The Implications of What Laval Picard Denies
on
The Godhead
|
"7.
Made himself of no reputation. Literally, 'emptied Himself.' This
emptying was voluntary (see on John 10:17, 18). It was not possible for
Christ to retain all the tokens of divinity and still accomplish the
Incarnation. The outworking of
this emptying is detailed in the remainder of Phil. 2:7 and in v. 8. See Vol. 5, p. 918." SDA
Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 155, col. 1. Click
to go to our Home Page
There is much important
material on the Godhead in this document that I have never included in other
writings on the topic. Though there is much of the same as a contingent
foundation, there is much new material as well. Laval
Picard is a former SDA pastor who worked for the denomination for about three
years. Like all the other ministering brethren who were looking on in the
Alpha of Apostasy, Laval does not understand the nature of the Godhead and
how the Trinity Doctrine affects the highest good, crowning gift that heaven
could bestow, the Divine Nature Holy Spirit, soul of the life of Christ. He
told me that he would never accept my presentation of the Godhead as you will
read it in this document. Laval
embraces the Trinity Doctrine, the central doctrine of Rome, which denies
everything I say in this document by saying that the Holy Spirit always
existed as a third person, when in truth, the Son’s Holy Spirit Divine Nature
became the third person at His Incarnation when He divested His Holy spirit from
His human personality and then partook of that Holy Spirit as we may partake
of it. Simply
put, if the Holy Spirit is the soul of the life of Christ, and at the same
time a distinct third person, the only way such a dichotomy could occur is
for the Son’s Divine Nature ONLY existence to become a separate person at the
Incarnation. That Divine ONLY person then became the third person or the Holy
Ghost of the Son. The Holy Ghost is not mentioned in the Old Testament for
this reason. The Son of God, The Testator, had to Die
to Something Eternally What
the Son eternally died to in atoning for man’s eternal penalty for the wages
of sin, was His DIVINE ONLY existence. For at His Incarnation He became
combined with humanity FOREVER. At
His Incarnation He became the Son of God in a new sense—in the sense of being
combined with humanity forever. This was the “highest good, crowning gift
heaven could bestow,”—the Divine Nature of the Son of God for the purpose of
regenerating man back into the image of God by enabling him to overcome as
Christ overcame by partaking of that same Holy Spirit, former soul of His
life. “He
(Christ) came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men. He
assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be proved and tried. In His
humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained
in a new sense the title of the Son of God.--The Signs of the Times, Aug. 2,
1905. {7ABC 449.3} “He
(Christ) came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men. He
assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be proved and tried. In His
humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained
in a new sense the title of the Son of God.--The Signs of the Times, Aug. 2, 1905. {7ABC 449.3} "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 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} “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. The soul of Christ’s life is
the Holy Spirit. He offered Himself up through the eternal Spirit. He thus
died to His DIVINE ONLY existence forever. The Glory that the Father gave
to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is waiting to breathe upon all his
disciples, and give them the inspiration of his sanctifying spirit, and
transfuse the vital influence from himself to his people . . . Christ is
to live in his human agents, and work through their faculties, and act
through their capabilities. Their will must be submitted to His will, they
must act with His Spirit, that it may be no more they that live, but
Christ that liveth in them. Jesus is seeking to impress upon them the
thought that in giving His Holy Spirit He is giving to them the glory
which the Father has given Him, that He and His people may be one in
God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892, par. 4. “Christ gives them the breath
of His own Spirit, the life of His own Life.” Desire of
Ages, p. 827, par. 3. “The Holy Spirit is the
breath of life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation
of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ.”
