The
Crowning--Highest Good Gift--The Essence and Very Foundational Basis of
Salvation
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Dear Reader, One of Adventism’s most
profound contributions to the continuum of Reformation evolvement which Ellen
White said should always be progressing was her contribution to a better
understanding of the Incarnation Sacrifice of the Son of God BEFORE THE CROSS
SACRIFICE. Mainline Christianity has
focused on the cross substitutionary death as being the basis of
salvation. Nothing could be further
from the truth as we will find well substantiated by Scripture and Ellen
White. As essential as the cross was, it was not the basis nor the purpose of our salvation. Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory: The
professed watchmen of Isaiah 56:10-12, even those of the Reformation, have
missed the very essence of the plan of salvation. They failed to realize that the Son of God
made another eternal sacrifice at His Incarnation in the Sanctuary in heaven,
at the time He emptied Himself of His former Godhead ONLY Being (state), and
was come in the likeness of sinful flesh, to retain His combination with
humanity FOREVER That act which occurred before the cross event, was a
FOREVER death to His original DEITY ONLY existence. Phl
2:8 And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. It was a sacrifice that man cannot yet
completely comprehend for Deity to empty itself and take upon itself humanity
FOREVER This sacrifice is not comprehended as it should have been by the
early church fathers or the leaders of the Reformation. The
Crowning, Highest Good Gift of the Son of God That Heaven Could Bestow "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. The Sacrifice Made at the Incarnation Two Sacrifices –
the Incarnation and the cross: "The
darkness rolled away from the Saviour and from the Cross. Christ bowed His
head and died. In His Incarnation
He had reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a redeemer." E.G. White Manuscript Releases
Volume Twelve, p. 409. What was it
about the Incarnation in and of itself that reached the prescribed limit as a
sacrifice? What was the prescribed
limit that was involved with sacrifice on the part of the Son of Man? The prescribed limit of the Everlasting
Covenant was death of the Testator! Hbr 9:16 For
where a testament [is], there must
also of necessity be the death of the testator. Hbr 9:17 For
a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. "The
darkness rolled away from the Saviour and from the Cross. Christ bowed His
head and died. In His Incarnation He had reached the prescribed limit as a
sacrifice, but not as a redeemer." E.G. White Manuscript Releases Volume
Twelve, p. 409. On SDA
Internet chat groups, professing Seventh-day Adventists have denied that the
Incarnation was a second sacrifice of the Son of Man. Such a denial directly contradicts the Holy
Spirit gift to the church in the person of Ellen White, as well as common
sense: "The Incarnation of Christ was an act of
self-sacrifice; His life was one of continual self-denial. The
highest glory of the love of God to man was manifested in the sacrifice of
His only-begotten Son, who was the express image of His person. This is the
great mystery of godliness. It is the privilege and the duty of every
professed follower of Christ to have the mind of Christ. Without self-denial
and cross bearing we cannot be His disciples." E.G. White, Selected
Messages, Book 2, p. 185. It was the
sacrifice made at the Incarnation that made the gift of the Holy Spirit—the
Divine Nature of Jesus Christ, available for implanting in man: "The
sanctification of the soul by the working of the Holy Spirit is the
implanting of Christ's nature in humanity." E.G. White, God's Amazing Grace, p. 244;
original source: Manuscript 34, 1894. Ellen White
said that the Incarnation was a sacrifice.
She said that the Incarnation sacrifice met the prescribed limit as a
sacrifice, BUT NOT AS A REDEEMER.
The testator died at His Incarnation to be born in the likeness of
sinful flesh in a human being, Mary.
But that did not redeem man. Let’s look at
the definition of redeem: re·deem Pronunciation Key (r
The Incarnation death of the Son of Man did not, in and of itself provide a
ransom. The Incarnation provided a
means to save us from the state of sinfulness, but not its consequences. The means to save us from sinfulness was
the Divine Nature Holy Spirit gift of the Incarnation. But the consequence of our violation of
God’s Holy Law, is eternal death. The
wages of sin is death. To protect His
honor and integrity, God Himself must prove that His commandments to men were
possible to keep for Satan has said they were not. Man could not be “set free” from his sins until they
were laid upon the Redeemer, and that was the redeeming act. That did not occur in the Incarnation
death, which met the prescribed limit of sacrifice—the death of the Testator
or Covenant maker. But the act of having our sins laid upon
Christ, did not provide the remedy for sin. That act and His death on the cross, paid
the penalty for our sins or the redemption cost. But the remedy—the essence of the salvation act, was
the gift made possible by the Son’s Incarnation act—the gift of His Holy
Spirit Divine Nature, laid aside at His Incarnation as a bequeathed gift to
us for the purpose of regeneration from sin back into the image of His
character—self sacrificing love and righteousness by faith in His Incarnation
and redeeming acts in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. All of the above acts were essential to salvation, but
the essence, the basis of salvation, was the gift of the Son’s Divine Nature
as a remedy for sin—that was His crowing act and the greatest gift that
heaven could bestow, and without which His sacrifice on the cross would have
been to no avail, because it was not the cross that provided the cure—the
remedy for sin!. The cross provided a
redemption from the penalty of sin, by Christ taking our sins upon Himself. But the cross did not provide even all of the death
penalty! Three days in the tomb did
not pay our penalty of eternal death for sin.
