It’s Not Legalism . .TO
DO SOMETHING — TO BE SAVED!
by R.E. Francis
ALL OF
THE FOLLOWING “DOINGS” ON OUR OWN PART ARE TO BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH
GOD’S HELP! WE NEVER “GO-IT” ALONE!! BIBLE “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us . .”—1 John 1:9.
+ Notice the word, “if,” with its necessary “doing” on our
part.
+ God won’t actually forgive, if we don’t honestly confess! “Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”—Luke 13:3.
+ Repentance means “to be sorry for” with a view to change.
+ The cross couldn’t help the unrepentant thief! It could help
the repentant thief! “Except
ye be converted . . ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”—
Matthew 18:3.
+ To be converted takes at least some willing and thinking on our
part, doesn’t it? That’s doing something!! “He
that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.”— Proverbs 28:13.
+ Only Christ, our high priest, can cover our sins. But He bestows
this mercy—on condition—we do something! “He
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life.”— 1 John 5:12.
+ Apparently, we “do” something to—“have the Son.” “Not
every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord,’ ‘Lord,’ shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father.”—Matthew
7:21.
+ It’s not the one who says, “Lord!” “Lord!” or
“Love!” “Love!” or “The Cross!” “The Cross!” Rather, it is
they, who by the grace of God, are doing God’s will while saying these
things! “Why
call ye me, ‘Lord,’ ‘Lord,’ and do not the things I say?’—Luke
6:46.
+ Jesus seems to be saying here, “Well done is better than well
said.” Because the practice of truth is better than the profession of
it! Ezekiel speaks of those who speak much of love, but their hearts are
far from Christ (Eze. 33:31).
+ I dare you to read verse 32 of Eze. 33! “Whosoever
will let him take of the water of life.”—Revelation 22:17.
+ “H [God] can save no one against his [that person’s] will”
(Sons and Daughter, 182). This exercise of the will is doing
something, isn’t it!
+ “Your faith is of no account until you put your will on the
right side (My LIfe Today, 318).” That, too, is doing something! [Jesus
speaking]: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.”—Revelation 3:20.
+ Jesus takes the initiative. He knocks. But we respond to it! [Jesus
tell us to do something.]—“Ask, and it shall be you; seek, and ye
shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”—Matthew 7:7.
+ We take the initiative. We knock. Jesus responds!
+ Jesus knocks, we respond! We knock, He responds!
+ That’s the definition of a relationship with Christ! SPIRIT
OF PROPHECY “God
requires entire surrender of the heart before justification can take
place; and, in order for man to retain justification, there must be
continual obedience, through active faith that works by love.”—1
Selected Messages, 366.
+ Surrender on our part is necessary in order to be justified!! “The
gifts [atonement gifts] are already ours in Christ [2 Tim 1:9], but their
actual possession depends upon our reception of the Spirit of God” [John
3:3-5].”—Christ’s Object Lessons, 327
+ You can’t be justified by any kind of atonement unless
“Christ is in you.” Romans 8:9 and John 3-6 says so!!
+ To be saved, it takes both the “in Christ” justification,
that is, what Christ does for us, outside of us, and the new-birth, the
“Christ in you sanctification factor. That is, what Christ does to us
and in us. Neither is possible without our permission! “The
conditions of obtaining the mercy [the justification] of God are simple
and, at the least, reasonable . . Those who have not humbled their souls
before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first
condition of acceptance . . The only reason why we do not have remission
of sins [justification] that are past is that we are not willing to humble
our hearts and comply with the conditions of the Word of Truth.”—Steps
to Christ, 37-38.
+ It’s true, justification is a gift of God. But it is also true
these gifts are to be “obtained” by us, by non-legalistic works of
faith!! “It’s
is not faith that claims the favor of heaven without complying with the
conditions on which mercy is granted.”—Desire of Ages, 126.
+ Now we know what real faith is! And we also know that our
complying is doing something—at
least some willing and deciding! “Certain
conditions are to be complied with on the part of man, and, if he refuses
to comply with the conditions, he cannot be the elect [the justified] of
God. If he will comply, he is a child of God, . . and He [Christ] will not
blot his name out of the book of life.”—3 Selected Messages, 315.
+ It can’t be made clearer than this! “A
sinner is justified by God when he repents of his sins.”—3 Selected
Messages, 193.
+ 2 Timothy 1:9 tells us that promised and planned saving grace was
given to us before the world was created, even before Adam sinned.
+ But our actual, veritable, real justification happens when we, by
the grace of God, accept that grace by genuine repentance!