Desire of Ages, p. 805. “They have one God and one
Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ—is to bring unity into their
ranks.” Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 189. The pre-Incarnate Divine Nature Holy
Spirit of the Son of God was ETERNAL—an Eternal Dignitary The
Divine Nature Holy Spirit Being of the Son of God prior to His Incarnation
was eternal. So the Holy Spirit was an eternal person. So far we have two
eternal persons, the Father and the Son and their ONE eternal, Divine, Holy
Spirit essence or substance. Now
enter the Incarnated Son of God, whom Ellen White says became the Son of God
in a NEW SENSE. Enter another person for Christ laid aside His Divine Nature
Holy Spirit prior existence as a gift to us. He did not possess that Spirit's
attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, or omnipotence after His Incarnation
as fully human and fully divine, the THIRD STATE of His existence. All three
are ETERNAL, but, of course, Jesus' humanity is not eternal. The Holy Spirit
PERSONAGE OF THE SON OF GOD which He laid aside for us IS ETERNAL. So when Ellen
White speaks of three eternal dignitaries, she is certainly correct, and my
thesis does not contradict hers. On
the cross, Christ could have retained His Holy Spirit that descended upon Him
at His baptism like a dove. But He commended that Divine Nature Holy Spirit
to His Father as a bequeathed gift to us—His highest good, crowning gift,
without which His death on the cross would have been to no avail. It was the
eternal death to that Divine Only Nature on the cross that paid the price of
the wages of sin which are eternal death. That is why without that eternal
sacrifice, His death on the cross would have been to no avail: "The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for
sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster...I present
before you the great, grand monument of mercy and regeneration, ...the Son of
God uplifted on the cross." (GW 315.) The human nature of Christ is totally involved
with His sacrifice in atoning for man’s sin. Thus, the human nature of Christ
is central to the great truth around which all other truths cluster. Ellen White on
the Holy Spirit "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. “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. The
Glory that the Father gave to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is waiting to
breathe upon all his disciples, and give them the inspiration of his
sanctifying spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from himself to his
people . . . Christ is to live in his human agents, and work through
their faculties, and act through their capabilities. Their will must be
submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit, that it may be
no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them. Jesus is
seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit
He is giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that
He and His people may be one in God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892,
par. 4. “Christ
gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own Life.”
Desire of Ages, p. 827, par. 3. “The
Holy Spirit is the breath of life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit
is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the
attributes of Christ.” Desire of Ages, p. 805. “They
have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ—is to bring
unity into their ranks.” Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 189. “They must have His grace, the Spirit
of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian
character. Jesus loves to have us come to Him, just as we are—sinful,
helpless, dependent.” Faith and Works, p. 38. 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. Rom
1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience
to the faith among all nations, for
his name.
“They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or
they cannot for a Christian character. Jesus loves to have us come to Him,
just as we are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith and Works, p. 38. “Christ gives them the breath
of His own Spirit, the life of His own Life.” Desire of Ages, p. 827, par. 3. “The Holy Spirit is the breath
of life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the
life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ.” Desire of Ages, p. 805. 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. How does Jesus bless us in
turning every one from his iniquities? Via the soul of His life, His Holy
Spirit: "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). In Acts 3:26, God says that it
is Jesus who turn away every one of us from our iniquities. Ellen White says
it is the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, that is the only
power that can hold the power of evil in check. Both are right because Christ
died to give us the life that WAS His: 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. Notice
that Ellen White speaks of the life that “WAS HIS,” NOT “IS HIS.” Also, the
death which was ours was eternal death, not three days and night in a tomb.
He had to die to something eternally. That was the Testators agreement in the
Everlasting Covenant. 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.
It
was not the humanity of Christ that volunteered the Everlasting Testator’s
Covenant. Thus, Christ’s humanity could not atone for sin. This is why Ellen
White said: 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. The
life that “was His” is His pre-Incarnation Divine Nature. "The Holy Spirit is the breath
of spiritual life in the soul. The
impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the
attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of
the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand
as representative men, to minister in behalf of the church." Desire of Ages, 805. Again
for emphasis: 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. "The Holy Spirit is the breath
of spiritual life in the soul. The
impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the
attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of
the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand
as representative men, to minister in behalf of the church." Desire of Ages, 805. Mrs. White quotes these words, "Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" and says, "Deity
did not die. Humanity died." 5 B.C.1113. ----- Original Message ----- From: Laval Picard Sent: Thursday,
January 24, 2008 8:12 PM Subject: Re:
[SDAIssues] an Sdaissue from EGW Christ did not give anything up except the
