Grace on Trial

Two opposite misunderstandings about the 1888 message try to confuse us:

(1) Many assume that it's just what they have heard all their lives from Billy Graham, and at our camp meetings or weeks of prayer. Everybody believes it and nobody seriously opposes it. Ho-hum. Why reinvent the wheel?

(2) The opposite error is to assume that because the message is different, it must be a difficult, complex theological puzzle that few can grasp.

Both ideas are mistaken. A little thought can show why.

(a) The 1888 message was "the beginning" of the latter rain and the loud cry, which was to have gone "like fire in the stubble" and in a short time lightened the earth with the glory of the closing message.1 The final events of the prophetic scenario were at hand, with national Sunday laws and persecution imminent2 But now more than a century has dragged by wearily. Two World Wars and other tragedies have cursed the earth during this long delay. Something must have gone wrong. The message was indeed fresh and special. But after nearly a decade it was "in a great degree kept away" "from our people" and "from the world."3 Meanwhile, many have assumed that our righteousness by faith "doctrine" is the same as that of the conservative Baptists, Lutherans, or other Protestants.

But if Ellen White said it was “the third angel's message in verity," are these Sunday-keeping churches proclaiming that? Putting it all together, it seems that what we have thought is "Righteousness by faith" during this more than a century has been” in a great measure" imported from the popular churches. For sure, they do not understand the third angel's message. Such importing would replace the unique concepts God "sent" us in 1888. Willow Creek is just one recent example of long-lasting confusion.

(b) This chapter is to demonstrate also that (2) cannot be true. The message is simple; even a child can understand it. The only problem is that our deep human pride must be laid aside because genuine righteousness by faith in these last days lays "the glory of man in the dust."That includes the pride which teachers and preachers find so tempting.4

Our 1888 history and message remind us that "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise... And the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."5 Jesus says it's only those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness [by faith]" who can be filled.6

The Basic Difference Is Motivation

There are three motives that are generally employed to lead people to become Christians:

(1) The desire to secure a reward in heaven. Naturally we want a place there. The motive is not evil, but neither is it lasting. Satan can find a way to make us forget. If hope of reward is the reason why we are serving Christ, the enemy can invent a temptation that overrides that desire, and we will sell out when our price gets high enough, preferring that bird-in-the-hand here and now to two-in-the-bush hereafter.

(2) The fear of being lost in hell. This is the other side of the same coin. It is natural also for us to be moved by this. "Through fear of death" we are "all [our] lifetime subject to bondage."7 This motive is also not evil, but neither can it produce a Christlike character. It too will fail under strong, alluring temptation. Knowing that we have an ultimate "price,“ Satan can present a temptation so rooted in a more immediate fear that it will cancel out any future fear. This will at last be the "mark of the beast."There is danger that multitudes of professed Adventists will at last succumb unless they can get spiritual help.8

(3) The desire for personal, social benefits here and now. This also is natural and understandable. And if the presentation is skillful, there can be “evangelistic success." But again, it can produce nothing more in devotion than we see in contemporary popular religion. Even if we baptize billions with this motivation, we will not hasten the coming of the Lord because it cannot prepare a people for His personal return.

The Source of Lukewarm Devotion

It is these motives that produce lukewarmness of devotion, and in the end can motivate many to sell out to our very clever enemy when he invents his final temptation. Multitudes who have heretofore appeared solid prove to be chaff.9

Can we not see what happens? The center of concern always remains self, that troublesome ego. "Looking to Jesus" remains tied to a radius of ego-concern and insecurity. Thus the deep root of fear is not cast out, only disguised.

In contrast, the motive to which the New Testament gospel appeals is a cross-inspired faith. It is a “more excellent way.” Paul learned a lesson in his near-failure ministry in Athens. When he came to Corinth, he "determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." He tells the Galatians that in his preaching "Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified."Their response was phenomenal. As they listened, their ears were turned into eyes, and they "saw" the Son of God dying for them. This became the definition of "the hearing of faith."10

The apostles began with a presentation of God's deed in the sacrifice at the cross, not with man's need of personal security. Thus they could bypass the natural ego-centered motivations of the human heart and appeal directly to the latent sense of wonder and awe and heart-appreciation that God's agape arouses. A capacity for responding is built into every human soul for "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."11

That “measure"(metron, Greek) may be illustrated by my Honda. I once bought a plain-Jane model and installed the radio myself. Although it was not then standard equipment, I was pleased to find that the Honda people had built into the car a metron or capacity for receiving the radio. There was an aperture provided for its installation, even holes drilled for the speakers with wires already included. No human being is born with divine love already built in—it must be imported and "installed." But God has provided the capacity for our learning to appreciate and receive it.

