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“The
law and the gospel cannot be separated. In Christ mercy and truth are met
together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. The gospel has
not ignored the obligations due to God by man. The gospel is the law
unfolded, nothing more nor less. It gives no more latitude to sin than
does the law. The law points to Christ; Christ points to the law. The
gospel calls men to repentance. Repentance of what?--Of sin. And what is
sin?-It is the transgression of the law. Therefore the gospel calls men from
their transgression back to obedience to the law of God. Jesus, in His
life and death, taught the strictest obedience. He died, the just for the
unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that the honour of God's law might
be preserved, and yet man not utterly perish.” E.G. White, {BEcho,
February 8, 1897 par. 1}
Note by Ron: Ellen White said that the law is a transcript
of God’s character. Myriad of times I have taught obedience to God’s law.
I have taught the righteousness of Christ and His character.
Unfortunately, there are some that cannot make that connection. Myriad of
times I have taught the “highest good, crowning gift that heaven can
bestow,” by way of the truth concerning the Godhead, I have taught the
character of God. But some cannot see the relationship between the two in
this case as well. That is most unfortunate, and seems to speak to the
lack of spiritual discernment of such individuals. They harp on the
following statements by Ellen White and send them to me as though I were
defunct in the responsibility of teaching on the character of God and
Christ’s righteousness.
What such folk do not have the spiritual
discernment to perceive is that Christ is the way, the truth and the
life, and that all truth pertains to Christ our Righteousness, and covers
many issues of righteousness as exemplified by Christ Jesus.
The way some interpret the following Ellen White
statements, they seem to think that all one should teach is the words
Christ our righteousness, without all of the many principles involved,
for all truth falls within the category of Christ our
righteousness. Truth is righteousness and righteousness is truth and both
are embodied in the Way, the Truth and the Life of Christ. All truth
attests to the transcript of His character which is His law. All error
attests to the character of Satan and disobedience to God’s law.
As we behold Christ, by studying
His life, His truth, His character, we desire to become changed into His
image. Ellen White said that we should engage that study for at least one
hour daily. That is a personal duty if we would rightly regard,
appreciate and be changed by beholding Christ.
As we behold Christ, the ravages of
sin become more abominable to us and we hate the errors inspired by Satan
that are overtaking the world as God withdraws His Spirit from the world.
We are not to be ostrich-head-in-the-sand Christians, unaware of the
craft of Satan’s perfected arts.
We should better appreciate the beneficence of
God’s law, as we witness the horrific results of sin and the depths to
which the world has sunken by disobedience to His law.
“The end is near! We have not a moment to lose!
Light is to shine forth from God's people in clear, distinct rays,
bringing Jesus before the churches and before the world. Our work is not
to be restricted to those who already know the truth; our field is the
world. The instrumentalities to be used are those souls who gladly
receive the light of truth which God communicates to them. These are
God's agencies for communicating the knowledge of truth to the world. If
through the grace of Christ his people will become new bottles, he will
fill them with the new wine. God will give additional light, and old
truths will be recovered, and replaced in the frame-work of truth; and
wherever the laborers go, they will triumph. As Christ's ambassadors,
they are to search the Scriptures, to seek for the truths that have been
hidden beneath the rubbish of error. And every ray of light
received is to be communicated to others. One interest will
prevail, one subject will swallow up every other,--Christ our
righteousness.” {RH, December 23, 1890 par. 19} {PC 342.2} {1888
765.6}
What the surface readers do not discern is that
seeking the truths hidden beneath the rubbish of error and for every ray
of light, is totally related to Christ our righteousness! But many don’t
see the relationship, and neither do they sigh and cry for ALL the
abominations in the church and in the world. The Great Controversy
between Christ and Satan involves the sins of the worldlings who follow
the spirit of Satan. Ellen White indicts the church for doing after the
manner of the world and she states that the fallen churches cannot be
distinguished from the world, so it is impossible to sigh and cry for ALL
the abominations without sighing and crying for the abominations of the
world as well as those of the churches that cannot be distinguished from
the world, Early Writings, 273
and the following statement:
"The leaven if
godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger
and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are
standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations
that are done in the land. But MORE ESPECIALLY will their prayers arise
in behalf of the church because ITS MEMBERS are doing after the manner of
the world." Testimonies, vol. 5, 209, 210.
