Seventh Day Pioneers on the Nature of Sin
It has been argued that we are born sinners and some of pioneers materials have been used to prove this. But what has not been done is to quote the passages for context and bring together all the evidences. In this article, instead of picking lines from the middle, I will quote the whole passages for context. We want to avoid doing what LeRoy Froom did while compiling evangelism. The same quotes used to teach we are born sinners by taking excerpts, as a matter of fact, they teach contrary when quoted in full. You will find they teach we are born with effects of sin rather.
Man’s relation to God, then, is simply this: By nature all men are sinners,-SERVANTS OF SIN,-children of Satan,-under the law,-condemned to death. By the righteousness of Christ, through faith in the blood, men may be made righteous,-servants of obedience unto righteousness,-children of God,-delivered from the condemnation of the law. Only those who are in Christ attain to this high honor; but this does not free them from obligation to keep the law. This can be seen from the very fact that it is sin that brings condemnation. Now it those who have been freed from condemnation,-have been taken out from under the law,-should transgress the law, they would thereby show their lack of appreciation of the grace of God, and would bring themselves into condemnation,-would bring themselves under the law. {November 17, 1887 EJW, SITI 695.11}
But who is to go? The answer is, “Ye which are spiritual.” All men are alike by nature. The sins which are committed by any person, are the OUTGROWTH of the sinful nature that is common to all. Therefore when any sin comes to our notice, instead of producing disgust or contempt for the sinner, it should cause us to think, “That is a SPECIMEN of what I am by nature.” Therefore before we go to set that one right, we must be sure that we are spiritual, for if we are not we are partakers with him in his sin, and cannot do him any good. {August 31, 1893 EJW, PTUK 344.1}
It may be objected that the child is born in sin,-that it has a sinful nature,-and that therefore it should be baptized for the remission of sins. But since the BABE CANNOT EXERCISE FAITH, AND HAS NO WILL IN THE MATTER, NOT EVEN KNOWING WHAT IS BEING DONE IF THE CEREMONY IS PERFORMED, it is evident that if baptism were necessary for an infant, it would prove that there is some magic virtue either to the water of baptism, or to the formula, or both; but if this were so, it would exclude faith on the part of adults; and it would follow that a man baptized even against his will would be saved, just as truly as that physic or poison will operate on a man who takes it even unwillingly, and without believing that it will have any effect. But the Gospel is not magic. {January 8, 1903 EJW, PTUK 19.7}
Now an infant has no conscience of sin, neither is it living in sin. It needs no exhortation not to continue in sin, nor to “live any longer therein,” for it is as completely dead to sin as it is possible for anybody to be. Indeed, it has never yet been alive to sin. Therefore baptism would be for it wholly a work of supererogation. {January 9, 1902 EJW, PTUK 20.9}
Again, referring to the text first quoted, we find that baptism, PRECEDED BY BELIEF IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IS “FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS;” BUT A TENDER INFANT HAS NO SINS TO BE REMITTED, and so again there is no occasion for it to be baptized. {January 8, 1903 EJW, PTUK 19.6}
That Christ should be born under the law was a necessary consequence of His being born of a woman, taking on Him the nature of Abraham, being made of the seed of David, in the likeness of sinful flesh. Human nature is sinful, and the law of God condemns all sin. Not that men are born into the world directly condemned by the law, for in infancy they have no knowledge of right and wrong, and are incapable of doing either, but they are born with sinful tendencies, owing to the sins of their ancestors. And when CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, HE CAME SUBJECT TO ALL THE CONDITIONS TO WHICH OTHER CHILDREN ARE SUBJECT. {July 2, 1891 EJW, PTUK 217.1}
Christ was made “to be sin for us.” 2 Cor. 5:21. He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” Rom. 8:3. He was “made of a woman, made under the law.” Gal. 4:4. He took on Him the nature of Abraham, and was in all things “made like unto his brethren,” and “he himself hath suffered being tempted.” Heb. 2:17, 18. He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15. These scriptures convey no other meaning to our mind than that Christ voluntarily took upon himself the feeble nature of man, to be subject to all the tendencies of the flesh, and the temptations of the devil. In short, he deliberately put himself into exactly the same position that fallen man occupies, to feel in his own being the full force of the power of Satan working upon fallen humanity. The temptations to which he was subject were real, not fanciful, and the strength of them equaled the strength of all the temptations that all the men in the world have to endure. The human nature that he took was a sinful nature, one subject to sin. If it were not, he would not be a perfect Saviour. We could not then go to him as one who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” {June 9, 1890 EJW, SITI 342.5}
But death came by sin, and as Satan is the author of sin, so he has the power of death. Since we are partakers of flesh and blood, born in sin, Christ also Himself took part of the same; “that through death He might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” A theology derived from heathenism may lead man to say that death is a friend; but every funeral train, and every bitter tear shed for the dead, proclaims that it is an enemy. The Bible so declares it, and tells of its destruction… {1900 EJW, EVCO 117.2}
Before we go on with this text, let me show you what there is in the idea that is in this question. You have it in mind. Was Christ, that holy thing which was born of the Virgin Mary, born in sinful flesh? Did you ever hear of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception? And do you know what it is? Some of you possibly have supposed in hearing of it, that it meant that Jesus Christ was born sinless. That is not the Catholic dogma at all. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born sinless. Why? – Ostensibly to magnify Jesus; really the work of the devil to put a wide gulf between Jesus the Saviour of men, and the men whom he came to save, so that one could not pass over to the other. That is all. {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.5}
E.J. Waggoner
We need to settle, every one of us, whether we are out of the Church of Rome or not. There are a great many that have got the marks yet, but I am persuaded of this, that every soul who is here to-night desires to know the way of truth and righteousness. [Congregation: Amen!], and that there is no one here who is unconsciously clinging to the dogmas of the papacy, who does not desire to be freed from them. {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.6}
Do you not see that the idea that the flesh of Jesus was not like ours (because we know ours is sinful) necessarily involves the idea of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary? Mind you, in him was no sin, but the mystery of God manifest in the flesh, the marvel of the ages, the wonder of the angels, that thing which even now they desire to understand, and which they can form no just idea of, only as they are taught it by the church, is the perfect manifestation of the life of God in its spotless purity in the midst of sinful flesh. [Congregation: Amen!] O, that is a marvel, is it not? {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.7}
Suppose we start with the idea for a moment that Jesus was so separate from us, that is, so different from us that he did not have in his flesh anything to contend with. It was sinless flesh. Then, of course, you see how the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception necessarily follows. But why stop there? Mary being born sinless, then, of course, her mother also had sinless flesh. But you can not stop there. You must go back to her mother, and in turn her mother, and her mother, and her parents, and so back until you come to Adam; and the result? – There never was a fall; Adam never sinned; and thus, you see, by that tracing of it, we find the essential identity of Roman Catholicism and Spiritualism and all other false doctrines – evolutions also – which claim that there never has been any fall, but only an ascent: – the Spiritualistic idea that everything in man is right, and man is God himself. You see it comes to that when you trace it back. {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.8}
The words of the Bible concerning Christ we have read: “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” We read of the sufferings of Christ. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” How many of you are there who think that the suffering of Christ was only the few moments that he hung upon the cross, when his hands and feet were pierced, or while being mocked by the Roman soldiers? No; not then alone. “He suffered, being tempted.” Jesus Christ suffered no less when, after his baptism, for forty days and forty nights he was in the wilderness tempted of the devil, than when later in the Garden he suffered and was tempted. {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.9}