The sowing of such "hearing-of-faith" seed produced early Christians who were not lukewarm. Many sacrificed their all for Him who sacrificed His all for them, singing hymns as they went to martyrdom in the arenas. The 1888 message began to recover that Christ-centered motivation. It clearly differentiated between being "under the law” and "under grace."12

"Under the Law" vs. "Under Grace"

The usual understanding of "under the law" is "under the condemnation of the law." But to understand the meaning of the phrase we should first discover the meaning of its opposite—being "under grace."

If someone risked his life to save you from death, and you understood how much he risked for you, you would ever afterward feel under obligation to him, a gratitude that would motivate you to do anything you could for him. You would not think of asking him for a reward; you would want to give him one.

To be "under grace" is to be under a new motivation imposed by Christ's love for us."Henceforth" we cannot stop to count the cost of sacrificing for Him nor can we ask questions about how much or how little He expects of us. Our childish questions whether this or that is a "sin that will keep us out of heaven" shrivel up into the pettiness that they are. We forget our striving for reward, for "stars in mycrown," and now our concern is to help crown Him "King of kings and Lord of lords."

The early Christians asked, “Did the Son of God give Himself for me, dying like a criminal on a Roman cross, dying my second death of forsakenness by God? Oh, I must henceforth live for Him!" The result: a beautiful, unmeasured devotion devoid of egocentric legalism.

To be “under the law” is the simple opposite—to be under a sense of "l-ought-to-do-this," or "l-should-be-more-faithful," or "I should-sacrifice-more," or "l-should-stop-this-bad-habit,” or "I should-read-my-Bible-more,""l-should-pray-more," etc. The rock-bottom motivation is always a fear of being lost or a hope of reward in heaven, a search for greater security here and now.

Thus the "under-the-law" motive for healthful living degenerates to a search for longer, happier life for our pleasure here and now rather than clearer minds and more healthful bodies with which to serve the One who died for us. Health reform originally came to Seventh-day Adventists as an avenue to help us appreciate what the great High Priest is accomplishing in His Most Holy Apartment ministry.

Suppose I meet an alluring temptation to commit adultery. If I say "no" because of fear of herpes or AIDS, or fear lest the pastor or church board or conference leaders hear of it, or that my wife will learn of it—I have done the right thing for the wrong reason. This would be an "under-the-law" motivation.

But if I say "no" as Joseph did in Egypt, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" because I can't stand the idea of bringing shame and disgrace on Christ to add to His pain—I am constrained by a new motivation; I am "under grace."

The Simplicity of Justification by Faith

If justification by faith is purely a legal pronouncement made millions of light years away that has no relation to our human heart, we verbally "accept Christ" and we start the heavenly machinery rolling. One's name is then entered in God's computer and his eternal social security benefits are then credited to his account. His decision has initiated this process of legal acquittal. He was acquisitive enough to put the coins in the washing machine. An element of pride can enter here; he initiated the process of his personal salvation.

But there can be no pride or "boasting" in true faith. Paul understood how we all share the guilt of "all the world," how "all have sinned," how all of us are involved in the sin of Adam—not through any "re-incarnation" but through corporate identity. "All alike have sinned."13 "Death spread to all men, because all sinned." No one of us is innately better than anyone else. As all lions are by nature man-eaters, so all humans are by nature at "enmity with God," and since "whosoever hates his brother is a murderer," automatically we are all "alike" by nature guilty of the crucifixion of the Son of God.14

But there is also good news in what Paul says that at first thought looks depressing. Just as all have sinned, he continues, so all are “being justified freely by His grace." The heavenly machinery is already working, long before you make your "decision" to serve the Lord! Since the justification is "free," it must be that everyone has to be included; otherwise it could not be free.

"God set forth [Christ] to be a propitiation by His blood,... to demonstrate ... His righteousness."15 And note that the "blood" accomplished the propitiation, before we were born.

It doesn't make sense to say that the sacrifice of Christ propitiates the Father, because He already gave Christ for us. God "set forth” Christ on His cross, so that when He is "lifted up ... [He] will draw all" unto Himself by the sight of that blood.16

Nor does it make sense to say that the blood propitiates the devil, or buys him off. He is still our enemy. Who then is propitiated by that blood? We are!

