Promises abound in the Word of God of a salvation full and free for all people everywhere with absolutely no strings attached. There are those, however, who say, "Yes, but it's so hard to be saved. You have to give up so much. And the constant struggle to overcome sin is so great that very few people ever make it. What chance do I have?"
To such we would say, "Friend, you haven't been reading the Bible very carefully. Take another look and you may just be surprised!" For example, consider this:
Matthew 11:28-30: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
Jesus said, "My yoke is what?" EASY! And My burden is what? "LIGHT"! To hear some preachers tell it, the words of Jesus might just as well not be in the Bible. The impression one gets is that the words of these texts are actually the other way around: that the yoke is hard, and the burden is heavy. But that is not what Jesus said.
Notice these words of Jesus spoken to Saul of Tarsus when he was struck down by that light from heaven while on his way to Damascus to bring the Christians back in chains. Acts 26:13-14: "At midday, O king, I saw a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.'" Jesus then identified Himself as the One who was speaking. Clearly Saul had been "kicking against the pricks" of conscience. Deep inside he must have known that the way he was following was the wrong one. Jesus told him this was the "hard" way.
Galatians 5:17 reads as follows: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Many times I have asked the question: What are these things that we cannot do? Are they good things or bad things? In most instances, people think the answer is that we cannot do the good things. If this is the case, then it means that, in spite of the fact that the Spirit is constantly fighting against the demands of the flesh, the Spirit is quite unable to subdue the powerful demands of the flesh, and it is possible to do only bad things. But this is bad news, not good news! And if it is not good news, it is not the Gospel!
Actually this text is telling us good news, that the Spirit is stronger than the flesh, and can subdue the clamors of the flesh, and thus we cannot do the bad things any more. Look at the verse immediately before this one: "This I say, then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (vs. 16). Verses 19 to 21 tell us what these "works of the flesh" are: bad things! These are the things we cannot do if we "Walk in the Spirit," and that, of course, is good news.
Why do people instinctively say that we cannot do good things? Because they are still firmly entrenched in Romans 7, where the apostle Paul says that he can do nothing but bad things. And then he exclaims: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And he answers, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And then in the next few verses he points out that when we are in Christ Jesus we walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh. And when we walk in the Spirit we cannot do bad things. Romans 7 is speaking in universal terms, and describes the condition of man prior to the time when Jesus comes into his life. Romans 8:14 tells us of the change, and, of course, then we go to Galatians 5:16, where we are told that if we walk in the Spirit we will not "fulfill the lust of the flesh." The conclusion is that the Gospel has made the yoke of Christ easy.
Galatians 5 describes a man who can do nothing wrong, while Romans 7 describes a man who can do nothing right. Obviously, the one is the man before the good news of the Gospel operates in his life, while the other is what happens to him after Christ Jesus comes into his life. A wonderful explanation of how the Gospel operates to change human beings into the image of Christ was given by A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald of September 18, 1900. Consider the following passages:
When a man is converted, and is thus brought under the power of the Spirit of God, he is not so delivered from the flesh that he is actually separated from it, with its tendencies and desires. ... No; that same degenerate, sinful nature is there. ... But the individual is no longer subject to these. He is delivered from subjection to the flesh, with its tendencies and desires, and is now subject to the Spirit. He is now subject to a power that conquers, brings under, crucifies, and keeps under, the flesh. ... The flesh itself is brought into subjection to the power of God through the Spirit (so that) all these evil things are killed at the root, and thus prevented from appearing in the life.
... This blessed reversal of things is wrought in conversion. By conversion the man is put in possession of the power of God, and under the dominion of the Spirit of God, so that, by that power, he is made ruler over the flesh, with all its affections and lusts; and, through the Spirit, he crucifies the flesh with the affections and lusts, in his fighting "the good fight of faith." (Lessons on Faith, pp. 133, 135).