form of God which was no small sacrifice. On the cross He was our
substitute. The law demanded the death of the sinner, the second
death, eternal death. Christ suffered the second death on the
cross. It was enough. The law was satisfied and God bowed His head
satisfied! It was our sinful flesh that was crucified. There was no need for the Saviour to give up
anything other than the form of God so He could take the form and fashion
of a man. But the glories of the form of God He for a while relinquished and
when He ascended on High He took once more His divine glory so that now His
human form is clothed with the glories of the form of God. And this is the
glory that awaits the redeemed. laval From: Ron Beaulieu Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008
12:30 PM Subject: Re: [SDAIssues] an Sdaissue from EGW I do not teach that Christ is not and was
not fully divine even while here on earth. I do teach that He will never
again be DIVINE ONLY. That is the great distinction. That is what He
relinquished forever. His DIVINE ONLY HOLY SPIRIT EXISTENCE. It was a huge
sacrifice to relinquish that DIVINE ONLY existence. That is what He died to
FOREVER. That is eternal ATONEMENT SACRIFICE demanded of the Testator, which
paid the price of our eternal death. That DIVINE ONLY existence was given to
us as the “highest good, crowning gift that heaven could bestow.” ----- Original Message ----- From: Laval Picard Sent: Thursday,
January 24, 2008 8:12 PM Subject: Re:
[SDAIssues] an Sdaissue from EGW Christ did not give anything up except the
form of God which was no small sacrifice. On the cross He was our
substitute. The law demanded the death of the sinner, the second
death, eternal death. Christ suffered the second death on the
cross. It was enough. The law was satisfied and God bowed His head
satisfied! It was our sinful flesh that was crucified. There was no need for the Saviour to give up
anything other than the form of God so He could take the form
and fashion of a man. But the glories of the form of God He for a while
relinquished and when He ascended on High He took once more His divine glory
so that now His human form is clothed with the glories of the form of God.
And this is the glory that awaits the redeemed. laval Ron responds: The glory that Christ received
was the worship status He had previous had in heaven, where all the angel’s
worshipped Him. Also, the glory given to Christ is the Holy Spirit which the
Father has given Him. That one eternal Holy Spirit makes ONE GOD. The
Glory that the Father gave to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is waiting to
breathe upon all his disciples, and give them the inspiration of his
sanctifying spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from himself to his
people . . . Christ is to live in his human agents, and work through
their faculties, and act through their capabilities. Their will must be
submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit, that it may be
no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them. Jesus is
seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit
He is giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that
He and His people may be one in God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892,
par. 4. Again, Ellen White says that not even an angel
could make the atonement for sin. So how could the humanity of Christ atone
for sin? Christ’s humanity cumbered certain of His attributes and it still
does. That is what changed! And the third person to the Godhead, the Holy
Ghost, resulted by Christ divesting Himself of His personality of humanity.
When His Holy Spirit divested Himself of the personality of humanity, a third
independent person to the Godhead came into being. Prior to this there was
only the Father and the Son, who made man in their image. They are the only
two involved with creation, and it was their ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT that moved
upon the waters. “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. There is only ONE Merriam Webster
dictionary entry found for successor. Main Entry: suc·ces·sor Pronunciation: s&k-'se-s&r Function: noun Etymology: Middle English successor,
from Old French, from Latin successor, from succedere Date: 14th century: one that
follows; especially : one who succeeds to a
throne, title, estate, or office Strong's Concordance on the word
Ghost as in Holy Ghost: (Jesus' own) spirit 6, (Jesus' own) ghost 2, misc 21; 385 That should be sufficient for the
wise! "The Spirit was given as a
regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been
of no avail." E.G. White, Review
and Herald, May 19, 1904, The Promise of the Spirit, pr. 3, Hbr 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? The above verse mentions THE
eternal Spirit. To me, that implies ONE eternal Spirit. Therefore, I would
conclude that all three persons of the Godhead have THE eternal Spirit, ONE
eternal spirit, essence and substance. Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can
we find [such a one] as this [is], a man in whom the
Spirit of God [is]? 1Cr 2:11 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. ----- Original Message ----- From: Laval Picard Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008
12:35 PM Subject: Re: [SDAIssues] an Sdaissue from EGW Mrs. White quotes these words, "Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" and says, "Deity
did not die. Humanity died." 5 B.C. 1113. "Though Christ humbled Himself to
become man, the Godhead was still His own. His deity could not be lost while
He stood faithful and true to His loyalty." "Deity did not sink under the agonizing
torture of Calvary, yet it is nonetheless true that 'God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosover believeth on Him (trusts
wholly in His merits) should not perish but have everlasting life.'" 5
B.C.1130. Read the last statement very slowly and very
carefully. Why do you think Mrs. White says, yet it is nonetheless true that
God gave His only begotten Son... is it not because there are some who
believe that in order to save us divinity had to die and therefore
relinquished His divine nature forever? Though deity did not sink and die under the
agoning torture of Calvary, He still died the second death! He died the second death without
relinquishing His divine nature for ever! laval
Luk 23:46 “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he
said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” [His Holy Ghost—the Ghost of His former
Divine Nature Holy Spirit—the one eternal Spirit He shared with the Father.