This truth goes far beyond the Moral Influence Theory of the atonement because there is a solid legal basis for the atonement. Adam brought a legal condemnation on "all men;" and apart from the sacrifice of Christ, we would all be eternally lost. But Christ reversed that legal condemnation for the same "all men." That's why anyone can live!

When the sinner stops resisting and lets his proud human heart be melted by that love revealed, justification by faith takes place. This makes him fully obedient to the law of God. In the past, he was disobedient, and he was selfish. He still has a sinful nature and will have it until glorification, but now faith works, and he does not fulfill those selfish impulses. Now he is a willing slave motivated by Christ's love, and he joins Paul in saying, “The love of Christ constraineth us." This is what it means to be "under grace."

How the 1888 Messengers Understood Justification by Faith

(1) It makes the believer to become obedient to the law of God, not by eradicating his sinful nature but by enabling him to triumph over it:

God justifies the ungodly.... It does not mean that He glosses over a man's faults, so that he is counted righteous, although he is really wicked; but it means that He makes that man a doer of the law. The moment God declares an ungodly man righteous, that instant that man is a doer of the law.... It will be seen, therefore, that there can be no higher state than that of justification. It does everything that God can do for a man short of making him immortal, which is done only at the resurrection. ... Faith and submission to God must be exercised continually, in order to retain the righteousness—in order to remain a doer of the law.17

The word of God which speaks righteousness has the righteousness itself in it, and as soon as the sinner believes, and receives that word into his own heart by faith, that moment he has the righteousness of God in his heart; and since out of the heart are the issues of life, it follows that a new life is thus begun in him; and that life is a life of obedience to the commandments of God.18

(2) Saving faith is a heart appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ:

In this blessed fact of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, which was accomplished for every soul, there is not only laid the foundation of faith for every soul, but in it there is given the gift of faith to every soul. And thus the cross of Christ is ... the very power of God manifested to deliver us from all sin, and bring us to God.19

(3) Genuine justification by faith is meaningless apart from appreciating how close Christ has come to us:

There is no element of weakness in the law; the weakness is in the flesh. It is not the fault of a good tool that it cannot make a sound pillar out of a rotten stick.... Poor, fallen man had no strength resting in his flesh to enable him to keep the law. And so God imputes to believers the righteousness of Christ, who was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, so that "the righteousness of the law" might be fulfilled in their lives. ... Christ took upon Himself man's nature, and will impart of His own righteousness to those who accept His sacrifice.20

(4) This special, unique message was intended by the Lord to prepare His people for translation:

What means, then, this special message of justification that God has been sending these [seven] years to the church and to the world [1895]? ... This special message of justification which God has been sending us is to prepare us for glorification at the coming of the Lord. In this, God is giving to us the strongest sign that it is possible for Him to give, that the next thing is the coming of the Lord.21

But now a question arises. When the 1888 messengers said that justification by faith makes the believer "a doer of the law," did they inadvertently fall into the error of the Roman Catholic view which says that justification is "making righteous"? No, the two views are as different as night and day:

(1) The Catholic view sees justification administered exclusively by the Catholic Church through its sacraments: "The instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism." "The sacrament of Penance" is necessary to be administered by the same Church. Also, "sacramental confession,... sacerdotal absolution," "fasts, alms, prayers, and the other pious exercises” are needed.22 In contrast, the 1888 message teaches justification by faith in Christ alone, and the instrumentality is the Holy Spirit, not a church or hierarchy.

(2) The Catholic view denies that the sacrifice of Christ "restored the whole race of men to favor with God."23 "Though He died for all, yet do not all receive the benefit of his death, but those only unto whom the merit of his passion is communicated" by the sacraments of the Church.24 In contrast, the 1888 message caught the apostles’ Good News that legally "all ... [are] justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;" "through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life;" "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world;" "the Lamb of God ... takes away the sin of the world!"25 Even Luther and Calvin came short of powerfully articulating this larger New Testament vision of what Christ accomplished on His cross.

(3) In Roman Catholic justification, the sinner is not united to Christ through faith by the free imputation of the whole of Christ's righteousness, but God gradually infuses his soul with an inherent righteousness that is meritorious, so that persevering Catholics will "have truly merited eternal life ... if so be, however, that they depart in grace."26 The 1888 message recognizes that the believer never has had or will have an iota of merit in himself, nor any righteousness inherent in himself; righteousness is only in Christ and the believer receives it only through faith.

