Continued…
'The
relation of justification and obedience has been fully discussed in Chapter
Three. But the relation of justification to the Judgment demands consideration.
Peter said: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you; whom
the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things,” etc.
Acts 3:19-21.
Act
3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord;
Act
3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto
you:
Act
3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began.
It is evident that Peter did not think their
sins would be blotted out when they were converted, but at some future time;
and the Scriptures clearly show that that time is when the sanctuary is
cleansed and the Atonement made. But in thus using this text it becomes
necessary to vindicate the translation. Some affirm with much assurance that
“when the times of refreshing shall come” is an incorrect rendering, and that
it should be— “so that times of refreshing shall come.” Liddell & Scott
give as one definition of the original: “Of the time of a thing’s happening,
when, as soon as.” Pickering says: “When, as to time.” Barnes, while he admits
that the objection has in its favor the more usual use of the word, says:
“Others have rendered it, in accordance with our translation, when, meaning
that they might find peace in the day when Christ should return to judgment,
which return would be to them a day of rest, though of terror to the wicked.
Thus Calvin, Beza, the Latin Vulgate, Schleusner, etc. The grammatical
construction will admit of either.” Thus it is seen that the claim that the
Authorized Version is wrong, is far from being established. We have no doubt that “when” should be
retained in the text; that the expression, “the times of refreshing,” refers
specially to the blessing of the Spirit which will be given to the saints when
they are sealed with the seal of the living God (Rev. 7), which will enable them to stand when Jesus
ceases his priestly work, and during the time of pouring out the seven last
plagues.
Rev
7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of
the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it
was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev
7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we
have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And yet
another question has been raised, on which some minds have been perplexed. If
the blotting out of sins is done in the closing work of the priest, when the
sanctuary is cleansed, that is to say, in the Judgment, then the sins of all
the saints must stand on record till
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that time.
Now it has been shown (Chapter Three) that justification by faith and salvation
are not identical; the former is a fact of experience at the present time,
while the latter is contingent on “patient continuance in well-doing” on the
part of the justified one.
As was
remarked, “justification by faith is not a final procedure; it does not take
the place of the Judgment, nor render the Judgment unnecessary. It looks to
something beyond itself to be accomplished in the future.” The same perplexity
has arisen over the Apostle’s words in Acts 2:38,“Repent, and be baptized
everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” From
this it has been inferred, but without sufficient reason, that sin is remitted
in the act of baptism. Such an idea is not expressed in the text. Evidently the
terms signify in order to the remission of sins; and it is too much to claim
that in laboring to gain a certain object, that object is obtained in the very
act of laboring. God told his people that they should have life—eternal life—if
they kept his commandments, which, to the faithful, will be fulfilled “when
Christ who is our life shall appear,” and not till then. The declaration above
quoted, from Acts 2:38, points to the same fact as that in chapter 3:19.
Act
2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act
3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord
The
remission of sin is the work of the Judgment; and the believer must stand
justified by faith, looking to the priest for the accomplishment of his hope.
But that the sin is not really blotted out, or atonement made at baptism, or at
any other period in probation, is proved by the word of the Lord to Ezekiel,
18:26: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done he
shall die.” Again, in chapter 32:13: “All his righteousness shall not be
remembered.” That is, he shall be treated as though he had never been
righteous. Now the righteousness of the righteous is by faith; therefore if he
turn and commit iniquity he shall be treated as if he never had faith; his justification
is annulled—he falls from grace. For a demonstration of the truthfulness of
this view, we look to the cases of the faithful who lived before the time of
Christ. Were it admitted that the Atonement was made at the death of Christ, it
would still remain a fact in the cases of the patriarchs and prophets
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H. Waggoner
that their
sins were not atoned for, not actually blotted out till the blood was shed by
which they are blotted out. But they were justified by faith, and died in that
justified state, looking forward to the work of Christ when the object of their
faith should be realized; when his blood should take away the sins of which
they had already repented or, in other words, when the Atonement should be
made. This is decisive on the point. It proves beyond dispute that it is
possible for a person to be justified by faith, accepted of God, and die in
hope, without actually having his sins yet blotted out when he dies. And if the
patriarchs and prophets could thus rest in hope, waiting for the blood of the
coming Messiah to be shed to blot out their sins, so can the saints of a later
age take hold of that blood by faith, waiting for Jesus our High Priest to blot
out their sins when the times of refreshing shall come.
