our firm foundation -1986_12

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Our Firm Foundation

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VoL I No 14

Christmas

Is Coming

The

Sin

of

icen

tiousness

Education and

Redemption

What s

Wrong

With

Perfection?

Index to

Volume

ne

December

1986

:Bn ONMAN 1 86

Legalism:

Myth

and

Reality

see page 8


2/32

:Editorial

ODAY

hear the

char-

i smat ic

evangel ica l

TV

preachers using cer ta in c lich6 s

concerning the GospeL I listened

to one yes terday who

spoke of

a

large meeting held to raise fnnds

fo r th e poor and said that hun-

dreds were

saved in

the meeting.

Now no Seventh-day Adven-

tist preacher would

make

a

state-

ment exact ly l ike

that but

do

we

unconsciously make

statements

that bring our own people into

the same ideas aud beliefs? Be

good, go to church,

pay

tithe,

support the church programs and

you are saved. These are many

time s unspoken

ideas,

uncon-

sciously

received

through poli-

cies tradition and att itUdes. All

these things we should

do

but

they

do not save us.

We cannot do

anything

to

be

saved but

if

we

do no t do something

we shall

be

l os t. B ec au se

Christ died to save

us,

we have a spontaneous love

relationship

with

God that pro-

duces loving obedience to all the

requirements of the law.

The Evangel ical s preach be -

lieve,

only

believe.,

and now

many Seventh-day

Adventists are

coming very

close to

this

philo-

sophical preaching. uDo

we

then

make void th e law through faith?

God

forbid:

yea we establish the

law. Romans

3:31

Faith is not an opiate, but a

s timulan t. Looking to Calvary

will not quiet your soul into non-

performance of duty but

will

create

fa it h tha t

will

work puri-

fying

th e

soul

from

all selfish-

ness.

The

faith

in

Christ which

saves the soul is not what

it

is

represented to be by many. Be-

lieve, believe, is their cry; only

bel ieve in Christ, and you will be

saved. is

al l

you have to do.

While true faith trusts wholly in

Christ

fo r

salvation i t wil l l ead

to

perfect conformity

to

the law

of

God.

There are two errors against

which the children of God-par-

t icularly those who have just

come to trust in His grace-espe-

cially

need to guard. The

first

is that

of looking

to

their

own

works, trusting to anything they

can do, to bring themselves

into

harmony with God. He who is

trying

to become

holy

by his

own

works in

keeping the law is at -

tempting an impossibi li ty

is th e

grace

of

Christ

alone

through faith that

can

make

us

holy.

The opposite and no less dan-

gerous

error is

that

belief in

Christ releases men from keeping

the

law

of God;

that since by

faith alone we become partakers

of

t he grace of Chri st our works

have nothing to do with our

re -

demption.

But

notice

here that obedi-

ence

is not a mere outward com-

pliance , but

the

service

of

love.

The law of God is an expression

of

His

very

nature; it is an

bodiment

of

th e g rea t p rin cip le

of love and hence is the founda-

tion of

His

government

in

heaven

and ear th

Ins tead of

releasing

man

from obedience,

it is

faith,

and faith only

that

makes us

par takers of t he grace of

Christ

which

enables

us to

render

obe-

dience.

As Jesus was in human na-

ture so God means His f

to be. In His strength

we

live

th e l if e

of

pur ity an

i ty whi ch

the Saviour

liv

Faith I Live y

e hear now

from

m

our pulpits that one cann

come

sin,

that striving

the Ten Commandments

ism,

that

Jesus was so d

from us that

He

took t he

of Adam

before the

fa

therefore could keep the

fectly bu t

we

cannot be

He was holy.

perfect

as

perfect.

But let us

rev

words of

inspiration: Be

is

written

Be ye holy;

fo

holy. Be ye

therefore

even as your Father whi

heaven

is perfect . 1 Pet

Matthew 5:48

Ellen White makes t

spired

observation: Chr

to the world to counteract

falsehood that God had

law

which men

could n

Tak ing human ity

upon

H

He

came

to t his ear th a

life of

obedience

show

God has

no t

made a law

t

cannot

keep. He

showed t

possible for

man perfe

obey the law. Those who

Christ as their Saviour. b

partakers

of

His divine

a re enabled

to

fol low Hi

ple,

l iving in

obedience t

precept of the law. Thro

merits of Christ, man is

by his obedience that

he

c

trusted in h eaven,

that

h

not r ebel . The Faith I L

114

e

must

understand t

va

tion is not offered

continue


3/32

Table of Contents

t

is

the

mission of Hope

Interna-

tional and th e editors of

Our

rm

Foundation

to

give

the

straight testi-

mony and to present Christ

and

Him

crucified.

The days

that

yet remain

of this

world are few,

and

what

we

do we must do quickly. We

must

boldly proclaim the truths

that

place

us

on

so

firm

a

foundation in the

midst of

this

troubled world.-

TH

EDITORS

Vol. 1, No. 14

ARTICLES

December

1986

Education and Redemption C. D. and

R. R.

Standish

The front li ne bat tle fo r th e children of th e church

What s Wrong With Perfection? Dennis Priebe

The final d ispl ay o f th e myst er y of th e

gospel

Legalism:

Myth and

Reality Kevin D. Paulson

Can you spo t a legalist

when

you see one? Look again

Editor

Ron Spear

Managing Edi to r Dave F ied le r

Associate

Editor

Vern

Jennings

Assis tant Edi to r Joseph Leatherman

Copy

Editor Lila Rae Frederick

Editorial Secretary Clarissa Fiedler

Contributing

Editors

COlin

Standish

Ralph

Larson, ,

John Osborne

Ar t

Director

Bob Bresnahan

Layout

Sharilyn

Kendall

Typography Arnet Mathers

Circulation

Joseph

Leatherman

Christmas I s Coming

Holidays

or holy

days

or neither?