If the church is doing
after the manner of the world and we are to sigh and cry for all
the abominations of the church, then we will be aware of and sighing and
crying for the abominations of the world as well.
“What was the result of the outpouring of the
Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were
carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world. As the disciples
proclaimed the message of redeeming grace, hearts yielded to the power of
this message. The church beheld converts flocking to her from all directions.
Backsliders were reconverted. Sinners united with believers in seeking
the pearl of great price. Some who had been the bitterest opponents of
the gospel became its champions. The prophecy was fulfilled, "He
that is feeble . . . shall be as David; and the house of David . . . as
the angel of the Lord." Zechariah 12:8. Every Christian saw in his
brother a revelation of divine love and benevolence. One interest
prevailed; one subject of emulation swallowed up all others. The ambition
of the believers was to reveal the likeness of Christ's character and to
labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.” {AA 48.1}
I have been accused by some like Laval Picard,
Kevin Straub and others of not teaching on the character of God and the
righteousness of Christ. That is interesting in light of the observations
I make above, and the fact that I have dealt at length with a subject
involved with what Ellen White describes as “the highest good, crowning gift that heaven can
bestow,” the Holy Spirit, the life and
soul of Christ. These men have not had the spiritual discernment to
relate the highest good, crowning gift that heaven can bestow; the
greatest sacrifice of heaven, to Christ’s character and the righteousness
of Christ. That is most unfortunate for them and all who share their
short-sighted, tunnel vision sentiment. May God forgive them for not
seeing nor agreeing I might add, with Ellen White’s definition of the
highest good, crowing sacrificial gift heaven can bestow, which in turn
is the deepest one can investigate into the CHARACTER of God and His
self-sacrificing love.
"Christ declared that after his ascension, he would
send to his church, as his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was
to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy
Spirit,--the soul of his life,
the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world.
With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that
takes away sin.
In the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the
highest good that heaven could bestow....
The Spirit was given as a regenerating agency, and
without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail....
It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through
the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature.
Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all
hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own CHARACTER
upon the church." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, May
19, 1904, vol. 5, p. 42.
I have
taught the above teaching on the Godhead and the CHARACTER of Christ over
and over again. Thus, in teaching the HIGHEST GOOD, CROWNING GIFT that
heaven can bestow, I have taught the HIGHEST ELEMENT OF THE CHARACTER OF
CHRIST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. But folk deficient in spiritual discernment
cannot see this important relevancy! God help them is my prayer.
March 9, 1897 Christ
Represents the Beneficence of the Law.
By
Mrs. E. G. White.
"The wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." It is
essential that every subject of the kingdom of God should be obedient to
the law of Jehovah, in order that his infinite glory may have a perfect
establishment. The professed followers of Christ are tested in this life
to see whether or not they will be obedient to God. Obedience will result
in happiness, and will insure the reward of eternal life. Failure on the
part of Adam on one point resulted in terrible consequences, and sin has
grown to such vast proportions that it cannot be measured. But in the midst
of rebellion and apostasy, in the midst of those who were disloyal,
impenitent, and obstinate, God looks down upon those who love him and
keep his commandments, and says, "I love them that love me,"
and will cause them to inherit substance. "I will render vengeance
to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me." {RH, March 9,
1897 par. 1}
Christ lived in accordance with the
principles of God's moral government, and fulfilled the specifications of
the law of God. He represented the beneficence of the law in his human
life. The fact that the law is holy, just, and good is to be testified
before all nations, tongues, and peoples, to worlds unfallen, to angels,
seraphim, and cherubim. The principles of the law of God were wrought out
in the character of Jesus Christ, and he who co-operates with Christ,
becoming a partaker of the divine nature, will develop the divine
character, and become an illustration of the divine law. Christ in the
heart will bring the whole man, soul, body, and spirit into captivity to
the obedience of righteousness. Christ's true followers will be in
conformity to the mind and will and character of God, and the
far-reaching principles of the law will be demonstrated in humanity. {RH,
March 9, 1897 par. 2}
Pardoning, redeeming love is brought
to view in Christ Jesus. Satan had misrepresented the character of God,
and it was necessary that a correct representation should be made to
worlds unfallen, to angels, and to men. Satan had declared that God knew
nothing of self-denial, of mercy and love, but that he was stern,
exacting, and unforgiving. Satan never tested the forgiving love of God;
for he never exercised genuine repentance. His representations of God
were incorrect; he was a false witness, an accuser of Christ, and an
accuser of all those who throw off the Satanic yoke, and come back to
render willing allegiance to the God of heaven. {RH, March 9, 1897 par.
