Section 5. Sanctuary and Atonement - outline of objectives
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93. Seventh day Adventists do not believe in Christ's salvation offered to all men freely, because they preach that salvation is found in the keeping of the law. This false view of salvation is repeatedly stated in the writings of Mrs. E. G. White, who is regarded by them as an inspired spokesman.
94. "Seventh day Adventists teach that, like all mankind, Christ was born with a “sinful nature.” This plainly indicates "that his heart, too, was 'deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” In harmony with this they also "teach that Christ might have failed while on His mission to earth as man's Savior-that He came into the world 'at the risk of failure and eternal loss.' " But the Bible repeatedly states that Christ was holy, that "he knew no sin," and that He would "not fail nor be discouraged.
95. Christ is the center and circumference of salvation. Paul declared to the Corinthian church: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 1 Cor. 2:2. But Seventh day Adventists, in their emphasis on the law and the Sabbath and other peculiar doctrines, markedly fail to give Christ that central, dominant position that true Christians give to Him.
96. "Adventists teach that it is deceptive either to believe or to say that one who accepts Christ as his Redeemer is saved. Mrs. White declares: 'Those who accept the Savior, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or feel that they are saved. This is misleading' (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 155)." "The gospel teaches that believers 'are saved' by 'the preaching of the cross' (1 Cor. 1:18). It teaches that God hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling' (2 Tim. 1:9)." To say that a born-again soul does not have salvation as "a present possession" is to proclaim a false gospel. Adventists make salvation a matter of -crucify self," "prove worthy," -struggle.- This proves again that they preach a false, a legalistic, gospel.
97. Seventh day Adventists reject the atonement of Christ. They make of no effect the death of the Savior, because they believe that His atonement for sin was not completed on Calvary.
98. Seventh day Adventists make Satan their savior, sin bearer, and vicarious substitute.
Section 5. Sanctuary and Atonement - answers
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Objection 93
Seventh day Adventists do not believe in Christ's salvation offered to all men freely, because they preach that salvation is found in the keeping of the law. This false view of salvation is repeatedly stated in the writings of Mrs. E. G. White, who is regarded by them as an inspired spokesman.
Various aspects of this charge have been discussed already. We therefore shall confine our present answer to the claim that Mrs. White believed and taught that salvation is found, not in Christ, but in the law. We shall let her answer for herself, by quoting from an article she wrote in the year 1889:
Mrs. White Speaks
One time when I was traveling in Oregon on a steamer, a number of persons collected upon the hurricane deck, just outside of my stateroom, the door of my room being open. A minister was talking to them concerning the law. After a while he said: "Mrs. White is on board, and she is a great stickler for the law. She says that no one can be saved except through keeping the law. She places all our salvation on the perfect keeping of the law!' After he had misrepresented me and the Seventh day Adventists for some time, I went to him and said: "Elder B., Mrs. White is here to speak for herself. I have listened to your words, and will assure you that Mrs. White believes no such thing. There is no quality in law to save the transgressor. It was because the law was broken, and there was nothing but death before the sinner, that He who was equal with the Father, came to earth and took upon Him the garb of humanity. It was because of man's sin that Christ stepped down from the royal throne, laid aside His royal robe, and clothed His divinity with humanity. He came to bring to man moral power, to unite the fallen race with Himself, that through faith in Jesus Christ we may become partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruption that are in the world through lust. Says the apostle, 'Sin is the transgression of the law.' But Christ was manifested to take away sin, to save His people from their sins. The soul that believes in Christ may be cleansed from all defilement, and, through the grace of Christ, may be restored to divine favor.
"The law points to Christ, and every transgression of the law can be atoned for only by the blood of the Son of God. The law is like a mirror, to reveal to man his defects of character, but there is nothing in the law that will remedy the defects it points out. Paul declares: 'I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.' Why did he preach repentance toward God? - Because man had broken the law of God, and therefore was not in harmony with God. Why did he preach faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ? - Because Christ had died on Calvary, and had opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in, and be cleansed. ...
"The death of Christ is an unanswerable argument that demonstrates the unchangeable character of the law of God. If God could have changed one precept of His law, then Christ need not have died."
I said to the minister, "Did you ever hear me speak?" He answered that he had not. "In the thousands of pages I have written, have you ever read anything to the effect that I believe the law will save us?" He answered, "No." "Then why have you made the statements which you have? I hope you will not repeat them again."
- MRS. E. G. WHITE in Signs of the Times, Sept. 23, 1889, p. 578, "The Unchangeable Character of the Law."