He “suffered being tempted.” Where did he suffer? We read in 1 Peter 4:1. “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same” – what flesh? “Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin: that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 404.10}
He was tempted in the flesh, he suffered in the flesh, but he had a mind which never consented to sin, “Let [therefore] this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Arm yourself with the same mind, the mind of God, and let that mind have control over the body, and you will experience in your own selves that mystery, the power that Jesus Christ has over all flesh, –the power that God himself has to demonstrate his own perfect righteousness under the very worst possible conditions that the devil could devise; and thus he shows his power over the devil. {April 22, 1901 N/A, GCB 405.1}
So Adam died, and because of that, every man born into the world is a sinner, and the sentence of death is passed upon him. Judgment has passed upon all men to condemnation, and there is not a man in this world but has been under the condemnation of death. The only way that he can get free from that condemnation and that death is through Christ, who died for him and who, in His own body, bore our sins upon the cross. He bore the penalty of the law, and suffered the condemnation of the law for us, not for Himself, for He was sinless. {March 17, 1891 EJW, GCDB 137.7}
Adam a Figure.-“Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.” How is Adam a figure of Him that was to come, namely, Christ? Just as the following verses indicate, that is, Adam was a figure of Christ in that his action involved many besides himself. It is evident that Adam could not give his descendants any higher nature than he had himself, so Adam’s sin made it inevitable that all his descendants should be born with sinful natures. SENTENCE OF DEATH, HOWEVER, DOES NOT PASS ON THEM FOR THAT, but because they have sinned. {October 18, 1894 EJW, PTUK 658.7}
S.N. Haskell
Now, a question may arise, and it is one that I wish to notice in particular. How is it then with these little children before they know good and evil? How is it with them? Does God look upon them as sinners? Now I will tell you they are sinners, for the Bible says so; but there is some one that has to bear their sins, and that is the parents or guardians. I wish to read a few expressions from the writings of Sister White on that point. Here is one that I will read from Vol. 1 of “Testimonies for the Church,” page 119. It has reference to the house of Eli:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.5}
“I was then referred to the case of Eli. He restrained not his children, and they became wicked and vile, and by their wickedness led Israel astray. . . . I saw that if God was so particular as to notice such things anciently, he will be no less particular in the last days. Parents must govern their children, correct their passions, and subdue them, or God will surely destroy the children in the day of his fierce anger, and the parents who have not controlled their children will not be blameless.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.6}
Then who bears the sins of the children? The parents. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.7}
Another expression I will read from Vol. 3 of “Testimonies for the Church,” page 141:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.8}
“Thus mothers are sowing the seed that will spring up and bear fruit. The children are not educated to deny their appetites and restrict their desires. And THEY BECOME selfish, exacting, disobedient, unthankful, and unholy. Mothers who are doing this work will reap with bitterness the fruit of the seed they have sown. They have sinned against Heaven and against their children, and God will hold them accountable.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.9}
Now children do not know good and evil; but God holds the parents or guardians, or those that have charge of them, accountable. On page 144 I read:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.10}
“But few parents realize that their children are what their example and discipline have made them, and that they are responsible for the characters their children develop. If the hearts of Christian parents were in obedience to the will of Christ, they would obey the injunction of the Heavenly Teacher: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.11}
From an article written by Sister White, entitled “Duty of Parents to Their Children,” and which was printed in the REVIEW of September 19, 1854, I read as follows:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.12}
“Children are left to come up instead of being trained up. The poor little children are thought not to know or understand a correction at ten or twelve months old, and they begin to show stubbornness very young. Parents suffer them to indulge in evil tempers and passions without subduing or correcting them, and by so doing they cherish and nourish these evil passions until they grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.13}
Another paragraph:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.14}
“Parents stand in the place of God, to their children, and they will have to render an account, whether they have been faithful to the little few committed to their trust. Parents, some of you are rearing children to be cut down by the destroying angel, unless you speedily change your course, and be faithful to them. GOD CANNOT COVER INIQUITY, EVEN IN CHILDREN. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.15}
“He cannot love unruly children who manifest passion, and he cannot save them in the time of trouble. Will you suffer your children to be lost THROUGH YOUR NEGLECT? Unfaithful parents, their blood will be upon you, and is not your salvation doubtful with the blood of your children upon you? Children that might have been saved had you filled your place, and done your duty as faithful parents should.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.16}
One more paragraph:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.17}
“Children are the lawful prey of the enemy, because they are not subjects of grace, have not experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, and the evil angels have access to these children; and some parents are careless, and suffer them to work with but little restraint. Parents have a great work to do in this matter, by correcting and subduing their children, and then by bringing them to God, and claiming his blessing upon them. By the faithful and untiring efforts of the parents, and the blessing and grace entreated of God upon the children, the power of the evil angels will be broken, a sanctifying influence is shed upon the children, and the powers of darkness must give back.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 273.18}
I thank God for that. Then the parents stand in the place of God, and they are responsible. But cannot the parents have an influence that will control the children? Why, yes, they are in the place of God; and the testimony is, that if they come to God and seek his blessing, then the powers of darkness must give back. Much more might be read upon this; perhaps I will read a little further, as it brings to view the work in the last days:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.1}
“When the destroying angel was to pass through Egypt, to destroy the first-born of man and beast, Israel was commanded to gather their children and families into their houses with them, and then mark their door-posts with blood, that the destroying angel might pass by their dwelling, and if they failed to go through with this process, there was no difference made between them and the Egyptians. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.2}
“The destroying angel is soon to go forth again, not to destroy the first-born alone, but ‘to slay utterly old and young, both men women and little children,’ who have not the mark. Parents, if you wish to save your children, separate them from the world; keep them from the company of wicked children; for if you suffer them to go with wicked children, you cannot prevent them from partaking of their wickedness and being corrupted. It is your solemn duty to watch over your children, to choose their society at all times for them. Teach your children to obey you, then can they more easily obey the commandments of God, and yield to his requirements. Don’t let us neglect to pray with, and for, our children. He that said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,’ will listen to our prayers for them, and the seal, or mark, of believing parents will cover their children, if they are trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.3}
