Faith

Dependable Faith

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Faith is the depending upon the word of God only, and expecting that word only to do what the word says.

Justification by faith, then, is justification by depending upon the word of God only, and expecting that word only to accomplish it.

Justification by faith is righteousness by faith; for justification is the being declared righteous.

Faith comes by the word of God. Justification by faith, then, is justification that comes by the word of God. Righteousness by faith is righteousness that comes by the word of God.

The word of God is self-fulfilling; for in creating all things, “he spake, and it was.” [Psalm 33:9.] And when he was on earth, he stilled the raging sea, cleansed the lepers, healed the sick, raised the dead, and forgave sins, all by his word: there, too, “he spake, and it was.”

Now, the same One who, in creating, “spake and it was,” the same One who said, “Let there be light: and there was light;” [Genesis 1:3.] the same One who on earth spoke “the word only,” and the sick were healed, the lepers were cleansed, and the dead lived—this same One speaks the righteousness of God unto and upon all that believe.

For though all have sinned and come short of the righteousness of God, yet we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath sent forth … to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forebearance of God.” [Romans 3:24, 25.]

In creating all things in the beginning, God set forth Christ to declare the word which should cause all things to exist. Christ did speak the word only, and all things were. And in redemption, which is creation over again, God set forth Christ to declare the word of righteousness. And when Christ speaks the word only, it is so. His word, whether in creating or in redeeming, is the same.

“The worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” [Hebrews 11:3.] Once there were no worlds, nor was there any of the material which now composes the worlds. God set forth Christ to declare the word which should produce the worlds, and the very material of which they should be composed.

“He spake, and it was.” Before he spoke, there were no worlds; after he spoke, the worlds were there. Thus the word of God spoken by Jesus Christ is able to cause that to exist which has no existence before the word is spoken; and which, except for that word, never could have existence.

In this same way precisely it is in man’s life. In man’s life there is no righteousness. In man there is not righteousness, from which righteousness can appear in his life. But God has set forth Christ to declare righteousness unto and upon a man. Christ has spoken the word only, and in the darkness void of man’s life there is righteousness to everyone who will receive it. Where before the word is received, there was neither righteousness nor anything which could possibly produce righteousness, after the word is received, there is perfect righteousness and the very Fountain from which it springs. The word of God received by faith that is, the word of God expected to do what the word says, and depended upon to do what it says—produces righteousness in the man and in the life where there never was any before; precisely as, in the original creation, the word of God produced worlds where there never were any worlds before. He has spoken, and it is so to everyone that believeth: that is, to every one that receiveth. The word itself produces it.

“Therefore being justified [accounted righteous] by faith [by expecting, and depending upon, the word of God only], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. That is so, bless the Lord! And feeding upon this blessed thing is cultivating faith.

“The knowledge of what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of cultivating faith, is more essential than any other knowledge that can be acquired.” The Review and Herald, October 18, 1898.

Faith is expecting the word of God to do the thing which the word speaks, and the depending upon the word only to accomplish the thing which that word speaks.

Abraham is the father of all them which be of faith. The record of Abraham, then, gives instruction in faith—what it is, and what it does for him who has it.

What shall we say, then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the faith, has found? What saith the Scripture?

When Abram was more than eighty years old, and Sarai his wife was old, and he had no child, God “brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” [Genesis 15:5.]

And Abram “believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:2, 6. Abram accepted the word of God, and expected by the word what the word said. And in that he was right.

Sarai, however, did not put her expectation upon the word of God only. She resorted to a device of her own to bring forth seed. She said to him, “The Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her.” Genesis 16:2.

Abram, for the moment, swerved from the perfect integrity of faith. Instead of holding fast his expectation and dependence upon the word of God only, he “harkened to the voice of Sarai.”

Accordingly, a child was born; but the whole matter proved to be so unsatisfactory to Sarai that she repudiated her own arrangement. And God showed his repudiation of it by totally ignoring the fact that any child had been born. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and continued to talk about making him the father of nations through the seed promised, and of making his covenant with Abraham and the seed that was promised. He also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, because she should “be a mother of nations” through the promised seed. [Genesis 17:16.]

Abraham noticed this total ignoring of the child that had been born, and called the Lord’s attention to it, saying, “O, that Ishmael might live before thee!” [Genesis 17:18.]

“But God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” Genesis 17:15–21.

By all this, both Abram and Sarai were taught that, in carrying out the promise, the fulfilling of the word of God, nothing would answer but dependence upon that word only. Sarai learned that her device brought only trouble and perplexity, and delayed the fulfillment of the promise. Abram learned that in harkening to the voice of Sarai, he had missed the word of God; and that now he must abandon that whole scheme, and turn again to the word of God only.

But now Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and Sarah was eighty-nine. And, if anything, this seems to put farther off than ever the fulfillment of the word, and called for a deeper dependence upon the word of God—a greater faith than before.

It was perfectly plain that now there was no possibility of dependence upon anything, whatever, but the naked word only: they were shut up absolutely to this for the accomplishment of what the word said. All works, devices, plans, and efforts of their own were excluded, and they were shut up to faith alone—shut up to the word alone, and to absolute dependence upon that word only for the accomplishment of what that word said.

And now that the way was clear for “the word only” to work, that word did work effectually, and the promised “seed” was born. And so “through faith”—through helpless, total dependence upon the word only—“Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

And “therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand by the seashore innumerable.” Hebrews 11:12.

And thus was fulfilled the word spoken to Abram, when God “brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them … so shall thy seed be.”

This is a divine lesson in faith. And this is what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of cultivating faith. For this was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith.

Yet “it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:23–25.

And all “they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” [Galations 3:9] All they who, excluding—yea, repudiating—all works, plans, device, and efforts, of their own, depend in utter helplessness upon the word of God only to accomplish what that word says­—these are they which be of faith, and are blessed with faithful Abraham with the righteousness of God.

O, “understanding how to exercise faith: this is the science of the gospel!” And the science of the gospel is the science of sciences. Who would not strain every nerve to understand it?

When Abraham and Sarah had cleared themselves of all the scheme of unbelief which had produced Ishmael, and had stood upon faith alone—dependence on the word of God alone—Isaac, the true child of promise, was born.

In harkening to the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:1), Abram had swerved from the line of strict integrity to the word of God, from the strictness of true faith; and now that he had returned to the word only, to true faith, he must be tested before it could be certainly said of him that his faith was counted for righteousness.

He had trusted the naked word of God as against Ishmael, and had obtained Isaac, the true child of promise of God. And now, having obtained Isaac, the question must be determined whether he would trust the naked word of God as against even Isaac himself.

Accordingly, God said to Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” [Genesis 22:2.]

Abraham had received Isaac from God, by trusting the word of God only; Isaac alone was the seed promised by the word of the Lord. After Isaac was born, God had confirmed the word by declaring, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Genesis 21:12. And now came the word of God, Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering.

God had declared to Abraham, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude; “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”; [Genesis 22:18.] “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”; and now, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering!

But, if Isaac is offered for a burnt offering, if Isaac is burned up, what will become of the promise of the blessing of all nations in him? What will become of the promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven innumerable? Yet there stood the word, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham had trusted the word of God only, as against Ishmael; but this is more than trusting the word of God as against Isaac; it is trusting the word of God against the word of God!

And Abraham did it, hoping against hope. God had said: Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven; In Isaac shall thy seed be called; Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham did not insist that God should “harmonize these passages.” It was all-sufficient for him to know that the statements were all the word of God. Knowing this, he would trust that word, would follow that word, and would let the Lord “harmonize these passages,” or “explain these texts,” if any such thing were needed.

Said Abraham: God has said, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. That I will do. God has said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called;” [Genesis 21:2.] and, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. I interfered once in the promise, and hindered it till I repudiated all that I had done, and came back to the word only. Then, by a miracle, God gave me Isaac, the promised seed. Now he says, Offer Isaac, the promised seed, for a burnt offering. I will do it: by a miracle God gave him at the first; and by a miracle God can restore him. Yet when I shall have offered him for a burnt offering, he will be dead; and the only miracle that can restore him is a miracle that will bring him back from the dead. But God is able to do even that, and he will do it; for his word is spoken. Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and, In Isaac shall the seed be called. And even the bringing back of Isaac from the dead will be to God no more than he has already done; for, as to offspring, both my body and Sarah’s were as good as dead, and yet God brought forth Isaac from us. He can raise Isaac from the dead, and he will. Bless the Lord!

It was settled. He arose, and took his servants and Isaac, and went three days’ journey “unto the place which God had told him.” And when on the third day he “saw the place afar off,” [Genesis 22:3, last part, 4.] “Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Genesis 22:5. Who will go?—“I and the lad will go.”—And who will come again:—I and the lad will go… and come again to you.” Abraham expected to have Isaac come back with him as certainly as that he went with him.

Abraham expected to offer Isaac for a burnt offering, and expected I to see Isaac rise from the ashes and go back with him. For the word of God had gone forth, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, and, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. And Abraham would trust that word only, that it could never fail. Hebrews 11:17–19.

This is faith. And thus “the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness.” James 2:23. But yet above this, “It was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed; if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:23 25.

To trust the word of God only; to depend upon the word of God only; to depend upon the word of God, even as against the word of God,—this is Faith: this is the faith which brings the righteousness of God.

This is what it is to exercise faith. This is “what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of exercising faith.” And “understanding how to exercise faith,” this is the science of the gospel. And the science of the gospel is the science of sciences. Lessons on Faith, 16–23.

[Emphasis author’s.]

©1995, TEACH Services, Inc.

Used with Permission

www.teachservices.com

God our Dependence

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“To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, His faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:5. This is the only way that anybody in this world can ever become righteous: first admit that he is ungodly; then believe that God justifies, counts righteous, the ungodly, and he is righteous with the very righteousness of God.

Everybody in the world is ungodly. “Ungodly” means “unlike God.” And it is written, “All have sinned and come short of the glory [the goodness, the character] of God.” [Romans 3:23.]

Anybody, therefore, who will admit that he ever came short of being like God in anything, in that confesses that he is ungodly.

But the truth is that everybody, in everything, has come short of being like God. For “they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:9–18.

Then, as there is not one on earth who is not ungodly, and as God justifies the ungodly, this on God’s part makes justification—righteousness, salvation—full, free, and sure to every soul on earth.

