November
4, 1890 Christ the Way of Life.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
"Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." [Mark 1:15] {RH,
November 4, 1890 par. 1}
Note: Here is the meaning of the word “believe” as found in
Mark 1:15 above. From the definition it is clear that God did not intend the
meaning to be mere mental assent.
Number 4100
Transliteration:
pisteuo {pist-yoo'-o}
Word Origin:
from 4102
TDNT:
6:174,849
Part of Speech:
verb
Usage in the KJV:
believe 239, commit unto 4, commit to
(one's) trust 1, be committed unto 1, be put in trust with 1, be commit to
one's trust 1, believer 1
Total: 248
Definition:
1.
to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to
credit, place confidence in
A.
of the
thing believed
a.
to
credit, have confidence
B.
in a
moral or religious reference
a.
used
in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain
inner and higher prerogative and law of soul
b.
to
trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing
something: saving faith
C.
mere
acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith
2.
to
entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity
A.
to be
intrusted with a thing
TDNT - Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament
TWOT - Theological Word Book of the Old Testament
End note.
Repentance is associated with faith, and
is urged in the gospel as essential to salvation. Paul preached
repentance. He said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." There is no salvation without
repentance. No impenitent sinner can believe
with his heart unto righteousness. Repentance
is described by Paul as a godly sorrow for sin, that "worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of." This repentance has in it nothing of the nature of merit, but it
prepares the heart for the acceptance of Christ as the only Saviour, the only
hope of the lost sinner. {RH, November 4, 1890 par. 2}
Note: It is not the act of repentance that has merit to save
us for it is only by the merits of Christ that we are saved. But it is the
merits of Christ that prepares the heart for the acceptance of Christ as the
only Saviour, and thus causes one to desire to repent. Clearly, one is not
saved by only believing (mental assent), and without true repentance. The
devil believes and trembles but he is not repentant; he does not believe with
his heart unto righteousness and that is why he and his followers will not be
saved. End note.
As the sinner looks to the law, his guilt is made plain to him, and
pressed home to his conscience, and he is condemned. His only comfort and hope is found in looking to the cross of
Calvary. As he ventures upon the
promises, taking God at his word, relief and peace come to his soul. He
cries, "Lord, thou hast promised to save all who come unto thee in the
name of thy Son. I am a lost, helpless, hopeless soul. Lord, save, or I
perish." His faith lays hold on Christ, and he is justified before God.
{RH, November 4, 1890 par. 3}
Note: The merits of Christ involve His
victory on the cross of Calvary and the promises that accompany that victory.
Every provisional promise of the Word is a merit of Christ. Here is the
result of the merits of Christ:
·
As the sinner looks to the law, the transcript of Christ’s
character, his/her guilt is made plain and pressed home to the conscience and
he/she feels condemned of sin.
·
One’s only hope is looking to the cross of Calvary.
·
Truly believing in the promises of God, relief and peace are
instilled in one’s soul.
·
Our faith lays hold on Christ and we are justified before God.
End note.
But while God can
be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the
garments of Christ's righteousness while practicing known sins, or neglecting
known duties. God requires the
entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and
in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience,
through active, living faith that works by love and purifies the soul.
{RH, November 4, 1890 par. 4}
Note: Faith the works by the self-sacrificing love of Christ
indwelling the soul, purifying the soul, the gold tried in the fire that we
are to buy per the message to the Laodiceans. So the merits of Christ DO NOT
provide a cloak for practicing known sins or neglecting known duties (clear
and explicit conditions for salvation). End note.
James writes of
Abraham and says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when
he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only." In order for man to be justified by faith, faith must reach a
point where it will control the affections and impulses of the heart; and it
is by obedience that faith itself is made perfect. {RH, November 4, 1890 par.
5}
Note: True belief is accompanied by works that make ones faith
(belief) perfect. Then, such works performed by faith in the merits of Christ,
are imputed unto us for righteousness. Some teach that our faith is made
perfect (sanctification) without works that demonstrate our faith. That is a
false gospel that is widely taught within and without the professing
Seventh-day Adventist church. Justification does not accrue without faith
that works by the indwelling spirit of Christ’s self-sacrificing love.
