Ellen G. White (EGW) is not a master of paradoxes. When using passions and propensities, she uses the words interchangeably in three different contexts, often distinguishing between "higher" and "lower powers" or "passions":
1. To describe passions and propensities that are divinely given to all as part of being human—to be controlled by reason and the Holy Spirit;
2. To describe passions and propensities that are misused by selfish, evil desires and must be "crucified," "discarded," and "separated" from the Christian's life;
3. To emphasize that complete victory over "evil" passions and propensities is possible in this life.
I. Passions and propensities are divinely given:
"You are of that age when the will, the appetite, and the passions clamor for indulgence. God has implanted these in your nature for high and holy purposes. It is not necessary that they should become a curse to you by being debased."—Testimonies, vol. 3, 84.
II. Such divinely given "passions are to be controlled by reason and the Holy Spirit":
"Unfallen Adam's appetites and passions were under the control of reason."—Patriarchs and Prophets, 45. "The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in our lives."—Ministry of Healing, 130.
"[Paul's] words, his practices, his passions—all were brought under the control of the Spirit of God."—Acts of the Apostles, 315.
"It is the grace of God that you need in order that your thoughts may be disciplined to flow in the right channel, that the words you utter may be right words, and that your passions and appetites may be subject to the control of reason, and the tongue be bridled against levity and unhallowed censure and faultfinding. ... Our natural propensities must be controlled, or we can never overcome as Christ overcame."—Testimonies, vol. 4, 235.
"If they will with faith and courage bring their will in submission to the will of God, he will teach them, and their lives may be like the pure white lily, full of fragrance on the stagnant waters. They must resolve in the strength of Jesus to control inclination and passion, and every day win victories over Satan's temptations. This is the way God has marked out for men to serve his high purposes."—Signs of the Times, July 8, 1880.
"The greatest triumph given us by the religion of Christ is control over ourselves. Our natural propensities must be controlled, or we can never overcome as Christ overcame.—Testimonies, vol. 4, 235.
"The natural, hereditary traits of the character need a firm curb, else earnest zeal, good purposes, will run into evil, and excess of feeling will produce such impressions upon human hearts that they will be carried away by impulse and will allow impressions to become their guide."—Selected Messages, bk. 2, 93.
III. EGW often interchanges the meaning of passion and propensity, especially when considering that both are to be controlled by reason and the higher powers.
"The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it. The words 'flesh' of 'fleshly' or 'carnal lusts' embrace the lower, corrupt nature; the flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God. We are commanded to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. How shall we do it? ... Put to death the temptation to sin. The corrupt thought is to be expelled. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. All animal propensities are to be subjected to the higher powers of the soul."—Manuscript 1, 1888, The Adventist Home, 127, 128.
Notes: This kind of passion or propensity, common to unfallen Adam and to overcoming Christians, must be what EGW understood when she wrote of Jesus:
"The church of Christ is to represent his character. ... Jesus says, 'For their sake I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.' ... He left the glories of heaven, and clothed his divinity with humanity, and subjected himself to sorrow, and shame, and reproach, abuse, denial, and crucifixion. Though he had all the strength of the passion of humanity, never did he yield to temptation to do that which was not pure and elevating and ennobling."—Signs of the Times, Nov 21, 1892.
"The lessons of Christ upon the occasion of receiving the children, should leave a deeper impression upon our minds. ... They may be wayward, and possess passions like those of humanity, but this should not deter us from bringing them to Christ. He blessed children that were possessed of passions like his own.—Signs of the Times, April 9, 1896.
IV. Certain passions to be cast out, crucified, overcome, etc:
"The only power that can create or perpetuate true peace is the grace of Christ. When this is implanted in the heart, it will cast out the evil passions that cause strife and dissension."—The Desire of Ages, 302.
"Unholy passions must be crucified. They will clamor for indulgence, but God has implanted in the heart high and holy purposes and desires, and these need not be debased. It is only when we refuse to submit to the control 'I can do all things through Christ.' Phil. 4:13."—Gospel Workers, 128.
"The unsanctified will and passions must be crucified. This may be regarded as a close and severe work. Yet it must be done, or you will hear the terrible sentence from the mouth of Jesus: "Depart." You can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth you. You are of that age when the will, the appetite, and the passions clamor for indulgence. God has implanted these in your nature for high and holy purposes. It is not necessary that they should become a curse to you by being debased."—Testimonies, vol. 3, 84.
"Our pride, selfishness, evil passions, and love of wordly pleasure must all be overcome; therefore God sends us afflictions to test and prove us, and show us that these evils exist in our characters. We must overcome through His strength and grace that we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."—Testimonies, vol. 3, 115.
"Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and body. Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is "dead in trespasses." Eph. 2:1. He will set free the captive that is held by weakness and misfortune and the chains of sin."—The Desire of Ages, 203.
"Passion of just as base a quality may be found in the marriage relation as outside of it. ... It is not pure love which actuates a man to make his wife an instrument to minister to his lust. It is the animal passions which clamor for indulgence. ... Love is a pure and holy principle; but lustful passion will not admit of restraint, and will not be dictated to or controlled by reason. ... The brain nerve power is squandered by men and women, being called into unnatural action to gratify base passions; and this hideous monster, base, low passion, assumes the delicate name of love. Many professed Christians who passed before me seemed destitute of moral restraint. ... [The wife] is made an instrument to minister to the gratification of low, lustful propensities. And very many women submit to become slaves to lustful passion; they do not possess their bodies in sanctification and honor, ... but her chaste, dignified, godlike womanhood has been consumed upon the altar of base passion; it has been sacrified to please her husband. ... No man can truly love his wife when she will patiently submit to become his slave and minister to his depraved passions. ... He doubts her constantly and purity, tires of her, and seeks new objects to arouse and intensify his hellish passions. ... She sees that he is not controlled by conscience or the fear of God; all these sanctified barriers are broken down by lustful passions; all that is godlike in the husband is made the servant of low, brutish lust. ... Shall the wife feel bound to yield implicitly to the demands of her husband, when she sees that nothing but base passions control him, and when her reason and judgment are convinced that she doe it to the injury of her body, which God has enjoined upon her to possess in sanctification and honor, to preserve as a living sacrifice to God? ... It is not pure, holy love which leads the wife to gratify the animal propensities of her husband at the expense of health and life. If she possesses true love and wisdom, she will seek to divert his mind from the gratification of lustful passions to high and spiritual themes by dwelling upon interesting spiritual subjects. It may be necessary to humbly and affectionately urge, even at the risk of his displeasure, that she cannot debase her body by yielding to sexual excess."—Testimonies, vol. 2, 474, 475.
The lust of the eye and corrupt passions are aroused by beholding and by reading. The heart is corrupted through the imagination. The mind takes pleasure in contemplating scenes which awaken the lower and baser passions. These vile images, seen through defiled imagination, corrupt the morals and prepare the deluded, infatuated beings to give loose rein to lustful passions. Then follow sins and crimes which drag beings formed in the image of God down to a level with the beasts, sinking them at last in perdition. Avoid reading and seeing things which will suggest impure thoughts. Cultivate the moral and intellectual powers. Let not these noble powers become enfeebled and perverted by much reading of even storybooks. I know of strong minds that have been unbalanced and partially benumbed, or paralysed, by intemperance in reading."—Testimonies, vol. 2, 410.
"A fearful retribution awaits them, and yet they are controlled by impulse and gross passion; they are filling out a dark life record for the judgment. I lift my voice of warning to all who name the name of Christ to depart from all iniquity. Purify your souls by obeying the truth. Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. You to whom this applies know what I mean."—Testimonies, vol. 3, 475.
"That which ye sow ye shall also reap. These young men are now sowing the seed. Every act of their lives, every word spoken, is a seed for good or evil. As is the seed, so will be the crop. If they indulge hasty, lustful, perverted passions or give up to the gratification of appetite or the inclination of their unsanctified hearts; if they foster pride or wrong principles and cherish habits of unfaithfulness or dissipation, they will reap a plentiful harvest of remorse, shame, and despair."—Testimonies, vol. 3, 226, 227.
This above list of passions are far different than the passions that are to be controlled: "vicious," "perverted," "murderous," "hasty, lustful," "bitter or baleful," "corrupt," "hellish," "base," "depraved," etc. These passions are to be overcome," "crucified"—in other words, eliminated. These are not the passions Jesus ever had—He did not yield nor permit Himself to be corrupted by daily temptation.
This is why EGW could write in referring to Jesus:
"He was unsullied with corruption, a stranger to sin; yet He prayed, and that often with strong crying and tears. He prayed for His disciples and for Himself, thus identifying Himself with our needs, our weaknesses, and our failings, which are so common with humanity. He was a mighty petitioner, not possessing the passions of our human, fallen natures, but compassed with like infirmities, tempted in all pints even as we are. Jesus endured agony which required help and support from His Father."—Testimonies, vol. 2, 508, 509.
"Our Saviour identifies Himself with our needs and weaknesses, in that He became a suppliant, a nightly petitioner, seeking from His Father fresh supplies of strength, to come forth invigorated and refreshed, braced for duty and trial. He is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions. As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from evil."—Testimonies, vol. 2, 202.
