"As the priest entered the most holy once a year to cleanse the earthly sanctuary, so Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation, and thus to cleanse the sanctuary."- Ellen G. White
The ancient tabernacle ritual was divided into a daily and a yearly phase:
"Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people."-Heb. 9:6, 7.
In the daily ministration the shed blood was sprinkled in the first apartment; in the yearly it was sprinkled in the second apartment. This application of the blood in the sanctuary was the "daily and yearly typical atonement."-1SM 344.
Although the word "atonement" was applied to the shedding of blood in the outer court, it was most often used to describe the actual ministration of the blood inside the tabernacle itself. (Lev. 10:17, 18; 16:27) Thus it has not been uncommon for Adventists to refer to Christ's work in the heavenly sanctuary as His work of atonement. This is not to deny His complete sacrifice on the cross. Indeed, since God first wrought out a complete redemption in His Son, this complete reconciliation and union between God and man through the death of Christ may be called the "completion of the atonement."-Questions on Doctrine, p. 664.
But this presentation is here concerned with the other phase of the atonement-the application of Christ's life and death to the hearts of believers.
As there were two applications of the blood in the earthly sanctuary, so there are two distinct applications of Jesus' blood in the heavenly sanctuary. The sprinkling of the blood in the first apartment represented Christ applying His blood for the forgiveness of sins (Lev. 4); the sprinkling of the blood in the second apartment represented Christ applying His blood for the final blotting out of sins. (Acts 3:19; PP 357, 358)
The special light given to Adventism by an understanding of Daniel 8:14 centers around the last phase of Christ's mediation in the most holy place. In the Spirit of Prophecy, this is called the "final" or "special" atonement:
"As the priest entered the most holy once a year to cleanse the earthly sanctuary, so Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation, and thus to cleanse the sanctuary."-EW 253.
"Jesus sent His angels to direct the minds of the disappointed ones to the most holy place, where He had gone to cleanse the sanctuary and make a special atonement for Israel."-EW 251.
Elder M. L. Andreasen mentioned that he had found more than twenty instances [1] where the servant of the Lord had used the expression "final" or "special" atonement. Besides this, Ellen White refers to the work of the final atonement in numerous passages.
Doctrinal Embarrassment
The doctrine of the final atonement remains the one unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, constituting the only original contribution that Adventism has made to Christian theology. But a failure to grasp the vital significance of this distinctive teaching has made the church almost ashamed of it. In 1956, two very prominent "Evangelical" scholars, Donald Grey Barnhouse and Walter R. Martin, approached certain leading Adventist theologians for an explanation of Adventist doctrines. One of the main points raised concerned the final atonement. Dr. Barnhouse made a record of his interview in Eternity magazine:
"Further, they [the Adventist leaders] do not believe, as some of their earlier teachers taught, that Jesus' atoning work was not completed on Calvary but instead that He was still carrying on a second ministering work since 1844. This idea is also totally repudiated. They believe that since His ascension Christ has been ministering the benefits of the atonement which He completed on Calvary. Since the sanctuary doctrine is based on the type of the Jewish high priest going into the Holy of Holies to complete his atoning work, it can be seen that what remains is most certainly exegetically untenable and theological speculation of a highly imaginative order. What Christ is now doing, since 1844, according to this version, is going over the records of all human beings and deciding what rewards are going to be given to individual Christians. We personally do not believe that there is even a suspicion of a verse in Scripture to sustain such a peculiar position, and we further believe that any effort to establish it is stale, flat, and unprofitable!" [2]
Dr. Barnhouse may have been misinformed, but he was honestly reporting his impressions of the interview. When one reads Questions on Doctrine, which contained the answers to the questions from Barnhouse and Martin, it is not difficult to see the reason for Dr. Barnhouse's conclusions. The entire book avoids any mention of the final atonement.