And all that anybody needs to do to make it all sure to himself on his own part is to accept it—to believe that God does justify, personally and individually, him who is ungodly.

Thus, strange as it may sound to many, the only qualification, and the only preparation, for justification is for a person to acknowledge that he is ungodly.

Then, having such qualifications, having made such preparations, all that is required of him to obtain justification, full, free, and sure, is to believe that God justifies him, the ungodly one.

It is quite easy for many to believe that they are ungodly, and even to acknowledge it; but for them to believe that God justifies them—that is too much.

And the sole reason why they can not believe that God justifies them is that they are ungodly, so ungodly.

If only they could find some good in themselves, or if only they could straighten up and do better, they might have some courage to hope that God would justify them. Yes, they would justify themselves by works, and then profess to believe in justification by faith!

But that would be only to take away all ground for justification; for if a man can find good in himself, he has it already, and does not need it from anywhere else. If he can straighten up and do better himself, he does not need any justification from anywhere else.

It is, therefore, a contradiction in terms to say that I am so ungodly that I do not see how the Lord can justify me. For if I am not ungodly, I do not need to be made righteous; I am righteous. There is no half-way ground between godliness and ungodliness.

But when a person sees himself so ungodly as to find there is no possible ground of hope for justification, it is just there that faith comes in; indeed, it is only there that faith can possibly come in.

For faith is dependence on the word of God only. So long as there is any dependence on himself, so long as there is any conceivable ground of hope for any dependence upon anything in or about himself, there can be no faith; so long as there is no place for faith, since faith is dependence on “the word only.”

But when every conceivable ground of hope of any dependence on anything in or about himself, is gone, and is acknowledged to be gone; when everything that can be seen is against any hope of justification, then it is that, throwing himself on the promise of God, upon the word only, hoping against hope, faith enters: and by faith he finds justification full and free, all ungodly though he be.

For forever it stands written, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.” “Whom God hath set forth … to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.” [Romans 4:5; 3:22, 25.]

This is what it is to exercise faith. Are you exercising faith? For “understanding how to exercise faith: this is the science of the gospel.”

“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1.

Since faith is the depending upon the work of God only, for what that word says, being justified by faith is simply being accounted righteous by depending upon the word only.

And since the word is the word of God, dependence upon the word only is dependence upon God only, in the word. Justification by faith, then, is justification—being accounted righteous by dependence upon God only; and upon him only because he has promised.

We are all together sinners,— sinful, and ungodly. We are, therefore, all subject to the judgment of God. Romans 3:9–19. Yet for all of us there is escape from the judgment of God, But the only way of escape from the judgment of God is to trust in God.

When David had sinned in numbering the people, and so had incurred the exemplary judgment of God, the Lord gave him his choice as to whether there should be seven years of famine, or he should flee three months before his enemies, or there should be three days’ pestilence. But David would not choose at all; he deferred it all to the Lord, for him to choose: saying, “Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great.” II Samuel 24:11–14.

When depending upon God alone, in his word, for righteousness, we have peace with God; because thus we really obtain righteousness, and “the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.” Isaiah 32:17.

When depending upon God alone in his word, for righteousness we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ, because “He is our peace, who hath both” God and man “one,” “having abolished in his flesh the enmity” “for to make in himself of twain”—of God and man—“one new man, so making peace.” Ephesians 2:14,15.

Further, when depending upon God alone, in his word, for righteousness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, because God has “made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; … whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproachable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith”—if you continue to depend only upon God alone in his word. Colossians 1:20–23.

When he has made the way so plain, the justification so complete, and the peace so sure to all, and asks all people only to receive it all by simply accepting it from him, and depending upon him for it, why should not every soul on earth be thus justified, and have the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ?

This is “what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of exercising faith.” Are you exercising faith? Are you justified by faith? Have you righteousness by faith? Have you peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ?

“Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22.

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God only, for the accomplishment of what that word says.

This being so, it must never for a moment be forgotten that where there is no word of God, there cannot be any faith.

This is shown also in the truth that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. Since faith thus comes indeed by the very word of God itself, it is perfectly plain that where there is no word of God, there can be no faith.

This is beautifully illustrated by an instance in the life of David: because David had it in his heart to build a house unto the Lord, the Lord spoke to him by the prophet Nathan, saying, “The Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. … And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.”
[I Chronicles 17:14.]

Then David prayed and said, “Now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as thou hast said, And let thy name be magnified forever saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

“For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
[I Chronicles 17:23–25.]

“And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: that it may continue forever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever.” II Samuel 7:11–29.

His prayer was altogether of faith, because it was altogether the word of God: the word of God was the cause of it; the word of God was all the hope of David that the prayer would ever be answered.

He asked according to the will of God, because the will of God was expressed in the word of God. Having asked according to the plainly stated will of God, David knew that his prayer was heard. And knowing that his prayer was heard, David knew that he had the petition which he desired of him. I John 5:14. Therefore he said, So let it be. And therefore also the answer to that prayer was, and is, and forevermore shall be, sure unto David.

And this was written for our learning; that we might know how to pray in faith, and how in prayer to cultivate faith. Therefore, Go and do thou likewise. Because “the knowledge of what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of cultivating faith is more essential than any other knowledge that can be acquired.”

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Therefore the word of God is the only means of faith.

Therefore, where there is no word of God, there can not be any faith.

And where the word of God is, faith is the entire dependence upon that word for the accomplishment of what that word says.

From all this, which is the truth, it is perfectly plain that in order for any one to ask in faith, he must first of all be sure that he has the word of God for what he asks.

Having the word of God for what he asks, he, like David, can find it in his heart to pray with perfect confidence, which is only in perfect faith.

He who thus prays knows that he is asking according to the will of God: for he knows that he has the plain word of God for it.

Therefore he knows that God hears him; and knowing that God hears him, he knows that he has the thing for which he has asked; because the sole basis of his hope for it is the word which has spoken it, and which is the sole basis of his asking.

The Lord tells us thus to pray; and thus he has made provision for the steady, strong, and continuous growth of faith.

Many people pray, but do not have what they pray for, and so do not know whether they can certainly claim it; and not knowing whether they can claim it, they are all at sea as to whether their prayers are answered or not.

The Lord does not want anybody to move uncertainly. Therefore he has given his word, which thoroughly furnishes every one unto all good works, and by which are given all things that pertain unto life and godliness.

And any one who seeks in the word of God the things which God has there provided for all, and upon that specific word prays for that thing, thus asking according to the plainly expressed will of God, knows that his prayer is heard, and that he has the thing for which he prayed.

So doing, the prayers will be always certain, the life will be filled with the direct gifts of God, and the faith will be sure and strong, and will be ever increasing in strength.

Many pray the prayer of the disciples, “Lord, increase our faith.” This is well. Yet along with this, it must never be forgotten that faith comes only by the word of God. Therefore, as certainly as your faith shall be increased and it can be only by there being in you an increase of the word of God, is by harkening to that word, praying to the Lord for the thing which that word says, depending wholly upon that word for that thing, and thanking him that you have received it. Then and thus that word is received by you, and lives in you.

Thus while we can pray, “Lord, increase our faith,” at the same time we must remember that we are to build up ourselves on our most holy faith. Jude 20.

This is how to exercise faith. Faith can be exercised only on the word of God; for where there is no word of God, there can not be any faith.

And “understanding how to exercise faith, this is the science of the gospel.”

“The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17.

Who are the just?—They are only those who are of faith; because men are justified only by faith.

For though we all “have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” yet we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” [Romans 3:23, 24.]

For “to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” [Romans 4:4, 5.]

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Romans 5:1.] Those who are of faith, and those alone, are the just in the earth.

Now faith is entire dependence on the word of God, that that word shall accomplish what that word says. “It shall accomplish that which I please.” Isaiah 55:11.

To be justified, then, is to be justified by entire dependence upon the word of God. The just are those who are of the word of God. This is how men become just.

Men must not only become just by faith,—by dependence upon the word of God,—but being just, we must live by faith. The just man lives in precisely the same way, and by precisely the same thing, that he becomes just.

We become just by faith; faith is entire dependence on the word of God. We, being just, must live by precisely the same thing by which we become just; that is, by entire dependence upon the word of God.

And this is exactly what Jesus said: Man shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Matthew 4:4.] When Jesus said that, it is perfectly plain that he simply said, in other words, Man shall live by faith.

There is no other way truly to live than by faith, which is simply living by the word of God. Without faith, without the word of God, men only die.

Indeed, without the word of God, everything only dies; for in the beginning everything came by the word of God. The word of God is the origin and life of everything; for, “He spake, and it was.”

All things animate and inanimate,—sun, moon, and stars, animals and men,—all are entirely dependent upon the word of God for existence. Only in the case of men, God has bestowed upon them the wondrous gift of choice as to whether they will do so or not. This gift opens the door of faith. And when a man does choose to live by the word of God, which is the only means of life, faith—entire dependence upon the word of God—is the means by which he lays hold on the means of life.

Thus “the just shall live by faith,” and thus “whatsoever is not of faith is sin”; which is simply to say, The just must live by the word of God; and whatsoever is not the word of God is sin.

“We can not have a healthy Christian experience, we can not obey the gospel unto salvation, until the science of faith is better understood; and until more faith is exercised.”

“Hast thou faith?” Have the faith of God. Here are they that keep “the faith of Jesus.”

“The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” Romans 1:17.

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God, expecting that word to do what the word itself says. Is there, then, righteousness spoken by the word of God, so that people can depend completely upon that word, that the word shall accomplish what the word says?

There it is. Indeed, that is the very object of the gift of Christ. For him “God hath set forth … to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Romans 3:25.

Seeing then that God hath set forth Christ expressly to declare, to speak, the righteousness of God, it is certain that the word of God has spoken, upon which there can be complete dependence, expecting that word to do what that word says. In other words, there is righteousness that can be received by faith.

Wherein is the word spoken? It is spoken in the word “forgiveness.” “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”; “there is forgiveness with thee.”

Now what is the meaning of “forgive”? The word “forgive” is composed of “for” and “give,” which is otherwise to give for. To forgive, therefore, is simply to give for. For the Lord to forgive sin, is to give for sin. But what does the Lord give for sin?—He declares “his righteousness for the remission of sins.”