+ We must surrender to it! Note:
E.G. White agreed with A.T. Jones in 1888. She disagreed with Jones in
1892. See the difference: “I was
attending a meeting and a large congregation was present. In my dream you
[Jones] were presenting the subject of faith and the imputed righteousness
of Christ [justification by
Faith]. You [Jones] repeated several times that works amounted to nothing,
that there were no conditions. The matter was presented in that light that
I knew minds would be confused, and would not receive the correct
impression in reference to faith and works, and I decided to write to you.
You [Jones] stated the matter too strongly. There are conditions to
receiving justification and sanctification, and the righteousness of
Christ. I know your meaning, but you leave a wrong impression on many
minds. While good works will not save one soul, yet it is impossible for
even one soul to be saved without good works. God saves us under a law,
that we must ask if we would receive, seek if we would find, and knock if
we would have the door opened to us.”—1 Selected Messages, 377.
+ She differed with him over the conditions to our being justified.
+ Jones, “there are
no conditions; EGW, there are!”
+ Like Paul, EGW finds we are and we are not justified by works.
See following for clarification): We are
not justified by our works (Rom 3:20, 28). Why? Because in us there is no
atoning root-source. Jesus is the only One with that kind of qualifying,
divine-human root. (Rev 22:16, Jn 15:1-5). That root symbolizes what He
did for us and outside of us, and independent of us (2 Tim 1:9). Thus He
became our sinless Substitute, which, if we accept with an honest and
repentant heart, “all our righteousness” can be said to be “in
Christ.” In other words, we are justified by Christ’s works—not
ours!! We are
justified by our works. How? As the fruit of the Root! The evidence of
“Christ in you,” which is the result of what He does—to us—in
us—with us! So says Romans 2:13/ James 2:21/ Romans 2:16/ Revelation
20:12/ Galatians 2:20/ Matthew 7:19-21/ John 15).
+ No fruit, no root! No root, no fruit! It takes both.
+ Remember the barren fig tree!! “God
cannot save a man against his [man’s] will . . Man must work with his
human power, aided by the divine power of Christ . . Man must do his
part.”—Sons and Daughters of God, 156.
+ Tells it like it is, doesn’t it! “When
through repentance and faith, we accept Christ as our Saviour, the Lord
pardons our sins.”—3 Selected Messages, 191.
+ This tells us when Christ’s atonement actually saves us! “But
it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer
to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His
blessing.”—1 Selected Messages, 121.
+ There is an initiative we must take! Albeit by the Holy Spirit! “Man
can accomplish nothing without God, and God has arranged His plans [of
saving man] so as to accomplish nothing in the restoration of the human
soul without the cooperation of the human with the divine.
The part man is required to sustain is immeasurably small, yet in
the plan of God, it is just that force that is needed to make the work a
success. I we are faithful in doing our part in cooperating with Him, God
will work through us to do the good pleasure of His will, but cannot work
through us if we make no effort.”—Amazing Grace, 209-319.
+ God cannot, if we will not!—covenants/atonements
notwithstanding.
+ We have a required part, a cooperative part—with God.
+ Our immeasurably small part is an immeasurably necessary part! “When
it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end,
Jesus accept this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He
[Jesus] makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He will
not accept those who claim to have faith in Him, and yet are disloyal to
His Father’s commandment.”
+ Can any kind of atonement of Christ save us apart from what
you’ve just read above, namely, apart from our heart response? No!! Which
is the closest to the truth? “I’m
not perfect, or just forgiven!” or “I’m
not perfect, just perfectly forgiven!” or “I’m
not perfect, just perfectly forgiven—if . . !” ______ “The
law says, ‘Do!’ “The
Gospel says, ‘Done!’ ” or “The
law says, ‘Do!’ “The
Gospel says, ‘Done!’—if . . !” There
are three types of SDAs 1)
The SDAccommodationists. Those who fit their belief system
to harmonize with prevailing social customs and cultures. They say things
like, “We are living in a new age,” and “Everybody’s doing it,”
and “It’s the custom now,” etc. These tend to lean toward
Nicolaitanism,—grace allows you to do it! They minimize Christ’s high
priestly ministry and conditions. 2)
The SDAugustinians. Those who say, “We have carnal
natures. We can’t keep the law of God. Don’t worry about it. Christ
did it all for you 2000 years ago. You’re already saved. Just accept
what He’s already done for you. They take a dim view of the law of God
and seldomly mention Christ’s priestly ministry and conditions on our
part. 3) The
SDAdventists. They say, “It takes three things to save us: a)
Christ’s life and death to provide the atoning blood. b)
Christ’s priestly ministry to minister the atoning blood. c) Upon
condition, the sinner contritely confesses and forsakes his sin—by the
grace of God. Any one of these three missing and the sinner cannot be saved! These tend toward a “faith that works by love,” producing fruit like the 144,000! |
