Lesson 4: Justification by Faith

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Salvation by Faith Alone: The Book of Romans
Lesson 4: Justification by Faith

 

Long before the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day, this apostate power sought to corrupt the true idea of agape that is essential to appreciating Day-of-Atonement righteousness by faith.

Perhaps his most successful method has been to invent the doctrine of the natural immortality of the human soul. It permeates many religions. The idea came from paganism and was adopted early on by apostate Christianity. It has had a devastating effect on the true idea of the gospel, for it paralyzes it. The Seventh-day Adventist Church does not believe in that false doctrine, but the modern lukewarmness that pervades the world church comes from importing popular ideas of the gospel that are related to it.

For example, if the soul is naturally immortal, Christ could not have died the equivalent of "the second death." For those who accept natural immortality, His sacrifice is automatically reduced to a few hours of physical and mental suffering while He was sustained throughout by hope. Thus the pagan-papal doctrine dwarfs "the width and length and depth and height" of Christ's love. It reduces His agape to the dimensions of a human love motivated by self-concern and hope of reward.

The result is a diluting of the idea of faith. It becomes an egocentric search for security. The highest motivation possible remains ego-centered. All pagan religions are self-centered in their appeal, and since almost all Christian churches accept this pagan-papal doctrine, they get locked in to what is basically an egocentric mind-set. Despite their great sincerity, so long as human minds are blinded thus they cannot appreciate the dimensions of the love revealed at the cross, and in consequence are hindered from understanding the righteousness by faith idea that relates to the cleansing of the sanctuary truth.

The result has to be a widespread lukewarmness, spiritual pride, self-satisfaction, due to subservience to ego-centeredness. Fear always lurks beneath its surface.

As best he could in his day, Luther understood this dynamic of faith as a heart-appreciation of agape, yet he fell short of an adequate grasp of its full dimensions because he lived too early to grasp the idea of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. And after his death his followers soon reverted to the pagan-papal concept of natural immortality. Most Protestant ideas of justification by faith are therefore conditioned by this idea. A few individual exceptions prove the fact.

Our 1888 message began to cut the ties that blinded us by Protestant views that beneath the surface were related to Rome. Now those ideas are bearing fruit in Protestantism, which is more and more openly leaning toward Rome. The 1888 message was "the beginning" of a rediscovery of what Paul and the apostles saw.

When Jesus died on the cross, did He make a mere provision whereby something could be done for us if we first did our part? Or did He actually do something for "all men"? If so, what did He do for them?

Romans assures us that He "is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 1:2; cf. Rom. 3:25). As "all have sinned," so all are "being justified freely by His grace" (Rom. 3:23, 24). "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19). Since "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), Jesus came that He "should taste [that] death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). Through His "righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life" (Rom. 5:18, NKJV).

The common idea is that the sacrifice of Christ is only provisional, that is, it does nothing for anyone unless he first does something to activate it and "accepts Christ." As it were, Jesus stands back with His divine arms folded, doing nothing for the sinner until he decides to "accept." In other words, salvation is a heavenly process that remains inert until we take the initiative. Like a washing machine in a laundromat, it has been provided, but it does nothing for us until we first pay the price to activate it.

In contrast, the 1888 message understands our texts: Christ tasted "death [the second] for every man." As "all have sinned," so "all" "are" being justified freely by His grace. This is a legaljustification; He does not force anyone to become righteous against his will. By virtue of Christ's sacrifice, God is not "imputing their trespasses" unto the world (2 Cor. 5:19). He imputed them to Christ instead. This is why no lost person can suffer the second death until after the final judgment, which can come only after the second resurrection. And this is why all can live even now, believers and unbelievers alike. Our very life is purchased by Him, even though multitudes have no knowledge of that truth. "The whole world" has been redeemed, if only someone could tell them and they could believe it. Consequently, hearing and believing that truth transforms the heart.

Ellen White agrees. Every person owes his or her physical life and all he has or is to the One who "died for all." "To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. ... Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring." [1]

When the sinner sees this truth and his heart appreciates it, he experiences justification by faith. This is therefore far more than a legal declaration of acquittal--which was made at the cross for "all men." Justification by faith includes a change of heart. It is the same as the forgiveness that actually takes the sin away from the heart. The Greek word for forgiveness means taking it away, reclaiming from it.