I might take the Bible and show the same, in 1Cor.7. God does have a regard for us from the time that we first come into the world. And when parents who stand in God’s stead, take the children to God, God imputes the righteousness of Christ, even then, on their children. There is more in Christ than we have been apt to think; and you will never get out of the Bible only what you believe is in the Bible; you will get out of Christ only what you believe is in Christ. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.4}
How is it that parents are held responsible for the children? Is not it because the children are not responsible for themselves? MOST SURELY IT IS. Then, I ask, if that is the case, who is responsible for your neighbors that do not know the truth? If God has given you light and an understanding to comprehend his truth, and you see its precious rays, and yet have no interest for your neighbors that are around you, I ask, if their blood will not be upon your souls? If the principle is true with reference to children, is not it true with reference to every person that is not enlightened with the precious rays of light that God has given us? {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.5}
But who is responsible for those that know not God? It is those individuals to whom God has given his precious rays of truth. I do not know how a soul can be saved that does not feel for others, that does not pray for others, and does not think of others, and is not interested in the salvation of others. And when you take the church as a body, it is the church that is responsible for those that sit in darkness; and consequently it lays upon God’s people a responsibility, and especially in this time in which we live, far greater than what we have thought of in the past. There are people in different parts of the world that know nothing about the light and the truth of the gospel. Who is responsible? It is those to whom God has given light. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.6}
I will read a few more expressions upon this, from the REVIEW of September 15, 1891:- {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.7}
“Mothers do not half appreciate their privileges and possibilities. They do not seem to understand that they can be in the highest sense missionaries, laborers together with God in aiding their children to build up a symmetrical character. This is the great burden of the work given them of God. The mother is God’s agent to Christianize her family.” {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.8}
Then who is God’s agent? The mother. Then God lays upon parents the responsibility of the children; he lays upon the Christian community the responsibility of those that are around them that are in darkness; he lays upon his church the responsibility of giving the light to those that are in darkness. Why do you suppose God has brought to this country people of every nationality in the world? It is that he might give them the truth through his people. And I verily believe that God selected the very land in which we live, these United States of America, that there might be laws made calculated to give a mold to the people here that would fit them to be missionaries to go to the world; and the very nature of the institutions, the laws, and the government itself, as it has been in the past, has brought people here from every land under heaven. It was here that the Lord saw fit to let the light of truth shine first; and unless we, in the fear of God, take the responsibility that God has placed on us, and discharge that responsibility in giving the truth to others, we will have a terrible account to settle in the day of judgment. We have reached a time when the Lord is becoming in earnest with us; and we who have believed the truth for thirty, forty, and almost fifty years, some of us, and can see the evidences as they come up at the present time of the truth going to earth’s remotest bounds, we should be stirred more and more. We should feel that we can not rest until something is done, far beyond what has been done in the past. {February 15, 1893 N/A, GCDB 274.9}
Now in the above Bulleting, Haskell has quoted largely sister White while using the phrase that Waggoner used earlier: “born sinner”. Since EGW never taught born sinners and Immaculate Conception doctrines, it is evident the thought inspiration should be applied to those quotes rather than taking the literalistic meaning of words used. Let us continue
This is not the way that men would naturally write a history of the ancestors of Christ… Even if we have inherited tendencies and appetites of the worst kind, there is hope. It was Christ through David who said: “behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This states plainly the nature of the humanity in which Christ was conceived {S.N. Haskell RH October 2, 1900}
“When we stated that we believed that Christ was born in fallen humanity, they would represent us as believing that Christ sinned” {S. Haskell, Letter, #2, to Ellen G. White, dated at Battle Creek, Michigan, September 25, 1900}
Other scriptures that we will quote bring closer to us the fact of the humanity of Christ and what it means for us. We have already read that “the Word was made flesh,” and now we will read what Paul says concerning the nature of that flesh: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, 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. {1890 EJW, CHR 26.1}
A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. DEATH COULD HAVE NO POWER OVER A SINLESS MAN, AS ADAM WAS IN EDEN, AND IT COULD NOT HAVE HAD ANY POWER OVER CHRIST, IF THE LORD HAD NOT LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of a sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5. {1890 EJW, CHR 26.2}
The following statement in the book of Hebrews is very clear on this point: For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. [“For verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham.” Revised Version.] Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 2:16-18 {1890 EJW, CHR 27.1}
If He was made in all things like unto His brethren, then He must have suffered all the infirmities and been subject to all the temptations of His brethren. Two more texts that put this matter very forcibly will be sufficient evidence on this point. We first quote 2 Cor. 5:21: For He [God] hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. {1890 EJW, CHR 27.2}
This is much stronger than the statement that He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” He was made to be sin. Here is the same mystery as that the son of God should die. The spotless Lamb of God, who knew no sin, was made to be sin. Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner but actually taking upon Himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness. So Paul says to the Galatians that “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4,5. In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” “For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. 2:18; 4:15, 16. {1890 EJW, CHR 27.3}
Heb. 2:9: “But we see Jesus, was was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” {1888 EJW, GBG 60.5}
These texts show that Christ took upon Himself man’s nature, and that as a consequence He was subject to death. He came into the world on purpose to die; and so from the beginning of His earthly life He was in the same condition that the men are in whom He died to save. Now read, {1888 EJW, GBG 60.6}
Rom. 1:3: The gospel of God, “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” What was the nature of David, “according to the flesh”? Sinful, was it not? David says: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5. DON’T START IN HORRIFIED ASTONISHMENT; I AM NOT IMPLYING THAT CHRIST WAS A SINNER. I shall explain more fully in a few moments. But first I wish to quote. {1888 EJW, GBG 60.7}
Heb. 2:16, 17: “For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” {1888 EJW, GBG 61.1}
His being made in all things like unto His brethren, is the same as His being made in the likeness of sinful flesh, “made in the likeness of men.” One of the most encouraging things in the Bible is the knowledge that Christ took on Him the nature of men; to know that His ancestors according to the flesh were sinners. When we read the record of the lives of the ancestors of Christ, and see that they had all the weaknesses and passions that we have, we find that no man has any right to excuse his sinful acts on the ground of heredity. If Christ had not been made in all things like unto His brethren, THEN HIS SINLESS LIFE WOULD BE NO ENCOURAGEMENT TO US. We might look at it with admiration, but it would be the admiration that would cause hopeless despair. {1888 EJW, GBG 61.2}
And now as another parallel to Gal. 4:4, and a further source of encouragement to us, I will quote, 2 Cor. 5:21: “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” {1888 EJW, GBG 61.3}
Now when was Jesus made sin for us? It must have been when He was made flesh, and began to suffer the temptations and infirmities that are incident to sinful flesh. He passed through every phase of human experience, being “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” “He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4); and this scripture is said by Matthew to have been fulfilled long before the crucifixion. So I say that His being born under the law was a necessary consequence of His being born in the likeness of sinful flesh, of taking upon Himself the nature of Abraham. He was made like man, in order that He might undergo the suffering of death. From the earliest childhood the cross was ever before Him. {1888 EJW, GBG 61.4}
