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As I attempt to begin “chewing on” all that have been discussed thus far in this class, I found myself repeating the text found in Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and His ways past finding out!” As long as I have been a Seventh-day Adventist Christian and have heard about and studied, although not in depth, the issue of justification, sanctification and glorification, I always walk away completely amazed at how much I have yet to learn. One of the ways that I experience something that is profound is by crying. Not out loud and not even with tears, but there is a feeling in my heart that I could only compare to crying. It happens when I hear something so deep and profound that I simply cannot respond to it. I somehow know it is the truth and it makes me want to just stop. In awe of that particular truth, just stop! I have had that experience several times thus far. It was not because these things were completely new, but the rest of it brought me to a new realization of what God has done for me and I want to just stop! Sometimes when I hear that we will learn through the ceaseless ages of eternity, I wonder what exactly we will learn? I think I have part of the answer and I realized it during this week. As I listen to Dr. Hanna talk about the complete process of salvation, I found myself awed by its complexity. But then I thought, what would it be like for Jesus himself to explain it more fully and clear up the mysteries that even Dr. Hanna admits he doesn’t fully understand? More than ever I want to make it to heaven because I want to learn more about this intricate plan to save me. As I read The Dynamics of Salvation, I discovered that righteousness “is not merely a state; rather, it manifests itself uniquely in saving activity”. It brings salvation. As I thought about that, I began to realize something. God’s righteousness does more than covers my unrighteousness. His righteousness creates in me a desire to do what is right. This is amazing to me because often times we refer to righteousness as a garment, and maybe it is. However some times a garment gives the connotation of not doing much more than sitting on your person and waiting to be moved by that person. But reading about God’s righteousness as a saving activity gives it life. It gives me a sense of righteousness doing more than sitting on my shoulders. It is active, working in and for me. Of course learning from the class that righteousness and justification is the same word in the original language, adds to this belief of active righteousness. Paul says in Romans 6:19 …that we should yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness. What that says to me is in order for the righteousness that Christ has imparted unto me to accomplish it’s purposes in my life I must be an active participant. That does not mean that if I don’t yield myself that somehow the righteousness of Christ is dead. It is not. It is still manifesting its part in the unique saving activity for which it was provided. It just means that I would miss out on what it can accomplish in my life. Another nugget that I discovered this week in terms of new terminology is the idea of intellectual assent to the truth. I must thank Dr. Hanna for introducing us to it so that when I saw it I was able to recognize it and know what it means. In referring to Abraham, it states that “his faith was not simply an intellectual assent to the truth, but a total response of trust in the promising Word of God. A readiness to submit himself entirely to God and to accept His Word”! It goes further and states that “Abraham came into right relationship with God and obedience was the result”. As I evaluated the life of Abraham, I see his growth and knew that it was not just because he accepted in his head that God loved him, that righteousness was imputed to him. In fact the Bible says in James 2:22-24, that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Here is evidence that Abraham went beyond a simple belief in God. In order to become a friend to someone, you must do more than believe. You must establish a relationship with them, spend time with them and as we would say today hang out with them. As I read about Abraham and his obedience, as carried out on Mt. Moriah, I know that his faith was heart and head related. I know that it was much more than an intelligent decision to obey, it was a heartfelt decision. In fact if there is such an expression, it was a whole body decision. The request to offer his son went straight to the heart of this father and his faith in His friend God was rewarded. Faith then is never a mental act or a passive act. It is always active and dynamic. It involves all that we do and are. Faith is the instrument through which we obtain salvation. It is the medium or instrument that God uses to reach us so that he can impart his grace to save us. He is not interested only in reaching our minds, but in reaching our hearts along with all our members. That’s why Matthew 27:37 says that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. One last nugget before I post. It has to do with a discussion we had in class and what I have read from Paul and Ellen White. It is the idea that faith is passive and as one person said that when you accept Christ, you get in the back seat of the limousine and cruise on into glory. As I read what Ellen White says in her sermon titled, Faith and Works she talks about our part in the process of salvation in this way “We are to wrestle, to labor, to strive, to agonize to enter in at the strait gate. We are to strive earnestly to be zealous and to repent, to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts from every defilement. We must seek if we would find, and seek in faith; we must knock, that the door may be opened unto us.” Nothing in these words suggests cruising, nothing in these words suggests a passive attitude, nothing suggests, that we are passive spectators. Rather she presents that we are willing participants with every fiber of our being. Our minds, our hands, our hearts, working, laboring, striving, wrestling, agonizing! Not in an attempt to save ourselves, but rather to engage us in the process of salvation that was started when we were justified fully by receiving Christ as Savior and Lord. No where in his writings, does Paul paint a picture of cruising into glory. In Romans 2:7 he says to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. Persistence in doing good, suggests an active and ongoing activity. Not just sitting around waiting for someone doing it for you, but rather you yourself voluntarily involved in doing. Some one said that it would be unfair for the martyrs to have had to go through such a horrendous experience and make it to the same heaven that we cruised into. I fully believe that we must be active participants in the process our salvation not to save ourselves but because we are grateful to Christ for what he has done on our behalf. Our works would therefore demonstrate that we have accepted the free gift of Salvation and we are now demonstrating our thanks to God through the good works that we do.
At the center of the gospel message is salvation. There would be no need for the gospel if we were not in need of salvation.
Yet there is a mystery to salvation that can trouble the greatest minds. Paul engages us in Romans on this subject and at times seems to be “on the bank then on the river”. Many statements first appear troubling until he corrects the obvious extreme view that could arise from reading some passages without other balancing texts.
Paul continually makes one strong statement only to be followed by a strong “but” as to say don’t forget there is another side to the coin. For example, he talks about the “law” in both positive and negative lights, since it produces sin in us and yet the law is good and holy and just. Righteousness comes through faith but also through works.
The most enlightening idea that came this week from Romans for me was the idea that the “heathen” so ‘know’ God though they may misinterpret Him. As we take the Gospel to those who don’t know Jesus we can build on what they already know about God rather than ‘start from scratch’. If our attitude is governed by the idea that we have all the answers then we can often teach more that the gospel i.e. our cultural biases.
Articles Read: “Adam and the Human Race in the Writings of E. G. White” by Angel Manuel Rodríguez - (Romans 1-4)
In his paper, Rodriguez discusses the issue of ‘original sin’ as addressed in Ellen White’s writings and what was really passed from Adam to the entire human family. To understand the issue of sin and salvation I think it’s important to investigate the root of the problem as this would give clues to the solution.
Of all the consequences of sin—separation from God, loss of privileges, slavery to sin death and misery—what I found most troubling about her statements is the intimation that if Adam had rejected Jesus as substitute then the whole human family would be doomed.
Here’s the quote: “"Then it was that the great love of God was expressed to us in one gift, that of His dear Son. If our first parents had not accepted the gift, the race would today be in hopeless misery. But how gladly did they hail the promise of the Messiah. It is the privilege of all to accept this Saviour, to become children of God, members of the royal family and to sit at last at God's right hand." ("Seek First the Kingdom of God," Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, October 27, 1885, par. 4.)
Does this mean that if Adam had rejected God’s offer of a Saviour then I wouldn’t have a similar opportunity? I could “understand” how as representative of the human race then all his descendants inherited his sinful nature but I still find this statement troubling.
It’s clear to me that Ellen White never thought that we were somehow ‘inside’ Adam when he sinned so we are guilty of HIS sins, but we have inherited his guilt as far as CONSEQUENCES are concerned. (So “results not participation.”)
Not only was Adam’s sin passed on to his posterity but it affected the whole of nature even when he was not biologically connected to it. This would indicate to me that human sinfulness is more than a biological phenomenon. The sin problem would therefore require ‘more than nature’ (supernatural intervention) to fix it.
In fact, Paul reminds us in Romans 1 that sin is indeed universal and we are helpless without the Gospel to remedy it. Without the Gospel we would be “given over to our own minds” (vs. 24, 26) which would naturally lead to self destruction. We need a second Adam to rescue us.
Whether through the writings of Ellen White or the Bible salvation is as much a mystery as the origins of sin in a perfect universe. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t wrestle with the subject, for in so doing we can see new pictures of God’s will to save us. And the things He reveals are indeed for us and our children. (Deut. 29:29)
Article: Analysis of the Doctrine of Universal "Legal" Justification -Larry J. Kane
There are extremes expressed in the idea of a “universal ‘legal’ justification.” To think that Christ righteousness is universally applied to every human being without their belief in Jesus Christ is surely to make grace too cheap and God too good. Considering that God couldn’t force Adam to obey Him and still be a God of love, so He couldn’t force the sinner to be saved and still be God.
Justification id definitely AVAILABLE at the cross but we must CHOOSE to apply this to our lives. Again, it is the attraction of extreme positions that make the doctrine of salvation important for study. Indeed we need a larger picture or model of salvation than can be employed using one metaphor.
Article: “Justification in Romans 3:21-24” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez -Romans 3
So far in the book of Romans Paul has argued that all are unrighteous, including Gentiles (1:18-32) and Jews (2:1-3:8) and therefore all people (3:9-20). He now further argues in Romans 3 that the only solution to this unrighteousness is a righteousness that comes from God through Jesus Christ by faith.
Rodriguez in his treatise examined the nature of this righteousness by exegeting Romans 3:21-24:
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testified. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
Rodriguez argues that “Paul has made it clear that the righteousness of God is the same as righteousness by faith in Christ for all who believe. He has not argued for two different types of righteousness, one that is legal and universal and not by faith, and another that is personal and by faith. He defined righteousness of God as justification by faith.”
This justification is not something that took place universally at the cross but is effected in the life of the sinner as he accepts the salvation provided at the cross by expressed and demonstrated faith in Jesus Christ. Any attempt by God to justify even the sinner who didn’t ask for it would give Satan an argument against God’s justice. “Available” and “accepted” are two very different views of justification.
We can see that the issues of salvation involve the “everlasting Gospel” and therefore address a sin problem that goes beyond the human level. These are things that even the angels desire to look into. We don’t have to feel threatened in wrestling with the subject but there is a mystery beyond which we have to accept this salvation “by faith”.
As we seek a larger model of salvation may we find Jesus in the center!
Articles Read: “Some Problems with Legal Universal Justification” by Angel Manuel Rodríguez (Romans 4)
It’s unsettling to think that we are born as sinners and basically guilty before God before we perform any actions or are even conscious of our own existence. The fact that “in Adam” we all became sinners even though we never sinned after the manner of Adam makes the idea of Legal Universal Justification appealing. This “objective justification” would seem to “make up” for the “objective condemnation” that we received from Adam. Since Jesus is the Second Adam then this would all seem logical. Except that it doesn’t fit with what the scriptures teach.
I agree with Rodriguez that there are some serious problems with the views of Legal Universal Justification and the “in Christ” motif in Paul’s writings cannot mean that we were in some way mystically present in either Adam or Jesus. Yet, I think that deep in the human heart the idea that we were born sinners without a choice causes us to seek to justify God’s action and make Him seem fair, and Legal Universal Justification would surely seem to do this.
But again, this will leave out human choice since we would be justified even before we had a chance to choose to follow God’s way. In trying to solve one problem we’ll only be creating another problem.
In Romans 4, Paul argues that both Jews and Gentiles are justified by faith because Abraham was counted righteous even before he was circumcised. It’s interesting that James also uses the same example of Abraham to teach the importance of works. (James 2:21-23) If the writings of both James and Paul are considered canonical then we must have a large enough model of salvation to fit in both ideas of righteousness by faith and the importance of works. To take Paul’s views at the exclusion of James (not that Paul didn’t teach the importance of works) you can easily come up with an unbalanced view.
Much like the great reformer Martin Luther did when he referred to James as an “epistle of straw” because James emphasized works. Martin Luther himself went as far as to say that God incites man to sin through the devil that God may apply His grace! Shows how a too small a model can lead to extreme and dangerous views.
Nathan Williams THST 618 Works of Christ Martin Hanna, Ph.D. May 15, 2008
After having read the first five documents of BRL on salvation and participated in the past class discussions some of the reoccurring issues that have been raised are what took place on the cross that gives the Christian power to ultimately live victoriously? How will God eradicate sin without destroying man’s free will? Or has Christ's death on the cross accomplished a legal or objective justification which is universally and unconditionally applied to all men? In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to address these issues from my own limited understanding while applying some of the concepts that we have learned in class thus far. It was apart of the plan of God from the beginning of the universe to create beings that would have the ability make moral as well as immoral choices. From a human stand point we ask the question why would God give created beings the capability to make right and wrong choices knowing that the wrong decision could send a world or even the universe spiraling downward on a crash course of wickedness and ultimately destruction. With limited understanding we stand back aghast that God would establish a scenario that could become a problem. Or is this situation really a problem? From the study of the scriptures and the spirit of prophecy we are given insight on why God created beings that could think and act for themselves. Gods’ intentions were to fashion individuals that would serve Him out of love absent of fear. God did not want mere automatons but creatures that had the ability to make choices whether right or wrong. Without going into detail we know unequivocally that Lucifer, one-third of the angels and eventually man made the decision to rebel against God’s law. In order to redeem man God came down and through Jesus Christ rescued man from the degradation of sin. Christ’s sacrifice opens up a path for man to be rescued from the depravity of sin. Paul states that “the gospel of Christ …is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16). On this point many are confused as to what Christ’s death and resurrection truly means for mankind. Some have concluded that all men are now saved because of the death of Christ, because all men died “in Christ.” The terminology used for this concept is called universal “legal” justification. Some of the question that I wrestle with in contradiction to the concept of legal justification are what does the element of faith mean to the believer if all men are saved in spite of how they lived, how do we handle the text that refute this idea such as 2 Peter2:9; Revelation 20; Ezekiel 28:18; Malachi 4:1,3. Will God ultimately over ride man’s ability to choose and save him/her against their free will, if so will He do the same for the Devil and his demon cohorts. All of theses questions must be thought about and answered biblically even with our finite understanding. It is clear in the scriptures that all must undergo the judgment of God and all who are found with out the righteousness of Christ will face utter destruction. Those who have rejected the justification and sanctification process will not experience glorification at the coming of Christ. The scriptures tell us that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”(Romans 8:1). In class we learned that justification is equal to not being condemned while walking in the Spirit is equal to the walking in the righteousness of God’s law. Righteousness is equivalent to holiness and sanctification. “Yield your members servants to righteousness (dikaiosu,nh|)unto holiness (a`giasmo,n).” (Romans 6:19). In order to experience the glorification that Christ longs to offer us we must seek and be holy. (Revelation 22:11). Those who are not willing to submit themselves to the justification and sanctification process will eventually be lost. This rules out all ideas that all will be saved against their wills. All who are saved will have made to conscious decision to allow God to transform them by faith into holy vessels. If we remove the element of faith then we immediately have robots and not beings with free will formed and fashioned in the image of God. In conclusion I am convinced that God knew what He was doing when He chose to leave in tack man’s freedom of choice. The death and resurrection of Christ can save us without destroying our free will. As we endure the sanctification process on this earth God will prepare us for glorification but again this is only as we by faith allow Him to renew our minds.
William Simpson Works of Christ Reflection: Steps to Christ chapters 1-5 and Romans chapters 1-4 Following paragraph based on SC chapter 1. The opening few pages from Steps to Christ correspond beautifully with the opening chapter of Romans and our first lecture. God reveals Himself to everyone in some way. Ellen White, talking about various aspects of nature says, “all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy.” I see God’s fairness in revealing Himself to all people so that in the Day of Judgment all people will be “without excuse” as Paul writes in Romans 2:1. I would see God as arbitrary and unfair if only those who had the opportunity to hear the gospel message as found in the Scriptures were candidates for salvation because so many have died without hearing the name of Jesus. God mercifully does everything He can to reach the lost. I had the question: “If God can reveal Himself through nature, then why the need for us to preach the gospel?” I am finding resolution to this question. White says in Steps to Christ “Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love.” Nature is one revelation, but the word of God more specifically reveals God’s character, and most accurately Christ’s life on earth reveals the Father’s character so that we may decide if we want to live according to His government. So I conclude that the reason we preach the gospel is to give people a clearer picture of who God is and what He offers us through Christ. We preach because God has given us the privilege to bring added clarity and conviction to people who only know God as revealed in nature. We preach Christ crucified because as White puts it, “Nothing less than the infinite sacrifice made by Christ in behalf of fallen man could express the Father’s love to lost humanity.” “It is the power of God to salvation.” Romans 1:16. Following paragraph based on SC chapter 3. I had a friend who, when I would ask him what the sermon was about, would always answer, “Sin!” This might sound a little funny, but I think there is more truth to my friend’s answer than comic value. So why talk about sin? White poses the comment and question, “It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to Christ?” This is indeed the question. Our canned answer may be, “the law is a tutor to drive us to Christ.” So does the written law show us our sin? Or is sin so pervasive that we could be doing the externals of the law while still being great sinners? It is true that Paul talks about the written code that the Jews had and also the unwritten law the Gentile had so that no person could say, “I didn’t have a law so I am not accountable for my actions!” I don’t however believe that the law, on its own, drives us to Christ. We can see that the lawyers in Jesus’ day weren’t driven to Christ and we see several Biblical examples of people coming to Christ without a written law convincing them that they needed redemption. I fully agree with White that “We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.” I don’t see anywhere in the Bible that the law is the power of the gospel to transform lives. We can all praise God for his Holy Spirit who uses the law of the written code of specific revelation, or the law as revealed in nature, as His own tool, to bring us to repentance and to bring us to desire change. White says “But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth.” No law will ever lead us to understand how horrible sin is and how important repentance is apart from God’s Spirit. The problem with sin was announced immediately to Adam and Eve. Once they sinned, they lost their discernment of what sin was and how destructive it was. The “enmity” was our only hope. White writes, “When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit he remains in partial blindness to his sin.” For some reason, which is not clear to me, Christ’s death is the power the Spirit uses. In commenting on David’s repentance, White writes, “repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high and has given gifts unto men.” A study of the law while shunning God’s spirit is useless. I believe that it is only God’s Spirit that convicts the Jew or Gentile of sin. The law, on its own, will never drive us to Jesus and to holiness. This understanding helps me to see God as much more in control of salvation for the Jew and Gentile. The heart of the issue is that God’s love working in the person of the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin and of righteousness, using whatever law he chooses.
Living in Korea as an Adventist pastor is not that easy. I mean Korean like Christianity actually but they don`t like Adventists. There is a long story with historical backgrounds. And I realized that some reasons are from the wrong understanding of righteousness by faith. I am blessed for I could learn about righteousness by faith here at Andrews and now I am trying to have more and more understanding of it. Thank Doctor Hanna for giving me this opportunity to share my idea and my experience on his blog. I am not sure about here in the States but Korea where I am come from has a heavy tension between SDA and other churches for a long time and they do not accept us as a Christian church. I served Korean army for 26months but I couldn`t work as a chaplain like other pastors because I was an Adventist. It is still very difficult to get a job in Korea for we work 6 days a week include Sabbath. It is even harder for the students. School runs 6days a week and SDA students are under threaten of deportation from their schools all the time. Most of graduate school entrance exam is on Sabbath. Even national exams like medical doctor`s exam or governmental official exams are on Sabbath. They know we keep the Sabbath but they don`t change them for I think Korean Adventist have given very bad image or impression to Korean society and that is why they are so harsh on us. Therefore living as an Adventist pastor in Korea is not easy. They are a lot of reasons that they don`t like Adventists. They blame us that SDA is a fake church for they do not believe free redemption from the Jesus Christ but they, SDA try to be saved by their works. They are legalism. It may not only Korean SDA`s problems. Anyhow what is wrong with our belief? What is the matter of Korean SDA church? I think one of this problems caused by the wrong understanding of righteousness by faith. I would like to reflect this problem once again here in my paper. We(Korean SDA) have been blamed Sunday worshipers for they do not keep the Sabbath, they do eat a lot of unclean food, they have wrong understanding of the Bible, we are the only one remnant church on this earth therefore we will be saved yet all of you will be perished…. That`s the story. Being an Adventist church member is not easy. Sometimes we have to leave our families, schools and our communities. Sometimes we have to give up many good opportunities. Sometimes we loose our jobs for the Sabbath. Even sometimes we have to go to jail to keep the Sabbath while we serve Korean army. Being an Adventist required a lot of sacrifices and that is now one of our culture I think. Being an Adventist means give up everything and do his or her best for believe. This kind of atmosphere gradually made the extreme image of current SDA. As I study ‘Works of Christ’, I could learn that salvation is works of Christ. As it is written in Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”, righteousness by faith is free not by the works of our own. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”(Romans 1:16), Gospel itself is the power and all the sources of power not our own good deeds. God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith to demonstrate His righteousness (Romans 3:25). God did this not me.
One Sabbath, I had a very hard time. One of my new church member was about to be baptized however some of my church board members said that they couldn`t agree with his baptism. He was a student therefore he had to go to school on Saturday so he couldn`t keep the Sabbath whole but right after his school, he ran to church for late worship service. Yet it was not good enough for some of my church members. Some church board members insist that they (new reformed people) have to show their faith to them and they would allow the new reformers come into their church and give baptism. They fold their arms in front of baptismal pool and with their all ears they listen to baptismal vows. Is this man good enough to be saved? Is this new member right in front of God? “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law”(Romans 3:28) I pray that we can have better understanding of righteousness by faith and I hope that we can be more thankful to His costly but ‘free’ gospel. . Our Advocate rises to speak in our behalf. Instead of agreeing to our death, He presents His own death; while acknowledging our disobedience, He points to His own obedience. Instead of claiming our righteousness, He covers us with His own righteousness (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 311). Thus He stands for us as our Representative (The Desire of Ages, p. 357; The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, vol. 7, p. 925) and Substitute (Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 256, 258). Because of Him, the verdict is pronounced, "Acquitted!" We go forth free from the accusations of the law that previously had condemned us. This is the meaning of justification by grace through faith (Rom. 3:21-26).
Jinsan Moon THST 618 Works of Christ Martin Hanna, Ph.D. May 15, 2008
I was not satisfied with given salvation as a gift. Because It was a burden What was the burden? It was not a just free-gift for me but something to complete. (There will be some obligation.. I used to think) These were endless questions for me to live as a Christian and Adventists And I couldn’t find the answer easily. But I’d like to confirm the thought Salvation is the cross. Since Jesus died for us we got a salvation. He is the only answer to the sinner man. There is no hope without Jueus Christ. Because we have the nature of sin. He gave us the cloth of righteousness. But It’s not the end. The Bible says “"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48) It was burden to me. How can I be prefect man. But when I read some articles from the “BRC” I could arrange the thought
Articles : How Perfect Is "Perfect" Or Is Christian Perfection Possible? by Edward Heppenstall In his paper, One of the hindrances to living the Christian life successfully is failure to understand what the Bible teaches on the nature of sin and perfection. A grave misapprehension lies at the root of much of the false teaching on this subject. The Bible, in applying the term "perfection" to believers, never means "sinlessness." There are at least nine different Hebrew words and six Greek words translated "perfection." Noah is said to be "perfect in his generations" (Gen 6:9). Of Asa, the King of Judah, we read: "But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days" (1 Kings 15:14). "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2). "We speak wisdom among them that are the perfect" (1 Cor 2:6).
“If one's view of sin is shallow enough, sinless perfection would not be an impossible achievement. It is a defective view of sin that leads to a wrong understanding of perfection.”
“It is a defective view of sin that leads to a wrong understanding of perfection. If sin simply means a deliberate, willful doing of what is known to be wrong, then no Christian should commit this kind of sin. But if sin includes also a man's state of mind and heart, man's bias toward sin, sin as an indwelling tendency, then perfection presents a totally different picture.”
How about Enoch, we already mentioned in class. He was a righteous man. And He knows the Justification that means He was not a perfect man without sin. He pursued a perfection walking with God. Since he follow up the perfection, God took him to heaven and he became a glorified man. It might his admission “O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Because It is possible when we dwell in Jesus, we will have a victory against sin.
But, until now I have some questions to solve. Given righteousness- Justification, and the acceptance of justification is salvation. But some of man don’t have any choice to choose the Justification. It will be my assignment during this summer session.
I read “steps to Christ” and I got this idea. Who is the bible character that really enjoy the salvation? Who showed his sanctification to us? Whom enjoyed the salvation and joyfully accepted it? I think disciple John is the man. The Bible clearly show his before and after life.
