To ask the wrong questions at the wrong time produces confusion. Whenever "sinless living" is mentioned, someone is bound to ask with a great show of finality: "Are you living without sin? Are you perfect? Can you show me somebody (except Christ) who is perfect?" Laughter usually punctuates the strained silence that follows these taunting questions.
But they are irrelevant to the topic of this chapter. It is obvious even to a child that no true Christian will ever feel or claim to be perfect. Not the proud Pharisee, but the contrite publican is justified (obviously by faith, for there is no other way possible). And he prays, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (see Luke 18:10-14). Until Jesus glorifies His saints at His second coming, they "know that in... [them], (that is in... [their] flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). No true Christian will ever claim more than Paul claimed: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect... Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended" (Philippians 3:12,13).
Never can we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation... Our only safety is in constant distrust of self, and dependence on Christ...
It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of ... [pride and self dependence] is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed...
The nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of his character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves.
From the cross to the crown there is earnest work to be done. There is wrestling with inbred sin; there is warfare against outward wrong.
We should begin by asking the right questions at the right time.
And the right time is this time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, while our great High Priest is completing his work of final atonement.
Christ is to accomplish a work unique in human history since sin began—preparing a body of people for translation. While no child of God will ever claim to have overcome all sin, and while it is equally true that we cannot judge of any present or past individual that he has overcome as he overcame, that does not mean that the ministry of Christ in the most holy apartment will fail to achieve such results. However much in the past or in the present we have failed to overcome, for us to say that it is impossible to overcome sin through faith in the Redeemer is actually to justify and to encourage sin, and thus to stand on the great enemy's side.
The right questions to ask are:
To say that these saints don't really keep the commandments, but God pretends that they do, is to violate the context of the three angels' messages. Heaven declares these people to be "virgins... They... follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.... In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God" (verses 4,5). Jones offers a comment that they—stand where it can be said of us by the Lord, to the universe: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." And it will be a fact, not merely because he says it, but he will say it because it is a fact.
We know they are sinful by nature, "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). But in order for this pronouncement to make any sense, the faith of Jesus must have "worked," and they must have ceased to continue giving in to Satan through the clamors of their sinful flesh or nature. They have overcome even as Christ overcame (Revelation 3:21). They don't have "holy flesh," but they have a holy character, and righteousness is imparted to them. To try to insert this prophetic glimpse of an overcoming people into the post-Second Advent future is to violate the context. Revelation 15:2 reveals this same group as having gotten the victory before the close of human probation.
Previous generations have never clearly understood the truth of Christian perfection "without falling into the trap of perfectionism.
The reason is that the hour for the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary had not yet struck. When we come to the "days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets" (Revelation10:7). Here is the special contribution that Seventh-day Adventists are to make to the completion of the great Reformation and the fulfillment of the gospel commission. There must be a joining together of the truth of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the truth of justification by faith. And it is here that we begin to sense the real significance of the 1888 message.
It was one of glorious hope, free both from fanaticism and the errors of perfectionism. Both messengers, from the beginning of the 1888 era, were clear and emphatic that sinless living as possible, that God's people can overcome even as Christ overcame, and that the key to this glorious possibility lies in his people's faith in the ministry of the High Priest in the most holy apartment. The first three sentences of Waggoner's Christ and his Righteousness, page 5, neatly summarize their concept of sinless living. They are a summary in a nutshell of his Minneapolis message preached only a few weeks before they were published in Signs articles:
In the first verse of the third chapter of Hebrews we have an exhortation which comprehends all the injunctions given to the Christian. It is this: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." To do this as the Bible enjoins, to consider Christ continually and intelligently, just as he is, will transform one into a perfect Christian, for "by beholding we become changed."
Jones and Waggoner together set forth three essential elements of the uniqueness of the three angels' messages. Here is where the 1888 message goes further than the sixteenth-century Reformers were able to go in their day:
In his coming in the flesh—having been made in all things like unto us, and having been tempted in all points like as we are—he has identified himself with every human soul just where that soul is. And from the place where every human soul is, he has consecrated for that soul a new and living way through all the vicissitudes and experiences of a whole lifetime, and even through death and the tomb, into the holiest of all, at the right hand of God for evermore...
And this "way" he has consecrated for us. He, having become one of us, has made this way our way; it belongs to us. He has endowed every soul with divine right to walk in this consecrated way; and by his having done it himself in the flesh—in our flesh—he has made it possible yea, he has given actual assurance, that every human soul can walk in that way, in all that that way is; and by it enter fully and freely into the holiest of all...
He has made and consecrated a way by which, in Him every believer can in this world, and for a whole lifetime, live a life holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and as a consequence be made with him higher than the heavens.
Immediately the question will arise: Is this the heresy of perfectionism? On the same page Jones demonstrates how it is not:
Perfection, perfection of character, is the Christian goal—perfection attained in human flesh in this world. Christ attained it in human flesh in this world, and thus made and consecrated a way by which, in him, every believer can attain it. He, having attained it, has become our great High Priest, by his priestly ministry in the true sanctuary to enable us to attain it.
We must clearly distinguish between "perfection of character... attained in human flesh" and fanatical perfectionism that is assumed to be of human flesh. Perfectionism is a heresy characterized by one or more of the following false ideas:
But we do find a clear call to a preparation for the second coming of Christ. Ellen White recognized the call. Speaking of the message of Waggoner and Jones, she said:
This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God.... It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of his Spirit in a large measure.
Often Ellen White declared that a secret love of sin is the real reason for the rejection of that message. Waggoner tells us that he was indebted to both Luther and Wesley for the beginning of his understanding. Wesley clearly taught the possibility of sinless living in mortal flesh, but he lacked the cleansing of the sanctuary truth. The terrible opposition that Wesley had to meet in his day prefigured that which Jones and Waggoner had to meet. Wesley said of the conflict in his day:
There is scarce any expression in Holy Writ, which has given more offense than this. The word perfect is what many cannot bear. The very sound of it is an abomination to them; and whosoever preaches perfection (as the phrase is) that is asserts that it is attainable in this life, runs great hazard of being accounted by them worse than a heathen man, or a publican.
"No," says a great man [Zinzendorf], "this is the error of errors: I hate it from my heart. I pursue it through all the world with fire and sword." Nay, why so vehement?... Why are those that oppose salvation from sin (few excepted) so eager, I had almost said, furious?... In God's name, why are you so fond of sin? What has it ever done you? What good is it ever likely to do you, either in this world, or in the world to come? And why are you so violent against those that hope for a deliverance from it?
Wesley in his day was probably unable to understand the problem in its ultimate perspective. But those who live in the last days will know that I lie dragon is "wroth with the woman, and... [goes] to make war with the remnant of her seed." What makes Satan so uncontrollably angry is: That there will be a people who truly keep the commandments of God! He says it can't be.
In fact, the law of God has always been the focus of his warfare, for he has always said of fallen man: "It is impossible for us to obey its precepts."
Wesley had to contend with what Ellen White declares we have" to contend with—a strange power opposed to the idea of attaining the perfection that Christ holds out." That "strange power" is mysteriously active within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As in Wesley's day, she says many ministers today echo the falsehoods of Satan:
Satan declared that it was impossible for the sons and daughters of Adam to keep the law of God, and thus charged upon God a lack of wisdom and love. If they could not keep the law, then there was fault with the Lawgiver. Men who are under the control of Satan repeat these accusations against God, in asserting that men can not keep the law of God…
[But] Christ took human nature upon him, and became a debtor to do the whole law in behalf of those whom he represented. Had he failed in one jot or tittle, he would have been a transgressor of the law, and we would have had in him a sinful, unavailing offering. But he fulfilled every specification of the law, and condemned sin in the flesh; yet many ministers repeat the falsehoods of the scribes, priests, and Pharisees, and follow their example in turning the people away from the truth.
God was manifested in the flesh to condemn sin in the flesh, by manifesting perfect obedience to all the law of God. Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. He corrupted not human nature, and, though in the flesh, he transgressed not the law of God in any particular. More than this, he removed every excuse from fallen man that he could urge for a reason for not keeping the law of God...
This testimony concerning Christ plainly shows that he condemned sin in the flesh. No man can say that he is hopelessly subject to the bondage of sin and Satan. Christ has assumed the responsibilities of the human race... He testifies that through his imputed righteousness the believing soul shall obey the commandments of God.
The date of this straightforward statement indicates that Ellen White was firmly supporting the message of Jones and Waggoner. But had their message been in the slightest degree tainted by the heresy of perfectionism, she would certainly not have supported them in this way. Note that Christ's imputed righteousness accomplishes more than a mere judicial declaration. It actually makes the believer obedient.
The how of this glorious development is made clear by something she said over ten years later (1907):
[Christ] made an offering so complete that through his grace every one may reach the standard of perfection. Of those who receive his grace and follow his example it will be written in the book of life, "Complete in him—without spot or stain."
In word and deed Christ's followers are to be pure and true. In this world— a world of iniquity and corruption —Christians are to reveal the attributes of Christ. All they do and say is to be free from selfishness. Christ desires to present them to the Father "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," purified through his grace, bearing his likeness.
In his great love, Christ surrendered himself for us... We are to surrender ourselves to him. When this surrender is entire, Christ can finish the work he began for us by the surrender of himself. Then he can bring us to complete restoration.
A child can see it: perfection of character is not something that is only a legal declaration; it is something Christ desires, and which therefore has not yet been realized in His people. There is a time element involved, a condition: "When [our] surrender is entire, Christ can finish the work he began for us by the surrender of himself." And this "entire surrender" must precede "complete restoration," which again must include translation without seeing death. You can't break the progression.
Here is where genuine righteousness by faith at last comes into its own. We cannot know how to make that entire surrender that is so vitally needed unless we truly understand "the everlasting gospel" of Revelation 14. The 1888 message was the beginning of that divine provision for the latter rain.
No wonder Satan has hated the message!
He has opposed it assiduously, misrepresented it, maligned it, ridiculed it, suppressed it. His cleverest opposition is obviously his subtle counterfeits of righteousness by faith. These can be readily identified because they invariably betray one common denominator—antipathy for the law of God. This takes one of two forms:
(1) declaring that the law of God has been abolished or changed; or
(2) declaring the law of God impossible to obey. Either position denies the gospel of Jesus, and the latter is the one that most appeals to many Seventh-day Adventists.
Therefore any righteousness by faith that becomes a cloak for continued disobedience to God's law has to be a counterfeit. And, according to Jesus, any messenger preaching a brand of righteousness by faith who himself knowingly breaks "one of these least commandments" and teaches men so must be an agent of deception (cf. Matthew 5:19).
Does the Bible teach the possibility of sinless living in our sinful nature?
If Christ was sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," then the obvious answer is "Yes." Christ is both our Substitute and enabling Example. He demonstrated it once for all. He "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22). And of His people it has to be said eventually: "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God" (Revelation 14:5). They will overcome "even as I also overcame" (Revelation 3:21), says Jesus. No saint will ever overcome except through faith in the Great Overcomer, "the author and finisher of our faith." The overcomers acquire no merit to themselves, yet they gain everything by their faith. Christ "is able also to save them to the uttermost... for such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:25,26).
If we take away the high priestly ministry of Christ in the second apartment as distinct from the first, this idea of preparation for the second coming disappears, and the impact of the Advent movement is reduced to a "me-too" echo of the popular evangelical churches. Our unique message centers in the sanctuary ministry of Christ:
Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the message of Revelation 14.
There is no need to be afraid of "standing in the sight of a holy God without a mediator."
Remember that this holy God is also our loving heavenly Father, and our Savior. He is not seeking a way to keep us out of heaven; He is seeking a way to get us in! Our part is simply to believe (appreciate Him!) and thus to cooperate with Him and let Him prepare us for that time (more about this in our next chapter).
The Lord will have a people who "not even by a thought [can]... be brought to yield to the power of temptation":
Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.
"Ah," someone says, "that is just what I was afraid of. I would rather die and go into the grave than stand through the time of trouble. I'm afraid I can't make it! Dying is not so bad these days with all the medical help we have." But if we feel that way, we are really being selfish, in two ways:
They may not realize it, but in reality they are seeking to avoid Christ. They don't want to get too close to Him. The paragraph that follows the one above makes this clear:
It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour invites us to join ourselves to him, to unite our weakness to his strength, our ignorance to his wisdom, our unworthiness to his merits.... It rests with us to co-operate with the agencies which Heaven employs in the work of conforming our characters to the divine model.
Note: there is nothing to be afraid of if only we are willing to "join ourselves to him" and follow him "whithersoever He goeth."
When I came back from years of mission service in Africa I enrolled in a university class in advanced Greek translations. I soon began to fear that I could never keep up. Day after day the class discussions seemed to roll like giant waves over my head. I went to the teacher and suggested, "I think I'd better drop this class—I can't keep up."
She told me, "I think you should hang on. Stay in the class, and I'll see that you get through."
And she saw me through! Persistent, patient, determined, she helped me so much that in the end I not only passed, I got an A! She was an illustration of our Heavenly Teacher. If we'll stay in his class, it's his work to see that we pass—yes, that we get an A. his business is being a Savior! Let him be what he is!
It is not by our own works and trying hard that our robes "must be spotless," our "characters... purified from sin." No; it is by "the blood of sprinkling," getting close to that cross so we "feel the blood so freely shed" for us:
O for a heart to praise my God,It's all through the grace of God, which of course we must "receive not in vain." Our own diligent effort is always simply cooperating with the agencies that Heaven employs. "Through faith in the atoning blood of Christ" this marvelous work will be accomplished. And there we come back to that cross again.
A heart from sin set free;
A heart that always feels thy blood
So freely shed for me!"
Charles Wesley
And what is faith?
According to John 3:16, it is our heartfelt response to God's loving and giving in our behalf. "Faith in his blood" (Romans 3:25) is the effectual agency in righteousness by faith. Here is a definition:
Many accept Jesus as an article of belief, but they have no saving faith in him as their sacrifice and Saviour. They have no realization that Christ has died to save them from the penalty of the law which they have transgressed... Do you believe that Christ, as your substitute, pays the debt of your transgression? Not, however, that you may continue in sin, but that you may be saved from your sins...
You may say that you believe in Jesus, when you have an appreciation of the cost of salvation. You may make this claim, when you feel that Jesus died for you on the cruel cross of Calvary; when you have an intelligent, understanding faith that his death makes it possible for you to cease from sin, and to perfect a righteous character through the grace of God, bestowed upon you as the purchase of Christ's blood.
Do you begin to see something of the tremendous power of faith? Not that faith itself does anything—Jesus does it. But righteousness is by faith, and what it leads to is "to cease from sin, and to perfect a righteous character." No wonder Waggoner exclaimed in 1889, again only a few days after his presentations in Minneapolis:
What wonderful possibilities there are for the Christian! To what heights of holiness he may attain! No matter how much Satan may war against him, assaulting him where the flesh is weakest, he may abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and be filled with the fulness of God's strength. The One stronger than Satan may dwell in his heart continually.
What does it mean "to cease from sin"? The answer is clear:
Luther wisely said that we cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads, but we can stop them from building a nest in our hair. The Lord does not ask us to do more than our Savior did. He too was "in all points tempted like as we are," but he chose constantly to say, "No!" to temptation:"I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me"(John 5:30). "No!" to sinful self and all its clamors, no matter how insistent—this we may constantly choose, by His grace. And this is precisely what New Testament faith leads one to do. "To consider Christ continually and intelligently, just as he is, will transform one into a perfect Christian, for 'by beholding we become changed.'"
Someone may ask: "Does this mean that God's people will merely overcome all known sin? Or will they overcome all sin, even that which is now unknown to them?"
Jones and Waggoner clearly understood that Christ's "final atonement" ministry will enable His people to overcome all sin, even that which is now unknown to them. The two greatest sins of all history were unknown sins: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Jesus prayed concerning those who crucified Him; and Laodicea’s terrible sin of lukewarmness is due to a condition that Christ says the church is not aware of (Revelation 3:17). The Lord can never translate sin into his eternal kingdom even if it is buried beneath the conscious surface, for if he did, such buried seeds would spring up anew and contaminate the universe.
At the 1893 General Conference session Jones explained the simple, practical ministry of the Lord, what he is doing, in this time of the cleansing of the sanctuary:
Well, now, let us carry that a little further. He gave himself for our sins; but ... he will not take our sins although he bought them—without our permission. ... The choice is forever with me as to whether I would rather have my sins than to have him, isn't it? [Congregation: "Yes."] ... Then from this time henceforth can there be any hesitation about letting anything go that God shows is sin? Will you let it go when it is pointed out? When sin is pointed out to you, say, "I would rather have Christ than that." And let it go. [Congregation: "Amen."] Just tell the Lord, "Lord, I make the choice now; I make the trade; I make thee my choice; it is gone, and I have something better."... Where in the world is the opportunity for any of us to get discouraged over our sins?
Now some of the brethren here have done that very thing. They came here free; but the Spirit of God brought up something they never saw before. The Spirit of God went deeper than it ever went before, and revealed things they never saw before; and then, instead of thanking the Lord that that was so, and letting the whole wicked business go and thanking the Lord that they had ever so much more of him than they ever had before, they began to get discouraged. They said, "Oh what am I going to do? My sins are so great."...
If the Lord has brought up sins to us that we never thought of before, that only shows that he is going down to the depths, and he will reach the bottom at last; and when he finds the last thing that is unclean or impure, that is out of harmony with his will, and brings that up, and shows that to us, and we say, "I would rather have the Lord than that" —then the work is complete, and the seal of the living God can be fixed upon that character. [Congregation: "Amen.")
Which would you rather, have the completeness, the perfect fulness, of Jesus Christ, or have less than that, with some of your sins covered up that you never know of?... How in the world can that seal of God, which is the impress of his perfect character revealed in us, be put upon us when there are sins about us? He cannot put the seal, the impress of his perfect character, upon us until he sees it there. And so he has got to dig down to the deep places we never dreamed of, because we cannot understand our hearts... He will cleanse the heart, and bring up the last vestige of wickedness. Let him go on, brethren; let him keep on his searching work...
If the Lord should take away our sins without our knowing it, what good would it do us? That would simply be making machines of us...
We are always intelligent instruments—not like... a pick or a shovel... We are intelligent instruments. We will be used by the Lord at our own living choice.
This is what Paul speaks of when he says:
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? (Hebrews 9:14).
Ellen White firmly supports this tremendous idea: "Your circumstances have served to bring new defects in your character to your notice; but nothing is revealed but that which was in you." "His eye ... searches every chamber of the mind, detecting all lurking self-deception." "Undiscovered traits of character... must come to light." "God... reveals their hidden defects,... the moral machinery of their own hearts". "In the closing up of the great day of atonement... the remnant church...are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives." The sanctuary ministry is a type of removing previously unconscious sin from the heart; the crucifixion of Christ is man's deepest, unconscious sin; and the final judgment will disclose the hidden content of the unrepentant sinner's unconscious mind.
The relationship of this truth to the 1888 revelation of Christ's righteousness is very close:
Christ was in the place, and he had the nature, of the whole human race. And in him meet all the weaknesses of mankind, so that every man on the earth who can be tempted at all, finds in Jesus Christ power against that temptation. For every soul there is in Jesus Christ victory against all temptation, and relief from the power of it. That is the truth.
We must let Waggoner make clear that "victory against all temptation" in no way means "holy flesh" or "perfectionism":
Now, do not get a mistaken idea. Do not get the idea that you and I are ever going to be so good that we can live independently of the Lord; do not think that this body is going to be converted. If you do, you will get into grave trouble and gross sin. Do not think that you can make corruption incorruption. This corruption will put on incorruption when the Lord comes; not before... When men get the idea that their flesh is sinless, and that all their impulses are from God, they are confounding their sinful flesh with the Spirit of God. They are substituting themselves for God, putting themselves in his place, which is the very essence of the papacy.
In the likeness of sinful flesh, Jesus lived a sinless life. And his commandment-keeping people will have his faith. Waggoner continues in the same sermon:
He has condemned sin in the flesh, showing that even in sinful flesh he can live a sinless life. His perfect life will be manifested in mortal flesh, so that all will see it in the seven last plagues....