Then, as certainly as the first Adam is the source of all the sin that ever appeared in us, the last Adam is the source of all the righteousness that ever can appear in us. Therefore, there comes the next verse in the fifth chapter of Romans, the nineteenth verse: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the OBEDIENCE OF ONE shall many be made righteous.” Just so. As by that one man’s disobedience you and I were made sinners, so by that other one Man’s obedience you and I are made righteous. No man was ever made righteous by his own doing. You and I were not made subject to sin, not made heirs to sin, by our own sinning; it was in us before we had time to sin. That which appeared in us was what was in us—even the leading thing in us: and that is the truth forever. Never will anything appear in you but that which was in you before—and it the leading thing in you. {October 16, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 659.8}
CHAPTER VII OF CWCP: THE LAW OF HEREDITY
“The Word was made flesh.” {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.1}
“When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” Gal. 4:4. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.2}
“And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53:6. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.3}
We have seen that in His being made of a woman, Christ reached sin at the very fountain head of its entrance into this world and that He must be made of a woman to do this. Also there was laid upon Him the iniquity, in the actual sins, of us all. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.4}
Thus all the sin of this world, from its origin in the world to the end of it in the world, was laid upon Him–both sin as it is in itself and sin as it is when committed by us; sin in its tendency and sin in the act: sin as it is hereditary in us, uncommitted by us; and sin as it is committed by us. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.5}
Only thus could it be that there should be laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Only by His subjecting Himself to the law of heredity could He reach sin in full and true measure as sin truly is. Without this there could be laid upon Him our sins which have been actually committed, with the guilt and condemnation that belong to them. But beyond this there is in each person, in many ways, the liability to sin inherited from generations back WHICH HAS NOT YET CULMINATED IN THE ACT OF SINNING BUT WHICH IS EVER READY, when occasion offers, to blaze forth in the actual committing of sins. David’s great sin is an illustration of this. Ps. 51:5; 2 Sam. 11:2. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 40.6}
In delivering us from sin, it is not enough that we shall be saved from the sins that we have actually committed; WE MUST BE SAVED FROM COMMITTING OTHER SINS. And that this may be so, there must be met and subdued this hereditary liability to sin; we must become possessed of power to keep us from sinning–a power to conquer this liability, this hereditary tendency that is in us to sin. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 41.1}
All our sins which we have actually committed were laid upon Him, were imputed to Him, so that His righteousness may be laid upon us, may be imputed to us. Also our liability to sin was laid upon Him, in His being made flesh, in His being born of a woman, of the same flesh and blood as we are, so that His righteousness might be actually manifested in us as our daily life. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 41.2}
Thus He met sin in the flesh which He took and triumphed over it, as it is written: “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” And again: “He is our peace, . . . having abolished in His flesh the enmity.” {1905 ATJ, CWCP 41.3}
And thus, just as our sins actually committed were imputed to Him that His righteousness might be imputed to us, so His meeting and conquering in the flesh the liability to sin and in that same flesh manifesting righteousness, enables us in Him, and Him in us, to meet and conquer in the flesh this same liability to sin and to manifest righteousness in the same flesh. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 41.4}
And thus it is that for the sins which we have actually committed, for the sins that are past, His righteousness is imputed to us, as our sins were imputed to Him. And to keep us from sinning His righteousness is imparted to us in our flesh as our flesh, with its liability to sin, was imparted to Him. Thus He is the complete Saviour. He saves from all the sins that we have actually committed and saves equally from all the sins that we might commit dwelling apart from Him. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 42.1}
If He took not the same flesh and blood that the children of men have with its liability to sin, then where could there be any philosophy or reason of any kind whatever in His genealogy as given in the Scriptures? He was descended from David; He was descended from Abraham; He was descended from Adam and, by being made of a woman, He reached even back of Adam to the beginning of sin in the world. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 42.2}
In that genealogy there are Jehoiakim, who for his wickedness was “buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer. 22:19); Manasseh, who caused Judah to do “worse than the heathen;” Ahaz, who “made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord;” Rehoboam, who was born of Solomon after Solomon turned from the Lord; Solomon himself, who was born of David and Bathsheba; there are also Ruth the Moabitess and Rahab; as well as Abraham, Isaac, Jesse, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah: the worst equally with the best. And the evil deeds of even the best are recorded equally with the good. And in this whole genealogy there is hardly one whose life is written upon at all of whom there is not some wrong act recorded. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 42.3}
Now it was at the end of such a genealogy as that that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” It was at the end of such a genealogy as that that He was made of a woman.” It was in such a line of descent as that that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” And such a descent, such a genealogy, meant something to Him, as it does to every other man, under the great law that the iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generations. It meant everything to Him in the terrible temptations in the wilderness of temptation, as well as all the way through His life in the flesh. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 43.1}
Thus, both by heredity and by imputation, He was “laden with the sins of the world.” And, thus laden, at this immense disadvantage He passed triumphantly over the ground where at no shadow of any disadvantage whatever, the first pair failed. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 43.2}
By His death He paid the penalty of all sins actually committed, and thus can justly bestow His righteousness upon all who choose to receive it. And by condemning sin in the flesh, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, He delivers from the power of the law of heredity and so can, in righteousness, impart His divine nature and power to lift above that law, and hold above it, every soul that receives Him. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 43.3}
And so it is written: “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4. And “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for [on account of] sin, 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. And “He is our peace, . . . having abolished in His flesh the enmity, . . . for to make in Himself of twain [God and man] one new man, so making peace.” Eph. 2:14, 15. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 43.4}
Thus, “in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. . . . For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” {1905 ATJ, CWCP 44.1}
Whether temptation be from within or from without, He is the perfect shield against it all; and so saves to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 44.2}
God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, Christ taking our nature as our nature is in its sinfulness and degeneracy, and God dwelling constantly with Him and in Him in that nature–in this God has demonstrated to all people forever that there is no soul in this world so laden with sins or so lost that God will not gladly dwell with him and in him to save him from it all and to lead him in the way of the righteousness of God. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 44.3}
And so certainly is his name Emmanuel, which is, “God with us.” {1905 ATJ, CWCP 44.4}
January 15, 1901 – “The Faith of Jesus” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 3 , pp. 40, 41.