(Footnote states that it was a sermon preached at Chicago, Illinois, April 9, 1889)
Comment on Mrs. White's Words
Those who present the objection we are here considering will agree with us that if they were studying the Bible they would insist that the Bible writers be allowed to speak for themselves. We agree, insisting only that Mrs. White also be allowed to speak for herself. When she is thus permitted to speak, the whole objection before us disappears, for Seventh day Adventists subscribe without reserve to what Mrs. White here says.
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Objection 94
"Seventh day Adventists teach that, like all mankind, Christ was born with a 'sinful nature." This plainly indicates "that His heart, too, was 'deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." In harmony with this they also "teach that Christ might have failed while on His mission to earth as man's Savior-that He came into the world 'at the risk of failure and eternal loss.' " But the Bible repeatedly states that Christ was holy, that "he knew no sin," and that He would "not fail nor be discouraged."
Endless are the controversies that have raged through the centuries over the nature of Christ. This has been inevitable, for we are here confronted with a very great mystery. The Bible throws some light on different aspects of the mystery, but presents no formal discussion of it. Theologians who have focused on the texts that speak of Christ as the "Son of God" have been so dazzled with the divine glory revealed in those texts that they have often been blinded to other scriptures regarding Christ. Whereas theologians who have focused on the texts that speak of Christ as the "Son of man" have sometimes been led to minimize the divinity of Christ.
The facts are that Christ walked among men as both human and divine. This is the historic teaching of Christianity. Inexplicable? Yes. And that is why we need to tread cautiously as we seek to reach conclusions regarding the relationship of Christ to the problem of sin and the sinful nature that men possess. Indeed, just what is comprehended by the term "sinful nature"? Protestants, from the earliest of Reformation times, have been unable to agree. But the objector seemingly has no difficulty whatever in the whole matter, and moves forward with dogmatic assurance through the mystery of the nature of Christ and the mystery of a sinful nature to the conclusion that Seventh day Adventists are guilty of fearful heresy.
Adventists have never made a formal pronouncement on this matter in their statement of belief. The only pronouncement in our literature that could be considered as truly authoritative on this is what Mrs. E. G. White has written. The objector quotes the following from her book The Desire of Ages, page 24:
"As one of us, He [Jesus] was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences."
Let us give this quotation in its larger setting, that we may see the force of her reasoning:
"Satan represents God's law of love as a law of selfishness. He declares that it is impossible for us to obey its precepts. The fall of our first parents, with all the woe that has resulted, he charges upon the Creator, leading men to look upon God as the author of sin, and suffering, and death. Jesus was to unveil this deception. As one of us He was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences. 'In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.' If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us. Therefore Jesus was 'in all points tempted like as we are.' He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God. He says, 'I delight to do Thy will, 0 My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.' As He went about doing good, and healing all who were afflicted by Satan, He made plain to men the character of God's law and the nature of His service. His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God.
"By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey."
On page 49 of this same work Mrs. White declares:
"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."
This is Adventist belief. And we hold this belief because we feel it agrees with revelation and reason. Note the following:
1. Paul says that God sent "his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." Rom. 8:3.
2. Paul explains that Christ did not take "on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" (Heb. 2:16); that He partook of "flesh and blood" (verse 14).
3. Paul reinforces this immediately with this further statement: "In all things it became him [Christ] to be made like unto his brethren." Verse 17. Like us, not simply in some things, but "in all things." The Revised Standard Version says, "Like his brethren in every respect." Then He must have had a human nature as well as a divine. And is not our human nature capable of being tempted? If that were not a fact, then Paul's point would be lost in the next verse, for he immediately adds, "For in that he himself [Christ] hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
4. Again, Paul says that Christ "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4: 15. The Revised Standard Version reads, "In every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning." How are we to understand Paul when he says that Christ was "tempted"? He answers by saying that Christ was "tempted like as we are."
The objector seeks to avoid the force of these passages by declaring that so far as Christ was concerned "tempted" simply meant "tried" or "tested." But the texts before us emphasize the fact that the nature of Christ's temptation was exactly the same as that which comes to mankind. True, these scriptures do note one difference-when Christ was tempted he did not sin. That cannot be said of mankind. To a greater or less degree we have all fallen before temptation. The text does not say that Christ could not sin, but that He did not sin. If in His human nature it was impossible for Him to sin, why did not Paul so reveal in these texts before us? It would have been a great revelation.
But, the objector declares, if Christ had a human nature that was capable of sin, in other words, a nature like ours, then He could not have escaped sin, for the Bible declares that the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." We accept fully the statement that man's heart is "deceitful' and full of sin. But that distinguishing mark of fallen mankind is not necessarily involved in the possession of a human nature that is capable of sin. Adam in Eden had a human nature, which from the first moment of his existence was capable of sin. But Adam in Eden was spotless until that day that he exercised his will in the wrong way and drew sin into his bosom.