In the appendix is a large collection of about one hundred fifty Ellen G. White statements on the atonement. The authors of Questions on Doctrine state that this collection of statements is "comprehensive," yet it does not contain even one of the twenty or more statements on the final atonement in the most holy place. One cannot help but ask the question, Why? Whatever the answer, Dr. Barnhouse was not impressed with what remained of the special doctrine of Daniel 8:14. He described it as a futile effort to prove something which was "stale, flat, and un- profitable!" [3]
As a college Bible teacher, this writer knows that a wide section of responsible Bible scholars within the church had serious reservations concerning certain positions presented in Questions on Doctrine. If the unfortunate denial of the final atonement had ended in 1956, the church might have recovered from this failure to witness as it should have. But Satan has now taken many along to the next step-denying the perfecting of the saints and the Adventist concept of the final generation. In Questions on Doctrine, much of the theological basis for believing in this sinless, final generation, was removed.
The sinful nature
In chapter 2 of this book, sin was considered in its two aspects-the sin of nature, and the sin of action. Paul calls these two aspects of sin the old man and his deeds. Jesus calls them the corrupt tree and the corrupt fruit. The Reformers called them original sin and actual sin. Obviously, the plan of salvation must deal with both the sinful nature and sinful deeds.
In the daily service the guilt incurred by sinful deeds was sent into the sanctuary. So daily repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ brings deliverance from guilt in the pardoning love of Christ. More than this, His renewing grace makes men partakers of His nature and breaks the controlling power of the sinful nature over their lives. But as has been seen in chapter 3, the sinful nature is not altogether destroyed in regeneration. It does not reign; but it does remain. Believers are therefore righteous, but at the same time sinful; or as Luther said, SIMUL JUSTI ET PECATORES.
The yearly service typified a deeper cleansing for Israel. That the Day of Atonement service dealt specifically with the sinful nature is shown by the following:
- The people had already confessed and put away all sin, yet they stood in need of a further cleansing. What remains to be cleansed in the forgiven saints? Original sin!
- In the daily ritual each individual confessed his own specific sins, but on the Day of Atonement the whole congregation was to be of one accord in repentance and humiliation of soul. What do all men have in common that requires them to repent before God? A sinful nature!
- No specific sins were confessed over the head of the Lord's goat on the Day of Atonement, yet the goat was required to die. Only sin causes death, but in this case it was not actual sin. These had already been confessed over the head of the sin offering. What is it that requires the death of Jesus besides sinful deeds? The sin of nature! For example, a child needs the cleansing blood of Christ to be saved, even if he has committed no acts of sin. So Christ had to take not only sinful deeds upon Him on the cross, but also the very sinfulness of man's nature.
Raymond F. Cottrell, in an editorial in the Review and Herald, recognizes that the Day of Atonement placed emphasis on deliverance from the sinful nature:
"Whereas the personal sacrifices stressed the need of forgiveness for overt, extrinsic sinful acts, the Day of Atonement sacrifice placed emphasis on the intrinsic character transformation through renunciation of the latent principle of sin that leads to overt sinful acts. The service of that solemn day taught the people that, despite the provision for releasing them from guilt occasioned by overt sinful acts, they were not to take sin lightly. There was something even more important-deliverance from their sinful nature, from the frame of mind that leads men to commit sin." [4]
This pertinent statement by Elder Cottrell contributes to an understanding of that final cleansing provided for the people of God on the Day of Atonement: "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord."-Lev. 16:30. When the high priest ended his work in the most holy place, Israel was "clean"-symbolically restored to her lost state of holiness.
Inheritance and Cultivation
Sinful tendencies come to humanity through inheritance and cultivation. The inherited aspect of the sinful nature has already been discussed. Its cultivated aspect will now be surveyed.