So what paid the eternal death part of the Everlasting Covenant
Testator agreement? The Son’s death to
his DIVINITY ONLY BEING. He died to
that DIVINITY ONLY STATE OF BEING FOREVER.
He laid aside that Divine Nature as a bequeathed gift to man that it
might indwell any man who would receive that greatest of all gifts of the
Son. The essence of the gospel of
salvation is in the remedy—Christ in you the hope of glory—glorification. This truth is one of Adventism’s greatest contributions
to the Reformation. Why? Because man and Satan had made the cross
the only sacrifice of the Son of God.
There is no remedy for sin in the cross. Mainline Christianity realized that there
was no remedy for sin in the cross. That is why they concluded that man
cannot keep God’s commandments! That
is why they accepted ONLY the substitution part of the redeeming acts. That and the fact that man would rather
believe that Christ did it ALL FOR MAN, rather than IN AND THROUGH man. Internet
Dialog on This Basic Issue of Salvation I don’t have time to put all the following posts in
their precise order, but you will be able to get the drift of the points made
by each person. My point in presenting
this dialog is to demonstrate how Adventists, as well as Catholics and
mainstream Christianity are not aware of the other sacrifices of Christ other
than the cross, and when informed they reject the greatest good, crowning
sacrifices made. This is a rejection
of the Straight Testimony by rising up against it. The message to --- In SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com,
"Ron Beaulieu" <rsbeauli@t...
Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: Karl Sent:
Thursday, January 12, 2006 3:46 PM Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: Classic Morris Venden
Gospel I see your rendition of "another
probation" which is not the probation of man after Adam's sin, but the
probation for you to keep up the payments once God puts the down payment to your
credit. While our obedience is based on the power of Christ in our life in
order to obey and not of ourselves, the basis for our salvation is the
cross...alone.
Ron responds: You have all
these little pet ditties that you have imposed upon me for years now, but
they do not hold up when I say over and over and times over, that Christ does
it all in and through us--DOWN PAYMENT--HIGH PRIEST AND SACRIFICE, as well as
our indwelling Payment Maker, paying in and through us all the righteousness
that the Law demands--and not monthly payments--but continuous, moment by
moment payments! Ron Note:
Marsha was once an SDA. She went all through SDA schools and then apostated to Catholicism: Ron to Marsha: Marsha, The good news is
not that Jesus has arbitrarily saved us, because He did no such thing!
The good news is how He saves us. It was not the death and resurrection
ALONE that saved us. All that did was pay the death penalty and prove
that the victory over sin Christ had as a human was possible for all
men, even unto death if necessary. The Incarnation
combined with the victory unto death constitutes the good news. The one
pays our debt penalty of eternal death, the other gives us the bequeathed
gift of Christ's Holy Spirit indwelling us and working His good pleasure in
us. One is the atonement for the death penalty, the other is the remedy
for sin. Neither is efficacious without the other, though you would
negate the remedy for sin, as would Karl and all who hate the law abiding in
the heart as a condition, the essence, of salvation. The good news to
all such as desire salvation without a remedy for sin, is that the cross did
it all and that simply is not true. Christ's victory before the cross
did it all as far as the essence of salvation is concerned, and then His
substitution for our death made the benefits of His victory available--namely
the indwelling of His Holy Spirit to work His Will in and through 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. You can't fight Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: Marsha A. Adams To: SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 3:45 PM Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: I am not a
perfectionist No, Ron, no, no, no! Gospel means good news. The good news is that Jesus, through His death and resurrection
has saved us. "Someday" is
not good news, it is hope. Now,
because God exists outside of time and space, the good news of Jesus' death
and resurrection has always existed.