“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Phil. 2:5-7. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.1}
“And the Word was made flesh.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.2}
How was it that He was made flesh? How did He partake of human nature?—Exactly as do all of us, all of the children of men. For it is written: “As the children [of the man] are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.3}
Likewise signifies “in the like way,” “then,” “in the same way.” So He partook of “the same” flesh and blood that men have, in the same way that men partake of it. Men partake of it by birth. So “likewise” did He. Accordingly, it is written, “Unto us a Child is born.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.4}
Accordingly, it is further written: “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” Gal. 4:4. He, being made of a woman in this world, in the nature of things He was made of the only kind of a woman that this world knows. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.5}
But why must He be made of a woman? Why not of a man?—For the simple reason that to be made of a man would not bring Him close enough to mankind as mankind is, under sin. He was made of a woman in order that He might come, in the very woman in order that He might come, in the very uttermost, to where human nature is in its sinning. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.6}
In order to do this He must be made of a woman; because the woman, not the man, was first, and originally, in the transgression. For “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Tim. 2:14. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.7}
He was thus made of a woman in order that He might meet the great world of sin at its very fountain head of entrance into this world. To have been made otherwise than of a woman would have been to come short of this, and so would have been only to miss the redemption of men completely from sin. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.8}
It was “the Seed of the woman” that was to bruise the serpent’s head; and it was only as “the seed of the woman,” and “made of a woman,” that He could meet the serpent on his own ground, at the very point of the entrance of sin into this world. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.9}
To have been made only of the descent of man, would have been to come short of the full breadth of the field of sin; because the woman had sinned, and sin was thus in the world, before the man sinned. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.10}
It was the woman who, in this world, was originally in the transgression. It was the woman by whom sin originally entered. Therefore, in the redemption of the children of men from sin, He who would be the Redeemer must go back of the man, to meet the sin that was in the world before the man sinned. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.11}
This is why He who came to redeem was “made of a woman.” By being made of a woman, He could trace sin to the very fountain head of its original entry into the world by the woman. And thus, in finding sin in the world, and uprooting it from the world, from its original entrance into the world till the last vestige of it shall be swept from the world, in the very nature of things He must partake of human nature as it is since sin entered. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.12}
Otherwise, there was no kind of need whatever that He should be “made of a woman.” If He were not to come into closest contact with sin as it is in the world, as it is in human nature; if He were to be removed one single degree from it as it is in human nature,—then He need not have been “made of a woman.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.13}
But as He was made of a woman—not of a man; as he was made of the one by whom sin entered in its very origin in the world, and not made of the man, who entered into the sin after the sin had entered into the world,—this demonstrates beyond all possibility of fair question that between Christ and sin in this world, and between Christ and human nature as it is under sin in the world, there is no kind of separation, even to the shadow of a single degree. He was made flesh; He was made to be sin. He was made flesh as flesh is, and only as flesh is in this world. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.14}
And this must He do to redeem lost mankind. For Him to be separated in a single degree, or a shadow of a single degree, in any sense, from the nature of those whom He came to redeem, would be only to miss everything. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.15}
Precisely as He must be “made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law;” and must be “made a curse,” to redeem them that are under the curse; and must be made “to be sin,” to redeem them that are “sold under sin,” so He must be made of a woman, to reach sin at its very root in this world, and must be made flesh, to redeem them that are flesh. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.16}
And precisely as He was made “under the law,” because they are under the law whom He would redeem; and as He was made a curse, because they are under the curse whom He would redeem; and as He was made sin, because they are sinners; “sold under sin,” whom He would redeem,—so He must be made flesh, and “the same” flesh and blood, because they are flesh and blood whom He would redeem; and must be made of a woman, because sin was in the world first by and in the woman. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.17}
Consequently, it is true, without any sort of exception, that “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Heb. 2:17, 18. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.18}
If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem, then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all. more than this: since the only flesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem, is just the poor, lost, human flesh that all mankind have; if this is not the flesh that all mankind have; then He never really came to the world which needs to be redeemed. For if He came in a human nature different from that which human nature in this world actually is, then even though He were in the world, yet, for any practical purpose in reaching man and helping him, He was as far from him as if He had never come; for, in that case, in His human nature He was just as far from man and just as much of another world, as if He had never come into this world. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.19}
It is thoroughly understood that in His birth Christ did partake of the nature of Mary. But the carnal mind is not willing to allow that God in His perfection of holiness could endure to come to men where they are in their sinfulness. Therefore endeavor has been made to escape the consequences of this glorious truth, which is the emptying of self, by inventing a theory that the nature of the Virgin Mary was different from the nature of the rest of mankind; that her flesh was not exactly such flesh as is that of all mankind. This invention sets up that, by some special means, Mary was made different from the rest of human beings especially in order that Christ might be becomingly born of her. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.20}
This invention has culminated in what is known as the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Many Protestants, if not the vast majority of them, as well as other non-Catholics, think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus by the Virgin Mary. But this is altogether a mistake. It refers not at all to the conception of Christ by Mary; but to the conception of Mary herself by her mother. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.21}
The official and “infallible” doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as solemnly defined as an article of faith, by Pope Pius IX, speaking ex cathedra, on the 8th of December, 1854, is as follows:— {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.22}
By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we declare, pronounce, and define, that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of HER conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and, therefore, is to be firmly and steadfastly believed by all the faithful. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.23}