It is an interesting fact that Paul specifically compares and contrasts Adam, whom he calls the- first man Adam," and Christ, whom he calls the last Adam." (1 Cor. 15:45) "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Verses 21, 22. Does not this contrast and comparison suggest to us the way through this difficult problem? Our father Adam lost the battle with the tempter, not because he had a "desperately wicked" heart- he came from the Creator's hand perfect- but because he wrongly exercised his free will and drew wickedness into his heart. And we, his children, have followed in his steps. Christ, the last Adam, won the battle with the tempter, and we, through His promised forgiveness and power, may also win. Adam could have won, but he lost. Christ could have lost, but He won. Therein lies the startling contrast.
And the contrast is heightened by the fact that Christ was born into the human family some four thousand years after sin's entry into our world, with all that that mysteriously involved of a weakening of body and mind in the fight against sin. A dyspeptic may become a saint, but his path upward is sorely beset. A nervously frail person may likewise attain to sainthood, but how great are his added handicaps! Neither need sin, neither can excuse his sin. But the victory of either over temptation stands out as a greater triumph of God's grace, as revealed in a God- empowered free will, than the victory of a person free of such maladies. It is in this sense that we may properly think of Christ's victory as gaining even added luster, by contrast to Adam's defeat. Christ won despite the fact that He took on Him "the likeness of sinful flesh," with all that that implies of the baleful and weakening effects of sin on the body and nervous system of man and its evil effects on his environment. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
In other words, Adventists believe that Christ, the last Adam, possessed, on His human side, a nature like that of the "first man Adam," a nature free of any defiling taint of sin, but capable of responding to sin, and that that nature was handicapped by the debilitating effects of four thousand years of sin's inroads on man's body and nervous system and environment.
The objector feels that the only way to do honor to Christ and to protect Him from all taint of sin is to take the position that He could not sin. But what comfort and assurance of personal victory over sin can we find in a spotless Christ if His freedom from sin as He walked this earth was not truly a victory over temptation but an inability to sin? We would rightly stand in awe of such a Holy Being. But we could not see in Him one who was "made like unto his brethren" "in all things," one who being "tempted like as we are" "is able to succor" us when we are "tempted." These statements of Holy Writ become meaningless if Christ could not sin.
We feel that we do the greater honor to Christ, without charging Him with any taint of sin, by believing that though He could have exercised His free will to sin, He did not. That although He felt the full force of temptation, even as we must, He set His will on the side of His Father instead of yielding it to the devil. Temptation assailed Him but found no response in His heart. Said He, "The prince of this world comes, and hath nothing in me." John 14:30. He 1oved righteousness, and hated iniquity." Heb. 1:9. In that sense was He most truly "separate from sinners." Heb. 7:26. Unreservedly we accept the words of Holy Writ that Christ "knew no sin." 2 Cor. 5:21.
In holding this view of Christ Seventh day Adventists agree essentially with the view expressed by various devout theologians through the years. Space limits permit reference only to a few of them:
In his well-known commentary Albert Barnes says on Hebrews 2:18 that the word "tempted" may mean that a person is subjected to "afflictions or sufferings," or that he is allowed "to fall into temptation, properly so called-where some strong inducement to evil is presented to the mind." Then he adds, "The Savior was subjected to both these in as severe a form as was ever presented to men."
Henry Jones Ripley, a Baptist theologian and seminary professor of a century ago, wrote thus in his commentary on the book of Hebrews:
"Christ is said to have become in all essential respects like men; he was, consequently, liable to be tempted in all respects like them. Being on earth as truly a man as any of us, he was tempted as men are, by Satan, by his human adversaries, and by his professed friends. Temptations arose from his bodily nature, from his rational faculties, from his emotional susceptibilities, from his connections with his natural relatives. ... Whatever difficult questions may be raised from the peculiarity of his being the Son of God while yet humbled to the level of humanity, we must not allow ourselves to lose the efficacy of the equally scriptural truth that he was like us. That he was really made liable to the frailties and temptations of which men have experience. ... To be tempted is not a proof that we are sinners; sin consists in yielding to temptation." - The Epistle to the Hebrews (1868), p. 62.
J. C. Macaulay, sometime pastor of the Wheaton Bible church, Wheaton, Illinois, in his comment on the phrase "without sin," in Hebrews 4:15, says:
"That means more than that He did not sin by responding to the temptations. It means that the temptations left His sinlessness intact, unshaken, undisturbed. ... He shared our natural weaknesses, and these were targets of the adversary, occasions of temptation, but never causes of sin.' - Devotional Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1948), p. 70.