(4) The Council of Trent taught that "adults ... may ... convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and cooperating with that said grace.” This "anticipated ... grace of God" precedes justification and requires first a "disposition, or, preparation, [which] is followed by justification itself."The Trent Chapters VI and VII list many items of "preparation" that the sinner must do before he can be justified, “things which precede justification."27

The 1888 message recognized that man has no part whatever in his justification and can make no preparation for it or do anything to "precede" it. It is done wholly by Christ, and all the believer can do is to receive, accept, believe, appreciate, what Christ accomplished, and stop hindering this dynamic faith to work obedience by love.

(5) The Catholic view encourages doubt and fear: "Each one, when he regards himself, and his own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and apprehension touching his own grace; seeing that no one can know with a certainty of faith, which can not be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God.""If any one saith, that it is necessary for every one, for the obtaining of remission of sins, that he believe for certain ... that his sins are forgiven him: let him be anathema."28 The 1888 message recognized that "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."The message encourages complete confidence in God's gift of that grace.29

(6) The Catholic view fails to see that the whole fallen human race which is "in Adam" is corporately "in Christ" by virtue of His sacrifice. The 1888 message sees sin as a continual, unbelieving resistance of Christ who “will draw all men unto Me" if they will stop resisting. Christ has already tasted the second death for everyone, and thus no one can suffer at last for his sins unless he persists in unbelief, disbelieves, and rejects what Christ has done for him.30

(7) Thus the Catholic Church still in principle denies that justification is by faith alone. When they say that justification "makes righteous,“ their idea is opposed to that of the 1888 message. Catholic "justification" is infused, inherent, and meritorious, and not solely of faith: "No one ought to flatter himself up with faith alone, fancying that by faith alone he is made an heir, and will obtain the inheritance."31

The 1888 message broke through centuries of Catholic and Protestant fog into a clearer view of the sunlit New Testament truth.

How Good News Permeated the 1888 Message

A so-called "gospel" without Good News has to be a counterfeit. The burden of the apostles' message is "glad tidings."32 This gave people no false assurance. The burden of their message was how faithful God is.33 Thus the people "received the atonement," or reconciliation, with God.34

Man's problem is our alienation from God due to our guilt and distorted view of His character. Troubles and disappointments arouse bad feelings. Why doesn't He do more to help us? Why does He permit suffering?35

Paul pleaded, "Be reconciled to God." Believe the truth about His character, and let your enmity be healed and your guilt be taken away.36 Then faith can go to work, producing works of righteousness in the life. This welcome "glad tidings" was the burden of the 1888 message:

Let the weary, feeble, sin-oppressed souls take courage. Let them 'come boldly unto the throne of grace,’ where they are sure to find grace to help in time of need, because that need is felt by our Saviour in the very time of need.... The very temptation that presses you touches Him. His wounds are ever fresh, and He ever lives to make intercession for you.

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 fullness of God's strength.37

Why is it that the sun does not slip out of his place? ... The "powerful word" of Jesus Christ holds the sun there, and causes him to go on in his course. And that same power is to hold up the believer in Jesus.38

There is special good news included in forgiveness. We gain very little self-respect in being merely pardoned at no expense to God. If all God does for us is to pardon or excuse our sins, we still carry the pollution deep within our souls.

But the "blood of the new covenant... is shed for many for the remission of sins,” taking them away. Sins are to be "blotted out." True forgiveness will do more than pardon us, because we at last realize what it cost Him. It will "cleanse us from all unrighteousness."39 Says the 1888 idea:

When Christ covers us with the robe of His own righteousness, He does not furnish a cloak for sin, but takes the sin away. And this shows that the forgiveness of sins is something more than a mere form, something more than a mere entry in the books of record in heaven, to the effect that the sin has been canceled. The forgiveness of sins is a reality,... something that vitally affects the individual. It actually clears him from guilt; and if he is cleared from guilt, is justified, made righteous, he has certainly undergone a radical change.40

Ellen White agrees:

God's forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin.41

Good News: A People Can Actually Be Prepared for Christ's Coming

There is a true aspect of Adventism which has been widely opposed in recent years. The very possibility of a people overcoming so that they might be ready for Christ's coming has been muted, denied, and even ridiculed. It has often been denounced as the heresy of "perfectionism."