The Incarnation was not the Good News, because Jesus might have
failed. The reasons for His sacrifice
were not the Good News, in fact the reasons were BAD news, because without
the reasons Our Lord would not have had to die. Jesus' VICTORY is Good News indeed, but what was Jesus'
Victory? His Victory was that He was
crucified and rose again. The Good News is that we who were dead in sin are now alive in
Christ. That was accomplished by
Jesus' death and resurrection. And His
death and resurrection are made efficacious through the sanctifying grace of
God. And ain't a that GOOD NEWS, my Lord? Marsha Ron responds: Marsha, The Incarnation
is good news because Jesus did not fail! The fact that he could have
failed the Incarnation test is a total non sequitur because he
could have failed the cross test as well! Does that fact obfuscate the
good news of the cross--the payment of our death penalty! No!
Neither does the fact that He could have failed the Incarnation into humanity
test before the cross, obfuscate the fact that He did not fail it and what
the Incarnation gift afforded by way of His Divine Nature! The fact is that
both His tests before and on the cross were efficacious toward our
salvation. They cannot be separated! Therefore, to obviate the
one, and sanction the other, as being the good news, is foolish virgin
reasoning to put it as kindly as I can. The reason for
the sacrifice of the Incarnation was good news. Scripture and
Ellen White teach that it was the "crowning greatest good"
news gift that Christ gave to man. 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. That is
good news! That is the remedy for sin! Without that promise being
provided by the Incarnation--the gift of the Incarnation, there would be no
remedy for sin. The ESSENCE of the
gospel is the remedy for sin, not the payment for it! For without the
remedy, the payment, Christ's proxy death, would be to no avail. Sin
would FOREVER PROLIFERATE, without a remedy! THE ESSENCE IS IN THE
REMEDY! Ellen
White and Scripture describe the REMEDY further: "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). "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. The Essence of the Gospel Proven (To the
Reasonable Mind--That is) Looking at the above statement by Ellen
White:
Bible text 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. When we are TURNED AWAY from our
iniquities, that is different from being saved IN THEM. "But through the power of the incarnation
of Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the strength of God is revealed in
gentleness and beauty. To 'as many as received him, to them gave he POWER to become the sons of God.' By this POWER we may
OVERCOME OUR EVIL TENDENCIES and so modify our imperfect dispositions that
the will of God may be fulfilled in us."--Letter 79, May 7, 1903, to J.A. Burden and wife. The Upward Look, 141. Christ could have returned to His
pre-Incarnation state: "The humanity of the Son of God
trembled in that trying hour. He prayed not now for His disciples that their
faith might not fail, but for His own tempted, agonized soul. The awful
moment had come--that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world.
The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. Christ might even now
refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too
late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish
in his iniquity. He might say, Let the transgressor receive the penalty
of his sin, and I will go back to My Father. Will the Son of God
drink the bitter cup of humiliation and agony? Will the innocent suffer the
consequences of the curse of sin, to save the guilty? The words fall
tremblingly from the pale lips of Jesus, "O My Father, if this cup may
not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will
be done." {DA 690.2} There you have it Marsha! She said
that Christ might have even refused the cup apportioned to guilty man!
That was death! Christ could have refused death on the cross as well as
He could have annulled His humanity and returned to His pre-Incarnation
state. "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. Ron --- In SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com,
"Ron Beaulieu" <rsbeauli@t... wrote: Marsha, The essence of
the Gospel is the reason for His Incarnation; His Incarnation into humanity;
His victory as a human; His victory as a
human with all the sins and propensities to sin laid upon Him; His victory
unto death; His victory in dying in our stead. The essence of the Gospel existed long
before the cross, for we are told that He was crucified from the foundation
of the earth. The essence ALL THE REASONS--existed long before the cross! The cross was the final test and the final
proxy substitution for our penalty--eternal death. The essence of the Gospel is the desire and plan of God to
restore sinful man back to His original image and character. The plan, the purpose, the objective,
occurred long before the cross. Thus,
the essence of the gospel was merely confirmed by the cross and not just the
result of the cross. Though it could
not have been complete without the cross.
All elements to the plan of salvation, including the cross, constitute
THE ESSENCE of salvation. Ron ----- Original Message
----- From: Marsha A. Adams To: SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January
12, 2006 3:11 PM Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: I am not a perfectionist Ron, Well, I was right, you
did manage to complicate my answer beyond all recognition. The essence of the Gospel is not the reason
why He died, the essence is the results of that death. Marsha Ron responds: Marsha, I will uncomplicate it just for you! Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory: The hope of the
gospel, the hope of glory, glorification, is CHRIST IN YOU. That is the
hope, THE ESSENCE of the gospel. That is "My Gospel Journey"
book. One sentence. Will you fight this? Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: Marsha A. Adams
Sent:
Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:00 PM Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: I am not a perfectionist Ron: Ron responds: If Christ in you is indeed the essence of the Gospel, then it is
the BASIS of the gospel. Ron --- In SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Beaulieu" <rsbeauli@t... wrote: Marsha, The Catholic Church, as well as all mainstream churches, her daughters,
focus on the death of Christ on the cross.