Where Are th e

Standard-Bearers?

Who will

come up

to the

help

of the

Lord?

Ellen G. White

Ron

Spear

When Thou Doest Thine Alms Ellen

G.

White

Guidelines

for

giving, guidelines fo r living

The Sin of Licentiousness

(Part

One)

Way back

then

.. .

and

now

Ellen G. White

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Index to Volume One

DEPARTMENTS

Editorial

Melange

Invitation

to Wri te rs

2

Looking Back

Food for Thought

Our Firm Foundation

Editorial

Office:

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4/32

Christmas IsCorning

Christ should be the supreme

objeet; but as Christmas has bee

observed the glory is turned r

Him to mortal man

CHRISTMAS

is coming, is

th e

note that is

sounded

throughout our world from East

to West and fr om

North

to

South.

With youth, those o f matur e age

a nd e ve n

the aged it is a

period

of

general rejoicing,

of

great

gladness.

But

what

is

Christmas,

that

it

should

demand so much

attention? This day has been

made much of

for

centuries is

accepted by the un believing

world,

and by th e

Christian

world general ly , as the day on

which

Christ was

born.

When the

world at large

celebrate

the day,

they

show no honor to

Christ.

They refuse to

acknowledge

Him

s

their

Saviour to honor Him by

willing

obedience to His service.

They

show

preference

to t he day ,

bu t

none to the One

fo r whom

the day is celebrated,

Jesus

Christ.

The

twenty-fi fth of December

is supposed to be

the day

of

the

birth of

Jesus Christ,

and it s

ob

servance has become customary

an d popular . But ye t

there is no

certainty

that

we ar e keeping the

veri table day of our Saviour s

birth. History gives us

no

certain

assurance of

this.

The Bible does

not give us

the

precise time. Had

the Lord deemed thi s knowledge

essential to our

salvation

He

would

have spoken through His

prophets and apostles

that

we

might know

al l about

the mat te r.

But the s ilence of the Scriptures

upon this point evidences t us

that

it

is hidden

from

us

fo r

the

wisest purposes. In His wisdom

th e

Lord concealed the place

where

he

buried

Moses. God bur-

ie d hi m an d G od resurrected

him, and

took

him to heaven.

Ellen White

This secrecy

was to preven

atry.

He against whom t

belled while he was in act

vice whom

they

provoked

beyond

human endurance

most worshiped as God

a

separation

from them

by

For

the very

same purpose

c oncea le d t he precise

Christ s birth;

that

the day

no t

receive

the honor that

be given to Christ as

t

deemer

of the

world-On

to be trusted to

lied on as He

who

could

the

uttermost

all

who

com


5/32

While sinful amusements are

condemned as they should be let

parents provide

their stead

innocent pleasures

Him.

Th e soul s

adoration

should

be given to Jesus as th e Son of

th e

infinite

God.

There is

no

divine

sanctity

resting

upon

th e twenty-fifth of

D ec em be r; a nd it

is

not pleasing

to Go d

that anything that

con-

cerns

th e

salvation

of

ma n

through the

infinite

sacrifice

made

for

them

should be so

sadly perverted

from it s

pro-

f e ssed d esi gn . Christ should be

th e supreme object; bu t as Christ-

mas has been observed th e glory

is turned from

Him

to mortal

man whose sinful defective

character made it

necessary for

Him to come to our world. eSlls

th e Majesty of

heaven

th e

royal

King

of

heaven laid aside His

royalty

left

His

throne of

glory

His high command and came

into

o ur w or ld

to

bring

to

fallen

man

weakened in moral power and

corrupted by sin aid divine. He

clothed

Hi s divinity

with human-

ity

that

He might reach to th e

very

depths of human

wo e

an d

misery

to

lift

up fallen man. By

taking upon

Himself

man s na-

ture He raised humanity in the

scale of moral value with God.

These great themes are almost too

high

too

deep too infinite for

th e

comprehension

of

finite

minds.

Parents should

keep these

t hi ng s b ef or e

their

children

an d

instruct them l ine upon line pre-

ce pt u po n p re ce pt

in

their obli-

gation to God-not

their

obliga-

tion to each other to honor an d

glorify one

another by

gifts

an d

offerings.

Bu t they

should be

taught

that

Jesus is th e world s

Redeemer the object of

thought

o f p ai ns ta ki ng effort; that His

work is the grand theme which

sho uld enga ge thei r a tt ent io n;

that they

should

bring to

Hi m

their gifts and offerings. Thus

di d th e wise men

an d th e

shep-

herds.

As

th e twenty-fifth day of

De-

cember is observed to commemo-

rate th e birth of

Christ

as th e

children

have been

instructed by

p re ce pt a nd example th at

this

was

indeed a da y of gladness an d

rejoicing you will

find

it a diffi-

cuIt

r

tter to pass over

this

period without g iv ing i t some at-

tention. can be made to serve a

very

good purpose.

The

youth

should be

treated very

carefully.

They

should

not

be left

on

Christmas to

find

their own

amusement

in vanity

and pleas

w

ure-seeking in amusements

which

will be detrimental to their spir-

i tu al it y. P ar en ts c an c on tro l this

matter by turning t he m in ds an d

the offerings

of

their children to

God an d His Cause an d

th e

salva-

tion of

souls.

The desire for

amusement instead of being

quenched an d

arbitrarily

ruled

down

should be controlled

an d

directed

by

pa i nst a ki ng

effort

upon the

part

of the parents.