That Spirit, that life, he bequeathed to us, and without that sacrificial
gift, His death on the cross would have been to no avail, says Ellen White. The first death involved His former state of Being in the
Sanctuary in Heaven. He was slain from the foundation of the earth, says
Scripture. So the second death had to involve some aspect of His Divinity,
and since Divinity cannot die as we understand death, the death was to His
state of being DIVINE ONLY. That was the sacrifice. That was the sacrifice that the Trinity
Doctrine bypasses by teaching that the three persons always existed. Did
Jesus always exist combined with humanity? Nay! Did the one eternal Spirit
always exist? Yes. His Father and He shared that ONE eternal Spirit. The second death of three days and nights in the tomb would
never meet the Testator’s EVERLASTING Covenant. The Testator had to die to
something forever. He did not relinquish His Divine Nature. He relinquished
His Divine Nature ONLY existence FOREVER. In other words, He was no longer
DIVINE ONLY, He became linked to humanity forever. That was a huge sacrifice.
There is a great difference between being DIVINE ONLY, and being DIVINITY
COMBINED WITH HUMANITY forever. Jesus partakes of the very Spirit, His Divine
Nature Spirit, that we may partake of. But we are not divine. That is part of
the mystery element. Was
the Incarnation a Sacrifice? "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. The self-sacrifice to the
Incarnation was being combined with humanity forever. And if His humanity
cumbered His being everywhere at once then, what about now? "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. Ask Laval Picard or any Trinitarian
how Christ in His Incarnation had reached the prescribed limit as a
sacrifice, and you will not get an answer. I asked Laval, and he gave me no
response. What were the prescribed limits of
the Everlasting Testator’s Covenant? Death of the Testator. That is how in
His Incarnation He had reached the prescribed limits as a sacrifice as far as
the Testator’s agreement (Covenant) was concerned. But on the cross, He
became our redeemer by taking upon His humanity our sins and still overcoming
the affect and effect of having every sin that was ever committed up to that
point—laid upon Him. All sins after the cross are still laid upon Him and
crucify Him afresh. Think of it. If you feel as though you have never been
zealous in the cause of Satan, imagine your sins being placed upon Christ and
crucifying Him afresh.
(Gen. 3:15, Eph. 3:9-11; Col. 1:26, 27; see EGW on Jer. 23:28.) The
Mystery Hid for Eternal Ages.--The incarnation of Christ is a mystery. The
union of divinity with humanity is a mystery indeed, hidden with God,
"even the mystery which hath been hid from ages." It was kept in
eternal silence by Jehovah, and was first revealed in Eden, by the prophecy
that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and that he
should bruise His heel. {6BC 1082.4}
To present to the world this mystery that God kept in silence for
eternal ages before the world was created, before man was created, was the
part that Christ was to act in the work He entered upon when He came to this
earth. And this wonderful mystery, the incarnation of Christ and the
atonement that He made, must be declared to every son and daughter of Adam. .
. . His sufferings perfectly fulfilled the claims of the law of God (ST Jan.