In other words, the believer who exercises such faith becomes inwardly and outwardly obedient to all the commandments of God. Such faith, if it is not hindered and confused with Babylon's error, will grow to be so mature and powerful that it will prepare a people for the return of Christ. This is why Ellen White wrote, "[justification by faith] is the third angel's message in verity." [2]

Not all will be saved. But the reason is deeper than that they were not clever or prompt enough to seize the initiative. There is something beyond it. They will have actually resisted and rejected the salvation already "freely" given them in Christ. God has taken the initiative to save "all men," but humans have the ability, the freedom of will, to thwart and veto what Christ has already accomplished for them and has actually placed in their hands. They can repeat what Esau did who "despised" his birthright and "sold" it for "one morsel of food" (Heb. 12:16).

We can cherish our alienation from Christ and our hatred of His righteousness until we close the gates of heaven against ourselves. According to the 1888 concept, those who are saved at last are saved due to God's initiative; those who are lost at last are lost because of their own initiative.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 660.
[2] This was Ellen White's phrase to describe the 1888 message. Cf. Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://youtu.be/tm9WPscFa-I

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 3: The Human Condition

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Salvation by Faith Alone: The Book of Romans
Lesson 3: The Human Condition

 

The Bible says that this world will become very wicked in the last days just before the second coming of Jesus. The Lord Himself asks, "When the Son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8), implying that it will be very rare.

Paul says, "In the last days perilous times will come." Then he lists many evil things that people will do, even those who profess to worship God. "For men will be ... unthankful, unholy. ... From such people turn away!" (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

The Bible is clear on two realities of human life: (1) "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [and (2) all are] being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23, 24).

Ellet J. Waggoner, one of the 1888 "messengers," describes the meaning of falling (or coming) short: "People are fond of imagining that what are called 'shortcomings' are not so bad as real sins. So it is much easier for them to confess that they have 'come short' than that they have sinned and done wickedly. But since God requires perfection, it is evident that 'shortcomings' are sins. It may sound pleasanter to say that a bookkeeper is 'short' in his accounts, but people know that the reason for it is that he has been taking that which is not his, or stealing. When perfection is the standard, it makes no difference in the result, how much or how little one comes short, so long as he comes short. The primary meaning of sin is 'to miss the mark.' And in an archery contest, the man who has not strength to send his arrow to the target, even though his aim is good, is a loser just as surely as he who shoots wide of the mark." [1]

Our fallen human condition is "enmity against God." The solution? To "be reconciled to God" by realizing how Christ was "made ... to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:20, 21, King James Version).

Sin is the source of all the suffering and anguish in the world, and everyone is born with the problem in his or her nature. The classic definition is, "Sin is the transgression of the law," the "law" being understood as God's law (1 John 3:4). But the Greek is only one little word, anomia, which literally is, "a state of being against the law." In other words, sin is heart-rebellion against the government of God, not merely outwardly doing things that are unlawful. Another word for it is "alienation." "The carnal mind is enmity against God," heart-alienation (Rom. 8:7). And "enmity" always finds expression.

The ultimate expression of that inner hatred is seen when the human race vented that pent-up hatred of God in their murder of His Son (see Acts 3:14, 15). Human sin blossomed into the murder of the Son of God--and all of us were implicated (Rom. 3:23, 24; Zech 12:10). It happened because of a deep-seated principle: hatred cherished in the heart always leads to the act: "Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:15). And of course, "no murderer has eternal life abiding in him," says the same verse.

Can this terrible sin be eradicated? The Bible says Yes! But only through repentance for the sin of murdering the Son of God. Far from being a negative experience, such repentance is the foundation of all true joy. Repentance is not our tears and sorrow balancing the books of life; it is our appreciation of what it cost Him to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows (Isa. 53:4).

Repenting only of superficial sin leaves a deep stratum of further alienation which remains unrealized, unconfessed, and therefore unhealed. It is not enough that sin be legally forgiven; it must also be blotted out. This problem of unrealized sin pervades the entire church in all lands, and its practical effects weaken the witness of every congregation.

The good news is that the gracious Spirit of God will convict His people of that deep reality. Then He will be able to give the gift of ultimate repentance. His giving only awaits our willingness to receive. The issue is not the assurance of our own personal salvation, but the honor and vindication of the One who purchased our salvation.