Wherefore, if any shall presume, which may God avert, to think in their heart otherwise than has been defined by us, let them know, and moreover understand, that they are condemned by their own judgment, that they have made shipwreck as regards the faith, and have fallen away from the unity of the Church.—”Catholic Belief,” page 214. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.24}
This conception is defined by Catholic writers thus: — {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.25}
The ancient writer, “De Nativitate Christi,” found in St. Cyprian’s works, says: Because (Mary) being “very different from the rest of mankind, human nature, but not sin, communicated itself to her.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.26}
Theodore, patriarch of Jerusalem, said in the second council of Nice, that Mary “is truly the mother of God, and virgin before and after childbirth; and she was created in a condition more sublime and glorious than that of all natures, whether intellectual or corporeal.”—Id., pages 216, 217. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.27}
This plainly puts the nature of Mary entirely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind or human nature as it is. Having this clearly in mind, let us follow this invention in its next step. Thus it is, as given in the words of Cardinal Gibbons:— {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.28}
We affirm that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His divine nature is, from all eternity, begotten of the Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fullness of time again begotten, by being born of the virgin, thus taking to himself from her maternal womb a human nature of the same substance with hers. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.29}
As far as the sublime mystery of the incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the blessed Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance with her own, is thereby really and truly His mother.”—”Faith of Our Fathers,” pages 198, 199. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.30}
Now put these two things together. First, we have the nature of Mary defined as being not only “very different from the rest of mankind,” but “more sublime and glorious than all natures;” thus putting her infinitely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind as we really are. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.31}
Next, we have Jesus described as taking from her a human nature of the same substance as hers. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.32}
From this theory it therefore follows as certainly as two and two make four, that in His human nature the Lord Jesus is “very different” from mankind; indeed, His nature is not human nature at all, but divine. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.33}
That is the Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the human nature of Christ. But Catholic faith is not the faith of Christ; it is the faith of Antichrist. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.34}
The Catholic doctrine of the human nature of Christ is simply that that nature is not human nature at all, but divine. It is that in His human nature Christ was so far separated from mankind as to be utterly unlike—a nature in which He could have no sort of fellow-feeling with—mankind. {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.35}
But such is not the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is that “as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.36}
The faith of Jesus is that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.37}
The faith of Jesus is that “in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.38}
The faith of Jesus is that He “himself took our infirmities,” and was touched “with the feeling of our infirmities,” being tempted in all points like as we are. If He was not like we are, He could not possibly be tempted “like as we are.” But He was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Therefore He was “in all points” “like as we are.” {January 15, 1901 ATJ, ARSH 40.39}
September 20, 1894 – “Editorial” American Sentinel 9, 37 , pp. 289, 290.
ON the eighth of December the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the “Immaculate Conception” of Mary the mother of Jesus. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.1}
THE dogmatic term “immaculate conception,” signifies that Mary was not “shapen in iniquity” and conceived in sin like the rest of humanity (Ps. 51:5); and this dogma logically followed the one, previously proclaimed, that Mary never committed a sin; notwithstanding the declaration of God that “all have sinned.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.2}
THIS unscriptural doctrine, which was “infallibly” proclaimed by Pope Pius IX. in 1854, is but one of a series of dogmatic decisions, covering many centuries, by which the mother of our Lord has been transformed into a goddess, crowned “Queen of the whole universe” 1 and “seated on the right hand of Jesus,” “to fill the first place after God in heaven and on earth.” 2 {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.3}
THE papal discussion of the question of “immaculate conception,” which was “infallibly” settled by Pope Pius IX. in 1854, was carried on for centuries between two powerful Roman Catholic societies, the Franciscans who violently favored it, and the Dominicans who violently opposed it. So furious and bitter was the contention that Pope Sextus IV. published a bull in 1483, threatening to send both parties to heel if they did not stop calling one another heretics. At length the Jesuits took sides with the Franciscans and secured the papal decision of 1854. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.4}
THE opponents of the doctrine, besides declaring it to be unscriptural, asserted that it was absurd, and said, “On the same principle you would be obliged to hold that the conception of her ancestors in an ascending line was also a holy one, since otherwise she could not have decended [sic.] from them worthily.” 3 The logic of this objection is apparent, and unless met it would necessitate the “immaculate conception” of Mary’s whole pedigree, which would include David, who, speaking for the race as well as for himself, says: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.5}
IN order to head off this fatal logic, some one who was born in sin, must later rise above this condition, be freed from human sinful flesh, after which, from these superhuman bodies, could be born “immaculate,” or sinless flesh. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.6}
ROMAN CATHOLIC tradition, which, according to the teaching of the church, is declared to be “more clear and safe” than the Bible, says that Joachim and Anne were the parents of Mary the mother of Jesus. And it is by them, we are told, that the great feat of lifting the ancestry of Mary from sinful flesh to sinless flesh was accomplished. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.7}
OF these traditional parents of Mary it is stated that “they showed themselves always so perfect in their whole conduct, that one need not marvel that from such perfection should come forth the one whose luster is as the mirror of all goodness in ages past and to come.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.8}
BUT “St. Anne” and “St. Joachim” were not born sinless; how then was this perfection attained? Let the cardinal-indorsed work ask the same question and answer it: “By what gradation of virtues and perfection did she [St. Anne] raise herself to make this thing possible? Let us remember what Mary was from the first instant of her creation, and we shall then be able to form an idea of what must have been her mother. Must not the stem be worthy of the flower, and the vase worthy of the perfume it contains? On leaving the hands of God, still under the actions of his creating breath, the soul of Mary was joined to a most pure body, forever virginal and immaculate like itself.” “However holy Joachim and Anne were at the time of their marriage, they were not yet sufficiently so to give such a daughter as Mary to the world. By multiplying their fasts, their alms, through so many long years in order to obtain this grace from God’s goodness, they made rapid progress in perfection and in the love of God, and at length arrived at that degree of purity and holiness desired by the Holy Ghost.” “Thus mortification and sacrifice had done their work in St. Anne and St. Joachim, purifying, refining, and not leaving in them even the shadow of defilement. God could take of that presanctified earth to create his well-beloved daughter,” “who, after God, sees none superior or equal to herself, either in holiness, in glory, or in power,” “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.9}