Your first sentence stressed that fact. Jesus died! I believe the essence of the gospel are the REASONS WHY HE DIED: a.. He came in the
likeness of humanity to prove that man--even though laden with the sins and
propensities to sin of all the world laid upon His humanity, He obeyed the
Will of His Father by the aid of His Holy Spirit. b.. Christ's victory
was His work(s) of righteousness, the works of His Father's Will. c.. The Father's Will
is expressed in His Law--the transcript of His character. d.. The Oil of Grace
is the Power of God's Character over sin and the devil. e.. The gifts of
Grace are the gifts of Christ's Character-- Spirit--Holy Spirit worked in and through us. f.. His works are the
fruit of His overcoming. Thus His fruit is reproduced on us as branches of Himself THE VINE. g.. His fruit--HIS
VICTORY, is THE BASIS of salvation.
His victory unto death on the cross made the victory obtained in the
Garden [of h.. The victory of
Christ's humanity was not to pardon a continuum of sinning. i..
The victory of Christ's humanity was to make His Divine Nature available to man--to
indwell surrendered man and obey His Law in the heart of man--THE BASIS OF
SALVATION. j.. Faith and love
tried in the fire of His obedience as manifested in and through us, IS THE BASIS OF SALVATION. k.. Is it ALL BASED
ON HIS WORKS IN AND THROUGH US?
Yes! An eternity of YES's!
Confidential, you, John, and Karl all say I am wrong. Now prove it from Scripture! Sola Scriptura! You will be hard pressed! Ron ----- Original
Message ----- From: Marsha A. Adams
To: SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday,
January 12, 2006 2:21 PM Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: I am not a perfectionist --- In SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Beaulieu" <rsbeauli@t... wrote: Does the Catholic
church have another way Marsha? Please
tell me the ONE WAY your church teaches by answering: a.. What is Christ
waiting for? b.. What is the
essence of the Catholic Gospel? Ron: I have already
answered (a), now I will attempt to answer (b). The Catholic Gospel
is that Jesus died to save us from our sins.
We were lost and now we are saved.
We were dead in sin and now we are alive in Christ. During Mass we profess our faith, often
using these words, "Christ HAS died, Christ IS risen, Christ WILL come
again." That is the Gospel. The essence of the
Catholic Gospel is that we are saved by grace. Sanctifying grace is a share
in God's holiness. That grace is only available to us as the result of Jesus'
sacrifice on the cross. Now go ahead and complicate that simple truth beyond
all recognition. Marsha Marsha, The good news is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. The cross will not save anyone who is
without Christ indwelling them. The cross does not save. Christ
in you saves. That is why Christ in you is the basis of
salvation. That is why Christ in you is the essence of salvation. End of Internet
Dialog Dear friend, Ellen White said
that the Message to Karl always says
that Christ did it all for us 2000 years ago.
The fact is that Christ made it all possible for us to receive His
Divine Nature 2000 years ago, but he did not receive that nature for us! He wants us to receive it by receiving the
free grace gift of surrender to His Divine Nature indwelling us. Somehow, folk would rather just be forgiven
for sin rather than receiving the means of overcoming it. But let’s not
deceive ourselves friend. If we reject
the crowning, greatest good gift that heaven could bestow, given for the
purpose of regenerating us back to the image (character) of Christ, we will
be lost when the following final verdict is proclaimed at His coming: 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the
sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is
righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy
still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14
Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs,
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the
offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17 And the
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely. 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of
the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall
add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if
any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all. Amen. Rev. 11:10-21. We must
surrender to the Divine Nature Holy Spirit of Christ our Lord, that He may
indwell us and do His good pleasure WILL in us. Any other teaching is a false gospel. The greatest good and crowning gift that
heaven could bestow is indeed the basis of salvation, and that gift is the
mind of Christ, His character, His law, planted in the heart of man. That is the New Covenant! The basis of salvation is that New Covenant
and the means for fulfilling it. The cross made
the basis of salvation possible, but the cross is not the basis of
salvation. The basis of our salvation
is Christ in us and His Incarnation sacrifice that made that basis possible. God bless, Ron
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