3}
Satan charged God with an
unforgiving spirit, because he would not receive on terms of favor those
who disobeyed his law and therefore misrepresented his character. But
forgiveness of sins would be of no avail unless the course of
transgression was abandoned, and the grace of Christ imparted to the
sinner to renovate, purify, and ennoble him who had fallen by iniquity.
This was the only way by which the sinner could be restored to divine
favor, and trusted to come into copartnership with Jesus Christ. But in
Christ we behold the character of the Father, and see the pitying
tenderness which God exercised for fallen man, giving his only begotten
Son as a ransom for the transgressors of the law. It is in beholding the
love of God that repentance is awakened in the sinner's heart, and an
earnest desire is created to become reconciled to God. When the transgressor
becomes acquainted with God, and experiences his love, it produces in his
heart a hatred for sin and a love for holiness. {RH, March 9, 1897 par.
4}
The more we study the attributes of
the character of God as revealed in Christ, the more we see that justice
has been sustained in the sacrifice that met the penalty of the law, and
that mercy has been provided in the only begotten Son, who bore the
penalty of the law in the sinner's place, in order that man might have
another probation, another opportunity to be obedient to the law of God's
government, that it might be made manifest who could be trusted to become
members of the Lord's family, children of the Heavenly King. Those who
are obedient to the law of the government of God while in this brief probation,
amid all the counter-influences of Satanic agencies, will be pronounced
in heaven loyal children of the Lord of Hosts. They will be declared to
be separate from the sinful practises of the world, and to them God gives
the promise, "I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." {RH, March 9, 1897 par. 5}
By both creation and redemption we
are the Lord's property. We are absolutely his subjects, and amenable to
the laws of his kingdom. Let no one foster the delusion that the Lord God
of heaven and earth has no law by which to control and govern his
subjects. We are dependent upon God for everything we enjoy. The food
which we eat, the clothing we wear, the atmosphere we breathe, the life
we enjoy from day to day, are received from God. We are under obligation
to be governed by his will, to acknowledge him as our supreme ruler. We
are under obligation to coincide with all his plans and designs. As all
our blessings come from God, we are under the highest obligation to
render gratitude to him for his mercies, his goodness and benevolence,
and to manifest this gratitude by returning to him his own in gifts and
offerings, ever cherishing a sense of our dependence upon him. {RH, March
9, 1897 par. 6}
Those who have a knowledge of God in
Christ Jesus are under obligation to perform his expressed will in doing
his commandments, which are a transcript of his character. We are under a
debt of gratitude to God for the revelation of his love in Christ Jesus;
and as intelligent human agents, we are to reveal to the world the manner
of character that will result from obedience to every specification of
the law of God's government. In perfect obedience to his holy will, we
are to manifest adoration, love, cheerfulness, and praise, and thus honor
and glorify God. It is in this way alone that man may reveal the
character of God in Christ to the world, and make manifest to men that
happiness, peace, assurance, and grace come from obedience to the law of
God. Thus glory redounds to God in good and righteous actions through
harmony with the laws of Jehovah's government. {RH, March 9, 1897 par. 7}
It was positively necessary that man
should know his Heavenly Father, and discern his paternal attributes of
character; for in becoming acquainted with God, men may become partakers
of the same virtues and the same glory. In the prayer of Christ for his
disciples, the truth embodied is of the deepest significance and interest
to all his followers. "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his
eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that
thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." To render acceptable
service to God, it is essential that we should know God, to whom we
belong, in order that we may be thankful and obedient, contemplating and
adoring him for his wonderful love to men. We could not rejoice in and
praise a being of whom we had no certain knowledge; but God has sent
Christ to the world to make manifest his paternal character. {RH, March
9, 1897 par. 8}
It is our privilege to know God
experimentally, and in true knowledge of God is life eternal. The only
begotten Son of God was God's gift to the world, in whose character was
revealed the character of him who gave the law to men and angels. He came
to proclaim the fact, "The Lord our God is one Lord," and him
only shalt thou serve. He came to make it manifest that, "Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
That which proceeds from the mind of God is perfect, and needs not to be
taken back, corrected, or altered in the least. We may ascribe all
perfection to God. He holds in his hand the existence of every human
being, and upholds all things by the word of his power. {RH, March 9,
1897 par. 9}
Unless men shall know God as Christ
has revealed him, they will never form a character after the divine
similitude, and will therefore never see God. It is a matter for
astonishment among the angels in heaven, that any who have once known God
should become careless, should permit their minds to be absorbed in any
temporal pursuit, and allow their attention to be diverted from the God
of heaven, so that they wantonly and willingly forget their Maker, and
substitute for him other lords and other gods. The day has come when
there are lords many and gods many, and Satan has purposed to interpose
himself between God and the human soul, so that men shall not give homage
to God in keeping his law. Satan has wrapped about him garments of
angelic brightness, and he comes to men as an angel of light. He causes
the guilty soul to see things in a perverted way, so that he hates that
which he should love, and loves that which he should hate and despise.
God is so misrepresented to him that he cares not to retain the true and
living Father in his knowledge, but turns to the worship of false gods.
He knows not that the love of God is without a parallel, yet Christ has
revealed that love to a fallen world. John calls upon the world to behold
the wondrous love of God, saying, "Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God;
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." {RH,
March 9, 1897 par. 10}
Jesus said, "Marvel not, my
brethren, if the world hate you." It is not a surprising thing that
the world misunderstand and misinterpret the children of God, since they
know not God. As the world treated the world's Redeemer, so will they
treat his followers. Jesus said: "If the world hate you, ye know
that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the
word that I have said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent
me." {RH, March 9, 1897 par. 11}
If the world knew the principles of
the laws of God's government, if they obeyed his commandments, they would
discern the character of God in the law, and would no longer be at enmity
with God. But turning from the law of God, men have no means of
discerning his character, and the attributes of the character of Satan
are cherished and cultivated. After Jesus told his disciples what manner
of treatment they might expect from the world, he said, "These things
have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended." That is, in
receiving persecution from the hands of the world, they were not to feel
that God was dealing with them unjustly, in permitting them to be thus
treated. Jesus continued: "They shall put you out of the synagogues:
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service." Why is it that men reach this state of deception? Why
is it they walk so contrary to all the laws of God? Jesus answers:
"And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known
the Father, nor me." {RH, March 9, 1897 par. 12}
Turning away from the law of God,
trampling the commandments under their feet, men cannot know God; for the
law of God is a transcript of his character. Failing to understand the
law of God, they also fail to know the human agent who discerns the
attributes of the character of God revealed in his law. This is why men
are filled with prejudice against the truth of God, why they are inspired
with the spirit of the great adversary of God and of his children. This
is why they bear false reports, fabricating lies, and loving the lies
that are prepared for their using. This is why they make such decided
efforts to turn away the people from the law of God; for they have not
seen him, neither known him.
-
Ellen
G. White {RH, March 9, 1897 par. 13}
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