Moses Stuart, an early nineteenth-century Congregational theologian and seminary professor, in his commentary on Hebrews, observes thus on Hebrews 4:15:
"He [Christ] possessed a nature truly human, 2:14,17; He was therefore susceptible of being excited by the power of temptations, although he never yielded to them." - A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (4th ed., 1876), p. 336.
William Porcher Dullose, a Protestant Episcopal divine and professor at the University of the South (Tennessee) at the turn of the century, wrote thus on the subject:
"I do not know how better to express the truth of the matter than to say, in what seems to me to be the explicit teaching of our Epistle [Hebrews], and of the New Testament generally. That our Lord's whole relation to sin in our behalf was identical with our own up to the point of His unique and exceptional personal action with reference to it. Left to our nature and ourselves it overcomes and slays all us: through God in Him He overcame and slew it. He did it not by His own will and power as man, but as man through an absolute dependence upon God. And He made both the omnipotent grace of God upon which He depended, and His own absolute dependence upon it, His perfect faith, available for us in our salvation. He re-enacts in us the victory over sin and death which was first enacted in Himself.”
Quoted by A. Nairne in The Epistle to the Hebrews, Introduction, p. 78. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.
Dean F. W. Farrar, whose Life of Christ and other works have edified the devout through many years, declares, in his comment on Christ's temptation in the wilderness:
"Some, in a zeal at once intemperate and ignorant, have claimed for Him [Christ] not only an actual sinlessness, but a nature to which sin was divinely and miraculously impossible. What then? If His great conflict were a mere deceptive phantasmagoria, how can the narrative of it profit us? If we have to fight the battle clad in that armor of human free-will which has been hacked and riveted about the bosom of our fathers by so many a cruel blow, what comfort is it to us if our great Captain fought not only victoriously, but without real danger. Not only uninjured, but without even a possibility of wound? ... They who would thus honor Him rob us of our living Christ, who was very man no less than very God....
'Whether, then, it comes under the form of a pseudo-orthodoxy, false and pharisaical, and eager only to detect or condemn the supposed heresy of others; or whether it comes from the excess of a dishonoring reverence which has degenerated into the spirit of fear and bondage-let us beware of contradicting the express teaching of the scriptures. And, as regards this narrative [of the wilderness temptation], the express teaching of Christ Himself, by a supposition that He was not liable to real temptation." - The Life of Christ (One Volume Edition), pp. 95,96.
Much more might be quoted from the writings of devout and learned theologians of various religious bodies, but these should suffice to prove that the Adventist view of Christ in relation to temptation is not a strange, heretical teaching.
Now, a word regarding the reference to Isaiah's prophecy that Christ would "not fail nor be discouraged." This prophecy is quoted as proof that Christ, therefore, could not have risked eternal loss when He came to earth. A few questions should clear up this matter: Does not God know the end from the beginning? Yes! Hence He knows in advance that certain wicked men will continue in their wickedness and be destroyed. But does His foreknowledge take from them their free will and necessitate their destruction? We all answer no. Again, God knows in advance that certain righteous men will continue in their righteousness and be saved in the great day. But does that foreknowledge take from them their free will and their genuine temptations to sin and necessitate their salvation? Again we answer no. Certainly God foreknew that His Son would "not fail nor be discouraged," but that foreknowledge did not free our Lord and Savior from temptation to sin.
Let us repeat in closing. The Adventist belief concerning Christ is that He was truly divine and truly human, that His human nature was subjected to the same temptations to sin that confront us. That He triumphed over temptation through the power given Him of His Father, and that He may most literally be described as "holy, harmless, undefiled." (Heb. 7:26)
Note: A word of counsel to some of our Adventist writers and speakers may be in order here. The incarnation is a very great mystery. We shall never fully understand how a Being could at once be both "Son of God" and "Son of man," thus possessing both a human and a divine nature. Likewise, the presence of sin in the universe is a very great mystery. We shall probably never understand fully the nature of sin, and hence probably never understand fully the meaning of the term "sinful flesh," which we and others often use without attempting to define it. When we speak of the taint of sin, the germs of sin, we should remember that we are using metaphorical language. Critics, especially those who see the Scriptures through Calvinistic eyes, read into the term "sinful flesh" something that Adventist theology does not require. Thus if we use the term "sinful flesh" in regard to Christ's human nature, as some of our writers have done, we lay ourselves open to misunderstanding. True, we mean by that term simply that Christ "took on him the seed of Abraham," and was made "in the likeness of sinful flesh," but critics are not willing to believe this.