If this power could not be manifested before probation ends, there would be no witness to the people; it would not be a testimony to them. But before probation ends, there will be a people so complete in him that in spite of their sinful flesh, they will live sinless lives. They will live sinless lives in mortal flesh, because he who has demonstrated that he has power over all flesh lives in them—lives a sinless life in sinful flesh, and a healthful life in mortal flesh, and that will be a testimony that can not be gainsaid—a witness than which no greater can be given. Then the end will come.
Does this mean that God's people who have overcome even as Christ overcame will be "little Christs" assuming a blasphemous position in the last days?
Such a contemptuous deduction is unjustified. Even though the 1888 messengers insisted that God will have a people who "copy the Pattern," they never in any way intimated that they would "equal" it. Christ as the infinite, eternal Son of God lived a life and died a sacrifice that can never be repeated throughout eternity. But though no ransomed sinner can ever duplicate His "act of righteousness ... [that led] to acquittal and life for all men" (Romans 5:18, RSV), can none ever learn to appreciate it?
A worthless scrap of broken mirror can be cleansed and polished to reflect the brightness of the sun so as to dazzle one's eyes. But it would be ridiculous to think of it as equaling the sun. The bride of Christ is said specifically to be "bright as the sun" (Song of Solomon 6:10, RSV). But it is always only reflected light, its origin is in Christ.
The important question is, Can the worthless scrap of broken mirror ever be cleansed and polished before Christ returns? Or better, Can 144,000 such broken scraps ever be polished until each reflects a unique Facet of the Saviour's character, one precious corporate gem in which"lieshall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied"?
Can each scrap at last be clean?
Or must each continue to be dirtied and contaminated with continued selfish sinning? If Jesus was "in every respect... tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15, RSV), will it be possible when He ceases His ministry as High Priest that His people also stop "sinning" while they are still in sinful flesh with a sinful nature?
If the answer is yes, then it is possible that His bride can get ready for His coming. If the answer is no, then "the marriage of the Lamb" can never come and the second advent must cease to be a viable hope. The hope and courage of the 1888 message is expressed as follows:
Somebody will form a part of that perfect kingdom of God. We may, or we may not—we have our choice. We can do as we please; but that thing is going to be. There is going to be a people composed of representations of every tribe and nation—white men, black men, yellow men, red men, poor men mostly— some rich men, a few great men, and a great many small men; men of all dispositions, and of all races and nationalities, all over the world—all speaking the same thing at the same time; all manifesting the characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is yet to be. Now if we believe and know that the thing must be, it can be done.
When God has given this witness to the world of his power to save to the uttermost, to save sinful beings, and to live a perfect life in sinful flesh, then he will remove the disabilities and give us better circumstances in which to live. But first of all this wonder must be worked out in sinful man, not simply in the person of Jesus Christ, but in Jesus Christ reproduced and multiplied in the thousands of his followers. So that not simply in the few sporadic cases, but in the whole body of the church, the perfect life [character] of Christ will be manifested to the world, and that will be the last crowning work which will either save or condemn men.
Ellen White agrees with this bold, unpopular, courageous idea. Note this statement which occurs near the conclusion of Christ's Object Lessons:
It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. ... At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known...
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them. The light of the Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth in good works—in words of truth and deeds of holiness.
The thought of the Bridegroom looms large in the Bible picture of God's people anticipating the coming of Christ. "The righteous deeds of the saints" constitute the "fine linen" in which the Lamb's wife at last is arrayed (Revelation 19:8,7, RSV). Has the Lord prohibited former generations from attaining "unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" so they could be among this group? No. There is something uniquely eschatological in this overcoming that history says must be applicable to the last generation. The answer is simply that no former generation has in fact ever attained to the condition that Revelation postulates for the bride of Christ—as a body, His "bride has made herself ready" (19:7, RSV).
There is a great difference between a bride at a wedding and the little flower girl. Both are humans, and both are female; but to borrow Paul's phraseology in Ephesians 4, one is no longer a child. She has attained to "the measure of the stature of the fulness" of her bridegroom in that she is at last prepared to stand at his side in sympathy and appreciation. She can now enter into his purposes and cooperate with him. The bride of Christ may never equal Him, but unlike the little flower girl, she at least can appreciate Him.