A. T. Jones has described for us the process by which God effects the miraculous transformation known as conversion. This can also be understood as sanctification. There follows now a beautiful paragraph in which Jones shows how Jesus became one with mankind in order to give the perfect example to human beings in the conquest of sin.
Jesus came to the world, and put Himself IN THE FLESH, just where men are; and met that flesh, JUST AS IT IS, with all its tendencies and desires; and by the divine power which He brought by faith, He "condemned sin in the flesh," and thus brought to all mankind that divine faith which brings the divine power to man to deliver him from the power of the flesh and the law of sin, just where he is, and to give him assured dominion over the flesh, just as it is. (ibid.)
Again we find in passages such as this how important it is that we understand that Christ came into this world, TOOK UPON HIM OUR NATURES, FALLEN, SINFUL, AND DETERIORATED, and, while thus encumbered, nevertheless proceeded to live a life perfect and spotless, and thus leaving us a shining example of what it is in the power of God to do for us, if we truly believe in His power to save us to the uttermost. That is why He says, "To him that overcometh ... even as I overcame." Had Christ overcome in a nature superior to ours, such as the nature of unfallen Adam, these words of Revelation 3:21 would be meaningless. It needs to be pointed out that, while there is a promise to the overcomer in every one of the seven churches, to only the church of Laodicea is there this addition: "EVEN AS I ALSO OVERCAME."
There is some eschatological significance here in this verse. It seems that there will be a special kind of overcoming for the last church, the church which will be translated to heaven (see Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 187). A point to be considered is that the phrase, "even as I also overcame," seems to suggest, not only the victory over sin which Laodicea finally experiences, but also an appreciation of the importance of the kind of nature which Christ assumed in the incarnation. When we realize fully that Christ's overcoming was accomplished in a nature like ours, every bit as fallen and sinful as ours is, we can look at the problem of our battle with sin in a different light. We look no longer at any enemy who strikes fear into our souls, but at one who has been conquered, in every way. With this realization comes the knowledge that overcoming sin is no longer the difficult task we have imagined it to be, but easy in every sense of the word.
Small wonder that E. J. Waggoner wrote in the Signs of the Times, January 21, 1889:
What wonderful possibilities there are for the Christian! To what heights of holiness he may attain! No matter how much Satan may way against him, assaulting him where the flesh is weakest, he may abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and be filled with the fullness of God's strength. The One stronger than Satan may dwell in his heart continually.
A. T. Jones has something for us on the question of whether it is hard or easy to do right. This is from the Review and Herald of July 25, 1899:
When grace reigns, it is easier to do right than it is to do wrong. That is the comparison. Notice: As sin reigned, even so grace reigns. When sin reigned, it reigned against grace; it beat back all the power of grace that God had given; but when the power of sin is broken, and grace reigns, then grace reigns against sin, and beats back all the power of sin. So it is as literally true that under the reign of grace it is easier to do right than to do wrong, as it is true that under the reign of sin it is easier to do wrong than it is to do right. (Lessons in Faith, p. 149).
This is one of the many jewels of the 1888 message. We are citing these references so that you can read in the exact words of the messengers themselves, that message which we have been commanded to give to the world. There are those who are going around today claiming to have the 1888 message when, frankly, they wouldn't know the 1888 message if they tripped over it. Simply to say, "I'm preaching the 1888 message," and then continue to give all of the old legalistic doctrines which have been with us for more than a hundred years without yet preparing a people for translation will never finish the work. It is this message which the world needs!
A. T. Jones proceeds further:
It can never be repeated too often, that under the reign of grace it is just as easy to do right, as under the reign of sin it is easy to do wrong. This must be so; for if there is not more power in grace than there is sin, then there can be no salvation from sin. (Lessons on Faith, p. 82).
Because grace is more powerful than sin, salvation from sin can be a reality in our lives, now and evermore! We are contending with an obviously defeated foe. Let us act like victors. Notice again:
Salvation from sin certainly depends upon there being more power in grace than there is in sin. Then, there being more power in grace than there is in sin ... wherever the power of grace can have control it will be just as easy to do right as without this it is easy to do wrong.