"No
one can believe with the heart unto righteousness, and obtain justification
by faith, while continuing the practice of those things which the Word of God
forbids, or while neglecting any known duty....As God works in the heart, and
man surrenders his will to God, and co-operates with God, he works out in the
life what God WORKS IN by the Holy Spirit, and there is harmony between the
purpose of the heart and the practice of the life. Every sin must be
renounced as the hateful thing that crucified the Lord of life and
glory....It is by continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience,
that the blessing of justification is retained." E.G. White, Selected
Messages, Vol. 1, pp. 396-397.
End
note.
The Grace
of Christ as Part of the Merits of Christ
Without the grace of Christ, the sinner is
in a hopeless condition; nothing can be done for him; but through divine
grace, supernatural power is imparted to the man, and works in mind and heart
and character. It is through the impartation of the grace of Christ that sin
is discerned in its hateful nature, and finally driven from the soul temple.
It is through grace that we are brought into fellowship with Christ, to be
associated with him in the work of salvation. Faith is the condition upon
which God has seen fit to promise pardon to sinners; not that there is any
virtue in faith whereby salvation is merited, but because faith can lay hold
of the merits of Christ, the remedy provided for sin. Faith can present
Christ's perfect obedience instead of the sinner's transgression and
defection. When the sinner believes that Christ is his personal Saviour,
then, according to his unfailing promises, God pardons his sin, and justifies
him freely. The repentant soul realizes that his justification comes because
Christ, as his substitute and surety, has died for him, is his atonement and
righteousness. {RH, November 4, 1890 par. 6}
Note: Mainline Christianity defines grace as unmerited favor
as it relates to pardon ONLY. But grace involves much more than unmerited
favor as it relates to PARDON. Grace, as a merit of Christ’s sacrifice for
us, provides for the impartation of supernatural power for obedience and
regeneration back into the image of God. Grace provides for the highest good,
crowning gift that heaven can bestow, the Holy Spirit of Christ, the soul of
His life, for empowerment and regeneration back into the image of God:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Romans 1:5. Grace in this verse means:
Number 5485
Transliteration:
charis {khar'-ece}
Word Origin:
from 5463
TDNT:
9:372,1298
Part of Speech:
noun feminine
Usage in the KJV:
grace 130, favour 6, thanks 4, thank 4, thank 2192 3,
pleasure 2, misc 7
Total: 156
Definition:
1.
grace
A.
that which affords
joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
2.
good will,
loving-kindness, favour
A. of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his
holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge,
affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
3.
what is due to grace
A. the spiritual
condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
B.
the token or proof
of grace, benefit
a.
a gift of grace
b.
benefit, bounty
4.
thanks, (for
benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
TDNT - Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament
TWOT - Theological Word Book of the Old Testament
"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.
“Not by outward display, not by
worldly patronage, is the kingdom of Christ established, but by the
implanting of Christ's nature in humanity through the work of the Holy
Spirit. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Here is the only power that can work for the uplifting of humanity.
And the human agency for the accomplishment of this work is the teaching and
preaching of the Word of God.” Evangelism,
p. 531.
So we see that the meaning of grace extends far
beyond the concept of pardon ONLY. Most professing Christians want the pardon
without the POWER. Why? Because they love their sins and don’t want to stop
committing them. Some are teaching the merits of Christ to mean the same
thing—that one can come to Christ and be saved by only believing (in the
sense of mental assent only) which is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which
God especially hates. They don’t teach what the merits of Christ are and what
they are to achieve in the life of the sinner. They teach the merits of
Christ in a fashion like mainline Christianity teaches a one-sided meaning of
the concept of grace—teaching that one is saved by just believing (mental
assent) in the merits of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross rather than
believing in the POWER AND PROMISES that sacrifice afforded man. You will
find that such persons will never identify the merits of Christ, but merely
use the term in a very general manner. End note.
"Abraham
believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness." Righteousness is obedience to the law. The
law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is
incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to
righteousness is through faith. By
faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the
obedience of his Son to the sinner's account. Christ's righteousness is
accepted in place of man's failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the
repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves
him as he loves his Son. This is how
faith is accounted righteousness; and the pardoned soul goes on from grace to grace, from light to a
greater light. He can say with rejoicing, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour, that being justified by his grace, we should be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life." {RH, November 4, 1890
par. 7}
Note: The Jews believed they could do works of sacrifice that
would be of saving merit. That is impossible. Man has no merit and no work(s)
man can do is of merit unto salvation lest man should become his own saviour
and that is impossible.