Therefore, when the Lord forgives—[He] gives for—sins. He gives righteousness for sin. And as the only righteousness that the Lord has for his own, it follows that the only righteousness that God gives, or can give, for sin is the righteousness of God.

This is the righteousness of God as a gift. All men have only sinned, and, if they are ever clear, must have forgiveness entirely free, as the forgiveness of sin—the righteousness of God as a free gift “upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:18.

Every soul, therefore, who ever asks God for forgiveness of sin, in that very thing asks God to give him righteousness for sin. Every soul who asks God for forgiveness, asks it solely upon the word of God, which speaks forgiveness. And faith is entire dependence upon the word for what the word speaks. Thus righteousness is altogether of faith.

“Every one that asketh receiveth.” You have asked the Lord many a time to forgive your sins; that is, you have asked him to give for your sin. But when you ask the Lord to give for your sin, in that you ask him to give the only thing that he does or can give for sin, which is righteousness. That is what it is to ask forgiveness of the Lord.

And he does forgive—he does give for—your sins when you ask him. He says he does, and he does. “He is faithful”—that is, he will never fail—“and just to forgive our sins.” And the only thing he gives for our sins is his righteousness.

Then why not thank him for the righteousness that he freely gives for your sins when you ask him to?

Do you not see that righteousness by faith is just as plain and simple as asking God for forgiveness of sin? Indeed, it is just that.

To believe that righteousness is given to you for your sin, when you ask forgiveness—and thankfully to receive that righteousness as the gift of God,—this is what it is to exercise faith.

Yet how true it is that we suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief, and show our ignorance of how to exercise faith.

“Hast thou faith?” Have the faith of God. “Here are they that keep … the faith of Jesus.” [Revelation 14:12.] [Emphasis author’s.]

Taken from the book, Lessons on Faith, A.T. Jones & E.J. Waggoner.

©1995, TEACH Services, Inc.

Used with Permission

www.teachservices.com

The Gospel of Peace

by

Pope Pius XII was born in 1876. His father was an attorney and both parents were staunch Roman Catholics—a tradition that he carried on in his decision to train for the priesthood. He became a priest, and later became the archbishop of Germany; his name was Eugenio Pacelli. He created the legal agreement between the papacy and Nazi Germany in 1933 and 1934 and became the 260th pope in 1939, a position he retained during the Korean War until his death in 1958.

His personal physician, Dr. Galeazzi Lisi, wrote an article for a publication in Rome in which he described the agonizing death of Pope Pius XII and revealed the pope’s constant insecurity regarding the future. The article met with disapproval on the part of church authorities, and so the copies of the newspaper were confiscated before they could be distributed and Dr Galeazzi Lisi was dismissed from his position. After all, here is a person who is supposed to send you to heaven or hell, and as he is approaching death he is fearful and he has great insecurity regarding the future.

Dr. Walter Montano, a Protestant, and the editor of the Christian Heritage at the time, said, “Well, this is the very same thing that happened when Pope Benedict XV died in 1922.” The following appeared in the December 1958 issue of Christian Heritage:

“One can feel only a sense of pity for the last end of such a man. How is it possible that the ecclesiastical demigod who had the keys of heaven and earth is unable to use those keys to gain entrance into his own eternal salvation? What a pathetic ending for a man who has devoted his life to religion, who has directed, as they say, the bark of St. Peter, who is infallible, who has elevated the virgin Mary to a state that no other pope had dared to imagine. At the end of his life he dies in fear and agony, not knowing what the future holds in store for him. All the pomp and ceremony, all the masterfully devised rituals in his honor may impress the people, especially Roman Catholics, but they cannot gain him one inch of heaven. What about his soul and his eternal destiny? What Roman Catholic knows where this pope is right now?”

The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church established that anyone who says “I am saved” at any time in his life commits a mortal sin. If Pope Pius XII had the courage to express faith in the One who died for our sins, if he had realized that there is only one mediator between God and man, if he had accepted the fact that Christ’s death invalidated any other sacrifice and that He died for the sins of the world, then he would not have faced a death of fear and desperation; a truly agonizing death. Instead, he would have been able to say, “I know in whom I believe.”

Do you know in whom you believe? If you had to face death today, would it be a fearful, agonizing experience, or could you say, as the apostle Paul said to Timothy just before he died, “I know in whom I believe and I know he can keep that which I have committed to Him until that day.” II Timothy 1:12.

One of the most religious men in the world who devoted his whole life to religion somehow didn’t understand the very basis of the Christian religion or the gospel. Unfortunately, this misunderstanding is not isolated to Catholicism. How can you have confidence that a certain person can give you eternal life if he does not have any confidence himself of eternal life when he dies?

“In whom we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of transgressions according to the richness of His grace which super abounded unto us in all wisdom and knowledge, having made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed beforehand in Himself so that in the management of the fullness of the times He might gather altogether all things in Christ, the things upon the heavens and the things upon the earth in Him.” Ephesians 1:7–10.

Paul says our redemption price has been paid and we have redemption now. Money has nothing to do with our redemption. There are hundreds of millions of people today who call themselves Christians who believe that their redemption lies in going through certain religious ceremonies and paying money to the church, but that is not what the Bible says.

How do we have redemption? From where does the redemption come? The Bible teaches that we have redemption through His blood. Galatians 3:21: “Is therefore the law against the promises of God? Not at all. For if a law had been given which is able to make life or to bring to life, then righteousness would have been from the law.” He goes on to show that this was not possible; there is no law that has ever been given or can ever be given that can give life. If eternal life could be given through a law or through your keeping a law, if life could be given that way, Jesus would not have needed to come and die on the cross.

But righteousness is not obtained in that way. You cannot get righteousness by going to church; you get righteousness from Jesus Christ. It is His blood that paid the price for our sins. We do not generate righteousness ourselves. Look in the book of Isaiah 64:6: “We are all as an unclean thing, all of us; all of our righteousness is as a filthy garment; then we fade as a leaf, all of us; our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Literal translation.)

What is our righteousness like? We do not have any, we cannot generate it, we cannot make it and we cannot get it for money. This false concept was one of the precipitating factors of the Protestant Reformation.

In Isaiah 55, God invites everybody who is thirsty to come, for it is not through paying money or doing good works that you can get your sins forgiven.

Romans 10:3 says: “For they being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” The Jews were trying to work out their own righteousness, but were unable.

Paul states clearly that righteousness is not obtained through works. In the books, Romans and Galatians, Paul explained most fully righteousness by faith. Why do you suppose that it is in the book to the Romans that righteousness by faith is explained in the most detail? God knew that it would be in the Roman church where men would depart from the truth of the gospel regarding righteousness by faith. When you depart from this, you do not have the gospel anymore and you are headed for an ending like that of Pope Pius XII. He came from a very distinguished family and was a brilliant man—a genius and talented in many areas. He had tremendous ability, but none of this helped him one bit when he came to the end of his life. Nor shall it help anyone else in the end. We may not die before Jesus comes. No matter how or when, though, the end will come and result in either eternal death or eternal life, the latter of which is unattainable unless the gospel is received and understood.

“There is not a point that needs to be dwelt upon more earnestly, repeated more frequently or established more firmly in the minds of all than the impossibility of fallen man meriting anything by his own best good works. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.” Faith and Works, 18.

There is nothing that you will ever be able to do that will merit salvation; nothing. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Through His grace we are capable of good works, but the good works should not be an attempt to merit grace.

When Paul explained the gospel to the Galatians and showed them that they had strayed in this regard, he told them that they started right but now were going to try to finish the Christian experience a different way. He said that even if an angel of heaven tells you another gospel, let him be cursed. That is strong language.

The reason Paul stated it that way is because there is an angel that used to be in heaven that is telling the people another gospel all the time, including Adventists. Martin Luther believed this, and he tried so hard and never gained any assurance of salvation. That is why Pope Pius XII had no assurance of salvation when he came to his death, because he never knew if he had done enough. Martin Luther believed the same thing and was trying to work his way to salvation by doing good works. He went to Rome and, while he was there, he climbed a staircase that was supposed to have come from Jerusalem. The rumor was that these stairs had been taken miraculously by angels from Jerusalem to Rome, and ascension was supposed to offer special grace.

Martin Luther was climbing up this staircase on his knees, attempting to do everything that he knew to obtain salvation. He said later that Romans 1:16, 17 came to him, “like a thunderclap in my ear”; “The righteous man shall live by faith.” He got up and he walked back down the stairs and he never tried to earn salvation through works again. He started studying the subject in Romans and Galatians and the Old Testament concerning David. Right at this time, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church was being built in St. Peter’s Square where it still stands today, a building of enormous cost. A man by the name of Tetsel came to town and told the people that if they pay money to the church it would go towards building St. Peter’s in Rome, and for supporting this “noble cause” all sins would be forgiven immediately. The people were paying their money, and they thought their sins were forgiven. Martin Luther was outraged by this practice, and worked to put an end to it.

A war started, as Tetsel was threatened by what Martin Luther taught. In 1517, Martin Luther developed 95 theses against the selling of indulgences, and nailed it to the church door. Within a matter of days, that document had been copied and was all over town, and within a matter of about five or six weeks, it was all over Europe. The debate between the Reformation and Roman Catholicism was over the simple question, how are you saved?

“Knowing that a man is not made righteous, or justified from the works of the law, but rather through faith in Jesus Christ or the faith of Jesus Christ, and we have believed in Jesus Christ in order that we might be made righteous or justified out of the faith of Christ and not out of the works of the law.” He goes on to say that not one single person can pay for their salvation in any way. Galatians 2:16.

Paul says that no flesh will be justified, or made righteous, by works. Ephesians 2:8–10 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not out of works, in order that anyone should boast; for we are made in him, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we should walk in them.”

Notice the progression here in verses eight to ten; he says that you have been saved by grace. It is not of works; it is a gift. But when you have been saved, then you can do good work. It is very important not to get the cart before the horse, as they say. Yes, good works appear, but do good works appear in order that you can be justified, or do good works appear after you are justified; which is it? Do good works cause you to be saved, or are the good works the result of your being saved? Which is it; what is it saying here? Do you get the order right? You are saved by grace, and as a result of being saved, good works do follow in your life.