He was not perfect but he was justified and he lived with Jesus everyday. His life surely made a progress toward glorification. “John loved Jesus therefore he could forget himself”. What is living with Jesus? What is living with him? To make a long story short, love Jesus. If so we will disappear and Jesus only remain and finally we will reach to the stage “Santification”
After reading the five articles, Romans 1-4, and reflecting upon our class lectures, the idea of salvation has become a more careful study for me. It is noted that with all of our studying, we can never come to the full knowledge of how God is saving humanity. But as much as God has given, this much we are able to work with. When we begin to search through the Bible for what sin really is, we find that those who try to explain it, often times search for words that hi-lights the evilness of this epidemic which has spread throughout humanity because of the disobedience of our first parents. It was through one man that sin was introduced to humanity and it must be through one man that this disease was controlled, through the man Jesus Christ. It is with this knowledge Paul the apostle of Jesus opens up his letter to the Romans. Paul introduces his argument of salvation to the Romans by stating unequivocally his faith in the Gospel of Christ in Romans 1:16, 17. He is stating that this is the sure way of salvation and there is no other. This clam has open the way for why we who read the words of Paul should also stack our clams in the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Paul lays out the step by step method of the path to salvation by using three familiar words, Justification sanctification and Glorification. While these words are not necessarily the actual words, when they are translated from Greek to English they spell these exact steps. Before going into the steps used in Romans it is safe to examine why Paul is so excited about the Gospel of Christ. It is because Paul understands the seriousness of sin and the penalty of sin. In order for us to understand and accept this Gospel as the sure way of salvation we too must be unashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the only cure for the sin problem which all of humanity have been plagued with. Sin for Paul is something that is unavoidable because of how it came about. In first Corinthians 15, Paul points back to the first Adam. He explains how it, sin, separates us from our true creator. We find Paul crying out at times, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7: 24. After coming to the conclusion that he, “… do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Romans 7:19. This sin plagues Paul so much that He had to seek refuge under the blood of Jesus Christ, not under the law. This is the same proposal which Paul is strongly suggesting that we take. Paul three step method of salvation suggest that we accept Christ sacrifice. In accepting this sacrifice we accept the fact that we have been justified through faith. Being justified is basically saying that we have joined a team that is undefeated. This idea of justification is not, as most would believe, a method by which we are once saved and is always saved, rather, it is a method by which we are given salvation based upon what Jesus did on the cross for us. For all who accept Jesus as their Lord and savior accepts this first step of salvation. The best way to explain this first step to salvation is, using the illustration of a person joining a championship football team which is undefeated. While you never play in any of that team’s games the coach accepts you as a part of the team after right after they win their Super Bowl. When it is time to be rewarded, you, the new comer receives a winning ring also. While you did nothing to earn this ring you are treated as if you played as heard as those who gave their sweat and blood. This is the idea behind justification... This idea of being on a wining team and earning the privileges of win sounds good. But in order for us to get to this point we must understand that we cannot get to the point of justification without the request of Christ sacrifice, and the only way we can do this is by looking into the law, which is our mirror that reveals to us how messed up we are, and that the uniform that we are wearing belongs to the other team. While we fight against this law, so belonging it can save, while others see it as a hindrance, the fact is without it we would not know where we are standing. So, the law is a very important part of the three step method of salvation The second part of the method is sanctification. Sanctification is the part of the step which most people ignore, or simply misunderstand. When this part is ignored, what is left is the idea that when we have been welcomed into Christ salvation that we are forever saved sealed and we can do as we like, because we said yes to Jesus. This is can be a dangerous thought. There is something on our part, it is sanctifications. This is the time when you are accepted on the football team, you begin to show that you are apart of the time by showing up for practice, playing hard when it is time for you to play, and if you never get to play in a game you are there sitting on the bench cheering your team on because what ever victory the team gets, it is also your win. But if you are not present for practice if you are not present for the games you disqualify yourself as a team member. The third step in this three step method is the last part which encompasses the first two, is glorification. It is the point when all who wants to be on Christ team will be on Christ’s team. It is at this point that nature, and revelation will no longer speak. We will hear it from the mouth of God Himself. Sanctification is the point where we who have been separated from God will be reunited with God, and sin will never again create a void between Creator and creation. This is the reason for Paul’s bold statement and why he is not ashamed of the gospel and this is why we who read these words of Paul must join in song with Paul and declare to all the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I appreciated very much the points that Mary reiterated. The idea that salvation is an ongoing and continual process is very important for us to remember so that we will not be too hard or soft on ourselves or on others. We are secure in salvation as we are justified, yes, but we also need growth in salvation. So thank you for that. I also uphold her concern that unfortunately even as Adventists we miss so much by thinking that salvation is a static state once we are justified. This mentality can breed one of two extremes. Either people get "holier than thou" or “freed from the law” and become terrible examples of what it means to be a Christian. I also appreciated very much Mary’s reminder that we do have an active role in salvation. We must avail ourselves to the transforming power of the Spirit by practicing spiritual disciplines. Things like prayer, listening, beholding nature, reading the Bible and worshiping in music are a few examples of how we can cooperate with the Spirit. Not that we are doing anything meritorious of salvation, but we are doing our part in cooperating with God. A statement that “expression deepens the impression” seems to fit with the idea of striving for our salvation and also finding joy in doing what does not at first seem natural or even pleasant for us. But like Mary said, eventually we will enjoy doing righteousness because Christ is continually giving us His heart and mind.
William Simpson Works of Christ Reflection: Steps to Christ chapters 6-10 and Romans chapters 5-8 First I would like to reflect on the idea found in Romans concerning hope and its relation to the type of holistic redemption we have discussed in class thus far. If we don’t see salvation as a process, then why does Paul talk about “hope of the glory of God” in Romans 5? Why would he use phrases like: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” or “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” in Romans 8, if redemption or salvation had already been fulfilled in every aspect? It seems clear to me that though we can be secure in our salvation by faith in Jesus at this very moment, redemption, of some sort, will be continuing for eternity. As we are created beings, this will be to our great benefit. For me, anticipation is the spice of life. If I do not have something special or better to look forward to, I would be without hope. I believe this is intrinsic in healthy created beings. If I had no room for improvement, no more wisdom or knowledge to attain, if heaven was just about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp, I would find myself without hope. We are comfortable saying that we are redeemed even now through faith, but in a sense we will be saved only when glorified in nature and physique and sin is eternally eradicated. Is it possible for us to say then that we will be receiving redemption from our misunderstandings and ignorance for eternity as we receive from the mind of our Creator? I would say that this understanding gets me very excited because for me anticipation is the spice of life. Not only do I eagerly await the Lord’s plans for me tomorrow, in heaven, and in the Earth Made New, but I eagerly await learning from God, being redeemed from my imperfect understanding, from day to day for eternity. So for me, if salvation is not a holistic and perpetual process, it looses most of its appeal. The next idea that I found very encouraging in my weekly reading of Romans is the idea that we enter into freedom only when the Spirit gives us a new heart and attitude about God’s law, which is His character. To begin life, we are born slaves of sin and death. We have no power to escape our evil inclinations, leading to self-destruction, apart from the power of Christ’s atonement which we claim by faith. As children of Adam we are born unto death by default. We live in rebellion to God and obedient to Satan as Adam initiated this principle for the entire human race. Romans five also takes us into the nature of Christ in His humanity. Christ assumed our humanity in a manner similar to, yet disadvantaged from Adam’s unfallen nature. This He did to give us the option to opt out of our default state of slavery unto sin. This speaks to me of God’s mercy and truth. He loved us enough to make the sacrifice yes, but he also gave us the freedom to choose whether we want to remain slaves of sin through Adam or to opt for freedom through the power of His atonement. In my mind, it would not be fair or merciful for God to allow people to be born into this principle of sin, misery and death without at least providing a way out, especially since He created us to with a free will. His atonement gives us power to exercise our will. We can choose to be freed from our natural law of death. Yes we will still have the inclinations of the flesh as children of the first Adam, but we have the freedom to exercise our spiritual will to live by God’s set of principles and He empowers us by His Spirit due to the power of the atonement. I also find freedom “in” the law of God. Not in the same way that many Christians find freedom “from” the law though. I praise God that He has revealed His character and standard by giving us His law. How would we know that we are slaves of sin unless the law showed us a different way? Without the law we would not know of an alternate principle of living. We would think that we were functioning the way our Creator made us. But I would be repulsed by a Creator whose principles led to what we see happening in our fallen world. The law shows me that I don’t have to live by my natural principles that contribute to world destruction. Certainly Christ is the only human ever who fulfilled and lived out the requirement of the law. I can never find salvation in the law, but I can find freedom in it. I find assurance in knowing the Christ met the requirement of the law for me by living a perfect life as a human. I find peace knowing that the law does not condemn me, because Christ has met the requirements the law places on me. I am infused by Christ’s love, grace and power flowing from all of His acts of atonement as I claim His strength by faith. I am now free to keep the holy requirement of the law, in His power, not because I fear that I am forced to do so as a slave. As Christ continues to empower me, I find freedom to live apart from the world’s principles. I don’t want to contribute to pain and injustice. I am free to live by a new and other worldly set of principle that bring healing and uplifting.
Injong Moon Works of Christ Reflection: Internet Articles (1.Comments on the In Adam/In Christ Motifs 2. Adam and the Human race in the writings of E.G.White 3.Justification in Romans 4. How perfect is perfect or is Christian perfection possible? 5. Analysis of the doctrine of universal legal justification), Steps to Christ and Romans 5-8(mainly 5:12-21)
To begin with my reflection of this week study, I confess to myself the more I read articles and think, the more questions rise up to my mind. For a long time(since I was a child) I believed I am a sinner for our first father, Adam sinned in the beginning. I had no problem to believe it(I think I was so naïve). I can confess that I am a sinner for I know what I have done. I sinned a lot. Yet now I have one thing that I am not sure to understand. As I catch up readings, I couldn`t accept the fact that I am a sinner not because of my sins but because of Adam sinned. What is original sin and why is that sin affect my sin and my salvation? To make a long story short……Adam sinned, so what? Adam is Adam and I am I. that is none of my business. I thought it is not fair even though I am not the person who committee the sin in the beginning yet I have to receive the result of sin of my ancestor. Is this fair God?
“The natural world was drastically affected by Adam`s act of rebellion. When he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule”(Conflict and Courage, p. 18.) Sin affected not only the very nature of humans but the natural world; they had both come under the control of the wicked one. ("When Sin Entered," Signs of the Times, November 4, 1908, par. 9.) I think Adam`s sin is not as simple as others for his sin affects to the whole world. I don`t know what is different between Adam`s sin and my sin. When Adam, in an act of rebellion, sinned against God, his nature was corrupted, weakened, and came under the enslaving power of sin. Being the father of humanity, his posterity received from him the only thing he had, a sinful nature separated from God, unable to obey Him, enslaved by sin, and destined to eternal perdition. ("The Warefare Between Good and Evil," Advent Review and Herald, April 16, 1901 par. 5). Because of his sin, we separated from God, we lost our privileges, we became a slave of sin and we have to die …… Again my question is why? Why is adam`s sin affect so harshly to the whole world even to me? I am responsible for my sin but why I should take Adam`s sin too? Did God give him an authority to represent the world and all his descendant?
I am still having hard time to understand the concept of “In Adam/In Christ motifs” As Augustin understood, “in Adam’ all of Adam`s descendants were in him and when he sinned they also sinned with Adam? This idea that every human being was in Adam when he sinned is confusing and doesn`t make sense to me. Obvisously not in a physical sense because Adam was one single body. According to the bible every person is an indivisible self conscious unity of life. To argue that I was in Adam before I came into existence in my present bodily form is to imply that I or something of me, existed in Adam independent of my body and my present existence. The pre-existence of the soul is a pagan and not a biblical idea. If what they mean is that the ‘seed’ of our lives was in Adam, When he sinned, did we sinned in him and that his sin is my sin? Am I responsible for the sin of Adam because it was my sin. As I read an article from biblical research institute “ In Adam motifs”, I could totally agree to what he said that only individuals who actually exist are responsible for their own sins and in some cases for the sins of others. A seed is not a morally responsible agent.
Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as through one man(Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned- That looks totally unfair to me. This concept repeated again in verse 14, “ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam..” Has Adam`s sin simply imputated to his descendants? If so, the original sin is actually not my sin. Adam`s descendants did not sin in the likeness of his sin.
In Adam/In Christ phrases is still mystery to me. I hope someone can give me insights Adam`s sin had a universal impact and negatively affected all human race. Anyhow I thank God for the salvation from the cross. The unique being, Jesus the second adam gives us “much more” blessings than the results of sin onto my daily life.
JinSan, Moon Works of Christ Reflection: Step to Christ 5-8, Articles
Faith and Works It is difficult to distinguish Faith from Works. How can we receive a salvation? By Faith or by Works. It is difficult to get a clear concept. If we get the concept already, sometimes it is coming and going again. What is more important and what is the first? Last week, we have studied Romans 4 and 5 that has the answer of salvation in the bible. We already discussed about salvation is a course, not wholly completed. But normally we accept that it was finished because we were regarded as justified being through Jesus Christ’ sacrifice on the cross. Most of Christians accept it as “the salvation” and all done. But we find other view on the bible. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20) So we are confusing. The bible teaches that everything regarding our salvation depends upon our own course of action. (Morning talk at basel, Switzerland, September 17, 1885) Actually, It is not a complete salvation to me that Jesus has given on the cross if we think that salvation is only one step. But when we consider the sanctification, we can understand James’ view on the Bible. I could find a good example between faith and works from “Step to Christ”. “It is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like manner those who are just converted to Christ are, "as new-born babes," to "grow up" to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. So it is with growth. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, They grow." Luke 12:27. The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life --air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him. He is their "everlasting light," "a sun and shield”.
We know receiving the Justification by faith and ultimately, we will be a glorified being when Jesus coming back. But we must keep up our salvation until that day. We are the “bud” and we are going to be a bloom. But this development is not only by my works but His power. We need air, sunshine and food until we are able to be a fruit. Every step we need His power. We have to walk with Jesus Christ because He is the source of the developing power. So we can understand that Faith and works go together. Faith and works will keep us evenly balanced and make us successful in the work of perfecting Christian character. (Morning talk at basel, Switzerland, September 17, 1885)
Someone said that faith and works is bicycle. It has two wheels. They are going together for safe travel. I agree with this view. We need Jesus Christ in our all life steps and we have to try to go along with Jesus Christ who provide everything for successful(harvesting) life.
Through This study(Romans) I feel that I have to repeat reading the Bible until I can understand.
Articles Read: “Comments on 1 Timothy 4:10” by Angel Manuel Rodríguez Romans 5
I could still recall as a school boy struggling with the idea that I was born into a world as a sinner without a choice in the matter of my birth and would be condemned to hell if I didn’t make a choice to follow God. I was baptized at the tender age of 11 but that question was still bothersome to me. (We indeed walk by faith and not by sight. If we waited until all our questions were answered before we chose to follow Jesus we’ll never start!)
Romans 5 came as a relief to me. Now I understood from Paul that the second, spiritual birth was like the physical birth except this time I had a choice in the matter. We come into this world as sinners without doing anything to “deserve” being born and we can be “born again” without doing anything to deserve sonship in God’s family.
This for me is the liberating message of Romans 5. Christ, the Second Adam gave humanity a second chance at the cross.
Romans 5: 20 states: “For as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners so also through the obedience of the one man many will be made righteous.” If “many” will be made righteous and not “all”, this would definitely throw out universalism. Grace would indeed “reign” but only for willing subjects.
As per Rodríguez article, 1 Timothy 4:10 is a difficult passage as it seems support a universal objective salvation. The last part of the text says, “Because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." Rodríguez argues that the expression “Savior of all men” must indicate that salvation is available to all men and not that God will eventually save all men. Also, the only One through whom anyone can be saved is Jesus and in this sense He is the Savior of all.
The scriptures are just too clear on the judgment and the final rewarded of the wicked versus the righteous to entertain the doctrine that all humanity will finally be saved. Even if there are some difficult passages the preponderance of the scriptural evidence just silences that view.
Articles Read: “Christ Saved the Human Race” by Angel Manuel Rodríguez Romans 6
Rodriguez examines some passages from the writings of Ellen White that seem to indicate a legal objective justification of the humanity at the cross. On close examination it was not difficult to see that Mrs. White never supported this idea. Although salvation was made possible to the entire race because of Christ’s death on the cross there is still a required response from the sinner in order to effect the virtue of that universal provision.
For example she clearly states, “If fallen human beings will consent to become sons and daughters of God in willing obedience, they will become one with Christ.” Also, "Christ has paid the price of your redemption. There is only one thing that you can do, and that is to take the gift of God.” In each case we see that there is something that the sinner must DO in order to receive salvation. The salvation doesn’t come from their acceptance as much as accepting a gift creates the gift itself or “deserves” the gift.
In reviewing Ellen White’s view of the human condition as a result of Adam’s sin she doesn’t go for the total depravity as taught in Calvinism. Now man cannot help himself without God’s help. We are all “dead in trespasses and sins” and a dead person cannot feel. This would indicate that God was do some “enabling” in order to make us conscious enough of our need. It’s a thin line between total depravity of the human nature and having “enough” left of God to help us to respond to his Holy spirit. If we can respond this would mean that sin didn’t totally obliterate the essence of God from us.
It is difficult to accept that “all our righteousness are as filthy rags”, but the Bible clearly teaches that even out best efforts are not good enough and still stained with selfishness. An interesting question to ponder in light of this is: Is selfish of me to want to be saved? In other words, am I self-seeking in wanting to gain eternal life?
This reminds us that there is nothing that could be meritorious about our works because it is still stained with selfishness and sin. This reminds me of the great reformer Martin Luther who taught that man’s sins are twofold. First, he does not fulfill the Commandments but transgresses them. And second, he sins against the First Commandment when he attempts to fulfill the Commandments in order to win salvation, since he thereby sins against God as the only God and creator who alone gives righteousness to men.
But Paul reminds us that the stained nature of our works doesn’t release us from the obligation to do good works. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:15-18)
For Paul, the same enthusiasm we showed in doing the works of unrighteousness is the same or greater enthusiasm we need in doing the works of righteousness.
I think there is a difference between REWARDS and the GIFT of salvation. My understanding is that our works will “earn” us rewards but salvation is a gift. This was illustrated by the parable of the hired servants who came different hours but received the same pay. But on the other hand there is the parable of the talents and those who worked the hardest received the greater increase.
Jesus didn’t rebuke his disciples when they asked about reward. He in fact answered their questions that they would receive a hundredfold in this life and much more in the life to come. I don’t think that we need look at our works just in terms of salvation but as a response to Christ’s goodness to us and our wanting to work for him.
Jesus did say of his Father when he was accused of breaking the Sabbath commandment that He works and I work. Why does God work? Wasn’t Adam appointed his work even before sin? Why should we just consider works only in the context of salvation?
Articles Read: “The Dynamics of Salvation” by Righteousness by Faith Consultation Romans 7
In Roman 7 Paul discusses the obligation the law places upon him and the conflict that arise in him because of the presence of the “law of sin” in his sinful nature. I know that many discuss whether this conflicting experience was pre-conversion or post-conversion for Paul. I think that this was the latter because Paul speaks of a “delight in God’s Law” (v. 22) and I cannot imagine the unconverted person speaking of a delight to do God’s will.
So if this is our post-conversion experience this means that we have a daily battle to fight and God’s grace has to be applied at every “stage” of our salvation. As per class discussion, the neat justification sanctification glorification model would not work here. This means that for Paul and the Christian, every day we need justification AND sanctification working in our lives.
Notice also how Paul claims “it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. (v. 17). He is not claiming personal responsibility but utter helplessness at doing anything good on his own. Although this can be used to argue for ‘total depravity’ of man, Paul still senses that there is a struggle and a totally depraved person will not even sense this struggle. Just how much of God’s image is left inside man so that he is still “enabled” to respond may be a mystery but we know that if God totally abandoned man he would die right away.
Hence as the BRI articles succinctly stated, “We cannot fully comprehend the manner in which the Holy Spirit energizes our wills to produce faith. We may say that we receive God's salvation because we have chosen to do so, but we must affirm also that whatever is human in faith is possible only because of the divine initiative in the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus there can be no "boasting" in our faith (Rom. 3:27).”
Articles Read: “Why Did Jesus Die? How God Saves Us” George W. Reid Romans 8
Reid discusses the view of Christ’s death as a ransom for our sins. Who did He pay this ransom to and why is the moral view of the atonement as purported by Peter Abelard not enough to explain Christ’s death?
He discusses how Jesus’ death on the cross was more than an expression of God’s love for us. If this just demonstrated God’s love so that we may respond to that love then we would have a very shallow view of sin. Sin meant a broken law and justice demanded that a price be paid. So the cross was more than an expression of love but of justice as well.
But there definitely wasn’t any idea of “appeasement” as was common to heathen religions and gods. Jesus didn’t die to appease an angry God. In fact, the Bible clearly tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. According to Reid, “God undertakes to bridge the gulf. He substitutes Himself to demonstrate the changeless nature of His law, and performs all that's needed. Christ becomes the divine sacrifice, His cross an altar (see 1 Cor. 5:7). In amazement we stand aside, watching as He takes it up in our behalf. He "gave himself up for us" (Eph. 5:2) and "offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" (Heb. 10:12). God "sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).”
In Romans 8, we find Paul showing the consequences of us being “in Christ”. We are now a slave to the Spirit instead of being slaves to the flesh. The law which was once our enemy now becomes our friend. There is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ”.
It’s interesting that even after Paul shows that that the newly converted person is no longer condemned he still has to live to the spirit and not according to the flesh. So there is growth and “maintenance” involved, not just a one time experience. But we are given the assurance that we can be more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.
So we are indeed saved at acceptance of Jesus, are being saved through the process of character building and will be saved “for in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (v. 24, 25)
Article Read: Some Thoughts On Original Sin by Gehard Pfandl
The question of the effect of Adam’s sin on his descendants has great implications both for the nature of man and his natural standing with God and also the nature of Christ. We don’t have to look too far to see the effect of sin all around us. But the Bible defines sin, not only as an act, but also as a state (1 John 3:4; Ps. 51:5). I agree that we have inherited a sinful state but not the actual guilt for Adam’s sin.
And this is the complexity of Paul’s arguments in Romans 5 as per our class discussion. Christ more than made up for Adam’s fall but just how is our relationship to Christ similar and different to that with Adam? We are born in sin and shapen in iniquity because of Adam’s sin in which we had no part. This begs the question of justice until we view the cross and see Innocence bearing the sins of all.
The issue of salvation by the cross of Christ has officially begun to be a window that seems to be open to a brick wall for me over these past few days. What I thought I understood is now as clear as muddy water to me. We often times teach children the message of Jesus’ death on the cross in connection with the idea that we are all sinners and that we can run to Jesus for forgiveness when we sin. It is this picture of Jesus that we see when we are all children. We were told the story of Adam and Eve and how they sinned in a perfect garden and forfeit their perfect living. It was pointed out to us as children that it was because of their disobedience that we, his children, are faced now with the sin problem. The teaching that we grew up with is that we are sinners because our father Adam sin. But the idea which we are dealing with in class is more than just the simple story about the children of Adam and his affect on his children. It is more. When we read the message which Paul develops in Romans, it is easy to observe that this message is not a message that is being given to the Gentiles; rather, it is a message for the Jews who pride themselves on being the law keepers and the sons of Abraham. They push this message of superiority so much that all who were not Jews fell inferior to them, and had no hope, unless those who are not of Jewish dissent practice the rituals as they do. This is the reason why Paul’s argument became so intellectual. His argument was not written to confuse the modern day reader, rather, it was written to put an end to the bombastic ways of the Jewish leaders. One of the main passages in Romans that many scholars argue about over today is Romans 5:12-18. This passage of scripture which gives the idea that all sinned in Adam, all have been Justified in Christ still baffles the greatest minds of theology within the Adventist church. This message of Justification given in 1888 has been proven again that this is not the final answer to the issue Paul raises on Romans chapter 5. Scholars are still digging for the true meaning of Paul’s message. The statement that, all sinned in Adam, have been looked at in more ways than one. One suggestion is that when Adam sinned, all of humanity also sinned, because we where in him. This idea causes a problem because it gives humanity no chance to be free against. The second look at this statement suggests that because of Adams sin, we have developed a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin. While this idea does not seem problematic, there is a problem with it. We still are sinful creatures who are born bent to sin because of Adam’s sin. There is a third idea which is an inclusive one. It in does not separate the two theory given above. It embraces the fact that Adam’s sin infected and affected all, yet not all was infected. Jesus was affected but not infected. It also embraced the idea that Adam’s offspring having free will choose to sin. The basic theory suggests that both can methods can be right if they are held together. There is no reason to try to make one more correct over the other. Dr. Hanna compares and contrast the statement, all sinned in Adam, with, all received righteousness through Jesus. While Jesus can be compared to Adam, we must not forget that Jesus is superior to Adam. While both are perfect, both faced sin from different perspective. Adam introduced sin to humanity Christ, came to eliminate it from humanity. While Adam brought children into this world Christ brought children into his world. The comparison of Adam and Jesus, whether before the fall, or after end when Christ’ divinity is included. I believe that when we think about these two theories, we must also present the third, which comes from Dr. Hanna. The illustration that I believe that couples the two theories together is a father who has diabetes. If this man should have children, he passes down the diabetic genes to his children, but it is the children’s choice to eat right or to be unhealthy, which will cause the diabetic genes to become active within the children. But whether or not thee children ever get diabetes genes still is there waiting to be activated. With all the readings and all the different points presented, I believe that there are some that I loved and then there were others I was not sure about, because I realize that I nut sure which way to go with this belief. I
In November 1990, I came to the United States of America. I had never before set foot on the soil of this country. After living here for about 8 years, my husband and I decided to purchase a home. One of the things that come into play when you are trying to purchase a home is your credit report. Prior to this time, I paid no attention to my credit report because I must confess; I did not know much about it. We made an appointment with the loan agent and when we arrived she presented me with a copy of my credit report. To my surprise, there was a judgment for $1000.00 against me. Incidentally this judgment was handed down through the courts in 1989. I was not even in this country when that happened. Why do I share this? This is what comes to mind when I listen to and read about what some interpret Paul’s words “in Adam” to mean. A judgment handed down before I was even present in the country. Something that I was now responsible for! Something that caused my credit rating to fall and could potentially affect my ability to purchase a home! If I follow this “in Adam reasoning, then my children can look forward to having their credit report reflect a $1000.00 judgment against them simply because they are part of me! While I understand inheriting the nature of Adam because he sinned, I fail to see the reasoning behind inheriting the sin that he committed. Another example of this and maybe I am oversimplifying, would be to say that because my father was an alcoholic and I was in him, that is, in his loins, that I should be an alcoholic also. What I can expect maybe, is that if I had a habit of living beyond my means or living promiscuously, then I could see my children inheriting that tendency, but I don’t know that I follow the reasoning that they should also inherit the sins I have committed because they were in me, in my loins. I know that I do not fully comprehend the complexities of “in Adam” but if this concept is reasoned to its logical conclusion, the implications are staggering. Of course my reasoning applies to the “in Christ” as well. As much as I sometimes say I wish God would just make me do right. I am thankful for the freedom of choice. It is something that Adam and Eve exercised when they were in the Garden of Eden and I did not see God intervening to stop Eve from reaching out and picking that fruit. Ellen White says in Ministry of Healing that God has given us the power of choice and it is ours to exercise. However, in this model, I don’t see us exercising any choice. If indeed we do not have a choice in our justification, if indeed we are justified simply by being “in Christ” then our freedom of choice is no longer valid. When Adam and Eve sinned they had a choice to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Would it be safe to say that with this model, Adam and Eve exercised their choice to sin and then God promptly told them, whether you like it or not I am going to save you! You have no choice in the matter. You can kick and scream all you want I am going to save you. Again I may be simplifying the whole concept but this is what I hear when this is presented to me. I am wondering if it would have been more beneficial for God to stop them from sinning, if when they sinned he was going to go ahead and save them whether they want to be saved or not. So if I don’t believe that concept, which concept am I not only comfortable with but the concept that I believe that Paul is promoting. Basing my knowledge on what I have read about God and what I believe He is like. I am leaning towards the model that says that “in Adam” means that we inherited the sinful nature from Adam because he is the one that open the door and let sin in. However, I am not responsible for his sin of disobedience. I was therefore born with a sinful nature. I yielded to my sinful nature and have committed sins of my own, for which not Adam is responsible but I am. Adam does not need to go to God and ask Him to cover my sins, I need to go to God and ask Him to forgive my sin and wash me clean. Similarly, when it comes to the meaning of “in Christ” the same thing holds. I believe that Christ died for the sins of the whole world and that everyone who is born has justification available to him or her at no cost. It is free and all we have to do initially is accept Christ as Lord and Savior. At that point, we are justified, 100%. If we were to die immediately after that, I believe that we will be saved. If we don’t die, the process of sanctification begins immediately and we begin the process that we call sanctification. The daily choice of remaining in Christ, the daily choice of not stealing, the daily choice of loving our neighbors, etc. If through our interpretation of Paul or any other Bible writer, we remove the free choice that God has given us. If in our attempt to understand Paul or any other inspired writer, we change something that God has laid down, we owe it to ourselves to rethink and restudy and bring ourselves in line with the rest of God’s Word. The complexity that is present in Romans requires me to go deeper than I have gone before in the study of the word of God. If I don’t understand something, I should not add or take away anything from it in an attempt to simplify it and make it fit what I believe. Now that I have begun to search out the deep things of God, I am committed to following through.
