My Vision on Ellen White’s Three Eternal Dignitaries

and

John Harvey Kellogg’s Pantheism

This document relates a vision I received on July 12, 2013, in answer to the following questions and/or statements. There are of necessity overlapping’s to the answers to these questions. Some of the elements we already know must be re-stated as supporting evidence for the new aspects I was shown.

1. Exactly what did Ellen White mean when she spoke of three ETERNAL dignitaries?

2. What is the best answer to the retort that the Holy Spirit was upon the waters in Genesis 1?

3. If the Holy Spirit is the Comforter as well as the soul of the life of Christ, as Ellen White states, how does she and the Bible arrive at three eternal persons to the Godhead?

4. If the Holy Spirit of the Son of God is eternal,why did He have to die to send His Spirit (The Comforter) to us?

The most common retort to our view on Ellen White’s teaching on the Holy Spirit is: “What about the three eternal dignitaries? And what about the Spirit being on the waters in Genesis 1? Those are valid questions that deserve a good answer.

It was Ellen White who defined the Holy Spirit as the soul of the life of Christ and the Comforter. So if the Holy Spirit is the soul of Christ, how does Ellen White and the Bible arrive at three ETERNAL persons?

"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.

Ellen White on the Three Eternal Dignitaries

The eternal Dignitaries of the Trinity.—“The eternal heavenly dignitaries--God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit--arming them [the disciples] with more than mortal energy,...would advance with them to the work and convince the world of sin.” E.G. White, Evangelism, 616.

The above title preceding the quote by Ellen White, “The eternal Dignitaries of the Trinity,” was added by the editors. It was not written by Ellen White. Ellen White never ONCE mentioned the word TRINITY in her writings, and there was a good reason for that: She never taught the Trinity doctrine. The White Estate has in some cases added explanatory titles to Ellen White’s writings that are misleading. This is a classic case of this type of misrepresentation of her intent.

Personality of the Holy Spirit—We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.—Manuscript 66, 1899 (From a talk to the students at the Avondale School.). {Ev 616.5}

In Co-operation With the Three Highest Powers—“We are to co-operate with the three highest powers in heaven,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,—and these powers will work through us, making us workers together with God.”—Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, p. 51. (1905). {Ev 617.3}

The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God.... {Ev 616.6}

The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”—Manuscript 20, 1906. {Ev 617.1}

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). {Ev 617.2}

Answers I received in vision:

#1. The answer I received from the angel of the Lord regarding the question: “Exactly what did Ellen White mean when she spoke of three ETERNAL dignitaries?

I was shown that the answer to this question is KEY and directly related to the following Bible verses:

1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

· The words “The Christ…” refer to the Messiah, God.

· 1Jo 4:3 means that those who don’t believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh are antichrist.

· Because God, the Holy Ghost, sired Jesus in the womb of Mary, that adds an eternal element to the third person that was formed at the Incarnation, when Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb. Though He was fully human, He was still sired by God, the Holy Ghost. Think of it this way: one of the parents of Jesus was God. God gave His only Begotten Son.

· How the Son was fully human and yet sired by the Holy Ghost (God), the one eternal Spirit, shared by the Father and the Son, we don’t understand. Ellen White says we will study this subject for eternity, so there is so much we don’t understand yet. But there is much we do understand and are responsible for.

I was shown a new aspect of the Godhead, in that the Son of God’s humanity is part of the Godhead, not only because He was adopted into the heavenly Godhead by the Father, but because He is verily God come in the flesh.

I saw that the Holy Ghost (the pre-Incarnation Holy Spirit soul of the life of Christ), spoke Himself into the womb of Mary, just as He spoke the world into existence. Thus His humanity has a direct link to the Godhead and is eternal in that sense. Though He divested and emptied Himself of His Divinity to become fully human, yet He derives from His position as God in the highest sense. The angel of the Lord showed me that this is why even His humanity is considered eternal in nature—because He was sired (spoken) by His own Holy Ghost into the womb of Mary to become fully human. I was shown we cannot understand this process now, but will be learning on the Godhead for eternity. We don’t understand the process of how Mary could conceive of the Son of God, except that the Son spoke Himself into her womb. But before that act, the Son went through the prescribed limit of a sacrifice in the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement when He was there slain from the foundation of the earth. We will learn much more regarding that as well, in the Kingdom. How the Son was God in the highest sense, and reduced (Incarnated) Himself to being FULLY HUMAN, involves a process we will study for eternity says Ellen White.

#2. What is the best answer to the retort that the Holy Spirit was upon the waters in Genesis 1?

A common retort to our view on the Godhead is that the Holy Spirit was present at creation. This retort is made because of our teaching that there were only two persons to the Godhead until the Incarnation.

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

There is absolutely no problem here with any logic on our position, for Ellen White defines the Holy Spirit as the soul of the life of Christ. The Holy Spirit was thus the soul of His Divinity ONLY existence before the Incarnation. And the Holy Spirit retained His DIVINE ONLY personality AFTER the Incarnation. Thus, the Holy Spirit is eternal and He was certainly present in the form of Christ and God (they both have the ONE eternal Spirit) at creation.