BUT why all these theological disputes, and furious contentions, and papal bulls of anathema, and infallible decisions in the Roman Catholic Church, concerning the “immaculate conception” of Mary and immaculate purity of St. Anne and St. Joachim? It was to “sanctify the royal blood whence our Saviour was to be born.” Mary was declared sinless because the blood transmitted “to Mary, was to form the Divine Flesh.” “St. Anne and St. Joachim” are represented as making themselves immaculate because “the blood of Joachim and Anne, passing through the most pure heart of Mary, was to become the blood of Jesus.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.10}
AFTER the storm of contention is over and the Franciscans and Jesuits have won, and the thunder of the Vatican finished the creation of a saviour, what do we behold? We see a saviour whose blood was “purified” by “mortification and sacrifice” of his grandparents, and whose “divine flesh” was “formed” by blood “made” “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels” through his “grandmother” and grandfather’s “mul-tiplying their fasts, their alms,” and “good works.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 289.11}
OH how this frustrates the grace of God! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Instead of creating Christ Jesus by mortification and sacrifice, by multiplying fasts, and good works the Christian is created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Instead of saving our Saviour by our works we are saved by our Saviour from our works. Instead of his being the workmanship of our work, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.1}
AGAIN this antichristian saviour is represented as clothed, not with the sinful flesh of Abraham, but with “divine flesh,” “purer than the angels and holier than the archangels.” The papal saviour is therefore so high above man, who is “shapen in iniquity” and clothed with sinful flesh that it takes a ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, to touch him. He is so far removed from fallen men that it requires a bridge to span the abyss which separates him from his saviour. This is not only the logical deduction from the doctrine of the “immaculate conception” of Mary and the “immaculate” lives of St. Anne and St. Joachim, but it is the admitted doctrine and daily practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Here it is:—] {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.2}
She [Anne] is the Mother of her who is purer than the Angels, holier than the Archangels, higher than the Thrones, more powerful than the Dominations, more enlightened than the Cherubims, more inflamed with divine love than the Seraphims. She is the Mother of her who is called and who is the eldest Daughter of the Father, the true Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the Mother of her who is “full of grace,” of her who has bestowed, and still bestowes ransom on the captive, strength to the weak, sight to the blind, consolation to the afflicted, hope to the desponding, an overflow of joy to the Angels, human flesh to the Divine Word, a Worshiper worthy of His greatness to the Eternal Father, a temple worthy of His holiness to the Holy Ghost. Anne is the Mother of her who is the ladder to heaven, the anchor of the shipwrecked, the star of the mariner, the bridge whereby God crossed the abyss which separated as from him. 16 {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.3}
Away with your Mary “ladder” and immaculate “bridge!” Jesus Christ is the ladder and its lowermost round reaches as low as the lowest sinner. In order that he might reach sinful men, “verily he took on him the nature of angels’ but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.” What! part of man’s sinful flesh? Yea, verily. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” “For we have no an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace [without the papal ladder] that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.4}
AND now Pope Leo XIII. has the hardihood to invite us away from this Saviour who is so close to us that he dwells in us and condemns sin in our sinful flesh as he condemned sin in the sinful flesh which he inherited from his mother Mary,—he calls us away from this Saviour to a saviour who was born from “immaculate” flesh, “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels,” and who, therefore, cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and must be touched with a “ladder.” He calls us to a saviour so widely separated from us that there must be a “bridge” constructed to span the chasm. And he asks us to trust our eternal life to this human structure, whose spans are made of “fasts,” and “mortifications,” and “good works.” And besides inviting us to trust our salvation to this phantom “bridge,” he demands toll for the passage of our soul at every span of its almost limitless length; while our Saviour, “without money and without price,” “freely,” reaches over the battlements of heaven and, while holding fast to the throne of the Infinite with the arm of omnipotence, encircles us with his long human arm, that arm that is “not shortened that it cannot save,” and presses us lovingly to that bosom that is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.5}
And now instead of accepting the invitation of Pope Leo XIII. we, on the contrary, invite, with the words of our Saviour, him and all his deluded followers who are trusting for salvation to human ladders and bridges, and all others who know not our Lord: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and amy burden is light.” 21 “And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17. {September 20, 1894 ATJ, AMS 290.6}
Now as to Christ’s not having “like passions” with us: In the Scriptures all the way through He is like us and with us according to the flesh. He is the seed of David according to the flesh. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Don’t go too far. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, not in the likeness of sinful mind. DO NOT DRAG HIS MIND INTO IT. HIS FLESH WAS OUR FLESH, BUT THE MIND WAS “THE MIND OF CHRIST JESUS.” Therefore it is written: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” If He had taken our mind, how, then, could we ever have been exhorted to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus?” IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO ALREADY. But what kind of mind is ours? O, it is corrupted with sin also. Look at ourselves in the second chapter of Ephesians, beginning with the first verse and reading to the third, but the third verse is the one that has this particular point in it: {February 25, 1895 ATJ, GCB 327.1}
Our minds have consented to sin. We have felt the enticements of the flesh and our minds yielded, our minds consented and did the wills and the desires of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The flesh leads and our minds have followed, and with the flesh the law of sin is served. WHEN THE MIND CAN LEAD, THE LAW OF GOD IS SERVED. But as our minds have SURRENDERED, YIELDED TO SIN, they have themselves become sinful and weak and are led away by the power of sin in the flesh. {February 25, 1895 ATJ, GCB 328.3}
Now the flesh of Jesus Christ was our flesh and in it was all that is in our flesh–all the tendencies to sin that are in our flesh were in His flesh, drawing upon Him to get Him to consent to sin. Suppose He had consented to sin with His mind–what then? Then His mind would have been corrupted and then He would have become of like passions with us. But in that case He Himself would have been a sinner; He would have been entirely enslaved and we all would have been lost–everything would have perished. {February 25, 1895 ATJ, GCB 328.4}
There is a great work to be done for many of us. Our minds and characters must become as the mind and character of Christ. Selfishness is inwrought in our very being. It has come to us as an inheritance, and has been cherished by many as a precious treasure. No special work for God can be accomplished until self and selfishness are overcome. To many everything connected with themselves is of great importance. Self is a center, around which everything seems to revolve. Were Christ on the earth now, He would say to such, “Launch out into the deep.” Be not so self-caring. There are thousands whose lives are just as precious as yours. Then why do you wrap your coat about you, and hug the shore? Awake to duty and to usefulness! If you will launch out into the deep and let down your nets, the Master will gather in the fishes, and you will see of the mighty working of God (Historical Sketches, pp. 138, 139). {LHU 326.4}
