Series

Master, the Tempest Is Raging

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“Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

Matthew 8:23–26

You won’t find it in the new Seventh-day Adventist Church Hymnal, but in the old hymnal it is hymn 677. Master, the Tempest is Raging (also titled Peace, be Still) is a song about looking beyond ourselves and our own feeble efforts and putting our faith in the One who made the sea and the wind and who is our Refuge in a time of storm, a Comfort in a time of distress, an Empathizer in a time of loss.

Mary Ann Baker was an American composer and singer born on September 16, 1832. She was very active in her Baptist congregation and well-known for her temperance songs.

She was asked by Dr. H. R. Palmer to compose several songs to go with a series of presentations, in particular, the Bible verses telling how Jesus calmed the tempest.

It hadn’t been long since she had lost both her parents and brother to tuberculosis, and frustrated by the circumstances surrounding her brother’s death, it seems that Master, the Tempest is Raging, was born out of that frustration. I’ll let her tell the story, as she related it to Ira D. Sankey.

“A very dear and only brother, a young man of rare loveliness and promise of character, had been laid in the grave, a victim of the same disease that had already taken father and mother. His death occurred under peculiarly distressing circumstances.

“He was more than a thousand miles away from home, seeking in the balmy air of the sunny South the healing that our colder climate could not give. Suddenly he grew worse. The writer [Mary Ann] was ill and could not go to him.

“For two weeks the long lines of telegraph wires carried back and forth messages between the dying brother and his waiting sisters, ere the word came which told us that our beloved brother was no longer a dweller on the earth.

“Although we mourned not as those without hope, and although I had believed on Christ in early childhood and had always desired to give the Master a consecrated and obedient life, I became wickedly rebellious at this dispensation of divine providence. I said in my heart that God did not care for me or mine. But the Master’s own voice stilled the tempest in my unsanctified heart, and brought it to the calm of a deeper faith and a more perfect trust.”

Dr. Palmer set the words to music, and it has enjoyed appeal among religious schools and churches.

“During the weeks when we kept watch by the bedside of our greatly beloved President Garfield, it was republished as especially appropriate to the time, and was sung at some of the many funeral services held throughout the United States.”

During the 20th century, the hymn gained lasting popularity.

“Suddenly a flash of lightning pierces the darkness, and they see Jesus lying asleep, undisturbed by the tumult. In amazement and despair they exclaim, ‘Master, carest Thou not that we perish?’ … As the lightning’s glare reveals Him, they see the peace of heaven in His face; they read in His glance self-forgetful, tender love, and, their hearts turning to Him, cry, ‘Lord, save us: we perish.’

“Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded. As the disciples grasp their oars to make a last effort, Jesus rises. He stands in the midst of His disciples, while the tempest rages. … He lifts His hand, so often employed in deeds of mercy, and says to the angry sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ … As Jesus rested by faith in the Father’s care, so we are to rest in the care of our Saviour.” Lift Him Up, 57

Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish?
How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threatening
A grave in the angry deep?

Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today;
The depths of my sad heart are troubled
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o’er my sinking soul;
And I perish! I perish! dear Master
Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,
The elements sweetly rest;
Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
And heaven’s within my breast;
Linger, O blessed Redeemer!
Leave me alone no more;
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,
And rest on the blissful shore.

Refrain

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!

Fallen, but Not Corrupted

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Though the Bible enjoins us to gather together to worship God (Matthew 18:20), just going to church will not provide all you spiritually need to know. Bible study and prayer, outside of the church setting, is essential every day in order to develop your relationship with Jesus and strengthen your faith. Successful study of the many topics of the Bible is dependent upon being willing to allow the Holy Spirit to show you what truth is.

“An understanding of Bible truth depends not so much on the power of intellect brought to the search as on the singleness of purpose, the earnest longing after righteousness.

“The Bible should never be studied without prayer. The Holy Spirit alone can cause us to feel the importance of those things easy to be understood or prevent us from wresting truths difficult of comprehension. …

“We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided. Our own future well-being and also the salvation of other souls depend upon the course which we now pursue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth. … We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. We have not a moment to lose.” Reflecting Christ, 116

Too many, including Adventist ministers and laymen, while studying a particular subject, conclude and then doggedly dig in on what they believe to be true rather than on what the Holy Spirit might be trying to show them. It is essential that, before opening the Bible or Spirit of Prophecy to study a subject, that we ask the Holy Spirit to give us open minds and hearts to what He will show us.

Mrs. White addresses this determined refusal to accept evidence of something other than what a person, after their own study of a subject, has decided is truth. Let’s look at this in the context of our ongoing study of the nature of Christ.

The following is a well-known quotation, a favorite of revivalist Adventist preachers when speaking on Christ’s human nature.

“It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam, He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.” The Desire of Ages, 49

All will agree that, based on evidence found in the Bible and Inspiration, the Son of God took man’s nature. We have already studied that in relation to humanity, there are two different meanings to the word nature. Nature can be used to mean humanity in general, or it can be used to mean a single individual. When speaking of humanity, nature is referring to the physical aspects of man’s being. But if you are speaking of an individual, nature refers to the disposition or condition of his mind, therefore, his character.

When Mrs. White says that the Son of God took man’s nature, that He accepted humanity, she is speaking of humanity in general, therefore, the aspects of Christ’s nature under discussion in the above paragraph is His physical nature and not the disposition of His mind or His character. Jesus’ physical nature was “weakened by four thousand years of sin,” just as is the physical nature of all humans.

The word weakened means to “lessen the strength of or to deprive of strength or debilitate or to enfeeble.” This would be a common aspect of both man’s and Jesus’ physical nature.

“Sin is the cause of physical degeneration; sin has blighted the race, and introduced disease, misery, and death.” Pacific Health Journal, February 1, 1902

The word degeneration means “growing worse or losing good qualities from the virtue or worth of ancestors, a decay of the natural good qualities of the species, a falling from a more excellent state to one of less worth either in the natural or the moral world.” In the natural world, plants and animals degenerate when something grows to less its normal size or loses some of the valuable qualities that belongs to its species. In the moral world, man degenerates when he declines in virtue or other good qualities.

“Earthly treasures must pass away; but nobility of character, moral worth, will endure forever.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 69

Returning to the article found in the Pacific Health Journal, February 1, 1902, we find a detailed explanation of the effects of sin.

“Since the fall, the tendency of the race has been continually downward, the effects of sin becoming more marked with every successive generation. But so great was the vitality with which man was endowed that the patriarchs from Adam to Noah, with a few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. …

“Since the flood, the average length of life has been decreasing. Had Adam possessed no greater physical force than men now have, the race would before this have become extinct.”

Each generation of man has physically degenerated more and more as a consequence of sin. When Jesus took on humanity and accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity, He accepted the physical degeneration, but He did not take on the condition of our moral (spiritual) nature, one that was defiled with sin.

“Christ who knew not the least moral taint or defilement of sin, took our nature in its deteriorated condition.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 115

Remember, when man sinned in the garden of Eden, his character was no longer governed by the principles of righteousness on which God’s laws are based. His character, instead, became subject to the principles of selfishness, which is the basis for everything the devil does. Jesus’ body and all the other physical aspects of humanity were subject to the degeneration caused by sin. Unlike man’s moral nature which is selfish, Christ’s moral nature is pure.

As a practical example, a person might have dark brown hair, but with a little help from their hairdresser, they can change the color to red. Now, is that person no longer a brown-haired person? What happens as the hair begins to grow out? While the part of the hair that was colored is still red, the new-growth hair is still dark brown. That’s the way it is with our nature and sin. We are selfish by nature, and we can do as many good things as we can, we can even repent and ask the Holy Spirit to transform us, however, being selfish is still what the natural man is inside. Except Jesus wasn’t. His moral nature, His character, was completely free from sin.

“By taking upon Himself man’s nature in its fallen condition, Christ did not in the least participate in its sin.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 17, 25.

He took man’s ruined physical condition, his fallen nature (referring to man in general), but He did not in the least participate in the sin, nor was His moral nature (referring to an individual) selfish.

Remember, what we have studied previously regarding Christ’s nature. The foundation of Satan’s government is selfishness. “All sin is selfishness.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 3, 331. But Jesus came to this world as the embodiment, the physical representation, of God’s law. His every word, action, and thought were an outworking of God’s law. Jesus’ moral nature was righteous. God was with man in the person of His Son. Sin cannot exist where God is, so Jesus could not have had our selfish nature. And anyone who digs in and insists that Christ had our moral nature (referring to an individual), is saying He was selfish and sinful like us. Neither the Bible nor the Spirit of Prophecy supports this.

“He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God. … He was God while upon earth, but He divested Himself of the form of God … . He walked the earth as a man.

“He humbled Himself, and took mortality upon Him. As a member of the human family He was mortal, but as a God He was the Fountain of life to the world.” The Review and Herald, July 5, 1887

“He might have helped His human nature to withstand the inroads of disease by pouring from His divine nature vitality and undecaying vigor to the human. But He humbled Himself to man’s nature.” Ibid.

“The divine nature, combined with the human, made Him capable of yielding to Satan’s temptations. Here the test to Christ was far greater than that of Adam and Eve, for Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182, 183

He came to share our sorrows and temptations. Isaiah described Him as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. What is the cause of our sorrow? Sin is the source of our sorrow. Inspiration says that Jesus came with such a heredity, and, according to the 1828 dictionary, the word such means “the same as what has been mentioned.” He came as a member of the human race to show them how, though ruined by sin, to live a sinless life.

“The human nature of Christ was like unto ours, and suffering was more keenly felt by Him; for His spiritual nature was free from every taint of sin. Therefore His desire for the removal of suffering was stronger than human beings can experience. How intense was the desire of the humanity of Christ to escape the displeasure of an offended God, how His soul longed for relief, is revealed in the words, ‘O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.’ ” The Signs of the Times, December 9, 1897

Take just a moment to consider this: Jesus came to this world in a body ruined by the effects of sin, all the while His moral nature was holy and righteous. Imagine how Jesus suffered! A holy gift, wrapped in a degraded package.

Jesus, for our sake, became a real man; one who could suffer our kinds of temptation, who sought relief from the suffering that was imposed upon Him because of our sins.

God’s prophet links the sorrows and temptations of Jesus to the expression “the likeness of sinful flesh,” thereby explaining more fully what Paul meant when he wrote Romans 8:3. “Christ, the second Adam came in the likeness of sinful flesh. In man’s behalf, he became subject to sorrow, to weariness, to hunger, and to thirst. He was subject to temptation, but he yielded not to sin. No taint of sin was upon Him.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 141, 142

The taint of sin is the natural selfishness of sin that the first Adam, the father of the race, entailed upon all his posterity. Yielding to temptation is committing sin. Jesus did not, by any word, action, or thought, commit sin nor was His spiritual nature tainted with sin.

“In His earthly life, Jesus of Nazareth differed from all other men. His entire life was characterized by disinterested benevolence and the beauty of holiness. In His bosom existed the purest love, free from every taint of selfishness and sin. From the beginning of His ministry, men began more clearly to comprehend the character of God.” The Signs of the Times, September 23, 1908

After four thousand years of sin, Jesus took upon Himself the physical degeneration of the race that He might know what it is like to experience the sorrow that I experience, the weariness that I experience, the hunger that I experience, the thirst that I experience, and even the death that I will experience. And while suffering all these miserable things, He was tempted, in every way, like we are, yet He did not sin.

Paul discusses these things in detail in Hebrews. “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.’ ” Hebrews 10:5

When God sent His Son into the world, He came in a body especially prepared in the likeness of sinful flesh—both physically and mentally. “So Christ was to come in ‘the body of our humiliation’ (Philippians 3:21, R. V.), ‘in the likeness of men.’ In the eyes of the world He possessed no beauty that they should desire Him; yet He was the incarnate God, the light of heaven and earth. His glory was veiled, His greatness and majesty were hidden, that He might draw near to sorrowful, tempted men.” The Desire of Ages, 23

This inspired reference “the likeness of men” is found in Philippians 2:7. The word likeness is the same word used in Romans 8:3. His moral nature is also described in this short paragraph. Mrs. White also writes that Jesus was the incarnate God. The word incarnate means “in the flesh.” Jesus was God in the flesh. This is what Paul is talking about when he wrote, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16, first part. Mrs. White is saying here that Jesus was still God even though He was a man. She describes the incarnate God as the light of heaven and earth. “I am the light of the world.” John 8:12

Jesus was first the light of heaven, but when He took man’s nature, His light, the outward manifestation of His glory, was veiled, completely hidden from man’s sight. Mrs. White wrote that it would have been an almost infinite humiliation for Christ to take man’s nature when Adam stood in innocence in Eden. (See The Desire of Ages, 49.) This has a special significance. “The white robe of innocence was worn by our first parents when they were placed by God in holy Eden. They lived in perfect conformity to the will of God. All the strength of their affections was given to their heavenly Father. A beautiful soft light, the light of God, enshrouded the holy pair.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 310, 311. Adam and Eve did not need physical clothing. The robe of light that surrounded them was a symbol of their spiritual nature: pure, holy, and righteous innocence.

