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Are Both
Our Title (Justification) and Our
Fitness (Sanctification) Meritorious Toward Salvation? Click to go to our Home Page
Dear Reader, "The righteousness by which we are JUSTIFIED is
imputed; the righteousness by which we are SANCTIFIED is imparted. The first
is our title to heaven [Justification], the second is our fitness for heaven
[Sanctification]." Messages to Young People 35. Let’s explore a bit more as to what Ellen White
meant by the TITLE to heaven: “Those who accept
Satan's reasoning are terribly deceived. They accept a position which has no true foundation. God is unchangeable. He is satisfied with nothing short of perfect obedience. Perfection is the only title which will gain admittance to
heaven. The law is the only standard of character.” {Ellen G.
White, Review and Herald, June 4, 1901 par. 9} Desmond Ford, Karl Wagner
and all such teachers of the New Theology (Old lie) in the SDA church, have
accepted a position which has no true foundational basis. This will be clearly proven in the
reasoning out of the true foundation below.
However, the New (to Adventism) Theology, is the old lie of Satan,
long believed and taught by fallen, mainstream Christianity. I refer to it as Billy Graham theology—only
believe and you are justified--saved, which is the Doctrine of the
Nicolaitans which God especially hates: Rev 2:6 But
this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I
also hate. Rev 2:15 So
hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which
thing I hate. Doctrine of the Nicolaitans.--The doctrine is now largely taught
that the gospel of Christ has made the law of God of no effect that by
'believing' we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word.
But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly
condemned." E.G. White, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 957. "(Jude 4).--The Sin of the Nicolaitans.--Is it [our sin] the
sin of the Nicolaitans, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness."
E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 957. Gnostic
Gnosticism "The earliest extra-Biblical Christian writer to mention
this party is Irenaeus (c. A.D. 185), who identifies the Nicolaitans as a
Gnostic sect... There is evidence also of a Gnostic sect in the 3d cent. A.D.
bearing the name 'Nicolaitans.' "...The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a
form of antinomianism (see SDACom 7:957). Nicolaitans of the 2d cent. seem to
have continued and extended the views of the 1st-cent. adherents, holding to
the freedom of the flesh, and teaching
that the deeds of the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul and
consequently no relation to salvation." SDA Bible Dictionary,
vol. 8 of the Commentaries, p. 770, 771. A variation is to say, as does Karl
Wagner, that the deed of the flesh do have an effect upon the health of the
soul, BUT NO RELATION TO SALVATION by his saying that they are not
meritorious, when proper works are the workings of Christ’s Divine Nature
Holy Spirit in and through us for the purpose of overcoming the lust of the
world. That is blasphemy against
Christ’s Divine Nature and its purpose for working in and through us. 2Pe 1:4
Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust. The exceeding great and precious promises are that
the Son of God would die for our sins and then give us His Divine Nature Holy
Spirit, as a result of His Incarnation, as a bequeathed gift to us for the
purpose (and promise) of regeneration man back to his pre-fall state. "Christ declared [His
promise] 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. "Cumbered with
humanity Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was
altogether for their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father
and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is
Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He
would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G.
White, (Manuscript Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084. Some, like Desmond Ford
and Karl Wagner, teach a self-contradictory modification of the Doctrine of
the Nicolaitans—only believe. They
teach that we are saved by forensic (legal), IMPUTED ONLY salvation by faith
alone—and that works, even works empowered by the Divine Nature Holy Spirit
of Christ, have absolutely NO MERIT toward our salvation. Their modified variation on the doctrine of
the Nicolaitans is that the Nicolaitans teach that there are no works
associated with salvation. Ford and
Wagner, however, teach that there are works, but that NO WORKS, even those
empowered by the Holy Spirit, have no merit toward salvation. That is like saying that your title is
requisite and meritorious to salvation, but your fitness is not meritorious
in any wise. Is
Our Fitness Essential and Meritorious Toward Salvation? It is true that pardon for sin (justification)
is a forensic (legal) act ONLY. But
the issue is, are we finally saved by pardon only or justification only? Was there another greater purpose to the
Incarnation to the Son of God than merely providing fire insurance for
sinners? What was the prime purpose in
giving sinful man another chance? Was
it merely to pardon sin on a continuum basis, or was it to regenerate man
into the character of Christ, by the same process Christ used in overcoming
sin and remaining obedient to His Father’s will? Whatever the prime purpose for salvation
was, it must relate to the BASIS of salvation or the TITLE. And what is the basic purpose of
salvation? The basic purpose or
objective is revealed in the following Scripture: Hbr 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you
that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. Now, let’s see if Ellen White agrees with God as to
the prime purpose or foundation of salvation: “Those who accept
Satan's reasoning are terribly deceived. They accept a position which has no true foundation. God is unchangeable. He is satisfied with nothing short of perfect obedience. Perfection is the only title which will gain admittance to
heaven. The law is the only standard of character.” {Ellen G.