William Simpson Works of Christ Reflection: #3 I would like to comment on the “in Christ” and “in Adam” idea that we discussed in class and that Angel Rodriguez wrote on in one of his articles to counter the idea of, at least a form of, universalism promoted by the 1888 study committee. In a large degree this comes back to the exercise of the will that Ellen White talks so much about. I feel that the 1888 position greatly minimizes the importance of the exercise of the free will. They say that we all physically committed Adam’s sin “in Adam” but that we were all physically “in Christ” when He died, therefore we all receive justification by default unless we make an active decision to step away from our default justification. I guess I see great inconsistency in this position. First off, why should I be held accountable for Adam’s sin personally without having made the decision to disobey God in the garden? This is not fair and excludes free will. Why should I be held accountable for Christ’s righteousness personally, though it might first sound convenient, even though I wasn’t alive to make the decisions that Christ made? This is not fair and excludes free will. Certainly, because of Adam’s sin, it is now easier for me to commit my own sin and by my own personal actions and thoughts I will be judged as Paul says. I believe what Paul means when he says that in Adam all have sinned is that Adam opened the gateway for sin to enter our very nature. So Adam is the facilitator of human suffering just like Christ is the facilitator of human redemption. The rest of humanity though, we are not just mindless pawns either “in Adam” or “in Christ.” The idea of a very passive, universal guilt and universal justification is not biblical and is not even consistent with who we know we were created to be, free-moral agents actively exercising our wills. The idea of universalism seems to make sin more innocuous for me, today, and seems to make salvation almost automatic as we just sort of take Christ for granted and drift through life with a religion that doesn’t really effect any change in our lives. I would agree with the 1888 position in that we were all born with the inevitability to commit our own sins because of Adam’s disobedience and that because Christ died on the cross we are all inevitably, or rather intentionally, given the opportunity to be saved, but because of our own active decisions and not because Adam or Christ decided for us. We are born “in Adam” because we are born with his bent toward evil but primarily because we chose to disobey God, like he chose to disobey God. We are born “in Christ” partially because it is under His provision of salvation that as sinful humans we are given probation to exist after the original sin, but primarily and with effectualness toward our salvation, because we choose to accept His gift of salvation by an active faith which works by love. At first glance, the idea of universalism might seem to be the key to help us understand how people are saved by general revelation as they have not heard of Jesus Christ to be able to make an active decision to accept Him. Ellen White does however say that even those who have never heard about Jesus must actively make decisions to surrender to what they know to be right. Universalism does not even bode well for those saved through the appeal of general revelation. Because like Paul says, Jews and Gentiles are saved in the same way, by active faith, but passive universalism does not work in the specific or in the general revelation appeal. I do not believe that, if we really think about the idea of being “in Adam” and “in Christ” we will see it upholding human dignity and freewill like the Biblical plan of salvation does. Instead I praise God for continuing to extend the opportunity to exercise our freewill because enmity between us and sin still exists based on the mysterious power of the cross. What a great risk He takes. Our merciful God has endured so many pains and subjected Himself to so much risk to save the ones who actively choose they would rather live under His government than under the power of the flesh that we have been born into. My sincere question to anyone reading this: What really is the appeal of the idea to be automatically “in Christ?” I do not see it as any way appealing but maybe I am missing something or maybe my arrogance leads me away from it because I want to have the final word concerning my life and I do not like to just be carried along in the river with all the other fish unless I choose to swim with the current. Thanks!
[Forgive meI'm operating on Monday and Tuesday's discussions.]
As I was reading Steps To Christ, Faith and Works and the BRI documents my mind was drawn to an experience that happened earlier in my life. This is the classic evangelistic story. I was driving down a street that I normally take to work. That day I saw a gentleman in a very familiar uniform flagging me down and telling me to pull over. This gentleman (police officer) told me that I was traveling to fast on this particular street I was exposed for my sin and thus I received a ticket for my negligence. In the state of Georgia there is a rule that if the accusing officer fails to appear twice then you may go, free of all charges that are held against you. I remember going before the judge on two separate occasions delighted to know that both times my accuser was absent and I was free to go. I have to admit that I was guilty as charged but it was by grace that I was set free from the penalties. This was good news to me. As Seventh-day Adventist pastors we have the opportunity of presenting to the world the end time message of the three angels found in Revelation 14:6-12. According to the bible we are living in the hour of judgment. The bible states that, “For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23. Just as I stood before the judge guilty we all stand guilty before God. The words that I needed to hear the most were Mr. Williams you’re free to go. Paul goes on to expound on the subject of salvation he writes, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Through the blood of Christ we can stand during the investigative judgment free from the wrath of God. This is good news or the gospel. It is imperative that we teach others how to except this good news that Christ wants to offer us. As I was reading Steps To Christ a few statements by Ellen White really caught my attention. She expounds on a mistake that many make when it comes to repentance and how to be justified in Christ. She states, many “fail of receiving the help that Christ desires to give them. They think that they cannot come to Christ unless they first repent and that repentance prepares for the forgiveness of their sins.” Ellen White states further, “But must the sinner wait till he has repented before he can come to Jesus? “The bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he can heed the invitation of Christ.” (p. 16-17). Overall it is God who gives us the power to repent, “For it is God which works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13). Christ through the Holy Spirit is constantly wooing us toward Himself. As we behold the love that God has for us and the sacrifice of Jesus for mankind our hearts are drawn to Him and we are changed because of His revelation of love. “The nonbeliever is at home in sin, unmindful of its consequences and of God, and often in deliberate rebellion against His law. When the believer sins, he hates his sin and sinning, because it was the cause of the death of his Saviour, and he does not want to crucify the Son of God again (chap. 3:4-10; Heb. 6:6; The Great Controversy, p. 508).” As we behold Christ our faith works by love (Galatians 5:6). Our main motive for doing God’s biddings, must be because of our love for Christ. Ellen White makes a profound statement that must be pondered. “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such a religion is worth nothing.” (p. 31). Only as we behold Christ love for mankind can we gain a true understanding of what it means to serve God out of true love.
Injong Moon THST 618 Works of Christ Martin Hanna, Ph.D. May 29, 2008
I feel that I need a lot more time to study RBF and Romans however I can’t believe I left only one week. I was wondering if there will be ever enough time for study this subject of God’s mystery. Anyhow this week I would like to reflect on the idea found in Romans 8-9 concerning foreknowledge and predestination and its relation to the type of holistic understanding we have discussed in class thus far.
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these he also justified; and whom He justified, these he also glorified.”(8:29-30) As I read these verses, one question came into my mind. God knows everything because He is a perfect being. He knows our past, present and future. He foreknew us and He predestined us to be saved and moreover He called us into His justification and glorification. He is God, He knows everything, He knows my future and my fate and He predestined my salvation. It seems really simple and easy to be saved however what’s happened to my free will? God does everything yet how about me? What happened to the people who are going to be perished? Why couldn’t be they chosen? It makes us more complicated if we read these verses in chapter 9:10-13 “And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), It was said to her, ‘the older shall serve the younger.’ As it was written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” It seems that God sets everything of our destinies already and we have no choice. Therefore people sometimes get wrong ideas about God and the Bible. How can I understand His promise, His will and His predestination? For a long time, we have been struggled about this. What is the difference between predestination and foreknowledge? Did God predestine that we eventually committee sin and be saved by His grace? Or did God just allow us to do? Paul says in 9:14 “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!” We have no right at all to argue about this. He is God and He has all authorities and we are His creatures. All of our fates are His. He has right to save us and at the same time He has right to perish us for He is the creator of us.
In verse 19-21 says “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? Paul says here that God has total authority of our destinations. If so don’t we have any right to be saved with our will? That is not true. Predestination can be understood just like Righteousness by faith. Believing in Jesus means that we should surrender to our potter and obey to His will (predestination). And then we should remember we are sinners just like clay. Originally we had no right to ask salvation. Even if one man in the world can be destinated to be saved, it is God’ grace. My understanding is that God’s predestination is that He will not give up and will save every soul as long as we believe in Jesus Christ. As it is written in the book of Ephesians 1:4,5 “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Praise the Lord for giving us this grace! God knows everything (foreknowledge). He let us know the way of salvation (predestination). He calls us and He gives us justification and He leads the righteousness to the sanctification. That is the idea that I got from this week and I think this is the holistic model of salvation.
Articles Read: “How Perfect Is "Perfect" Or Is Christian Perfection Possible? By Edward Heppenstall Romans 9
Heppenstall’s article showed how the Christian can never in this life claim perfection as to mean “sinlessness”. He showed how the continual tension between the “Spirit” and the “flesh” in Paul’s writings illustrate that the great controversy will ever be fought within the Christian until his mortality shall put on immortality.
The idea of sinless perfection is just not biblical. The Epistle of John warns us that if we claim that we have not sinned we make liars of God! (1 John 1:8-10) This in no way means that we should continue in sin “so that grace may abound”. We have to strive against the flesh day be day but the “flesh” will always be with us.
It’s interesting to study the already / not yet theme in Romans. For Paul, the Christian is always caught up in a tension of what Christ has done for us and will ultimately do for us. So we are “dead” because of the spirit presence in our bodies but we still have to fight against the flesh. “Redemption” is something that we already have but we still have to wait for the redemption of our bodies. “Freedom” is something we already have but not yet fully experienced because the creation is waiting to be “set free from the slavery of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
It’s the same way with salvation because we have already been saved by Christ death for our sins but we are still waiting for that final salvation when Christ will take us from this world.
Romans 9:14-23 is indeed a troublesome passage and seem to champion the Calvinist view of salvation. God choosing one in effect means that he rejects the other—Jacob over Esau, Moses over Pharaoh, and the vessel of mercy over the vessel of wrath. But I think that the point Paul is making here is that God’s choice is always based on MERCY not on what humans can do. Paul is playing the “bad cop” to make the point that God’s election is always based on grace. This is the same thing that Paul argued in Romans 3-4. For Paul seems to be saying that even when God appears to be arbitrary his intention is always mercy towards undeserving sinners.
Articles Read: “Justification and the Cross” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez Romans 10
I think that the very reason why a larger model of salvation is needed is because any model/metaphor will fall short in some way—that’s just the nature of language when trying to describe something as complex and mysterious as salvation.
Paul himself uses many models such as justification, reconciliation, sanctification, salvation history and the apocalyptic models. Within each of these models he describes salvation in a different way. For example in Paul’s “apocalyptic model” we are only really saved when Jesus returns and we are physically resurrected. In the mean time we still “groan” and await our salvation.
I would also like to take up the question on the security of the universe after the final judgment. The BIG question is what would be different about the universe after the fall than before the fall. WE can think of some obvious things such as no one knew what sin was like and all the baleful results. Only “one pulse of harmony” beat through the entire universe. So in a human way of thinking, the little child doesn’t know what “hot” means until they disobey the parent and touch the hot stove. But how can the creatures that never sinned know what sin is like anyway? Don’t we say that the angels will have to fold their wings when we sing the song of Moses and the Lamb? Why? Because they never know the joy that our salvation brings since they never sinned.
This is indeed a mystery. If we ever can think of an answer we would then follow with the question of why could God make the universe just as secure in the first place. In my feeble mind I don’t think that its a matter of sin not arising a second time but there will be no mercy for any creature who sinned like Lucifer did because they’ll be suddenly destroyed. In this sense, it will be as the Hebrews tells us, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” (10:26)
In this sense I could understand that should sin “arise a second time” then instant judgment would be administrated. In this way God would be justified in destroying sin right away because there is no need for sin to be played out so the universe can see that God’s way is best anymore.
At least those are my meager human way of looking at this great theme. But I must admit that “now we see through a glass darkly”.
Articles Read: “Salvation by Faith” by Jan Paulsen Romans 11
Within the complexity of the theological arguments of Paul in Romans it’s so easy to get thrown off course and think that Paul is actually saying the opposite of what he is trying to teach. It’s interesting that after his passage on “predestination” he states further in Romans 11:22,23: “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.” Here he states plainly that the gentiles who don’t continue in the faith could be cut off and the cut-off Jews could repent and be grafted in again. Except the teacher of predestination would hold that those who return and those who continue were destined already then Paul is showing that continuance is important to salvation. As we discussed early in this semester, there are several text that show that we must keep going on to the order to be saved, so there is no great revelation here. It’s just that for me if Paul was teaching that God made one person for destruction and the other for salvation then even if they were broken off or returned would not make any difference in their final reward. I found Jan Paulson sermon to be very intriguing as well. I’ve addressed the Pauline struggle in a prior post as being post-conversion before but I found this quote from Ellen White used by Paulson to agree with this position: "The Christian will feel the promptings of sin, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit; but the Spirit striveth against the flesh, keeping up a constant warfare. Here is where Christ's help is needed. Human weakness becomes united to divine strength, and faith exclaims, 'Thanks be to God, . . . [He gives] us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor 15:57)" (The Sanctified Life, pp 92, 93). Here Ellen White describes the struggle that the Christian will go through because the flesh is still alive. The paradox of the “more secure / saved” a Christian is the more unsaved they will feel really speaks to the matter of justification by faith. If we were saved by our works then the closer we come to Jesus the more secure we’ll feel in our salvation but the opposite is really true. I look at this as the more we understand what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary the more we realize how incapable we are to pay that price. It’s an appreciation that many, if not all, young parents get when they look back on what their parents went through for them. We often take our parents for granted until we become parents ourselves. Until we get a fuller picture of Calvary then we can take a lot for granted. Paulson also mentioned Mary Magdalene response to Jesus as being the “works response” of the true Christian. He doesn’t work harder to be saved but because he realizes how much Jesus has done for him. The great paradox of the real champions of righteousness by faith is that they seem to work harder than anyone else! Paul and the great reformer Martin Luther comes to mind. Paul could list all the things that he suffered for the gospel and declare that no other apostle worked as hard as eh did. Just think about the champion of righteousness by faith WORKING harder than anyone else. I like the way how Paulson puts it: And justification has to do with our relationship and our legal standing before God. Somehow, wonderfully, we who are rightly guilty and deserve to die are being saved by God who chooses to declare us not guilty! In the words of Ellen White: "When God pardons the sinner, remits the punishment he deserves, and treats him as though he had not sinned, He receives him into divine favor, and justifies him through the merits of Christ's righteousness" (ibid., p. 389; italics supplied). However, we are not to think that God has gone soft on sin. It is not sin that God justifies! The involvement of God in Jesus Christ on the cross is sufficient answer to that. Christ died in my place and satisfied the unchangeable requirements of the law of the universe of God.
The cross! The cross!! The cross!!! I think that here lie the answers to our most difficult questions.
Articles Read: “Justification by Faith and Judgment According to Works” by Ivan T. Blazen Romans 12 I want to continue the discussion question that I raise in class and allow for some further reflection on this matter of the human and divine element of salvation.
I find that many times when the questions of justification by faith and works are discussed some extreme views can be taken because the proponent is trying to defend a position that may be threatened by that view. Case in point: Paul comes out very strongly against the Jews because they thought that works would save them but he came out just as hard against the Galatians who thought that works were not necessary and they could live morally lax lives.
We see the same trend in the writings of the reformer Martin Luther as well. He holds to the view that human will is totally impotent and man cannot even choose to follow God.
Now here is difficulty for me: I know that God created man. Man fell into sin and is now ‘damaged goods’. He runs away from God and hides instead of seeking God out. God must take the initiative to save man. So we cannot even choose to follow God without God’s help because we are all captives of Satan.
But even if I cannot choose to follow God I can choose to give God my choice. In other words, I can surrender my will to God. If God does everything for me then where does my choice come into the picture? I think that it is a false assumption to think that since God created man and give him life that anything that man does has to be ultimately attributed to God. This would means that God created evil!
My understanding is that we are all free moral agents. God gave us a choice and He determined the options (life and death) but the choice must be mines. If God saved me without my input then he knocked the door down instead of stand at the door and knocks and now becomes a robber.
The only thing that we can give to God that he didn’t give us in the first place is our choice to love him or not. Love cannot be forced. And it’s really foolish to say that God loves himself through me. I must do the loving.
But some may argue that God was the one who gave me the capacity to love which is true, but ability to love and loving are two separate things. The same way that my birthday gifts from my kids were brought with my own money, I provided the funds but the choice of gift I cannot claim as my own.
Now I can fully understand the burden of those who want to emphasize that salvation is 100% God and it is. The sinner brings nothing to the table. (Nothing to the cross I bring, Simply to the cross I cling.) So I’m not saved by my bringing or my clinging, not even my coming—it’s all God. But what separated me from the man who refused to come was MY CHOICE to come. God has a self-imposed attribute that respect human freedom.
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev. 3:20)
God imparts the strength to open the door but he “cannot” open the door because He has placed the latch on the inside. A latch that no power in heaven or earth can open except me. What an honor bestowed by the Creator!!
Articles Read: “Comments on the "In Adam/In Christ" Motifs” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
Rodriguez discusses the “in Adam/in Christ” motif and his arguments are biblically sound. Life came from Adam as well as sin but to think that humanity was physically or mystically in Adam when he sinned is a dangerous idea. The Bible speaks of Adam as being the “son of God”, would this mean that Adam was in Christ? Or was Christ in Adam because he came through Adam’s line?
The 1888 committee’s view that we were all in Adam takes the doctrine of salvation by faith to it’s very extreme. This would mean tat Adam sinned for us and Jesus died for us canceling Adam’s sin. So the same way we inherit Adam’s guilt we cal all inherit Christ’s righteousness.
Sometimes I wish I were born perfect like Adam was created and had his choice to make rather than being born as a sinner but the “most righteous” created being, Lucifer, sinned in the presence of God, so being born righteous doesn’t mean that the choice to reject God has been removed from me. This is where I think the 1888 committee is trying to compensate for the fact that we are all born as sinners into the world even before we could make conscious moral decisions. The only act that could make up for this fact is the universal objective justification of all of Adam’s children. But the question is where will this leave Adam? He had a conscious choice to make, his children didn’t.
Of course Paul argues that we are sinners even though we didn’t sin after the similitude of Adam. So we are still responsible for our sins. We can neither blame Adam for all our foibles nor claim, “the devil made me do it”. We still sin by choice.
And even if you argue for the weakness of the human will, Jesus promises that he will not give us more than we can bear. So we do not sin because of pressure but because of choice—sounds like the same situation like Adam to me!
For the past three weeks the subject that we’ve been looking at is the works of Christ, but instead of reading from the gospels, the book of Romans has been our base of study. As we take the time to walk slowly through the book of Romans, it is clear to see why this book is used to teach the works of Christ. It is in Romans where we find some of the most challenging issues, issues such as justification sanctification and glorification. But the new issue that we are now dealing with is the issue of predestination and foreknowledge.
If I can be honest this issue of predestination has always been problematic for me. The idea that God knows everything is fine, but the idea that God knows all who will be saved and who will be lost is a very big problem for me. What makes it worst is the idea that God predestined or preordained it. If we should take this idea at face value then the preaching of the gospel is of no use. If this is the way we view Paul’s understanding of foreknowledge and predestination than we are just creatures created on earth for the amusement of God. But this cannot be how Paul views these two words. It has to be more.
From our conversation in class on Thursday morning, we can clearly see that this idea of foreknowledge and predestination can and has created some serious discussion which question God’s justice. Dr. Hannah points out two views on which one may fall when we analyze foreknowledge and Predestination. The first is Deterministic, everything is known, and the second is Non-Deterministic, noting is know; or, freedom and limited freedom. While Deterministic lets us know that God free to do as He please in humanity because God knows everything. Non-Deterministic seem to limit God’s freedom in the lives of humans.
While this idea of predestination is a difficult subject it must be researched. There are two view of predestination that I am familiar with. The first suggest that God created a group who will be saved and another group that will be lost. The second idea is that God created in Humanity and in His foreknowledge foresaw the fall of humanity and created provided a way of escape for humanity. In His foreknowledge God carved out a specific moment in time where his plan of redemption would come to a climactic period. With this plan, God predestine that all of humanity would have a chance to be saved if anyone desired His salvation.
It is fear to say that these two ideas on predestination lack something; I believe that the second one would fit more with the Paul’s view. When we go back and analyze Paul’s argument earlier on “we are justified by grace,” it is evident that God’s idea of predestination is not one that chooses some to be saved and some to be lost. Justification is the period where God invites and welcomes a person to saving grace. As Jan Paulsen puts it, “This new life is one in which the creative power of God, released in justification, causes a new creation to emerge.” This tells us that God is very much active in the immediate request of a sinner’s plea to be forgiven of sin. God hears the request for forgiveness and immediately offers an open door into his arms where we are justified. It is here new life is given, and a new robe is placed upon the new creature. Ángel Manuel Rodríguez reminds us that we who are being justified have a part to play also; we must be ready and willing to accept God’s grace.
To be fear, if we enter into discussion about how justification fits into the picture with predestination, we must also take not that sanctification doesn’t linger too far behind justification. In look at this, I realize that the idea of justification makes the argument for predestination difficult, and visa versa, but when sanctification enters the picture it makes it harder. Sanctification demands a working faith. It tells us that we are on the winning sided and we must play like we are winners. This idea only reminds us of Jesus’ words, that he came to seek the lost.” In other words Paul reminds us that Jesus’ idea of predestination does not include a premade plan which suggest there are some who were saved from the foundation of the world, rather, that salvation was given to all from the foundation of the world, and anyone who is willing to accept He has eternal life.
Jinsan Moon THST 618 Works of Christ Martin Hanna, Ph.D. May 29, 2008
Sometimes, I feel that being a Christian is very difficult to unevangelized people especially. But I know the gospel is very easy to understand, so everyone can accept the Good News. So I’d like to concentrate on the ‘easy’ gospel that has given us abilities and joy. Today I am going to arrange the relation of between law and sin based on Rome 5:20.
I had some experiences in middle school that I was there as a dormitory dean during last 3years. There were about 40 students. When I was a middle school student, I lived there so I knew that life in strange land is difficult especially for young ages. So I wanted that they could feel comfortable like their own home, even though the building was not good. I allowed many thing that former pastor didn’t allow to do. And I believed but.. As you forecast.. There were so many troubles and complaints. So I have to make some basic rules for them. But as time goes by, they need more and more rules to avoid troubles and complaints. If I prohibit something then they find another way to do wrong behavior in rules. And it did over again. I couldn’t find the solution. There were many rules and there were more sinner : ) But I noticed that there were some boys who don’t need that rules. They studied very hard and kept the rules well. They were the ones above the rules.
In Romans 5:20, The law was added so that the trespass might increase. We can find the role of law. The law didn’t intend to do sinful things but showed the roots of our sinful nature. For law, we know that we are inevitable sinner and we need Jesus Christ. If we concentrate on His love and sacrifice on the cross, we don’t need other rules to be fastened on. But over and again, the sinful nature has overwhelmed us. So Paul said in Romans 7 21. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23. but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Each morning give yourself to God for that day. Tell Him about all your plans. Carry out your plans or give them up as He guides. In this way you may give your life day by day into the hands of God. Your life will be shaped more and more like the life of Christ (Growing up into Christ-Step to Christ) We have a one solution to overcome these sins. That is everyday’s obedience to God, He will be with us and He will live in ourselves. Then we will gain a victory from evil. So Paul said “I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (1Col 15:31) These steps are the sanctification. Obedience to the law of God is sanctification. There are many who have erroneous ideas in regard to this work in the soul, but Jesus prayed that His disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and added, "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). Sanctification is not an instantaneous but a progressive work, as obedience is continuous. Just as long as Satan urges his temptations upon us, the battle for self-conquest will have to be fought over and over again; but by obedience, the truth will sanctify the soul. Those who are loyal to the truth will, through the merits of Christ, overcome all weakness of character that has led them to be moulded by every varying circumstance of life. (Obedience and Sanctification, 85) I hope that I will follow Him and resemble Him until His second coming. I know that there are so many things to understand in Bible, but I'll never miss this basic point.
I read a couple of articles this week on the concept of Biblical perfection. Biblical perfection is often misunderstood by people. Many take it to mean that we are expected to be completely sinless and that a mature Christian, in a saving relationship with Christ, will be sinless or at least trending toward that goal before life’s end. Enoch is the common example. Some people believe that just before Christ comes, His people will be perfectly sinless and standing without a mediator because they no longer need a Savior from their sinful nature. I understand why this is such an appealing idea to us. We like to think that we are not so bad and that given a little help by the Holy Spirit, we can learn to walk a sinless life on this earth; hence there is no longer a need for an intercessor. The idea is that we needed a Saviour to set us free from sin and set us on the right path, but now we have learned to walk without the effects of sin and the need of an intercessor. It makes us look much better and more self-sufficient and Jesus more of a one-time-in history type of a Savior rather than our Saviour now and for eternity. This idea makes us look better than we actually are and it makes Jesus look less important than He really is. Without question, Jesus gives us the power to overcome former vices once we accept His grace. He empowers us to walk away from our bondage to serving our flesh. We have power, through Him, to say “No!” to temptations that we formerly indulged in. His Spirit is continually giving us spiritual gifts that work in love. Our live are transformed as we continue to submit the to Holy Spirit’s calling on our lives. Just because we are being sanctified though, does not mean that we will reach a point in this life when we no longer have any sin affecting our very nature. According to the Bible, and all honest humans will testify, we have sin at work in our very nature even when we do not commit an open deed of sin. We have evil thoughts and tendencies. Our inclinations are toward doing and thinking evil. We are born needing a Savior and intercessor even before we choose to dishonor God like Adam did. Sin is deeper than people who say we can attain a state of complete sinless ness, in this life, really comprehend. Somehow, when Adam sinned, we were all affected to the point of needing and intercessor. We are all “in Christ” in the sense that we currently exist because of His intercession for us. I believe this idea of attaining a state of perfect sinless ness before Christ returns, in every sense, is not biblical and tends to minimize the depravity of the sin attitude and it makes us more independent of God. Sure God will continually give us a new paradigm to operate under as we accept Him, but only when He returns and we are glorified and given a completely new nature, will we be completely set free from the bent toward evil. I often wondered why God waits until His return to glorify us and to essentially give us the ultimate victory over all effects of sin. Why not now? I now believe that at least part of the answer is to allow us to wage war against sin so as to develop character and hatred toward the invasive principles of sin so that indeed we will be inoculated against sin for eternity. A couple of the articles that I read this week clarified what Paul means when he talks about being perfected in Christ and growing into perfection. He means to be mature, responsible, informed and to be practicing the principles of Christianity in our day to day lives. He does not mean that we will reach a point were we will never make a mistake, escape the natural tendencies toward sin or to reach a point were we can live without an intercessor. My personal experiences with people who misunderstand Christian perfection are as follows. I am not trying to generalize, but this is what I have noticed. They tend to condemn others very quickly rather than being dispellers of grace. They have a mentality that exudes, “I am better than you and I am living above sin’s effect” even though they may not directly say they are sinless. They tend to pull away from the rest of the church body and seek a following. They don’t seem like a normal person and make me feel a little eerie. They tend to use Spirit of prophecy a lot but only certain quotations at the exclusion of others. They don’t seem to have a mission for the “lost” outside of the Adventist church. They may start using the Lord’s tithe money for some independent ministry. They tend to be very cliquish and thrive at special camp meetings or independent ministry weekends. This is only my experience with people who promote the idea of an idea of absolute sinless ness in this life. Has anyone else had similar or maybe a more positive experience with people who hold this view? I believe this false conception has very practical negative effects for the church and Christ’s mission for the lost. It sets a standard that, those who are honest with themselves and in touch with the depth of their own sinfulness, know they could never reach. I believe this misconception is heretical and essentially part of the anti-Christ philosophy. Unfortunately, most of the people that I have known who are subscribing to this ideology are, I believe, sincere; however, they are sincerely wrong in my opinion. I would love some feedback on your experience with the idea of complete sinless ness in this life before glorification and your interactions with people who hold this view.