The key is that we are not saved by works of righteousness which
we have done, lest any man should boast of his power to do works of
righteousness that are acceptable to God. Such works are as filthy rags to
God. But when we consent to let the Holy Spirit of Christ indwell the soul,
and we “buy” (consent) to let the supernatural power of Christ work in our
souls, while daily dying to self and selfish interests, then the works are
effected by the Holy Spirit but are imputed unto us as righteousness because
we chose to exercise the faith to cease our own works and permit the
outworking of the Holy Spirit in and through us. It is impossible for us
to keep God’s law, but it is not impossible for His Holy Spirit to keep the
law through us. Can any man boast of such works? Nay, for they are worked in
and through us by the Holy Spirit. End note.
Again: it is written, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God." Jesus declared, "Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." It is not a low standard that is placed before us; for we are to
become the children of God. We are to be saved as individuals; and in the day
of test and trial we shall be able to discern between him that serveth God
and him that serveth him not. We are saved as individual believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ. {RH, November 4, 1890 par. 8}
Many are losing the
right way, in consequence of thinking that they must climb to heaven, that
they must do something to merit the favor of God. They seek to make
themselves better by their own unaided efforts. This they can never
accomplish. Christ has made the way by dying our sacrifice, by living our
example, by becoming our great high-priest. He declares, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life." If by any effort of our own we could
advance one step toward the ladder, the words of Christ would not be true.
But when we accept Christ, good works will appear as fruitful evidence
that we are in the way of life, that Christ is our way, and that we are
treading the true path that leads to heaven. {RH, November 4, 1890 par. 9}
Conclusion
The good works we perform that are acceptable to
God, are the good works that are the fruit of the Spirit indwelling the soul,
NOT OUR OWN GOOD WORKS performed under the steam of any inherent power of our
own, but rather the supernatural power of the Divine Nature Holy Spirit of
Christ indwelling the soul. Such power is a saving merit of Christ and redound to His glory only
lest any man should boast. This is exactly what Paul meant when he said:
Eph 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
[it is] the gift of God:
Eph 2:9
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Well meaning but very deceived professing
Christians have perverted Paul’s words to mean that by faith (belief) as
mental assent and without the works of the Holy Spirit indwelling the soul as
fruits or proof of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, one can be saved. This
is still and has long been one of the greatest perversions and deceptions of
Satan imbibed by the professed Christian world.
Paul’s real meaning is attested to by the
following:
Hbr 5:9 And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
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:
1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, [even]
your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
1Th 4:4 That every one of you should know
how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks
alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth:
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and
peace, be multiplied.
When Correctly Interpreted, Paul
and James do not Contradict
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.
Paul was trying to convince the self-works
oriented Jews that no sacrifice (works) of their own would achieve salvation. But by truly
believing in the supernatural power (grace) of Christ to work in and through
them, they might be thus justified and saved. But not by any work of personal law keeping would by any
flesh be justified (saved).
Jam 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a
man is justified, and not by faith only.
Questions:
·
Does the faith of
Jesus Christ keep His law, the transcript of His character?
·
Does belief in
Jesus Christ involve disobedience to the law, the transcript of His
character?
·
Was Jesus
justified by works of God’s law? Would He have been justified without those
works? By what power did He do those works? Was it the supernatural power of
the Holy Spirit or the human power of Christ?
·
Can we have
access to the same supernatural power Christ had access to for overcoming all
known sin?
Paul wrote Galatians. Do he and James
contradict one another? If so, the Bible would be contradictory and that is
not the case. When Paul and James are interpreted correctly—so that Paul
means “our works do not save” versus “the fruits of the Spirit working the
works of righteousness in and through us,” then we arrive at the pure gospel.
The meaning of James 2:24, is this: A man
is justified by works of the Spirit indwelling the soul and not by faith
only, because faith without works is no faith at all, but serves as proof
that the Holy Spirit is not indwelling the soul. The Holy Spirit of Christ is
commensurate with works of His Spirit. No works by His Spirit equals no
indwelling of His Spirit or no relationship with Christ. This is why He said:
How do you know you love me? Keep my commandments.
When we permit Christ to work in and through us, those works
are imputed unto us as righteousness and thus we are justified by His works
in and through us. No man can boast us such works for they are done by the
Holy Spirit. Christ did not boast of His works. He said He did the works of
His Father which were enabled by the Holy Spirit of God—the ONE eternal
Spirit shared by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is thus that
James could say that we are justified by faith and works—the faith and works
of Christ, NOT OF OUR OWN.
—rwb
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