Their desire to make gif ts may be

turned into pure an d

holy

chan-

nels and made to

r es ul t i n

good

to o ur fellow men by supplying

the treasury in the grea grand

work for which Christ came into

ou r world. Self-denial an d self-

sacrifice marked His course of

action. Let it mark ours who pro-

fess to love Jesus; because in Him

is c en te re d o ur

hope

of ete

life.

Youth

cannot

be made as

date an d

grave

as ol d age

child as sober as th e s ir e. W

sinfuI amusements are c

demned

as t he y sh ou ld be

teachers and guard

of youth provide in their

s

innocent pleasures

which

s

not taint or corrupt the mo

Do no t

bind

down the young

r ig id rule s

and

restraints

will

l ea d th em

to feel themse

oppressed and to break over

rush in to paths

of

folly

an d

struction. With a firm kin

considerate hand hold the l

of government guiding and

trolling

their

minds

and

purpo

ye t so gently so

wisely

ingly that they s til l will

k

that

yo u

h av e th ei r

best

goo

view.

How

many parents are

menting the fac t that they ca

keep their children at home

they have no love fo r home

an early age they have a de

for the company of strangers;

as soon as they are old eno

they

break

a wa y f ro m

that

w

appears

to them to be bond

and unreasonable restraint

will

neither

heed a mother s

p

ers nor a father s counsels. In

ti ga tion would generally re

that

th e s in la y

at

t he d oo r

of

parents.

Th ey have not m

home

what it

ought to be-att

pleasant

radiant

with

sunshine of kind words plea

looks

and true

love.

The

secret

of sav ing y

children

lies

in making

y

home

lovely

and attractive.

dulgence

i n p ar en ts

will no t

th e

children

to Go d no r to h

but

a firm godly influenc

properly

train an d

educate

mind would save many child

from

ruin.

On Christmas so soon to c

let not

th e parents

take

th e

p

tion that an evergreen place

th e

c hu rc h f or

th e amusemen

th e

Sabbath-school

scholars

sin;

fo r

it ma y be made a

g

blessing. Keep b ef or e t he ir m

benevolent

objects.

In no

should mere amusement be


6/32

I entreat you

my

brethren n

sisters to make this coming

Christmas a blessing to yoursel

n others

object

of

these gatherings.

While

there

may be some

wh o will turn

these occasions into seasons

of

careless levity and whose minds

will

not r ecei ve

the divine

im

press to other minds and charac

ters

these

seasons

will

be

highly

beneficial. I am fUlly

satisfied

that innocent substitutes can be

devised fo r many gatherings

that

demoralize.

Christmas

is coming. May

you

all have

wisdom to

make t pre

cious season.

Let

the

older

church

members unite heart and soul

with

th eir ch ild re n i n

this inno

cent amusement and recreat ion

in devising ways and means to

show true respect to Jesus

by

bringing to Him gifts and offer

ings. Let everyone remember the

claims

of

God. His cause cannot

o

forward without your

aid.

Let

the

gifts

you

have

usually

be

stowed upon one another

be

placed in the Lord s treasury. I

present before you my brethren

an d sisters an

object the Euro

pean mission. In every church let

your smaller

offerings be placed

upon your Chr is tmas tree. L et the

precious emblem

evergreen

suggest the

holy

work of

God

and

His beneficence to us and the

loving heart work will be to save

other souls who are

in

darkness.

Let your works be

in

accordance

with

your

faith. I heard Elder

Butler

read a touching let te r a

few days

since

from

Elder

Whit

ney of Europe. The

good

work is

going

forward

there bu t

it

ought

to

have

been done six years ago.

Let not

this work be hindered.

Let

it

advance.

all both

old

and

young

will forgo giving

presents to one another and for-

o

the

selfish

outlay

of

means

in

these

coming holidays

there

would be

in

heaven a most pre-

cious

record o f sel f d enial

fo r

Christ s sake.

Every tree in Satan s garden

hangs laden with the fruits of

vanity

pride

self importance

evil desire

extravagance-all

poi-

soned fruit bu t very grat ify ing

to the carnal heart. Let the sev

eral

c hu rc he s p re se n t to Go d

Christmas trees in every church;

and then

le t them hang thereon

the

fruits

of

beneficence

and gra

t i tude offerings coming from

willing hearts and hands fruits

that

God wil l

accept

as

an

expres

sion of Our faith an d our great

love to Him for

the

gift of His

Son Jesus

Christ. Let the

ever

green

be

laden with f ru it rich

and

pure and

holy

acceptable to

God. Shall we not have such a

Christmas as

Heaven

can ap-

prove? Thousands of

dollars

are

needlessly spent every year

in

gifts

to each o the r.

That is means

lost to

God

lost to His cause. t

p leases the

vanity

encourages

pride crea tes a ll k inds

of

dissat

isfaction murmuring and com-

plaints

because

perhaps the

gifts

are not just what was desired not

of the high value wanted r ex

pected. Christmas is not observed

as its name implies it should be.

Man

has

forsaken God in

almost

everything and has turned the

attention to self. He has

left the

pure springs of

ving water

which flow from the throne of

God and hewn out to himself

broken

cisterns

which can hold

no water. God gave man a proba-

tion that he might

be

fitted

fo r

heaven.

He was to look upward to

God who was to be the soul s

adoration; but talent skill and

inventive powers are all exercised

to make self the supreme object

of attention. Man has

withdrawn

his gaze from Deity and fastened

his eyes upon the finite the

earthly the corruptible.

Satan is in this work to pu t

God ou t of

the mind

an d

inter

pose the world and self that the

eye shall not be

single

glory

of God. Satan ca

and

ensnares the mind.

