True
Sanctification
by
Ellen G. White
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March 8, 1881 The Law of God the Standard of
True
Sanctification.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
Text: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray
God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 5: 23. {RH, March 8, 1881 par.
1}
Sanctification is obtained only in obedience to the will of God. Many
who are willfully trampling upon the law of Jehovah,
claim holiness of heart and sanctification of life. But they have not a saving
knowledge of God or of his law. They are standing in the ranks of the great
rebel. He is at war with the law of God, which is the foundation of the divine
government in Heaven and in the earth. These men are doing the same work as
their master has done in seeking to make of none effect God's holy law. No
commandment-breaker can be permitted to enter Heaven; for he who was once a
pure and exalted covering cherub, was thrust out for rebelling against the
government of God. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 2}
With many, sanctification is only self-righteousness. And yet these
persons boldly claim Jesus as their Saviour and sanctifier. What a delusion!
Will the Son of God sanctify the transgressor of the Father's law,--that law
which Christ came to exalt and make honorable? He testifies,"I
have kept my Father's commandments." God will not bring his law down to
meet the imperfect standard of man; and man cannot meet the demands of that
holy law without exercising repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 3}
"If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous." But God has not given his Son to a life of suffering and
ignominy and a shameful death to release man from obedience to the divine law.
So great is the deceptive power of Satan, that many have been led to regard the
atonement of Christ as of no real value. Christ died because there was no other
hope for the transgressor. He might try to keep God's law in the future; but
the debt which he had incurred in the past remained, and the law must condemn
him to death. Christ came to pay that debt for the sinner which it was
impossible for him to pay for himself. Thus, through the atoning sacrifice of
Christ, sinful man was granted another trial. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 4}
It
is the sophistry of Satan that the death of Christ brought in grace to take the
place of the law. The death of Jesus did not change, or annul, or lessen in the
slightest degree, the law of ten commandments. That precious grace offered to
men through a Saviour's blood, establishes the law of God. Since the fall of
man, God's moral government and his grace are inseparable. They go hand in hand
through all dispensations. "Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other." {RH, March 8, 1881 par.
5}
Jesus, our substitute, consented to bear for man the penalty of the law
transgressed. He clothed his divinity with humanity, and thus became the Son of
man, a Saviour and Redeemer. The very fact of the death of God's dear Son to
redeem man, shows the immutability of the divine law. How easily, from the
transgressor's standpoint, could God have abolished his law, thus providing a
way whereby men could be saved, and Christ remain in Heaven! The doctrine which
teaches freedom, through grace, to break the law, is a fatal delusion. Every
transgressor of God's law is a sinner, and none can be sanctified while living
in known sin. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 6}
The
condescension and agony of God's dear Son were not endured to purchase for man
liberty to transgress the Father's law and yet sit down with Christ in his
throne. It was that through his merits, and the exercise of repentance and
faith, the most guilty sinner might receive pardon, and obtain strength to live
a life of obedience. The sinner is not saved in his sins, but from his sins.
{RH, March 8, 1881 par. 7}
The
soul must first be convicted of sin, before the sinner will feel a desire to
come to Christ. "Sin is the transgression of the law." "I had
not known sin but by the law." When the commandment came home to Saul's
conscience, sin revived, and he died. He saw himself condemned by the law of
God. The sinner cannot be convinced of his guilt, unless he understands what
constitutes sin. It is impossible for an individual to experience Bible
sanctification while he holds that if he believes in Christ it is immaterial
whether he obeys God's law or disobeys it. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 8}
Those who profess to keep the law of God, and yet at heart are indulging
in sin, are condemned by the True Witness. They claim to be rich in a knowledge
of the truth; but they are not in harmony with its sacred principles. The truth
does not sanctify their lives. God's word declares that the professed
commandment-keeper whose life contradicts his faith, is blind, wretched, poor,
and naked. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 9}
God's law is the mirror presenting a complete reflection of the man as
he is, and holding up before him the correct likeness. Some will turn away and
forget this picture, while others will employ abusive epithets against the law,
as though this would cure their defects of character. Still others who are
condemned by the law will repent of their transgressions, and, through faith in
Christ's merits, will perfect Christian character. {RH, March 8, 1881 par. 10}
The
whole world is guilty in God's sight of transgressing his law. Because the
great majority will continue to transgress, and thus remain at enmity with God,
is no reason why none should confess themselves guilty and become obedient. To
a superficial observer, persons who are naturally amiable, who are educated and
refined, may appear perfect in life. "Man looketh on the outward
appearance; but the Lord looketh on the heart." Unless the life-giving
truths of God's word, when presented to the conscience, are understandingly
received, and then faithfully carried out in the life, no man can see the
kingdom of Heaven. To some, these truths have a charm because of their novelty,
but are not accepted as the word of God. Those who do not receive the light
when it is brought before them, will be condemned by it. {RH, March 8, 1881
par. 11}
In
every congregation in the land there are souls unsatisfied, hungering and
thirsting for salvation. By day and by night, the burden of their hearts is,
What shall I do to be saved? They listen eagerly to popular discourses, hoping
to learn how they may be justified before God. But too often they hear only a
pleasing speech, an eloquent declamation. There are sad and disappointed hearts
in every religious gathering. The minister tells his hearers that they cannot
keep the law of God. "It is not binding upon man in our day," he
says. "You must believe in Christ; he will save you; only believe."
Thus he teaches them to make feeling their criterion, and gives them no
intelligent faith. That minister may profess to be very sincere; but he is
seeking to quiet the troubled conscience with a false hope. {RH, March 8, 1881
par. 12}
Many are led to think that they are on the road to Heaven, because they
profess to believe in Christ, while they reject the law of God. But they will
find at last that they were on the way to perdition, instead of Heaven.
Spiritual poison is sugar-coated with the doctrine of sanctification, and
administered to the people. Thousands eagerly swallow it, feeling that if they
are only honest in their belief they will be safe. But sincerity will not
convert error to truth. A man may swallow poison, thinking it is food; but his
sincerity will not save him from the effects of the dose. {RH, March 8, 1881
par. 13}
God
has given us his word to be our guide. Christ has said, "Search the
Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which
testify of me." He prayed for his disciples, "Sanctify them through
thy truth; thy word is truth." Paul says, "I verily thought with
myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of
Nazareth." But this belief did not make his course right. When Paul
received the gospel of Jesus Christ, it made him a new creature. He was
transformed; the truth was planted in his soul, and gave him such faith and
courage as a follower of Christ that no opposition could move him, no suffering
daunt him. Men may make what excuse they please for their rejection of God's
law; but no excuse will be accepted in the day of Judgment. Those who are
contending with God, and strengthening their guilty souls in transgression,
must very soon meet the great Lawgiver over his broken law. {RH, March 8, 1881
par. 14}
The
day of God's vengeance cometh,--the day of the fierceness of his wrath. Who
will abide the day of his coming? Men have hardened their hearts against the
Spirit of God; but the arrows of his wrath will pierce where the arrows of
conviction could not. God will not far hence arise to deal with the sinner.
Will the false shepherd shield the transgressor in that day? Can he be excused
who went with the multitude in the path of disobedience? Will popularity or
numbers make any guiltless? These are questions which the careless and
indifferent should consider and settle for themselves. {RH, March 8, 1881 par.
15}