“Had they remained true to God it would ever have continued to enshroud them.” Ibid., 311. This robe of light that enshrouded the holy pair was a symbol of their inward spiritual condition of innocence. Jesus also wore this white robe, this garment of innocence, but it was veiled. He lived in perfect conformity to the will of His Father, just as Adam and Eve first did in the garden of Eden. All the strength of His affection was given to His heavenly Father.

What happened to the beautiful, soft light that enshrouded the holy pair when they sinned? “But when sin entered, they severed their connection with God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments … .” Ibid. Interestingly, though they were able to fashion for themselves fig-leaf garments, they were still ashamed to appear before God. No longer enshrouded by their heavenly garments, they were naked, deprived of the godly dignity they had worn both inwardly and outwardly, they were humiliated, degraded, and ashamed.

The light that surrounded the holy pair prior to their fall was only a reflection of the far greater light that surrounded God. For Jesus to have taken even this garment of light would have been an infinite humiliation for He is the light of heaven, the source of all light, far surpassing every other light.

“With His divinity clothed with humanity, He stood before the people, presenting to them their true condition.” The Review and Herald, July 17, 1900

It is important that we read carefully what the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy say about Jesus’ nature. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, not in sinful flesh. Sinful flesh represents the carnal mind. Likeness means “in the form of.” Likeness is not sameness. Jesus did not come with a carnal mind. He came in the likeness of the physical nature of man so that He would be able to suffer, as we do, misery and death while being tempted. However, it should be noted that the physical aspect of His human nature does not deny the reality of the part that His human mental and spiritual nature also played in His suffering.

“He had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with our own nature, except without the taint of sin. A human body, a human mind, with all the peculiar properties, He was bone, brain, and muscle.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182. The taint of sin is the naturally carnal mind that we inherit from Adam. The human spiritual nature of Christ was free from every taint of sin, however, every single son and daughter of Adam inherits the carnal mind from him and the condition of the spiritual nature of the natural man is described as “By nature we are alienated from God.” Steps to Christ, 43. This is our natural nature.

Was Jesus by nature alienated from God? It would be blasphemy to say that.

“The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: ‘Dead in trespasses and sins;’ ‘the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;’ ‘no soundness in it.’ We are held fast in the snare of Satan, ‘taken captive by him at his will.’ God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him.” Ibid. That may sound harsh, but friends, there is no other way to be saved except to be completely transformed. Transformation comes only by an utterly complete surrender to God because He doesn’t use force.

Putting together everything we have studied to this point, we find that when God sent His own Son in the likeness, the form of sinful flesh, He came in the body of our humiliation. He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity after four thousand years of sin. Sin is the cause of physical degeneration, misery, and death. He was found in the external condition of our nature in its deteriorated condition, able to share our sorrows and temptations.

There are many Adventist people who changed the words of scripture and substituted the word same for the word likeness in Romans 8:3. As a result, many Adventist ministers have said that Jesus came in sinful flesh. For more than 40 years, I have researched the Spirit of Prophecy to find even a single quotation by Mrs. White that says that Jesus came in sinful flesh. I have found not one scripture, not one statement of Inspiration that says He came in sinful flesh. Those who change the words of the Scriptures and say that Jesus took the same sinful flesh that we have, are unwittingly saying that Jesus took a carnal mind. This is blasphemy. Christ’s nature was “fallen, but not corrupted” mentally or spiritually. (See Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182.)

“Jesus Christ is our example in all things. He began life, passed through its experiences, and ended its record, with a sanctified human will. He was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet because He kept His will surrendered and sanctified, He never bent in the slightest degree toward the doing of evil, or toward manifesting rebellion against God.” The Signs of the Times, October 29, 1894

Jesus began life with a sanctified human will and kept it sanctified. He never had our natural bent to evil, no tendencies or propensities, inherent or cultivated, toward sin as some people have taught.

Friends, the plan of salvation is not just about forgiveness. Jesus Christ came to this world and became one flesh with us in order that we, by being united to Him, might become one spirit with Him. That is the experience that everyone must have if they are going to be in the kingdom of heaven.

The apostle John wrote, “We know that when He appears we will be like Him.” 1 John 3:2

Peter wrote, “Unto us are given exceedingly great and precious promises, that you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4

Everyone who is taken to heaven will be a partaker of the divine nature. Everyone will reflect the light of Jesus’ character. Everyone will be wearing His robe of righteousness.

“The salvation of the human soul requires the will power to be subject to the divine will power, which will can’t be forced, but there must be cooperation of the human and divine agencies.

“Man cannot possibly work out his own salvation without the ordained divine power, and God will not do for man that which He requires man shall do for himself, through his own earnest willing cooperation. …

“The Lord has in His heavenly counsels set forth methods and agencies whereby His grace shall be at work through various influences for the saving of the soul of the sinner. But all these facilities will be ineffectual and powerless without the sinner’s consent … . It is a united work, a union of the divine and human, dependent upon grace, and concurring with grace in willing obedience.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 332

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Likeness is not Sameness

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The book of Romans, written by Paul—the greatest theologian of the apostles—is the most systematic and complete explanation of how a person is saved. In it, Paul begins building a case for the salvation of man in the very first chapter, point by point, each chapter tightly connected to the chapter before it.

Romans 6 is about the beginning of the Christian life, when a person is baptized, laying the foundation for Romans 7, which lays the foundation for Romans 8. It is essential, when studying Romans, to study chapters 6, 7, and 8 together as they are very tightly connected. Do not let chapter or verse divisions rob you of the flow of the text as the author meant for it to be studied.

Romans 8:3 is a pivotal text, connecting everything before and after it. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” If a person takes a surface reading of this verse, it is actually possible to use the text to commit a fatal error regarding the righteousness of Christ that robs Him of His glory and His divinity and, I believe, unintentionally, ascribing to His humanity a carnal nature. Friends, Jesus did not have a carnal nature.

As we have studied previously in Scripture, the term sinful flesh refers to the sinful or carnal nature. You will recall that Paul says in verse 7 that this sinful flesh, the one that Adam entailed upon all of his posterity when he sinned in the garden of Eden, cannot keep God’s law.

“Because the carnal mind [flesh] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

The word likeness can mean more than one thing. For example, you can be referring to a physical, mental, or spiritual likeness, or a likeness of disposition. Those are very different things. There are many Adventists who think that the word likeness in this verse means sameness because of the root word Homos. They say that Jesus came in sinful flesh, but the scripture does not say that; it says that He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. They teach that likeness means sameness quoting all kinds of statements. Searching for over 40 years, I have not found a single Spirit of Prophecy reference in which Mrs. White says that Jesus came in sinful flesh.

We must understand the root word. The Greek Lexicon gives us the meaning of the Greek words that are a takeoff or modification of the root word Homos. They are: homou, homoios, homoioo, and homoioma.

Homou means “in the same place, or together,” as in people living in the same house. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Corinthians 5:1. The following statement will help to explain when Paul writes about this earthly house, this tent. “There is not one in a thousand, married or unmarried, who realizes the importance of purity of habits, in preserving cleanliness of the body and purity of thought. Sickness and disease is the sure consequence of disobedience to nature’s laws, and neglect of the laws of life and health. It is the house in which we live that we need to preserve, that it may do honor to God, who has redeemed us. We need to know how to preserve the living machinery, that our soul, body, and spirit may be consecrated to His service.” The Kress Collection, 45. Notice, Mrs. White is talking about maintaining cleanliness of body and then about the house in which we live, our physical body.

“Every mother should see that her children understand their own bodies, and how to care for them. … We are God’s workmanship, and His word declares that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.’ He has prepared this living habitation for the mind; it is ‘curiously wrought,’ a temple which the Lord Himself has fitted up for the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 425, 426. Inspiration uses several different phrases—tabernacle, temple, house, living machinery, and living habitation—to represent the body.

If the body represents the house in which we live, then the mind represents the man, the person, the character, the mind that lives in the house. The root word for likeness means the same in the sense of the same place, living together in one house; the man and his mind living together in his body.

Homoios is the first modification of the root word Homos. It means “similar in appearance, resembling, having a like form or appearance.” The word similar in English means “two things that resemble each other but are not exactly alike or identical.” Things perfectly similar in their nature must be of the same essence, or homogeneous, but generally we understand the word similar to denote a likeness that is not perfect. The word similar does not generally mean exactly the same. For example, we say a person looks like his brother or his father. They have a similar physical nature, such as in features or form, but they are not perfectly identical.

“Had Christ come in His divine form, humanity could not have endured the sight. The contrast would have been too painful, the glory too overwhelming. Humanity could not have endured the presence of one of the pure, bright angels from glory; therefore Christ took not on Him the nature of angels; He came in the likeness of men.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 1131

Likeness can also refer to a similarity in character. For example, “Your imagination was not given you to be allowed to run riot and have its own way without any effort at restraint or discipline. If the thoughts are wrong the feelings will be wrong, and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, 310

Moral character is the combination of thoughts and feelings, but notice, Mrs. White links the word imagination with the thoughts as playing a key role in the moral character. When the Scriptures talk about character, very often they use the word imagination. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. This describes man’s character. The imagination produces thoughts and thoughts combined with feelings produce character. “And the Lord said, ‘Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates [imagination] of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,’ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.’ ” Jeremiah 9:13–15

“The natural, selfish mind, as it exists in its carnal state, acts without reference to God, and is evil, and only evil, continually.” The Signs of the Times, June 22, 1888. The natural, selfish mind is evil, and only evil. The imagination of the heart is only evil because when man sinned, he forsook God’s law of love, and became carnal, embracing Satan’s law of selfishness.

A dictionary definition of the English word character, not the Greek word kharaktēr which is very similar in meaning, is “the peculiar qualities impressed by nature or habit on a person which distinguish him from others.” These constitute real character, and the qualities which he is supposed to possess constitute his estimated character or reputation. Hence, we say, a character is not formed when the person has not acquired stable and distinctive qualities. There is probably not a single Adventist who would knowingly say that Jesus possessed the same character as fallen humanity possesses. But there are many who are deceived regarding the qualities impressed on His human nature, and unwittingly or unknowingly say that He did have the same character. If that were true, then He would have a carnal mind.

The Greek word homoioo is a second modification of the root word Homos which means “to assimilate or compare” or “to set or bring things together in fact or in contemplation and to examine the relations they bear to each other with a view to ascertain their agreement or disagreement.” For example, to compare two pieces of cloth or two tables or two coins, to compare reasons and arguments, to compare pleasure with pain. In the definition of the word used as a verb to compare there are two parts. In the first part, things are brought together in fact or in mind. In the second part, the purpose is to determine their agreement or their disagreement. To assimilate means to “bring to a likeness, that is, to cause to resemble or to convert into a like substance.”

Something that is assimilated is made to resemble something else. To resemble means “to have the likeness, to bear the similitude of something, either in form, figure, or qualities.” One man may resemble another in features and he may resemble a third person in temperament or deportment. Can you see that these are two completely different things? If you resemble someone else in features, the resemblance is of a physical nature, the definition of nature when it refers to the human race in general, a physical manifestation of God’s creation. But if you resemble someone in temper, you resemble that person in disposition of mind, especially regarding passions or affections, which means to resemble that person in character.

The third modification of Homos is the Greek word homoioma meaning “likeness.” The word likeness can mean the following:

  1. Resemblance in form or similitude. These two look alike. Or the reproduction of a painting that looks like the original.
  2. Resemblance in form or external appearance such as the expression “guard against an enemy in the likeness of a friend,” or “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
  3. Resemblance of another as a copy or a counterpart.
  4. Resemblance in an image, picture, or statue, a person or a thing.

Paul uses the word homoioma in Romans 8:3 and in Philippians 2:5–8, which is one of the most sublime and profound scriptures in all the New Testament. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Paul uses several words that help us to clarify and pinpoint exactly what he is meaning when he uses the word likeness—for example, the word form.

Figuratively using the word form, Paul is speaking in relation to human nature. Paul said that Jesus took the form, the shape, the physical nature of a servant and was made in the likeness, or in the form, of men. Then he says that He took the fashion of a man. The Greek word translated fashion can mean to “make into a particular or the required form.” Mrs. White, referencing Philippians 2:6, 7, last part, and most of verse 8, explains what they mean. “He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God.” The Review and Herald, September 4, 1900

When Jesus appeared in human flesh, He was God. The gospels record in several places that people fell down and worshiped Him and He accepted that worship. It would be blasphemy for any human being to accept worship, but though He was a human being, Jesus was also God. Therefore it was right that He accepted their worship. “He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God. He veiled the demonstrations of Deity, which had commanded the homage, and called forth the admiration of the universe of God. He was God while upon earth, but he divested Himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of a man.” Ibid. He divested Himself of the form of God and took the physical form and external condition of man.

“Jesus was the commander of heaven, one equal with God, and yet He condescended to lay aside His kingly crown, his royal robe, and clothed His divinity with humanity. The incarnation of Christ in human flesh is a mystery. He could have come to earth as One with a remarkable appearance, unlike the sons of men. His countenance could have shone with glory, and His form could have been of remarkable grace. He could have presented such an appearance as to charm the beholder; but this was not according to the plan devised in the courts of God.” The Signs of the Times, July 30, 1896

“He was to bear the characteristics of the human family, and the Jewish race.” Ibid. The woman at the well recognized Him immediately as a Jew. “In all respects the Son of God was to wear the same features as did other human beings. He was not to have such beauty of person as would make Him singular among men.” Ibid.

People were not going to be attracted to Christ because of some physical superiority or beauty that He had more than other people. “He was to manifest no wonderful charms by which to attract attention to Himself.” Ibid. So Inspiration clearly teaches that the word likeness in relation to the humanity of Christ is referring to His physical nature.

“It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin.” The Desire of Ages, 49. This statement is, of all in the Spirit of Prophecy, used by Adventist ministers to prove that the likeness of sinful flesh means the same sinful flesh.

Mrs. White describes Adam as being twice as tall as men now living upon the earth and Eve as coming up to just above Adam’s shoulder in height. Looking at a man proportionate to his height, in this case 12 feet, scientists have estimated that Adam likely weighed about 2,500 pounds, and Eve weighed about 1,700 pounds. The fastest man alive today can only run approximately 28 miles per hour over 100 meters. But given the volume of his lungs and the capacity of his heart, it is believed that Adam could run 70 miles per hour. Adam was innocent and his complexion was “ruddy, glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was … very beautiful.” Last Day Events, 292

It would have been an almost infinite humiliation if Christ had taken Adam’s human nature when fresh from His creative hand. But no, He took instead man’s nature after 4,000 years of degradation and sin. As a man, Jesus couldn’t run 70 miles per hour and as a Jew, He was not even six feet tall. Instead, “Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.” The Desire of Ages, 49

I cannot comprehend or imagine why the King of glory, the One who not only created the universe and upheld it by the word of His power, who determines the eternal destiny of every creature of the universe, chose to come to this world and accept human nature, and chose to become a human being weakened by 4,000 years of sin. It is the second most incomprehensible mystery, after the cross. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations. Don’t ever feel that Jesus cannot understand exactly what your sorrow or temptation is.

Friends, Mrs. White is clear that the Son of God took man’s nature. In relation to humanity, there are two different meanings of the word nature—one referring to the race in general and the other to an individual of the race. Nature in reference to the race in general is referring to the physical aspect of man’s being. Nature in reference to an individual is referring to the disposition or condition of his mind and therefore his character.

When God’s prophet said Jesus took man’s nature, his humanity, she is speaking of the race in general. Therefore, we have been discussing His physical nature and not the disposition of His mind or His character.

There is, however, much more evidence that we need to examine from the Spirit of Prophecy, comparing each inspired statement with another to be sure that we do not twist the scriptures or Inspiration regarding Christ’s coming to be in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

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“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us; and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Micah 7:18, 19

It is said that O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus was written by Samuel Trevor Francis as a personal testimony after nearly committing suicide as a teenager by jumping from London’s Hungerford Bridge into the Thames River. While there is little evidence to corroborate the story, the hymn itself still stands as a reminder of God’s sustaining, powerful, and immeasurable love.

Francis compares Jesus’ love to the ocean, exemplifying the vastness, unchanging, and sacrificial nature of God’s love for all humanity. The ocean is the largest thing on earth, its deepest point being deeper than the highest mountain on earth. Yet, God’s love is deeper still. We can stand at any point on the coast, and see just a small fraction of it. The ocean is vast, but has its boundaries. God’s love, however, is boundless and free.

We sing of the love of the Father who sent His Son as a sacrifice to redeem us, and who now is interceding on our behalf.

There are several tunes associated with Francis’ words, but the most common is a minor melody in 4/4 time written by Bob Kauflin.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free,
rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me
is the current of Your love,
leading onward, leading homeward
to Your glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus.
Spread His praise from shore to shore,
how He came to pay our ransom
through the saving cross He bore;
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
those He died to make His own;
How for them He’s interceding,
pleading now before the throne.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
far surpassing all the rest.
It’s an ocean full of blessing
in the midst of every test.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
mighty Saviour, precious Friend.
You will bring us home to glory,
where Your love will never end.

Sources: hymnary.org/text/o-the-deep-deep-love-of-jesus; Wikipedia.org/wiki/O_the_Deep_Deep_Love_of_Jesus

The Greatest Battle Ever Fought

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“Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.”

1 Timothy 3:16

That mystery is so great that even when you get to heaven you will not understand all about it. Mrs. White says that it will ever be a mystery and the subject of study throughout eternity, and yet we need to understand as much as we can about it in this world.

The apostle Paul speaks about the great mystery of godliness in Colossians 1:26, 27: “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” What is the glory of Christ? In 1892, Ellen White wrote this sentence: “The glory of God is His character, and to us it is manifest in Christ.” The Present Truth, December 29, 1892. The riches of His glory are the riches of His character manifested in the life of Christ.

“It was through Satan’s misrepresentation of God’s character that man was led to doubt the reality of His love, and came to look upon God as his enemy. As Satan had done in heaven, so he did on earth—declared God’s government unjust, the restrictions of His law unnecessary, and bade man, as he had angels, to throw aside the yoke and let the dictates of their own nature be their only guide and law. He promised liberty; but as he himself is the servant of corruption, he brought the race into bondage, to sin, misery, and death. He represented God as claiming all and giving nothing, as requiring men’s service for His own glory, but denying Himself nothing for man’s good.” The Signs of the Times, February 13, 1893. Satan presented lies and deceptive reasoning to the mind of man to entice him to disobedience. He lied about God’s character, and he reasoned that God’s government was unjust and restricting. He uses the same deceit and lies still today.

What is the relationship between God’s character and His government? “God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. The living God has given in His holy law a transcript of His character. The greatest Teacher the world has ever known is Jesus Christ; and what is the standard He has given for all who believe in Him? ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Matthew 5:48. As God is perfect in His high sphere of action, so man may be perfect in his human sphere.

“The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 365

“The law of God [the transcript of His character] is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, and as long as the follower of Jesus imitates his Lord by exalting the divine precepts in word and life, Satan has no power to deceive or mislead his soul.” The Signs of the Times, March 30, 1888

Satan entices men by lying to them regarding God’s law, His character and love, and if he is successful in persuading the very elect to believe his lies, then they will be indifferent to their high calling in Christ Jesus and fail to be filled with all the fullness of God’s love.

What is our high calling really? Paul said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Our high calling is in Christ. “Let it never be forgotten that the teacher must be what he desires his pupils to become.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 58. Was Christ what He desired His pupils to become? Yes, He was. His divine nature combined with His human flesh were a perfect representation of what we are and what we, by striving to develop a character like His, can become.

“He was the embodiment of the law of God.” The Signs of the Times, November 15, 1899. The embodiment of the law of God is “the transcript of His character.” Ibid. It is God’s purpose that your life will become an embodiment of the law of God. That is our high calling.

But we have an enemy. Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. Satan does not want you to become an embodiment of the law of God, and he uses enticements and deceptive promises to lure men and women into sin.

What is the purpose of temptation? Many people who are tempted ask, “If God is all powerful, wise, and loving, why does He allow this?” “Our heavenly Father sees the hearts of men, and He knows their characters better than they themselves know them. He sees that some have susceptibilities and powers, which, directed in the right channel, might be used to His glory to aid in the advancement of His work. He puts these persons on trial and in His wise providence brings them into different positions.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 84, 85

People think they are in charge of their own lives. But it is by way of temptation that we can know who is truly in control of our lives. God places His children “… under a variety of circumstances, testing them that they may reveal what is in their hearts and the weak points in their characters which have been concealed from their own knowledge.” Ibid., 85

Notice two points. God allows these temptations to reveal what is in a person’s heart, and to reveal the weak points in their character. We often do not know what is truly in our own hearts, nor what our weaknesses are. Temptations come and reveal to us what we did not know about ourselves.

“He [God] gives them opportunities to correct these weaknesses.” Ibid. As long as we have breath, God gives us opportunity to see and correct our weaknesses. Upon recognizing that there is something in my heart that is out of harmony with God’s law, I must surrender myself to the sovereignty of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Surrendering myself and asking that a miracle be performed to change my heart requires that I cooperate and do my part.

“He gives them opportunities to correct these weaknesses, to polish off the rough corners of their natures, and to fit themselves for His service … . He in mercy reveals their hidden defects, that they may look within and examine critically the complicated emotions and exercises of their own hearts, and detect that which is wrong; thus they may modify their dispositions and refine their manners. The Lord in His providence brings men where He can test their moral powers and reveal their motives of action, that they may improve what is right in themselves and put away that which is wrong.” Ibid.

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:34, last part, 35

“The heart must be diligently searched as with a lighted candle, that all defects may be seen in the light of the law of God, His standard of character.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 7, 179

“All defects of character originate in the heart.” The Review and Herald, September 1, 1885. Pride, vanity, evil temper, covetousness, they all proceed from the carnal heart of flesh, unrenewed by the grace of Christ. “Never should we lower the standard of righteousness in order to accommodate inherited or cultivated tendencies to wrong-doing.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 330. We have both inherited and cultivated tendencies to sin, but we are not to lower God’s standard to accommodate what we are. “We need to understand that imperfection of character is sin.” Ibid.

God allows temptations in our lives that we might see the defects and imperfections in our characters, that we might repent of and confess these sins—not only to be forgiven, but also to be cleansed from all unrighteousness.

“The purification of the people of God cannot be accomplished without their suffering.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 85. It is impossible to be purified without going through this process. “God permits the fires of affliction to consume the dross, to separate the worthless from the valuable, that the pure metal may shine forth. He passes us from one fire to another.” Ibid. Has this been your experience—rejoicing as you walk out of one fire, only to walk into another one?

“God’s work of refining and purifying must go on until His servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that, when called into active service, their eye will be single to His glory. He will then accept their efforts; they will not move rashly, from impulse; they will not rush on and imperil the Lord’s cause, being slaves to temptations and passions and followers of their own carnal minds set on fire by Satan. Oh, how fearfully is the cause of God marred by man’s perverse will and unsubdued temper! How much suffering he brings upon himself by following his own headstrong passions! God brings men over the ground again and again.” Ibid., 86

When you are in trouble, God does not give up on you. He brings another test. It may be harder, the circumstances a bit different, but it is necessary that you successfully pass each test until your character has been purified and is ready for heaven. “God brings men over the ground again and again, increasing the pressure until perfect humility and a transformation of character bring them into harmony with Christ and the spirit of heaven, and they are victors over themselves.” Ibid.

Let’s review the purposes of temptation:

  1. to reveal the hidden things in my own heart that I did not see before;
  2. to reveal the weak points in my character;
  3. so that the dross of selfishness can be separated from the true gold and silver of Christian character;
  4. that I might be purified;
  5. that I might reflect the radiance of divine love and be filled with all the fullness of God.

When these purposes are accomplished, then we are ready for the marriage supper. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” Revelation 19:7, 8

The second coming of Christ is drawing nearer every day. God’s church must be pure and perfect so that she can make a full and final display of God’s grace, mercy, and love. But can I make a full and final display of these things if they are not a part of my character? It is impossible.

God’s last day church, every member, must have a character that displays His grace, mercy, and love in order that she might be pure and perfect in these last days.

The Role of Desire in Temptation

“Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. He is turned away from the course of virtue and real good by following his own inclinations.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 623. The dictionary definition of inclinations is “a propensity or a disposition more favorable to one thing than to another.” Inclination has to do with desire, love, affection, regard for, and disposition of mind. By following our own inclinations, we find ourselves, too often, in trouble.

James says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:13–15. “Feeling the terrible power of temptation, the drawing of desire that leads to indulgence, many a man cries in despair, ‘I cannot resist evil.’ ” The Ministry of Healing, 174. She calls it the terrible power of temptation, the drawing of desire. “Tell him that he can, that he must resist.” Ibid.

Friend, if you want to go to heaven, whatever the temptation is, no matter how terrible it is, you can and you must resist, calling upon the Lord to help you. Desire is not only the power of temptation, it is the terrible power of temptation.

There is a particular desire that dwells within the heart of every man, woman, and child, and it plays a vital role in temptation. “It is because selfishness exists in our hearts that temptation has power over us.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 118. Temptation has power over me because there is selfishness in my heart.

“Selfishness is the root of all evil.” Evangelism, 633

“Selfishness is sin.” The Signs of the Times, April 13, 1891

“Selfishness is the strongest and most general of human impulses, the struggle of the soul between sympathy and covetousness is an unequal contest; for while selfishness is the strongest passion, love and benevolence are too often the weakest, and as a rule the evil gains the victory.” The Review and Herald, December 7, 1886. Notice, Inspiration links selfishness with covetousness.

“The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the change can never be wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness. By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: ‘Dead in trespasses and sins;’ ‘the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;’ ‘no soundness in it.’ We are held fast in the snare of Satan, ‘taken captive by him at his will.’ … God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him.

“The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness.” Steps to Christ, 43. The terrible power of temptation is the drawing of our natural desires which come from the law of selfishness, the governing principle of Satan’s kingdom. Each and every one of us inherited that selfishness from Adam.

“We have hereditary tendencies to wrong. This is a part of self that no one need carry about. It is a weakness of humanity to pet selfishness, because it is a natural trait of character. But unless all selfishness is put away, unless self is crucified, we can never be holy as God is holy.” The Faith I Live By, 140

“All selfishness is covetousness, and is, therefore, idolatry.” The Review and Herald, May 23, 1907

If there is selfishness in my heart, I am breaking the second commandment in my heart. I’m living with sin within. The Spirit of Prophecy calls these selfish, sinful desires, hereditary tendencies to wrong, defects in my character. Selfishness causes defects in my character, and imperfection of character is sin. All selfishness is condemned by the law of God, and not one of Adam’s posterity has escaped this inheritance. Every single one of us is, by nature, selfish and it is here that Satan has his greatest success.

“Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself, ‘The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.’ ” Ibid., November 8, 1887

Jesus said to the religious rulers of His day, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.” All the evil desires that Satan puts in our heart are sin. “Every tree in Satan’s garden hangs laden with the fruits of vanity, pride, self-importance, evil desire, extravagance—all poisoned fruit, but very gratifying to the carnal heart.” Ibid., December 9, 1884

“In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ presented before His disciples the far-reaching principles of the law of God. He taught His hearers that the law was transgressed by the thoughts before the evil desire was carried out.” Ibid., June 12, 1888

“Until the requirements of the holy law were applied as the rule of life, fallen man could not understand his own guilt, nor realize his condemned, lost condition. Jesus made application of the law directly to the soul, and laid under its jurisdiction the will and desires and works of man.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 9, 235. Our desires are under the jurisdiction of the law of God. Any desire that is out of harmony with the law of God is sin.

The Bible describes sin this way: “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. Figuratively, an imagination is a conception, a purpose that is formed in the mind. Lust is the desire for something that is forbidden. When evil desires or lusts are conceived in the mind, sin is being cherished. When sinful desires are cherished, temptation asserts its power. The word cherish according to the dictionary means “to treat in a manner to encourage growth.” To cherish means to indulge and encourage in the mind. Growth in the Christian life has as much to do with what goes on in the mind as it does with the actions that are a result of our thoughts and desires.

So if the natural desires of man are continually evil, is man destined to commit sin until Jesus comes? Many theologians, including some Adventist theologians, believe that we will.

“We should preserve the strictest chastity in thought, and word, and deportment. Let us remember that God sets our secret sins in the light of His countenance. There are thoughts and feelings suggested and aroused by Satan that annoy even the best of men, but if they are not cherished, if they are repulsed as hateful, the soul is not contaminated with guilt, and no other is defiled by their influence. Oh, that we each might become a savor of life unto life to those around us!” The Review and Herald, March 27, 1888

This quotation makes it clear that while even the best Christian can be tempted, he or she can also resist temptation. Man does not have to sin. Temptation is not sin and therefore, when refusing to yield to temptation, a person, by the power and grace of God, does not sin.

The gospel tells how Jesus wants to deliver me from this evil world, but before He can deliver me from the devil on the outside, He must first deliver me from the devil on the inside. Jesus said, “ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.’ ” Matthew 23:27. What we need is to be cleaned up on the inside and then the outside will be clean.

“Christ desires nothing so much as to redeem His heritage from the dominion of Satan. But before we are delivered from Satan’s power without, we must be delivered from his power within.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 174, 175

If there is any kind of sin in your life, the devil has power to overcome you on the inside. “The Lord permits trials in order that we may be cleansed from earthliness, from selfishness, from harsh, unchristlike traits of character. He suffers the deep waters of affliction to go over our souls in order that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, in order that we may have deep heart longings to be cleansed from defilement, and may come forth from the trial purer, holier, happier. Often we enter the furnace of trial with our souls darkened with selfishness; but if patient under the crucial test, we shall come forth reflecting the divine character. When His purpose in the affliction is accomplished, ‘He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.’ ” Ibid., 175

To summarize the role of desire in temptation:
Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.

  • Naturally-selfish desires are the defects in our characters that readily respond to Satan’s lying promises and deceitful arguments.
  • God does not tempt any man, but He permits us to be tempted so that we may know what is in our heart so that we might have a deep heart-longing to be cleansed from the defilement of sin.

“No one can be omnipotent, but all can cleanse themselves from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. God requires every soul to be pure and holy.” The Faith I Live By, 140. No exceptions.

“By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.” The Desire of Ages, 391

“As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 943

When we yield our will fully to God, our hereditary tendencies to wrong, our sinful desires are cut away and they are replaced by holy desires. “Some seek to control their surroundings, thinking that if they are placed in favorable positions, the bad traits in their character will not be developed. But God orders our surroundings, and He will place us where we shall have test after test, to prove us and to reveal what is in our hearts. Again and again we shall be brought into strait places, that it may be known whether we are indeed crucified with Christ or full of self-love. How will this proving, testing process end with each of us?” The Review and Herald, June 3, 1884

“Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you cannot overcome.” Messages to Young People, 99

“Your only safety is to live like a watchman. Watch and pray always. Oh, what a preventive against yielding to temptation and falling into the snares of the world! …

“Watch, lest evil passions should overcome you, instead of your subduing them.

“Pray. Jesus would not have enjoined this upon you, unless there was actual necessity for it. It is well known to Him that of yourself you cannot overcome the many temptations of the enemy … . He has not left you alone to do this; but has provided a way that you can obtain help.” The Faith I Live By, 224

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Enticements and Desires

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Understanding how we are tempted is helpful in understanding how to overcome temptation. It is important to understand how the devil works and why his temptations are so successful against us. Once we understand that, then we can know how to resist temptation and not yield to them.

“Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires [lusts] and enticed.” James 1:14. Although the New Testament typically uses the word lust to describe a very strong, forbidden and unlawful desire, there are a few times when it is used in a different way. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He used lust to express His strong desire to eat the last supper with them. However, most often, the New Testament uses it to describe a strong, forbidden desire for something unlawful.

There are two elements to temptation—the lust that is common within our own nature and the enticement we experience from an outside source. James is saying, and this is an important point to remember, the lust that is involved when we are tempted is our own lust on the inside. To be enticed is to be seduced, lured, or drawn out. Enticement has to do with craftiness, deceit, guile, or subtlety from the outside, to be seduced by promises or persuasions to do something that is evil.

“Temptations from without find an answering chord within the heart, and the feet slide imperceptibly into sin.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 425. This statement brings together the desire of the heart (the carnal, sinful nature within) and the art of enticement (subtle deceit from without). Enticement meets an answering chord in the sinful nature of man, and the result is that we imperceptibly slide into sin unaware that we are yielding to temptation.

I knew a man who was struggling to quit smoking and hadn’t smoked for many days. But one day, while going through a grocery store checkout, the person ahead of him lit up a cigarette and handed one to him. He took the cigarette, and before he even realized it, had smoked the cigarette half through. The enticement came from the outside when the other man handed him the cigarette, but he responded because of the answering chord that existed within his heart.

The temptation from without is the promise of a liar enticing us to sin, but the responding chord from within is our own desire for something forbidden.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; but an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45. It is in the heart that we find the seat of these lustful desires, the emotions of good or evil. How does Inspiration describe the condition of the heart of man?

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurably wicked. Who can even know it?” Jeremiah 17:9, literal translation.

Moses said, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. Because of the sinful nature of man’s heart, the imagination of the thoughts are evil continually.

The word imagination has to do with a forming of or, figuratively, a conception, something framed in a person’s mind. The imaginations of man’s heart are the conceptions and purposes that are formed or framed in his mind. So Moses, talking about the heart, is referring to the mind in these verses when he talks about the imagination of the heart.

Mrs. White says, regarding the heart and the mind, “What is the new heart? It is the new mind.  What is the mind? It is the will.” Sermons and Talks, Vol. 1, 210. When the word heart is used figuratively, it is generally associated with the things that we love. “The mind controls the whole man. All our actions, good or bad, have their source in the mind.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 426. “The will is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or choice.” Education, 289. These references reveal the role of the mind in relation to the will.

The mind is the link between the heart (what we love) and the will (what we choose to do). When you understand this, then this next quotation makes perfect sense. “Every mind is controlled either by the power of Satan or the power of God.” The General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903

What will happen if Satan is in control of my mind? This is imperceptible to us, so we do not recognize that the intelligence controlling our minds today is not the same as it was in the past, once we experience the “new man” conversion. “Full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Acts 13:10 (KJV)

What will we do if Satan controls our minds? “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.” John 8:44, first part

So, a quick recap of everything we looked at over the last few issues.

When man was created, God was in control of his mind and his nature was pure and holy, governed by the principles of righteousness. But at the Fall, when Adam, the legal representative and father of our race, yielded his allegiance to Satan by eating the forbidden fruit, Satan took control of his mind, and the natural desire of his heart—now governed by the principles of selfishness—was changed. Everything was changed.

The Bible tells us that they immediately began to find fault with each other. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. But they both, by extension, blamed God. Having sinned, the devil now was in control of their minds and immediately there was contention in their paradise home.

“The carnal mind [the fleshly mind] is enmity against God: it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. Notice, it is impossible for the carnal mind to be subject to the law of God. When someone says, “I can’t overcome this,” they are telling the truth. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and therefore, it cannot keep the law of God, no matter how much it might want to.

“Human nature could not keep the law, even if it would. Apart from Christ, without union with Him, we can do nothing.” The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895. The carnal mind is now our natural mind, the same one that every son and daughter of Adam possesses. And why is this mind of man hostile toward God?

“When man sinned all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the satanic nature. The image of God in which he had been created was marred and distorted. The character of man was out of harmony with the character of God; for through sin man became carnal, and the carnal heart is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Ibid., February 13, 1893. When Adam sinned, he became a partaker of the satanic nature, yielding control to Satan, and as a consequence, all of his descendants bear the same.

Inspiration uses heart, mind, and will synonymously. “You need to drink daily at the fountain of truth, that you may understand the secret of pleasure and joy in the Lord. But you must remember that your will is the spring of all your actions. This will, that forms so important a factor in the character of man, was at the Fall given into the control of Satan … .” Testimonies, Vol. 5, 515

Everything that we think, say, and do is formed in and springs from a will, heart, and mind now controlled by Satan. “… And he has ever since been working in man to will and to do of his own pleasure, but to the utter ruin and misery of man.” Ibid. That’s why, speaking to the people of His day, Jesus said, “O generation of vipers. How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34

“As Satan had done in heaven, so he did on earth—declared God’s government unjust, the restrictions of His law unnecessary, and bade men, as he had angels, to throw aside the yoke and let the dictates of their own nature be their only guide and law.” The Signs of the Times, December 15, 1914

This was a scary statement when he made it to the perfect angels in heaven. But then Satan told man, and continues to tell man, to let the dictates of his own nature be his only guide and law. What a terrible delusion! “I decide what to do with my life because I know what’s best for me.” I might believe that I am in control of my life, but in reality, it is Satan who is controlling me.