Hi

nal

wisdom

is continuall

cised

to

mold and fashion

ter ia l w ith

which he

has

to make God the least

l as t objec t o f devotion.

The

various amusement

ciety

have

been

the ruin o

sands

who

bu t

fo r these

of Satan migh t be

servant

living God.

There

are wr

character seen everywhe

ha ve been des troyed by

fashionable

pleasure;

an d

work is going forward.

sands more

will go

to ru

will not open their eyes

and sense

the fact

that

a

they are professed Chr

they

are lovers

of

pleasur

than

lovers

of

God.

I entreat

you my

breth

sisters to make this

Christmas a blessing to yo

and

others.

Th e

birth o

was unhallowed

by t he gr

of ear th. He was the Ma

heaven;

yet t hi s

royal

subj

no

attendants.

His birth

honored by the very m

came to our world to sa

His advent was celebrated

heavenly host. Angels of

the appearance

of

a sta

ducted the wise men on th

sion

in search of Jesus.

came w ith gifts and costly

ings of frankincense a nd

to pay their

oblation

to

fant

King foretold in pr

They followed the

brillia

sengers with assurance an

joy. Th e

angels

passed


7/32

Satan has had his

way

managmg

these occasions to suit himself now

let

us

turn the current heavenward

instead

of

earthward

school of

the prophets,

the pal-

aces of kings,

and appe ar ed

to

the humble

shepherds,

guarding

their

flocks by night, upon Beth-

lehem s plains.

One

angel f ir st

appeared, clothed with the pano-

ply of heaven; and so surprised

and so

terrified

were th e shep-

herds that they could only

gaze

upon the

wondrOl

glory of

the

heavenly

vis itant w it h unu tt er -

able amazement. The angel of the

Lord came to them and said

UFear not for behold I bring

you tidings

of great

joy, which

shall

be

unto all people;

fo r

unto

you is

born

this day,

in

the ty

of

David a Saviour who is

Chr is t the Lord. And this shall be

a sign

unto

you , Ye shall find

the

b ab e w ra pp ed in swaddling

c lo thes , lying

in

a manger.

No

sooner

had

their

eyes become

ac

customed

to

the glorious

presence

of

the

one angel, than, o

the

whole plain

was lighted

up

with

the wondrous glory

of

th e

multi-

tude of

angels that

peopled the

plains of Bethlehem.

The

angel

quieted the fears of the shep-

herds

before opening their eyes

to

beho ld the

multitude of the

heavenly host, all praising God,

and

saying, Glory to God

in

the

highest; and on earth,

peace,

good

will

to men.

Luke

2:10-12, 14

Then was

the melody

of heav-

en heard by

morta l ears, and the

heavenly cho ir

swept

back

to

heaven

as they closed their ever-

memorable an

them. The light

faded away and

the

shadows of

the night

once more fell on

the

hills and

plains

of

Bethlehem;

bu t

there remained

in

the hea rt s of

t he shepherds the brightest

pic-

ture

mort al man

had

ever looked

upon, and the blessed

promise

and assurance of the

advent

to

our world

of

the

Saviour

of men

which filled

their

hearts with joy

and

gladness,

mingled

with

faith

and wondrous love to God. In

simple

trust, the shepherds

has-

tened

to

follow

the direction of

the

heavenly

messengers to find

the royal Babe not in a palace

not

in even a common inn but in

a stable. They bowed in reverence

to

the

infant King committing

no idolatry. But how certain is

it

t ha t i do la try is committed

by

those

who profess

to be

lovers of

Jesus Their a ttention , thought,

and powers are devoted to poor

finite

mortals.

Rel ati ve s a nd

f ri ends come in for

the

worship

which

belongs to

God alone.

I entreat my bre thren and sis-

ters to have a special object in

view The missionary work

must go forward.

Now

brethren

le t us on Christmas make special

efforts

to come

before the Lord

with gifts

and

grateful

offerings

for the gift of Jesus Christ as a

Redeemer

to

the

world.

Le t noth-

ing

now be

spent

needlessly; bu t

let every penny that can be

spared be pu t ou t to the exchang-

ers.

Satan has had

his

way in

managing

these

occasions to suit

himself.

Now le t us turn the cur-

rent

heavenward

ins tead of

ear thward . Let us show

by

our

offerings

that

we appreciate

the

self

-denial and sacrifice of Christ

in

our

behalf. Let God

be brought

to remembr ance by eve ry child

and

parent;

and le t the offerings,

both

small

and large, be

bro

to

the storehouse

of God.

You that have means

have been the

habit

of ma

donations to your

relatives

friends

until you are at a los

know

what

to

invent that wil

new

and

interesting

to them

to

pu t your ingenui ty

to

the

as well as your influence to

how

much

means you may ga

to advance the work of

the

L

Let your skill and your capac

be

employed

to

make the

com

Christmas one

of

intense inte

paying

your

addresses

to

the

of heaven in

willing,

gratefu

ferings. Follow no longer

world s customs.

Make a b

here, and see if this Chris

cannot

show thousands

of do

f lowing int o the treasury

God s

storehouse

may no t

empty.

You may no t be rec

pensed on

earth, bu t you wil

rewarded

in

the future life

that

abundantly.

Let

those

have so

long

planned for sel f

begin to plan for

the

caus

God

and you will certainly h

increased

wisdom.

Let the

s cience be enl ightened and

love

of t ru th and

of

Christ

the place of idolatrous thou

and love of self. Will you

arise my Chris tian brethren

sisters

and

gird

yourselves

duty in the

fear

of God

so

ranging thi s

matter

that it s

not

be dry and

uninteresting

full of innocent

enjoyment

shall

bear

th e

signet of Heave

know

the

poorer

class will

spond to these

suggestions.

most

wealthy

should also show

interest, and

bestow

their g

and offerings proportionat

the means

with

which God

entrusted them.