Let us never forget that a Scriptural mystery is always most safely stated in the language of Scripture. Hence, when we must move amid the mists of a divine mystery we do well to stay within the protecting bounds of quotation marks. We need not move beyond in order to secure from that mystery its saving, sanctifying power. And staying thus within those bounds, we best protect the mystery from the ridicule of skeptics, the Adventist name from the attacks of critics, and ourselves from becoming lost in the mist.
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Objection 95
Christ is the center and circumference of salvation. Paul declared to the Corinthian church: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 1 Cor. 2:2. But Seventh day Adventists, in their emphasis on the law and the Sabbath, and other peculiar doctrines, markedly fail to give Christ that central, dominant position that true Christians give to Him.
We believe that our so-called "peculiar doctrines" uniquely and strikingly emphasize the primacy of Christ. Note these facts:
1. Our doctrine on the law. We teach that "sin is the transgression of the law," and that all mankind stands guilty and condemned before God, for the wages of sin is death. If God's law could have been abolished, man would no longer have been guilty of death, hence Christ's death would not have been necessary to our salvation, for He died to save us from condemnation and death. Thus the historical incident of His death on Calvary would have significance simply as a beautiful exhibit of a good man's dying for a noble ideal, and setting before us a noble example. That is indeed the very position that some Christians take. Such a position robs Christ's death of its awe-inspiring, saving quality.
But Seventh day Adventists are forever protected from this Christ-dishonoring view. We hold that God's law is eternal. Hence a guilty sinner's only hope of escape from the death that that violated law demands is found in Christ, who died in his stead. Our very belief in the inexorable, eternal quality of God's law causes us ever to flee to Christ as our only hope of life. How could we give greater significance to Christ as all-important to our salvation?
2. Our doctrine on the Sabbath. As set forth elsewhere in this book (see under Objections 45 and 46), the seventh day Sabbath focuses the worshiper's mind on the great truth of the creation as set forth in Genesis. It is this truth that is so largely denied by evolutionary Christians today. Now, when we focus thus on this creative display of divine power, we are led to give greater honor to Christ, for God "created all things by Jesus Christ." Eph. 3:9."For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." Col. 1:16.
True Sabbath keeping is a weekly honoring of Christ in His role as Creator. Thus honoring Him we are prepared to believe most literally and fully His promise to create in us new hearts and minds, indeed, to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus.
Because our minds are turned, weekly, to the thought of an originally perfect world, we are prepared to realize most fully how great was the fall of our first parents, and to take most literally the words of our Lord. "And I, if 1 be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." John 12:32. How could we make Christ more central in our beliefs?
3. Our doctrine on the sanctuary. We teach that the earthly sanctuary service, given to the Israelites by God through Moses, was a type of the heavenly service that was to be conducted for man's salvation. Thus we make vivid to men the reality of a sacrificial service and the shedding of blood for the remission of sins, a truth so largely forgotten or denied in Christendom today. We see in the earthly lambs slain a type of the "Lamb of God"; in the earthly Passover, a type of "Christ our Passover," who is-sacrificed for us"; in the earthly priests, a type of Christ our high priest who ministers in heaven above for us. (See 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 8:1) How could we more highly emphasize or honor Christ in our teachings?
4. Our doctrine on the mortality of man. We take literally the text that "the wages of sin is death"; that is, we believe literally that the sinner's ultimate doom is destruction, annihilation. This follows logically from our belief that man does not possess an immortal soul. Hence we are led most fully to exalt Christ as the only hope of life. We take literally His words: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10: 10. We believe that 1ife and immortality-were brought ",to light through the gospel" of our Lord, and in no other way. (2 Tim. 1: 10.) How could we more highly honor Christ than by thus teaching?
5. Our emphasis on prophecy. Nothing more definitely distinguishes us as a denomination than our belief that the prophetic portions of the Bible are intended of God to be understood and to guide us on the road to heaven. It is in the books of Daniel and the Revelation, so frequently the basis of the sermons at our evangelistic meetings, that we find some of the most glorious passages descriptive of Christ's power and coming kingdom. We focus on the opening words of the Revelation: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." Rev. 1:1. We turn the hearer's eyes upward to Christ walking amid the seven candlesticks (Rev. 1:13), to Christ "a Lamb as it had been slain" (Rev. 5:6), to Christ as "King of kings, and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16) coming to set up His everlasting kingdom.
When we preach from the prophetic book of Daniel we climax with the vision of the 2300 days of Daniel 8: 14, which includes the seventy-weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27. And it is this prophecy, so central to Adventist theology, that provides one of the most irrefutable proofs that the Christ of Bethlehem was indeed "Messiah the prince," whom "Moses and all the prophets" had foretold. How could we more highly honor Christ?