The Sin of Selfishness:
All sin is selfishness. Satan’s first sin was a manifestation of selfishness. He sought to grasp power, to exalt self. A species of insanity led him to seek to supersede God. And the temptation that led Adam to sin was Satan’s declaration that it was possible for man to attain to something more than he already enjoyed, possible for him to be as God Himself. The sowing of seeds of selfishness in the human heart was the first result of the entrance of sin into the world. God desires every one to understand the evil of selfishness, and to co operate with Him in guarding the human family against its terrible, deceptive powers. The design of the gospel is to confront this evil by means of remedial missionary work, and to destroy its destructive power by establishing enterprises of benevolence. {WB, September 9, 1902 par. 3}
A terrible doom awaits the sinner, and therefore it is necessary that we know what sin is, in order that we may escape from its power. John says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” Here we have the true definition of sin; it is “the transgression of the law.” How often the sinner is urged to leave his sins, and come to Jesus; but has the messenger who would lead him to Christ clearly pointed out the way? Has he clearly pointed out the fact that “sin is the transgression of the law,” and that he must repent, and forsake the breaking of God’s commandments? Christ will come to consume the false prophet, to sweep away the hosts of apostasy, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of God; and it is of the highest importance to each one of us that we know the conditions by which we shall escape the sinner’s doom. It is of the greatest moment that we understand the nature of our fall and the consequences of transgression. Man’s conscience has become hardened by sin, and his understanding darkened by transgression, and his judgment has become confused as to what is sin. He has become benumbed by the influence of iniquity, and it is essential that his conscience be aroused to understand that sin is the transgression of God’s holy law. He who does not obey the commandments of God is a sinner in the sight of God. {ST, June 20, 1895 par. 5}
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
When there has been a departure from the right path, it is difficult to return. Barriers have been broken down, safeguards removed. One step in the wrong direction prepares the way for another. The least deviation from right principles will lead to separation from God, and may end in destruction. What we do once we more readily do again; and to go forward in a certain path, be it right or wrong, is more easy than to start. To corrupt our ways before God requires no effort; but to engraft habits of righteousness and truth upon the character takes time and patient endeavor. {CTBH 32.1}
Christ is the “Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. As through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light. Not only intellectual but spiritual power, a perception of right, a desire for goodness, exists in every heart. But against these principles there is struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man’s experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man’s greatest need. In all educational effort should not this co-operation be the highest aim? {Ed 29.1}
But not to any class is Christ’s love restricted. He identifies Himself with every child of humanity. That we might become members of the heavenly family, He became a member of the earthly family. He is the Son of man, and thus a brother to every son and daughter of Adam. His followers are not to feel themselves detached from the perishing world around them. They are a part of the great web of humanity; and Heaven looks upon them as brothers to sinners as well as to saints. The fallen, the erring, and the sinful, Christ’s love embraces; and every deed of kindness done to uplift a fallen soul, every act of mercy, is accepted as done to Him. {DA 638.4}
What is to bring the sinner to the knowledge of his sins unless he knows what sin is? The only definition of sin in the Word of God is given us in 1 John 3:4: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” The sinner must be made to feel that he is a transgressor. Christ dying upon the cross of Calvary is drawing his attention. Why did Christ die? Because it was the only means for man to be saved. He became our substitute and surety. He took upon Himself our sins that He might impute His own righteousness to all who believe in Him. The love of Jesus Christ displayed for man in the sufferings He endured on the cross of Calvary is a mystery even to the angelic host of heaven. Amazing love of the Father to give His Son to die to ransom the sinner! Oh, what love, what inexpressible love! {1888 780.2}
The commandments of God are comprehensive and far reaching; in a few words they unfold the whole duty of man. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:30, 31). In these words the length and breadth, the depth and height, of the law of God is comprehended; for Paul declares, “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). The only definition we find in the Bible for sin is that “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). The Word of God declares, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). Many are deceived concerning the condition of their hearts. They do not realize that the natural heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. They wrap themselves about with their own righteousness, and are satisfied in reaching their own human standard of character; but how fatally they fail when they do not reach the divine standard, and of themselves they cannot meet the requirements of God. {1SM 320.1}
The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it. The words “flesh” or “fleshly” or “carnal lusts” embrace the lower, corrupt nature; the flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God. We are commanded to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. How shall we do it? Shall we inflict pain on the body? No; but put to death the temptation to sin. The corrupt thought is to be expelled. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. All animal propensities are to be subjected to the higher powers of the soul. The love of God must reign supreme; Christ must occupy an undivided throne. Our bodies are to be regarded as His purchased possession. The members of the body are to become the instruments of righteousness. {AH 127.2}
The doctrine we are born sinners is indeed an original sin doctrinal taught by the RC and gives birth to infant baptism if they would be accepted in heaven:
“Original sin is the sin inherited by all humankind from Adam in his humankind from Adam in his disobedience of God’s command not to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge”
[http://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/the-original-sin/]
“How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? … It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin “contracted” and not “committed” – a state and not an act”
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm
“Our first parents could not pass on to their children what they themselves no longer possessed, and so all of their descendants are born into a state of separation from God which we call Original Sin.”
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=720
“for as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners.” There is no question here of personal sins, differing in species and number, committed by each one during his life, but of one first sin which was enough to transmit equally to all men a state of sin and the title of sinners.”
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm
In the same way people take the “three statements” and say the Pioneers and EGW taught trinity, so they take those statements “born sinners, all selfishness is sin, Children are prey of the devil” and presume that they taught children are born sinners. Let the reader in context and in totality examine again what the quotes are saying.
Blessings