Nathan Williams Works of Christ Martin Hanna Ph.D.
After having read Romans chapter 9 and participating in the class discussions my mind has been wrestling with the term foreknowledge and predestination. In Romans chapter 9 there are some challenging statements especially in verses 11-13. It states in summary that God knew Esau would reject Him and eventually serve Jacob before they were even born. Then God makes a statement that is seemingly out of His character. God states Jacob I loved Esau I hated. As I was reading this passage it seems as if God had doomed Esau to failure.
Again as we look down further in the text we read about the story of Moses and the hard heartedness of Pharaoh. In verse 18 it says of Pharaoh “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” As I was reading this text at first glance it seems to me as if it was God Himself who destined these men for failure. If God knew that these men would reject Him why did He create them at all just to fail? Did God really do everything in His power to save these men?
I have to admit that as a Seventh-day Adventist I have taken for granted what God has to say on the life of these two individuals considering we have insight through the Spirit of Prophecy. As Seventh-day Adventist we take the position that each created being has the ability to choose whether or not he/she will serve God.
There are many interesting and profound questions that are being raised to today about predestination and the true foreknowledge of God. I believe taking a view that taking a deterministic view when it comes to predestination is dangerous because in essence it limits Gods ability to save man. Deterministic predestination takes the position as understand it that God has made the choice of who will be saved and who will be lost.
It is true God knows who will be saved and who will be lost from eternal ages past but He also knows exactly how to orchestrate circumstances, and events to help us make the proper choices to follow Him. I believe that many have been turned off by the bible all together because they feel that since God already knows if I will be saved or lost then I really don’t stand a chance of being saved. I believe that Calvin in an effort to wrestle with hard text like this meant well but their limited understanding of predestination has caused confusion for many.
When it comes to the foreknowledge of God and predestination we cannot ignore texts that refute the concept that we don’t have a choice in the matter of our salvation. Some of the text that refute this idea are John 3:16 “For God son loved the world that eh gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Another text would be, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). We also must remember Ezekiel 33:11 which states, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” After God makes this statement then He gives the wicked a choice when He says, “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel.
It is clear that when dealing with the foreknowledge of God and predestination we must take the whole bible into consideration and we must be careful to leave in tact the freedom of choice that God gives to us all.
PS: I anadvertently posted in the comment section and did not realize it until now
The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's children unless we are such entirely. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. Steps to Christ …..Consecration
Reading the way Ellen White talks about the task that we have to perform in the plan of salvation, supports what I have been hearing in our class discussion and also what I have been reading in the book of Romans. She states that “the warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought”. During my growing up years, before I was “converted” I must confess that I have been in a fight or two. Of course I did not start them, “not according to my version anyway” but I was part of them. What I remember is that fighting is serious work, especially if you intend the win that fight. I don’t ever remember being in a fight or watching a fight where one person is passively “engaged”. When a fight is started and one individual is clearly dominant and the other is passive, we do not call that a fight, we call that something else. In fact we look very unfavorable on the person who fights with another person without any resistance. We say that they are taking advantage of them because they are stronger. So the picture I get when Ellen White mentions the warfare against self, is one of active engagement. One in which the participants are fully involved. They are involved mentally, physically, spiritually. They are involved with every fibre of their being. They are involved in this way because their very lives depend on their participation. Whether they live or die depends on their participation. They are not in this fight to save their souls, but because they are so grateful that God has saved them. Ellen White says that Satan is playing the game of life for the soul. She says in another place “that idleness is one of the greatest curse to fall upon man; for vice and crime follow in its train. Satan lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor, under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours”. If I understand what she’s saying here, it would seem that if we are not engaged in works, especially the work of storing up treasurers in heaven, the work of taking care of the sick, visiting prisoners, clothing the naked, studying the word of God, preaching the gospel praying and whatever other good work God has preordained for us to do, that we will easily fall prey to Satan and make ourselves vulnerable to what she calls the greatest curse, idleness. Another quote that seems to calls us away from this passive faith that some believe is enough is “The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others”. With this I can hear the proponents of passive faith saying, oh no, we are not promoting selfishness or ease. My question to them will be if we follow the passive faith route to salvation, and believe we do not need to do anything, what then do we do with the Bible when it says that we should watch and pray that we not enter into temptation. What are we to watch for and how are we to watch? I think that even just watching is doing something. What do we do with James 2:18 that says .. someone will say, "You have faith. I do good works." Show me your faith that doesn't do good works. And I will show you my faith by what I do and how do we deal with text such as “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Then of course there is the flip side of passive faith. There are those who believe that they should do good works and that those works will bring them salvation. Here is how Elllen White puts it, “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing.” With this I believe that we can clearly see how Christ must be the dominant force in our lives in order for us to keep a balance between doing good works as an outworking of Christ in our hearts, doing good works because we think it will save us and not doing anything because we think that works are not important. That’s why I believe that Paul’s words in Romans …yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. In this way, our job is simply to yield, God’s job is to make us righteous. Even with the yielding however, we must recognize that it is something that is the work of Christ in us. The Bible says that it is God that works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So it is all the work of Christ in us, whether we are yielding, praying, visiting the sick, feeding the poor or teaching all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And as Solomon would say the conclusion of the whole matter is this – without Christ we can do nothing but with God all things are possible especially understanding the seemingly difficult things in book of Romans.
PS: I in advertently posted in the comment section and did not realize it until now
The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's children unless we are such entirely. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. Steps to Christ …..Consecration
Reading the way Ellen White talks about the task that we have to perform in the plan of salvation, supports what I have been hearing in our class discussion and also what I have been reading in the book of Romans. She states that “the warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought”. During my growing up years, before I was “converted” I must confess that I have been in a fight or two. Of course I did not start them, “not according to my version anyway” but I was part of them. What I remember is that fighting is serious work, especially if you intend the win that fight. I don’t ever remember being in a fight or watching a fight where one person is passively “engaged”. When a fight is started and one individual is clearly dominant and the other is passive, we do not call that a fight, we call that something else. In fact we look very unfavorable on the person who fights with another person without any resistance. We say that they are taking advantage of them because they are stronger. So the picture I get when Ellen White mentions the warfare against self, is one of active engagement. One in which the participants are fully involved. They are involved mentally, physically, spiritually. They are involved with every fibre of their being. They are involved in this way because their very lives depend on their participation. Whether they live or die depends on their participation. They are not in this fight to save their souls, but because they are so grateful that God has saved them. Ellen White says that Satan is playing the game of life for the soul. She says in another place “that idleness is one of the greatest curse to fall upon man; for vice and crime follow in its train. Satan lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor, under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours”. If I understand what she’s saying here, it would seem that if we are not engaged in works, especially the work of storing up treasurers in heaven, the work of taking care of the sick, visiting prisoners, clothing the naked, studying the word of God, preaching the gospel praying and whatever other good work God has preordained for us to do, that we will easily fall prey to Satan and make ourselves vulnerable to what she calls the greatest curse, idleness. Another quote that seems to calls us away from this passive faith that some believe is enough is “The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others”. With this I can hear the proponents of passive faith saying, oh no, we are not promoting selfishness or ease. My question to them will be if we follow the passive faith route to salvation, and believe we do not need to do anything, what then do we do with the Bible when it says that we should watch and pray that we not enter into temptation. What are we to watch for and how are we to watch? I think that even just watching is doing something. What do we do with James 2:18 that says .. someone will say, "You have faith. I do good works." Show me your faith that doesn't do good works. And I will show you my faith by what I do and how do we deal with text such as “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Then of course there is the flip side of passive faith. There are those who believe that they should do good works and that those works will bring them salvation. Here is how Elllen White puts it, “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing.” With this I believe that we can clearly see how Christ must be the dominant force in our lives in order for us to keep a balance between doing good works as an outworking of Christ in our hearts, doing good works because we think it will save us and not doing anything because we think that works are not important. That’s why I believe that Paul’s words in Romans …yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. In this way, our job is simply to yield, God’s job is to make us righteous. Even with the yielding however, we must recognize that it is something that is the work of Christ in us. The Bible says that it is God that works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So it is all the work of Christ in us, whether we are yielding, praying, visiting the sick, feeding the poor or teaching all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And as Solomon would say the conclusion of the whole matter is this – without Christ we can do nothing but with God all things are possible especially understanding the seemingly difficult things in book of Romans.
Faith & Works – A warning against counterfeit sanctification
For this reflection, I wanted to focus in on Ellen White’s comments in Faith and Works. Here she talks about what she calls spurious justification. This type of sanctification she says leads away from the Bible. She says that “true sanctification will be evidenced by a conscientious regard for all the commandments of God, by a careful improvement of every talent, by a circumspect conversation, by revealing in every act the meekness of Christ.” I have seen too often where, because we say that sanctification it is the work of a lifetime, we act as if we somehow have license to do whatever we want to do. It is as though, we have the lifetime in our hands and we can manipulate it to suit. It last 10 years so we can use those years however we wish and when we get near the end of that time, we will start living holy lives. The way I understand it from Dr. Hanna’s presentation of holistic thinking is that Sanctification is the work of a lifetime as well as the work of a moment. Since we are not promised tomorrow, then we should be fully sanctified today so that should we die, we would die in Christ. If we don’t die today, then we have the next day perfect our sanctification. Whether we live one day after our acceptance of Christ or five years after our acceptance of Christ, we still need to be engaged in the process, with the help of Christ, of overcoming lying if that’s our problem, overcoming whatever issues we have in our lives, getting rid of our bad habits and replacing them with better habits, learning to study scripture more and an overall “revamp” if you will of who we are. It is not a time to get worst, it is not a time to disregard God’s claim on your lives, neither is it a time to boast about what you’ve accomplished. More than anything it is a time to acknowledge how good God is and how unworthy we are. She goes further and gave an example in her discourse about individuals who believe that once they are justified and now being sanctified they are in direct connection with God. They no longer need the Bible because God tells them exactly what to do. They also claim that they are no longer to obey the law of God and if anyone tries to obey it then they are no longer under grace. She goes on to state that these individuals boast of their righteousness and profess their sinlessness. But as I read the Bible, I hear James saying in James 2:2, that we should live and act as those who wil be judged by the law of liberty. Paul himself says, in 2 Corinthians 2:13 that it is not the ones who hear the law that are righteous in God’s sight but the ones who obey the law shall be justified. So while the law does not save us we ignore it to our detriment because it is what will judge us. So sanctification does not work apart from the law. A person who is “on the sanctification journey” will keep the law. A person who is “on the sanctification journey” will show evidence of this by adhering to the law both in letter and in spirit. Another issue she deals with is the notion that all we have to do is believe. While the Bible says in Act 16:31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, it is not the only thing it says about being saved. Matt 3:8 says that we should produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:8 warns that we should not say that because Abraham is our father that we are okay because God is able to raise of from the stones children for Abraham. Dare I conclude that if all we had to do is belief that God can raise up trees who believe. In fact in James 2:19, the Bible says that the devils not only believe, they also tremble. As such belief is important, in fact it is necessary, but it is not the only step in the process of becoming like Christ. If all we do is believe then we will fall short of the character perfection that Christ has for us. It is only as we “work out” our salvation will we progress on the road of salvation that God has forseen for us and planned for us and called us to so that he can justify us and take us through the process of sanctification so that one day when he comes again we can be glorified and he can take us to Heaven where we will spend the ceaseless ages of eternity learning from him about how the process we had just completed through faith works.
Injong Moon THST 618 Works of Christ Martin Hanna, Ph.D. Jun 5, 2008
Romans 11
First of all, I would like to give thanks to my class mates for being with me for last 4 weeks. Special thanks to Doctor Hanna for your wonderful teaching and insight. Most of all, I thank God for giving me this wonderful opportunity to take this class.
As I read Romans 11, it seems like it is a conclusion and the answer of chapter 9 and 10. In chapter 9, Paul talked about predestination and In chapter 10, he talked about salvation of the Jews and Gentiles. In Genesis 22:18, God told to Abraham, ‘In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. Israelite was a chosen nation yet they used this privilege not for God’s work but for their own. Eventually they were caught in righteousness by work and racialism. But that was not God intended to do.
The harmony between Israelite, the chosen people by God and Christians by Jesus Christ was the hot issue of that time. Who’s God children and who will be saved? Where is God’s predestination and call for salvation? Who were chosen to be saved? Physical descendant of Abraham or Christian who accept Jesus Christ as their savior? Physical Israel or Spiritual Israel?
Paul answered this question in this chapter. In verse 1 Paul said God did not cast away His people. Certainly not! In verse 4, 5 there is a concept of a remnant, reserved people for God. When Elijah felt alone, He said He has reserved for Himself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. The remnant means not the people who belong to certain denomination of church or race but people who keep God’s will in their personal religious lives. God did not cast away Israel therefore surely there is a remnant in Israel. However in Romans 9: 32 says, they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (11,12) God worked for Israel and Gentiles at the same time. God used Israel’s disobedient for the Gentiles. He gave a chance to gentiles and also He gave jealous to Israel which makes them to repent.
The “Grafting” story in verse 17 touched me. “And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree (17).” “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (23)”
Even though we have spiritual privileges as Adventists, we will get lost if we seek our salvation only through our works just like physical Israel. As we are gentiles physically, we need to have faith of true olive tree as our roots. As we are all spiritual Israelites,(God is able to graft us and we are grafted to the olive tree) “All Israel will be saved.” (26)
First of all, I have a precious time for last month, because these fundamental notions of salvation were very ambiguous and difficult for me. But now, I can understand to some extent. Today, I’d like to arrange this theme “the sanctification and the God’s law”.
Most of people regard that they don’t need commandments anymore, because they have accept Jesus Christ as a private savior. Adventists did not agree with this concept. But these days Adventist might be little bit changed.
In Korea, there are many mega churches. How could they assemble the congregations? No one convict them until Jesus’ second coming but there is one reason that people go to church. That reason is “believe in Jesus Christ, and get the life and wealth, God want to you to be rich man.” They (church) do not emphasize the commandments of God. They didn’t teach what the real Christian life like Jesus Christ is. They preached cheap gospel. There are huge people in the church yet, there are too many people who want to get another thing not Jesus Christ in church. Who made them to misunderstanding the bible? It is Satan. E.G.W said that It is the sophistry of Satan that the death of Christ brought in grace to take the place of the law. The death of Jesus did not change or annul or lessen in the slightest degree the law of Ten Commandments. That precious grace offered to men through a Saviour's blood establishes the law of God. Since the fall of man, God's moral government and His grace are inseparable. They go hand in hand through all dispensations. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). Review and Herald article, published March 8, 1881. We know that our salvation came from His righteousness by faith. It is the truth. But that is not all. We need the preparation for Heavenly people. We are the sinner who cannot go into the heaven even though we already got the salvation by faith. We need a guide that let us know how to get to Jesus Christ. It is the Law. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24) Jesus, our Substitute, consented to bear for man the penalty of the law transgressed. He clothed His divinity with humanity and thus became the Son of man, a Saviour and Redeemer. The very fact of the death of God's dear Son to redeem man shows the immutability of the divine law. How easily, from the transgressor's standpoint, could God have abolished His law, thus providing a way whereby men could be saved and Christ remain in heaven! The doctrine which teaches freedom, through grace, to break the law is a fatal delusion. Every transgressor of God's law is a sinner, and none can be sanctified while living in known sin. Review and Herald article, published March 8, 1881. Having a belief is keeping the balance. We need a sound standpoint to understand the salvation and the Bible, Holistic understanding.
Understand that the processes of the salvation have influence on our life essentially. If we really understand the process, our life will be changed like Jesus’ life on the earth. Throughout our whole life, we will do right things because He will help us. We can live with joy because the Law is no more our burden. The sanctification, the purpose of our earthly life is not easy one. So we need everyday His help.
Steps to Christ, E. G., White, Chapters 1-5 Romans 13-16
It’s interesting to see how from chapter 12 onwards Paul switches from his great theological arguments to the practical (ethical) application of the message of justification by faith. In chapter 13 Paul becomes very practical—pay your taxes, obey the speed limit, pay your credit card debt—without the practical side of life being affected by our theological beliefs then our beliefs amount to little.
The great paradox of Paul being such a hard worker for the gospel sake is always striking to me. Many people tend to think that “salvation by faith” is a message of “resting in Jesus” but look at how hard Paul WORKED—the father of the message of “not saved by works”.
The great paradox of the Christian life is that the more see how much we DON’T have to work the more we will want to do the good works and glorify our father in heaven. We are really free slaves. Jesus has freed us from sin and so we want to work for him for the rest of our lives.
These first five chapters of this classic is replete with the theme of love. Ellen White presents this as the over riding theme of salvation: how God’s love for man led Him to put in place a plan of salvation. Here are just a few sample statements that show God’s love according to Ellen White:
- The thorn and thistles were appointed for man’s good. - God’s character is marked by love and infinite pity. - Infinite love paid the price of redemption - The matchless love of God for a world that did not love Him. - The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death. - Those who feel the constraining love of God, do not ask how little may be given to meet the requirements of God. - The Son Of God gave all – life love and suffering – for our redemption.
This tells me how important the cross is to our salvation and even when we may sense that God is cruel or unjust he is still actuated by love. For example, White says that, “the sinner could not be happy in God’s presence; he would shrink from companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him.” These means that even the final destruction of the wicked is an act of love! “Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is the light, and the center of its joy.” (p.18)
It’s interesting that Ellen White distinguishes between true and false repentance by the attitude of the guilty sinner towards God rather than towards the sin itself. Men can sorrow over the consequences and guilt resulting from their sins without truly repenting. In order to truly repent we must have a sense, not of what our sins have cost us, but of what they have cost the Son of God.
This kind of repentance comes only as a gift from God. This is the point at which “many err” because they think that they have to “first repent” and then come to Jesus, but Jesus is the one who gives repentance.
An interesting statement in light of our class discussion on objective justification is this: “The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the suffering of God’s dear Son.” This statement gives the impression that is the sinner does nothing he will be naturally drawn to Jesus. It’s a passive type of salvation. We normally think that the sinner has to actively respond to the invitation rather than not resist its natural attraction.
Another idea shared by Ellen White that is not very popular is that “all sins are not of equal magnitude.” How often have we hard the statement that “sin is sin” and no sin is bigger than the other, but Jesus told Pilot at His trial that the Jewish leaders had the committed the bigger sin. White shows how “pride feels no need” so it is the most hideous sin in the eyes of God.
In the chapter entitled “Consecration”, White seems to make some contradictory statements with regard to the human condition. On one hand, he is “weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt and controlled by habits”, yet on the other hand he needs to “understand the true force of the will. After painting a vivid picture of the human helplessness she goes on to say that the human will can “choose” to serve God.
So it therefore appears that with all that sin has done to man it has not taken away his power to choose. An interesting question would be to ask if this will is the same as Adam had before the fall. How much has sin affected our power to choose? Imagine that “through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life.” (p. 48)
One of my favorite books ever written is that small book which was written by Ellen G. White. While this book answers the burning questions that most Seventh day Adventist and even other Christians have about their Christian walk, there are some answers that congers up more questions for me. In the chapter, The Test of a Disciple, Ellen White gives a picture of what a converted Christian character is like. This picture which she lays out depicts a person that the world searches for within the church. The reason why I liable others outside the church, is because many church members become very blind when it is time for them to face themselves in the mirror. Many Christians have become so comfortable with living what we believe a Christian life is all about that we miss what true Christian living is.
For the most part what the world expects from Christians is usually what Christ wants from His disciples. As a Christian, I believe that it is a good thing to begin to listen to the critiquing of those who have no affiliation with the church. It is from this group that Christians can get a unions view on how we really are seen in the light of the world. Ellen White says on page 39 that “if we are Christ’s, our thoughts are with him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do his will, and please Him in all things.” This quote is one that gives the Christian a sense of awe. It gives the new Christian a goal to look forward to. But after the new experiences with the old members, this good feeling that the new members longed for quickly vanishes and they too find themselves in need of the honesty from the world.
When the world makes its judgment on an individual Christian, the judgment that is made usually blankets all Christians, both new and old Christians alike. While we prefer not to hear what the world have to say about the people who have the truth, the greatest good is done when the Christian who declares to the world that he or she is a person of God.
In light of this, is Ellen White’s statement which is quoted above incorrect about a disciple or one who clams to be a Christian? I do not believe so, I believe that when we read more, we will not that Mrs. White statement is not one that is suggesting that this is what we become after we are converted, rather, this is what we see in Romans as sanctification. This is attitude that is painted by Ellen White is an attitude that is developed on a daily walk with Christ.
While the world sees and judge the man or woman who Christ has justified, they only can comment on the unfinished product of God’s work. What Ellen White describe in this section of her book is not a pretty picture of what she wants a Christian to act like, rather, it is the real picture of a saved person who is constantly falling and getting back up, it is the picture of a person who is being is being sanctified on a step by step, day today bases. This is why Ellen White closes of this section of the book with this statement. “No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness.” The suggestion which is being made is that when we fall in love with Christ, we will constantly ask God to take the things that are not like Him away.
The idea that we become like Christ does not mean that we are perfect and no longer fall into the ways of the old man from time to time. The idea that Ellen White is saying, which is repeated by Dr. Hanna is that we must fall in love with Jesus so much that we can become so honest with Him that we can tell Him how much the very sin that we love is stopping us from getting to the point where He wants us to be. This is the position that the world yearns to see in all who professes to be Christians. The world is not looking for perfect Christians, they are looking for Christians who are being perfected on a daily bases. This is also the idea which we find in Paul’s statement that “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:6. IF this doesn’t answer it fully Paul also state that, he dies daily. 1 Corinthians 15:31. This idea that Mrs. White brings out is sanctification.
As I was reading Faith and Works by Ellen White I came across a quote that reminded me of something Ray said in class. In Faith and Works it states that “When it is in the heart to obey God, why efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit.” If we give are best to Lord and it’s a two Christ will make up the difference with an eight so that it will add up to a ten. Although our language is limited and we can play with the different figures the main point that I received from this statement is that we play an active role in the work of our personal salvation. At no point can we remain passive when it comes to our salvation.
This quote continues, “But He will not accept those who claim to have the faith in Him and yet are disloyal to His Father’s commandments. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easy going, accommodating, crossless religion.” (p.50). As ministers it is our duty and yet a challenge to present the gospel in a holistic and balanced manner. To go to any extremes can label us as either liberal or a legalist.
Ellen White was speaking to a preacher in an article and cautioned him not to go to any extremes in expressing a certain point when dealing with justification because the minds of the people have a tendency to be swayed by how the preacher presents his message. (Faith and Works p.111). When we preach on the substitution of Christ and the power of the cross I believe we can present a clear message on faith and works. Zechariah 12:10 states, “and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
It is imperative that we remember that our motivation for all that we do is the cross. As the text states when we behold Christ the one whom we crucified by our sins we will be impressed to work for His cause. When we keep Christ before the people the merging of faith and works will become clearer to His people.
Week One Report- Doctrine of Salvation The beginning of class I didn’t know what to expect. I’m really enjoying the discussions because I am not as knowledge as those in my class. I want to be a sponge and learn from the professor and my classmates as we discuss doctrine and salvation. On Monday the question was ask about what is a doctrine and before then I was thinking it was more of written practices. But as the discussion went on I really liked defining doctrine as the teaching of beliefs or norms that compliment a holistic understanding. As I listened further it was stated that the Bible is the “sola scriptura” and when doctrines are written they should be biblical. But as I stated several “unwritten laws” are not biblical (jewelry, dress, etc), and I wonder if doctrines were to be biblical, and doctrines that we keep are not biblical, why were they even written? The models of salvation are really enlightening because I liked when there is “no one model of salvation” was stated. Salvation is a process that we all experience and go through or will go through if we plan to make to heaven. What was crazy to me when reading the “Ellen White on Salvation”, she was worried about salvation as a twelve year old. At twelve I just wanted to play baseballs and basketball. That lets me know I far off I was that age. The various models are all unique in their own design, but the one I am more accustomed to hearing is penal substitution. I have heard of all of them especially atonement, ransom, liberation, and moral influence, but penal substitution, taking the place and the pain for or suffering for us, is what my church preached. The lasting thought was how justification, sanctification, and glorification are all linked and depend upon one other. But when it was explained more and how righteousness bears fruits in holiness, which results in eternal life. To me this shows a how salvation is a process, but before one can get to righteousness, faith must be present to be considered righteous. This is going to get deep! I am excited to learn from others and from the professor. I’m learning that salvation is process that takes time to happen and we may never see perfection in ourselves until we reach glory. The weird thing is, aren’t we supposed to see some perfection in ourselves as we draw closer to Christ? Aren’t we supposed to see Christ in our selves, as well as others? Salvation is a deep topic in which I’m ready to go deep sea diving!
31 comments:
As I attempt to begin “chewing on” all that have been discussed thus far in this class, I found myself repeating the text found in Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and His ways past finding out!” As long as I have been a Seventh-day Adventist Christian and have heard about and studied, although not in depth, the issue of justification, sanctification and glorification, I always walk away completely amazed at how much I have yet to learn.
One of the ways that I experience something that is profound is by crying. Not out loud and not even with tears, but there is a feeling in my heart that I could only compare to crying. It happens when I hear something so deep and profound that I simply cannot respond to it. I somehow know it is the truth and it makes me want to just stop. In awe of that particular truth, just stop! I have had that experience several times thus far. It was not because these things were completely new, but the rest of it brought me to a new realization of what God has done for me and I want to just stop! Sometimes when I hear that we will learn through the ceaseless ages of eternity, I wonder what exactly we will learn? I think I have part of the answer and I realized it during this week. As I listen to Dr. Hanna talk about the complete process of salvation, I found myself awed by its complexity. But then I thought, what would it be like for Jesus himself to explain it more fully and clear up the mysteries that even Dr. Hanna admits he doesn’t fully understand? More than ever I want to make it to heaven because I want to learn more about this intricate plan to save me.
As I read The Dynamics of Salvation, I discovered that righteousness “is not merely a state; rather, it manifests itself uniquely in saving activity”. It brings salvation. As I thought about that, I began to realize something. God’s righteousness does more than covers my unrighteousness. His righteousness creates in me a desire to do what is right. This is amazing to me because often times we refer to righteousness as a garment, and maybe it is. However some times a garment gives the connotation of not doing much more than sitting on your person and waiting to be moved by that person. But reading about God’s righteousness as a saving activity gives it life. It gives me a sense of righteousness doing more than sitting on my shoulders. It is active, working in and for me. Of course learning from the class that righteousness and justification is the same word in the original language, adds to this belief of active righteousness. Paul says in Romans 6:19 …that we should yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness. What that says to me is in order for the righteousness that Christ has imparted unto me to accomplish it’s purposes in my life I must be an active participant. That does not mean that if I don’t yield myself that somehow the righteousness of Christ is dead. It is not. It is still manifesting its part in the unique saving activity for which it was provided. It just means that I would miss out on what it can accomplish in my life.
Another nugget that I discovered this week in terms of new terminology is the idea of intellectual assent to the truth. I must thank Dr. Hanna for introducing us to it so that when I saw it I was able to recognize it and know what it means. In referring to Abraham, it states that “his faith was not simply an intellectual assent to the truth, but a total response of trust in the promising Word of God. A readiness to submit himself entirely to God and to accept His Word”! It goes further and states that “Abraham came into right relationship with God and obedience was the result”. As I evaluated the life of Abraham, I see his growth and knew that it was not just because he accepted in his head that God loved him, that righteousness was imputed to him. In fact the Bible says in James 2:22-24, that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Here is evidence that Abraham went beyond a simple belief in God. In order to become a friend to someone, you must do more than believe. You must establish a relationship with them, spend time with them and as we would say today hang out with them. As I read about Abraham and his obedience, as carried out on Mt. Moriah, I know that his faith was heart and head related. I know that it was much more than an intelligent decision to obey, it was a heartfelt decision. In fact if there is such an expression, it was a whole body decision. The request to offer his son went straight to the heart of this father and his faith in His friend God was rewarded. Faith then is never a mental act or a passive act. It is always active and dynamic. It involves all that we do and are. Faith is the instrument through which we obtain salvation. It is the medium or instrument that God uses to reach us so that he can impart his grace to save us. He is not interested only in reaching our minds, but in reaching our hearts along with all our members. That’s why Matthew 27:37 says that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind.
One last nugget before I post. It has to do with a discussion we had in class and what I have read from Paul and Ellen White. It is the idea that faith is passive and as one person said that when you accept Christ, you get in the back seat of the limousine and cruise on into glory. As I read what Ellen White says in her sermon titled, Faith and Works she talks about our part in the process of salvation in this way “We are to wrestle, to labor, to strive, to agonize to enter in at the strait gate. We are to strive earnestly to be zealous and to repent, to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts from every defilement. We must seek if we would find, and seek in faith; we must knock, that the door may be opened unto us.” Nothing in these words suggests cruising, nothing in these words suggests a passive attitude, nothing suggests, that we are passive spectators. Rather she presents that we are willing participants with every fiber of our being. Our minds, our hands, our hearts, working, laboring, striving, wrestling, agonizing! Not in an attempt to save ourselves, but rather to engage us in the process of salvation that was started when we were justified fully by receiving Christ as Savior and Lord.
No where in his writings, does Paul paint a picture of cruising into glory. In Romans 2:7 he says to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. Persistence in doing good, suggests an active and ongoing activity. Not just sitting around waiting for someone doing it for you, but rather you yourself voluntarily involved in doing. Some one said that it would be unfair for the martyrs to have had to go through such a horrendous experience and make it to the same heaven that we cruised into. I fully believe that we must be active participants in the process our salvation not to save ourselves but because we are grateful to Christ for what he has done on our behalf. Our works would therefore demonstrate that we have accepted the free gift of Salvation and we are now demonstrating our thanks to God through the good works that we do.
Reaction to Class Discussion
At the center of the gospel message is salvation. There would be no need for the gospel if we were not in need of salvation.
Yet there is a mystery to salvation that can trouble the greatest minds. Paul engages us in Romans on this subject and at times seems to be “on the bank then on the river”. Many statements first appear troubling until he corrects the obvious extreme view that could arise from reading some passages without other balancing texts.
Paul continually makes one strong statement only to be followed by a strong “but” as to say don’t forget there is another side to the coin. For example, he talks about the “law” in both positive and negative lights, since it produces sin in us and yet the law is good and holy and just. Righteousness comes through faith but also through works.
The most enlightening idea that came this week from Romans for me was the idea that the “heathen” so ‘know’ God though they may misinterpret Him. As we take the Gospel to those who don’t know Jesus we can build on what they already know about God rather than ‘start from scratch’. If our attitude is governed by the idea that we have all the answers then we can often teach more that the gospel i.e. our cultural biases.
Articles Read: “Adam and the Human Race in the Writings of E. G. White”
by Angel Manuel Rodríguez
- (Romans 1-4)
In his paper, Rodriguez discusses the issue of ‘original sin’ as addressed in Ellen White’s writings and what was really passed from Adam to the entire human family. To understand the issue of sin and salvation I think it’s important to investigate the root of the problem as this would give clues to the solution.
Of all the consequences of sin—separation from God, loss of privileges, slavery to sin death and misery—what I found most troubling about her statements is the intimation that if Adam had rejected Jesus as substitute then the whole human family would be doomed.
Here’s the quote: “"Then it was that the great love of God was expressed to us in one gift, that of His dear Son. If our first parents had not accepted the gift, the race would today be in hopeless misery. But how gladly did they hail the promise of the Messiah. It is the privilege of all to accept this Saviour, to become children of God, members of the royal family and to sit at last at God's right hand." ("Seek First the Kingdom of God," Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, October 27, 1885, par. 4.)
Does this mean that if Adam had rejected God’s offer of a Saviour then I wouldn’t have a similar opportunity? I could “understand” how as representative of the human race then all his descendants inherited his sinful nature but I still find this statement troubling.
It’s clear to me that Ellen White never thought that we were somehow ‘inside’ Adam when he sinned so we are guilty of HIS sins, but we have inherited his guilt as far as CONSEQUENCES are concerned. (So “results not participation.”)
Not only was Adam’s sin passed on to his posterity but it affected the whole of nature even when he was not biologically connected to it. This would indicate to me that human sinfulness is more than a biological phenomenon. The sin problem would therefore require ‘more than nature’ (supernatural intervention) to fix it.
In fact, Paul reminds us in Romans 1 that sin is indeed universal and we are helpless without the Gospel to remedy it. Without the Gospel we would be “given over to our own minds” (vs. 24, 26) which would naturally lead to self destruction. We need a second Adam to rescue us.
Whether through the writings of Ellen White or the Bible salvation is as much a mystery as the origins of sin in a perfect universe. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t wrestle with the subject, for in so doing we can see new pictures of God’s will to save us. And the things He reveals are indeed for us and our children. (Deut. 29:29)
Article: Analysis of the Doctrine of Universal "Legal" Justification -Larry J. Kane
There are extremes expressed in the idea of a “universal ‘legal’ justification.” To think that Christ righteousness is universally applied to every human being without their belief in Jesus Christ is surely to make grace too cheap and God too good. Considering that God couldn’t force Adam to obey Him and still be a God of love, so He couldn’t force the sinner to be saved and still be God.
Justification id definitely AVAILABLE at the cross but we must CHOOSE to apply this to our lives. Again, it is the attraction of extreme positions that make the doctrine of salvation important for study. Indeed we need a larger picture or model of salvation than can be employed using one metaphor.
Article: “Justification in Romans 3:21-24” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
-Romans 3
So far in the book of Romans Paul has argued that all are unrighteous, including Gentiles (1:18-32) and Jews (2:1-3:8) and therefore all people (3:9-20). He now further argues in Romans 3 that the only solution to this unrighteousness is a righteousness that comes from God through Jesus Christ by faith.
Rodriguez in his treatise examined the nature of this righteousness by exegeting Romans 3:21-24:
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testified. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
Rodriguez argues that “Paul has made it clear that the righteousness of God is the same as righteousness by faith in Christ for all who believe. He has not argued for two different types of righteousness, one that is legal and universal and not by faith, and another that is personal and by faith. He defined righteousness of God as justification by faith.”
This justification is not something that took place universally at the cross but is effected in the life of the sinner as he accepts the salvation provided at the cross by expressed and demonstrated faith in Jesus Christ. Any attempt by God to justify even the sinner who didn’t ask for it would give Satan an argument against God’s justice. “Available” and “accepted” are two very different views of justification.
We can see that the issues of salvation involve the “everlasting Gospel” and therefore address a sin problem that goes beyond the human level. These are things that even the angels desire to look into. We don’t have to feel threatened in wrestling with the subject but there is a mystery beyond which we have to accept this salvation “by faith”.
As we seek a larger model of salvation may we find Jesus in the center!
Articles Read: “Some Problems with Legal Universal Justification”
by Angel Manuel Rodríguez
(Romans 4)
It’s unsettling to think that we are born as sinners and basically guilty before God before we perform any actions or are even conscious of our own existence. The fact that “in Adam” we all became sinners even though we never sinned after the manner of Adam makes the idea of Legal Universal Justification appealing. This “objective justification” would seem to “make up” for the “objective condemnation” that we received from Adam. Since Jesus is the Second Adam then this would all seem logical. Except that it doesn’t fit with what the scriptures teach.
I agree with Rodriguez that there are some serious problems with the views of Legal Universal Justification and the “in Christ” motif in Paul’s writings cannot mean that we were in some way mystically present in either Adam or Jesus. Yet, I think that deep in the human heart the idea that we were born sinners without a choice causes us to seek to justify God’s action and make Him seem fair, and Legal Universal Justification would surely seem to do this.
But again, this will leave out human choice since we would be justified even before we had a chance to choose to follow God’s way. In trying to solve one problem we’ll only be creating another problem.
In Romans 4, Paul argues that both Jews and Gentiles are justified by faith because Abraham was counted righteous even before he was circumcised. It’s interesting that James also uses the same example of Abraham to teach the importance of works. (James 2:21-23) If the writings of both James and Paul are considered canonical then we must have a large enough model of salvation to fit in both ideas of righteousness by faith and the importance of works. To take Paul’s views at the exclusion of James (not that Paul didn’t teach the importance of works) you can easily come up with an unbalanced view.
Much like the great reformer Martin Luther did when he referred to James as an “epistle of straw” because James emphasized works. Martin Luther himself went as far as to say that God incites man to sin through the devil that God may apply His grace! Shows how a too small a model can lead to extreme and dangerous views.
Nathan Williams
THST 618 Works of Christ
Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
May 15, 2008
After having read the first five documents of BRL on salvation and participated in the past class discussions some of the reoccurring issues that have been raised are what took place on the cross that gives the Christian power to ultimately live victoriously? How will God eradicate sin without destroying man’s free will? Or has Christ's death on the cross accomplished a legal or objective justification which is universally and unconditionally applied to all men? In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to address these issues from my own limited understanding while applying some of the concepts that we have learned in class thus far.
It was apart of the plan of God from the beginning of the universe to create beings that would have the ability make moral as well as immoral choices. From a human stand point we ask the question why would God give created beings the capability to make right and wrong choices knowing that the wrong decision could send a world or even the universe spiraling downward on a crash course of wickedness and ultimately destruction. With limited understanding we stand back aghast that God would establish a scenario that could become a problem. Or is this situation really a problem?
From the study of the scriptures and the spirit of prophecy we are given insight on why God created beings that could think and act for themselves. Gods’ intentions were to fashion individuals that would serve Him out of love absent of fear. God did not want mere automatons but creatures that had the ability to make choices whether right or wrong. Without going into detail we know unequivocally that Lucifer, one-third of the angels and eventually man made the decision to rebel against God’s law.
In order to redeem man God came down and through Jesus Christ rescued man from the degradation of sin. Christ’s sacrifice opens up a path for man to be rescued from the depravity of sin. Paul states that “the gospel of Christ …is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16). On this point many are confused as to what Christ’s death and resurrection truly means for mankind. Some have concluded that all men are now saved because of the death of Christ, because all men died “in Christ.” The terminology used for this concept is called universal “legal” justification.
Some of the question that I wrestle with in contradiction to the concept of legal justification are what does the element of faith mean to the believer if all men are saved in spite of how they lived, how do we handle the text that refute this idea such as 2 Peter2:9; Revelation 20; Ezekiel 28:18; Malachi 4:1,3. Will God ultimately over ride man’s ability to choose and save him/her against their free will, if so will He do the same for the Devil and his demon cohorts. All of theses questions must be thought about and answered biblically even with our finite understanding.
It is clear in the scriptures that all must undergo the judgment of God and all who are found with out the righteousness of Christ will face utter destruction. Those who have rejected the justification and sanctification process will not experience glorification at the coming of Christ.
The scriptures tell us that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”(Romans 8:1). In class we learned that justification is equal to not being condemned while walking in the Spirit is equal to the walking in the righteousness of God’s law. Righteousness is equivalent to holiness and sanctification. “Yield your members servants to righteousness (dikaiosu,nh|)unto holiness (a`giasmo,n).” (Romans 6:19).
In order to experience the glorification that Christ longs to offer us we must seek and be holy. (Revelation 22:11). Those who are not willing to submit themselves to the justification and sanctification process will eventually be lost. This rules out all ideas that all will be saved against their wills. All who are saved will have made to conscious decision to allow God to transform them by faith into holy vessels. If we remove the element of faith then we immediately have robots and not beings with free will formed and fashioned in the image of God.
In conclusion I am convinced that God knew what He was doing when He chose to leave in tack man’s freedom of choice. The death and resurrection of Christ can save us without destroying our free will. As we endure the sanctification process on this earth God will prepare us for glorification but again this is only as we by faith allow Him to renew our minds.
William Simpson
Works of Christ
Reflection: Steps to Christ chapters 1-5 and Romans chapters 1-4
Following paragraph based on SC chapter 1. The opening few pages from Steps to Christ correspond beautifully with the opening chapter of Romans and our first lecture. God reveals Himself to everyone in some way. Ellen White, talking about various aspects of nature says, “all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy.” I see God’s fairness in revealing Himself to all people so that in the Day of Judgment all people will be “without excuse” as Paul writes in Romans 2:1. I would see God as arbitrary and unfair if only those who had the opportunity to hear the gospel message as found in the Scriptures were candidates for salvation because so many have died without hearing the name of Jesus. God mercifully does everything He can to reach the lost. I had the question: “If God can reveal Himself through nature, then why the need for us to preach the gospel?” I am finding resolution to this question. White says in Steps to Christ “Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love.” Nature is one revelation, but the word of God more specifically reveals God’s character, and most accurately Christ’s life on earth reveals the Father’s character so that we may decide if we want to live according to His government. So I conclude that the reason we preach the gospel is to give people a clearer picture of who God is and what He offers us through Christ. We preach because God has given us the privilege to bring added clarity and conviction to people who only know God as revealed in nature. We preach Christ crucified because as White puts it, “Nothing less than the infinite sacrifice made by Christ in behalf of fallen man could express the Father’s love to lost humanity.” “It is the power of God to salvation.” Romans 1:16.
Following paragraph based on SC chapter 3. I had a friend who, when I would ask him what the sermon was about, would always answer, “Sin!” This might sound a little funny, but I think there is more truth to my friend’s answer than comic value. So why talk about sin? White poses the comment and question, “It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to Christ?” This is indeed the question. Our canned answer may be, “the law is a tutor to drive us to Christ.” So does the written law show us our sin? Or is sin so pervasive that we could be doing the externals of the law while still being great sinners? It is true that Paul talks about the written code that the Jews had and also the unwritten law the Gentile had so that no person could say, “I didn’t have a law so I am not accountable for my actions!” I don’t however believe that the law, on its own, drives us to Christ. We can see that the lawyers in Jesus’ day weren’t driven to Christ and we see several Biblical examples of people coming to Christ without a written law convincing them that they needed redemption. I fully agree with White that “We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.” I don’t see anywhere in the Bible that the law is the power of the gospel to transform lives. We can all praise God for his Holy Spirit who uses the law of the written code of specific revelation, or the law as revealed in nature, as His own tool, to bring us to repentance and to bring us to desire change. White says “But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth.” No law will ever lead us to understand how horrible sin is and how important repentance is apart from God’s Spirit. The problem with sin was announced immediately to Adam and Eve. Once they sinned, they lost their discernment of what sin was and how destructive it was. The “enmity” was our only hope. White writes, “When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit he remains in partial blindness to his sin.” For some reason, which is not clear to me, Christ’s death is the power the Spirit uses. In commenting on David’s repentance, White writes, “repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high and has given gifts unto men.” A study of the law while shunning God’s spirit is useless. I believe that it is only God’s Spirit that convicts the Jew or Gentile of sin. The law, on its own, will never drive us to Jesus and to holiness. This understanding helps me to see God as much more in control of salvation for the Jew and Gentile. The heart of the issue is that God’s love working in the person of the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin and of righteousness, using whatever law he chooses.
Living in Korea as an Adventist pastor is not that easy. I mean Korean like Christianity actually but they don`t like Adventists. There is a long story with historical backgrounds. And I realized that some reasons are from the wrong understanding of righteousness by faith. I am blessed for I could learn about righteousness by faith here at Andrews and now I am trying to have more and more understanding of it. Thank Doctor Hanna for giving me this opportunity to share my idea and my experience on his blog.
I am not sure about here in the States but Korea where I am come from has a heavy tension between SDA and other churches for a long time and they do not accept us as a Christian church. I served Korean army for 26months but I couldn`t work as a chaplain like other pastors because I was an Adventist. It is still very difficult to get a job in Korea for we work 6 days a week include Sabbath. It is even harder for the students. School runs 6days a week and SDA students are under threaten of deportation from their schools all the time. Most of graduate school entrance exam is on Sabbath. Even national exams like medical doctor`s exam or governmental official exams are on Sabbath. They know we keep the Sabbath but they don`t change them for I think Korean Adventist have given very bad image or impression to Korean society and that is why they are so harsh on us. Therefore living as an Adventist pastor in Korea is not easy.
They are a lot of reasons that they don`t like Adventists. They blame us that SDA is a fake church for they do not believe free redemption from the Jesus Christ but they, SDA try to be saved by their works. They are legalism. It may not only Korean SDA`s problems. Anyhow what is wrong with our belief? What is the matter of Korean SDA church? I think one of this problems caused by the wrong understanding of righteousness by faith. I would like to reflect this problem once again here in my paper.
We(Korean SDA) have been blamed Sunday worshipers for they do not keep the Sabbath, they do eat a lot of unclean food, they have wrong understanding of the Bible, we are the only one remnant church on this earth therefore we will be saved yet all of you will be perished…. That`s the story. Being an Adventist church member is not easy. Sometimes we have to leave our families, schools and our communities. Sometimes we have to give up many good opportunities. Sometimes we loose our jobs for the Sabbath. Even sometimes we have to go to jail to keep the Sabbath while we serve Korean army. Being an Adventist required a lot of sacrifices and that is now one of our culture I think. Being an Adventist means give up everything and do his or her best for believe. This kind of atmosphere gradually made the extreme image of current SDA.
As I study ‘Works of Christ’, I could learn that salvation is works of Christ.
As it is written in Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”, righteousness by faith is free not by the works of our own. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”(Romans 1:16), Gospel itself is the power and all the sources of power not our own good deeds. God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith to demonstrate His righteousness (Romans 3:25). God did this not me.
One Sabbath, I had a very hard time. One of my new church member was about to be baptized however some of my church board members said that they couldn`t agree with his baptism. He was a student therefore he had to go to school on Saturday so he couldn`t keep the Sabbath whole but right after his school, he ran to church for late worship service. Yet it was not good enough for some of my church members. Some church board members insist that they (new reformed people) have to show their faith to them and they would allow the new reformers come into their church and give baptism. They fold their arms in front of baptismal pool and with their all ears they listen to baptismal vows. Is this man good enough to be saved? Is this new member right in front of God?
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law”(Romans 3:28)
I pray that we can have better understanding of righteousness by faith and I hope that we can be more thankful to His costly but ‘free’ gospel. . Our Advocate rises to speak in our behalf. Instead of agreeing to our death, He presents His own death; while acknowledging our disobedience, He points to His own obedience. Instead of claiming our righteousness, He covers us with His own righteousness (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 311). Thus He stands for us as our Representative (The Desire of Ages, p. 357; The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, vol. 7, p. 925) and Substitute (Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 256, 258). Because of Him, the verdict is pronounced, "Acquitted!" We go forth free from the accusations of the law that previously had condemned us. This is the meaning of justification by grace through faith (Rom. 3:21-26).
Jinsan Moon
THST 618 Works of Christ
Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
May 15, 2008
I was not satisfied with given salvation as a gift. Because It was a burden
What was the burden?
It was not a just free-gift for me but something to complete.
(There will be some obligation.. I used to think)
These were endless questions for me to live as a Christian and Adventists
And I couldn’t find the answer easily. But I’d like to confirm the thought
Salvation is the cross. Since Jesus died for us we got a salvation.
He is the only answer to the sinner man. There is no hope without Jueus Christ. Because we have the nature of sin.
He gave us the cloth of righteousness. But It’s not the end. The Bible says “"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48)
It was burden to me. How can I be prefect man.
But when I read some articles from the “BRC” I could arrange the thought
Articles : How Perfect Is "Perfect" Or
Is Christian Perfection Possible?
by Edward Heppenstall
In his paper,
One of the hindrances to living the Christian life successfully is failure to understand what the Bible teaches on the nature of sin and perfection. A grave misapprehension lies at the root of much of the false teaching on this subject.
The Bible, in applying the term "perfection" to believers, never means "sinlessness." There are at least nine different Hebrew words and six Greek words translated "perfection." Noah is said to be "perfect in his generations" (Gen 6:9). Of Asa, the King of Judah, we read: "But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days" (1 Kings 15:14). "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2). "We speak wisdom among them that are the perfect" (1 Cor 2:6).
“If one's view of sin is shallow enough, sinless perfection would not be an impossible achievement. It is a defective view of sin that leads to a wrong understanding of perfection.”
“It is a defective view of sin that leads to a wrong understanding of perfection. If sin simply means a deliberate, willful doing of what is known to be wrong, then no Christian should commit this kind of sin. But if sin includes also a man's state of mind and heart, man's bias toward sin, sin as an indwelling tendency, then perfection presents a totally different picture.”
How about Enoch, we already mentioned in class. He was a righteous man. And He knows the Justification that means He was not a perfect man without sin. He pursued a perfection walking with God. Since he follow up the perfection, God took him to heaven and he became a glorified man.
It might his admission “O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Because It is possible when we dwell in Jesus, we will have a victory against sin.
But, until now I have some questions to solve. Given righteousness- Justification, and the acceptance of justification is salvation. But some of man don’t have any choice to choose the Justification.
It will be my assignment during this summer session.
I read “steps to Christ” and I got this idea. Who is the bible character that really enjoy the salvation? Who showed his sanctification to us? Whom enjoyed the salvation and joyfully accepted it? I think disciple John is the man. The Bible clearly show his before and after life.
He was not perfect but he was justified and he lived with Jesus everyday. His life surely made a progress toward glorification. “John loved Jesus therefore he could forget himself”. What is living with Jesus? What is living with him? To make a long story short, love Jesus. If so we will disappear and Jesus only remain and finally we will reach to the stage “Santification”
JD Miller
After reading the five articles, Romans 1-4, and reflecting upon our class lectures, the idea of salvation has become a more careful study for me. It is noted that with all of our studying, we can never come to the full knowledge of how God is saving humanity. But as much as God has given, this much we are able to work with.
When we begin to search through the Bible for what sin really is, we find that those who try to explain it, often times search for words that hi-lights the evilness of this epidemic which has spread throughout humanity because of the disobedience of our first parents. It was through one man that sin was introduced to humanity and it must be through one man that this disease was controlled, through the man Jesus Christ. It is with this knowledge Paul the apostle of Jesus opens up his letter to the Romans. Paul introduces his argument of salvation to the Romans by stating unequivocally his faith in the Gospel of Christ in Romans 1:16, 17. He is stating that this is the sure way of salvation and there is no other.
This clam has open the way for why we who read the words of Paul should also stack our clams in the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Paul lays out the step by step method of the path to salvation by using three familiar words, Justification sanctification and Glorification. While these words are not necessarily the actual words, when they are translated from Greek to English they spell these exact steps.
Before going into the steps used in Romans it is safe to examine why Paul is so excited about the Gospel of Christ. It is because Paul understands the seriousness of sin and the penalty of sin. In order for us to understand and accept this Gospel as the sure way of salvation we too must be unashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the only cure for the sin problem which all of humanity have been plagued with. Sin for Paul is something that is unavoidable because of how it came about. In first Corinthians 15, Paul points back to the first Adam. He explains how it, sin, separates us from our true creator. We find Paul crying out at times, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7: 24. After coming to the conclusion that he, “… do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Romans 7:19. This sin plagues Paul so much that He had to seek refuge under the blood of Jesus Christ, not under the law. This is the same proposal which Paul is strongly suggesting that we take.
Paul three step method of salvation suggest that we accept Christ sacrifice. In accepting this sacrifice we accept the fact that we have been justified through faith. Being justified is basically saying that we have joined a team that is undefeated. This idea of justification is not, as most would believe, a method by which we are once saved and is always saved, rather, it is a method by which we are given salvation based upon what Jesus did on the cross for us. For all who accept Jesus as their Lord and savior accepts this first step of salvation.
The best way to explain this first step to salvation is, using the illustration of a person joining a championship football team which is undefeated. While you never play in any of that team’s games the coach accepts you as a part of the team after right after they win their Super Bowl. When it is time to be rewarded, you, the new comer receives a winning ring also. While you did nothing to earn this ring you are treated as if you played as heard as those who gave their sweat and blood. This is the idea behind justification...
This idea of being on a wining team and earning the privileges of win sounds good. But in order for us to get to this point we must understand that we cannot get to the point of justification without the request of Christ sacrifice, and the only way we can do this is by looking into the law, which is our mirror that reveals to us how messed up we are, and that the uniform that we are wearing belongs to the other team. While we fight against this law, so belonging it can save, while others see it as a hindrance, the fact is without it we would not know where we are standing. So, the law is a very important part of the three step method of salvation
The second part of the method is sanctification. Sanctification is the part of the step which most people ignore, or simply misunderstand. When this part is ignored, what is left is the idea that when we have been welcomed into Christ salvation that we are forever saved sealed and we can do as we like, because we said yes to Jesus. This is can be a dangerous thought. There is something on our part, it is sanctifications.
This is the time when you are accepted on the football team, you begin to show that you are apart of the time by showing up for practice, playing hard when it is time for you to play, and if you never get to play in a game you are there sitting on the bench cheering your team on because what ever victory the team gets, it is also your win. But if you are not present for practice if you are not present for the games you disqualify yourself as a team member.
The third step in this three step method is the last part which encompasses the first two, is glorification. It is the point when all who wants to be on Christ team will be on Christ’s team. It is at this point that nature, and revelation will no longer speak. We will hear it from the mouth of God Himself. Sanctification is the point where we who have been separated from God will be reunited with God, and sin will never again create a void between Creator and creation.
This is the reason for Paul’s bold statement and why he is not ashamed of the gospel and this is why we who read these words of Paul must join in song with Paul and declare to all the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I appreciated very much the points that Mary reiterated. The idea that salvation is an ongoing and continual process is very important for us to remember so that we will not be too hard or soft on ourselves or on others. We are secure in salvation as we are justified, yes, but we also need growth in salvation. So thank you for that. I also uphold her concern that unfortunately even as Adventists we miss so much by thinking that salvation is a static state once we are justified. This mentality can breed one of two extremes. Either people get "holier than thou" or “freed from the law” and become terrible examples of what it means to be a Christian.
I also appreciated very much Mary’s reminder that we do have an active role in salvation. We must avail ourselves to the transforming power of the Spirit by practicing spiritual disciplines. Things like prayer, listening, beholding nature, reading the Bible and worshiping in music are a few examples of how we can cooperate with the Spirit. Not that we are doing anything meritorious of salvation, but we are doing our part in cooperating with God. A statement that “expression deepens the impression” seems to fit with the idea of striving for our salvation and also finding joy in doing what does not at first seem natural or even pleasant for us. But like Mary said, eventually we will enjoy doing righteousness because Christ is continually giving us His heart and mind.
William Simpson
Works of Christ
Reflection: Steps to Christ chapters 6-10 and Romans chapters 5-8
First I would like to reflect on the idea found in Romans concerning hope and its relation to the type of holistic redemption we have discussed in class thus far. If we don’t see salvation as a process, then why does Paul talk about “hope of the glory of God” in Romans 5? Why would he use phrases like: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” or “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” in Romans 8, if redemption or salvation had already been fulfilled in every aspect? It seems clear to me that though we can be secure in our salvation by faith in Jesus at this very moment, redemption, of some sort, will be continuing for eternity. As we are created beings, this will be to our great benefit. For me, anticipation is the spice of life. If I do not have something special or better to look forward to, I would be without hope. I believe this is intrinsic in healthy created beings. If I had no room for improvement, no more wisdom or knowledge to attain, if heaven was just about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp, I would find myself without hope. We are comfortable saying that we are redeemed even now through faith, but in a sense we will be saved only when glorified in nature and physique and sin is eternally eradicated. Is it possible for us to say then that we will be receiving redemption from our misunderstandings and ignorance for eternity as we receive from the mind of our Creator? I would say that this understanding gets me very excited because for me anticipation is the spice of life. Not only do I eagerly await the Lord’s plans for me tomorrow, in heaven, and in the Earth Made New, but I eagerly await learning from God, being redeemed from my imperfect understanding, from day to day for eternity. So for me, if salvation is not a holistic and perpetual process, it looses most of its appeal.
The next idea that I found very encouraging in my weekly reading of Romans is the idea that we enter into freedom only when the Spirit gives us a new heart and attitude about God’s law, which is His character. To begin life, we are born slaves of sin and death. We have no power to escape our evil inclinations, leading to self-destruction, apart from the power of Christ’s atonement which we claim by faith. As children of Adam we are born unto death by default. We live in rebellion to God and obedient to Satan as Adam initiated this principle for the entire human race. Romans five also takes us into the nature of Christ in His humanity. Christ assumed our humanity in a manner similar to, yet disadvantaged from Adam’s unfallen nature. This He did to give us the option to opt out of our default state of slavery unto sin. This speaks to me of God’s mercy and truth. He loved us enough to make the sacrifice yes, but he also gave us the freedom to choose whether we want to remain slaves of sin through Adam or to opt for freedom through the power of His atonement. In my mind, it would not be fair or merciful for God to allow people to be born into this principle of sin, misery and death without at least providing a way out, especially since He created us to with a free will. His atonement gives us power to exercise our will. We can choose to be freed from our natural law of death. Yes we will still have the inclinations of the flesh as children of the first Adam, but we have the freedom to exercise our spiritual will to live by God’s set of principles and He empowers us by His Spirit due to the power of the atonement.
I also find freedom “in” the law of God. Not in the same way that many Christians find freedom “from” the law though. I praise God that He has revealed His character and standard by giving us His law. How would we know that we are slaves of sin unless the law showed us a different way? Without the law we would not know of an alternate principle of living. We would think that we were functioning the way our Creator made us. But I would be repulsed by a Creator whose principles led to what we see happening in our fallen world. The law shows me that I don’t have to live by my natural principles that contribute to world destruction. Certainly Christ is the only human ever who fulfilled and lived out the requirement of the law. I can never find salvation in the law, but I can find freedom in it. I find assurance in knowing the Christ met the requirement of the law for me by living a perfect life as a human. I find peace knowing that the law does not condemn me, because Christ has met the requirements the law places on me. I am infused by Christ’s love, grace and power flowing from all of His acts of atonement as I claim His strength by faith. I am now free to keep the holy requirement of the law, in His power, not because I fear that I am forced to do so as a slave. As Christ continues to empower me, I find freedom to live apart from the world’s principles. I don’t want to contribute to pain and injustice. I am free to live by a new and other worldly set of principle that bring healing and uplifting.
Injong Moon
Works of Christ
Reflection: Internet Articles (1.Comments on the In Adam/In Christ Motifs 2. Adam and the Human race in the writings of E.G.White 3.Justification in Romans 4. How perfect is perfect or is Christian perfection possible? 5. Analysis of the doctrine of universal legal justification), Steps to Christ and Romans 5-8(mainly 5:12-21)
To begin with my reflection of this week study, I confess to myself the more I read articles and think, the more questions rise up to my mind. For a long time(since I was a child) I believed I am a sinner for our first father, Adam sinned in the beginning. I had no problem to believe it(I think I was so naïve). I can confess that I am a sinner for I know what I have done. I sinned a lot. Yet now I have one thing that I am not sure to understand. As I catch up readings, I couldn`t accept the fact that I am a sinner not because of my sins but because of Adam sinned. What is original sin and why is that sin affect my sin and my salvation? To make a long story short……Adam sinned, so what? Adam is Adam and I am I. that is none of my business. I thought it is not fair even though I am not the person who committee the sin in the beginning yet I have to receive the result of sin of my ancestor. Is this fair God?
“The natural world was drastically affected by Adam`s act of rebellion. When he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule”(Conflict and Courage, p. 18.) Sin affected not only the very nature of humans but the natural world; they had both come under the control of the wicked one. ("When Sin Entered," Signs of the Times, November 4, 1908, par. 9.)
I think Adam`s sin is not as simple as others for his sin affects to the whole world. I don`t know what is different between Adam`s sin and my sin.
When Adam, in an act of rebellion, sinned against God, his nature was corrupted, weakened, and came under the enslaving power of sin. Being the father of humanity, his posterity received from him the only thing he had, a sinful nature separated from God, unable to obey Him, enslaved by sin, and destined to eternal perdition. ("The Warefare Between Good and Evil," Advent Review and Herald, April 16, 1901 par. 5).
Because of his sin, we separated from God, we lost our privileges, we became a slave of sin and we have to die …… Again my question is why? Why is adam`s sin affect so harshly to the whole world even to me? I am responsible for my sin but why I should take Adam`s sin too? Did God give him an authority to represent the world and all his descendant?
I am still having hard time to understand the concept of “In Adam/In Christ motifs”
As Augustin understood, “in Adam’ all of Adam`s descendants were in him and when he sinned they also sinned with Adam? This idea that every human being was in Adam when he sinned is confusing and doesn`t make sense to me. Obvisously not in a physical sense because Adam was one single body. According to the bible every person is an indivisible self conscious unity of life. To argue that I was in Adam before I came into existence in my present bodily form is to imply that I or something of me, existed in Adam independent of my body and my present existence. The pre-existence of the soul is a pagan and not a biblical idea. If what they mean is that the ‘seed’ of our lives was in Adam, When he sinned, did we sinned in him and that his sin is my sin? Am I responsible for the sin of Adam because it was my sin. As I read an article from biblical research institute “ In Adam motifs”, I could totally agree to what he said that only individuals who actually exist are responsible for their own sins and in some cases for the sins of others. A seed is not a morally responsible agent.
Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as through one man(Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-
That looks totally unfair to me. This concept repeated again in verse 14, “ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam..” Has Adam`s sin simply imputated to his descendants? If so, the original sin is actually not my sin. Adam`s descendants did not sin in the likeness of his sin.
In Adam/In Christ phrases is still mystery to me. I hope someone can give me insights Adam`s sin had a universal impact and negatively affected all human race. Anyhow I thank God for the salvation from the cross. The unique being, Jesus the second adam gives us “much more” blessings than the results of sin onto my daily life.
JinSan, Moon
Works of Christ
Reflection: Step to Christ 5-8, Articles
Faith and Works
It is difficult to distinguish Faith from Works. How can we receive a salvation? By Faith or by Works. It is difficult to get a clear concept. If we get the concept already, sometimes it is coming and going again. What is more important and what is the first? Last week, we have studied Romans 4 and 5 that has the answer of salvation in the bible.
We already discussed about salvation is a course, not wholly completed. But normally we accept that it was finished because we were regarded as justified being through Jesus Christ’ sacrifice on the cross. Most of Christians accept it as “the salvation” and all done. But we find other view on the bible. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20) So we are confusing.
The bible teaches that everything regarding our salvation depends upon our own course of action.
(Morning talk at basel, Switzerland, September 17, 1885) Actually, It is not a complete salvation to me that Jesus has given on the cross if we think that salvation is only one step. But when we consider the sanctification, we can understand James’ view on the Bible.
I could find a good example between faith and works from “Step to Christ”.
“It is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like manner those who are just converted to Christ are, "as new-born babes," to "grow up" to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. So it is with growth. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, They grow." Luke 12:27. The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life --air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him. He is their "everlasting light," "a sun and shield”.
We know receiving the Justification by faith and ultimately, we will be a glorified being when Jesus coming back. But we must keep up our salvation until that day. We are the “bud” and we are going to be a bloom. But this development is not only by my works but His power. We need air, sunshine and food until we are able to be a fruit. Every step we need His power. We have to walk with Jesus Christ because He is the source of the developing power. So we can understand that Faith and works go together.
Faith and works will keep us evenly balanced and make us successful in the work of perfecting Christian character. (Morning talk at basel, Switzerland, September 17, 1885)
Someone said that faith and works is bicycle. It has two wheels. They are going together for safe travel. I agree with this view.
We need Jesus Christ in our all life steps and we have to try to go along with Jesus Christ who provide everything for successful(harvesting) life.
Through This study(Romans) I feel that I have to repeat reading the Bible until I can understand.
Articles Read: “Comments on 1 Timothy 4:10”
by Angel Manuel Rodríguez
Romans 5
I could still recall as a school boy struggling with the idea that I was born into a world as a sinner without a choice in the matter of my birth and would be condemned to hell if I didn’t make a choice to follow God. I was baptized at the tender age of 11 but that question was still bothersome to me. (We indeed walk by faith and not by sight. If we waited until all our questions were answered before we chose to follow Jesus we’ll never start!)
Romans 5 came as a relief to me. Now I understood from Paul that the second, spiritual birth was like the physical birth except this time I had a choice in the matter. We come into this world as sinners without doing anything to “deserve” being born and we can be “born again” without doing anything to deserve sonship in God’s family.
This for me is the liberating message of Romans 5. Christ, the Second Adam gave humanity a second chance at the cross.
Romans 5: 20 states: “For as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners so also through the obedience of the one man many will be made righteous.” If “many” will be made righteous and not “all”, this would definitely throw out universalism. Grace would indeed “reign” but only for willing subjects.
As per Rodríguez article, 1 Timothy 4:10 is a difficult passage as it seems support a universal objective salvation. The last part of the text says, “Because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." Rodríguez argues that the expression “Savior of all men” must indicate that salvation is available to all men and not that God will eventually save all men. Also, the only One through whom anyone can be saved is Jesus and in this sense He is the Savior of all.
The scriptures are just too clear on the judgment and the final rewarded of the wicked versus the righteous to entertain the doctrine that all humanity will finally be saved. Even if there are some difficult passages the preponderance of the scriptural evidence just silences that view.
Articles Read: “Christ Saved the Human Race”
by Angel Manuel Rodríguez
Romans 6
Rodriguez examines some passages from the writings of Ellen White that seem to indicate a legal objective justification of the humanity at the cross. On close examination it was not difficult to see that Mrs. White never supported this idea. Although salvation was made possible to the entire race because of Christ’s death on the cross there is still a required response from the sinner in order to effect the virtue of that universal provision.
For example she clearly states, “If fallen human beings will consent to become sons and daughters of God in willing obedience, they will become one with Christ.” Also, "Christ has paid the price of your redemption. There is only one thing that you can do, and that is to take the gift of God.” In each case we see that there is something that the sinner must DO in order to receive salvation. The salvation doesn’t come from their acceptance as much as accepting a gift creates the gift itself or “deserves” the gift.
In reviewing Ellen White’s view of the human condition as a result of Adam’s sin she doesn’t go for the total depravity as taught in Calvinism. Now man cannot help himself without God’s help. We are all “dead in trespasses and sins” and a dead person cannot feel. This would indicate that God was do some “enabling” in order to make us conscious enough of our need. It’s a thin line between total depravity of the human nature and having “enough” left of God to help us to respond to his Holy spirit. If we can respond this would mean that sin didn’t totally obliterate the essence of God from us.
It is difficult to accept that “all our righteousness are as filthy rags”, but the Bible clearly teaches that even out best efforts are not good enough and still stained with selfishness. An interesting question to ponder in light of this is: Is selfish of me to want to be saved? In other words, am I self-seeking in wanting to gain eternal life?
This reminds us that there is nothing that could be meritorious about our works because it is still stained with selfishness and sin. This reminds me of the great reformer Martin Luther who taught that man’s sins are twofold. First, he does not fulfill the Commandments but transgresses them. And second, he sins against the First Commandment when he attempts to fulfill the Commandments in order to win salvation, since he thereby sins against God as the only God and creator who alone gives righteousness to men.
But Paul reminds us that the stained nature of our works doesn’t release us from the obligation to do good works. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:15-18)
For Paul, the same enthusiasm we showed in doing the works of unrighteousness is the same or greater enthusiasm we need in doing the works of righteousness.
I think there is a difference between REWARDS and the GIFT of salvation. My understanding is that our works will “earn” us rewards but salvation is a gift. This was illustrated by the parable of the hired servants who came different hours but received the same pay. But on the other hand there is the parable of the talents and those who worked the hardest received the greater increase.
Jesus didn’t rebuke his disciples when they asked about reward. He in fact answered their questions that they would receive a hundredfold in this life and much more in the life to come. I don’t think that we need look at our works just in terms of salvation but as a response to Christ’s goodness to us and our wanting to work for him.
Jesus did say of his Father when he was accused of breaking the Sabbath commandment that He works and I work. Why does God work? Wasn’t Adam appointed his work even before sin? Why should we just consider works only in the context of salvation?
Articles Read: “The Dynamics of Salvation”
by Righteousness by Faith Consultation
Romans 7
In Roman 7 Paul discusses the obligation the law places upon him and the conflict that arise in him because of the presence of the “law of sin” in his sinful nature. I know that many discuss whether this conflicting experience was pre-conversion or post-conversion for Paul. I think that this was the latter because Paul speaks of a “delight in God’s Law” (v. 22) and I cannot imagine the unconverted person speaking of a delight to do God’s will.
So if this is our post-conversion experience this means that we have a daily battle to fight and God’s grace has to be applied at every “stage” of our salvation. As per class discussion, the neat justification sanctification glorification model would not work here. This means that for Paul and the Christian, every day we need justification AND sanctification working in our lives.
Notice also how Paul claims “it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. (v. 17). He is not claiming personal responsibility but utter helplessness at doing anything good on his own. Although this can be used to argue for ‘total depravity’ of man, Paul still senses that there is a struggle and a totally depraved person will not even sense this struggle. Just how much of God’s image is left inside man so that he is still “enabled” to respond may be a mystery but we know that if God totally abandoned man he would die right away.
Hence as the BRI articles succinctly stated, “We cannot fully comprehend the manner in which the Holy Spirit energizes our wills to produce faith. We may say that we receive God's salvation because we have chosen to do so, but we must affirm also that whatever is human in faith is possible only because of the divine initiative in the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus there can be no "boasting" in our faith (Rom. 3:27).”
Articles Read: “Why Did Jesus Die?
How God Saves Us” George W. Reid
Romans 8
Reid discusses the view of Christ’s death as a ransom for our sins. Who did He pay this ransom to and why is the moral view of the atonement as purported by Peter Abelard not enough to explain Christ’s death?
He discusses how Jesus’ death on the cross was more than an expression of God’s love for us. If this just demonstrated God’s love so that we may respond to that love then we would have a very shallow view of sin. Sin meant a broken law and justice demanded that a price be paid. So the cross was more than an expression of love but of justice as well.
But there definitely wasn’t any idea of “appeasement” as was common to heathen religions and gods. Jesus didn’t die to appease an angry God. In fact, the Bible clearly tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. According to Reid, “God undertakes to bridge the gulf. He substitutes Himself to demonstrate the changeless nature of His law, and performs all that's needed. Christ becomes the divine sacrifice, His cross an altar (see 1 Cor. 5:7). In amazement we stand aside, watching as He takes it up in our behalf. He "gave himself up for us" (Eph. 5:2) and "offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" (Heb. 10:12). God "sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).”
In Romans 8, we find Paul showing the consequences of us being “in Christ”. We are now a slave to the Spirit instead of being slaves to the flesh. The law which was once our enemy now becomes our friend. There is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ”.
It’s interesting that even after Paul shows that that the newly converted person is no longer condemned he still has to live to the spirit and not according to the flesh. So there is growth and “maintenance” involved, not just a one time experience. But we are given the assurance that we can be more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.
So we are indeed saved at acceptance of Jesus, are being saved through the process of character building and will be saved “for in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (v. 24, 25)
Article Read: Some Thoughts On Original Sin by Gehard Pfandl
The question of the effect of Adam’s sin on his descendants has great implications both for the nature of man and his natural standing with God and also the nature of Christ. We don’t have to look too far to see the effect of sin all around us. But the Bible defines sin, not only as an act, but also as a state (1 John 3:4; Ps. 51:5). I agree that we have inherited a sinful state but not the actual guilt for Adam’s sin.
And this is the complexity of Paul’s arguments in Romans 5 as per our class discussion. Christ more than made up for Adam’s fall but just how is our relationship to Christ similar and different to that with Adam? We are born in sin and shapen in iniquity because of Adam’s sin in which we had no part. This begs the question of justice until we view the cross and see Innocence bearing the sins of all.
The issue of salvation by the cross of Christ has officially begun to be a window that seems to be open to a brick wall for me over these past few days. What I thought I understood is now as clear as muddy water to me. We often times teach children the message of Jesus’ death on the cross in connection with the idea that we are all sinners and that we can run to Jesus for forgiveness when we sin. It is this picture of Jesus that we see when we are all children. We were told the story of Adam and Eve and how they sinned in a perfect garden and forfeit their perfect living. It was pointed out to us as children that it was because of their disobedience that we, his children, are faced now with the sin problem. The teaching that we grew up with is that we are sinners because our father Adam sin. But the idea which we are dealing with in class is more than just the simple story about the children of Adam and his affect on his children. It is more.
When we read the message which Paul develops in Romans, it is easy to observe that this message is not a message that is being given to the Gentiles; rather, it is a message for the Jews who pride themselves on being the law keepers and the sons of Abraham. They push this message of superiority so much that all who were not Jews fell inferior to them, and had no hope, unless those who are not of Jewish dissent practice the rituals as they do. This is the reason why Paul’s argument became so intellectual. His argument was not written to confuse the modern day reader, rather, it was written to put an end to the bombastic ways of the Jewish leaders.
One of the main passages in Romans that many scholars argue about over today is Romans 5:12-18. This passage of scripture which gives the idea that all sinned in Adam, all have been Justified in Christ still baffles the greatest minds of theology within the Adventist church. This message of Justification given in 1888 has been proven again that this is not the final answer to the issue Paul raises on Romans chapter 5. Scholars are still digging for the true meaning of Paul’s message.
The statement that, all sinned in Adam, have been looked at in more ways than one. One suggestion is that when Adam sinned, all of humanity also sinned, because we where in him. This idea causes a problem because it gives humanity no chance to be free against. The second look at this statement suggests that because of Adams sin, we have developed a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin. While this idea does not seem problematic, there is a problem with it. We still are sinful creatures who are born bent to sin because of Adam’s sin.
There is a third idea which is an inclusive one. It in does not separate the two theory given above. It embraces the fact that Adam’s sin infected and affected all, yet not all was infected. Jesus was affected but not infected. It also embraced the idea that Adam’s offspring having free will choose to sin. The basic theory suggests that both can methods can be right if they are held together. There is no reason to try to make one more correct over the other.
Dr. Hanna compares and contrast the statement, all sinned in Adam, with, all received righteousness through Jesus. While Jesus can be compared to Adam, we must not forget that Jesus is superior to Adam. While both are perfect, both faced sin from different perspective. Adam introduced sin to humanity Christ, came to eliminate it from humanity. While Adam brought children into this world Christ brought children into his world. The comparison of Adam and Jesus, whether before the fall, or after end when Christ’ divinity is included.
I believe that when we think about these two theories, we must also present the third, which comes from Dr. Hanna. The illustration that I believe that couples the two theories together is a father who has diabetes. If this man should have children, he passes down the diabetic genes to his children, but it is the children’s choice to eat right or to be unhealthy, which will cause the diabetic genes to become active within the children. But whether or not thee children ever get diabetes genes still is there waiting to be activated.
With all the readings and all the different points presented, I believe that there are some that I loved and then there were others I was not sure about, because I realize that I nut sure which way to go with this belief.
I
In November 1990, I came to the United States of America. I had never before set foot on the soil of this country. After living here for about 8 years, my husband and I decided to purchase a home. One of the things that come into play when you are trying to purchase a home is your credit report. Prior to this time, I paid no attention to my credit report because I must confess; I did not know much about it. We made an appointment with the loan agent and when we arrived she presented me with a copy of my credit report. To my surprise, there was a judgment for $1000.00 against me. Incidentally this judgment was handed down through the courts in 1989. I was not even in this country when that happened. Why do I share this? This is what comes to mind when I listen to and read about what some interpret Paul’s words “in Adam” to mean. A judgment handed down before I was even present in the country. Something that I was now responsible for! Something that caused my credit rating to fall and could potentially affect my ability to purchase a home! If I follow this “in Adam reasoning, then my children can look forward to having their credit report reflect a $1000.00 judgment against them simply because they are part of me! While I understand inheriting the nature of Adam because he sinned, I fail to see the reasoning behind inheriting the sin that he committed. Another example of this and maybe I am oversimplifying, would be to say that because my father was an alcoholic and I was in him, that is, in his loins, that I should be an alcoholic also.
What I can expect maybe, is that if I had a habit of living beyond my means or living promiscuously, then I could see my children inheriting that tendency, but I don’t know that I follow the reasoning that they should also inherit the sins I have committed because they were in me, in my loins. I know that I do not fully comprehend the complexities of “in Adam” but if this concept is reasoned to its logical conclusion, the implications are staggering.
Of course my reasoning applies to the “in Christ” as well. As much as I sometimes say I wish God would just make me do right. I am thankful for the freedom of choice. It is something that Adam and Eve exercised when they were in the Garden of Eden and I did not see God intervening to stop Eve from reaching out and picking that fruit. Ellen White says in Ministry of Healing that God has given us the power of choice and it is ours to exercise. However, in this model, I don’t see us exercising any choice. If indeed we do not have a choice in our justification, if indeed we are justified simply by being “in Christ” then our freedom of choice is no longer valid. When Adam and Eve sinned they had a choice to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Would it be safe to say that with this model, Adam and Eve exercised their choice to sin and then God promptly told them, whether you like it or not I am going to save you! You have no choice in the matter. You can kick and scream all you want I am going to save you. Again I may be simplifying the whole concept but this is what I hear when this is presented to me. I am wondering if it would have been more beneficial for God to stop them from sinning, if when they sinned he was going to go ahead and save them whether they want to be saved or not.
So if I don’t believe that concept, which concept am I not only comfortable with but the concept that I believe that Paul is promoting. Basing my knowledge on what I have read about God and what I believe He is like. I am leaning towards the model that says that “in Adam” means that we inherited the sinful nature from Adam because he is the one that open the door and let sin in. However, I am not responsible for his sin of disobedience. I was therefore born with a sinful nature. I yielded to my sinful nature and have committed sins of my own, for which not Adam is responsible but I am. Adam does not need to go to God and ask Him to cover my sins, I need to go to God and ask Him to forgive my sin and wash me clean.
Similarly, when it comes to the meaning of “in Christ” the same thing holds. I believe that Christ died for the sins of the whole world and that everyone who is born has justification available to him or her at no cost. It is free and all we have to do initially is accept Christ as Lord and Savior. At that point, we are justified, 100%. If we were to die immediately after that, I believe that we will be saved. If we don’t die, the process of sanctification begins immediately and we begin the process that we call sanctification. The daily choice of remaining in Christ, the daily choice of not stealing, the daily choice of loving our neighbors, etc.
If through our interpretation of Paul or any other Bible writer, we remove the free choice that God has given us. If in our attempt to understand Paul or any other inspired writer, we change something that God has laid down, we owe it to ourselves to rethink and restudy and bring ourselves in line with the rest of God’s Word.
The complexity that is present in Romans requires me to go deeper than I have gone before in the study of the word of God. If I don’t understand something, I should not add or take away anything from it in an attempt to simplify it and make it fit what I believe. Now that I have begun to search out the deep things of God, I am committed to following through.
William Simpson
Works of Christ
Reflection: #3
I would like to comment on the “in Christ” and “in Adam” idea that we discussed in class and that Angel Rodriguez wrote on in one of his articles to counter the idea of, at least a form of, universalism promoted by the 1888 study committee. In a large degree this comes back to the exercise of the will that Ellen White talks so much about. I feel that the 1888 position greatly minimizes the importance of the exercise of the free will. They say that we all physically committed Adam’s sin “in Adam” but that we were all physically “in Christ” when He died, therefore we all receive justification by default unless we make an active decision to step away from our default justification. I guess I see great inconsistency in this position. First off, why should I be held accountable for Adam’s sin personally without having made the decision to disobey God in the garden? This is not fair and excludes free will. Why should I be held accountable for Christ’s righteousness personally, though it might first sound convenient, even though I wasn’t alive to make the decisions that Christ made? This is not fair and excludes free will. Certainly, because of Adam’s sin, it is now easier for me to commit my own sin and by my own personal actions and thoughts I will be judged as Paul says. I believe what Paul means when he says that in Adam all have sinned is that Adam opened the gateway for sin to enter our very nature. So Adam is the facilitator of human suffering just like Christ is the facilitator of human redemption. The rest of humanity though, we are not just mindless pawns either “in Adam” or “in Christ.” The idea of a very passive, universal guilt and universal justification is not biblical and is not even consistent with who we know we were created to be, free-moral agents actively exercising our wills. The idea of universalism seems to make sin more innocuous for me, today, and seems to make salvation almost automatic as we just sort of take Christ for granted and drift through life with a religion that doesn’t really effect any change in our lives. I would agree with the 1888 position in that we were all born with the inevitability to commit our own sins because of Adam’s disobedience and that because Christ died on the cross we are all inevitably, or rather intentionally, given the opportunity to be saved, but because of our own active decisions and not because Adam or Christ decided for us. We are born “in Adam” because we are born with his bent toward evil but primarily because we chose to disobey God, like he chose to disobey God. We are born “in Christ” partially because it is under His provision of salvation that as sinful humans we are given probation to exist after the original sin, but primarily and with effectualness toward our salvation, because we choose to accept His gift of salvation by an active faith which works by love. At first glance, the idea of universalism might seem to be the key to help us understand how people are saved by general revelation as they have not heard of Jesus Christ to be able to make an active decision to accept Him. Ellen White does however say that even those who have never heard about Jesus must actively make decisions to surrender to what they know to be right. Universalism does not even bode well for those saved through the appeal of general revelation. Because like Paul says, Jews and Gentiles are saved in the same way, by active faith, but passive universalism does not work in the specific or in the general revelation appeal. I do not believe that, if we really think about the idea of being “in Adam” and “in Christ” we will see it upholding human dignity and freewill like the Biblical plan of salvation does. Instead I praise God for continuing to extend the opportunity to exercise our freewill because enmity between us and sin still exists based on the mysterious power of the cross. What a great risk He takes. Our merciful God has endured so many pains and subjected Himself to so much risk to save the ones who actively choose they would rather live under His government than under the power of the flesh that we have been born into.
My sincere question to anyone reading this: What really is the appeal of the idea to be automatically “in Christ?” I do not see it as any way appealing but maybe I am missing something or maybe my arrogance leads me away from it because I want to have the final word concerning my life and I do not like to just be carried along in the river with all the other fish unless I choose to swim with the current. Thanks!
Nathan Williams THST618 Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
[Forgive meI'm operating on Monday and Tuesday's discussions.]
As I was reading Steps To Christ, Faith and Works and the BRI documents my mind was drawn to an experience that happened earlier in my life. This is the classic evangelistic story. I was driving down a street that I normally take to work. That day I saw a gentleman in a very familiar uniform flagging me down and telling me to pull over. This gentleman (police officer) told me that I was traveling to fast on this particular street I was exposed for my sin and thus I received a ticket for my negligence.
In the state of Georgia there is a rule that if the accusing officer fails to appear twice then you may go, free of all charges that are held against you. I remember going before the judge on two separate occasions delighted to know that both times my accuser was absent and I was free to go. I have to admit that I was guilty as charged but it was by grace that I was set free from the penalties. This was good news to me.
As Seventh-day Adventist pastors we have the opportunity of presenting to the world the end time message of the three angels found in Revelation 14:6-12. According to the bible we are living in the hour of judgment. The bible states that, “For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23. Just as I stood before the judge guilty we all stand guilty before God. The words that I needed to hear the most were Mr. Williams you’re free to go. Paul goes on to expound on the subject of salvation he writes, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Through the blood of Christ we can stand during the investigative judgment free from the wrath of God. This is good news or the gospel.
It is imperative that we teach others how to except this good news that Christ wants to offer us. As I was reading Steps To Christ a few statements by Ellen White really caught my attention. She expounds on a mistake that many make when it comes to repentance and how to be justified in Christ. She states, many “fail of receiving the help that Christ desires to give them. They think that they cannot come to Christ unless they first repent and that repentance prepares for the forgiveness of their sins.” Ellen White states further, “But must the sinner wait till he has repented before he can come to Jesus? “The bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he can heed the invitation of Christ.” (p. 16-17).
Overall it is God who gives us the power to repent, “For it is God which works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13). Christ through the Holy Spirit is constantly wooing us toward Himself. As we behold the love that God has for us and the sacrifice of Jesus for mankind our hearts are drawn to Him and we are changed because of His revelation of love.
“The nonbeliever is at home in sin, unmindful of its consequences and of God, and often in deliberate rebellion against His law. When the believer sins, he hates his sin and sinning, because it was the cause of the death of his Saviour, and he does not want to crucify the Son of God again (chap. 3:4-10; Heb. 6:6; The Great Controversy, p. 508).”
As we behold Christ our faith works by love (Galatians 5:6). Our main motive for doing God’s biddings, must be because of our love for Christ. Ellen White makes a profound statement that must be pondered. “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such a religion is worth nothing.” (p. 31).
Only as we behold Christ love for mankind can we gain a true understanding of what it means to serve God out of true love.
Injong Moon
THST 618 Works of Christ
Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
May 29, 2008
I feel that I need a lot more time to study RBF and Romans however I can’t believe I left only one week. I was wondering if there will be ever enough time for study this subject of God’s mystery. Anyhow this week I would like to reflect on the idea found in Romans 8-9 concerning foreknowledge and predestination and its relation to the type of holistic understanding we have discussed in class thus far.
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these he also justified; and whom He justified, these he also glorified.”(8:29-30) As I read these verses, one question came into my mind. God knows everything because He is a perfect being. He knows our past, present and future. He foreknew us and He predestined us to be saved and moreover He called us into His justification and glorification. He is God, He knows everything, He knows my future and my fate and He predestined my salvation. It seems really simple and easy to be saved however what’s happened to my free will? God does everything yet how about me? What happened to the people who are going to be perished? Why couldn’t be they chosen?
It makes us more complicated if we read these verses in chapter 9:10-13 “And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), It was said to her, ‘the older shall serve the younger.’ As it was written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” It seems that God sets everything of our destinies already and we have no choice. Therefore people sometimes get wrong ideas about God and the Bible. How can I understand His promise, His will and His predestination? For a long time, we have been struggled about this. What is the difference between predestination and foreknowledge? Did God predestine that we eventually committee sin and be saved by His grace? Or did God just allow us to do?
Paul says in 9:14 “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!” We have no right at all to argue about this. He is God and He has all authorities and we are His creatures. All of our fates are His. He has right to save us and at the same time He has right to perish us for He is the creator of us.
In verse 19-21 says “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? Paul says here that God has total authority of our destinations. If so don’t we have any right to be saved with our will? That is not true. Predestination can be understood just like Righteousness by faith. Believing in Jesus means that we should surrender to our potter and obey to His will (predestination). And then we should remember we are sinners just like clay. Originally we had no right to ask salvation. Even if one man in the world can be destinated to be saved, it is God’ grace.
My understanding is that God’s predestination is that He will not give up and will save every soul as long as we believe in Jesus Christ.
As it is written in the book of Ephesians 1:4,5 “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Praise the Lord for giving us this grace!
God knows everything (foreknowledge). He let us know the way of salvation (predestination). He calls us and He gives us justification and He leads the righteousness to the sanctification. That is the idea that I got from this week and I think this is the holistic model of salvation.
Articles Read: “How Perfect Is "Perfect" Or
Is Christian Perfection Possible? By Edward Heppenstall
Romans 9
Heppenstall’s article showed how the Christian can never in this life claim perfection as to mean “sinlessness”. He showed how the continual tension between the “Spirit” and the “flesh” in Paul’s writings illustrate that the great controversy will ever be fought within the Christian until his mortality shall put on immortality.
The idea of sinless perfection is just not biblical. The Epistle of John warns us that if we claim that we have not sinned we make liars of God! (1 John 1:8-10) This in no way means that we should continue in sin “so that grace may abound”. We have to strive against the flesh day be day but the “flesh” will always be with us.
It’s interesting to study the already / not yet theme in Romans. For Paul, the Christian is always caught up in a tension of what Christ has done for us and will ultimately do for us. So we are “dead” because of the spirit presence in our bodies but we still have to fight against the flesh. “Redemption” is something that we already have but we still have to wait for the redemption of our bodies. “Freedom” is something we already have but not yet fully experienced because the creation is waiting to be “set free from the slavery of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
It’s the same way with salvation because we have already been saved by Christ death for our sins but we are still waiting for that final salvation when Christ will take us from this world.
Romans 9:14-23 is indeed a troublesome passage and seem to champion the Calvinist view of salvation. God choosing one in effect means that he rejects the other—Jacob over Esau, Moses over Pharaoh, and the vessel of mercy over the vessel of wrath. But I think that the point Paul is making here is that God’s choice is always based on MERCY not on what humans can do. Paul is playing the “bad cop” to make the point that God’s election is always based on grace. This is the same thing that Paul argued in Romans 3-4. For Paul seems to be saying that even when God appears to be arbitrary his intention is always mercy towards undeserving sinners.
Articles Read: “Justification and the Cross” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
Romans 10
I think that the very reason why a larger model of salvation is needed is because any model/metaphor will fall short in some way—that’s just the nature of language when trying to describe something as complex and mysterious as salvation.
Paul himself uses many models such as justification, reconciliation, sanctification, salvation history and the apocalyptic models. Within each of these models he describes salvation in a different way. For example in Paul’s “apocalyptic model” we are only really saved when Jesus returns and we are physically resurrected. In the mean time we still “groan” and await our salvation.
I would also like to take up the question on the security of the universe after the final judgment. The BIG question is what would be different about the universe after the fall than before the fall. WE can think of some obvious things such as no one knew what sin was like and all the baleful results. Only “one pulse of harmony” beat through the entire universe. So in a human way of thinking, the little child doesn’t know what “hot” means until they disobey the parent and touch the hot stove. But how can the creatures that never sinned know what sin is like anyway? Don’t we say that the angels will have to fold their wings when we sing the song of Moses and the Lamb? Why? Because they never know the joy that our salvation brings since they never sinned.
This is indeed a mystery. If we ever can think of an answer we would then follow with the question of why could God make the universe just as secure in the first place. In my feeble mind I don’t think that its a matter of sin not arising a second time but there will be no mercy for any creature who sinned like Lucifer did because they’ll be suddenly destroyed. In this sense, it will be as the Hebrews tells us, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” (10:26)
In this sense I could understand that should sin “arise a second time” then instant judgment would be administrated. In this way God would be justified in destroying sin right away because there is no need for sin to be played out so the universe can see that God’s way is best anymore.
At least those are my meager human way of looking at this great theme. But I must admit that “now we see through a glass darkly”.
Articles Read: “Salvation by Faith” by Jan Paulsen
Romans 11
Within the complexity of the theological arguments of Paul in Romans it’s so easy to get thrown off course and think that Paul is actually saying the opposite of what he is trying to teach. It’s interesting that after his passage on “predestination” he states further in Romans 11:22,23:
“Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.”
Here he states plainly that the gentiles who don’t continue in the faith could be cut off and the cut-off Jews could repent and be grafted in again. Except the teacher of predestination would hold that those who return and those who continue were destined already then Paul is showing that continuance is important to salvation. As we discussed early in this semester, there are several text that show that we must keep going on to the order to be saved, so there is no great revelation here. It’s just that for me if Paul was teaching that God made one person for destruction and the other for salvation then even if they were broken off or returned would not make any difference in their final reward.
I found Jan Paulson sermon to be very intriguing as well. I’ve addressed the Pauline struggle in a prior post as being post-conversion before but I found this quote from Ellen White used by Paulson to agree with this position:
"The Christian will feel the promptings of sin, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit; but the Spirit striveth against the flesh, keeping up a constant warfare. Here is where Christ's help is needed. Human weakness becomes united to divine strength, and faith exclaims, 'Thanks be to God, . . . [He gives] us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor 15:57)" (The Sanctified Life, pp 92, 93).
Here Ellen White describes the struggle that the Christian will go through because the flesh is still alive. The paradox of the “more secure / saved” a Christian is the more unsaved they will feel really speaks to the matter of justification by faith. If we were saved by our works then the closer we come to Jesus the more secure we’ll feel in our salvation but the opposite is really true. I look at this as the more we understand what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary the more we realize how incapable we are to pay that price.
It’s an appreciation that many, if not all, young parents get when they look back on what their parents went through for them. We often take our parents for granted until we become parents ourselves. Until we get a fuller picture of Calvary then we can take a lot for granted.
Paulson also mentioned Mary Magdalene response to Jesus as being the “works response” of the true Christian. He doesn’t work harder to be saved but because he realizes how much Jesus has done for him. The great paradox of the real champions of righteousness by faith is that they seem to work harder than anyone else! Paul and the great reformer Martin Luther comes to mind. Paul could list all the things that he suffered for the gospel and declare that no other apostle worked as hard as eh did. Just think about the champion of righteousness by faith WORKING harder than anyone else.
I like the way how Paulson puts it:
And justification has to do with our relationship and our legal standing before God. Somehow, wonderfully, we who are rightly guilty and deserve to die are being saved by God who chooses to declare us not guilty! In the words of Ellen White: "When God pardons the sinner, remits the punishment he deserves, and treats him as though he had not sinned, He receives him into divine favor, and justifies him through the merits of Christ's righteousness" (ibid., p. 389; italics supplied).
However, we are not to think that God has gone soft on sin. It is not sin that God justifies! The involvement of God in Jesus Christ on the cross is sufficient answer to that. Christ died in my place and satisfied the unchangeable requirements of the law of the universe of God.
The cross! The cross!! The cross!!! I think that here lie the answers to our most difficult questions.
Articles Read: “Justification by Faith and Judgment According to Works” by Ivan T. Blazen
Romans 12
I want to continue the discussion question that I raise in class and allow for some further reflection on this matter of the human and divine element of salvation.
I find that many times when the questions of justification by faith and works are discussed some extreme views can be taken because the proponent is trying to defend a position that may be threatened by that view. Case in point: Paul comes out very strongly against the Jews because they thought that works would save them but he came out just as hard against the Galatians who thought that works were not necessary and they could live morally lax lives.
We see the same trend in the writings of the reformer Martin Luther as well. He holds to the view that human will is totally impotent and man cannot even choose to follow God.
Now here is difficulty for me: I know that God created man. Man fell into sin and is now ‘damaged goods’. He runs away from God and hides instead of seeking God out. God must take the initiative to save man. So we cannot even choose to follow God without God’s help because we are all captives of Satan.
But even if I cannot choose to follow God I can choose to give God my choice. In other words, I can surrender my will to God. If God does everything for me then where does my choice come into the picture? I think that it is a false assumption to think that since God created man and give him life that anything that man does has to be ultimately attributed to God. This would means that God created evil!
My understanding is that we are all free moral agents. God gave us a choice and He determined the options (life and death) but the choice must be mines. If God saved me without my input then he knocked the door down instead of stand at the door and knocks and now becomes a robber.
The only thing that we can give to God that he didn’t give us in the first place is our choice to love him or not. Love cannot be forced. And it’s really foolish to say that God loves himself through me. I must do the loving.
But some may argue that God was the one who gave me the capacity to love which is true, but ability to love and loving are two separate things. The same way that my birthday gifts from my kids were brought with my own money, I provided the funds but the choice of gift I cannot claim as my own.
Now I can fully understand the burden of those who want to emphasize that salvation is 100% God and it is. The sinner brings nothing to the table. (Nothing to the cross I bring, Simply to the cross I cling.) So I’m not saved by my bringing or my clinging, not even my coming—it’s all God. But what separated me from the man who refused to come was MY CHOICE to come. God has a self-imposed attribute that respect human freedom.
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev. 3:20)
God imparts the strength to open the door but he “cannot” open the door because He has placed the latch on the inside. A latch that no power in heaven or earth can open except me. What an honor bestowed by the Creator!!
Articles Read: “Comments on the "In Adam/In Christ" Motifs” by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
Rodriguez discusses the “in Adam/in Christ” motif and his arguments are biblically sound. Life came from Adam as well as sin but to think that humanity was physically or mystically in Adam when he sinned is a dangerous idea. The Bible speaks of Adam as being the “son of God”, would this mean that Adam was in Christ? Or was Christ in Adam because he came through Adam’s line?
The 1888 committee’s view that we were all in Adam takes the doctrine of salvation by faith to it’s very extreme. This would mean tat Adam sinned for us and Jesus died for us canceling Adam’s sin. So the same way we inherit Adam’s guilt we cal all inherit Christ’s righteousness.
Sometimes I wish I were born perfect like Adam was created and had his choice to make rather than being born as a sinner but the “most righteous” created being, Lucifer, sinned in the presence of God, so being born righteous doesn’t mean that the choice to reject God has been removed from me. This is where I think the 1888 committee is trying to compensate for the fact that we are all born as sinners into the world even before we could make conscious moral decisions. The only act that could make up for this fact is the universal objective justification of all of Adam’s children. But the question is where will this leave Adam? He had a conscious choice to make, his children didn’t.
Of course Paul argues that we are sinners even though we didn’t sin after the similitude of Adam. So we are still responsible for our sins. We can neither blame Adam for all our foibles nor claim, “the devil made me do it”. We still sin by choice.
And even if you argue for the weakness of the human will, Jesus promises that he will not give us more than we can bear. So we do not sin because of pressure but because of choice—sounds like the same situation like Adam to me!
May we experience salvation daily.
JD Miller
For the past three weeks the subject that we’ve been looking at is the works of Christ, but instead of reading from the gospels, the book of Romans has been our base of study. As we take the time to walk slowly through the book of Romans, it is clear to see why this book is used to teach the works of Christ. It is in Romans where we find some of the most challenging issues, issues such as justification sanctification and glorification. But the new issue that we are now dealing with is the issue of predestination and foreknowledge.
If I can be honest this issue of predestination has always been problematic for me. The idea that God knows everything is fine, but the idea that God knows all who will be saved and who will be lost is a very big problem for me. What makes it worst is the idea that God predestined or preordained it. If we should take this idea at face value then the preaching of the gospel is of no use. If this is the way we view Paul’s understanding of foreknowledge and predestination than we are just creatures created on earth for the amusement of God. But this cannot be how Paul views these two words. It has to be more.
From our conversation in class on Thursday morning, we can clearly see that this idea of foreknowledge and predestination can and has created some serious discussion which question God’s justice. Dr. Hannah points out two views on which one may fall when we analyze foreknowledge and Predestination. The first is Deterministic, everything is known, and the second is Non-Deterministic, noting is know; or, freedom and limited freedom. While Deterministic lets us know that God free to do as He please in humanity because God knows everything. Non-Deterministic seem to limit God’s freedom in the lives of humans.
While this idea of predestination is a difficult subject it must be researched. There are two view of predestination that I am familiar with. The first suggest that God created a group who will be saved and another group that will be lost. The second idea is that God created in Humanity and in His foreknowledge foresaw the fall of humanity and created provided a way of escape for humanity. In His foreknowledge God carved out a specific moment in time where his plan of redemption would come to a climactic period. With this plan, God predestine that all of humanity would have a chance to be saved if anyone desired His salvation.
It is fear to say that these two ideas on predestination lack something; I believe that the second one would fit more with the Paul’s view. When we go back and analyze Paul’s argument earlier on “we are justified by grace,” it is evident that God’s idea of predestination is not one that chooses some to be saved and some to be lost. Justification is the period where God invites and welcomes a person to saving grace. As Jan Paulsen puts it, “This new life is one in which the creative power of God, released in justification, causes a new creation to emerge.” This tells us that God is very much active in the immediate request of a sinner’s plea to be forgiven of sin. God hears the request for forgiveness and immediately offers an open door into his arms where we are justified. It is here new life is given, and a new robe is placed upon the new creature. Ángel Manuel Rodríguez reminds us that we who are being justified have a part to play also; we must be ready and willing to accept God’s grace.
To be fear, if we enter into discussion about how justification fits into the picture with predestination, we must also take not that sanctification doesn’t linger too far behind justification. In look at this, I realize that the idea of justification makes the argument for predestination difficult, and visa versa, but when sanctification enters the picture it makes it harder. Sanctification demands a working faith. It tells us that we are on the winning sided and we must play like we are winners. This idea only reminds us of Jesus’ words, that he came to seek the lost.” In other words Paul reminds us that Jesus’ idea of predestination does not include a premade plan which suggest there are some who were saved from the foundation of the world, rather, that salvation was given to all from the foundation of the world, and anyone who is willing to accept He has eternal life.
Jinsan Moon
THST 618 Works of Christ
Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
May 29, 2008
Sometimes, I feel that being a Christian is very difficult to unevangelized people especially. But I know the gospel is very easy to understand, so everyone can accept the Good News. So I’d like to concentrate on the ‘easy’ gospel that has given us abilities and joy. Today I am going to arrange the relation of between law and sin based on Rome 5:20.
I had some experiences in middle school that I was there as a dormitory dean during last 3years. There were about 40 students. When I was a middle school student, I lived there so I knew that life in strange land is difficult especially for young ages.
So I wanted that they could feel comfortable like their own home, even though the building was not good. I allowed many thing that former pastor didn’t allow to do. And I believed but.. As you forecast.. There were so many troubles and complaints.
So I have to make some basic rules for them. But as time goes by, they need more and more rules to avoid troubles and complaints. If I prohibit something then they find another way to do wrong behavior in rules. And it did over again. I couldn’t find the solution. There were many rules and there were more sinner : )
But I noticed that there were some boys who don’t need that rules. They studied very hard and kept the rules well. They were the ones above the rules.
In Romans 5:20, The law was added so that the trespass might increase. We can find the role of law. The law didn’t intend to do sinful things but showed the roots of our sinful nature. For law, we know that we are inevitable sinner and we need Jesus Christ.
If we concentrate on His love and sacrifice on the cross, we don’t need other rules to be fastened on. But over and again, the sinful nature has overwhelmed us. So Paul said in Romans 7
21. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22. For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23. but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Each morning give yourself to God for that day. Tell Him about all your plans. Carry out your plans or give them up as He guides. In this way you may give your life day by day into the hands of God. Your life will be shaped more and more like the life of Christ (Growing up into Christ-Step to Christ)
We have a one solution to overcome these sins. That is everyday’s obedience to God, He will be with us and He will live in ourselves. Then we will gain a victory from evil. So Paul said “I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (1Col 15:31)
These steps are the sanctification. Obedience to the law of God is sanctification. There are many who have erroneous ideas in regard to this work in the soul, but Jesus prayed that His disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and added, "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). Sanctification is not an instantaneous but a progressive work, as obedience is continuous. Just as long as Satan urges his temptations upon us, the battle for self-conquest will have to be fought over and over again; but by obedience, the truth will sanctify the soul. Those who are loyal to the truth will, through the merits of Christ, overcome all weakness of character that has led them to be moulded by every varying circumstance of life. (Obedience and Sanctification, 85)
I hope that I will follow Him and resemble Him until His second coming. I know that there are so many things to understand in Bible, but I'll never miss this basic point.
William Simpson
Works of Christ
Reflection #4
I read a couple of articles this week on the concept of Biblical perfection. Biblical perfection is often misunderstood by people. Many take it to mean that we are expected to be completely sinless and that a mature Christian, in a saving relationship with Christ, will be sinless or at least trending toward that goal before life’s end. Enoch is the common example. Some people believe that just before Christ comes, His people will be perfectly sinless and standing without a mediator because they no longer need a Savior from their sinful nature. I understand why this is such an appealing idea to us. We like to think that we are not so bad and that given a little help by the Holy Spirit, we can learn to walk a sinless life on this earth; hence there is no longer a need for an intercessor. The idea is that we needed a Saviour to set us free from sin and set us on the right path, but now we have learned to walk without the effects of sin and the need of an intercessor. It makes us look much better and more self-sufficient and Jesus more of a one-time-in history type of a Savior rather than our Saviour now and for eternity. This idea makes us look better than we actually are and it makes Jesus look less important than He really is.
Without question, Jesus gives us the power to overcome former vices once we accept His grace. He empowers us to walk away from our bondage to serving our flesh. We have power, through Him, to say “No!” to temptations that we formerly indulged in. His Spirit is continually giving us spiritual gifts that work in love. Our live are transformed as we continue to submit the to Holy Spirit’s calling on our lives.
Just because we are being sanctified though, does not mean that we will reach a point in this life when we no longer have any sin affecting our very nature. According to the Bible, and all honest humans will testify, we have sin at work in our very nature even when we do not commit an open deed of sin. We have evil thoughts and tendencies. Our inclinations are toward doing and thinking evil. We are born needing a Savior and intercessor even before we choose to dishonor God like Adam did. Sin is deeper than people who say we can attain a state of complete sinless ness, in this life, really comprehend. Somehow, when Adam sinned, we were all affected to the point of needing and intercessor. We are all “in Christ” in the sense that we currently exist because of His intercession for us. I believe this idea of attaining a state of perfect sinless ness before Christ returns, in every sense, is not biblical and tends to minimize the depravity of the sin attitude and it makes us more independent of God. Sure God will continually give us a new paradigm to operate under as we accept Him, but only when He returns and we are glorified and given a completely new nature, will we be completely set free from the bent toward evil. I often wondered why God waits until His return to glorify us and to essentially give us the ultimate victory over all effects of sin. Why not now? I now believe that at least part of the answer is to allow us to wage war against sin so as to develop character and hatred toward the invasive principles of sin so that indeed we will be inoculated against sin for eternity.