We can read many texts on this; let us look at the gospel of John. The writings of Paul are not the only place where the gospel appears, of course, in the Bible. John 3:35, 36, John the Baptist speaking, it says, “For the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, or everlasting life, and the one who is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”

What is necessary to receive life? To believe in the Son. If you believe in Him, you have life. If you will not believe in Him, if you will not commit to Him, then you will not have life. He says the very same thing in I John 5:11, 12: “The one that has the Son has life; the one who does not have the Son does not have life.”

Teachers used to say, if you really know something, you can explain it in simple language. That is the way with the gospel. The apostle Paul, in Acts 16, explains it to a heathen man in one sentence.

Acts 16:30, 31—to the Philippian jailer—“And bringing them outside he said, ‘lords, what is necessary for me to do so that I might be saved?’ ” That is the most important question a human being can ask. What shall I do so that I might be saved? Well, Paul is going to tell him the answer; here it is, in one verse: “And they said, believe upon the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your house.”

Could it be this simple? Look at that text; it covers everything. What do you have to do to be saved? You believe. By the way, the word “believe” means to commit. You commit to whom? It says, believe upon the Lord. Who is the Lord? The apostle Paul told him in one sentence how to be saved: believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. It is that simple; if you make the commitment to Jesus as your Lord and Savior you will be saved. Jesus—the word Jesus means “Savior,” and if you commit to Him as the Lord of your life and Savior from sin, you are going to be saved. The concept is not the complicated part: it is the execution that becomes hazy for most. It is simple, but it is hard to do. We have a natural instinct to want to be independent. You cannot be saved if you are independent of Jesus. The result of receiving the gospel: Paul mentions it in Romans 5:1; it is peace. This was the very thing Pope Pius XII did not have on his deathbed.

Paul was not in turmoil when he was going out to be beheaded; in fact, the people who witnessed his martyrdom converted to Christianity because of his quiet spirit. There is no fear, no torment, or trouble. In his face they saw that he had the peace of heaven, and many onlookers wanted to have a share of that peace. Unfortunately, the world today does not have it, and even many people who call themselves Christians do not have it. Pope Pius XII did not have it. But Paul calls the gospel the “gospel of peace,” because our God is a God of peace.

Study the New Testament, and look at the salutations that Paul gives to the churches when he writes his letters. He always gives it in a certain order. Grace and peace be to you. He never says peace and grace; why? Because you have to receive grace first or you will not have any peace, but when you receive the grace of God, when you receive the gospel, then you have peace. You do not have any peace today unless you have received the grace of God into your heart and into your life.

Many Adventists are afraid that the stock market is going to crash, and therefore they are going to have to run somewhere. Why are Adventists so fearful? There is only one thing that makes people so fearful, and that is that they have never really experienced the gospel. The apostle Paul experienced the gospel, and nothing could make him fearful; he was not troubled because they were going to chop his head off; he was not troubled because of that.

Peter knew he was going to be crucified, and yet he wasn’t troubled. In reading the history of the rest of the apostles and the early Christians, death couldn’t take their peace away; why not? Look at what Jesus said about it.

Jesus, speaking to his disciples on the night that he was betrayed, says, “Peace I am leaving with you, my peace I am giving to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.

If you have the peace of Jesus, you are not going to be troubled or afraid. Friends, have you read prophecy; do you know what is going to happen right as we approach the end of the world? Well, what are you going to be doing as you see all these things happening that are described in the latter half of the book of Revelation? Is there fear or peace? Have the peace of Jesus, and no matter what happens on the outside, it cannot take away that peace.

Paul says in Galatians 1 that the gospel makes peace. If the gospel does not bring peace to your mind in this troubled world, then you do not really have the gospel yet. The gospel is called the good news. Is it a message about righteousness resulting in good works, leading people to strive to gain peace with God through either ceremonies or duties? That would not be good news, because that message would never bring peace; that would bring turmoil to the person who is struggling to meet the standards that are built on the system.

In The Desire of Ages, 35, 36, Ellen White says that every system of false religion is built on the doctrine of salvation by works. Every system; it is not just the Roman Catholic system, it is all systems of false religion.

This peace is the healing of the relationship between God and man, and when you have peace with God, as Paul says in Romans 5:1, then it does not matter what happens in the world outside. That is why Jesus said, in John 14:27, “I am not giving peace to you like the world gives; the peace of the world can be taken away, but the peace that Jesus gives cannot be taken away.” The apostles were always talking about it: almost every letter that Paul wrote he begins by saying, “Grace and peace to you.”

Peter preached the gospel to a heathen man who does not understand it, and the very first sermon was the good news of peace through Jesus. “We do not ask people to bring anything in their hand in an attempt to buy peace because Jesus is our peace.” Ephesians 2:14.

You and I cannot make peace with God ourselves. Not only can we not make peace with God ourselves; we are incapable of maintaining peace with God, but Jesus has made the peace for us already, and He has given it to us as a gift. This is what Paul talks about in Romans 3:24–26, 28, about how we are justified, and Romans 4:4, 5, how it doesn’t come through works; it is a gift. In Romans 3 and 4 Paul says over and over that works have nothing to do with it.

God knew there would be people who would be saying we are saved by grace and works, but that is not the gospel. If you believe you are saved by grace and works, here is the first question for you. When have you done enough works? Do you see the dilemma you are in? You will never be able to do enough works so that you feel satisfied; you will never have peace, because you do not have the gospel. Salvation by grace and works is not the gospel.

Christ’s righteousness is credited to the believer on the basis of faith alone. It is not credited to those who work to gain it, but only to those who trust in the all-sufficient Savior alone.

“Therefore what shall we say, that the nations which had not pursued righteousness have obtained righteousness, but it is the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which pursued the righteousness which is of the law, did not attain unto righteousness. Why? Because it is not of faith, but out of works; they stumbled at that stumbling stone, just as it is written, Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” Romans 9:30–33.

So, justification is by faith because it is in harmony with grace, which is the free and unmerited favor of God, and it cannot be earned or purchased or merited. Faith has no merit of itself; it performs no meritorious works to gain favor; it simply trusts in the giver of the grace, and is the only basis by which God declares a sinner righteous.

When you are justified by faith, the result is always peace inside; if you do not have the peace, you have not experienced the gospel yet. It is that simple. Paul said: the Jews want a sign; the Greeks, they want wisdom; we preach Christ and Him crucified; to the Jews, it is a stumbling block, and to the Greeks it is just foolishness, but to those of us who are to be saved, it is the wisdom of God and it is the power of God. Is that the peace that you have, or does the following quotation describe more accurately the condition of your heart right now?

“The reason for the uncertainty of the state of grace lies in this: without a special revelation nobody can, with certainty of faith, know whether or not he has fulfilled all the conditions that are necessary for achieving justification.” That comes from the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 262, published in 1974. If that is your belief, you will never have peace, because you will never know if you have ever done enough. So, what are the conditions to achieve justification? Is it something that you are going to have to do? No. It is when you believe in Jesus as the Lord of your life and your Savior from sin. Then you are given His righteousness, and as a result of receiving His righteousness He gives you at the same time His peace. Then you will have peace, no matter how much trouble there is in the world outside.

From now on until Jesus comes, there is going to be every manner of rumor and scare imaginable, and you are not going to make it unless you have the gospel. If you have the gospel and you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, you will have peace on the inside, and you don’t need to worry about what everybody is saying on the Internet is going to happen. You don’t have to worry, because you can have peace on the inside.

“If any man can merit salvation by anything he may do, then he is in the same position as the Catholic to do penance for his sins. Salvation, then, is partly of debt, that may be earned as wages. If man cannot, by any of his good works, merit salvation, then it must be wholly [completely] of grace, received by man as a sinner because he receives and believes in Jesus. It is wholly a free gift. Justification by faith is placed beyond controversy. And all this controversy is ended, as soon as the matter is settled that the merits of fallen man and his good works can never procure eternal life for him. … Justification is wholly of grace and not procured by any works that fallen man can do.” Faith and Works, 19, 20.

Ellen White goes on writing about this, and emphasizes it over and over again. Do you have peace inside? Do you realize that as we approach the end of the world the people of this world are going to get more and more troubled until, as Jesus said, their hearts are going to fail them for fear and for looking for what is coming on the earth? What is going to happen to you then? If you have accepted the gospel, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He says, My peace I have given to you; do not be troubled, do not be afraid; I will never leave you, and I have given my peace to you, and you do not need to be afraid and panicky like everybody else in the world. We need to say, Lord Jesus, I am committing my life to you. I want you as my Lord and Savior from sin; I pray that you will give me that grace, that justification that will result in peace so that I do not have to be troubled like everybody else in the world. It is the most wonderful thing you can ever receive: Jesus’ peace that nobody can take away from you.

(Some Bible verses paraphrased.)

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

Pen of Inspiration – A People Called

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The truth is a power, and those who see its force will stand boldly and fearlessly in its defense. Truth must be apprehended by the intellect, received into the heart, and its principles incorporated into the character; and then there must be a constant effort to win others to accept it, for God holds men responsible for the use they make of the light He imparts to them.

The Lord calls upon all His people to improve the ability He has given them. The mental powers should be developed to the utmost; they should be strengthened and ennobled by dwelling upon spiritual truths. If the mind is allowed to run almost entirely upon trifling things and the common business of everyday life, it will, in accordance with one of its unvarying laws, become weak and frivolous, and deficient in spiritual power.

Times that will try men’s souls are just before us, and those who are weak in the faith will not stand the test of those days of peril. The great truths of revelation are to be carefully studied, for we shall all want an intelligent knowledge of the word of God. By Bible study and daily communion with Jesus we shall gain clear, well-defined views of individual responsibility and strength to stand in the day of trial and temptation. He whose life is united to Christ by hidden links will be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

More thought should be given to the things of God, and less to temporal matters. The world-loving professor, if he will exercise his mind in that direction, may become as familiar with the word of God as he now is with worldly business. “Search the Scriptures,” said Christ; “for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.” The Christian is required to be diligent in searching the Scriptures, to read over and over again the truths of God’s word. Willful ignorance on this subject endangers the Christian life and character. It blinds the understanding and corrupts the noblest powers. It is this that brings confusion into our lives. Our people need to understand the oracles of God; they need to have a systematic knowledge of the principles of revealed truth, which will fit them for what is coming upon the earth and prevent them from being carried about by every wind of doctrine.

