"We are in the day of atonement, and we are to work in harmony with Christ's work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. Let no man who desires to be found with the wedding garment on, resist our Lord in His office work. As He is, so will His followers be in this world. We must now set before the people the work which by faith we see our great High Priest accomplishing in the heavenly sanctuary." Review and Herald, January 21, 1890.
"Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary, and He is there to make an atonement for His people. … He is cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. What is our work?-It is our work to be in harmony with the work of Christ. By faith we are to work with Him, to be in union with Him. … A people is to be prepared for the great day of God." Ibid., January 28, 1890.
"Christ is cleansing the temple in heaven from the sins of the people, and we must work in harmony with Him upon the earth, cleansing the soul temple from its moral defilement." Ibid., February 11, 1890.
"The people have not entered into the holy place [most holy], where Jesus has gone to make an atonement for His children. We need the Holy Spirit in order to understand the truths for this time; but there is spiritual drought in the churches." Ibid., February 25, 1890.
"Light is flashing from the throne of God, and what is this for?-It is that a people may be prepared to stand in the day of God." Ibid., March 4, 1890.
"If our brethren were all laborers together with God, they would not doubt but that the message He has sent us during these last two years is from heaven. … Suppose that you blot out the testimony that has been going during these last two years proclaiming the righteousness of Christ, who can you point to as bringing out special light for the people?" Ibid., March 18, 1890.
The 1888 message made the cleansing of the sanctuary to be a practical subject. This is how the two great rivers, the sanctuary truth and justification by faith, joined together. The message not only called for holy living; it also provided the means. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is a work that includes the people and extends to them. It provides for the perfection of their character in Christ on the one hand; and on the other hand in the final destruction of sin and sinners and the cleansing of the universe from all taint of sin. This is the "finishing of the mystery of God." It is Christ fully formed in each believer. The sanctuary itself cannot be cleansed so long as God's people continue to pour into it a constant stream of sinning. The stream will be stopped at its source in the hearts and lives of God's people. The ministry of Christ in the Most Holy Apartment does make "the comers thereunto perfect" and does perfect "forever them that are sanctified."
"For eighteen centuries this work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the [heavenly] sanctuary. The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent sinners, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father; yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ's work for the redemption of men is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. …
"As the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal of the sins by which [the earthly sanctuary] had been polluted, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded." The Great Controversy, pp. 421, 422.
"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. … 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 messages of Revelation 14." Ibid., p. 425.
True forgiveness that is not rejected by the forgiven sinner is continued by a further experience of repentance. Thus the High Priest is able to blot out the sins that have been forgiven. "Forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose. … 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. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart." Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 114.
This does not mean the "eradication of the sinful nature." It is not the heresy of "perfectionism." "Perfectionism" is the false doctrine of the eradication of man's sinful nature at any time before the glorification at the coming of Christ. Christ "took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature" (Medical Ministry, p. 181), yet was "without sin." So those who are sealed will still have a sinful nature, yet will "not retain one sinful propensity" (The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 943). "Perfectionism" is also the false doctrine that it is impossible for anyone, including Christ, to overcome sin so long as he has man's sinful nature.
There is a difference in principle between the forgiveness of sin in the daily service of the sanctuary and the blotting out of sin in the Day of Atonement. Rain is rain, whether it falls in the early or latter season. Both the forgiveness and the blotting out of sin are by the blood of Jesus spilled at Calvary.
But the typical service of the sanctuary clearly taught that forgiveness can be rejected by the forgiven sinner and the sin then reactivated in the life. And sin may lie much deeper than we have known, so that temptations of greater intensity can cause us to fall. An example is the mark of the beast. There must therefore come at last a "sealing," from which there will never be a turning away. This is the same as the blotting out of sins, or a final preparation for the coming of Jesus.
No child of God will ever claim such a sealing or blotting out. The closer he comes to Christ the more unworthy he will feel himself to be. But nonetheless, the great High Priest will accomplish the work He sets out to do for all who do not resist Him in His office work.