Satan is subtle and cunning, using deception and craftiness to lead men astray. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” Genesis 3:1, first part. “That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world; he was cast into the earth.” Revelation 12:9. The devil is a liar, a murderer, a deceiver and it is his determined purpose to deceive the whole world.

How does he achieve this? “Satan must deceive in order to lead away. ‘In vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.’ Underhand work must be done; a deceptive influence must be exerted; pretenses must be set forth as truth; suspicion must be lulled to sleep.” The Review and Herald, September 14, 1897

When the enticement comes from the outside and finds a receptive chord inside our mind and heart, temptation comes with overwhelming power. The devil looks into each of our lives to see our strongest desires and weaknesses. The strength of his outside enticement matches the strength of our inward desire, and we are trapped. The devil intimately knows every single one of us. He puts in our hearts the belief that we can overcome it later, but it’s just too hard to do it right now. He tells us that God won’t hold it against us, that He will forgive us, and seeking justification so that we can do what we want to do, we believe what he says.

But when a man decides to serve God, and no longer be controlled by his inward desires and the devil’s outside enticements, the devil changes his tactics from deception to oppression and persecution. “No man can serve God without enlisting against himself evil men and evil angels. Evil angels well know that one soul accepting the truth as it is in Jesus, will by precept and example weaken their hold upon other souls, for the truth is aggressive. Alarmed because he is losing his prey, Satan will first seek to deceive, next to oppress and persecute.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 3, 118

“The way in which Satan tempted Christ, he is today tempting every soul. He seeks to hold men under his reasoning.” The Review and Herald, May 3, 1906. The devil wants to keep you under his control. He first deceives you to believe that you are a terrible sinner, too weak to overcome, that you are lost. He does this to every soul—including you and me.

Imagine a person whose besetting sin is impatience. After decades of expressing impatience in thousands of circumstances, a habit has developed that holds him like chains of steel, impossible for him to break. He will never be free from the sin of impatience unless he is set free by divine power, nor will he be able to be patient without divine aid.

The standard of the gospel is the same for everyone. But the devil is trying to keep us under the control of his deceptive reasoning. A person intends to overcome, but he may say just not right now. He has not reached the point where he can say, “Lord, I want to overcome today.”

Satan has a very special deception for those who proclaim to be followers of Christ. He has deceived even the most educated Adventists into believing that it may be a sin under these circumstances, but in this case, it is not. The world calls that “situation ethics.” “Satan clothes temptation and sin with the garments of righteousness, and by this deception he wins many to his side.” The Review and Herald, September 14, 1897. Reason all you can, but sin is sin no matter what form it may take. There are no circumstances under which we can justify sin to make it right.

I was in a Sabbath School class many years ago when a young man was trying to prove that in certain situations it was all right to tell a lie. I was young myself and not very tactful. I said, “Listen to this.” And I read him this verse: “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil, that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” Romans 3:8

“Through his deception and delusion, Satan would, if possible, deceive the very elect. His is no minor deception. He will seek to annoy, to harass, to falsify, to accuse, and misrepresent all whom he cannot compel to give him honor and help him in his work. His great success lies in keeping men’s minds confused, and ignorant of his devices, for then he can lead the unwary as it were, blindfolded.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 423

You and I must daily ask the Lord to make clear to us the deceptions that the devil has especially prepared for God’s people. It is his determined purpose to keep us under the control of his deceptive reasoning. He intends to raise up false christs and prophets, to show great signs and wonders so that, if it is possible, he might deceive even the elect people of God. We must beware. We need to stay awake or we, too, will be deceived.

“The nearer we come to the close of this earth’s history, the more delusive will be the snares of the enemy. As time passes, his attacks will grow fiercer and more frequent. Satan’s supreme effort is made to ensnare and deceive if possible the very elect—the church and the ministers of Christ.” The Review and Herald, November 14, 1912. Satan is trying everything he can imagine to deceive the members and ministers of the Adventist church. Sadly, he has been too successful.

“With all their ingenuity he and his agencies are working to deceive if possible the very elect. If he can lull them to indifference to their high calling, his triumph is certain.” Ibid. What is my high calling? The promise of the gospel is that God will reproduce the very likeness of Jesus Christ in my mind if I cooperate. Peter said, “Having escaped the corruptions that are in the world through lust you might be partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:4. John says that we can once again be partakers of the divine nature, having a Christlike character (See 1 John 3:2, 3). That is our high calling. If the devil can lull us to be indifferent toward receiving Christ’s likeness in our own character, or deceive us into believing it has already happened when it has not, or convince us that we are okay as we are, then his triumph is certain.

Webster tells us that indifference is a state of mind in which there is no feeling of anxiety or interest in what is presented to it. Satan’s supreme effort is to lull the very elect to indifference to their high calling. And his great success will be in keeping our minds confused and ignorant of his devices. So how important is it for me to know what my high calling is—for me to be awake to my peril and not to be confused or ignorant about the devices of the enemy working against my soul?

Paul said to the Philippians, “Forgetting those things that are behind, pressing toward those things that are before, I press [I urge] toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, last part, 14. To the Colossians he said, “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:26, 27. God has promised that the spiritual image of Christ will be reproduced in every one of His children. I must claim that promise every day in prayer. I see myself as miserable, poor, blind, naked, and completely destitute, but God has promised to reproduce the image of Christ in me, and I can rely on God to keep His word.

Paul continues by saying, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth, and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16–19. “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16

Satan has been misrepresenting the character of God to mankind for 6,000 years. He wants us to doubt and distrust Him. On the one hand, Satan says that God is not loving and merciful, but vengeful; while on the other hand, he posits that if God were loving and merciful, then He would overlook just a little sin. If we fall for the devil’s lies, no matter how they are presented to us, then we will yield to temptation and fall into sin every single time.

I must claim God’s promises, fully surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit, believing that He says what He means and means what He says. Then, through that power, the character of Christ will be reproduced in my character. It won’t matter that I have a fallen human nature where no good thing can be found. It won’t matter that I am assaulted from without by the enticements of the devil or that inside I have an answering chord that strains to respond to them. None of it will matter, because if I surrender and claim the promise, the Lord will work a miracle in my life and I will seek to do His will. I don’t have to be lost.

“You cannot comprehend what a terrible thing it is to be lost. Your conscience has become hardened in sin and transgression and unbelief; but you may, if you will, fall on the Rock Christ Jesus and be broken before it is utterly too late, crying, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me.’ If you do this, God will not leave you to perish. …” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 145

“The whole mind must be molded by the Holy Spirit. Divine power will combine with human effort, when we seek earnestly to be complete in Christ Jesus. The Lord will help everyone who seeks Him with all his heart.” Sons and Daughters of God, 285

“By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature.

“It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which Jesus said He would send into the world, that changes our character into the image of Christ; and when this is accomplished, we reflect, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord.” God’s Amazing Grace, 246

Whatever suggestions Satan may make to keep your soul bound in sin and despair, no matter how much your inner desires may want to respond to his enticements, go to Jesus, the sin-pardoning Saviour, without delay. The Lord, who is mighty to save, will rescue you from the snare of the devil.

“God is faithful who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

How am I Tempted?

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“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15

Is it possible to wrongly divide the word of truth? Paul’s specific wording to rightly divide tells us that God’s word can also be wrongly divided. As we study the subject of the mystery of godliness, we must be careful to rightly divide what we study. The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that this subject will be the study of the saved throughout eternity. In its completeness, it is a subject that is meant to be a mystery to us, but there are things that we can study and understand, and God means for us to study and rightly divide what He has revealed in His word.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

So Paul is saying that to understand the deep things of God, we must wholly and continually rely upon the Holy Spirit to make plain that which we cannot grasp with our human mind. This has led to great debate and controversy in the Adventist church regarding the human nature of Christ.

One of the most wonderful verses in all of Scripture is found in Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.” However, this verse is so difficult to understand that it will not be understood until we get to heaven; and we might not fully understand it even then.

In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “ ‘And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son … He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?’ And the angel answered and said unto her, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ ” Verses 31–35 KJV

Mrs. White wrote to Elder Baker, an Adventist minister, about “that Holy Thing.” “These words [that Holy Thing] are not addressed to any human being, except to the Son of the Infinite God. Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption. He was tempted in all points like as man is tempted, yet He is called that Holy Thing. It is a mystery that is left unexplained to mortals that Christ could be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet be without sin.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13, 19

When God’s prophet quotes a verse from the Scriptures and, without reservation, says that it is a mystery that is left unexplained to man, there is no human explanation that can be trusted.

Mrs. White also wrote, “The incarnation of Christ has ever been, and will ever remain a mystery.” Ibid. Even in heaven, the saved will be unable to fully explain the incarnation of Christ.

However, God has given us some things that can be understood regarding the human nature of Christ. “That which is revealed, is for us and for our children, but let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves: for it cannot be.” Ibid.

The best way to understand how Christ could be tempted like us is to understand how we are tempted. When I was a young preacher, I never preached about this, because I thought everyone understood how we are tempted. But I have since learned that there are many things in the spiritual world that we think everyone understands, but almost no one does. So, to be confident in our study of how Christ was tempted, let’s first study how we ourselves are tempted.

We have already studied that the nature of man before the fall was governed by the principles of righteousness; that the nature of man after the fall was, and continues to be, governed by the principles of selfishness. And what is sin? Sin is not just an action, but also a state of being—the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

“As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.” Proverbs 27:19

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

“All sin is selfishness.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1763

“The sowing of seeds of selfishness in the human heart was the first result of the entrance of sin into the world.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 7, 233

When I am tempted, but do not yield to the temptation, I have not committed a sin. However, if my temptation, for example, is to be angry with a fellow brother, and if I yield to that temptation and express my anger, the Bible says that I am guilty of breaking the sixth commandment (Matthew 5:21, 22). Why is it that if I hate my brother, even though I do him no physical harm, I still am guilty of breaking the ten commandments? Because human nature is now governed by the principle of selfishness. Selfish is what we are to the core and, without a miracle of transformation effected by the power of the Holy Spirit, selfishness directs everything we think, say, and do.

My brother Marshall and I both attended Seventh-day Adventist schools for over 20 years, including Loma Linda University where we both obtained master’s and doctor’s degrees, and also a year at Andrew’s Theological Seminary for Ministers. We both entered the ministry.

Over 40 years ago, Marshall was living on the East Coast while I was living on the West Coast. We had a difference of understanding regarding the incarnation of Christ. We would write back and forth, each trying to convince the other of our understanding. After a few years of this back-and-forth dialogue, we stopped the discussion, realizing that neither of us was going to be able to convince the other to change what we believed to be true. For the last ten years of my brother’s life, I do not recall that we ever discussed it again. We knew we agreed on the important things—that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient, that He did not sin, and that we must overcome sin as He did in order to be saved. On the rest, we just did not discuss it.

During the time of our discussions, I wrote a paper on the subject of sin. Marshall liked my explanation of sin so much, and believing that it needed to be published, he sent it to the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference (BRI). The BRI director at that time happened to be a personal friend of mine, whom I had known for many years. But when he received and reviewed my paper, the BRI would not print it. The BRI is supposed to be a collection of the best theological minds in the Adventist church, but they had a different opinion about sin.

So how is it that two men, having received the same education, both ministers in good standing with the Seventh-day Adventist church (at that time), both totally committed to studying, knowing, following, and preaching the truth, along with a collection of the best theological minds of the Adventist church be so opposite in their understanding of Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy on the subjects of sin and the incarnation of Christ?

In addition to the texts and quotations above, let me add what I feel is the best definition of sin that I have ever found in the Spirit of Prophecy.

“God will accept only those who are determined to aim high. He places every human agent under obligation to do his best. Moral perfection is required of all. Never should we lower the standard of righteousness in order to accommodate inherited or cultivated tendencies to wrong-doing. We need to understand that imperfection of character is sin. …

“And those who would be workers together with God must strive for perfection of every organ of the body and quality of the mind.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 330

Notice that moral perfection is not optional. It is a requirement, an obligation to do our very best. This is a frightening thought. I am a terrible sinner and I cannot make myself better, let alone perfect. But there is a way that you and I can reach that required, perfected character.

“All righteous attributes of character dwell in God as a perfect, harmonious whole, and everyone who receives Christ as a personal Saviour is privileged to possess these attributes.” Ibid.

Unless Christ delivers me, I have no hope. He, the promised Saviour, is my only hope. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Another literal Greek translation of this verse is, “He is able to save perfectly those that come to God by Him.”

There is no need to be afraid or feel anxious about your imperfect character, for we have a Saviour who is able to save every soul, even those at the very bottom of the pit of sin. He has promised to pull us, each one, out of the darkness of sin and to perfectly save us. In your heart, you may feel that you are nothing, filthy, and that your mind is all wrong, but you can call upon Him, and trusting in Him alone, He will work out the plan of salvation in your life.