But the Bible is clear: "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Revelation complements this "blessed hope" by describing a people who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes.... They are blameless."42

Scripture teaches that those who look “for that blessed hope” will truly, not supposedly, “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."43 The 1888 message does not deserve ridicule. This glorious result will be accomplished through righteousness by faith, not through an ego-centered works program:

God manifest in the flesh, God manifest in sinful flesh, is the mystery of God—not God manifested in sinless flesh, but in sinful flesh. That is to say,... God will so dwell yet in sinful flesh today that in spite of all the sinfulness of sinful flesh, his influence, his glory, his righteousness, his character, shall be manifested wherever that person goes.... In Christ is shown the Father's purpose concerning us. All that was done in Christ was to show what will be done in us.... Is it too much, then, for us to think that sinful flesh, such as we; worthless dust and ashes, as are we—is it too much for us to think that such as we can manifest the glory of the Lord, which is refracted through Jesus Christ,—the glory of the Lord shining from the face of Jesus Christ? ... It is our part to furnish a place for the glory to fall, that it may shine in the beautiful reflected rays of the glory of God.44

Tucked away in an obscure text of the Bible is a Good News promise that cannot fail to be fulfilled:"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."45 Amplified and complemented by the message of Hebrews in the New Testament, this prophecy describes the special work of the heavenly High Priest on this cosmic Day of Atonement. Today we are living "in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound."46 This is the work which began in 1844.

Our friends in other churches are sincere, warm-hearted Christians living up to all the light they have. Lutheran, Calvinist, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, or whatever, their "Righteousness by faith" sincerely knows nothing of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, nothing of an antitypical Day of Atonement. The idea of a special heart-preparation for the return of Christ is dimly, if at all, comprehended.

The Seventh-day Adventist 1888 message sees a successful resolving of the "great controversy between Christ and Satan."The Lord finds a people willing to cooperate fully with Him in the last days. Christ as heavenly High Priest cleanses His sanctuary. It's not our job to do it.

Our part is to cooperate with Him, to let Him do it, to stop hindering Him.

Notes:

1. Review and Herald, November 22,1892; Selected Messages, Book One, p. 118.
2. See Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, article "Sunday Laws," p. 1273.
3. Cf. Selected Messages, Book One, pp. 234,235.
4. Cf. Christ Our Righteousness, p. 104.
5. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29.
6. Matthew 5:6.
7. Hebrews 2:15.
8. "The shaking of God blows away multitudes like dry leaves." Testimonies, Vol.4, p. 89.
9. Cf. Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 81.
10. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4; Galatians 3:1-5.
11. Romans 12:3.
12. Romans 6:14,15.
13. Romans 3:19,23,NEB;5:12.
14. 1 John 3:15.
15. Romans 3:25.
16. John 12:32.
17. E. J.Waggoner, Signs of the Times, May 1,1893.
18. Waggoner, The Gospel in Creation, p. 28.
19. A. T. Jones, Review and Herald, October 24,1899.
20. Waggoner, Bible Echo, February 15,1892. More about this in a later chapter.
21. Jones, General Conference Bulletin, 1895, p. 367.
22. Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Chapter VII; Chapter XIV. From Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 11, pp. 89-118.
23. Selected Messages, Book One, p. 343.
24. Trent, Chapter III.
25. Romans 3:24;5:18; 1 John 2:2;John 1:29.
26. Trent, Chapter XVI.
27. Chapter V; Chapter VII; Chapter VIII.
28. Chapter IX;Canon XIII.
29. Ephesians4:7.
30. John 12:32, KJV; Hebrews 2:9; John 3:17,18; cf.Steps to Christ, p. 27.
31. Trent, Chapter XI.
32. See Acts 13:32-34.
33. See Romans 8:26-39, for example.
34. Romans 5:11.
35. The answer has to be that God suffers with us, "in Christ." More than we do, He longs to bring this world's suffering to an end. But first He must have a people who have received a final atonement, who have ceased resisting His grace, who can proclaim a message that lightens the earth with glory.
36. 2 Corinthians 5:20.
37. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, p. 30.
38. Jones, General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 218.
39. Matthew 26:28; Acts 2:38;3:19; 1 John 1:9,2:1,2.
40. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, p. 66.
41. Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 114.
42. Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 14:4,5, NIV.
43. Revelation 14:12.
44. Jones, General Conference Bulletin, 1893, pp. 377-380.
45. Daniel 8:14, KJV.
46. Revelation 10:7, KJV; see Hebrews 8,9,10.