Adam acquired a sinful nature by cultivation only. One act of sin so defiled his inward life that he had to bear the curse of a perverse nature throughout his probationary existence. In sorrow he "ate of it" all the days of his life. (Gen. 3:17; PP 59; ED 26, 29)
If one act of sin so permanently affected Adam's mind, what effect have the many sins which men today have all committed had upon their minds? Forgiveness of sin and regeneration is unspeakably great and glorious, but it did not restore Adam to his lost state of holiness. Neither does it restore present humanity to its lost state of holiness. As the record of Adam's act of transgression gave him a sinful nature to bear throughout his probationary life, so today the records of men's acts have marred and defiled their nature.
It is well known that angels record the sins of each soul in the books of heaven. Yet, since those books are only a photograph of the mind of man, it is equally clear that the living record of sin is in man himself. Thus Jeremiah declares, "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars."-Jer. 17:1.
The record of sin is not blotted out when the sin is confessed. It remains in the books of heaven until the judgment and final atonement. (GC 485; PP 358) Since the records in heaven are an accurate mirror of the human character, it is certain that the experience of forgiveness does not remove the record of sin from the mind either, for if it were erased from the mind, it would have to be erased from the "photograph" in heaven.
It is amply clear from the example of father Adam that the mind retains the record of sin. But since this point is so fundamental, it will here be shown that the mind's retention of the record of sin is explicitly pointed out in the Spirit of Prophecy: [5]
"The Lord may and does forgive the repenting sinner; but though forgiven, the soul is marred."-DA 302.
"Now it may be you can repent. But even if pardon is written against your names, you will sustain terrible loss; for the scars you have made upon your souls will remain."-TM 447.
"Every mistake, every error, unimportant though it may be regarded, leaves a scar in this life and a blot on the heavenly records."-Our High Calling, p. 227.
"The character of the thoughts leaves its imprint upon the soul, and all low conversation pollutes the mind. All evil works ruin to those who commit it. God may and will forgive the repenting sinner, but though forgiven, the soul is marred; the power of the elevated thought possible to the e unimpaired mind is destroyed. Through all time the soul bears the scars."-FE 195.
"What the child sees and hears is drawing deep lines upon the tender mind, which no after circumstances in life can entirely efface."-CG 199.
"Every Christian will have a hard battle to fight with wrong habits. He must overcome his unbelief, his deformity of character, his inclination to self-indulgence. His long resistance of light, warnings, and appeals has left its mark upon his life; and although God has forgiven him, he feels that he cannot forgive himself."-RH, Jan. 13, 1891.
"He may be converted; he may see the wickedness of his injustice to his fellow-men, and as far as possible, make restitution; but the scars of a wounded conscience will ever remain."-3BC 1158.
"Our thoughts are to be strictly guarded; for one impure thought makes a deep impression on the soul. An evil thought leaves an evil impress on the mind."-MYP 144.
As in the case of inherited sinfulness, cultivated sinfulness is not entirely eradicated from the regenerate saints. As with Adam, they must "eat of it" all the days of their life. The conscience, cleansed though it may be of guilt, is not perfected. The scars of a wounded conscience ever remain. [6] The worshipper has a "conscience of sins."-Heb. 10:2.
The blotting out of sins
The final atonement is the blotting out of the record of sin. (PP 358) But before this can take place, there must be an examination of the records to see who by repentance and faith have become eligible candidates for the final atonement. (GC 422, 480)
As pertaining to the dead, Christ removes the record of their sins from the books and makes an atonement for their sins of ignorance. (EW 254) Since the record is the "blueprint" of the mind, the righteous dead will be raised from the grave according to the "blueprint." They will awake without a record of sin in their minds, having "no more conscience of sins."-Heb. 10:2.