Has our Lord shared with us the mysteries of love in order to teach us the secret of His purpose for those who finally appreciate His great sacrifice? When His "bride has made herself ready," He will come to claim her. The Bridegroom says, I "will take you to myself, that where I am you maybe also" (RSV). In some sense, there must at last be a mature mutual love and sympathy, a oneness, a true union, with Christ. This was the real burden of the 1888 message.
True Christian perfection is the little flower girl "growing up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15, RSV)."Some few in every generation" have individually overcome, reflecting afacetof Christ's character. Enoch and Elijah are obvious examples. Butthosefew never met the full spectrum of temptation as God's peoplemustmeet it in the final scenes. The last generation will in a unique sensedrinkof the cup that Christ drank of and will be baptized with His baptism He was baptized with (Matthew 20:20-23, RSV).
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is one thrilling love story, with the tragic plot developing in the first three chapters and the climax of resolvement coming in the last four chapters. The victory was won in (Christ's sacrifice; and all that His people have to do is to have faith in that tremendous accomplishment of their Lord. Sounds simple, doesn'tii? But the Lord has been forced to wait all these millennia for that ultimate faith to mature! Unbelief (dis-belief, un-faith) has been and still is our problem. Righteousness is by faith, not by works.
Why has no previous generation or community of saints ever gotten ready for the marriage of the Lamb? Not because God withheld anything from them, any more than something is withheld from the flower girl to prevent her from being the bride. She is not treated unfairly. Prophecy indicates that the unique ministry of the great High Priest in the most holy apartment will be concurrent with the bride growing up and gettingready:"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14). Here is the secret source of final overcoming.
On the typical Day of Atonement anciently, something did happen in type to the people. The Lord said, "Atonement [shall] be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord" (Leviticus 16:30, RSV). So on the great heavenly Day of Atonement, the High Priest is to "purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they... [might] offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Malachi 3:3). These will be "offerings" free from that egocentric concern which is the radius of sin itself. A true bride will not marry because she wants a meal ticket; she appreciates her husband's character, and her concern is for him, not for herself.
But at the present time the remnant church is more a flower girl at the wedding than a bride. Most Christians are acquisitive, concerned to get a reward, to get some of the cake or ice cream at the wedding more than to possess the Bridegroom. Few are more concerned to be with Christ than to enjoy the creature delights of the New Jerusalem. This is why they so seldom bear their cross in service, to follow Him now "whithersoever He goeth." "I shall wear a crown in my Father's house" is the ditty that we sing, seldom "Crown Him with many crowns."
This thought of concern for Him marks the presentations of the 1888 messengers. Consider this example which is a "big idea" seldom articulated in our Seventh-day Adventist literature:
We have seen that the little horn—the man of sin, the mystery of iniquity— has put his own... priesthood... in the place of the heavenly and holy priesthood. ... In this priesthood and service of the mystery of iniquity, the sinner confesses his sins to the priest, and goes on sinning. Indeed, in that priesthood and ministry there is no power to do anything else than to go on sinning; even after they have confessed their sins. But, sad as the question may be, is it not too true that those who are not of the mystery of iniquity, but who really believe in Jesus and in His priesthood and ministry—is it not too true that even these also confess their sins, and then go on sinning?
But is this fair to our great High Priest, to His sacrifice and to His blessed ministry?
Is it possible that we should ever in this life come to the place where this transcends our own concern for self and our own personal salvation? Can we ever learn, while in this mortal flesh, to appreciate a "perfect love [that] casts out fear"?
Prophecy says, Yes.
We read in Zechariah 12:10 that a time is coming when God's people will get their vision off their own problems and concern for their own security, and begin to be concerned about Jesus. "They shall look uponmewhom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as when one mourns for his close, beloved friend" (LXX). The reason the remnant church is lukewarm is that we have hardly grasped the higher motivation.
Jones and Waggoner began to understand it. It was an important burden of their message. Jones continues on the same page:
Is it fair that we should thus put Him, His sacrifice, and His ministry, practically upon a level with that of the "abomination of desolation," and to say that in Him and in His ministry there is no more power or virtue than there is in that of the "mystery of iniquity"? May the Lord forever save His church and people this day, with no more delay from thus bringing down so low our great High Priest, His awful [awesome] sacrifice, and His glorious ministry.