Let th ere

be

corded

in th e h ea ven ly

bo

such

a

Christmas

as has

never

been seen ,

because

of

the

d

tions

which

shall be g iven fo r

sustaining of the work of

and the

upbuilding

of His k

dom.

Review and erald Decembe

1884


8/32Kevin Paulson

White wrote

He

who is t

reach heaven by his ow

in keeping the law is att

an impossibility All t

can do without

Christ

is

with

selfishness

and sin;

which is wrought through

acceptable

to God.

Messages

Book I, 364)

unfortunately have take

ther.

want to say tha

thing man does with or

Christ

is worthless.

Even

done in cooperation with

never

be

part

of salvati

degree of

faith

in one s

ence is measured by ho

work

he must

do to be sav

vation by grace requires

that God give al l

the

po

means

also

that God

does

work. thus devise

a

and le t God approach t

tianity.

A

careful

study

of the

of legalism is long overd

haps

this

article will he

away

confusion.

The fol lowing four po

help I believe to offer a

th e problem more

in

step

spired

teaching.

1. Divine

Appeasement

Ellen White states, Th

ciple

that

man can

save

by his own

works

lay at

th

dation of eve ry hea th

gion.

The Desire

of

Age

suspect many

readers ha

dered about this. When m

think

of paganism we t

voH ty

and

moral loose

exactly the stereotype of

How

could salvat ion by

possibly

be

the

root of

ism?

The answer is

simple:

tion of

divine

appeaseme

gan religion abounds in th

that angry gods

need

to

cated. Magnificent

ritua

tere self-denial even hum

rifices

and

military cam

become methods

to alter

vine

mood. The haun ting

unpredictable deities-nev

sa t i sf ied-hangs over m

throughout

the world. A

just in heathen lands.

Whenever

Christians

believers

doing

their best to stem

the

tide.

At

one

point Ellen

White

declared As a people we have

preached

the law until we are as

dryas

the

hills of

Gilboa

that

had neither dew nor rain. Re

view and Herald March II

1890

However

t he supreme t ragedy

is how in recent years we have

not been content with an

inspired

def in it ion of

the problem.

Mrs.

986

Legalism:

Myth

and Reality

L

EGALISM

IS a

Common

word

in

Adventist

religious

language.

The

term is

generally

used as a

synonym

fo r

righteous-

ness by works pharisaisID

other attitudes seen as excesses of

religious conservat ism. Few can

deny

the relevance of

this

cern. A look at

Adventist

history

finds a

f requent encounter

with

these problems with committed


9/32

the idea that God is angry and

must be appeased, they fall a

prey

to

legalism. The Bible does

say that God is angry because of

sin, but His is a

sorrowful

anger,

recoiling at the pain and sadness

caused by Our

misdeeds. God re-

joices at

the r emoval

of sin be-

cause

it

means the removal

of

pain and destruction.

is

not

a

question

of a

ruffled

divine Ego

in need of soothing. How

can

anyone believe God s

hatred

of

sin

means hatred

of

s inners? Sin

must be expelled from our lives,

not to restore a

suspended divine

Paganism demands

a decent show

of

devotion, not a

change of mind

love, but to rescue

Durse

yes and

others

from a ruinous, painful

experience.

Many

have debat ed the issue

of

whether

God d es troy s the

wicked. I

find the

matter easy

to

se tt le. When

God

says,

f

you

sin,

you

will die, (Genesis 2:17)

He doesn't mean,

f you

disobey

Me, I ll

kill

you.

He

is

merely

saying

that to reject His charac-

te r

and

guidance

causes

suffer-

ing, torture, and finally

death.

How else can it be, since God is

the Source of

life?

God gives sin-

ners the chance, through His

grace, to stop hurting themselves

and others

and

accept His leading

instead.

But when they stubborn-

ly r efuse

His offer

following the

ultimate display

of

contrast

be-

tween good

and

evil in the last

days, God must perform

His

s tr ange act . ( Is ai ah 28:21)

Though seeing the issue


10/32

4.

Independence of Divine

Aid

In his last

prayer

before Israel,

King David

declared,

A ll things

came of thee, and of thine own

have we given thee. Chron-

icles 29:14) Everything we possess

is a

gift

from God. This fact is

true

even

of the unfallen

angels.

(See

aithand Works

23) In Man-

uscript

36, 1890, thought to be

Mrs. White s definitive word on

justification, we read:

There

has

been

too

little edu-

ca ting in clear

lines

upon this

pain t The Lord has l en t man His

own goods in trust-means

which

He

requires be

handed

back to

Him when His providence signi-

fies and the upbuilding

of His

cause

demands i t. The Lord gave

the intellect .

He

gave

the

health

and the

ability

to

gather

earthly

gain. He created the things of

earth. He manifests His

divine

power to develop a ll its riches.

They are His fruits from His

own

husbandry.

He gave the

sun, the

clouds, the showers of rain, to

cause vegetation to flourish. As

God s employed

servants

you ga-

thered in His harvest to use what

your wants required in an eco-

nomical way and hold the rest

for the

call of

God.

You

can

say

To think we can

serve God on our

own to indulge

in absurdities

with David,

For

all things come

of

thee,

and of thine

own

have

we

given

thee.

(I Chronicles

29:14) So the sat is fact ion of

crea-

ture roerit cannot be in returning

to the Lord His own, for

t

was

always His own property to be

used as He in His providence

should direct. Ibid., 20, 2

That which

distinguishes

a le-

galist from a true Christian, dis-

tinguishes

a wea lt hy bel ieve r

from a wealthy

man

of the world.