30, 1912). {6BC 1082.5}
(1 Tim. 3:16.) Mystery of All Mysteries.--The incarnation of Christ is
the mystery of all mysteries (Letter 276, 1904). ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Beaulieu Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008
12:30 PM Subject: Re: [SDAIssues] an Sdaissue from EGW I do not teach that Christ is not and was
not fully divine even while here on earth. I do teach that He will never
again be DIVINE ONLY. That is the great distinction. That is what He
relinquished forever. His DIVINE ONLY HOLY SPIRIT EXISTENCE. It was a huge
sacrifice to relinquish that DIVINE ONLY existence. If the only thing that has changed is the
form, as Laval has stated, then there was no fulfillment of the Testators
Covenant—there was no everlasting, sacrificial atonement for the wages of sin
which is eternal death to something, and that something is the DIVINE ONLY
estate of the Son’s former existence prior to His Incarnation. If Jesus did not empty Himself of His past Divine
Nature to become the Holy Spirit third person, there has been no atonement to
regenerate man, and without that the cross is to no avail except to pardon
sin forever! No cure for sin. The Godhead, the Atonement, and the
Divinity of Christ are thus all integrally tied together. If Christ did not lay aside His Divine Only life
and soul at His Incarnation in the Sanctuary before His birth on earth, the
Sanctuary message is GONE, and there has been no atonement. That is what the
Trinity Doctrine achieves—NO SANCTUARY, NO ATONEMENT. Ellen White saw this
fact in the Alpha via pantheism. The same result now accrues via the Trinity
Doctrine, because it does away with the atoning sacrifice involved in the
Sanctuary in heaven at the Incarnation and thus sweeps away the entire
Christian economy. But just as the ministering brethren could not discern how
pantheism achieved this in the alpha, the ministering brethren today,
including Laval Picard, just can’t seem to understand. Nothing is new. 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. The
foundation of our faith is the Sanctuary message and the atonement made therein.
The Godhead involving the personality of God and Christ is a landmark, pillar
doctrine: Godhead as a pillar doctrine -- Personality of God and of Christ
Landmarks: "Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast they are not remembering
how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that
would remove the pillars of our
faith concerning the
sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as
blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the
people of God adrift without an anchor." {MR760 9.5} "You
are not definitely clear on the personality of God, which is everything to
us as a people. You have virtually destroyed the Lord God Himself."
EGW letter 300 1903. “The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great
truth around which all other truths
cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth
in the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light
that streams from the cross of Calvary. I present before you the great, grand
monument of mercy and regeneration, salvation and redemption,--the Son of God
uplifted on the cross. This is to be the foundation of every discourse given by
our ministers.” Gospel Workers, 315. "The
spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God [the Godhead],
followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy.
They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John
to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of
sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect
the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past
experience, giving them instead a false science." E.G. White, Selected
Messages, Bk. 1, p. 204. The
Trinity Doctrine is a spiritualistic theory of man. It totally discounts the
sacrifice that gave way to the third person of the Godhead, by teaching that the
third person always existed. No sacrifice there! When God’s creatures fully
realize the full weight of the sacrifice involved, it should make them love
Him the more! If the
cross is supposed to instill love, what would the full knowledge of the much greater
sacrifice achieve. It should make man appreciate far more than he does, the
huge sacrifice the Son of God made for us all. And when you consider that any
deviation from that sacrifice involves a sweeping way of the atonement in the
heavenly Sanctuary, and thus the entire Christian economy, one should begin
to see the weightiness of this issue. Laval
Picard proposes to be the forerunner, in the stead of John the Baptist. He
proposes to teach of the merits of Christ’s righteousness, and yet he denies
“the highest good, crowning gift that heaven could bestow, by his embracing
of the Trinity Doctrine. But he cannot see how this accrues, and thus Isaiah
56:10-12 accrues to his case as a “watchmen.” In light of Isaiah 56:10-12, it
is only fitting that Laval Picard does not understand this serious issue,
because God says that ALL the watchmen don’t understand, and Laval is a
trained SDA minister. The
highest good, crowning gift heaven can bestow, is certainly relative to the
greatest merit of Christ’s sacrifice. This fact should be empirical to any
thinking Christian. This message has EVERYTHING to do with the message of
Christ and His righteousness and how we partake of the merits of that
righteousness. In fact, this message tells us more about Christ’s meritorious
righteousness and His “highest good, crowning gifts” resulting from His
righteousness than any other message. Where did The Tokens of Divinity Go
at the Incarnation? "7. Made himself of no
reputation. Literally, 'emptied Himself.' This emptying was voluntary
(see on John 10:17, 18). It was not possible for Christ to retain
all the tokens of divinity and still accomplish the Incarnation. The outworking of this emptying is detailed
in the remainder of Phil. 2:7 and in v. 8.
See Vol. 5, p. 918." SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 155, col. 1. Where did the tokens of divinity go at the
Incarnation when they were divested from the personality of Christ’s
humanity? Scripture is clear that they went to God the Father, because Jesus
said that if we pray the Father, He will send us the Holy Spirit, another
Comforter, and then Jesus said He will come, John 14. So the Divine Nature of
the Son was bequeathed to us through the Father's care. It is proffered
thusly: 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. —rb
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