God’s law is holy, just, and good, and broad in its requirements. It reaches to the very thoughts and feelings of the soul (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 287). Notice that God’s law reaches to my thoughts and feelings. Why? Because that is where the sin is. It is not just what I do, but what I am. I, my thoughts, feelings, and intentions, are not in harmony with God’s law. Just because I have not committed an act of sin does not make me any less of a sinner. If I am, in any way, out of harmony with the law of God, then I am sinning because I am living in a state of sin.

“They [the law of God, the ten commandments] lay men under obligation to God: they reach to the thoughts and feelings of the soul; and they will produce conviction of sin in everyone who is sensible of having transgressed them. If the law extended only to the external conduct, men would not feel guilty over their wrong thoughts, desires, and designs. But the law requires that the soul itself, the spiritual agent, be pure.” Ibid., 287, 288. We must accept Christ as our Saviour, surrendering to His transforming power, or we will remain impure, unholy, and sinful, because alone we are unable to be anything else.

The Spirit of Prophecy makes it very clear that the expression “that Holy Thing,” was referring to Jesus’ humanity not His divinity. Jesus was to be the physical walking, talking, breathing example to man of the character of God. “The Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the glory of the Godhead.” The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1895

Webster’s dictionary defines embodiment as “the act of embodying or a state of being embodied.” Embodied means to “cause to become a body or part of a body”; in other words, incarnate. When Mrs. White wrote that Jesus is the embodiment of the glory of the Godhead, she was speaking about His body.

“What speech is to thought, so is Christ to the invisible Father. He is the manifestation of the Father, and is called the Word of God. God sent His Son into the world, His divinity clothed with humanity, that man might bear the image of the invisible God. He made known in His words, His character, His power and majesty, the nature and attributes of God. Divinity flashed through humanity in softening, subduing light. He was the embodiment of the law of God, which is the transcript of His character.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 1131

“To human eyes, Christ was only a man, yet He was a perfect man. In His humanity He was the impersonation of the divine character. God embodied His own attributes in His Son—His power, His wisdom, His goodness, His purity, His truthfulness, His spirituality, and His benevolence. In Him, though human, all perfection of character, all divine excellence, dwelt. …

“He was manifesting God in humanity. Yet He was the humblest of all the prophets; and He exemplified in His life the truth that the more perfect the character of human beings, the more simple and humble they will be.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 16, 1897

Jesus came to this world as a human being, “not to reveal what a God could do, but what a man could do, through faith in God’s power to help in every emergency. Man is, through faith, to be a partaker in the divine nature, and to overcome every temptation wherewith he is beset. The Lord now demands that every son and daughter of Adam through faith in Jesus Christ, serve Him in [the] human nature which we now have.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 140

The devil was jubilant. He was sure that finally he would win the great controversy. And if he were to win, every son and daughter of Adam would perish. Christ would perish, too, because if the devil had won, Christ would have lost His divinity.  Divine wrath would have come upon Christ.

“Satan and his angels exulted as they discovered that the Son of God had taken upon Himself the nature of man, and had come to be man’s substitute, to engage in the conflict in our behalf. The human family had been overpowered by the deception of the enemy; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, and the enemy hoped that Christ also would become a victim to his seductive wiles. Satan gloried in the opportunity of besieging the Son of God with fierce temptations. Because He had taken upon Himself the nature of man, Satan deemed that his victory was certain, and with every malignant device in his power he strove to overcome Christ. The steadfast resistance of Christ to the temptations of the enemy brought the whole confederacy of evil to war against him. Evil men and evil angels united their forces against the Prince of Peace. The issues at stake were beyond the comprehension of men, and the temptations that assailed Christ were as much more intense and subtle than those which assail man as his character was purer and more exalted than is the character of man in his moral and physical defilement. In his conflict with the prince of darkness in this atom of a world, Christ had to meet the whole confederacy of evil, the united forces of the adversary of God and man; but at every point he met the tempter, and put him to flight. Christ was conqueror over the powers of darkness, and took the infinite risk of consenting to war with the enemy, that he might conquer him in our behalf.” The Signs of the Times, February 20, 1893

Christ was tempted far more than any of us will ever be tempted. If He had lost, we, too, would have been lost. Yet, He took an infinite risk, coming to this earth as a man to face the devil, and to save mankind. Imagine the difference of the level of temptation between Jesus and us. One demon comes and whispers a suggestive thought to us and have we not given in to the temptation many times? Jesus met Satan and “the whole confederacy of evil, the united forces of the adversary” and stood fast.

Very few Adventists understand what happened to mankind when Adam sinned. “When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the satanic nature. The image of God in which He had been created was marred and distorted. The character of man was out of harmony with the character of God; for through sin man became carnal [fleshly].” Ibid. February 13, 1893. The entire human race became carnal.

Man’s carnal flesh must be crucified, and he must be born again. Paul speaks repeatedly that the old man, our carnal nature, must be crucified.

“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22–24

Your carnal nature is to be crucified, but a crucified person can come down from the cross. That is what they said to Jesus. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down [from the cross].” Matthew 4:6. Mrs. White says that Christ could have come down from the cross and gone back to His Father, but had He done so, you and I would be lost (The Desire of Ages, 145). Have you let your carnal man get down from the cross?

Because of Adam’s sin, the whole human race became carnal, therefore, we are all partakers of the satanic nature, and if we are to be in heaven, three things must occur. “Since the divine law is as changeless as the character of God, there could be no hope for man unless some way could be devised whereby his transgression might be pardoned, his nature renewed, and his spirit restored to reflect the image of God.” That I May Know Him, 18

God’s law requires a perfect character. “Even the thoughts must be brought into subjection to the will of God, and the feelings under the control of reason and religion. Our imagination was not given us to be allowed to run riot and have its own way, without any effort at restraint and discipline. If the thoughts are wrong, the feelings will be wrong; and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character. When we decide that as Christians we are not required to restrain our thoughts and feelings, we are brought under the influence of evil angels, and invite their presence and control.” The Review and Herald, April 21, 1885

God’s law requires that we present to Him a holy character. What constitutes a holy character? “The law requires us to present to God a holy character. It demands of men today just what it demanded of Adam and Eve in Eden—perfect obedience, perfect harmony with all its [the law of God] precepts in all relations of life, under all circumstances and conditions. No unholy thought can be tolerated, no unlovely action can be justified. As the law requires that which no man of himself can render, the human family are found guilty before the great moral standard.” The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895

The thoughts and feelings in all relations of life, under all circumstances and all conditions must be holy, in harmonious agreement with all the precepts of God’s law; anything less is transgression of God’s law and therefore, sin.

 “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” James 1:14. So what is temptation?

“It [temptation] is the means by which those who claim to be the children of God are tested and tried.” The Signs of the Times, May 27, 1897

When Satan tempted Eve in the garden, the temptation involved three parts: [1] distrust in God’s love, [2] doubting His wisdom, [3] and transgressing His law (Patriarchs and Prophets, 57). “Satan exulted in his success. He had tempted the woman.” Ibid. Eve failed in all three, and if you or I fail on the first two parts, we will fail on the third—every time. We must be vigilant, because the devil is still using this same temptation on God’s people all over the world today.

Someone might say, “I know that God loves me and everything He does is wise and best. I would never distrust His love or doubt His wisdom.” But what if that same person had a loved one in the hospital dying of cancer, and they say, “This person is a Christian, how can this happen? If there was a God in heaven, this couldn’t happen.” Do you see? The devil is tempting them to doubt God’s love and wisdom. The devil whispers in the ears of those suffering some trial, “If there was a God who had infinite love, infinite wisdom, and infinite power, He wouldn’t let this happen.”

The time of trouble is coming, and if I do not trust in God’s love and wisdom now, then I will not keep His law, and I will be unable to make it through that terrible time.

If I am to survive the temptations that are coming, then I must be rooted and grounded in the truth so that I have perfect trust and confidence in God’s love for me. Whether I am sick and no one can say why, or everything seems to be going against me and nothing makes sense, still I must have faith in God’s love and wisdom now.

An army of soldiers came to the home of a Waldensian family. They killed the sons, cut off their heads, tied them around their father’s neck, and then marched the father to his death. Could you trust that there is a God in heaven who has infinite love and wisdom for you in a situation like that? Can you trust God’s love and know that He is wise and He is going to work all things out for your good in the end even when everything’s going wrong and you can’t understand it?

Friends, we must practice trusting in God now, every day, in all things—because trust in God will not just magically appear when things get tough. We must trust in Him or we will fail and be lost.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Songs – Just as I Am

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Charlotte Elliott was born on March 18, 1789, in Westfield Lodge, Brighton (England). She was the third of six children, with two brothers and three sisters. Charlotte was highly educated and developed a great passion for music and art at an early age and was surrounded by great refinement and piety in her family.

While still young, Charlotte became “aware of her sinful nature and realized her need to resist sin’s enticements. She felt unworthy to receive God’s grace, and wholly incapable of facing a righteous and perfect God.” She was a frequent visitor at many different churches and the pastors advised her to pray more, study the Bible more, and to do more virtuous deeds.

The first 32 years of her life were spent in Clapham, a district in S.W. London, where she was popular as a portrait artist and wrote humorous verses. In 1821, she suffered a serious illness that removed her from the whirl of social life in London and put her in a position to feel her dire need of a personal Saviour. A pastor visiting in her father’s home, asked her, “Are you at peace with God?” She resented the question at first, but some days later, she called for the pastor to return. She apologized for her behavior and told him that she wanted to cleanse her life before becoming a Christian. But the pastor replied, “Come just as you are.” Charlotte committed her life to Christ that very day.

She had a weak constitution thereafter, but in 1834, undertook the editorial supervision of The Christian Remembrancer Pocket Book and in 1836, the Invalid’s Hymn Book. This she did for the next 25 years and many of her own hymns can be found in these annual publications.

In 1835, Charlotte wrote the hymn Just As I Am. It is sung to at least four different hymn tunes, but the tune Woodworth, written by William B. Bradbury, is the best known and used by congregations the world over today.

Charlotte Elliott died on September 22, 1871. Little did she know that her most famous hymn would become the number one altar call song in the world. It was the song to which Billy Graham gave his heart to the Lord and then used for decades during his own crusades.

Just imagine the number of people who will come to Charlotte Elliott, if she remained faithful, to tell her how this beloved song touched their hearts and helped them to come, just as they were, to the Saviour.

“Jesus loves to have you come to Him just as you are, hopeless and helpless, and cast yourself upon His all-abundant mercy and believe that He will receive you just as you are.” In Heavenly Places, 119

Sources: Wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_as_I_Am_(hymn); Wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapham; Wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Elliott

 

Just as I am – without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – though toss’d about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come!

Miraculous Change

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“Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.”

1 Timothy 3:16

“The Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:1, 14

From these scriptures we can see that there was a time when Jesus was not a fleshly being, but a spiritual one. It was when He was born of Mary that He became flesh.

These scriptures would not be so difficult to understand or explain except for one other scripture found in Romans. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Romans 8:3. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. We need to clearly understand this scripture.

Mrs. White says that Jesus was just like we are, so Adventist preachers for decades have gone to the moon and back with this verse preaching that Jesus had a fallen, sinful, human nature, which, of course, means that He had a carnal mind. They are preaching that He had to fight selfishness just like you and I have to fight it. From this scripture, preachers and laity alike have decided that Jesus came in sinful flesh, but Romans 8:3 doesn’t say that He came in sinful flesh. It says He came in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Paul wrote Romans 8:3 the way he did for a reason, so let’s do some research to understand what he was trying to tell us when he said that Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh. This subject is very controversial, spawning much argument, but rather than arguing, we need to search the inspired writings and let Inspiration tell us what is true about Christ’s human nature.

“Even the moral law fails of its purpose unless it is understood in its relation to the Saviour. Christ had repeatedly shown that His Father’s law contained something deeper than mere authoritative commands. In the law is embodied the same principle that is revealed in the gospel. The law points out man’s duty and shows him his guilt. To Christ he must look for pardon and for power to do what the law enjoins.” The Desire of Ages, 608

Romans 8:3 has been misapplied by many Adventists who fail to see the relationship of the humanity of Jesus Christ to the law. Notice the first sentence of the previous quote “Even the moral law fails of its purpose, unless it is understood in its relation to the Saviour.” The reason so many are confused is because they do not understand the far-reaching principle of God’s law and what constitutes sin. It is important to understand both, but it is also necessary to understand what the word sinful means and to what the word likeness refers. Let’s be sure we understand the meaning of the terms that we are using.