The

former

acknowledges the

true Source of success, the latter

credits

himself

o r luck. The exer-

cise of the wil l, in God s service

or elsewhere, is a pure gift

of

grace. To

think

we can

serve

God

on ou r own is to

indulge

in ab-

surdities.

When we

acknowledge

how, because of the

fall,

man

needs a further bestowment of

power, it is not to imply

that

the

power with

which

we were born

is our own.

We

merely recognize

that

because

of

sin we

have

for-

feited

much of Our

God-given

vi-

t al it y, t ha t only through

His in-

tervention can we find

Our

way

back.

Among the central issues in

the

faith/works

discussion is ,

From whom do we take direc-

tions? The power to do God s

will

is found in

His

directions. All

His

biddings are enablings.

Christ s

Object

Lessons, 333)

Those depending on human ideas

in

place of God s Word lose access

to His power. We read

that

the

robe of Christ s

righteousness

contains one thread of hu-

man

devising. doesn t say,

not one thread of human str v

ing That isn t the issue. The

question is who gives directions

and who supplies

the power.

The Evangelical Fallacy

In politics the extreme right is

not far from the extreme left.

Theology isn t much

different.

And nowhere is this truer than in

the

legalism

debate.

Evangel ical theology c la ims to

have the answer to righteousness

by works.

t

professes to

exalt the

divine love manifested in Jesus,

thus drawing people away from

self-dependence.

Careful

study,

however, shows that it contains

the same fundamental premises as

old-fashioned

legalism.

Each of

the four points

just

described

is

found in evangelical-

ism. The necess ity for God s ap-

peasement is

affirmed.

While man

is

told his works cannot

win

God s favor, he is

assured that

God s favor

has

already been

won-by the

sacrifice

of Jesus. t

is a question of who ap

God, man or

Christ.

But th

nowhere says God has to

peased

by anyone

For a

personage to placate anoth

much

a

p art of

heathenism

man to placate

God. Heath

gion abounds in both, as a

den t of culture

will

acknow

The evangel ical

gospel

perficial.

t

presents a sa

long ago

and

far

away,

a d

ti ve ac t

which

changes l iv

in

part.

Historic Adventis

cause it gives

sanctified

ence

it s rightful promine

God can ne

bless when hum

cowardice repla

divine cour

smeared as a system of

Would

not

Christ condem

religion as He condemned

saism, as producing whitew

tombs full

of

dead men s

Matthew

23:27

As with stereotyped le

evangelical thought focu

passage t hrough the

pearly

rather than the vindicati

God. Witnessing methods p

the central question, yo

t on ight , would

you go to

en? Self-consideration re

primary importance. How

en t from

the experience

o

who

dec la red, Though h

me, ye t

will

I

trust in

him

13:15

And,

yes, evangelicali

nores

th e power

of

God.

profess

to

claim

it ,

bu t

whe

lical promises of victory a

nied,

when Chr is tians sp

their

sinful

habits as the u

fu l spies

spoke

of

the

Can

( they

are stronger than

Numbers 13:31), the

pow

the glory depar t. God can

bless when human coward

places divine courage.


11/32

Conclusion

Legalism is not a

quest ion of

who does the

work

of salvation.

It is a question of th e

divine

character, o f the d epth of human

commitment,

of

the focus of our

experience and the urce of our

strength.

must

cease

to

think

of

righteousness

by

fa i th

as

r ighteousness devoid of

human

effort.

Recognizing thi s t ruth will

sharpen our

understanding of

Scripture.

The

Bible plainly de-

clares human works to be a part

Superficial thinking

sees salvation as

primarily a ticket

to heaven

of

salvation, not

merely

its re-

sults.

For

not the h earers of the

law are just

before

God. (Rom-

ans 2:13 Work out your own

salvation

with

fear

and trem-

bling; fo r

God

is at work in you,

both

to

will

and

to

work for

his

good

pleasure. (Philippians 2: 12,

13 RSV) You

see that

a

man

is

j us tif ie d by works and no t by

faith

alone.

(James

2:24

RSV)

Ellen

White declares:

work

of

gaining salva-

tion is one

of

copartnership; a

joint operation

Human effort

of i tsel f is

no t sufficient.

Without

the aid of divine power t vails

nothing. God works n

man

works.

ts

oj

the Apostles 48

Man must work with his hu-

man power

aided by th e divine

power

of Christ, to resist and

conquer at any cost to

himself.

In

short. man must overcome

as

Christ overcame

This could

not be

the case if Christ alone

did al l

the

overcoming. Man must

do his part;

he

must

be

victor

on

his own account .

Testimonies

vol. 4 32 33

The

real problem in al l

this

is

our

definition of

salvation. Su-

perficial thinking sees salvation

as primarily a ticket to heaven.

Going to heaven will

be

wonder-

fu l

and

we a ll l ook forward

to

it ,

bu t b ib li ca l

salvation

is much

deeper. means

the expulsion

of

sin and the resulting vindication

of

God

from the

charges

of Sa-

tan.

The first reference

to

salva-

ti on i n th e New Testament reads,

You shall call

his

name Jesus

f or

he

will

save

his

people

from

their sins. Matthew 1:21 RSV

A proper view of legalism will

take

the

shack les from

God s

spokesmen who f ear th at if they

call sin by its right name and up-

hold

d iv ine s taudards of

conduct,

they

fall prey to

works-r ight-

eousness.

How

well I remember a

teen-age experience when, at a

major camp meeting, a

evangelist preached a sermon on

Christian standards only

to be ac-

costed

after

the service for dar-

ing to preach behavior when he

ought

to

be

preaching

Christ.