#3. If the Holy Spirit is the Comforter and the soul of the life of Christ, as Ellen White states, how does she and the Bible arrive at three eternal persons to the Godhead?

The fundamental key to the entire Incarnation sacrifice is the Testator’s Testament or Everlasting Covenant, which prescribed the limit of a sacrifice for the atonement for man’s sin and breach of God’s law. That Testament required death of the Testator. But Divinity cannot die says Ellen White. So to fulfill the prescribed limit of a sacrifice, the Testator had to in some way equal man’s punishment for the wages of sin, which is eternal death. The Testator must “die” eternally in some manner. What He “died” to is His pre-incarnation existence of being DIVINE ONLY, to be forever after FULLY DIVINE AND FULLY HUMAN. The real sacrifice involved here is the fact that the Son is fully human forever, and His human existence cumbers His Divine attributes FOREVER. Were this not true, He would not be “dead” and if He continued to live the DIVINE ONLY life that WAS His, the Testament would be of no strength, to wit:

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.

So how does Ellen White arrive at three eternal persons if the Holy Spirit is the Comforter and the soul of the life of Christ? This has already been answered, but I will give more detail.

It would be well to repeat the following prime thesis statements here:

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....

"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.

From the beginning there was the Father and the Son. When the Incarnation occurred, a third person accrued in the form of the Holy Ghost sired Son of Man born from the womb of a human mother, Mary. At His Incarnation, the Son divested (separated) the personality of His Holy Spirit personality, from the personality of His humanity, and they became two different and independent distinct persons. This is when and how a THIRD PERSON accrued to the Godhead, who was an eternal dignitary in the sense that the Holy Ghost was the Father of Jesus’ humanity for it is He who sired Jesus into her Womb. This is also how Jesus was fully human and fully divine, but even His humanity was sired by Divinity. This is a mystery that no man fully understands at this time.

Christ’s humanity was fully divested from the form of God, even though it derived from the Holy Ghost as the prime cause. Because His humanity cumbered His Divine attributes, this “cumbering” remains forever, so that He will never again be DIVINE ONLY.

"The apostle would call our attention from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us His two natures, divine and human. . . . He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God. He veiled the demonstrations of Deity which had commanded the homage, and called forth the admiration of the universe of God. He was God while upon earth, but He divested Himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of a man. He walked the earth as a man. For our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He laid aside His glory and His majesty. He was God, but the glories of the form of God He for awhile relinquished. . . . He bore the sins of the world, and endured the penalty which rolled like a mountain upon His divine soul. He yielded up His life a sacrifice, that man should not eternally die. He died, not through being compelled to die, but by His own free will." E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7a, p. 446.

Don’t even be tempted to confuse the glories of the form of God He for awhile relinquished, with the fact that His humanity will forever cumber the attributes of His DIVINE ONLY being. The “glories” refer to praise, honor etc.

glo·ry http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/glories?s=t Dictionary.com

/ˈglɔri, ˈgloʊri/ Show Spelled [glawr-ee, glohr-ee] Show IPA

noun, plural glo·ries.

very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle.

something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a distinguished ornament or an object of pride: a sonnet that is one of the glories of English poetry.

adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving: Give glory to God.

resplendent beauty or magnificence: the glory of autumn.

a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity.

"...When God's people take the position that they are the temple of the Holy Ghost, Christ himself abiding within, they will clearly reveal Him in spirit, words and actions that there will be unmistakable distinction between them and Satan's followers" Notebook Leaflets, p.79.

"The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ" Desire of Ages, p. 805.

"He (Christ) suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which WAS His." Desire of Ages, p. 25 1 Cor. 11:24-265, cf. John 6:53, 54, Titus 3:5, 6.

Our death is eternal, for the wages of sin is eternal death. The life that WAS HIS is His eternal life. He bequeathed that ETERNAL LIFE to all who will meet the conditions for receiving it—buying gold tried in the fire—which is having faith in, and self-sacrificing love for Christ, and obedience to all His commandments or sanctification that is empowered by His Holy Spirit.

Our own personal obedience is as filthy rags. But when Christ indwells the soul of man and we yield to His works within, they our works are His works and His works are saving. Thus, James says we are saved by faith and works—meaning the works of Christ wrought out within us by His Holy Spirit.

"The work of the Holy Spirit is immeasurably great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to the worker for God and the holy Spirit is the Comforter, as the personal presence of Christ to the soul." (HM, Nov 1 1893)

'The reason why the churches are weak and sickly and ready to die is that the enemy has brought influences of a discouraging nature to bear upon trembling souls. Satan has sought to shut Jesus from view as their Comforter, as the one who reproves, who warns, who admonishes, 'this Is the way walk ye in it'" Review and Herald, Vol. 2, p.422.

"As by faith we look to Jesus, our faith pierces the shadow and we adore God for His wondrous love in giving us Jesus, the Comforter" Manuscript. 20, 1892.

"The work of the Holy Spirit is immeasurably great ... and the Holy Spirit is the comforter, as the personal presence of Christ in the soul" Review and Herald, 1892-11-29.003.