V. As we did with EGW's use of passions to be "crucified," let us now look at her use of propensities that must be eliminated from the maturing Christian's life.
"I have been shown that they gratify their selfish propensities and do only such things as agree with their tastes and ideas. They make provision for indulgence in pride and sensuality and carry out their selfish ambitions and plans. They are full of self-esteem. But although their evil propensities may seem to them as precious as the right hand or the right eye, they must be separated from the worker, or he cannot be acceptable before God."—Testimonies to Ministers, 171, 172.
"If, like Daniel, young men and young women will bring all their habits, appetites, and passions into conformity to the requirements of God, they will qualify themselves for higher work. They should put from their minds all that is cheap and frivolous. Nonsense and amusement-loving propensities should be discarded, as out of place in the life and experience of those who are living by faith in the Son of God."—The Youth's Instructor, June 22, 1899.
"What cares the vendor of gossip that he defames the innocent? He will not stay his evil work, though he destroy hope and courage in those who are already sinking under their burdens. He cares only to indulge his scandal-loving propensity."—Testimonies, vol. 5, 57.
"You are watching with keen business eye the best chance to secure a bargain. This scheming propensity has become second nature with you, and you do not see and realize the evil of encouraging it."—Testimonies, vol. 4, 351.
"Parents ... have abused their marriage privileges, and by indulgence have strengthened their animal passions. ... Children are born with the animal propensities largely developed, the parents’ own stamp of character having been given to them. ... Those who feel at liberty, because married, to degrade their bodies by beastly indulgence of the animal passions, will have their degraded course perpetuated in their children. The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children because the parents have given them the stamp of their own lustful propensities."—Testimonies, vol. 2, 391.
VI. EGW never said that all passions and propensities were to be "crucified," or "separated" from the Christian's life—only the "evil" passions and propensities. Why? The natural, God-given passions/propensities obviously will remain and are to remain under control until we are translated or resurrected:
"The training and education of a lifetime must often be discarded that the Christian may become a learner in the school of Christ, and in him who would be a partaker of the divine nature, appetite and passion must be brought under the control of the Holy Spirit. There is to be no end to this warfare this side of eternity, but while there are constant battles to fight, there are also precious victories to gain, and the triumph over self and sin is of more value than the mind can estimate. The effort put forth to overcome, though requiring self-denial, is of little account beside the victory over evil."—Christian Education, 122.
In other words, not the absence of conflict but the promise of overcoming victory, this side of eternity.
VII. From all the above examples (which are only a few examples and not an exhaustive list), we can better understand EGW when she wrote:
"We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful propensity. Christ is the sin-bearer; John pointed the people to him, saying, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' ... As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good."—Review and Herald, April 24, 1900.
VIII. And when referring to Jesus, she wrote:
"He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. ... Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to, corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption."—Manuscript Releases, vol. 13: 18, 19.
Jesus was at war with all temptations to satisfy His human desires and propensities, which we all have—but He resisted, recoiled, overcame all to them. He overcame these base passions/propensities by the kingly power of reason and the Holy Spirit:
"But here we must not become in our ideas common and earthly, and in our perverted ideas we must not think that the liability of Christ to yield to Satan’s temptations degraded His humanity and He possessed the same sinful, corrupt propensities as man. ... To suppose He was not capable of yielding to temptation places Him where He cannot be a perfect example for man, and the force and the power of this part of Christ’s humiliation, which is the most eventful, is no instruction or help to human beings. ... The divine nature, combined with the human, made Him capable of yielding to Satan’s temptations. Here the test to Christ was far greater than that of Adam and Eve, for Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God. To suppose He was not capable of yielding to temptation places Him where He cannot be a perfect example for man, and the force and the power of this part of Christ’s humiliation, which is the most eventful, is no instruction or help to human beings."—Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 182.
Jesus did not have "sinful, corrupt propensities as man," not because He was born with this advantage but because He chose not to be "sinful, corrupt propensities as man."
Jesus became human as every child does, by human birth. His heredity gave Him all the weaknesses, passions, and propensities common to every human being.. But by choice, He did not turn those natural weaknesses, passions, and propensities, into evil passions and propensities.
EGW often makes this clear but never clearer than in The Desire of Ages, 49—"It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. ... Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life’s peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss." DA, 48.
When EGW wrote that "He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity," she was simply saying that "Jesus could have sinned ... but He didn't."
EGW used the same kind of thinking when she wrote: Adam was tempted by the enemy, and he fell. ... There were in him no corrupt principles, no tendencies to evil. But when Christ came to meet the temptations of Satan, He bore "the likeness of sinful flesh."—Signs of the Times, October 17, 1900.