Great changes are soon to take place in the world, and everyone will need an experimental knowledge of the things of God. It is the work of Satan to dishearten the people of God and to unsettle their faith. He tries in every way to insinuate doubts and questionings in regard to the position, the faith, the plans, of the men upon whom God has laid the burden of a special work and who are zealously doing that work. Although he may be baffled again and again, yet he renews his attacks, working through those who profess to be humble and God-fearing, and who are apparently interested in, or believers of, present truth. The advocates of truth expect fierce and cruel opposition from their open enemies, but this is far less dangerous than the secret doubts expressed by those who feel at liberty to question and find fault with what God’s servants are doing. These may appear to be humble men; but they are self-deceived, and they deceive others. In their hearts are envy and evil surmisings. They unsettle the faith of the people in those in whom they should have confidence, those whom God has chosen to do His work; and when they are reproved for their course they take it as personal abuse. While professing to be doing God’s work they are in reality aiding the enemy.

Brethren, never allow anyone’s ideas to unsettle your faith in regard to the order and harmony which should exist in the church. Many of you do not see all things clearly. The directions in regard to order in the tabernacle service were recorded that lessons might be drawn from it by all who should live upon the earth. Men were selected to do various parts of the work of setting up and taking down the tabernacle, and if one strayed in carelessly and put his hands to the work assigned to another, he was to be put to death. We serve the same God today. But the death penalty has been abolished; had it not been, there would not now be so much careless, disorderly work in His cause. The God of heaven is a God of order, and He requires all His followers to have rules and regulations, and to preserve order. All should have a perfect understanding of God’s work.

It is unsafe to cherish doubt in the heart even for a moment. The seeds of doubt which Pharaoh sowed when he rejected the first miracle were allowed to grow, and they produced such an abundant harvest that all subsequent miracles could not persuade him that his position was wrong. He continued to venture on in his own course, going from one degree of questioning to another, and his heart became more and more hardened until he was called to look upon the cold, dead faces of the first-born.

God is at work, and we are not doing one half that must be done to prepare a people to stand in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed. Woe be to the man that shall in the least degree seek to hinder the work which God is doing. We must labor for others; we must try to weaken the hold of our brethren upon their earthly treasures; for many will sell their birthright to eternal life for worldly advantages. How much better to encourage them to lay up their treasure in heaven than complainingly to drop the words: “It is money, money, that these men are continually calling for; and they are getting rich by it.” How sweet are words like these to the world-loving professor! How they strengthen his courage to withhold from God the proportion which belongs to Him and which should be returned to Him in tithes and offerings! The curse of the Lord will rest upon those who fail to render to Him His own. Let us work in harmony with God. His servants have a message to bear to money lovers; why should they not bear a close testimony in regard to bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, when the Lord Himself has set them the example?

The religion of Christ subdues the selfish spirit and transforms the mind and the affections; it lays low the pride of men, that God alone may be exalted. This is what Brother A wants. He needs a practical faith in God. He needs to see and feel the glory of serving Christ; he needs to exalt principle and elevate the Christian standard; he needs to store his mind with the rich promises, the warnings, the counsels and threatenings, of God’s word; he needs to see the importance of having faith and corresponding works, that he may fairly represent, at home, in the church, and in his business, the purity and elevated character of religion. He should place himself in connection with Christ, that he may have spiritual power. His connection with the world, and with influences adverse to the spirit of truth, have greater power over him than the Spirit of Christ. Here is his danger; and he will eventually make shipwreck of faith unless he changes his course of action and firmly connects with the Source of light.

Testimonies, vol. 5, 272–275.

Fight of Faith

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Do you want to be saved? I mean saved for eternity. I sure do. Do you hear people say, “I am saved,” but yet you cannot tell them apart from the world? I see a lot of that also. My heart yearns to be in His presence right now where there is “fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11.

I have read that “The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloudbursts, in casualties by land and sea that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.” The Review and Herald, November 8, 1892. Am I ready? Are you ready? Are we prepared for the testing and purification? How do we prepare? God tells us, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12. Oh no, is this a “works” thing? No! We can do nothing except through the Holy Spirit. So, how do you and I work out our salvation? What do we do? We fight the good fight of faith. Yes, we fight!

In I Timothy 6:12, we are told, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” What are you and I to do? Yes, “Fight the good fight of faith.” That sounds great but, what exactly is the “fight of faith?” When you and I understand what the “good fight of faith” is, we will know exactly what our work is. We are told, “When we lay hold of Christ by faith, our work has just begun. Every man has corrupt and sinful habits that must be overcome by vigorous warfare. Every soul is required to fight the fight of faith.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1111.

What is required of every soul? It is to “fight the fight of faith.” What is our work? It is to fight the good fight of faith. (I Timothy 6:12.) So, what is the “fight of faith?” It is to overcome corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare. “When we lay hold of Christ by faith our work has just begun,” and James 2:20 tells us, “Faith without works is dead.” Do you have a faith that is living and working?

“In all ages there have been those who claimed a right to the favor of God even while they were disregarding some of His commands. But the Scriptures declare that by works is ‘faith made perfect;’ and that, without the works of obedience, faith ‘is dead.’ James 2:22. He that professes to know God, ‘and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’ I John 2:4.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 73. So, what is dead without the “works of obedience?” Our faith. What are we told to do? “Fight the good fight of faith.” I Timothy 6:12. How do we do that? As we read earlier, “When we lay hold of Christ by faith our work has just begun,” works of obedience—to overcome corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare. What do those “works of obedience” have to do with sinful habits? Sinful habits are habits which go against the word of God. That is why they are sinful.

Before I became a Christian, I had some very pronounced habits and ways. The employers I worked with knew everything that was on my mind, whether it be good or bad—whether it be by memo or mouth. I had a quick tongue like a sword. But, when I gave my heart to the Lord, I had a real battle (vigorous warfare). Why? Because the habits and words that were okay for the world were not okay with the Lord. I chose to fight the “good fight of faith.” And you can too.

We read, “As you arose from the watery grave at the time of your baptism, you professed to be dead, and declared that your life was changed—hid with Christ in God. You claimed to be dead to sin, and cleansed from your hereditary and cultivated traits of evil. In going forward in the rite of baptism, you pledged yourselves before God to remain dead to sin. Your mouth was to remain a sanctified mouth, your tongue a converted tongue.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 908. [Emphasis added.]

My battle began with the many “corrupt and sinful habits that must be overcome by vigorous warfare.” I am sure many of you can identify with these things, whether they be a sharp tongue, short temper, unloving spirit, impatience, etc.

What did I do? Remember, I had a work to do—I had to overcome these corrupt and sinful traits. I had to “fight the good fight of faith.” I Timothy 6:12.

My Lord led me to one of the meanings of grace. It was “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.” (Lexicon.) Oh, how I wanted this divine influence upon my heart and its reflection in my life. I prayed for this with all my heart! Do you want that divine influence upon your heart and its reflection in your life? Then pray for it with all your heart. I did. Prayer is one of the first stations in battle to overcome those “corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare.” Plead with all your heart and the Lord will hear you. Claim the promise in Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Pray, “Lord You have promised that if I delight myself in You that You would give me the desires of my heart. My desire is to have more of Your divine influence upon my heart and more of its reflection in my life. Thank you, Lord, for keeping Your promises and for hearing and answering my prayers.”

Our Lord waits to hear prayers like these so He can send help, so He can send that divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.

All I wanted was to have the fruits of the Holy Spirit shine through me. I knew I had a battle on my hands. I had many corrupt and sinful habits. For years I was practicing the wrong things. There were certain scriptures I turned into prayer, i.e., “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:5, and “Search me Oh God and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts.” Psalm 139:23. I did not know what the “fight of faith” was at that time, but now I know. What is the fight of faith? It is “to overcome corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare.” Oh what a battle I had. The battle for you and me is to overcome our corrupt and sinful habits, our cultivated traits of evil. That is our “fight of faith.” Remember, “every soul is required to fight the fight of faith.”

“My brother, my sister, do you in your words, in your spirit, in your actions, resemble Christ? [This is talking about every moment of every day.] If in word and spirit you represent the character of Christ, then you are Christians; for to be a Christian is to be Christ-like. The tongue will testify of the principles that characterize the life; it is the sure test [remember the test you and I must pass] of what power controls the heart. We may judge our own spirit and principles by the words that proceed from our lips. [Have you judged yourself recently?] The tongue is always to be under the control of the Holy Spirit.” The Review and Herald, May 26, 1896. Are you judging your own spirit and principles? Examine yourself before it is too late. Be true and honest. All of us have a battle to fight.

As I said earlier, I reached out to the Lord in sincere, heart-rending prayer for His Holy Spirit to guard my thoughts and for His grace. The verses would go through my head, “Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good.” “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When frustrating circumstances would arise, instead of sounding off or reacting un-Christ-like, I would run to the ladies’ room and pull out my prayer card and pray, Lord take my heart!!! Please!!! For I cannot give it to You at this moment. Please keep it pure for I cannot keep it pure, for You at this moment! Save me in spite of my weak, un-Christ-like self! Please mold me and fashion me, raise me up into a pure and holy atmosphere where the rich current of Thy love may flow through my soul. I pled with all my heart and soul. I know that the wrong attitude and words were wanting to explode, and so I knew I needed heavenly help. And help came in those short, quiet moments, for when I returned to the situation at hand, there was a peace in my heart, and my response was totally different. You talk about a witness for God. Satan lost that battle, and the whole office was just amazed that I did not blow up, and after a while people around me did not use a lot of language because they knew I had changed.

God knew I needed help to fight the fight of faith, to overcome those corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare, and He sent help just when I needed it most. He gave me victory time and time again over my reactions. What an awesome God we serve!

What are you and I to do? “Fight the good fight of faith.” I Timothy 6:12. What is the “good fight of faith?” It is to overcome our corrupt and sinful habits by vigorous warfare. Do we have a work to do? Yes! Is time running out? Yes! “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15, 16.

Do you see how prayer can be answered in your life? Do you see how you can fight the good fight of faith and at the same time be cooperating with God? God’s grace is sufficient. II Corinthians 12:9. That divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life will prepare us for the heavenly kingdom. Are you ready to fight along with me? Take those Scriptures above and personalize them and watch the fruits of what God can do through you. “God works and man works and as this co-operation is maintained, the richest blessings will come upon those who labor together with God.” The Signs of the Times, May 16, 1892.