"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 of the world (Jesus is the light of the world is he not?). With His Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin (Isn't it Jesus who takes away sin?) Review and Herald, 1904-05-19.001 [parenthesis mine].

It is clear that Ellen White believed Jesus to be the Comforter. And in John 14, it is clear that He is the Comforter as well, for after describing the Comforter, Jesus says “we will come to you.” Verse 23. A proper exegesis of John 14 will force the same teaching of Ellen White on the Godhead!

"The Saviour is the Comforter, this I have proved Him to be." Manuscript Release 548-6.

“The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ's name. He personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality. We may have the Holy Spirit if we ask for it and make it [a] habit to turn to and trust in God rather than in any finite human agent who may make mistakes.” {20MR 324.2}

"...when on the day of Pentecost the promised Comforter descended and the power from on high was given and the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord" G.C. p. 351.

"The Saviour has not promised His followers the luxuries of the world ... but His word is pledged that their need shall be supplied, and He has promised that which is far better than worldly good, the abiding comfort of His own presence" Desire of Ages, p. 367.

"As by faith we look to Jesus, our faith pierces the shadow, and we adore God for His wondrous love in giving us Jesus, the Comforter.” {19MR 297.3}

"... The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus, the only medium of communication between God and man" Steps to Christ, p. 20, 1892.

Kellogg’s Pantheism Juxtaposed With Ellen White’s Three Eternal Dignitaries

John Harvey Kelly taught that the Spirit of God is in every living thing from creation on. That teaching precludes the Testator’s Covenant whereby Christ’s Holy Spirit soul of His life is permitted to give man Christ’s eternal life. How so? Because if the Holy Spirit ETERNAL LIFE was already in man from his creation, a number of important implications would accrue:

· The Holy Spirit’s eternal life would already be in man so that he would be eternal without the Incarnation sacrifice that paid our wages for sin.

· God’s Spirit cannot dwell in an environment of sin, so pantheism is impossible!

· Sin necessitated the Testator’s death in atonement for it. This is why the Holy Spirit could not have been given to man without the atonement death of the Testator.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit is the cure for sin so that the eternal life of the Testator can be given to us.

· Ellen White said there are three eternal dignitaries to the Godhead. The Incarnation sacrifice was necessary to the accruement of three persons. That is when a THIRD PERSON was formed in the personality of Christ’s humanity. The purpose of the sacrifice was to bequeath eternal life to man via the Holy Spirit. If man had already had the Spirit of God in him from his creation, there would have been no need for the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement sacrifice that made the gift of eternal life via the indwelling Holy Spirit possible. Thus, pantheism renders the Sanctuary Incarnation Atonement GONE.

Sanctuary Gone Atonement Gone -- "In a representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone." E.G. White, The Upward Look, 152.

Christ Offered up His Soul Through the Eternal Spirit on the Cross

On the cross, Christ died the second and final death. The first death was in the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement. Just before He died on the cross, He bowed His head and committed His Spirit to the Father, bequeathing His Holy Spirit soul of His life to us. Before that point, He could have returned to His DIVINE ONLY state of being, but after the cross, that would never again be possible. How do we know it was Christ’s Divine Spirit He offered up? Because Ellen White said that Divinity cannot die. His human life did expire. But no human could atone for sin. Only the Divine Only Testator could do that. Also, we know that the life that WAS HIS, that He gives to us, is His Divine Nature Holy Spirit. That is where eternal life derives. He does not give us His Human life, but His Divine Nature life—His Holy Spirit. That is the only cure for sin. That life regenerates man back into the image of God.

“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.

“His tears were not for Himself, though He well knew whither His feet were tending. Before Him lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony. The sheepgate also was in sight, through which for centuries the victims for sacrifice had been led, and which was to open for Him when He should be "brought as a lamb to the slaughter." Isaiah 53:7. Not far distant was Calvary, the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread must fall the horror of great darkness as He should make His soul an offering for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that cast the shadow upon Him in this hour of gladness. No foreboding of His own superhuman anguish clouded that unselfish spirit. He wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem--because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to bless and to save.” {GC 18.1}

The Trinity Doctrine results in the same heresy! If there were three eternal persons BEFORE THE INCARNATION SANCTUARY/ATONEMENT, then that would negate the Incarnation sacrifice process whereby a third person did indeed accrue. Thus the Trinity Doctrine assumes THREE PERSONS without the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement that resulted in THREE PERSONS TO THE GODHEAD. Thus, the Trinity Doctrine is Satan’s subterfuge to the ‘highest good, crowning act that heaven can bestow’—the Holy Spirit soul of the life of Christ, the Comforter, and the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement sacrifice that made the gift of the cure for sin possible so that the eternal life of the Testator could be given to any man who will accept the conditions.

It should be clear that nothing is more antichrist than the Trinity Doctrine, not even pantheism, because they both negate the heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement that resulted in a third person to the Godhead. Nothing is more fundamental to Christianity than the truth on the Godhead. Nothing else demonstrates the character of God’s love more than this truth about the Godhead yet some who profess to teach only the love of God as the last message to a dying world, reject this truth.

—In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

Ronald William Beaulieu