6. Our doctrine on the personal Second Advent of Christ. No teaching is more central in Adventist theology than this doctrine of the Advent. A person cannot long attend an Adventist series of evangelistic services without hearing this doctrine set forth. Indeed, no doctrine is more extensively discussed in such services. And the heart of that doctrine is best revealed in the words of the angels to the disciples on the occasion of Christ's ascension: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven."
Acts 1:11. When a person accepts the Adventist faith he is continually reminded of this great truth, as the numerous articles on the Second Advent in our church literature reveal. We are not deceived by the false teaching so long prevalent in Christendom, that the world is gradually improving, and that finally all will be millennial. Not in man's power of improvement, but in God's power to recreate this earth, do we as Adventists find our hope of the future. We rest that hope on the promise that "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout" and that then we, with the resurrected righteous, will be caught up "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. How could we more highly exalt Christ?
We have here considered briefly the relation of Christ to six of our most distinctive teachings. We charitably like to think that the objector has never really found time to examine closely our teachings.
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Objection 96
"Adventists teach that it is deceptive either to believe or to say that one who accepts Christ as his Redeemer is saved. Mrs. White declared: 'Those who accept the Savior, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or feel that they are saved. This is misleading' (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 155)." "The gospel teaches that believers 'are saved' by 'the preaching of the cross' (1 Cor. 1:18). It teaches that God 'has saved us, and called us with an holy calling' (2 Tim. 1:9)." To say that a born-again soul does not have salvation as "a present possession" is to proclaim a false gospel. Adventists make salvation a matter of "crucify self ... prove worthy," "Struggle." This proves again that they preach a false, a legalistic, gospel.
First let us give the statement from Mrs. White in its context that we may better see what she is really teaching. The quotation is found in the chapter "Two Worshipers," which discusses the Pharisee and the publican who went up to the Temple to pray. Mrs. White remarks on the danger of spiritual pride and self sufficiency that leads a man to feel self-righteous. She then cites Peter: "In his early discipleship Peter thought himself strong. Like the Pharisee, in his own estimation he was 'not as other men are.'" He assured his Lord that though others might be offended, he would not be. But a little later his unrealized weakness revealed itself, and he denied his Lord with cursing. We quote:
"Peter's fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence led him to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was taken in the downward path, until he could deny his Master. Never can we safely put confidence in self, or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation. Those who accept the Savior, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to feel that they are saved. This is misleading. Every one should be taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of temptation. God's word declares, 'Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.' Only he who endures the trial will receive the crown of life.
"Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am saved, are in danger of trusting to themselves. They lose sight of their own weakness and their constant need of divine strength. They are unprepared for Satan's devices, and under temptation many, like Peter, fall into the very depths of sin. We are admonished, 'Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.' Our only safety is in constant distrust of self, and dependence on Christ." - Christ's Object Lessons, p. 155.
It is evident that Mrs. White is here using the word "saved" to describe a mistaken idea of salvation held by some. She is not using the word in the sense that Paul employs it in 2 Timothy 1:9, which the objector quotes.
There is a sense in which the Christian may say that he has been saved. When we confess our guilt and turn to Christ, He forgives us, saves us out of our state of condemnation, and places our feet on the path to heaven. Adventists believe this wholeheartedly.
But through the long years of Christian history there have been those who held the un-Scriptural view that when Christ saves us from our past sins He immediately and forever lifts us into a kind of heaven on earth from which there is no possibility of our ever straying. Thus we are here and now and forever saved, saved, saved! At best, such a view of salvation has ever led men to spiritual pride-"God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are." At worst, it has led men in their blind spiritual self-sufficiency and false security to fall into most heinous sin.
It is this false conception of "saved" that Seventh day Adventists, and Christian leaders in general through the long years, have denounced.
We accept all that the Bible says about our being saved here and now from past guilt and thus standing justified through the blood of Christ. But we accept also all that the Bible says about the dangers that beset us on the heavenly path upon which our feet have been placed, and of the need of constant watchfulness unto prayer if we are to reach the heavenly goal.
Paul is quoted to prove that salvation is a present accomplished fact for those who have given heed to the true gospel: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor. 1: 18. But let Paul speak further in the same epistle: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain." 1 Cor. 15:1,2. Adam Clarke says in comment on this text:
"You are now in a salvable state; and are saved from your Gentile ways, and from your former sins... . Your future salvation, or being brought finally to glory, will now depend on your faithfulness to the grace that you have received."