In Ephesians 4:22–24, we are told to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” You and I can “put off” concerning our former conversation or lifestyle, that old man, which is corrupt. We can be renewed in the spirit of our minds. We can put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. God’s word is real. When His word tells us to “fight the good fight of faith,” He will give you and me the grace to do so. That divine influence upon the heart will have its reflection in the life. Truly, in His presence is fullness of joy!

Start today to “fight the good fight of faith.”

Judy Hallingstad is currently working as a legal secretary in the state of Wisconsin. She has also studied natural medicine and is a qualified herbalist. She can be contacted by email at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.

Adventist Evolutionists

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The fourth chapter of Romans is one of the richest in the Bible, in the hope and courage which it contains for the Christian. In Abraham we have an example of righteousness by faith, and we have set before us the wonderful inheritance promised to those who have the faith of Abraham. And this promise is not limited. The blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews; there is none so poor that he may not share it, for “it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” [Romans 4:16.]

The last clause of the seventeenth verse is worthy of special attention. It contains the secret of the possibility of our success in the Christian life. It says that Abraham believed “God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” This marks God’s power; it involves creative power. God can call a thing which is not as though it existed. If a man should do that, what would you call it?—A lie! If a man should say that a thing is, when it is not, it would be a lie. But God cannot lie. Therefore, when God calls those things that be not, as though they were, it is evidence that that makes them be. That is, they spring into existence at his word. We have all heard, as an illustration of confidence, the little girl’s statement that “if ma says so, it’s so if it isn’t so.” That is exactly the case with God. Before that time spoken of as “in the beginning,” there was a dreary waste of absolute nothingness; God spoke, and instantly worlds sprang into being. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth … For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6–9. This is the power which is brought to view in Romans 4:17. Now let us read on, that we may see the force of this language in this connection. Still speaking of Abraham, the apostle says:—

“Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:18–22.

Here we learn that Abraham’s faith in God, as one who could bring things into existence by his word, was exercised with respect to his being able to create righteousness in a person destitute of it. Those who look at the trial of Abraham’s faith as relating simply to the birth of Isaac, and ending there, lose all the point and beauty of the sacred record. Isaac was only the one whom his seed was to be called, and that seed was Christ. See Galatians 3:16. When God told Abraham that in his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed, he was preaching the gospel to him (Galatians 3:8); therefore Abraham’s faith in the promise of God was direct faith in Christ as the Saviour of sinners. This was the faith which was counted to him for righteousness.

Now note the strength of the faith. His own body was already virtually dead from age, and Sarah was in like condition. The birth of Isaac from such a pair was nothing less than the bringing of life from the dead. It was a symbol of God’s power to quicken to spiritual life those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Abraham hoped against hope. There was human possibility of the fulfillment of the promise; everything was against it, but his faith grasped and rested upon the unchanging word of God, and his power to create and to make alive. “And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness.” [Romans 4:22.] Now for the point of it all:—

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:23–25.

So Abraham’s faith was the same that ours must be, and in the same object. The fact that it is by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ that we have the same righteousness imputed to us that was imputed to Abraham shows that Abraham’s faith was likewise in the death and resurrection of Christ. All the promises of God to Abraham were for us as well as for him. Indeed, we are told in one place that they were especially for our benefit. “When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:13, 17, 18. Our hope, therefore, rests upon God’s promise and oath to Abraham, for that promise to Abraham, confirmed by that oath, contains all the blessings which God can possibly give to man.

But let us make this matter a little more personal before leaving it. Trembling soul, say not that your sins are so many and that you are so weak that there is no hope for you. Christ came to save the lost, and he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by Him. You are weak, but he says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 11 Corinthians 12:9. And the inspired record tells us of those who “out of weakness were made strong.” Hebrews 11:34. That means that God took their very weakness and turned it into strength. In so doing he demonstrates power. It is his way of working. For “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.” I Corinthians 1:27–29.

Have the simple faith of Abraham. How did he attain to righteousness?—By not considering the deadness and powerlessness of his own body, but by being willing to grant all the glory to God, strong in faith that he could bring all things out of that which was not. You, therefore, in like manner, consider not the weakness of your own body, but the power and grace of our Lord, being assured that the same word which can create a universe, and raise the dead, can also create in you a clean heart, and make you alive in God. And so you shall be a child of Abraham, even a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

I am going to speak … on the subject of evolution. I want you to pay close attention, and find out for yourselves whether or not you are an evolutionist. … [The following] statements are all copied from a treatise on evolution, written by one of the chief evolutionists; therefore they are all correct, so far as they go, as definitions:—

“Evolution is the theory that represents the course of the world as a gradual transition from the indeterminate to the determinate, from the uniform to the varied, and which assumes the cause of these processes to be immanent in the world itself that is to be thus transformed.”

“Evolution is thus almost synonymous with progress. It is a transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better. Thus progress points to an increased value in existence, as judged by our feelings.”

Now notice the particular points in these three sentences: evolution represents the course of the world as a gradual transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better; and assumes that this process is immanent in the world itself thus to be transformed. That is to say, the thing gets better of itself; and that which causes it to get better is itself. And this progress marks “an increased value in existence, as judged by our feelings.” That is to say, you know you are better, because you feel better. You know there has been progress, because you feel it. Your feelings regulate your standing. Your knowledge of your feelings regulates your progress from worse to better.

Now in this matter of progress from worse to better, have your feelings anything to do with it? If they have, what are you? Every one … who measures his progress, the value of his experience, by his feelings, is an evolutionist: I care not if he has been a Seventh-day Adventist for forty years, he is an evolutionist just the same. And all his Christianity, all his religion, is a mere profession without the fact, simply a form with no power.

Now I read what evolution is, in another way; so that you can see that it is infidelity. Then, if you find yourself an evolutionist, you know at once that you are an infidel: “The hypothesis of evolution aims at answering a number of questions respecting the beginning, or genesis, of things.” It “helps to restore the ancient sentiment toward nature as our parent, and the source of our life.”

One of the branches of this sort of science, that has done most toward the establishment of the doctrine of evolution, is the new science of geology, which has instituted the conception of vast and unimaginable periods of time in the past history of our globe. These vast and unimaginable periods, as another one of the chief writers on this subject—the author of it indeed—says, “is the indispensable basis for understanding man’s origin” in the process of evolution. So that the progress that has been made has been countless through the ages. Yet this progress has not been steady and straight forward from its inception until its present condition. It has been through many ups and down. There have been many times of great beauty and symmetry; then there would come a cataclysm, or an eruption, and all would go to pieces, as it were. Again the process would start from that condition of things, and build up again. Many, many times this process has been gone through; and that is the process of evolution,—the transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better.

Now, what has been the process of your progress from the worse to the better? Has it been through “many ups and downs”? Has your acquiring of the power to do good—the good works which are of God—been through a long process of ups and downs from the time of your first profession of Christianity until now? Has it appeared sometimes that you had apparently made great progress, that you were doing well, and that everything was nice and pleasant; and then, without a moment’s warning there would come a cataclysm, or an eruption, and all be spoiled? Nevertheless, in spite of all the ups and downs, you start in for another effort: and so through this process … you think, as judged by your feelings,—is that your experience? Is that the way you have made progress?

In other words, are you an evolutionist? Don’t dodge; confess the honest truth; for I want to get you out of evolutionism. … There is a way to get out of it: and every one who came … an evolutionist can go out a Christian. So if, when I am describing an evolutionist, so plainly that you see yourself, just say so,—admit that it is yourself, and then follow along the steps that God will give you, and that will bring you out of it all. But, I say plainly to you that, if that which I have described has been your experience, if that has been the kind of progress that you have made in your Christian life, then you are an evolutionist, whether you admit it or not. The best way, however, is to admit it, then quit it, and be a Christian.

Another phase of it: “Evolution, so far as it goes, looks upon a matter as eternal.” And “by assuming” this, “the notion of creation is eliminated from those regions of existence to which it is applied.” Now if you look to yourself for the principle which would assure that progress that must be made in you as certainly as ever you reach the kingdom of God; if you suppose that that is immanent in yourself, and that if you could get it rightly to work, and superintend it properly when it had been thus got to work, it would come out all right,—if thus you have been expecting, watching, and marking your progress, you are an evolutionist. For I read further what evolution is: “It is clear that the doctrine of evolution is directly antagonistic to that of creation. … The idea of evolution, as applied to the formation of the world as a whole, is opposed to that of a direct creative volition.”

That is evolution, as defined by those who made it,—that the world came, and all there is of it, of itself; and that the principle that has brought it to the condition in which it is, is immanent in itself, and is adequate to produce all that is. This being so, in the nature of things “evolution is directly antagonistic to creation.”

Now as to the world and all there is of it, you do not believe that it all came of itself. You know that you are not an evolutionist as to that; because you believe that God created all things. Every one of you would say that you believe that God created all things,—the world and all there is in it. Evolution does not admit that: it has no place for creation.

There is, however, another phase of evolution that professedly is not absolutely antagonistic to creation. Those who made this evolution that I have read to you did not pretend to be anything but infidels,—men without faith, for an infidel simply is a man without faith.—Even though a person pretends to have faith, and does not actually have it, he is an infidel. Of course, the word “infidel” is more narrowly confined than that nowadays. The men who made this evolution that I have read to you were that kind of men; but when they spread that kind of doctrine abroad, there were a great number of people who professed to be Christians, who professed to be men of faith, who professed to believe the word of God, which teaches creation. These men, not knowing the word of God for themselves, not knowing it to be the word of God, but their faith being a mere form of faith without the power, these men, I say, being charmed with this new thing that had sprung up, and wanting to be popular along with the new science, and really not wanting to forsake altogether the word of God and the ways of faith, were not ready to say that they would get along without God, without creation somewhere, so they formed a sort of evolution with the Creator in it. That phase of it is called theistic evolution,—that is, God started the thing, whenever that was; but since that, it has been going on of itself. He started it, and after that it was able of itself to accomplish all that has been done. This, however, is but a makeshift, a contrivance to appearances,—and is plainly declared by the true evolutionists to be but “a phase of transition from the creational to the evolutional hypothesis.” It is evolution only; because there is no half-way ground between creation and evolution.

Whether you are one of this kind or not, there are many of them, even among Seventh-day Adventists,—not so many as there used to be, thank the Lord!—who believe that we must have God forgive our sins, and so start us on the way all right; but after that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Accordingly, they do fear, and they do tremble, all the time; but they do not work out any salvation, because they do not have God constantly working in them, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13.