. Once we understand the true na-

tu re o f law, it wil l help us expose

the n atu re of

legalism.

pay l ip

service t o the belief that the law

is the t ranscript

of God s charac-

ter. But do

we

real ly know what

that means? Doctrinal truths and

standards

of

behavior are God s

A proper view of

legalism will take

the shackles from

God s spokesmen

instruments

of self

-disclosure, for

r eveal ing to man what

He

is like.

Merely accepting these on th e

surface will

avail

nothing, but

t ak ing them

to

heart settles th e

problem . Not only is legalism

averted, but every other counter-

feit

advanced

by Satan to derail

the church of God.


12/32

HEN WE

r r i v e d

t

Avondale

College as

imma-

ture

sixteen-year-olds

in 1950

ou r

vocational op tions were

scanty.

Basically th e college offered

courses

in

Secretarial Science

Accounting Building

Construc-

tion

Teaching

and Min is tr y.

None of the first three appealed

to us, so we selected teaching be-

cause we knew that we were not

good

enough

to be ministers.

How limited

was our understand-

ing then of

the sacredness

of the

high

calling

of t ho se who wish to

be the educators of the children

of

God s people

One

of the most striking state-

ments

concerning

educa tion by

Ellen White is he r

declaration:

In the highest

sense the work of

education

and

the work of re-

demption are one.

Education

30)

This

statement

forces th e

Christian to re-evaluate all his

cherished

definitions ofeduca-

tion.

t ransla tes educationa l

aims ou t of t he confines of the

immediate

into the realm of eter-

nal verities.

This truth

does not

mean that Christ ian education

has nothing to offer fo r the im-

mediate for to place education in

the realm of

the

eternal is

indeed

to great ly enhance the mean-

in g

and significance of that

which

is taking place

in

th e

present.

does

however

reduce

progressive social-reconstruction

and humanistic

concepts of edu-

ca t ion to

the realm of

the

redundant-totally inadequate fo r

th e educa tion of the child of

God.

One of the authors once had a

professor who, after detai ling a

sampling of the

various defini-

tions

of education

claimed

that

in presenting his own definition

he was

giving

the broades t

defi-

nition poss ible. He then

defined

education as The total experi-

ence

of man

from conception

to

death. This definition

pointedly

illustrates

the

limitations

of sec-

ular concepts of

education.

How

vastly greater in its scope is true

God-centered

education

Ou r

ideas of educa ti on take

too narrow

and

too low a range.

There is

ne

broader

sc

higher aim

edu t ion

more than th

sual of a c

Course of

stu

means more

preparation for

that now is.

ha

wi th the

whole

bei

with the

whole pe

existence

possible

to

is the harmonious

ment of the physic

men tal and th e

sp

powers. prepares t

dent for the joy

of se

th is world

and fo r t he

joy of wider s ervice in

th

to come. ducation

3

Seventh-day Advent i

among

the most

educati

scious

group in society and

how

it should be. belie

the talents entrusted

to u

gift from

God

to be us

multiplied.

Ye t we must

reminded

that

t hey a re to

f or

His

glory and for a

wi

mankind.

is thus not sur

that though most Adven

the ir forebears accepted

vent faith while

in humb

cumstances today

the

m

of t he Seven th -day

Ad

church stand high in

socia

and educational

achiev

Thus there

is a

danger of

ing to

worldly

evaluation

cation.

have

sometim

guilty o f

worshiping

at th

of t he degree and have se

goal as the ultimate of

education. But

God allo

such definition.

Higher

education is an

imental

knowledge of the

salvation

and

this

knowl

secured

by

earnest

and

study of the Scriptures. S


13/32

ed

uca

tion will

renew

the

mind

and transform the character re-

storing

the

image

of

God in

the

soul.

will fortify the mind

against

the

deceptive whisperings

of

the adversary,

and

enable us

to

understand

the voice

of

God.

will

teach the

learner

to be-

come

a

coworker with Jesus

Chr is t, to

dispel

the mora l

dark-

ness

about

him,

and bring light

and

knowledge to men. is the

simplicity of

t rue godliness-our

passport

from

th e

preparatory

school of

earth to the higher

school above.

There is no ed ilea tion to be

gained

h ighe r than

that given to

the

early

disciples,

and which

is

l] [fo

lIT

revealed

to us

through

the

Word

of

God. To gain

t he h ighe r

edu-

cation

means

to fol low this Word

implicitly;

it means to walk

in

the

footsteps

of Christ,

to

prac-

tice His virtues.

means to

give

up

selfishness,

and

to devote the

life

to the

service of

God.

Higher

education calls for something

greater, something more divine

than

t he knowledge to be ob-

tained

merely

from books.

means a personal,

experimental

knowledge

of

Christ;

it

means

emancipation from ideas, from

habits and pract ices,

that have

been gained

in

the school

of the

prince of

darkness,

and which

are

opposed

to loyalty to

God.

means to overcome stubbornness,

pride, selfishness, worldly ambi-

tion,

and unbelief.

is the

mes-

sage

of del iverance from

sin.