The word flesh can refer to one of two things—the physical body or the carnal mind—depending on the context. Flesh is sometimes used when referring to the physical body of man, the living machinery through which sin or righteousness is manifested. The body itself cannot act contrary to the will because the body is controlled by the mind, the will.

“The mind controls the whole man. All our actions, good or bad, have their source in the mind.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 426

So the body, the flesh, the house in which we live, is not sin, but is affected by sin. However, if the word flesh is used in relation to the natural or carnal mind, then that is sin. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Romans 8:7

The carnal mind is enmity against God and, therefore, is most certainly sin. It is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be.

Texts that use flesh in reference to the physical body have been interpreted to mean the mind. It is the failure to recognize in inspired writings that the word flesh can have two different applications, depending on the context, that has confused so many people and resulted in much controversy.

As for the far-reaching principles of God’s law, David said that God’s commandments are exceedingly broad (Psalm 119:96). The ten commandment document is really one of the most amazing that was ever written—so short that a child can learn it, and yet so all-encompassing that it involves the entire will of God for the human family.

“It is so brief that we can easily commit every precept to memory, and yet so far-reaching as to express the whole will of God, and to take cognizance, not only of the outward actions, but of the thoughts and intents, the desires and emotions, of the heart.” The Signs of the Times, April 15, 1886

God’s law is to govern not only my actions, but every thought, intent, desire, and emotion of my heart. If I have a sinful desire, even if it has not yet manifested in action, that also is sin.

Human laws cannot do this. They can deal only with the outward actions. A man may be a transgressor, and yet conceal his misdeeds from human eyes; he may be a criminal—a thief, a murderer, or an adulterer—but so long as he is not discovered, the law cannot condemn him as guilty.

“The law of God takes note of the jealousy, envy, hatred, malignity, revenge, lust, and ambition that surge through the soul, but have not found expression in outward action, because the opportunity, not the will, has been wanting. And these sinful emotions will be brought into the account in the day when ‘God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.’ ” Ibid.

“Christ, in His teaching, fully developed the principles of the law, making it plain that it does not concern the outward actions merely, but has to do with the heart, reaching even to the unspoken thoughts.” The Signs of the Times, June 5, 1901

“God does not deal with actions so much as with the heart that prompts them.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 4, 440

Sin is not determined only by what I do, but by the motives in my mind and heart that cause me to do the things I do. Think about that: a single action could be good or evil depending on the motive in the heart. The far-reaching principles of God’s law embrace the heart, the mind, and the sinful emotions that have not found expression in outward action because of lack of opportunity. The requirements of God’s law go beyond what I choose to do.

“Many mistakes were made by the Jewish teachers in regard to the true character and far-reaching principles of the law. Its relation to sin was misconceived and misapplied. The outward action was dealt with, but inward sins were not touched. …

“In His sermon on the mount, Christ made known the comprehensive and far-reaching character of the law of God. He applied its great principles to the thoughts and the desires. He taught that all wrong thoughts and feelings, though unknown to any human being, are a transgression of the law of God, and that those who cherish them must suffer the penalty. Thus the law was shown to reach the inner life.” The Review and Herald, May 3, 1898

The word sinful means being tainted with, full of sin, being wicked. Being tainted means to be contaminated by or infected with, ruined or corrupted by something. An example would be a body full of cancer with no human way to eradicate it.

Being sinful isn’t just doing bad things, any more than being righteous is not doing bad things. It involves the very being of man. The heart and mind, thoughts and desires totally consumed by sinfulness, will do nothing but wickedness.

“And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’ ” Mark 7:20–23

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“The law requires righteousness—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s holy law.” The Desire of Ages, 762. Man is sinful, corrupted, so thoroughly infected with sin that it renders him incapable of meeting the claims of God’s holy law.

Did Jesus have this kind of heart and mind? Look again at these texts. In describing the nature of man’s heart and mind, were Mark and Jeremiah describing Jesus’ heart and mind as well? If His mind was tainted and infected with sin as ours are, how could He have been our Saviour?

When people say that Jesus had our natural tendencies toward sin, but that isn’t sin because He never actually committed sin, they speak directly against the word of God and inspired writings. We know this from 1 John 3:15: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer.” And Matthew 5:27, 28: “ ‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’ ”

These both describe the thoughts and motives of the mind and heart of sinful man. A man who lusts after a woman is breaking the law just as if he had physically laid down with her and committed the act. A man who hates a brother, or anyone, is breaking the law just as though he had taken his life. Is this what was in the mind and heart of Jesus?

“All sin is selfishness.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1763. The person who has a selfish heart is living in sin. Every thought, every word, every action that he does is sinful because it proceeds from a selfish heart and therefore, is motivated by selfishness, which is sin. It is my nature, as a son of Adam, to be inherently selfish, and, therefore a sinner by nature which results in sinful action. It is who I am. Reason then says, that if Jesus had a nature like mine, He would be inherently selfish and thereby a sinner though He never committed a sinful act.

“One unsanctified act on the part of our Saviour would have marred the pattern, and He could not have been a perfect example for us; but although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He was yet without one taint of sin.” Sons and Daughters of God, 148

The word nature also is used in reference to two different things. Sometimes it is used to reflect or describe the physical nature of man, and other times to describe his mental nature. In the context of Romans 8:3, the word flesh means man’s sinful nature that cannot keep the law. Flesh then equals sinful nature. Paul makes it very plain in Romans 8:5. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Here Paul is still speaking of the same sinful flesh that he has been speaking of in verses 3 and 4, but now he specifically identifies this sinful flesh. “For to be carnally [fleshly] minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Verses 6–8

“ ‘The carnal [or natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ Human nature could not keep the law, even if it would.” The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895. When someone tells you they cannot keep the law, they are telling the truth, for sinful human nature cannot keep the law of God no matter how much a person might want to.

That which Paul calls sinful flesh God’s modern-day prophet calls sinful nature and human nature. Therefore in this context, sinful flesh, human nature, and sinful nature are used synonymously to refer to the carnal mind which cannot keep the law of God.

In Zechariah 3, we find the vision of Joshua the high priest, the leader of God’s people, standing before the angel in filthy garments. Mrs. White says the setting of this vision is just before probation closes. What are these filthy garments? “The fact that the acknowledged people of God are represented as standing before the Lord in filthy garments should lead to humility and deep searching of heart on the part of all who profess His name. … we should realize our sinful condition.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, 471

“Your sinful condition demanded a sacrifice. In your spiritual destitution you had nothing to offer.” The Review and Herald, May 28, 1901. Our filthy garments, our sinful condition, is the result of our spiritual poverty. “By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: ‘Dead in trespasses and sins;’ ‘the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;’ ‘no soundness in it.’ We are held fast in the snare of Satan, ‘taken captive by him at his will.’ Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 1:5, 6; 2 Timothy 2:26.” Steps to Christ, 43

We are carnally-minded. Our sinful human nature is spiritually destitute and at war with God. Our sinful condition demanded a sacrifice that was not spiritually destitute, nor hostile toward God.

“Christ is called the second Adam. In purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, He [Jesus] began where the first Adam began. Willingly He passed over the ground where Adam fell, and redeemed Adam’s failure.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 2, 1898

“He humbled Himself to become a man, so that a body should be found, a Lamb without blemish should be provided as a sinless offering, that God might be just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” The Signs of the Times, June 18, 1896

Every mind is controlled either by Satan or the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our condition is sinful because the carnal mind is held captive to the power of Satan. The body alone is not evil. The sin is in the mind and the body simply responds to its direction.

“The standard of the law cannot be lowered to meet man in his fallen condition. No compromise can be made with the sinner to take less than the full requirement of the law. The law cannot acquit the guilty, it cannot cleanse the sinner, or give power to the transgressor to raise himself into a purer, holier atmosphere.” Ibid., May 30, 1895. How then is it possible for me to be saved? It is impossible unless a divine miracle takes place in my life.

For the unconverted person, every thought, word, emotion, everything that he or she says or does, is sinful. Remember when Adam was first created, the law of righteousness was written in his heart and his life was governed by this law. But when he sinned, the law of selfishness became the governing power and his heart became permeated with selfishness. Because selfishness is sin, then a man’s motives are selfish, and everything he thinks, says, and does is sin.

Paul first realized this and wrote about it in Romans 7. He was one of the strictest of Pharisees, and while he lived without the law, he considered himself to be blameless regarding the law. No one could accuse him of committing a wrong action. Paul knew the law, had memorized it, but he did not yet understand the far-reaching claims of God’s law. He believed that if he did all the right things, then he was following the law.

But the day came when, on the Damascus road, Paul met Jesus. It was then that he realized that God’s law especially had to do with the motivations of his heart, his thoughts, and desires. Having been “alive once without the law,” Paul now recognizes that our inward, fallen condition, prompting our outward, sinful acts, is the transgression that is being condemned.

We are born into this world with sinful flesh which is hostile against God, and all of Adam’s posterity have and will inherit from him sinful flesh. This inherited condition is out of harmony with God’s law, making all of Adam’s posterity transgressors by nature, even before they are born (Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 48:8; Psalm 58:3), and guilty of not keeping it. Selfishness is the governing principle in the life of every man and woman, and selfishness is sin. “Adam disobeyed and entailed sin upon his posterity; but God gave His Son for the redemption of the race.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 6, 3

Man is selfish by nature, a sinner at enmity with God, unless a miraculous transformation is accomplished in the mind, heart, and soul.

“The perishing sinner may say: ‘I am a lost sinner; but Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.’ He says, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Mark 2:17). I am a sinner, and He died upon Calvary’s cross to save me. I need not remain a moment longer unsaved.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 392

Paul tells us that he was ignorant of sin and the true principles of the law, even though he had memorized the law and was a “strict” law keeper, but then he saw that God’s law, His great standard of righteousness, condemned sin in the flesh. Suddenly Paul saw himself as God saw him—a sinner. He accepted the truth found in the gospel, laid hold of the Saviour, and the Holy Spirit immediately began the work of purification in his life.

The person in the most dangerous spiritual condition is not the man who knows he is a great sinner and sees that he is lost unless he surrenders all of himself to this work of purification. It is the man who believes he is rich and needs nothing who is in the most dangerous spiritual condition.

“When man [Adam and Eve] fell, the law of self was set up. This law harmonizes with the will of sinful humanity.” The Signs of the Times, January 25, 1899

“The sowing of seeds of selfishness in the human heart was the first result of the entrance of sin into the world.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 7, 233

We must understand that selfishness is the root of all sin, the most deeply-engrained, natural trait of man’s character. It must be purged if we expect to be in the kingdom of heaven. “It is a weakness of humanity to pet selfishness, because it is a natural trait of character.” The Faith I Live By, 140

“Never should we lower the standard of righteousness in order to accommodate inherited or cultivated tendencies to wrong-doing. We need to understand that imperfection of character is sin.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 330

If I am to be saved, I must go to the foot of the cross, recognizing that I am ruined and unable to change myself. I must surrender myself to the Lord and ask Him to help me, for He has promised to send the Holy Spirit to begin the process of transformation in my life if I will but ask. I cannot, by my own efforts, be born again because it is a creative act that only God can perform. Everything must become new. This is the change that the Holy Spirit makes in my heart and mind.

Mrs. White says that we must pray day by day asking the Lord to cast out all selfishness from our hearts. This is the Christian’s warfare. The Holy Spirit will implant a new nature within us, but we still must overcome our carnal nature by His power and grace.

“God desires everyone to understand the evil of selfishness, and to cooperate with Him in guarding the human family against its terrible, deceptive power.” Manuscript Releases, Vol, 7, 233

“Christ will not permit one selfish person to enter the courts of heaven. No covetous person can pass through the pearly gates; for all covetousness is idolatry.” The Review and Herald, July 11, 1899

Friend, this is an overwhelming problem in Adventism today. People do not know what sin truly is. They believe our actions alone are sin. But selfishness permeates man’s mind and heart, and it is selfishness that directs his sinful actions.

When we understand our true condition, then we can understand that we must surrender everything to the Lord, choosing to follow Him because nothing short of a miracle can ever change us. The God whom we serve is a specialist in miraculously doing the impossible. He who is mighty to save will never turn away anyone seeking salvation. The conversion of a sinner is God’s greatest miracle of all.

“The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37, last part

[Emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Humanity of Christ is Everything

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“The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God. This is to be our study.”

Selected Messages, Book 1, 244

We started this series several months ago with 1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Another text speaks of the same mystery found in 1 Timothy, but the language is completely different. “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:24–27

Friends, if I do not understand the truth about the nature of Christ, then I will not understand what it means for Christ to be in me, the hope of glory, and that has serious implications.