That is good Methodist doctrine on salvation. It is also good Adventist doctrine. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, in their well-known Bible commentary, would have the phrase "you are saved" (1 Cor. 15:2) read, "you are being saved." So also Lange's great commentary. This is consistent with the Bible figure of the Christian traveling a road, strait and tortuous, who may ever claim the protection of the angels against the danger of falling off the path, but who can never say that temptation and danger are past until the end of the journey is reached. Thinking of the Christian under that figure we may rightly speak of him as in the process of "being saved." No load of guilt weighs him down. From that Christ has freed him. But he has not been freed from the risk of sin, which again would bring guilt to his soul. He may still turn to the one side or the other from the path.
It is in this setting that we see full force to the words Paul addressed to Timothy: "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shall both save thyself, and them that hear thee." 1 Tim. 4:16. Here Paul is using the word "save" in the future tense. And the salvation is assured only if Timothy shall "continue" in a certain course.
Again, Paul says to Timothy: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and has professed a good profession before many witnesses." 1 Tim. 6:12.
To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote: "Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain. And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any Means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away." 1 Cor. 9:24-27.
Adventists have never said anything more vigorous about the struggle and the warfare of the Christian life than Paul here does. Indeed, what we say is drawn, in no small part, from such statements as these by the great apostle.
The Scriptures are also filled with exhortations to Christians to remain steadfast lest they fall by the way and lose their reward. Says Paul, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering." Heb. 10:23. A little further on in the same chapter he appeals, "Cast not away therefore your confidence." Verse 35. In the book of the Revelation is found a prophecy of the history of the Christian church from the time of Christ to the Second Advent, under seven divisions, or churches. At the conclusion of the message to each church a promise of heavenly reward is given, but the reward is specifically promised "to him that overcomes." (See Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 2l.) To the first church (Ephesus) came the warning: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." Rev. 2:5. To the third church (Pergamos) came the same warning, "Repent." (Verse 16.) Likewise to the seventh church (Laodicea). (Rev. 3:19.) To the fifth church (Sardis) came the appeal: "That which you have already hold fast till I come." Rev. 2:25. To the sixth church (Philadelphia) came a similar appeal: "Hold that fast which thou has, that no man take thy crown." Rev. 3:11.
How could a Bible writer make more clear the sobering truth that those who have been saved from their past sins and have taken the name of Christian may fall by the wayside? Note the appeal to those who have not fallen to "hold fast" lest they also fall. All this agrees with the admonition of Paul to the Corinthian church: "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10: 12. How evident it is that salvation in the ultimate sense of the word is not the possession of the Christian until he has finished his course and has kept the faith to the end. Said Christ, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matt. 24:13.
Against two extremes in this matter of salvation Mrs. White warns: (1) Against the self-assured attitude that would tempt a once-saved man to feel that he is now beyond all danger, or at least is able of himself to overcome all temptation. This is the dangerous attitude discussed in the quotation from Christ's Object Lessons. (2) Against the attitude of fearfulness regarding salvation that is born of a consciousness of the weaknesses of self. As regards this opposite extreme she writes:
"We should not make self the center, and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved. All this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, 'I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.' Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him that has loved you." - Steps to Christ, pp. 76, 77.
The strength of the objector's position is that he narrows down the discussion of salvation to one aspect of it, and in that restricted setting makes his case seem Scriptural. The strength of the Adventist position is that we accept fully and unreservedly all the aspects of the divine plan to save men out of this world.
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Objection 97
Seventh day Adventists reject the atonement of Christ. They make of no effect the death of the Savior, because they believe that His atonement for sin was not completed on Calvary.
Those who raise objections to Seventh day Adventist doctrines almost invariably endeavor to find some statement from Mrs. White's works that appears to support their charges. They do so because, as they explain, all Adventists accept Mrs. White's statements on doctrine. In view of this we shall quote from her writings to show what we really do believe is the relation of Christ to the sinner. In the book entitled Steps to Christ she wrote:
"Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient, and suffered in the sinner's stead." - Page 36.
Again:
"Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the Savior dying for the sins of the world." - Ibid., p. 30. These are but representative; many equally strong statements might be quoted.
How well do the foregoing statements agree with the words of John the Baptist as to Christ: "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29. And how beautifully do they harmonize with the declaration of Peter, that Christ "bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24.
We believe that the death of Christ provided a divine sacrifice sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world. We believe, further, that when we confess our sins, God does then and there forgive them; and that unless we afterward turn away to a life of wickedness, this divine forgiveness is complete and final, so far as we are concerned. But we also hold that, in harmony with the Levitical type of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), there is a great final day when God will formally blot out of existence the sins of all who "shall be accounted worthy to obtain that [heavenly] world." Luke 20:35. This final accounting must come at the very close of probation, for only when we have run our entire course and the records are complete could this act, which settles our destiny for eternity-take place. Therefore the great hour of God's judgment is the logical time for all accounts to be finally settled. In making such statements we but echo the words of Christ: "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matt. 24:13.