We think
that our position is fully proved by the Scriptures, that, however closely
justification and reconciliation are allied, the Atonement is subsequent to
both. And this because it is the Judgment. If we are justified or reconciled,
and so continue to the end, we may hope that our sins will be blotted out when
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. This work is
effected in the most holy place, where the ark of the testament is; this place
is opened in Heaven under the sounding of the seventh trumpet; and this trumpet
ushers in the judgment of the dead, the coming of Christ without sin unto
salvation to them that look for him; the giving reward to all his servants, and
the destruction of them that corrupt the earth. These events pass beyond the
bounds of human probation, and close up the dispensation of the gospel. Having
traced this subject thus far; having found what the Atonementis; by whom and
where it is made; and also for whom; we may turn back to “first principles” and
again consider the law of God, and the position it occupies under the gospel.
In the
type, the testimony—the law —was put into the ark, in the most holy place; and
it was over the law that the blood of the covenant was sprinkled by the high
priest on the day of atonement. The glory of God was above the cherubim; these
were upon the mercy-seat, and this was upon the ark in which was the law. As
God looked down upon his
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Atonement - 156
law, the
very basis of his Government, his justice was aroused, for his law was
violated. But mercy interposed; the high priest entered with the blood that
brings remission, that had been offered to vindicate the majesty of the law.
The blood was sprinkled “upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat.” Again
the Lord looks down upon his law, but between him and the law is the mercy-seat
sprinkled with the blood of the victim; the law is honored; its penalty has
been enforced; a substitute has been accepted; and the penitent sinner is
pardoned.
We notice
that here was a real law, taking hold of the moral relations of God’s
creatures; that here was actual transgression; on the part of the creatures a
disregard of moral obligations. But under the Aaronic priesthood there was no
actual taking away of that sin; it remained to be taken away by the blood of
Christ Therefore Christ officiates in behalf of that same law, as Paul shows in
Heb. 9:15; and therefore the ark of his testament in Heaven contains that same
law, where Jesus offers his own blood.
Heb
9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
Our High Priest has declared that he
delighted to do the will of God, yea, the law was in his heart; he magnified
the law and made it honorable; he upheld it in his life; he honored it in his
death by suffering its penalty to vindicate its justice; he pleads his blood in
Heaven in behalf of those who have broken it.
You who
claim that God’s law is abolished: look to his heavenly temple where Jesus our
great High Priest is, and behold it there safely lodged in the ark. You who say
that the law is changed—behold the original in Heaven, of which a copy only was
given to Israel.
Did not
God speak it with his own voice? Did he not write it with his own finger? Did
he not give it as a rule of holiness of life? Was it not perfect? Did it not
contain the whole duty of man? Yes; and by it God will bring every work into
judgment. Here is that justice and judgment which are the habitation of his
throne. Ps. 89:14.
Psa
89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and
truth shall go before thy face.
What
evidence have you that the heavenly record of God’s immutable will has been
changed? Men may mutilate the copy he has given them; they may strike out the
name of the Holy One, and insert a term of reproach in its stead, but with him
is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.
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H. Waggoner
Peter says
that Government is “for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of
them that do well.” All rights and privileges are protected by Government—by
law. To subvert the law is to destroy the security of our rights. The
law-making power has the sole right to change or abolish laws. Yet in the case
of the fourth precept of the law of Jehovah men have not only changed its
terms, but they now claim that it is their right to determine whether they
shall keep it as the “one lawgiver” proclaimed it, or make changes in it, and
observe it according to their own amendments!
God said, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the
Lord thy God,” and gave the reason, that he rested the seventh day when he
created the heavens and the earth. But men say, “The seventh day is the old
Jewish Sabbath,” and substitute in its place another day which was not the
rest-day of God, upon which he never bestowed his blessing, which he never
sanctified, and which he never commandedmen to keep. They have so long pursued
this course that they think it a small matter to make such a change. But how
must it look in the sight of Heaven? How must God regard the slight put upon
his authority?
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
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