White, Review and Herald, June 4, 1901 par. 9} Yes, Ellen White agrees
with God! Amazing! Sanctification is the process we go through
to perfect us to gain admittance to heaven.
So let’s do a bit of reviewing: "The righteousness by which we are JUSTIFIED is
imputed; the righteousness by which we are SANCTIFIED is imparted. The first
is our title to heaven [Justification], the second is our fitness for heaven
[Sanctification]." Messages to Young People 35. The perfect Righteousness of Christ is imputed
justification to our account as down payment (atonement) for our sins. Then there is the Righteousness of Christ
whereby we are sanctified. That is
IMPARTED. That is His Divine Nature
Holy Spirit that is IMPARTED—GIVEN to us as a free grace gift, just as His
death for our sins is given to us as a free unmerited grace gift. Let’s do some more review work to find out
what this IMPARTED sanctification or FITNESS GIFT entails. Why is it given to us?: Hbr 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you
that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. 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: From the very beginning of the Everlasting Covenant,
we wee chosen to salvation by (through) justification (belief—faith) and
sanctification. Both are thus meritorious toward our salvation. "We are saved through the merit of the blood of
Christ, but Christ's righteousness does not cover the sin of transgressing
God's law, without repentance. We must do all in our power to keep the
commandments of God, and then he will impute unto us his righteousness,
because we believe in Christ and seek to obey the divine law. This is the
reason that Christ came to this world, that he might bring his righteousness
to man, that man might lay hold of his strength, and make peace with God. God accepts the efforts of man to keep
the law, because Christ imputes his righteousness to him. We could not keep
the law in our own strength. {ST, September 23, 1889 par. 7} The Father send us the life and soul Gift of
Christ’s Holy Spirit Divine Nature as an IMPARTED free grace gift for the
express purpose of making us perfect in every good work to do His will,
working in us that which is wellpleasing in His sight—through Jesus Christ
indwelling us by His Divine Nature Holy Spirit gift of grace—unmerited favor. Can you begin to see that to say the free gift of
grace via the Divine Nature Holy Spirit of Christ, for working perfection in
and through us, IS NOT MERITORIOUS toward our salvation, is blasphemy against
that Divine Nature Holy Spirit? For
that is the PRIME PURPOSE OBJECTIVE BASIS OF THE FOUNDATION OF SALVATION. "Perfection of
character is attainable by every one who strives for it. This is made the
very foundation of the new covenant of the gospel. The law of Jehovah is the
tree; the gospel is the fragrant blossoms and fruit which it bears." {AG
141.3} Can the fruit of the
tree be separated from the tree or the branches from the vine? Can the law be separated from God and
Christ as being a transcript of their character? No!
That is why justification provided by the death of Christ, in
atonement for the broken law, cannot be separated from the fruit—PERFECTION,
worked in and through us by the free grace gift of His Divine Nature Holy
Spirit working His perfection in and through us—He being the vine and we the
branches! If He is in us as the Vine,
and we are in Him, as the branches, we will bear His fruit, His works, His
righteousness, and it is imputed and imparted to us as His righteousness lest
any man should boast. The branch cannot be
separated from the vine and live, any more than the gospel can be separated
from the law and live, for the law is a transcript of God’s character, and
under the New Covenant He places His law in our heart (mind). Hbr 10:16
This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I
write them; And here is the
context of the above verse: Rom 11:27
For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their
sins. Gal 3:15
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though [it be] but a man's covenant,
yet [if it be] confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Gal 3:17 And
this I say, [that] the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul,
that it should make the promise of none effect. Hbr 8:6 But
now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. Hbr 8:7 For
if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have
been sought for the second. Hbr 8:8 For
finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Hbr 8:9 Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the Hbr 8:10 For
this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Hbr 8:13 In
that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away. Hbr 9:1 Then
verily the first [covenant] had also ordinances of divine service, and
a worldly sanctuary. Hbr 9:4 Which
had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round
about with gold, wherein [was] the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod
that budded, and the tables of the covenant; Hbr 10:16
This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will
I write them; Hbr 10:29 Of
how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace? Hbr 12:24
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. Hbr 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Eph 1:9
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to
his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: So we have discovered the PURPOSE, the WILL, the
BASIS, of salvation—the will of God, His perfection reproduced in man
restoring man to his pre-Adamic state and to the character of Christ. Can we be saved without the fitness to heaven,
sanctification? Karl Wagner has always said no in the past, while at
the same time saying that the title (sanctification—works) are not in the
least meritorious. Now here is the self-contradictory ( Weigh the above according to the following salvific
process as depicted in Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy: 1. A measure of faith is FIRST Imparted to all
men. But faith without love is not sufficient just as works of faith not
motivated by love for God are but our own works. 2. Faith and LOVE must be purchased FIRST ACCORDING
TO MESSAGE TO LAODICEA. 3. Both Faith and love exercised by some results in
acceptable works-- justification--Faith imputed as
righteousness, as with Abraham. So as James says, we are justified
by faith and works. Karl admits this SOMETIMES, when he says that
whoever is not sanctified is not justified. 4. Justification--Imputed when men exercise faith to
buy faith and love. 5. Justification ACCOMPANIES sanctification because
Karl admits that justification does not ensue without sanctification. 6. If justification does not accrue without
sanctification, how is faith imputed as righteousness before faith works by
love? For it is THEN that our faith--belief, is imputed unto us as
righteousness. That is exactly how it worked with Abraham ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE!