Denying the atonement of Christ is one thing, believing that the final disposition of sins is yet future is an altogether different thing. We do not deny the atonement; we differ with some other Christian people simply as to the time element involved in it. We believe unqualifiedly that our sins are forgiven and will be blotted out wholly and only by virtue of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed on Calvary. No discussion as to the time involved in the divine transaction can blur the real question at issue; namely, whether or not Christ and Christ only makes atonement for us. We do not believe that our Savior's precious atoning blood loses any of its efficacy merely as the result of the passage of time. That certain acts of Christ subsequent to Calvary are also necessary in the plan of salvation from sin is evident by reference to such texts as the following: Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15: 17; Hebrews 7:25.
Of those who charge us with teaching strange doctrines because we believe that Christ's work of atonement for sin was begun rather than completed on Calvary, we ask these questions: If complete and final atonement was made on the cross for all sins, then will not all be saved? For Paul says that He "died for all." Are we to understand you as being Universalists? "No," you say, "not all men will be saved." Well, then, are we to understand that you hold that Christ made complete atonement on the cross for only a limited few, and that His sacrifice was not world embracing, but only partial? That would be predestination in its worst form.
Adventists are free from the dilemma that such questions as these create. We believe that Christ on the cross made provision for the atonement for all sinners. Thus all who Will may be saved. But we believe also that only those who-endure unto the end .. . shall be saved." Thus we escape, on the one hand, the false doctrine of Universalism; and on the other, the equally false doctrine of claiming full and final salvation for a man before he has endured "unto the end." Therefore if the saving of a man involves his deeds "unto the end," which must be true of the last man saved in the world, as well as of those of former generations, the final phase of Christ's saving work of atonement cannot be completed until the end.
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Objection 98
Seventh day Adventists make Satan their savior, sin bearer, and vicarious substitute.
We believe, with all evangelical Protestants, that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved than the name of Jesus Christ. We qualify this in no way. Not until the plan of salvation is completed and the righteous have been saved for eternity through the atoning work of Christ does Satan enter into the picture. Our belief as to the relationship of Satan to our sins might perhaps be stated more or less exactly with the aid of an illustration:
A group of men have been arrested, tried, and convicted of certain crimes. A heavy fine is imposed upon them. They are in a hopeless state, for they are penniless. But their hopelessness is changed to joy: a rich philanthropist offers to pay their fine. They accept, and are freed. The case is apparently settled. But no; the court, continuing its investigation, discovers that a person of fiendish cunning has really dominated these poor men and has seduced them into their course of wrongdoing. He is captured, and judgment is meted out to him. He is made to pay a heavy fine much heavier even than that from which the poor men have been freed by the gracious act of the philanthropist, for the court reasons that the fiend is doubly guilty.
We all consider that the court has acted rightly. No one would think for a moment that because the group of men have been freed, therefore the matter is necessarily closed. And because the fiend has to pay the penalty for the crimes of the group of men whose heavy fines have been paid by the philanthropist, no one feels any reflection is being cast upon the gift of the rich man. The penalty that was to have been meted out to that group was completely paid by the gift, yet the fiend must finally suffer for the same crimes, because he was primarily responsible for them.
This, in vague outline, and with the handicaps of analogy, illustrates our view as to the relation of Satan to our sins. We are guilty before God. We are penniless and in a hopeless state, but Christ paid the price necessary to set us free-not with silver or gold, but with the price of His own precious blood. He is the philanthropist-the lover of man-in our illustration. The penalty for our sins is fully paid, for His gift is all sufficient. He makes full and complete atonement for us.
But the court of heaven determines that Satan, the archfiend, has been the real instigator of all sin, from the very day when he seduced our first mother, Eve. He is brought before the bar of justice, and indicted, not simply for his own sins, but for the primary responsibility for the sins of those who have been pardoned. It is as though our Advocate, having obtained our pardon, turns prosecuting attorney against our fiendish adversary, causing to return upon his own head the mischief and woe into which the now pardoned and saved sinners had been drawn during their lives.
Thus instead of viewing Satan in any sense as our savior from sin, our doctrine makes most vivid the fact that he is the author of sin. Instead of viewing him as one who was made "to be sin for us, who knew no sin," we view him as one who, being the primary instigator of all sin, is about to suffer the final judgments of God. (See page 715 for a discussion of the scapegoat and the atonement.)