When we learn a concern for Him and for His glory, we shall see a new dimension in our familiar text: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come" (Revelation 14:7). Because "the darkness of misapprehension of God... is enshrouding the world," God's people will make "His character... to be... known," saying to the people, "'Behold your God.'" Thus they will "give glory" to Him in the hour of His judgment when He wins His court trial (Revelation 14:7).
Most of us pray continually, "Lord, bless me and my loved ones, and don't forget me in Thy kingdom. And bless the missionaries so the work can be finished and we can all go home to glory!"
It is wrong to say it is impossible to obey God's law, and that the imputed righteousness of Christ must always cover our continued sinning in the sense of excusing it. How can it glorify our Savior for us to "make ... provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14)? In a moment of sudden, alluring and almost overmastering temptation, Joseph said, "No!" "He refused, and said,... How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:8,9). Thus he honored the Lord who died for him. What a tragedy it would have been if he had "made provision for the flesh," and said to himself, "You can't win them all; this one is too strong; it's impossible to obey all the time—Christ's righteousness will have to 'cover' me on this one."
The important issue in the last days is not the salvation of our own poor little souls, but the honor of Christ. The test that will come to God's people before the close of probation will be that of the mark of the beast, a test that has never in all previous history come to them, greater even than the ancient martyrs endured. It will be Satan's masterpiece, perfected after his six thousand years of experience in tempting the people of God. It will be cleverly designed to penetrate to the depths of our souls and if possible sweep us away in the final tide of selfish concern. Such an ultimate test must require an ultimate preparation.
In the meantime, we keep our feet on solid ground.
While we steadfastly deny Satan's cynical charge that it is impossible for believing sons and daughters of Adam to keep the law of God, we remain keenly aware that we are fallen sinners by nature and that we always need a Savior. "My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1, RSV). The Holy Spirit always presses good news home to the heart of the contrite sinner who has fallen:
We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God.
Jesus loves His children, even if they err.... When they do their best, calling upon God for His help, be assured the service will be accepted although imperfect. Jesus is perfect. Christ's righteousness is imputed unto them, and He will say, Take away the filthy garments from him and clothe him with change of raiment. Jesus makes up for our unavoidable deficiencies.
If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns a moment from looking steadfastly unto Jesus, it is not because he sins wilfully; for when he sees his mistake he turns again, and fastens his eyes upon Jesus, and the fact that he has erred, does not make him less dear to the heart of God.
If you make failures and are betrayed into sin, do not feel then you cannot pray... but seek the Lord more earnestly.
All this "much more abounding grace" is unlimited; but its purpose is not to encourage us in continual falling into sin! Here is a statement that could be easily wrested from its context to support Satan's charge that it is impossible for us not to continue transgressing God's law:
When, through faith in Jesus Christ, man does according to the very best of his ability, and seeks to keep the way of the Lord by obedience to the ten commandments, the perfection of Christ is imputed to cover the transgression of the repentant and obedient soul...
But now let us note the important context. We can overcome! Here's the rest of it:
We can see in the cross of Calvary what it has cost the Son of God to bring salvation to a fallen race. As the sacrifice in behalf of man was complete, so the restoration of man from the defilement of sin must be thorough and complete... Besetting sins must be battled with and overcome. Objectionable traits of character, whether hereditary or cultivated, should be taken up separately, and compared with the great rule of righteousness; and in the light reflected from the word of God, they should be firmly resisted and overcome, through the strength of Christ.
"If any man sin, we have an advocate" (1 John 2:1). We shall have a Savior forever, but inspiration tells us we shall not have an Advocate or an Intercessor forever.
To prepare a people to meet the test of the mark of the beast is the unique work of Christ as High Priest in His closing ministry. It's His job. This was apparent to Ellen White even in the early days of the Advent movement:
As the ministration of Jesus closed in the holy place, and He passed into the holiest,... He sent another mighty angel with a third message to the world... This message was designed to put the children of God upon their guard, by showing them the hour of temptation and anguish that was before them. Said the angel, "They will be brought into close combat with the beast and his image."... The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making His final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God.
Justification by faith in the light of Christ's closing mediatorial work—this was the burden of the 1888 message; and this will be the topic of our last chapter.