Taken from the book, Lessons on Faith.

©1995 by TEACH Services, Inc., used with permission. www.teachservices.com

In 1888, the Lord brought a message of righteousness to the Church through Elders E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. This message was identified as the beginning of the loud cry of the third angel whose glory was to fill the whole earth in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.

Questions & Answers – How can you tell the difference between Faith and Presumption

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Let us think about what faith is. The Bible says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. Another writer said, “We honor God when we take him at his word, and walk out by faith, believing that he means just what he says.” The Review and Herald, March 19, 1889. Faith has substance and it has evidence. It is believing just what God says and acting in accordance with His desires.

It is important that we have faith in God. We are told that “Without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6. Then again, we read, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3.

We believe that the Bible is the word of God, and Jesus said that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. If we believe and live by every word in the Bible, we should have faith. When we pray, our supplications should all be in accordance with the will of God.

One way to help us understand the will of God is to meditate on the words of Jesus that He said when the lawyer asked, which is the greatest commandment? “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:37–40.

Boiling it all down, we might just say that faith is believing God, and doing His will. When we pray, we should pray according to the will of God, and He will hear and answer.

As for presumption, I looked in three different dictionaries and found many explanations, but I will just quote a few definitions here: “Boldness, supposition, audacity, acting unwarrantable.” In other words, having confidence in something in which there is no surety.

For example, Satan tempted Jesus by asking Him to jump down from the pinnacle of the temple, saying that the angels would protect Him. There was no necessity to jump, and God had not told Him to jump; therefore it would have been presumption to ask the angels to save Him, since God had not told Him to jump, and there was no purpose in it other than to show off.

It has been said that “presumption is when you claim the promise but do not fulfill the condition.” God’s promises are sure, and we need to have faith that He will fulfill His word. If we expect answers to our prayers, they must be within the will of God. And we must have faith in God that He will do that which is best in the light of eternity.

If you have a Bible question you wish to have answered, please e-mail it to: ruthgrosboll@stepstolife.org.

Where Do You Stand?

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In Hebrews 11:3 it is recorded that it is through faith that we understand that the worlds were framed—put together, arranged, built—“by the word of God: so that things which are seen were not made of things which do not appear.” The earth which we have was not made of rocks; men were not made of monkeys, apes, and “the missing link”; and apes and monkeys and “the missing link” were not made of tadpoles; and tadpoles were not made of protoplasm originally way back at the beginning. No! “The worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Now why is it that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear?—Simply because the things of which these are made did not appear. And the reason those things did not appear is because they were not at all. They did not exist. The worlds were framed by the word of God; and the word of God is of that quality, it has that property about it, which, when the word is spoken, not only causes the thing to be, but causes to exist the material out of which the thing is made, and of which the thing consists.

You know also the other scripture, that “by the word of the lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth; … for he spake, and it was.” Psalm 33:6–9. Upon this I will ask you a question: How long after he spoke, before the things were? How much time passed, after he spoke, before the thing was? Not a week?—No. Not six long periods of time?—No. Evolution, even that which recognizes a Creator, holds that indefinite countless ages, or “six long, indefinite periods of time,” passed in the formation of the things which are seen, after he spoke. But that is evolution, not creation: evolution is by long processes. Creation is by the word spoken.

When God, by speaking the word, had created the world, for this one he said, “Let there be light.” Now how much time passed between the words, “Let there be light,” and the time when the light came? I want you to understand this matter aright, so that you can find out whether you are an evolutionist or a creationist. Let me ask this again. Were there not six long periods of time between the time when the word was spoken and the accomplishment of the fact? You say No. Was it not a week?—No. Not a day?—No. … Nor even a second?—No, indeed. There was not a second between the time when God said, “Let there be light,” and the existence of light. … I go over it thus minutely, so as to get it firmly fixed in your mind, for fear you will let it go presently, when I ask you something further. … Then the man who allows that any time at all passed between God’s speaking and the appearing of the thing, is an evolutionist. If he makes it countless ages upon countless ages, he is simply more of an evolutionist than the one who thinks it took a day; he is the same thing, but more of it.

Next, God said, “Let there be a firmament.” And what then?—It was so. Then from the time that God spoke, “Let there be a firmament, … and let it divide the waters from the waters,” how long before a firmament was there? Was that done instantly?—Yes. Then the man who holds that there was an indefinite, a very long, period of time between the speaking of the word and the existence of the fact,—what is he?—An evolutionist. If he allows that there was a day, or an hour, or a minute, between the speaking of the word, and the existence of the thing itself, that man does not recognize creation.

When the Lord said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear;” also when he said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit, … it was so.” Then God set two great lights in the heavens, and made the stars also; and when he spoke the word, “it was so.” He said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, the fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament;” and it was so. When God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, the beast of the earth after his kind,” it was so. When he spoke, it was always so. That is creation.

You see, then, that it is perfectly logical, and reasonable enough, too, for the evolutionists to set aside the word of God, and have no faith in it; for evolution itself is antagonistic to creation. When evolution is antagonistic to creation, and creation is by the word of God, then evolution is antagonistic to the word of God. Of course the genuine, or original, sound evolutionists did not have any place for that word, nor for the half-and-half evolutionists,—those who bring in creation and the word of God to start things. It takes so long a time, such indefinite and indeterminate ages for evolution to accomplish anything, that it does away with creation.

The genuine evolutionist recognizes that creation must be immediate; but he does not believe in immediate action, and therefore does not believe in creation. Do not forget that creation is immediate, or else it is not creation: if not immediate, it is evolution. So touching again the creation at the beginning, when God speaks, there is in his word the creative energy to produce the thing which that word pronounces. That is creation; and that word of God is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever; it lives and abides forever; it has everlasting life in it. The word of God is a living thing. The life that is in it is the life of God—eternal life. Therefore it is the word of eternal life, as the Lord Jesus said; and in the nature of things it abides and remains forever. Forever it is the word of God; forever it has creative energy in it.

So when Jesus was here, he said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” The words that Jesus spoke are words of God. They are imbued with the life of God. They are eternal life, they abide forever; and in them is the creative energy to produce the thing spoken.

This is illustrated by many incidents in the life of Christ, as narrated in the New Testament. I do not need to cite them all; but I will refer to one or two, so you can get hold of this principle. You remember that after the sermon on the mount, Jesus came down, and there met him a centurion, saying, “My servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.” The centurion said: “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” Jesus turned to those standing about, and said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

Israel had the Bible; they knew the word of God. They boasted of being the people of the Book, the people of God. They read it; they preached in their synagogues, “My word … shall accomplish that which I please.” They said, when they read that word: That is all right; the thing ought to be done. We see the necessity of it, and will do it. We will accomplish what it says. Then they did their best to accomplish it. It took them a long while, so long indeed, that they never did it. Their real doing of the word was so far away that the greatest of them were led to exclaim, “If but one person could only for one day keep the whole law, and not offend in one point,—nay, if but one person could but keep that one point of the law which affected the due observance of the Sabbath,— then the troubles of Israel would be ended, and the Messiah at last would come.” So though they started in to do what the word said, it took them so long that they never got to it. What were they?

There was the word of God, which said, “It shall accomplish that which I please.” It was spoken thus of the creative power. And though they professed to recognize the creative energy of the word of God, yet in their own lives they left that all out, and said, We will do it. They looked to themselves for the process which would bring themselves to the point where that word and themselves would agree. What were they? Are you afraid to say, for fear that you have been there yourself? Do not be afraid to say that they were evolutionists; for that is what they were, and that is what a good many of you are. Their course was antagonistic to creation; there was no creation about it. They were not made new creatures, no new life was formed within them; the thing was not accomplished by the power of God; it was all of themselves; and so far were they from believing in creation that they rejected the Creator, and crucified him out of the world. That is what evolution always does; for do not forget that “evolution is directly antagonistic to creation.”

Now these were the people upon whom Jesus looked when he made this statement about the faith in Israel. Here was a man who was a Roman, who had grown up among the people who were Jews, and who set at naught the teachings of Jesus. That centurion had been around where Jesus was, had seen him talking, had heard his words, and had seen the effect of them, until he himself said, “Whatever that man speaks is so; when he says a thing, it is done. Now I am going to have the advantage of it.” So he went to Jesus, and said what is written. Jesus knew perfectly well that the man had his mind upon the power of his word to do that thing; and he replied, “Very well, I will come and heal your servant.” “O no, my Lord, you do not need to come.” You see this man was testing the matter, to see whether or not there was any power in the word. Therefore he said, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” Jesus replied, “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed.” When that word went forth, “so be it done unto thee,” how long before the man was healed? Twenty years?—No. Didn’t he have to go through many ups and downs before he was certainly healed? Honest, now?—No, no! When the word was spoken, the word did the thing that was spoken; and it did it at once.

Another day Jesus was walking along, and a leper some distance from him saw and recognized him. He, too, had got hold of the blessed truth of the creative energy of the word of God. He said to Jesus, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Jesus stopped, and said, “I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately that leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” Mark 1:41, 42. We are not allowed to put a moment of time between the speaking of the word and the accomplished fact: “immediately” the leper was cleansed.

Now you see that the word of God at the beginning of creation had in it the creative energy to produce that thing which the word pronounced. You see that when Jesus came into the world to show men the way of life, to save them from their sins, he demonstrated, over and over again, here and there and everywhere, to all people and for all time, that that same word of God has that same creative energy in it yet; so that when that word is spoken, the creative energy is there to produce the thing.

Now are you an evolutionist, or are you a creationist? That word speaks to you. You have read it; you profess to believe it. You believe in creation, as against the other evolutionists; now will you believe in creation, as against yourself? Will you put yourself upon that platform today where you will allow nothing to come between you and the creative energy of that word—no period of time whatever?

Jesus said to a certain person, “Thy sins are forgiven.” How long before it was so?—There was no length of time whatever between the word “forgiven” and the thing. That same word, “Thy sins are forgiven,” is spoken to you today. Why do you let any time pass between this word, which is spoken to you, and the accomplishments of the thing? You said a while ago, that anybody who let a minute, or even a second, pass between the speaking of the word of God and the production of the thing, is an evolutionist. Very good; that is so. Stick to it. Now I ask you, Why is it that when he speaks forgiveness to you, you let whole days pass before forgiveness gets to you, before it is true in you? You said the other man is an evolutionist. What are you, I want to know? Are you going to stop being evolutionists and become creationists?