C 1 11sels to Parents Teachers and

Studeilts 11,

12

Such a

definition

means that

higher education

is

not l imited

to

any

age group

or any prescribed

academic

level.

is

the educa-

tion

that

must be

given

to the

babe in his mother s arms; to the

preschool child as he works

with

his parents

and

as he

learns at

their knees; to

the e lementary

school

child

as he

masters no t

only

the skills

of formal

educa-

tion but

learns also

of the One

who is the Source

of all

wisdom

and true knowledge;

to

the high

school

pupil

who

seeks to dis-

cover God s

unique

calling

in

his

life; to the college

student

as he

earnest ly makes special

tion

fo r

his life-calling; to the

young married adults as they al-

low

Christ

to

establish

a home

where

th e

pure principles

of

Christian

love

prevail; to the

middle-aged as

they

seek to chan-

nel their

experience

into avenues

of

more

fruitful

ministries and

to

the aged

as

they uti li ze

their

re-

tir ing years for their ministry

of

faith

and love. Indeed this

will

be the

education that it will

be

our privilege to continue to enjoy

throughout eternity_

The Power Coaching College

of Sydney, Australia, some

years

ago, used as its s logan nowledge

is Power

But such an

unqualified

slogan is

hardly

acceptable to the

Christian

in

the light of

Eden,

where added

knowledge

brought

terrible impotency to earth s

first

inhabitants. At the turn of the

century

the

wel l-known Bri ti sh

educator

Findlay

proclaimed

nowledge

is power when

it

is

used While an improvement even

this

definition

is

inadequate,

for

we

have seen

knowledge

of drugs

and cer ta in lifestyles

lead to the

ruination of

many

of

our

fellow

humans. Ellen White, however

places the issue

in the spiri tual

sphere: Knowledge is

power

when united with

true piety.

Testimonies

vol.

4

427)

Only the

true Chr istian can discern truth,

discrimina te between knowledge

of r ea l value and

useless

knowl-

edge and understand

how

to

translate that knowledge

into

the

principles of righteousness

and

service. Only the committed

Christian is

taught

by the true

Teacher-the

Holy Spir it .

But

the COmforter, which is the Holy

Ghost, whom

the Father wil l send

in

my name, he shall teach you

all

things,

and bring all things

to

your

remembrance

whatsoe

have said unto

you. John 1

True

education elicits

a mo

tion that turns

away

f rom m

achievement

to

the

glory

of

Let your light so shine b

men, that

they

may see your

works,

and glorify your F

which

is

in

heaven. Ma

5:16)

Herein

is my Father

fied,

that

ye bear much fru

shall ye be my disciples.

15:8)

L et

all your behavio

such as

even

pagans can r

nize

as good, and then, wh

they malign you as

crim

now,

they

will

come to se

themselves that

you live

lives, and wil l g ive g lo ry to

on the

day when

He com

hold assize . 1 Peter

2:12,

Be

ambitious for

the Ma

glory. Messages

to Young P

100

Therefore

the

Christian

an

educa tion for

himself an

c hild ren o f

a

different o

from

that

of the world. The

lQD [P

Q

[fo [ l]

b[][ l]

U

] Q U[fo U[P

are

different

the teachers

different

the

curriculum

is

ferent methodology

is

diffe

the

context

is

different

and t

fore the

product

is

different.

HTrue

education

is the i

cation of those ideas that wi

press the

mind

and heart wit

knowledge

of

God the Cr

and

Jesus

Chr ist the

Rede

Such an

education will

renew

mind

and

transform

the ch

ter. will strengthen

and fo

the mind against

the

dece

whisperings of t he adver sa

souls,

and

enable us to u

s tand the

voice of God. w

the learned

to

become

a cow

with Christ.

undamenta

Christian Education 543

continued

o


14/32

within, Thus, nature per

which

involves removal o

tation f rom wi th in

wil

only at the second com

Christ.

We

cannot experie

ture perfection before then

However if our def

in i

sin

a nd s inIessness fo

character then we can

meanings of

perfection

t

possible,

fo r

us today. Th

at least two aspects of ch

which can be

described

word perfect

or

perfectio

is character surrender. T

curs at the moment

of

con

when

we surrender our liv

pletely

to Chris t. At that

we

are

accounted

per

Christ. Our perfect ion

is c

at that t ime but we re jus

ning

the

walk of Christ.

ful ly surrendered to the

that

we

understand oursel

God.

God wil l accept

the

f

render of all that we kno

ourselves at that time. T

character

surrender is

because God counts it per

But there is another

that we must examine ch

maturity. If

we

bel ieve th

on the

basis of choice t

must also

believe

that

choose not to sin. Charac

turity is simply

the r ipe

the harvest in the individ

We are

becoming

mat

Christ

when we

are no

choosing to sin against G

n in-Christ

hrist in-sin

choose not to rebel,

a

choice

can occur at any

Jesus

Christ

does

live

w

He controls our

Ii

ves and

not sin because Christ d

sin. Christ does nothing

ou t of

harmony

with

H

When we sin we are c

\ . ;;

heavenly council

in

which

He set

forth

the truth

about Jesus

Christ

being fully God

thus

showing

Lucifer s challenge to

be un-

founded.

Patriarchs and Prophets

36

After

that council,

approxi-

mately one third of the angels

sided with Lucifer and were cast

out of heaven. Testimonies vol.

3 liS)

This means

that a sig-

nificant number of the angels

who had listened

to

Lucifer and

had though t he

might

be right

changed

their minds. Therefore,

we

cannot use the term absolute

perfection to describe these an-

gels who

ch ange d th eir minds

about God and Lucifer. In fact,

the angels were not fulIy con-

vinced that

God

was right and

Satan was wrong until the

crOSS

Only

then was atan

fulIy

re-

moved

from th eir

affections. The

Desire

of

Ages

758-761

Surely

then,

it is fair to say

that

ab-

solute

perfection

is not a term

we

can apply

in discussing right-

eousness by faith, since it does

not even apply to angels bu t only

to God.

The

second def in it ion of

per-

fection is nature perfect ion. Our

s in fu l n atu re

will

be removed

only at the second coming of

Christ,

after

which

there will be

no more

sinful

promptings

from

, i

:

ennis Priebe

r: -l.

H

, .,, Y

W : hat

5

: : ; , ;G , : : : :

our firm foundation -1986_12

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