For the living the closing up of the great antitypical Day of Atonement will be a definite experience. (5T 472-476) Once it is understood that the record books in heaven are a copy of the living record of the mind, it may also be understood that the blotting out of sins is more than a judicial act for the living saints. Forgiveness is more than a legal transaction; "it is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart."-MB 114. In like manner, the blotting out of sins is the full outflow of redeeming love which so purges and perfects the conscience that the worshipper will "have no more conscience of sins." Forgiveness of sin takes place under the former-rain blessing of the Spirit (Acts 2:38); the blotting out of sins takes place under the latter-rain baptism of the Spirit. (Acts 3:19)
In the following passages the Spirit of Prophecy makes it clear that the final atonement is a work of grace in the human mind:
"The righteous [in the time of trouble] will not cease their earnest agonizing cries for deliverance. They cannot bring to mind any particular sins, but in their whole life they can see but little good. Their sins had gone beforehand to judgment, and pardon had been written. Their sins had been borne away into the land of forgetfulness, and they could not bring them to remembrance."-3SG 135.
"... while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they will have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins will have been blotted out by the atoning blood of Christ, and they cannot bring them to remembrance."-PP 202.
"... in the final atonement the sins of the truly penitent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no more to be remembered or come into mind. ..."-PP 358.
"But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out, and they cannot bring them to remembrance."-GC 620. [7]
Why are such great efforts today being made to deny the blotting out of the remembrance of sin? Some are trying to make the inspired statement, "cannot bring them to remembrance," refer to "concealed wrongs":
"The key to memory of sin in the above quotations lies in the fact that Ellen G. White is speaking of unconfessed, concealed sins. ..."-Harry W. Lowe. [8]
"Taken out of its context, the statement might be thought to mean that the saints could not recall their sins. In its context it means simply that they are unable to recall any unconfessed sins."-G. D. Keough. [9]
But these claims are utterly untenable, as an analysis of the E. G. White statements referred to will show. The reason given by Inspiration that the sins of God's people cannot be remembered is because they "have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out." It is confessed sins that are sent beforehand to judgment, not unconfessed sins. Furthermore, it certainly cannot be claimed that the Lord blots out "unconfessed, concealed sins"! If the servant of the Lord were referring only to "concealed wrongs" not coming to mind, then she would not have to speak of the judgment and blotting out of sins taking them from the remembrance of the faithful, for converted saints have no "concealed wrongs" to reveal.
Not only has Ellen White clearly written about the blotting out of the remembrance of sin; old Adventist literature also contains many references to this experience. Here are some samples:
F. C. Gilbert
"What has become of the records of those who have lived righteous lives?-Jer. 31:33, 34; 50:20.
"The righteous will enjoy to the full the promise of the new covenant: 'They shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.'-Jer. 31:34.
"'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.'-Isa. 44:22.
"'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.'-Is. 43:25.
"'Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.'-Micah 7:19.
"In that day the sins of Israel cannot be found. Should any want to uncover or remember them, they cannot be found, for they will have been blotted out. The church of our Lord will have been made ready and prepared to meet her Lord." [10]
"Therefore on this day of atonement, when the work of blotting out of sin for the people was completed, the sanctuary also must be cleansed from sin and its effects. So when the high priest left the sanctuary that day, in type; there would be no more remembrance or thought of sin." [11]
E. J. Waggoner
"The blotting out of sin is the erasing of it from the nature, the being, of man. ...
"The erasing of sin is the blotting of it from our natures, so that we shall know it no more." The worshippers once purged'-actually purged by the blood of Christ-have 'no more conscience of sin,' because the way of sin is gone from them. Their iniquity may be sought for, but it will not be found. It is forever gone from them,-it is foreign to their new natures, and even though they may be able to recall the fact that they have committed certain sins, they have forgotten the sin itself-they do not think of doing it any more. This is the work of Christ in the true sanctuary, which the Lord pitched, and not man,-the sanctuary not made with hands, but brought into existence by the thought of God." [12]
M. C. Wilcox
"This blotting out of sin constitutes the atonement. Then will sins be removed from the faithful 'as far as the east is from the west.'-Ps. 103:12. Then they will be remembered no more."-Is. 43:25. [13]
A. T. Jones
"And the blotting out of sins is exactly this thing of the cleansing of the sanctuary; it is the finishing of all transgression in our lives; it is the making an end of all sins in our character; it is the bringing in of the very righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, to abide alone everlastingly." [14]
E. W. Farnsworth
"It means something more than simply blotting out a record up in heaven. It means blotting out of a man's mind the nightmare of sin, so that he will never remember it any more. That is what God is going to do for His blessed children, brethren, for all eternity, very soon." [15]
A 1901 Sabbath School lesson quarterly employed the following questions, Scripture references, and note:
"12. Are sins blotted out at the time when they are forgiven? Eccl. 12:14. (Matt. 18:23-25)
"13. During what time are they blotted out? Acts 3:19, 20.