James said so also! 7. In the below post Karl says that faith is imputed
FIRST--THEN WORKS are Imparted. 8. Abraham's belief was demonstrated by works in
offering up his son Isaac. That demonstrated belief was imputed unto
him for righteousness. So how was faith imputed FIRST, [as Karl Wagner
maintains it was] without the demonstration of works, sanctification? 9. Abraham's faith and love for God was FIRST
IMPARTED. He acted upon His faith and love by works. His faith
and love was then IMPUTED UNTO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS 10.Then how does faith without works sanctify? 11.If faith, love and works are required for
justification--salvation--why are works the result of being saved, when one
is not saved without all three, faith, love and works are imputed unto us as righteousness? 12.All this is why Ellen White could correctly say that
we are not saved by commandment-keeping, meaning commandment-keeping ALONE,
but neither are we saved WITHOUT commandment-keeping. She was totally
correct. 13.We are saved by faith and love exercised by works
which are THEN imputed unto us as righteousness. 14.The commandment-keeping (sanctification) is as
essential to being justified as are faith and love that the
commandment-keeping must be based upon--THE FIRST TWO COMMANDMENTS the ten
hang upon. Jam 2:23 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. Paul agreed:
Rom 4:22
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Rom 4:23 Now
it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; · Which came first? IMPARTED faith and love for
God--His title to heaven. The imparted faith and love were not IMPUTED unto
Abraham until after he obeyed God's command. Then, and then only was
His faith that worked IMPUTED unto him as righteousness, for it was the work
of Christ in and through Abraham. But for Abraham's cooperation in
receiving faith and love, his faith and love were IMPUTED to him as
righteousness even though the righteousness was God's. This is how God
takes away our filthy rag robe and gives us His white robe of His
Righteousness. “God accepts the efforts of man to keep the
law, because Christ imputes his righteousness to him. We could not keep the
law in our own strength.” {ST, September 23, 1889 par. 7} · God imputes His righteousness to us WHEN we obey out
of a motive of faith in and love for Him.
That imputing of His righteousness makes our prayers and works perfect
in the sight of the Father. · New theologists teach that Christ works are imputed
to us whether or not we work (Legal, forensic justification only), and that
our works are merely fruits of already having been saved, rather than the
saving works of Christ’s Holy Spirit working in and through us as meritorious
toward our salvation. Such works are
meritorious because Christ imputes his righteousness to such works, just like
He did to Abraham’s obedience performed out of faith in and love for God. · What proved Abrahams' faith and love?
His work of obedience to God's command. That proved his fitness
for heaven. · Would Abraham have been saved without the title and
the fitness--justification and sanctification? No. · Is one then as essential as the other? Yes. · Then both are meritorious toward our salvation
because both were WORKED IN AND THROUGH ABRAHAM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF
PROMISE. Always remember ONE THING reader! Karl Wagner
says that he doubts that one is justified unless sanctified! The only
LOGICAL CONCLUSION is that sanctification is then entirely essential to being
justified. Something that is entirely necessary to justification--being
saved, is meritorious toward salvation. Thus, James of Scripture was
entirely correct. We are justified, saved, by faith and love that
works. All are meritorious toward our salvation, ESPECIALLY WHEN ALL
ARE WORKED IN AND THROUGH BY CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE HOLY SPIRIT. I don't merely "doubt" that justification
DOES NOT accrue without sanctification. I KNOW IT DOES NOT!
Therefore, something that is just as essential to salvation as justification,
is meritorious toward salvation. You will see this post again! Remember: 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: James was right—we are saved by faith and works—the works
being enabled by Christ if we buy gold tried in the fire—His works wrought in
and through us. Jam 2:14
What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works? can faith save him? Jam 2:18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and
I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jam 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect? Jam 2:24 Ye
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only. God bless all who search His Word as for hidden
Treasure, Ron Beaulieu |