This day will be one of special importance to many here, because it is a time when many will decide this question one way or another. If you go out of this house an evolutionist, you are in danger. It is to you a matter of life or death just now. You said that evolution is infidelity, and that is so; therefore if you go out of this house an evolutionist, where do you stand? What is your choice? And if you go out of this house without forgiveness of sins, you are an evolutionist, because you allow time to pass between the speaking of the word and the accomplishment of the fact.

From what I have read, you see that whoever lets any time pass between the word spoken and the thing done, is an evolutionist. The word of God to you is, Man, “thy sins are forgiven thee.” Woman, “thy sins are forgiven thee.” … I thank God this is so, because the creative energy is in that word “forgiven” to take away all sin, and create the man a new creature. I believe in creation. Do you? Do you believe in the creative energy that is in the word “forgiven” spoken to you? Or are you an evolutionist, and do you say, I can not see how that can be, because I am so bad? I have been trying to do right, but I have made many failures; I have had many ups and downs, and have been down a good many more times than up. If that is what you say, you are an evolotionist; for that is evolution.

Many people have been longing and longing for a clean heart. They say: “I believe in the forgiveness of sin and all that, and I would take it all, if I was sure that I could hold out; but there is so much evil in my heart, and so many things to overcome, that I do not have any confidence.” But there stands the word, “Create in me a clean heart.” A clean heart comes by creation, and by no other means; and that creation is wrought by the word of God. For he says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Are you a creationist now, or are you an evolutionist? Will you go out of this house with an evil heart, or with a new heart, created by the word of God, which has in it creative energy to produce a new heart? It speaks to you a new heart. To every one it speaks just that way, … When you allow any time to pass between the word spoken and the fulfillment of that thing in your experience, then you are an evolutionist.

There are those in this house who have said: Yes, I want it, I am going to have it, I believe the word will accomplish it; but they have lengthened out the time until the next meeting, and on and on, passing over years; and so they are just this much evolutionists. “While so many are hovering about the mystery of faith and godliness, they could have solved the matter by proclaiming [speaking abroad, telling it out], ‘I know that Jesus Christ is my portion forever.’ ” The power to produce this is in the word of God; and when this is accepted, the creative energy is there producing the thing that is spoken. So you can settle the whole matter of the mystery of faith and godliness by proclaiming that you know that Christ is your portion forever.

There is a mystery in how God can be manifested in such sinful flesh as yours. But, mind you, the question is not now about the mystery; the question is, Is there such a thing as creation? Is there such a thing as a Creator who can create in you a clean heart, or is the whole thing simply evolution? Just now, and among Seventh-day Adventists, the question from this day until the end of the world must be, Do you believe in the Creator? And when you believe in the Creator, how is it that he creates?—Of course you say, it is by the word of God. Very good. Now, does he create things for you by his word? Are you a creationist for the other evolutionists, and then an evolutionist for the other creationists? How is it?

Another thing. The word says, “Be ye clean.” He said, back yonder, “Let there be light: and there was light.” He said to the leper, “Be thou clean;” and “immediately” he was clean. He says now to you, “Be ye clean,” and what now? Every one of you—what do you say? [Voice: It is so.] Then for your soul’s sake put yourself upon that creative word. Recognize the creative energy in the word of God which comes to you in the Bible; for this word of God in the Bible is the same here to you to-day that it was when it spoke into space the worlds on high, and brought light out of darkness, and cleansing to the leper. That word spoken to you to-day, if received, creates you new in Christ Jesus; that word spoken into the dark waste and void space of your heart, if received, produces there the light of God; that word is spoken to-day to you, afflicted with the leprosy of sin, if received, immediately cleanses you, Let it. Let it.

From the book, Lessons on Faith by A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner.

©1995, TEACH Services, Inc. Used with Permission. www.teachservices.com

In 1888, the Lord brought a message of righteousness to the Church through elders E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. This message was identified as the loud cry of the third angel whose glory was to fill the whole earth in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.

Saving Faith

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But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:6–9.

May we accept these words, especially the statement in the last verse, as literally true? Shall we not be in danger if we do? Is not something more than faith in Christ necessary to salvation? To the first of these questions we say, Yes; and to the last two we say, No; and refer to the Scriptures for corroboration. So plain a statement cannot be other than literally true, and one that can be depended on by the trembling sinner.

As an instance in proof, take the case of the jailer at Philippi. Paul and Silas, after having been inhumanely beaten, were placed in his care. Notwithstanding their lacerated backs and their manacled feet, they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight, and suddenly an earthquake shook the prison, and all the doors were opened. It was not alone the natural fear produced by feeling the earth rock beneath him, nor yet the dread of Roman justice if the prisoners in his charge should escape, that caused the jailer to tremble. But he felt in that earthquake shock a premonition of the great Judgment, concerning which the apostles had preached; and, trembling under his load of guilt, he fell down before Paul and Silas, saying, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Mark well the answer; for here was a soul in the sorest extremity, and what was sufficient for him must be the message to all lost ones. To the jailer’s anguished appeal, Paul replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:30, 31. This agrees exactly with the words which we quoted from Paul to the Romans.

On one occasion the Jews said unto Jesus, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Just the thing that we want to know. Mark the reply: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:28, 29. Would that these words might be written in letters of gold, and kept continually before the eyes of every struggling Christian. The seeming paradox is cleared up. Works are necessary; yet faith is all-sufficient, because faith does the work. Faith comprehends everything, and without faith there is nothing.

The trouble is that people in general have a faulty conception of faith. They imagine that it is mere assent, and that it is only a passive thing, to which active works must be added. But faith is active, and it is not only the most substantial thing, but the only real foundation. The law is the righteousness of God (Isaiah 51:6, 7), for which we are commanded to seek (Matthew 6:33); but it cannot be kept except by faith, for the only righteousness which will stand in the Judgment is “that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Philippians 3:9.

Read the words of Paul in Romans 3:31: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Making void the law of God by man is not abolishing it; for that is an impossibility. It is as fixed as the throne of God. No matter what men say of the law, nor how much they trample upon it and despise it, it remains the same. The only way that men can make void the law of God is to make it of none effect in their hearts, by their disobedience. Thus in Numbers 30:15, a vow that has been broken is said to have been made void. So when the apostle says that we do not make void the law through faith, he means that faith and disobedience are incompatible. No matter how much the law-breaker professes faith, the fact that he is a law-breaker shows that he has no faith. But the possession of faith is shown by the establishment of the law in the heart, so that the man does not sin against God. Let no one decry faith, as of little moment.

But does not the apostle James say that faith alone cannot save a man, and that faith without works is dead? Let us look at his words a moment. Too many have with honest intent perverted them to a dead legalism. He does say that faith without works is dead, and this agrees most fully with what we have just quoted and written. For if faith without works is dead, the absence of works shows the absence of faith; for that which is dead has no existence. If a man has faith, works will necessarily appear, and the man will not boast of either one; for by faith boasting is excluded. Romans 3:27. Boasting is done only by those who trust wholly in dead works, or whose profession of faith is a hollow mockery.

Then how about James 2:14, which says: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” The answer necessarily implied is, of course, that it cannot. Why not?—Because he hasn’t it. What doth it profit if a man say he has faith, if by his wicked course he shows that he has none? Must we decry the power of faith simply because it does nothing for the man who makes a false profession of it? Paul speaks of some who profess that they know God, but who deny him by their works. Titus 1:16. The man to whom James refers is one of this class. The fact that he has no good works—no fruit of the Spirit—shows that he has no faith, despite his loud profession; and so of course faith cannot save him; for faith has no power to save a man who does not possess it. Bible Echo, August 1, 1890.

From the book, Lessons on Faith.

©1995 by Teach Services, Inc. Used with permission. www.teachservices.com

In 1888, the Lord brought a message of righteousness to the Church through Elders E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. This message was identified as the beginning of the loud cry of the third angel whose glory was to fill the whole earth in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.

Ask the Pastor – Importance of Faith

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Question:

The Scriptures make it clear that we are justified by faith. (Romans 3:28; 5:1.) Why does God set such a premium on faith? Why does He reckon us righteous on account of our faith? Why does He justify by faith rather than by one of the other graces? Why not by virtue, patience, meekness, gentleness, humility; above all, why not by love? What is there in faith that gives it such value in God’s sight?

Answer:

First of all, let me say that faith is the root of all the other graces, and it is in faith that they have their origin.

If, in our hearts, we have true faith, the manifestation of all the other graces will naturally take place in our conduct. Our lives will be, or will become, characterized by virtue, patience, meekness, gentleness, humility, and love. If we have in our hearts a living faith, we have in us the beginning of all the other graces; we have in us that which is already working with them and which, in due time, under the guidance and by the power of the Holy Spirit, will produce them all. But, if it were possible for our experience as a Christian to begin with any one of them, even love, or with all of them put together, without their root of faith being in us, they would be without hope of reaching maturity. They would inevitably wither, when tried by some fiery trial or test.

The apostle Peter brings this to our attention in 11 Peter 1:5–8. Here he shows the well-balanced condition in which a true Christian character matures. The Greek word epichoregeo means “to furnish besides, i.e. fully supply, (figuratively) aid or contribute.” In other words, “With your faith supply virtue; and with [your] virtue knowledge; and with [your] knowledge self-control; and with [your] self-control patience; and with [your] patience godliness; and with [your] godliness brotherly kindness; and with [your] brotherly kindness love.” (11 Peter 1:5–7.)

We are not to first mature faith and then to our matured faith add virtue (or fortitude) and then to our matured fortitude add knowledge, and so forth. The word, epichoregeo, is much more vital than add. The faith that we bring to the Christian life is to contain in itself the seeds that will produce all these graces. As faith grows, they will grow.

When a great trial comes into our lives, when we are taxed with some unusual circumstance or called upon to share in the burdens and sufferings of Christ, we can be as certain as were the disciples that the surest way for us to be ready for the task and for the strain for which an experience brings us is to have our faith strengthened. We must believe more, if we would do more. Our rest in Him must be more dependent. We must experience a calmer and surer trust, so we can be more effectively used in the Saviour’s service.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, Steps to Life, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.