"14. What will then be the condition of God's people? Jer. 50:20. (Is. 4:2-5)...
"[Note] 3. When we confess our sins, pardon is written over against our names; but the record of the sin still remains in the book until the judgment. In the type there is remembrance again made of sins every year; 'but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin;' and 'the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." [16]
Final Union with Christ
Atonement has the idea of at-one-ment. (6BC 1077) Final atonement means that the union between Christ and His people is consummated and sealed. So the work of Jesus in the most holy place is called "the marriage"--the "union of humanity with divinity." (GC 427; COL 307) In the light of this, who can successfully contend that the final atonement is only a judicial act which brings no experience to the saints?
The final at-one-ment is in reality the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer recorded in John 17:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved me."-John 17:21-23.
The church has never yet experienced that blessed state of unity and perfection for which Christ prayed. When she does, the Spirit of Prophecy declares, "Then will the message of the third angel swell to a loud cry, and the whole earth will be lightened with the glory of the Lord."-6T 401.
Sin is primarily a state of separation from God-a state wherein God is not loved nor His fellowship enjoyed. Salvation is primarily a state of union with God-a union wherein the whole heart and soul respond with the joy and pleasure of His presence. The final at-one-ment will call forth from the saints "the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy."-EW 271. The door is now open to the holiest of all (Rev. 3:8; EW 42), but the church has not entered. (Christ Our Righteousness, p. 118) The King calls, "All things are ready: come unto the marriage."-Matt. 22:4.
Notes:
- M. L. Andreasen, Letters to the Churches, p. 58.
- Donald Grey Barnhouse, "Are Seventh-day Adventists Christians?" Eternity, Sept., 1956, p. 44; (Emphasis in original publication)
- Ibid.
- Raymond F. Cottrell, "Meaning of the Day of Atonement," RH, Feb. 18, 1965, p. 15. Unfortunately, R. F. Cottrell did not proceed to show how the final atonement, brought to view in Lev. 16:30, was the solution to the problem of the "sinful nature."
- These E. G. White statements show that sin leaves a scar and an impress on the inward man-the soul, mind, and heart.
- "Ever remain" does not mean "remain for eternity," but, as will be seen, it means "remain until death or the judgment," i.e., throughout probationary life. (4T 367)
- "Remembrance of sin" is not necessarily the remembrance of an event. Sin is the spirit of evil expressed in wrong thoughts and feelings. Records of corrupt thoughts and feelings have been impressed on the mind. This is what must be blotted out so that the conscience may be perfected.
- Harry W. Lowe, "Forgiveness of Sins," RH, Apr. 23, 1964, p. 7.
- G. D. Keough, "God's Power to Pardon and Forget," Ministry, June, 1966, p. 37.
- F. C. Gilbert, Messiah and His Sanctuary, Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1937, pp. 205, 206.
- F. C. Gilbert, Practical Lessons from the Experience of Israel, South Lancaster Printing Company, 1902, p. 260.
- E. J. Waggoner, "The Blotting Out of Sin," RH, Sept. 30, 1902, p. 8.
- M. C. Wilcox, "Forgiveness, Atonement," RH, Sept. 25, 1883, p. 610.
- Alonzo T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, p. 124.
- Eugene W. Farnsworth, "A Personal Testimony," Divine Healing, Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1927, p. 13.
- Sabbath-School Lessons on the Sanctuary (Australasian Edition), Fourth Quarter, 1901, pp. 20, 21.