One may never have heard the name of Christ, but he senses in his heart that he has "sinned and fall[en] short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). There is an awareness, however dim, of a perfect standard in the divine law and in Christ. The Holy Spirit penetrates human hearts with the conviction of "sin, and of righteousness" (John 16:8-10)

Ellen White expressed it this way: "The nearer we come to Jesus, and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly shall we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the less shall we feel like exalting ourselves. There will be a continual reaching out of the soul after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the heart before Him." [2]

One of the great gospel truths of the 1888 message is that a higher motivation becomes realized in the close of time than has prevailed in the church in past ages--a concern for Christ that He receive His reward and find His "rest" in the final eradication of sin. All egocentric motivation based merely on fear of hell or hope of reward is less effective. The higher motivation is symbolized in the climax of Scripture--the Bride of Christ making herself "ready."

That's why we read in Revelation 12:11 that God will have a people who "overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb." Repentance is a gift of the Holy Spirit, the last gift He will give before He is finally withdrawn from the earth when the seven last plagues must fall (Rev. 15, 16). Repentance is a newly gifted hatred for sin that constrains one "henceforth" (KJV) to deny self and to take up the cross to follow the Lamb of God (2 Cor. 5:14, 15; Luke 9:23). Repentance includes receiving the precious gift of the atonement, that is, of being reconciled to the God whom once we hated (Rom 5:7-11).

"Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, 'Behold your God.' The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them." [3]

--From the writings of Robert J. Wieland

Endnotes:
[1] Ellet J. Waggoner, Waggoner on Romans, p. 70.
[2] Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 561.
[3] Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 415, 416.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://youtu.be/TNKwO_DMAM0

