that Spectrum, the

p 2 -- journal of the Association of Adventist Forums will open its pages for the dissent which might come from these ivy towers.

The latest circular to come from the "strange Ford-Brinsmead mateship" is entitled, "Adventist News Service", and is also written by Ray Martin, as was the Objective Digest Report. As one reads the circular, and compares the same with the Sabbath School lessons for the Second Quarter of 1977, one wonders how much the author has imbibed the policy of the American news media in releasing "managed" news reports. ("Managed" news releases began with the Kennedy administration. It is a term for propaganda which is written to mold the thinking of the hearer or viewer into a predetermined pattern.)

This so-called "Adventist News Service" makes the following charges against what it calls "the Douglass Lesson Quarterly." It states:

1) "It [the Quarterly] presents the idea that the Second Person of the Godhead divested Himself of His divine powers and prerogatives and that, in becoming a man, He did not retain His divine nature."

2) "There is nothing said about Christ being our Substitute, Representative, and Surety, who lived and died vicariously on the sinner's behalf."

3) These lessons "advocate perfectionism and the sinful nature of Christ."

4) The theology of these lessons is "Roman Catholic and not Protestant."

Let us note these points one at a time, and see what the Lessons do teach. On Point #1, the "Adventist News Service" clarifies their objection in a postscript as follows - the question "is whether the incarnate Christ retained all the powers and prerogatives of divinity and all the essential properties of His divine nature. The Quarterly says He did not." The Quarterly reads:      When Jesus became flesh, He divested Himself of the powers of deity and became absolutely dependent upon the Father and the Holy Spirit. ... Although Jesus could have retained the same nature He had possessed throughout eternity, He "became" dependent on God as all other human beings are. (Lesson 2, Part 5.)

In support of this position, John 5:30 is quoted, and Phil. 2:6-7 is noted. And what the Quarterly states is an accurate summary of these verses. Further, the Spirit of Prophecy clearly teaches:      He humbled Himself and took mortality upon Him. As a member of the human family, He was mortal. (5BC:1127 col. 1)

While bearing human nature, Jesus was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life. In His humanity, He laid hold of the divinity of God, and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. ("The Word Made Flesh" - Andreasen Collection #2)

And in direct comment on John 5:30, the servant of the Lord wrote -"He rested not in the possession of almighty power. ... That power He had laid down, and He

p 3 -- says, 'I can of Mine own self do nothing.' He trusted in the Father's might." (Desire of Ages, pp. 335-336)

On Point #2 that nothing is said "about Christ being our Substitute, Representative, etc.," one needs to note only the following from the first two lessons:      Page 18 -"Because He became truly man, we have a High Priest who is able 'to sympathize with our weaknesses.'"

Page 47 - (Teacher's Edition) Under the caption - "Meaning of the Incarnation" - it reads:      "Under the mighty impulse of His love, He took our place in the universe, and invited the Ruler of all things to treat Him as a representative of the human family." (This of course is from 7BC:924, col. 2)

Page 28 - (Teacher's Edition) The question is asked - "Why did Christ come?" In the series of answers the following are given - "To remove from man the guilt of sin." And - "To become our high priest." On the same page, the teacher is asked to have the class commit to memory, Desire of Ages, p. 25, which begins - "Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves."

Evidently the "Ford-Brinsmead mateship" is totally unaware of the breadth of the atonement. We read:       It was not alone His betrayal in the garden or His agony upon the cross that constituted the atonement. The humiliation of which His poverty formed a part was included in His great sacrifice. (Ms. 12, 1900; 6BC:1103)

Now to Point #3. The use of the expression - "the sinful nature of Christ" is a smear technique. The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are clear that Jesus Christ did not have a sinful nature, but that He took upon Himself "our sinful nature." Twice this emphasis is given - Medical Ministry, p. 181 and Review & Herald, Dec. 15, 1896 - besides other references which state the matter similarly as stated in the Youth's Instructor, Dec. 20,1900, which reads -"Think of Christ's humiliation. He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin."(4BC:1147). In failing to understand the full nature of Christ as our Redeemer, the reality of the fact is mitigated that "Christ became one flesh with us in order that we might become one spirit with Him." (Desire of Ages, p, 388)

Point #4 is a charge introduced by Brinsmead's sidekick, Geoffrey Paxton, who is quoted in the "Adventist News Service" as declaring the Lesson Quarterly "contained 'heresy,' philosophical nonsense,' and that it was 'Roman Catholic and not Protestant theology.'" Anyone who has only an elementary knowledge of Catholic teaching knows that it is Catholicism which has sought to present Jesus as one who was preserved free from any taint of what is called original sin by having Mary so preserved. Variations of this theme which can be found in Evangelical sources teach that a part of the womb of Mary was sanctified by the Holy Spirit and from this sanctified humanity, Jesus received His human nature. All such variations are but a modification of the original Catholic concept. This same heresy was found in the book, Questions on Doctrine, p. 383. What the SSQuarterly for Second Quarter of 1977 is simply doing is teaching basic, historical Adventist doctrine derived from a truly Old and New Testament theology.

WEBMASTER NOTE: Inserted here is the The SS Quarterly 1977, pp. 18-19 for Apr 3 & 4:

God With Us -- LESSON 2        Sunday, April 3.

Part I -- THE WORD BECAME FLESH:

What is John's description of the magnificent open mystery of the Incarnation?

"The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Jesus, the eternal Word, became man. This thought staggers anyone who even dimly understands what it means. Why should God do that? What kind of man did He become? Did He only appear to be a man? Did He have power over sin that is not available to all other men as they contend with sin? What difference has His coming meant to the human race?

To some extent these questions will be answered in this week's lesson as well as in the lessons to follow. To understand these questions is the greatest subject to which a person can devote his mind. "The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. ... This is to be our study. Christ was a real man." Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 244.

What Is Paul's description of the humanity of Jesus? Rom. 1:3.

"Christ did not make believe take human nature; He did verily take it. He did in reality possess human nature. ... He was the son of Mary; He was of the seed of David according to human descent. He is declared to be a man, even the Man Christ Jesus. -- Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 247.

THINK IT THROUGH -- What difference would it have made to me if Jesus had not become man, fully and truly? Do you think that it would have altered the Idea that God is mankind's friend and comforter?

God did not come halfway to earth in His attempt to redeem men and women; He did not come as a sympathetic angel, or even as a superman, impregnable to all of humanity's troubles and weaknesses. The ladder from heaven to earth reached all the way down to where sinners are. "If that ladder had failed by a single step of reaching the earth, we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome." The Desire of Ages, pp. 311, 312.

Since Jesus came to dwell with us, we know that God is acquainted with our trials, and sympathizes with our griefs. Every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the friend of sinners.

FURTHER STUDY -- Selected Messages, bk. 1, pp, 246-251.

God With Us -- LESSON 2        Monday, April 4.

Part 2 - PARTOOK OF THE SAME NATURE:

How much like man did Paul say Jesus became?

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature. ... For surely it is not with angels that he Is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect" (Heb. 2:14-17, RSV).

Jesus entered the human family, taking the same nature as all other "descendants of Abraham."

"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." -The Desire of Ages, p. 49.

In order to come close to sinful men and women, Jesus permitted Himself to enter the human family. In order to be man's example He lived a sinless life though beset by the same temptations other human beings face.       "If we have in any sense a more trying conflict than had Christ, then He would not be able to succor us. But our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities." - The Desire of Ages, p. 117.

THINK IT THROUGH -- Do I make excuses for my sins, mistakes, or shortcomings by appealing to my heredity or the unfavorable conditions that I grew up with? In what danger do I place myself if I relax, believing that no one could keep the commandments except Jesus, the Son of God?

"If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came - a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man." - Ellen G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 930.

FURTHER STUDY -- The Desire of Ages, p. 117. END WEBMASTER NOTE. --- (1977 Apr -- Special Report -- JESUS -THE MODEL MAN -- Part 1) -