Let’s continue our study of the mystery of godliness, focusing on Galatians 4, starting with verses 4 and 5.

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

This is a simple and straightforward text, yet there is, in Adventism, tremendous controversy and misunderstanding over it. This is because we often read into the text something that it does not actually say. Some Adventists have interpreted that when the Bible says “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” as meaning that Christ was born under the law of sin. You and I are born under the law of sin; in fact, every human being, save One, that has ever lived and is alive in the world today is born under the law of sin. The Spirit of Prophecy talks at great length about this and I challenge you to search it out for yourself.

In the Bible, the word law can apply to a number of different things and this is where the problem arises among conservative, Protestant Christians. They take New Testament texts that refer to the law or laws and apply them to the ten commandments—the law of God—when the texts could be referring to the law of the Lord, the law of Moses, or even the Torah. We have to be careful which interpretation of the word law we are adopting when we speak of the nature of Christ. Jesus was born under the law, just not the law of sin.

The first section of the Hebrew Bible is called the Torah. The Torah is the law, written by Moses and followed by the Jews as the law. The ten commandments are contained within the Torah, and oftentimes, the New Testament talks about the Torah, referring to it as the whole law of Moses. So, it is important to know which law the Bible is referring to: the law of the Lord, the law of God (the ten commandments), or the law of Moses.

But Paul writes in Romans 7 about “another” law which is not one of these three, but rather the law of sin. If you recall, we previously learned that Adam was originally created and lived in perfect harmony, not only with the law of God, but also with the nature of God. The principles of righteousness were written on his heart. Adam’s natural thoughts and feelings, his disposition and affections were in harmony with the nature and law of God; he reflected the character of God. Adam was created under the law of God.

But when he sinned, his nature, once governed by the principles of righteousness, was changed, and thereafter governed by the principles of selfishness. This new nature, governed by the law of sin, became the nature of all mankind.

We are born under the law of sin, but Jesus was born under the law of God. He was born to be the embodiment of the law of God. How could He be the ultimate example of a life lived in perfect obedience to the law of God if He was not born under the law of sin, the same law that governs us?

Let’s see how this can be true. “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’ ” Luke 1:26–35

What these texts say cannot be said about any human being except Jesus Christ. “He was born without a taint of sin, but came into the world in like manner as the human family.” Lift Him Up, 345. He grew in His mother’s womb and when the fullness of time was accomplished, He was delivered into this world, born with a physical body the same as all human beings.

Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and a human woman. So here’s the question, what did He inherit from Mary? We find the answer in Romans 1:3, “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” And Hebrews 10:5, 10, “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.’ … By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Remember, that the words flesh, nature, and law can have more than one meaning, and to know the correct meaning, we have to know the context of the scripture. So, what does the word flesh in Romans 1:3 refer to?

This is what Ellen White says are the attributes of human beings: “We have reason, conscience, memory, will, affections—all the attributes a human being can possess.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 6, 112

Now let’s look at what she says about Christ:

“We should consider the fact that to Christ our nature was a robe of humiliation and suffering. He humbled Himself to become a man, so that a body should be found, a Lamb without blemish should be provided as a sinless offering, that God might be just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Humanity was in union with divinity.” The Signs of the Times, June 18, 1896

“He had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with our own nature, except without the taint of sin. A human body, a human mind, with all the peculiar properties, He was bone, brain, and muscle. A man of our flesh, He was compassed with the weakness of humanity.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182

These two references make it clear that the word flesh, in this context, refer to His physical, human body and mind.

“The circumstances of His life were of that character that He was exposed to all the inconveniences that belong to men, not in wealth, not in ease, but in poverty and want and humiliation. He breathed the very air man must breathe. He trod our earth as a man. He had reason, conscience, memory, will, and affections of the human soul which was united with His divine nature.” Ibid.

So from our reading in Galatians 4 and from Inspiration, we find that Jesus received from His mother a human body and mind—prepared by God—with all the attributes possible for a human being to possess. He was made to be the Lamb without blemish, without the taint of sin, that a sanctified offering might be found. Christ’s humanity did not exist before He was conceived and born of Mary.

“His [Christ’s] human nature was created; it did not even possess the angelic powers. It was human, identical with our own.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 6, 111

Jesus had existed as a divine person throughout the ceaseless ages. In His divinity, He was not under the law of God. As the author of the law, He was above it. But when He was made of a woman, He was made in subjection to the law of God. He became a child of humanity, instructed by the Holy Spirit as every child may be, and a servant under the government of His Father until the time appointed for Him to receive His kingdom.

The foundation of God’s government in heaven and throughout His earthly dominion is His law, and it has two ruling principles: to love God supremely and to love our fellow human beings as ourselves. “The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character.” The Great Controversy, 493. The authority of God is backed by His law which requires all created intelligences to be in subjection to its claims.

God sent His Son made under the law, placed under the jurisdiction, power, and control of His government and His law. To be subject to God’s law, Jesus had to have a human body, because in His divinity alone, He was not under or subject to the law.

This raised the question in Ellen White’s time, and still today, when Jesus was tempted, was it possible for Him to yield to the temptation? In fact, there are many Protestant theologians who believe that it was impossible for Christ to fail, impossible for Him to yield to temptation.

But Mrs. White says in answer to this question: “The point you inquire of me is, In our Lord’s great scene of conflict in the wilderness, apparently under the power of Satan and his angels, was He capable, in His human nature, of yielding to these temptations?

“I will try to answer this important question: As God He could not be tempted: but as a man He could be tempted, and that strongly, and could yield to the temptations.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 129

Notice how particular and definite she is in detail. Was Christ God? Yes He was. In His divine nature as God He could not be tempted (James 1:13–15).

“For a period of time Christ was on probation. He took humanity on Himself, to stand the test and trial which the first Adam failed to endure. Had He failed in His test and trial, He would have been disobedient to the voice of God, and the world would have been lost.” The Signs of the Times, May 10, 1899

From these references we can know that Christ was identical to us in His humanity, including not only bone, brain and muscle, but also all the attributes a human being can possess—conscience, memory, will, and affections—with the vital exception that His humanity did not possess the taint of sin.

We have studied that the law of God is an expression of His very nature, the embodiment of the great principle of love, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. Mrs. White says that His law is a transcript of His character and the only correct standard of holiness.

“Righteousness is holiness, likeness to God, and ‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. It is conformity to the law of God, for ‘all Thy commandments are righteousness’ (Psalm 119:172), and ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13:10). Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the life of God.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 18

God’s law is truth, the embodiment of the great principle of love, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth, a transcript of His character, the security of life, happiness, and peace. God’s law is righteousness and the only correct standard of holiness, but to sinners that law is a ministry of condemnation and death.

The law of God is broad in its requirements, and man is under the obligation to keep it, not only outwardly, but in his thoughts, emotions, intents, and feelings of the heart and soul.

“If the law extended to the outward conduct only, men would not be guilty in their wrong thoughts, desires, and designs. But the law requires that the soul itself be pure and the mind holy, that the thoughts and feelings may be in accordance with the standard of love and righteousness.” The Review and Herald, April 5, 1898

Notice that the soul and the mind are closely connected. “The mind controls the whole man. All our actions, good or bad, have their source in the mind. It is the mind that worships God, and allies us to heavenly beings.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 426. The law of God requires that the soul itself—the inward thoughts, feelings, motives, and desires—not just the outward actions, be pure and in harmony with it.

There are two powers seeking to control in this world. Satan is in a vicious and violent battle to control the minds and souls of men. He spends all of his time trying to figure out how to accomplish it. We need to understand this warfare and how we must cooperate with the heavenly agencies.

“The law requires righteousness—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s holy law.” The Desire of Ages, 762

The reason we cannot meet the claims of God’s law is not complicated. When Adam yielded to temptation, man became carnal, and when he had a son, his son was then born in his carnal image. All of us are born as partakers of the satanic nature. Adam’s natural allegiance belonged to his Creator, but he became a traitor, and as the legal representative of the race, laid its homage as a willing offering at the feet of the enemy, who then took control of man’s mind. Knowing this, it is easy to look back through history and understand how man was, and still is, capable of some of the most horrendous thoughts and actions.

How is it that mankind has become so degraded? There is but one explanation: the devil controls the human mind. Selfishness is the law of Satan’s kingdom, and when man chose him as his ruler, he came under the jurisdiction of the law of self, the law of sin. Selfishness replaced love in man’s heart and became the ruling principle of his life.

The law of God requires righteousness, and not one of Adam’s posterity is born inheriting righteousness, because Adam disobeyed and entailed sin upon his posterity (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 6, 3). Righteousness is holiness, a likeness to God. “No man inherits holiness as a birthright, nor can he, by any methods that he can devise, become loyal to God.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 310. From the moment of conception, we are, by nature, transgressors of God’s law. We do not possess the righteousness, the holiness, nor the allegiance to God that the law demands.

But what does the Bible say regarding the humanity of the only begotten Son from the moment that He was conceived? “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you: therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’ ” Luke 1:35

Referring to this scripture, Mrs. White says, “These words do not refer to any human being, except to the Son of the infinite God.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 1128. It was essential that from the moment of conception, Jesus had to be righteous, holy, and have an allegiance to God, all the things which the law demands. He had to meet the claims and the requirements of the law of God from the moment of conception, because He came to fulfill the law. “Jesus volunteered to meet the highest claims of the law, that He might be the justifier of all who believe on Him. We look to the cross, and see in Jesus a fully satisfied and reconciled God.” The Review and Herald, September 2, 1890

“Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 131. From the moment of His conception, Jesus Christ had not one sinful thought, desire, or propensity. If He had, it would be impossible for Him to be our Saviour; He would be unable to justify us, nor to forgive our sins.

Paul, speaking of Jesus, says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:9, 10

“The glory of Christ is His character, and His character is an expression of the law of God. He fulfilled the law in its every specification.” The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1895

“The facts of this history are not fable, but a living, acting, experience. To deny this would rob Jesus of His greatest glory—allegiance to God—which enshrouded Him as a garment in this world on the field of battle with the relentless foe, and He is not reckoned with the transgressor.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 183

Jesus came to this world to reveal what the apostle Paul says was hidden in the mind of God from the beginning. The inhabitants of the unfallen worlds could not understand it; the devil and the people of this world do not understand it; but Jesus came to reveal it.

He couldn’t do it as an angel, and He couldn’t do it as God. “Christ came in human form to show the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds and of the fallen world that ample provision has been made to enable human beings to live in loyalty to their Creator.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 227. What a wonderful promise!

“Christ came to vindicate the sacred claims of the law.” Pacific Union Recorder, December 17, 1903

“He came to manifest the nature of His law, to reveal in His own character the beauty of holiness.” Education, 76

There is attractiveness like no other in studying the life and character of Jesus. People who lack spiritual understanding might say He was just a good man. He was a man, but He was a perfect man, for in His humanity, “God embodied His own attributes in His Son.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 16, 1897

Jesus, as a man, was God’s goodness, wisdom, power, purity, truthfulness, spirituality, benevolence, and love. “In Him, though human, all perfection of character, all divine excellence, dwelt.

“The words of Christ were full of deep meaning as He put forth the claim that He and the Father were of one substance, possessing the same attributes.” The Signs of the Times, November 27, 1893

“The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 18

From childhood to manhood, Christ taught that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Truth because He did not, by one act of disobedience, separate Himself from God. The source of His peace was the power of the Holy Spirit who was upon Him and in control of His mind. Disobedience would have separated Him from God, just as disobedience separated the first Adam from God.

“Christ is called the second Adam. In purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, He began where the first Adam began.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 2, 1898

Christ’s obedience to the law, was not merely an outward compliance. Jesus was the very expression of God’s law in His nature, with the great principle of love in His heart. If we have this same principle of love implanted in our hearts, then the image of our Saviour will be reflected in us, and we will be ready for Jesus to come again.

“Let it never be forgotten that the teacher must be what he desires his pupils to become.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 58 [Author’s emphasis.]

“None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance to evil, the Saviour showed that through cooperation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” The Acts of the Apostles, 531

In closing, Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”

Born of a woman, embodied with the very attributes of God’s nature, born under the law of God, filled with love, righteousness, and holiness, Jesus came to confront the master deceiver and save mankind.

We must understand who Jesus is, what He is like and then, we must claim the promise that His character will be worked out in us, and we will be perfected by the power of the Holy Spirit. Alone, we are helpless, but with His divine grace and power, our hearts and minds can be changed to be in harmony with His.

[Emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.