Karl
Wagner’s Half Gospel
Karl, to
put it as kindly as I can, you always leave out one of the CONDITIONS of the Laodicean Message which is included in
the meaning of gold tried in the fire. That condition, the first and greatest of the commands of God,
is LOVE, which all other commandments hang upon. You have done
that since I first knew you about ten years ago. The gold that we are to
purchase that was tried in the fire of Christ’s experience and may be tried
in the fire of our experience, is faith that works by love.
"It is contrition and
faith and love that enable the soul to receive wisdom from heaven. Faith
working by love is the key of knowledge, and everyone that loveth
"knoweth God" (1 John 4:7). . . ." {LHU
168.7}
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Karl Wagner is a Bible worker in
his church in Arizona. He quite often preaches to the congregation of that
church. Karl has oft bemoaned the his
belief that all too often Adventists have to go to the Babylonian
churches for what he regards as the true gospel. Karl Wagner said to Brian: "Brian,
Ron responds: God has given us eternal life via the
Meritorious highest good, crowing gift” of the soul of the life of Christ,
His Holy Spirit Divine Nature, that will indwell the soul of man and empower
Him to overcome. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit’s power (grace) given
for obedience and apostleship, Romans 1:5. But man does not power to obey because he loves sin. He want
salvation (pardon—justification) without the element of grace that is the
power of the Holy Spirit indwelling the soul of man. But we don’t get one
without accepting both in the true born again experience. Thus the two
aspects of grace—pardon and power, are as inseparable as the law and the
gospel. Jesus' faith involved faith in the power of grace to save from
sin. This is what Jones and Waggoner taught in 1888. Works empowered by the
Holy Spirit are part of the foundation and merit of our salvation, because
SUCH WORKS ARE EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT and the gift of the soul of
Christ's life, His Holy Spirit Divine Nature, was the Highest good, Crowning
gift, of the Incarnation--which WAS THE FOUNDATION FIRST MERIT BEFORE THE
CROSS. That is if we accept the gifts of grace in their twofold
aspects—pardon and power. The merit is still due to the Incarnation sacrificial gift of
the Holy Spirit, not us. Karl is denying the Highest good, crowning gift of
merit that Christ provided--His Divine Nature soul of His life Holy Spirit
for overcoming, curing, the sin problem, without which all the cross could do
was pardon sin FOREVER. There would have been no cure without THE FIRST
MERITORIOUS SACRIFICE OF CHRIST--HIS DIVINE NATURE HOLY SPIRIT. But Karl confesses the Trinity Doctrine, and rejects Ellen
White's definition of the Holy Spirit as the soul of Christ's life--the
highest good, crowning gift MERIT of His sacrifices--THE FIRST BEING THE
INCARNATION IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY, and THE SECOND BEING THE ATONEMENT FOR
SINS PAST AND MISTAKES IN THE FUTURE ON THE CROSS. When Paul said that we are saved by grace and not of works, he
meant OUR OWN WORKS, and he was preaching to the Jews who believed their works
of commandment-keeping would save them. Because Paul wrote Romans and he
confesses the need for sanctification and obedience as part of the salvific
process. When he retorts that one only says it is the empowerment of the Holy
Spirit to do the works, but it is really not, just that one is saying that
but in reality it is only his/her's own works in an attempt to EARN
salvation, he is first of all judging one's motives, and second, he thereby
indicts against the Word of God that the Holy Spirit can indeed, in reality
indwell and empower us. This is serious contention against the Holy World of
God Almighty and the highest good, crowning sacrifice that made this gift
possible. This is serious business, and speaking against the Holy Spirit as
much as anything could be. This is grieving away of the Holy Spirit and its
greatest gift to man as a cure for the sin problem. No one will be saved
teaching that false half gospel. Here is what Paul and Peter said about sanctification: 1Cr 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
The proper order is BOTH—sanctification and faith, BECAUSE THE
BORN AGAIN PERSON DOES NOT SIN, or he/she is not born again. That is what the
Word says. Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the
works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. In 2TH 2:13 (above) Paul said that we are indeed chosen to
salvation through sanctification OF THE SPIRIT AND belief (faith) of the
truth. The only way to reconcile this paradox without making the
Bible contradictory is to recognize that when Paul said in Gal. 2:16 that we
are not justified by the works of the law, he meant our own works of the law
and that he was trying to re-educate a bunch of Jews who errantly believed
that we are saved by our own works. Because Paul says in 2Th 2:13 that we are
saved through sanctification of the Spirit’s merit and belief (faith) in the
Word—the truth. Karl Wagner does not like this part of Paul. He and mainstream
Christianity take the parts of the Word they prefer. Jam 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and
not by faith only. So the above verse by Paul is a precise paraphrase of James of
Scripture that we are saved by faith and works. But not our OWN works without
the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Here is what Paul said about obedience and Salvation Hbr 5:9 And
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him;
Ron
comments: Of course God has given (made eternal life possible) to all who
comply with the conditions for eternal life by the aid of the Holy Spirit. If
this is not true, then every man is already saved and that is not true.
Ron
comments: It is not true that Brian has added on our own works. Works
empowered by the Holy Spirit are attributable to the MERIT OF CHRIST’S FIRST
AND FOREMOST SACRIFICE OF THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE HOLY SPIRIT given for the
purpose of curing the sin problem. Yes
indeed Karl is downplaying sanctification as an accompanying condition for
final salvation. Karl is saying one is born again without sanctification, and
that simply is not true. In 2TH 2:13 (above) Paul said that we are indeed chosen to
salvation through sanctification OF THE SPIRIT AND belief (faith) of the truth. End Ron’s comment. Ron’s comments: God did not save
Israel before He gave them the law on Mt. Sinai. God made the provisions for
the salvation of Israel before He gave them the law on Mt. Sinai. If Karl’s
sentence was correct, then all Israel would have been saved without any law
EVER. And that certainly did not and will not happen to Israel anymore than
it will happen to all mankind. We must comply with the conditions and the
conditions are stated succinctly in the message to Laodicea. We are to buy
faith that works by love and you cannot separate the two for faith without
works is dead faith. They come as a packaged CONDITION. Both are gifts of the
Holy Spirit and both must be received and both are attributable to THE FULL MERIT OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICES—the
Incarnation, providing the gift of the Spirit as a cure for sin, and the
Cross as a redemption from sins past by Christ having taken those sins upon
Himself in our place. (End Ron’s note) Ron’s comments: You are
entirely correct Brian. The full gospel and its conditions are prescribed and
defined in the message to Laodicea—buying gold (faith in love) tried in the
fire of the fiery law demanding obedience. Faith in and love for Christ, are gifts of the Holy
Spirit that come as a package. They are purchased TOGETHER at the same time.
That is the proper order of accepting the gospel. That is the full gospel,
not just faith (justification) purchased first without the love that
motivates obedience being purchased at some time in the distant future. They
come as an inseparable package. That package is the true born again purchase
after which one is not supposed to sin. But if one does fall and sin, he/she
may supplicate the grace of pardon and if the sin is truly repented of, it
will be pardoned and power will be given to resist the same sin in the future.
At least the power to resist sin in the future is certainly available if we
will accept it. And that power is the highest good, crowning MERITORIOUS GIFT
of the Incarnation sacrifice, providing a cure for sin, and thus trumps even
the cross as important as that sacrifice was. In other words, the cure for
sin was just as essential as the pardon for sin or sin would continue forever
on a sin-pardon basis. "The Power of God in the Third
Person.--The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the
power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.-- Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10,
p. 37. (1897). “They must have His grace, the
Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a
Christian character. Jesus loves to have us come to Him, just as we
are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith
and Works, p. 38. "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 [HIS
LIFE--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE], 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. “Christ
had stooped to take upon Himself man’s nature; He was to bear an infinite
weight of woe as He should make His
soul an offering for sin; yet angels desire that even in His
humiliation the Son of the Highest might appear before men with a dignity and
glory befitting His character.” E.G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 313, 314. The Glory that
the Father gave to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is waiting to breathe upon all
his disciples, and give them the inspiration of his sanctifying spirit, and
transfuse the vital influence from himself to his people . . . Christ is to live in his human agents, and
work through their faculties, and act through their capabilities. Their will
must be submitted to His will, they
must act with His Spirit, that it may be no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them. Jesus
is seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit He is
giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that He and
His people may be one in God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892, par. 4. “Christ gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own Life.” Desire of Ages, p. 827, par. 3. “The Holy Spirit is the breath of
life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the
life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ.” Desire of Ages, p. 805. “They have one God and one
Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ—is to bring unity into their
ranks.” Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 189. “They must have His grace, the
Spirit of Christ, to help their
infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character. Jesus loves to have
us come to Him, just as we are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith and Works, p. 38. Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his
Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his
iniquities. Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name...
The above verses are not for
Karl’s admonition because he subscribes to the works of authors who diminish
the role of Ellen White in the schema of Adventism except when she can be
used to “appear” to support his errant positions on the gospel. End Ron’s comment.
Ron’s Comments: There you go
again Karl, trying to diminish and annul the highest good, crowning gift of
the Incarnation, the gift of the soul of Christ’s life, His Divine Nature
Holy Spirit, given as grace (power) for obedience, WHICH WAS THE FIRST WORK
OF CHRIST in the order of His sacrifices for us, and without which the cross
would have been of no avail except to pardon sin forever, because there would
FIRST have been no cure for sin without that FIRST sacrifice of the
Incarnation from the foundation of the earth, LONG BEFORE THE CROSS.
Which came first in the order of
Divine sacrifice made by Christ for man? The sacrifice involving the Divine
Nature—the provision of the gift of the Holy Spirit as a cure for sin, or the
cross? The former was from the foundation of the earth. The latter was at the
cross. Redemption was at the cross, and the Incarnation took place BEFORE the
cross. Salvation does not accrue without both sacrificial gifts—the Holy
Spirit’s power indwelling the soul of man, and the cross which redeemed man
from his sins by Christ taking them upon Himself. It is the Holy Spirit that
gives the gifts we must buy (by acceptance) as proffered in the Laodicean
message—gold tried in the fire—faith and love tried (tested) by the firery law of God. Without that test we do not know that
we have purchased the gold tried in the fire—faith and love. They go
together. One is not purchased without the other. The faith and love produce
works motivated by love and empowered by the gift of being able to partake of
the Divine Nature Holy Spirit which was the highest MERITORIOUS GIFT of the
Son of God. So this gift came at least the number of years Christ lived
before the cross. Scripture says that it came from the foundation of the
earth. But it takes spiritual discernment to see and understand this proper
order of the MERITORIOUS SACRIFICIAL GIFTS OF CHRIST. Can you see it Karl?
Can you discern it? End Ron’s comment.
Karl Ron
responds: Karl, to put it as kindly as I
can, you always leave out one of the
CONDITIONS of the Laodicean Message which is included in the meaning of
gold tried in the fire. That
condition is LOVE. You have done that since I first knew you about
ten years ago. The gold that we are to purchase that was tried in the fire of
Christ’s experience and may be tried in the fire of our experience, is faith
that works by love. You give the Roman Catholic
version—faith, confess, faith confess. You did not mention the element of
LOVE that works by faith and faith that works by love. God said the greatest
and first commandment is that we LOVE Him with all our heart soul and mind,
and our neighbor as ourselves. You omit
that all important FIRST AND GREATEST OF COMMANDS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR
JESUS CHRIST. This is no small mistake Karl Wagner. For obedience is the test
of our love. The avenue to salvation is the purchase of gold tried in the
fire—FAITH THAT WORKS BY LOVE. You try to separate them and it cannot be
done. Any separation of the two as purchased (accepted) together as a
conditional package is a half-gospel, a false gospel, an accursed gospel as
Paul calls is, meaning anathema. Thus, Paul has pronounced anathema against
your half, false gospel. As Nathan said to David, thou art the guilty party. Ron responds: Karl says
accept—just believe. That is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. That is not
buying faith and love which includes works motivated by and empowered by
Divine Nature of Christ. The message to Laodicea is not “just accept (believe
in) what Jesus has already done to save you as in Jesus did it all. You are
right Brian, we have to surrender to what Jesus did for us. We have a
cooperative role in receiving and cooperating with His imparted gold tried in
the fire which is His imparted meritorious gift of faith that works by His
imparted gift of meritorious love.
Eternal life is obtained only by eating the flesh and
drinking the
--- In
SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com, "Karl Wagner" KarlWagner@ wrote: Ron responds: It might profit you
Karl, to read a little further into 1
Cor. 15:1-4 to find: 31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus
our Lord, I die daily. 34 Awake to righteousness, and
sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 57 But thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
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