[Man's] great difficulty has always been to do right. But this is because man naturally is enslaved to a power--the power of sin--that is absolute in its reign. And so long as that power has sway, it is not only difficult but impossible to do the good that he knows and that he would. But let a mightier power than that have sway, then is it not plain enough that it will be just as easy to serve the will of the mightier power, when it reigns, as it was to serve the will of the other power when it reigned?
But grace is not simply more power than is sin. ... This, good as it would be, is not all. ... There is much more power in grace than there is in sin. "For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (ibid.)
This is sort of spiritual overkill. Overkill is where you use a 1500-pound anvil and a 20-pound sledgehammer to kill a cockroach!
Let no one ever attempt to serve God with anything but the present, living power of God, that makes him a new creature; with nothing but the much more abundant grace that condemns sin in the flesh, and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the service of God will indeed be "in newness of life"; then it will be found that His yoke is indeed "easy" and His burden "light"; then his service will be found indeed to be with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." (Review and Herald, Sept. 1, 1896; Lessons on Faith, p. 83).
E. J. Waggoner said:
The new birth completely supersedes the old. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God." He who takes God for the portion of his inheritance, has a power working in him for righteousness, as much stronger than the power of inherited tendencies to evil, as our heavenly Father is greater than our earthly parents. (The Everlasting Covenant, p. 66; 1900 edition).
Consider this text in Zechariah 4:6-7: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." I am reminded of the time a man was selling me a car. He said, amongst other things, "This car will flatten any hill in the country." What He meant was that this car would sail over the steepest passes as though they were not there.
Another text: "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Romans 2:4).
E. J. Waggoner comments on this text as follows:
And we need not try to improve on the Scriptures, and say that the goodness of God tends to lead men to repentance. The Bible says that it does lead them to repentance, and we may be sure that it is so. Every man is being led to repentance as surely as God is good" (Signs of the Times, Nov. 21, 1895; Waggoner on Romans, p. 42).
Not all repent. Why?--Because they despise the riches of the goodness and forbearance and long-suffering of God, and break away from the merciful leading of the Lord. But whoever does not resist the Lord will surely be brought to repentance and salvation. (ibid.).
Here are two quotes from our Adult Sabbath School Quarterly of a few years ago:
At the cross, the price of sin for the whole world was paid. Eternal life was guaranteed. But the sacrifice of Jesus is meaningless and of none effect unless His gift of salvation is accepted by the individual. (7/23/1988).
This lesson deals with the experience of salvation. No matter what Christ has done to provide salvation for the whole world, none of us can enjoy the benefits of His salvation until we accept and experience it ourselves. (9/3/1988).
These two quotes present a problem, and we do not say this to be critical. They reflect the Arminian thinking in which we have been bogged down for more than a hundred years--that the cross means nothing unless we do something first. Notice this from The Desire of Ages, p. 660:
To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring.
Did you notice the contrast between this statement and the statements from the Sabbath School Quarterly? Every one who ever came into this world has benefited from the cross of Christ. The very fact that they live, and have lived, shows that they have benefited from Calvary. The worst tyrants who ever lived owed their lives to the cross. The atrocities they perpetrated they were able to do because of the life they had, which they had because of the cross of Calvary.
This is why I am uncomfortable with the word "accept." There is the subtle implication in the use of this word that God cannot help people until they decide to "accept" Christ. They are left with an uncomfortable feeling that all that God has done for the world through Christ His Son means nothing until they "do" something. But the truth is this: every loaf of bread on their tables is there because of the cross of Calvary.
Sometime you can check this word "accept" in your concordance, and see how many times it appears, especially the New Testament, where it is found only once. But the word "believe" is found everywhere. This is what God asks us to do, to believe His promises to us.
People who are lost one day will experience that tragedy for no other reason than that they chose to be. Here is a paragraph which tells this clearly (I've numbered the seven points):
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
--Isaac Watts