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 2: The Controversy

Sabbath School Today With the 1888 Message Dynamic Salvation by Faith Alone: The Book of Romans Lesson 2: The Controversy   "The Jews therefore said to one another, 'Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?'" (John 7:35). The Jewish people had become so exclusive that it was beyond their comprehension that someone would preach to anyone but Jews. The reference to the "Dispersion" suggests they were even limiting the outreach only to Jews scattered among the Greeks. The implication is that they considered salvation impossible for anyone but a Jew, therefore outreach was unnecessary. Paul's evangelistic efforts among the Gentiles must have made some of the Jewish Christians uneasy. If someone was a Jew, everybody knew it by their dress, customs and diet. The Gentiles did not have these cultural customs, making it difficult to tell who belonged and who did not. Any time a group believes it important to distinguish members from nonmembers, rules are necessary. There was freedom in this new Christianity, and the council at Jerusalem concluded that only minimal restrictions would be placed on the new converts (see Acts 15:20). For centuries, the Jews believed that if you kept all the rules correctly, heaven was yours. For the new Christians to side step all that effort was less than well received by many former Jews with old prejudices. Paul addresses these prejudices at the beginning of his epistle to the Roman Christians by rehearsing the shortcomings of both Jews and Gentiles, concluding, "There is none righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10). The Galatian heresy that God saves only the circumcised had just recently consumed the time and energy of the leadership. Probably the best setting in which to understand this Jewish prejudice is to look at how they had come to understand God's covenant promises to Israel. The Jews invariably described that God's promises were made to their father Abraham. Indeed they were, but that was not the first time the promise of a Savior was made. "The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. ... This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' … Though this covenant was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, it could not be ratified until the death of Christ. ... yet when ratified by Christ, it is called a new covenant." [1] If the promises to Adam and Abraham were the same, the Jews had no basis for believing it was virtually impossible for a Gentile to be saved. But another covenant, formed at Sinai might have been misleading. Why was another covenant formed at Sinai? "In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God ... Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught." [2] Israel demonstrated the truth of this statement when they naively responded at Sinai that they would do everything God had said (Ex. 19:8). They had to be taught they were incapable of doing what they promised. None of this, including their dismal failure with the golden calf, surprised an omniscient God. Thus began an extended journey with cycles of Israel trying to keep the law, giving up, sliding into idolatry, then starting over with a new generation. When the Messiah fulfilled God's "New" Covenant promises, they were too immersed in their Old Covenant works to recognize Him. The New Covenant truth was an essential element of the 1888 message, and even today lifts a load of doubt and despair from many heavy hearts. The 1888 message clarified the difference between the two covenants: The New Covenant is God's one-way promise to write His law in our hearts, and to give us (not offer us) everlasting salvation as a free gift "in Christ." The Old Covenant is the vain promise of the people to obey, and "gives birth to bondage." E. J. Waggoner saw this difference: "But this [God's promises to Abraham] was not such a covenant as was made with the Israelites at Horeb. That one contained no reference to Christ, and no provision for the forgiveness of sins; the one with Abraham was confirmed 'in Christ' (Gal. 3:17) and was made not on condition that he should be righteous by his own unaided efforts, but was made on condition of his having the righteousness of faith. Compare Rom. 4:11 with 3:22-25." [3] And in his The Glad Tidings Waggoner wrote: "The covenant and promise of God are one and the same. … God's covenants with men can be nothing else than promises to them. … God promises us everything that we need, and more than we can ask or think, as a gift. We give Him ourselves, that is nothing. And He gives us Himself, that is, everything." [4] The Jews had come to view the ceremonial law and the moral law as one single entity, with all elements binding on those who would enter heaven. Many Christians see the two laws the same way, but nail the entire thing to the cross, saying nothing of the law is now binding. The leadership at the 1888 General Conference took the position that only the moral law, not the ceremonial is binding. This seems the compromise position, but it can be understood differently. Something that is binding can be used to punish for violation and rewarded for compliance. If two parties agree to enter into a contract, each has the right to enforce performance by the other. But, even courts recognize that if one of the parties to the contract does not have the capacity to perform what they have promised, there was never a sufficient meeting of the minds to say a mutually binding contract was formed. In order to save us, God had to do everything. Waggoner understood that through grace, God gives mankind the righteousness of Jesus Who alone has lived a sinless life. By faith the believer accepts this righteousness, making the believer, in Christ, a doer of the law. It is important to understand that this righteousness is not added because the justification obtained by Christ at the cross needs bolstering to entitle the human race to heaven. When Christ proclaimed, "It is finished," He did not mean it was finished except for the process of sanctification which will make us righteous. He saw it this way: "The meaning of the word 'justified' is 'made righteous.' The Latin word for righteousness is justitia. To be just is to be righteous. Then we add the termination fy, from the Latin word, meaning 'to make,' and we have the exact equivalent of the simpler term, 'make righteous.'" [5] God provided a Savior Who became our sin for us and paid the penalty for it, the second death. Then, through the accepted gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, He changes our hearts, which are at enmity against the law to love it. Here is where Waggoner saw that the Old and New Covenants were two separate experiences that ran on two parallel tracks from the time of Cain and Abel until the mark of the beast and seal of God as spoken of in the Book of Revelation. The law cares nothing about the state of your heart, but the New Covenant of grace changes your heart of stone to that of God's agapelove. --Arlene Hill Endnotes: [1] Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 370, 371. [2] Ibid., p. 371. [3] Ellet J. Waggoner, "Comments on Galatians 3, No. 2," Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 27, July 15, 1886. [4] Ellet J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians, p. 71, CFI ed. (2016). [5] Ibid., p. 40. Notes: Bible texts are from the New American Standard Bible. Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/EhIcR-F1Uq4 "Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm  RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 1: The Apostle Paul in Rome

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Salvation by Faith Alone: The Book of Romans
Lesson 1: The Apostle Paul in Rome

 

During the "beginning" of "the latter rain" of the 1888 era, Ellen G. White is reported to have said, "Let us have all of Romans and all of Galatians." [1] The "most precious message" is "the third angel's message in verity." [2] In other words, it is an understanding of justification by faith, which is parallel to and consistent with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. Of all the books of the Bible, Romans most clearly explains justification by faith. Ellen White understood that the companion books which give the greatest light on Revelation 14:6-12, the third angel's message, are Romans and Galatians.

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is practical truth. In other words, it involves the purification of the hearts of God's people, so that they experience the atonement with God. They have seen the heart-warming truth of the love of God revealed in Jesus' cross. They realize that if Christ had not died for all, then all would be dead. They can no longer live for themselves, but the agape motivation becomes living for Jesus and His Father. They would not willingly choose to bring disrepute upon the Heavenly family into which they have been adopted. This is the real meaning of justification by faith.