A couple of the articles that I read this week clarified what Paul means when he talks about being perfected in Christ and growing into perfection. He means to be mature, responsible, informed and to be practicing the principles of Christianity in our day to day lives. He does not mean that we will reach a point were we will never make a mistake, escape the natural tendencies toward sin or to reach a point were we can live without an intercessor.
My personal experiences with people who misunderstand Christian perfection are as follows. I am not trying to generalize, but this is what I have noticed. They tend to condemn others very quickly rather than being dispellers of grace. They have a mentality that exudes, “I am better than you and I am living above sin’s effect” even though they may not directly say they are sinless. They tend to pull away from the rest of the church body and seek a following. They don’t seem like a normal person and make me feel a little eerie. They tend to use Spirit of prophecy a lot but only certain quotations at the exclusion of others. They don’t seem to have a mission for the “lost” outside of the Adventist church. They may start using the Lord’s tithe money for some independent ministry. They tend to be very cliquish and thrive at special camp meetings or independent ministry weekends. This is only my experience with people who promote the idea of an idea of absolute sinless ness in this life. Has anyone else had similar or maybe a more positive experience with people who hold this view?
I believe this false conception has very practical negative effects for the church and Christ’s mission for the lost. It sets a standard that, those who are honest with themselves and in touch with the depth of their own sinfulness, know they could never reach. I believe this misconception is heretical and essentially part of the anti-Christ philosophy.
Unfortunately, most of the people that I have known who are subscribing to this ideology are, I believe, sincere; however, they are sincerely wrong in my opinion. I would love some feedback on your experience with the idea of complete sinless ness in this life before glorification and your interactions with people who hold this view.
Nathan Williams
Works of Christ
Martin Hanna Ph.D.
After having read Romans chapter 9 and participating in the class discussions my mind has been wrestling with the term foreknowledge and predestination. In Romans chapter 9 there are some challenging statements especially in verses 11-13. It states in summary that God knew Esau would reject Him and eventually serve Jacob before they were even born. Then God makes a statement that is seemingly out of His character. God states Jacob I loved Esau I hated. As I was reading this passage it seems as if God had doomed Esau to failure.
Again as we look down further in the text we read about the story of Moses and the hard heartedness of Pharaoh. In verse 18 it says of Pharaoh “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” As I was reading this text at first glance it seems to me as if it was God Himself who destined these men for failure. If God knew that these men would reject Him why did He create them at all just to fail? Did God really do everything in His power to save these men?
I have to admit that as a Seventh-day Adventist I have taken for granted what God has to say on the life of these two individuals considering we have insight through the Spirit of Prophecy. As Seventh-day Adventist we take the position that each created being has the ability to choose whether or not he/she will serve God.
There are many interesting and profound questions that are being raised to today about predestination and the true foreknowledge of God. I believe taking a view that taking a deterministic view when it comes to predestination is dangerous because in essence it limits Gods ability to save man. Deterministic predestination takes the position as understand it that God has made the choice of who will be saved and who will be lost.
It is true God knows who will be saved and who will be lost from eternal ages past but He also knows exactly how to orchestrate circumstances, and events to help us make the proper choices to follow Him. I believe that many have been turned off by the bible all together because they feel that since God already knows if I will be saved or lost then I really don’t stand a chance of being saved. I believe that Calvin in an effort to wrestle with hard text like this meant well but their limited understanding of predestination has caused confusion for many.
When it comes to the foreknowledge of God and predestination we cannot ignore texts that refute the concept that we don’t have a choice in the matter of our salvation. Some of the text that refute this idea are John 3:16 “For God son loved the world that eh gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Another text would be, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). We also must remember Ezekiel 33:11 which states, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” After God makes this statement then He gives the wicked a choice when He says, “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel.
It is clear that when dealing with the foreknowledge of God and predestination we must take the whole bible into consideration and we must be careful to leave in tact the freedom of choice that God gives to us all.
PS: I anadvertently posted in the comment section and did not realize it until now
The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's children unless we are such entirely. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. Steps to Christ …..Consecration
Reading the way Ellen White talks about the task that we have to perform in the plan of salvation, supports what I have been hearing in our class discussion and also what I have been reading in the book of Romans. She states that “the warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought”. During my growing up years, before I was “converted” I must confess that I have been in a fight or two. Of course I did not start them, “not according to my version anyway” but I was part of them. What I remember is that fighting is serious work, especially if you intend the win that fight. I don’t ever remember being in a fight or watching a fight where one person is passively “engaged”. When a fight is started and one individual is clearly dominant and the other is passive, we do not call that a fight, we call that something else. In fact we look very unfavorable on the person who fights with another person without any resistance. We say that they are taking advantage of them because they are stronger. So the picture I get when Ellen White mentions the warfare against self, is one of active engagement. One in which the participants are fully involved. They are involved mentally, physically, spiritually. They are involved with every fibre of their being. They are involved in this way because their very lives depend on their participation. Whether they live or die depends on their participation. They are not in this fight to save their souls, but because they are so grateful that God has saved them.
Ellen White says that Satan is playing the game of life for the soul. She says in another place “that idleness is one of the greatest curse to fall upon man; for vice and crime follow in its train. Satan lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor, under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours”. If I understand what she’s saying here, it would seem that if we are not engaged in works, especially the work of storing up treasurers in heaven, the work of taking care of the sick, visiting prisoners, clothing the naked, studying the word of God, preaching the gospel praying and whatever other good work God has preordained for us to do, that we will easily fall prey to Satan and make ourselves vulnerable to what she calls the greatest curse, idleness.
Another quote that seems to calls us away from this passive faith that some believe is enough is “The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others”. With this I can hear the proponents of passive faith saying, oh no, we are not promoting selfishness or ease. My question to them will be if we follow the passive faith route to salvation, and believe we do not need to do anything, what then do we do with the Bible when it says that we should watch and pray that we not enter into temptation. What are we to watch for and how are we to watch? I think that even just watching is doing something. What do we do with James 2:18 that says .. someone will say, "You have faith. I do good works." Show me your faith that doesn't do good works. And I will show you my faith by what I do and how do we deal with text such as “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
Then of course there is the flip side of passive faith. There are those who believe that they should do good works and that those works will bring them salvation. Here is how Elllen White puts it, “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing.” With this I believe that we can clearly see how Christ must be the dominant force in our lives in order for us to keep a balance between doing good works as an outworking of Christ in our hearts, doing good works because we think it will save us and not doing anything because we think that works are not important. That’s why I believe that Paul’s words in Romans …yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. In this way, our job is simply to yield, God’s job is to make us righteous. Even with the yielding however, we must recognize that it is something that is the work of Christ in us. The Bible says that it is God that works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So it is all the work of Christ in us, whether we are yielding, praying, visiting the sick, feeding the poor or teaching all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And as Solomon would say the conclusion of the whole matter is this – without Christ we can do nothing but with God all things are possible especially understanding the seemingly difficult things in book of Romans.
PS: I in advertently posted in the comment section and did not realize it until now
The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's children unless we are such entirely. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. Steps to Christ …..Consecration
Reading the way Ellen White talks about the task that we have to perform in the plan of salvation, supports what I have been hearing in our class discussion and also what I have been reading in the book of Romans. She states that “the warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought”. During my growing up years, before I was “converted” I must confess that I have been in a fight or two. Of course I did not start them, “not according to my version anyway” but I was part of them. What I remember is that fighting is serious work, especially if you intend the win that fight. I don’t ever remember being in a fight or watching a fight where one person is passively “engaged”. When a fight is started and one individual is clearly dominant and the other is passive, we do not call that a fight, we call that something else. In fact we look very unfavorable on the person who fights with another person without any resistance. We say that they are taking advantage of them because they are stronger. So the picture I get when Ellen White mentions the warfare against self, is one of active engagement. One in which the participants are fully involved. They are involved mentally, physically, spiritually. They are involved with every fibre of their being. They are involved in this way because their very lives depend on their participation. Whether they live or die depends on their participation. They are not in this fight to save their souls, but because they are so grateful that God has saved them.
Ellen White says that Satan is playing the game of life for the soul. She says in another place “that idleness is one of the greatest curse to fall upon man; for vice and crime follow in its train. Satan lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor, under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours”. If I understand what she’s saying here, it would seem that if we are not engaged in works, especially the work of storing up treasurers in heaven, the work of taking care of the sick, visiting prisoners, clothing the naked, studying the word of God, preaching the gospel praying and whatever other good work God has preordained for us to do, that we will easily fall prey to Satan and make ourselves vulnerable to what she calls the greatest curse, idleness.
Another quote that seems to calls us away from this passive faith that some believe is enough is “The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others”. With this I can hear the proponents of passive faith saying, oh no, we are not promoting selfishness or ease. My question to them will be if we follow the passive faith route to salvation, and believe we do not need to do anything, what then do we do with the Bible when it says that we should watch and pray that we not enter into temptation. What are we to watch for and how are we to watch? I think that even just watching is doing something. What do we do with James 2:18 that says .. someone will say, "You have faith. I do good works." Show me your faith that doesn't do good works. And I will show you my faith by what I do and how do we deal with text such as “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
Then of course there is the flip side of passive faith. There are those who believe that they should do good works and that those works will bring them salvation. Here is how Elllen White puts it, “There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing.” With this I believe that we can clearly see how Christ must be the dominant force in our lives in order for us to keep a balance between doing good works as an outworking of Christ in our hearts, doing good works because we think it will save us and not doing anything because we think that works are not important. That’s why I believe that Paul’s words in Romans …yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. In this way, our job is simply to yield, God’s job is to make us righteous. Even with the yielding however, we must recognize that it is something that is the work of Christ in us. The Bible says that it is God that works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So it is all the work of Christ in us, whether we are yielding, praying, visiting the sick, feeding the poor or teaching all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And as Solomon would say the conclusion of the whole matter is this – without Christ we can do nothing but with God all things are possible especially understanding the seemingly difficult things in book of Romans.
Faith & Works – A warning against counterfeit sanctification
For this reflection, I wanted to focus in on Ellen White’s comments in Faith and Works. Here she talks about what she calls spurious justification. This type of sanctification she says leads away from the Bible. She says that “true sanctification will be evidenced by a conscientious regard for all the commandments of God, by a careful improvement of every talent, by a circumspect conversation, by revealing in every act the meekness of Christ.” I have seen too often where, because we say that sanctification it is the work of a lifetime, we act as if we somehow have license to do whatever we want to do. It is as though, we have the lifetime in our hands and we can manipulate it to suit. It last 10 years so we can use those years however we wish and when we get near the end of that time, we will start living holy lives. The way I understand it from Dr. Hanna’s presentation of holistic thinking is that Sanctification is the work of a lifetime as well as the work of a moment. Since we are not promised tomorrow, then we should be fully sanctified today so that should we die, we would die in Christ. If we don’t die today, then we have the next day perfect our sanctification. Whether we live one day after our acceptance of Christ or five years after our acceptance of Christ, we still need to be engaged in the process, with the help of Christ, of overcoming lying if that’s our problem, overcoming whatever issues we have in our lives, getting rid of our bad habits and replacing them with better habits, learning to study scripture more and an overall “revamp” if you will of who we are. It is not a time to get worst, it is not a time to disregard God’s claim on your lives, neither is it a time to boast about what you’ve accomplished. More than anything it is a time to acknowledge how good God is and how unworthy we are.
She goes further and gave an example in her discourse about individuals who believe that once they are justified and now being sanctified they are in direct connection with God. They no longer need the Bible because God tells them exactly what to do. They also claim that they are no longer to obey the law of God and if anyone tries to obey it then they are no longer under grace. She goes on to state that these individuals boast of their righteousness and profess their sinlessness. But as I read the Bible, I hear James saying in James 2:2, that we should live and act as those who wil be judged by the law of liberty. Paul himself says, in 2 Corinthians 2:13 that it is not the ones who hear the law that are righteous in God’s sight but the ones who obey the law shall be justified. So while the law does not save us we ignore it to our detriment because it is what will judge us. So sanctification does not work apart from the law. A person who is “on the sanctification journey” will keep the law. A person who is “on the sanctification journey” will show evidence of this by adhering to the law both in letter and in spirit.
Another issue she deals with is the notion that all we have to do is believe. While the Bible says in Act 16:31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, it is not the only thing it says about being saved. Matt 3:8 says that we should produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:8 warns that we should not say that because Abraham is our father that we are okay because God is able to raise of from the stones children for Abraham. Dare I conclude that if all we had to do is belief that God can raise up trees who believe. In fact in James 2:19, the Bible says that the devils not only believe, they also tremble. As such belief is important, in fact it is necessary, but it is not the only step in the process of becoming like Christ. If all we do is believe then we will fall short of the character perfection that Christ has for us. It is only as we “work out” our salvation will we progress on the road of salvation that God has forseen for us and planned for us and called us to so that he can justify us and take us through the process of sanctification so that one day when he comes again we can be glorified and he can take us to Heaven where we will spend the ceaseless ages of eternity learning from him about how the process we had just completed through faith works.
Injong Moon
THST 618 Works of Christ
Martin Hanna, Ph.D.
Jun 5, 2008
Romans 11
First of all, I would like to give thanks to my class mates for being with me for last 4 weeks. Special thanks to Doctor Hanna for your wonderful teaching and insight. Most of all, I thank God for giving me this wonderful opportunity to take this class.
As I read Romans 11, it seems like it is a conclusion and the answer of chapter 9 and 10.
In chapter 9, Paul talked about predestination and In chapter 10, he talked about salvation of the Jews and Gentiles.
In Genesis 22:18, God told to Abraham, ‘In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. Israelite was a chosen nation yet they used this privilege not for God’s work but for their own. Eventually they were caught in righteousness by work and racialism. But that was not God intended to do.
The harmony between Israelite, the chosen people by God and Christians by Jesus Christ was the hot issue of that time. Who’s God children and who will be saved? Where is God’s predestination and call for salvation? Who were chosen to be saved? Physical descendant of Abraham or Christian who accept Jesus Christ as their savior? Physical Israel or Spiritual Israel?
Paul answered this question in this chapter. In verse 1 Paul said God did not cast away His people. Certainly not! In verse 4, 5 there is a concept of a remnant, reserved people for God. When Elijah felt alone, He said He has reserved for Himself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
The remnant means not the people who belong to certain denomination of church or race but people who keep God’s will in their personal religious lives. God did not cast away Israel therefore surely there is a remnant in Israel. However in Romans 9: 32 says, they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (11,12) God worked for Israel and Gentiles at the same time. God used Israel’s disobedient for the Gentiles. He gave a chance to gentiles and also He gave jealous to Israel which makes them to repent.
The “Grafting” story in verse 17 touched me. “And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree (17).” “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (23)”
Even though we have spiritual privileges as Adventists, we will get lost if we seek our salvation only through our works just like physical Israel. As we are gentiles physically, we need to have faith of true olive tree as our roots.
As we are all spiritual Israelites,(God is able to graft us and we are grafted to the olive tree) “All Israel will be saved.” (26)
The works of Christ
First of all, I have a precious time for last month, because these fundamental notions of salvation were very ambiguous and difficult for me. But now, I can understand to some extent.
Today, I’d like to arrange this theme “the sanctification and the God’s law”.
Most of people regard that they don’t need commandments anymore, because they have accept Jesus Christ as a private savior. Adventists did not agree with this concept. But these days Adventist might be little bit changed.
In Korea, there are many mega churches. How could they assemble the congregations? No one convict them until Jesus’ second coming but there is one reason that people go to church. That reason is “believe in Jesus Christ, and get the life and wealth, God want to you to be rich man.” They (church) do not emphasize the commandments of God. They didn’t teach what the real Christian life like Jesus Christ is. They preached cheap gospel. There are huge people in the church yet, there are too many people who want to get another thing not Jesus Christ in church.
Who made them to misunderstanding the bible? It is Satan. E.G.W said that
It is the sophistry of Satan that the death of Christ brought in grace to take the place of the law. The death of Jesus did not change or annul or lessen in the slightest degree the law of Ten Commandments. That precious grace offered to men through a Saviour's blood establishes the law of God. Since the fall of man, God's moral government and His grace are inseparable. They go hand in hand through all dispensations. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). Review and Herald article, published March 8, 1881.
We know that our salvation came from His righteousness by faith. It is the truth. But that is not all. We need the preparation for Heavenly people. We are the sinner who cannot go into the heaven even though we already got the salvation by faith. We need a guide that let us know how to get to Jesus Christ. It is the Law. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)
Jesus, our Substitute, consented to bear for man the penalty of the law transgressed. He clothed His divinity with humanity and thus became the Son of man, a Saviour and Redeemer. The very fact of the death of God's dear Son to redeem man shows the immutability of the divine law. How easily, from the transgressor's standpoint, could God have abolished His law, thus providing a way whereby men could be saved and Christ remain in heaven! The doctrine which teaches freedom, through grace, to break the law is a fatal delusion. Every transgressor of God's law is a sinner, and none can be sanctified while living in known sin. Review and Herald article, published March 8, 1881.
Having a belief is keeping the balance. We need a sound standpoint to understand the salvation and the Bible, Holistic understanding.
Understand that the processes of the salvation have influence on our life essentially. If we really understand the process, our life will be changed like Jesus’ life on the earth. Throughout our whole life, we will do right things because He will help us. We can live with joy because the Law is no more our burden.
The sanctification, the purpose of our earthly life is not easy one. So we need everyday His help.
Steps to Christ, E. G., White, Chapters 1-5
Romans 13-16
It’s interesting to see how from chapter 12 onwards Paul switches from his great theological arguments to the practical (ethical) application of the message of justification by faith. In chapter 13 Paul becomes very practical—pay your taxes, obey the speed limit, pay your credit card debt—without the practical side of life being affected by our theological beliefs then our beliefs amount to little.
The great paradox of Paul being such a hard worker for the gospel sake is always striking to me. Many people tend to think that “salvation by faith” is a message of “resting in Jesus” but look at how hard Paul WORKED—the father of the message of “not saved by works”.
The great paradox of the Christian life is that the more see how much we DON’T have to work the more we will want to do the good works and glorify our father in heaven. We are really free slaves. Jesus has freed us from sin and so we want to work for him for the rest of our lives.
These first five chapters of this classic is replete with the theme of love. Ellen White presents this as the over riding theme of salvation: how God’s love for man led Him to put in place a plan of salvation. Here are just a few sample statements that show God’s love according to Ellen White:
- The thorn and thistles were appointed for man’s good.
- God’s character is marked by love and infinite pity.
- Infinite love paid the price of redemption
- The matchless love of God for a world that did not love Him.
- The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death.
- Those who feel the constraining love of God, do not ask how little may be given to meet the requirements of God.
- The Son Of God gave all – life love and suffering – for our redemption.
This tells me how important the cross is to our salvation and even when we may sense that God is cruel or unjust he is still actuated by love. For example, White says that, “the sinner could not be happy in God’s presence; he would shrink from companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him.” These means that even the final destruction of the wicked is an act of love! “Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is the light, and the center of its joy.” (p.18)
It’s interesting that Ellen White distinguishes between true and false repentance by the attitude of the guilty sinner towards God rather than towards the sin itself. Men can sorrow over the consequences and guilt resulting from their sins without truly repenting. In order to truly repent we must have a sense, not of what our sins have cost us, but of what they have cost the Son of God.
This kind of repentance comes only as a gift from God. This is the point at which “many err” because they think that they have to “first repent” and then come to Jesus, but Jesus is the one who gives repentance.
An interesting statement in light of our class discussion on objective justification is this: “The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the suffering of God’s dear Son.” This statement gives the impression that is the sinner does nothing he will be naturally drawn to Jesus. It’s a passive type of salvation. We normally think that the sinner has to actively respond to the invitation rather than not resist its natural attraction.
Another idea shared by Ellen White that is not very popular is that “all sins are not of equal magnitude.” How often have we hard the statement that “sin is sin” and no sin is bigger than the other, but Jesus told Pilot at His trial that the Jewish leaders had the committed the bigger sin. White shows how “pride feels no need” so it is the most hideous sin in the eyes of God.
In the chapter entitled “Consecration”, White seems to make some contradictory statements with regard to the human condition. On one hand, he is “weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt and controlled by habits”, yet on the other hand he needs to “understand the true force of the will. After painting a vivid picture of the human helplessness she goes on to say that the human will can “choose” to serve God.
So it therefore appears that with all that sin has done to man it has not taken away his power to choose. An interesting question would be to ask if this will is the same as Adam had before the fall. How much has sin affected our power to choose? Imagine that “through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life.” (p. 48)
One of my favorite books ever written is that small book which was written by Ellen G. White. While this book answers the burning questions that most Seventh day Adventist and even other Christians have about their Christian walk, there are some answers that congers up more questions for me. In the chapter, The Test of a Disciple, Ellen White gives a picture of what a converted Christian character is like. This picture which she lays out depicts a person that the world searches for within the church. The reason why I liable others outside the church, is because many church members become very blind when it is time for them to face themselves in the mirror. Many Christians have become so comfortable with living what we believe a Christian life is all about that we miss what true Christian living is.
For the most part what the world expects from Christians is usually what Christ wants from His disciples. As a Christian, I believe that it is a good thing to begin to listen to the critiquing of those who have no affiliation with the church. It is from this group that Christians can get a unions view on how we really are seen in the light of the world. Ellen White says on page 39 that “if we are Christ’s, our thoughts are with him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do his will, and please Him in all things.” This quote is one that gives the Christian a sense of awe. It gives the new Christian a goal to look forward to. But after the new experiences with the old members, this good feeling that the new members longed for quickly vanishes and they too find themselves in need of the honesty from the world.
When the world makes its judgment on an individual Christian, the judgment that is made usually blankets all Christians, both new and old Christians alike. While we prefer not to hear what the world have to say about the people who have the truth, the greatest good is done when the Christian who declares to the world that he or she is a person of God.
In light of this, is Ellen White’s statement which is quoted above incorrect about a disciple or one who clams to be a Christian? I do not believe so, I believe that when we read more, we will not that Mrs. White statement is not one that is suggesting that this is what we become after we are converted, rather, this is what we see in Romans as sanctification. This is attitude that is painted by Ellen White is an attitude that is developed on a daily walk with Christ.
While the world sees and judge the man or woman who Christ has justified, they only can comment on the unfinished product of God’s work. What Ellen White describe in this section of her book is not a pretty picture of what she wants a Christian to act like, rather, it is the real picture of a saved person who is constantly falling and getting back up, it is the picture of a person who is being is being sanctified on a step by step, day today bases. This is why Ellen White closes of this section of the book with this statement. “No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness.” The suggestion which is being made is that when we fall in love with Christ, we will constantly ask God to take the things that are not like Him away.
The idea that we become like Christ does not mean that we are perfect and no longer fall into the ways of the old man from time to time. The idea that Ellen White is saying, which is repeated by Dr. Hanna is that we must fall in love with Jesus so much that we can become so honest with Him that we can tell Him how much the very sin that we love is stopping us from getting to the point where He wants us to be. This is the position that the world yearns to see in all who professes to be Christians. The world is not looking for perfect Christians, they are looking for Christians who are being perfected on a daily bases. This is also the idea which we find in Paul’s statement that “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:6. IF this doesn’t answer it fully Paul also state that, he dies daily. 1 Corinthians 15:31. This idea that Mrs. White brings out is sanctification.
Nathan Williams
THST 618
Martin Hanna Ph.D.
As I was reading Faith and Works by Ellen White I came across a quote that reminded me of something Ray said in class. In Faith and Works it states that “When it is in the heart to obey God, why efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit.” If we give are best to Lord and it’s a two Christ will make up the difference with an eight so that it will add up to a ten. Although our language is limited and we can play with the different figures the main point that I received from this statement is that we play an active role in the work of our personal salvation. At no point can we remain passive when it comes to our salvation.
This quote continues, “But He will not accept those who claim to have the faith in Him and yet are disloyal to His Father’s commandments. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easy going, accommodating, crossless religion.” (p.50). As ministers it is our duty and yet a challenge to present the gospel in a holistic and balanced manner. To go to any extremes can label us as either liberal or a legalist.
Ellen White was speaking to a preacher in an article and cautioned him not to go to any extremes in expressing a certain point when dealing with justification because the minds of the people have a tendency to be swayed by how the preacher presents his message. (Faith and Works p.111). When we preach on the substitution of Christ and the power of the cross I believe we can present a clear message on faith and works. Zechariah 12:10 states, “and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
It is imperative that we remember that our motivation for all that we do is the cross. As the text states when we behold Christ the one whom we crucified by our sins we will be impressed to work for His cause. When we keep Christ before the people the merging of faith and works will become clearer to His people.
Week One Report- Doctrine of Salvation
The beginning of class I didn’t know what to expect. I’m really enjoying the discussions because I am not as knowledge as those in my class. I want to be a sponge and learn from the professor and my classmates as we discuss doctrine and salvation. On Monday the question was ask about what is a doctrine and before then I was thinking it was more of written practices. But as the discussion went on I really liked defining doctrine as the teaching of beliefs or norms that compliment a holistic understanding. As I listened further it was stated that the Bible is the “sola scriptura” and when doctrines are written they should be biblical. But as I stated several “unwritten laws” are not biblical (jewelry, dress, etc), and I wonder if doctrines were to be biblical, and doctrines that we keep are not biblical, why were they even written?
The models of salvation are really enlightening because I liked when there is “no one model of salvation” was stated. Salvation is a process that we all experience and go through or will go through if we plan to make to heaven. What was crazy to me when reading the “Ellen White on Salvation”, she was worried about salvation as a twelve year old. At twelve I just wanted to play baseballs and basketball. That lets me know I far off I was that age. The various models are all unique in their own design, but the one I am more accustomed to hearing is penal substitution. I have heard of all of them especially atonement, ransom, liberation, and moral influence, but penal substitution, taking the place and the pain for or suffering for us, is what my church preached. The lasting thought was how justification, sanctification, and glorification are all linked and depend upon one other. But when it was explained more and how righteousness bears fruits in holiness, which results in eternal life. To me this shows a how salvation is a process, but before one can get to righteousness, faith must be present to be considered righteous. This is going to get deep!
I am excited to learn from others and from the professor. I’m learning that salvation is process that takes time to happen and we may never see perfection in ourselves until we reach glory. The weird thing is, aren’t we supposed to see some perfection in ourselves as we draw closer to Christ? Aren’t we supposed to see Christ in our selves, as well as others? Salvation is a deep topic in which I’m ready to go deep sea diving!
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