Most can identify with the Apostle Peter's characterization of his brother Paul's writings, that there are "some things hard to be understood" (2 Peter 3:16). With that discouraging word can we understand the Book of Romans much less the Book of Revelation? Actually it's only the honest-hearted believer of God's promises who can understand Romans. It's the "unlearned and unstable" who misconstrue Paul's writings to their own perdition.

It was to such folks that the Apostle Paul wrote his letter in the church at Rome. They were "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble" (1 Cor. 1:26). They were honest, candid believers. There were probably retailers, skilled craftsmen, day laborers, tradesmen, landscapers, even servants with a few upper class, and maybe a civil servant or two. It was to these kinds of people that Paul wrote. He wasn't trying to shoot over their heads. He wrote simply and directly in order for them to understand. So this is an encouragement for us to "dig in" and apply our minds to some of the nourishing food of the Scriptures.

It was Martin Luther who declared Romans "the clearest gospel of all" and he was right. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the eyewitness accounts of the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For the most part the gospels do not explain the deeper meaning of the "good news" and the cross. God revealed the deeper meaning to Paul, and Romans is the "key" to understanding the atonement. John's Revelation of Jesus Christ as the "Lamb" (25 times)--the Crucified One--is the gospel for the closing age of the Christian era. However, the Revelation cannot be understood without the Book of Romans.

Luther's heart was strangely warmed as he read Romans and saw the truth that "the just shall live by faith." His Catholic training had directed him to receive grace through the sacraments, which would motivate him to do good works that would make the "connect" with God. His agony of conscience was how to know when he had done enough good works. To Luther the joy of discovering that God justifies the ungodly by faith alone was a great release from self-centered bondage in sin.

Luther was on the right track in restoring God's love to the Christian church. However, his successors over-analyzed justification by faith to the point where it became a stale, mysterious book transaction, light-years away from the human heart; whereby, when one had enough faith, God made the necessary adjustments in the books of heaven based on Calvary, and the sinner was justified and forgiven his sins. Thus God experienced the atonement with sin. The atonement was for sins because the sinner believed in the cross.

Such professorial teaching was nothing more than against the law of God's cosmic love. God is not interested in harmony with sin. Christ did not die in order to justify ongoing sin in perpetuity. That is the pagan view of the atonement, which has been absorbed into the Christian church. The idea that the sinner can have "faith" to the degree that God sees evidence in one's prayers, Bible study, witnessing, etc. (all of these things are good when properly motivated by agape), and thus forgives the sinner, is a concept of the atonement that comes straight out of heathenism.

Paul wrote to the Romans, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 1:7). The only way that Paul could write that sinners could call "God our Father," is because God's gift of the atonement in Christ Jesus reconciled the human race unto Himself. The whole human race of sinners has been legally adopted into the Heavenly family. Now it's for us to recognize this fact and receive the divine revelation of the atonement. [3]

We have been "called to be saints". A saint is one set apart from the world of self-centeredness. Legally, Christ has justified "all" (Rom. 5:18, 19) so that God can "call" everyone to such a blessed, exalted state.

Who among us is not tired of sin? Who is not weary of the continual degradation of sin's bondage? Do you want to know what hell on earth is? "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame" (Rev. 16:15). Hell on earth is the embarrassment of having one's sins publicly exposed. Jesus never intends for anyone to face such agony.

Paul saw that Christ came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" with a "self" that needed denial. Such temptations that He felt from within are such that we all feel. To sense the pull of sin is not sin itself (James 1:14, 15). Yet, He "condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3, 4).

The righteousness of the law fulfilled in us is the atonement. It is the practical meaning of the cleansing of the sanctuary. It is true justification by faith. It is Christ's gift to us as our High Priest in the holiest of all. Thus Romans is an invitation into the Most Holy Place with Christ.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Letter E. J. Waggoner to O. A. Olsen [n.d.]; original in General Conference Archives.
[2] Ellen G. White, The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.
[3] "The atonement of Christ was not made in order to induce God to love those whom He otherwise hated; it was not made to produce a love that was not in existence; but it was made as a manifestation of the love that was already in God's heart, ... We are not to entertain the idea that God loves us because Christ has died for us, ... The death of Christ was expedient in order that mercy might reach us with its full pardoning power, and at the same time that justice might be satisfied in the righteous substitute." (Ellen G. White, "Christ Our Complete Salvation," Signs of the Times; May 30, 1895.)

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/C8ja7yBDa1o

 

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

--

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz