Jack Sequeira - Teacher of new light or Teacher of Error?

[Green Cochoa]

1 minute ago, Robert said:

 Self-righteousness is not the wedding-garment. A failure to follow the clear light of truth is our fearful danger. The message to the Laodicean church reveals our condition as a people. [RH December 15, 1904, par. 9]

I agree with that.  Self-righteousness is not the wedding garment.  We need the righteousness of Christ.  But what is His righteousness?  Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  He did not say, "If you love me, I will keep God's commandments for you."  When we choose to obey Christ of a sincere, loving desire to follow Him, and motivated by His Spirit, it is HIS works we are doing, not our own.  Yet the choice to do them was ours.  God does not force our choice/will.  He never will.  He has given us the power of choice, and He will not remove it.  "God works, and man works," Mrs. White tells us.  The process involves a cooperation.  Jesus, alone, can never save us.  If He could, then everyone in the world should be saved, or all could say God was unjust.  No, God will not save us if we do not cooperate with Him in the process.  There is a work that we must do.  That brings us, perhaps, to the second point: resistance.

   The work of gaining salvation is one of copartnership, a joint operation. There is to be co-operation between God and the repentant sinner. This is necessary for the formation of right principles in the character. Man is to make earnest efforts to overcome that which hinders him from attaining to perfection. But he is wholly dependent upon God for success. Human effort of itself is not sufficient. Without the aid of divine power it avails nothing. God works and man works. Resistance of temptation must come from man, who must draw his power from God. On the one side there is infinite wisdom, compassion, and power; on the other, weakness, sinfulness, absolute helplessness.  {AA 482.2}  
     God wishes us to have the mastery over ourselves. But He cannot help us without our consent and co-operation. The divine Spirit works through the powers and faculties given to man. Of ourselves, we are not able to bring the purposes and desires and inclinations into harmony with the will of God; but if we are "willing to be made willing," the Saviour will accomplish this for us, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5.  {AA 482.3}  

[Green Cochoa]

4 minutes ago, Robert said:

Jack mostly quotes Paul.  So I'll quote Paul and you quote Ellen.  Ellen, BTW, doesn't have a chapter in the Bible.  She is the lesser light.  Just saying...

Paul agrees with Ellen White, so perhaps Jack has misunderstood Paul.  The Bible commands us, for example, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7).  In Hebrews, we are told we need to resist "unto blood."  That's pretty strong.  Stronger than you'll see from Mrs. White.  FWIW, the Bible calls itself the "lesser light," and so it is.  All of the prophets wrote under inspiration of the same Spirit.

[Gregory Matthews]

Green said below:

I do not challenge your statement.  I think that you are correct as I believe that the Bible teaches that both Christ (his words and ministry) and the work of the Holy Spirit are the greater light.

However, I will suggest that your statement could be misunderstood.  I would prefer that you cite the Biblical text which supports your statement and then explain it.

FWIW, the Bible calls itself the "lesser light," and so it is.

 

[Robert]

4 hours ago, Green Cochoa said:

Paul agrees with Ellen White,

Maybe, maybe not.  Ellen White had limited light.  She herself states this.  

BTW, I have no interest in getting into an EGW debate. 

Quote

so perhaps Jack has misunderstood Paul.

I doubt it....

[Robert]

14 hours ago, Green Cochoa said:

I agree with that.  Self-righteousness is not the wedding garment.  We need the righteousness of Christ.  But what is His righteousness?  Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  He did not say, "If you love me, I will keep God's commandments for you."

Wow!....

Okay, let's run with this....

In the judgment of believers (see 2 Cor 5:10) do you think that you will be able to stand before God's law and claim that you are as perfect as God is perfect? (see Matt 5:48)

Here are four possible answers:

1. Yes because before I die I will have reached perfection.
2. Yes because I'm perfect as God is perfect now.
3. No because God's law demands perfection from the cradle to the grave.  I am therefore saved by the finished work of Christ + nothing. Anything God's Spirit does in me witnesses that my faith is in Him alone as my righteousness.
4. No because I have sinned.  However Christ covers my past sins and expects me, through the process of sanctification, to stop sinning.  Therefore my ticket to heaven is Christ's imputed righteousness (i.e. His forgiveness or justification) + what Christ does in me as I consent (i.e, sanctification or Christ's imparted righteousness). 

Which statement do you agree with the most?

[Robert]

BTW, Green, the correct answer is # 3

[Lauralea]

Even though we are saved by grace alone through faith, saving faith has transformative power. Faith without works is dead. 

[Robert]

1 hour ago, Lauralea said:

Even though we are saved by grace alone through faith, saving faith has transformative power. Faith without works is dead. 

 

Yes, but these works do not prove our righteousness.  Rather they prove that our faith is genuine. 

[Gerr]

I wish there was a book by him that summarizes his views.  I simply don't have the time or enough lifetimes to read a book written by every Joe purporting to have the correct gospel.

[Robert]

Here you go:  http://www.jacksequeira.org/beyond00.htm

[joeb]

On 9/19/2016 at 3:59 PM, Gerry Cabalo said:

I wish there was a book by him that summarizes his views.  I simply don't have the time or enough lifetimes to read a book written by every Joe purporting to have the correct gospel.

There is a book that destroys Sequira's theology.  It's titled, The Holy Bible.  No one, who takes the Bible as a whole, can buy into what he is selling.  Only those who ignore the majority of what has been written can believe what he has to say.  His followers claim to follow Paul's teachings yet they ignore the majority of what Paul has to say. 

Read the book of Titus.  Read Romans.  Read Hebrews.  Also read Peter and John.  Read the books of I, II, III John.  Read both I and II Peter.  Read James.  These books of the Bible destroy the fallacy that sanctification is not just as necessary as justification.  The only way anyone can come to the same conclusions as Sequira does on this is to ignore vast areas of the Bible, and the only way to do that is consider one's self so smart that he/she is capable of deciding what should be in the Bible and what shouldn't be.  And, the only way that anyone can come to the idea that we all had to somehow be "in" Christ while He hung on the cross is to ignore the entire concept of ga'al.  Every reference to Jesus as the Redeemer in the OT comes from that Hebrew word.  And, every reference to redeem, redemption, redeemed, etc... in the NT comes from Greek words having to do with ransom, and being purchased.  There is nothing in the Greek that supports any theological concept other than the fact that every NT author understood themselves as being ransomed or purchased by Christ.  Salvation and being purchased by Christ ransoming them were indistinguishable in their minds.  Their own words prove this.  You don't believe this?  Do a word search for redeem, redeemed, redemption, etc... in the NT and see what the underying Greek words mean. 

The same is true in the OT  The underlying Hebrew words relating to redemption/salvation all have to do with ga'al, which is the ransoming back of a relative who has had to sell himself or his inheritance because he fell into poverty, or ransom.  There is only one conclusion to come to.  "in Christ" is a fraud.  It is not true. 

Ellen White backs this up in many places.  Do a word study of her writings for redeem, redeemer, redeemed, redemption, ransom, atonement, inheritance and a few more and you will find the theme of Christ ransoming us running all through her writings.  You cannot miss it when you look for it.

[Robert]

On 9/20/2016 at 9:06 PM, joeb said:

There is only one conclusion to come to.  "in Christ" is a fraud.  It is not true. 

You really shouldn't call the "in Christ" motif a fraud.  After all, Ellen White taught it:

"By His obedience to all the commandments of God, Christ wrought out a redemption for man. This was not done by going out of Himself to another, but by taking humanity into Himself. Thus Christ gave to humanity an existence out of Himself. To bring humanity into Christ, to bring the fallen race into oneness with divinity, is the work of redemption. " Ellen White 7BC 927.3

Jesus stands in the holy of holies, now to appear in the presence of God for us. There He ceases not to present His people moment by moment, complete in Himself. But because we are thus represented before the Father, we are not to imagine that we are to presume upon His mercy and become careless, indifferent, and self-indulgent. Christ is not the minister of sin. We are complete in Him, accepted in the Beloved, only as we abide in Him by faith. Ellen White RC 76.4

Perfection through our own good works we can never attain. The soul who sees Jesus by faith repudiates his own righteousness. He sees himself as incomplete, his repentance insufficient, his strongest faith but feebleness, his most costly sacrifice as meager, and he sinks in humility at the foot of the cross. But a voice speaks to him from the oracles of God's Word. In amazement he hears the message, “Ye are complete in him” (Colossians 2:10). Now all is at rest in his soul. No longer must he strive to find some worthiness in himself, some meritorious deed by which to gain the favor of God. Ellen White RC 76.5

 

[Robert]

"The devil has deceived many Christians into believing that justification by faith does not fully qualify them for heaven, that something more is necessary, that they must keep the law and do good works.  As a result, many sincere Christians are trapped in a subtle form of legalism, living in fear and insecurity." JS http://www.jacksequeira.org/beyond11.htm

[joeb]

That, Robert, is a dishonest reading of what Ellen White says in entirety.  Even taken alone those quotes do not say what you try to make them say. 

What follows is a small part what Ellen White has to say about Christ paying our ransom.  This set of quotes is from a word search of most, but not all of her writings.  These quotes, taken in their entirety shows Ellen White understood Christ's sacrifice was made to ransom us, something that the "in Christ" motif cannot account for in any way, shape, or form. 

Get ready for a large volume of quotes. 

Also, notice how often Ellen White ties the concepts of ransom and atonement together....

Quote

RANSOM

The angels prostrated themselves before Him. They offered their lives. Jesus said to them that He would by His death save many, that the life of an angel could not pay the debt. His life alone could be accepted of His Father as a ransom for man. Jesus also told them that they would have a part to act, to be with Him and at different times strengthen Him; that He would take man’s fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs; that they would be witnesses of His humiliation and great sufferings.—Early Writings, 150.

Science is too limited to comprehend the atonement; the mysterious and wonderful plan of redemption is so far-reaching that philosophy can not explain it; it will ever remain a mystery that the most profound reason can not fathom. If it could be explained by finite wisdom, it would lose its sacredness and dignity. It is a mystery that One equal with the eternal Father should so abase Himself as to suffer the cruel death of the cross to ransom man; and it is a mystery that God so loved the world as to permit His Son to make this great sacrifice.—The Signs of the Times, October 24, 1906.

The Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ, who paid our ransom with His blood, by receiving and welcoming Christ’s friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son.—Testimonies for the Church 6:364.

Christ has purchased the world by making a ransom for it, by taking human nature. He was not only the offering, but He Himself was the Offerer. He clothed His divinity with humanity, and voluntarily took upon Him human nature, making it possible to offer Himself as a ransom.—Manuscript 92, 1899.

Christ has purchased the world by making a ransom for it, by taking human nature. He was not only the offering, but He Himself was the Offerer. He clothed His divinity with humanity, and voluntarily took upon Him human nature, making it possible to offer Himself as a ransom.—Manuscript 92, 1899.

Not one of the angels could have become surety for the human race: their life is God’s; they could not surrender it. The angels all wear the yoke of obedience. They are the appointed messengers of Him who is the commander of all Heaven. But Christ is equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. He could pay the ransom for man’s freedom. He is the eternal, self-existing Son, on whom no yoke had come; and when God asked, “whom shall I send?” He could reply, “Here am I; send me.” He could pledge Himself to become man’s surety; for He could say that which the highest angel could not say,—I have power over My own life, “power to lay it down, and ... power to take it again.”—The Youth’s Instructor, June 21, 1900.

As the sinbearer, and priest and representative of man before God, He [Christ] entered into the life of humanity, bearing our flesh and blood. The life is in the living, vital current of blood, which blood was given for the life of the world. Christ made a full atonement, giving His life as a ransom for us. He was born without a taint of sin, but came into the world in like manner as the human family. He did not have a mere semblance of a body, but He took human nature, participating in the life of humanity.  According to the law Christ Himself gave, the forfeited inheritance was ransomed by the nearest of kin. Jesus Christ laid off His royal robe, His kingly crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, in order to become a substitute and surety for humanity, that dying in humanity He might by His death destroy him who had the power of death. He could not have done this as God, but by coming as man Christ could die. By death He overcame death. The death of Christ bore to the death him who had the power of death, and opened the gates of the tomb for all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.—Letter 97, 1898.

What sustained the Son of God in His betrayal and trial? He saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied. He caught a view of the expanse of eternity and saw the happiness of those who through His humiliation should receive pardon and everlasting life. He was wounded for their transgressions, bruised for their iniquities.  The chastisement of their peace was upon Him, and with His stripes they were healed. His ear caught the shout of the redeemed. He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.—Testimonies for the Church 8:43, 44.

Adam listened to the words of the tempter, and yielding to his insinuations, fell into sin. Why was not the death penalty at once enforced in his case?—Because a ransom was found. God’s only begotten Son volunteered to take the sin of man upon Himself, and to make an atonement for the fallen race. There could have been no pardon for sin had this atonement not been made. Had God pardoned Adam’s sin without an atonement, sin would have been immortalized, and would have been perpetuated with a boldness that would have been without restraint.—The Review and Herald, April 23, 1901.

The world does not acknowledge that, at an infinite cost, Christ has purchased the human race. They do not acknowledge that by creation and by redemption He holds a just claim to every human being. But as the Redeemer of the fallen race, He has been given the deed of possession, which entitles Him to claim them as His property.—Letter 136, 1902.

Christ pledged Himself to become his substitute and surety, giving man a second trial. When man transgressed even the smallest precept of Jehovah, it was disobedience just the same as though the test were larger. But how is the grace, mercy, and love provided! The divinity of Christ undertook to bear the sins of the transgressor. This ransom is on solid ground; this pledged peace is for the heart that receives Jesus Christ.  And in receiving Him by faith we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.—Manuscript 114, 1897.

Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan.  Christ stands before us as our divine example, our all powerful Helper. We have been bought with a price that it is impossible to compute. Who can measure the goodness and mercy of redeeming love?—Manuscript 76, 1903.

The ransom paid by Christ—the atonement on the cross—is ever before them.—Testimonies for the Church 5:190.

On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price of the race. And thus He gained the right to rescue the captives from the grasp of the great deceiver, who by a lie framed against the government of God, caused the fall of man, and who thus forfeited all claim to be called a loyal subject of God’s kingdom.  

Satan refused to let his captives go. He held them as his subjects because of their belief of his lie. He had thus become their jailor. But he had no right to demand that a price be paid for them; because he had not obtained possession of them by lawful conquest, but under false pretense.

God, being the creditor, had a right to make any provision for the redemption of human beings. Justice demanded that a certain price be paid. The Son of God was the only One who could pay this price. He volunteered to come to this earth and pass over the ground where Adam fell. He came as the Redeemer of the lost race, to conquer the wily foe, and by His steadfast allegiance to right, to save all who should accept Him as their
Saviour.—Letter 20, 1903.

Christ alone could bear the message of man’s deliverance. He came with a full and complete ransom. He came to bring life and immortality within the reach of the fallen race. As the Life-giver, He assumed our nature, that He might reveal the character of God, and stamp His image on all who would receive Him. He became man that through His infinite sacrifice God might receive the homage of the restored race.... The science of redemption is as high as heaven, and its value is infinite. This truth is so broad, so deep, so high, that beside it all the wisdom of earth’s wisest men sinks into insignificance. In comparison with the knowledge of God, all human knowledge is as chaff. And the way of salvation can be made known only by God.—Manuscript 69, 1897.

All that God and Christ could do has been done to save sinners. Transgression placed the whole world in jeopardy, under the death sentence. But in heaven there was heard a voice saying, I have found a ransom. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin for fallen man. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Christ gave Himself as a ransom. He laid off His royal robe. He laid aside His kingly crown, and stepped down from His high command over all heaven, clothing His divinity with humanity that He might carry all the infirmities and bear all the temptations of humanity.—Letter 22, 1900.

Our great High Priest is pleading before the mercy-seat in behalf of His ransomed people.... Satan stands at our right hand to accuse us, and our advocate stands at God’s right hand to plead for us. He has never lost a case that has been committed to Him. We may trust in our advocate; for He pleads His own merits in our behalf.—The Review and Herald, August 15, 1893.

He has paid the ransom money for the whole world. All may be saved through Him. He will present those who believe on Him to God as loyal subjects of His kingdom.  He will be their Mediator as well as their Redeemer.—Manuscript 41, 1896.

The work of redemption will be complete. In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died,—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men, “and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” And through endless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they will praise Him for His unspeakable Gift,— Immanuel, “God with us.”  Desire of Ages p. 26

After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, “Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, ... both of man and of beast: it is Mine;” “for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the Lord.” Exodus 13:2; Numbers 3:13. After the tabernacle service was established, the Lord chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the first-born of all Israel to minister in the sanctuary.  But the first-born were still to be regarded as the Lord’s, and were to be bought back by a ransom.

Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord’s wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the doorposts had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood of Christ has power to save the world.  Desire of Ages p. 51

The Shekinah had departed from the sanctuary, but in the Child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow. This unconscious babe was the promised seed, to whom the first altar at the gate of Eden pointed. This was Shiloh, the peace giver. It was He who declared Himself to Moses as the I AM. It was He who in the pillar of cloud and of fire had been the guide of Israel. This was He whom seers had long foretold. He was the Desire of all nations, the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star. The name of that helpless little babe, inscribed in the roll of Israel, declaring Him our brother, was the hope of fallen humanity. The child for whom the redemption money had been paid was He who was to pay the ransom for the sins of the whole world. He was the true “high priest over the house of God,” the head of “an unchangeable
priesthood,” the intercessor at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 10:21; 7:24; 1:3.   Desire of Ages pp. 52-55

“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Among His disciples Christ was in every sense a caretaker, a burden bearer. He shared their poverty, He practiced self-denial on their account, He went before them to smooth the more difficult places, and soon He would consummate His work on earth by laying down His life. The principle on which Christ acted is to actuate the members of the church which is His body. The plan and ground of salvation is love. In the kingdom of Christ those are greatest who follow the example He has given, and act as shepherds of His flock.  Desire of Ages p. 550

And now the Lord of glory was dying, a ransom for the race. In yielding up His precious life, Christ was not upheld by triumphant joy. All was oppressive gloom. It was not the dread of death that weighed upon Him. It was not the pain and ignominy of the cross that caused His inexpressible agony. Christ was the prince of sufferers; but His suffering was from a sense of the malignity of sin, a knowledge that through familiarity with evil, man had become blinded to its enormity. Christ saw how deep is the hold of sin upon the human heart, how few would be willing to break from its power. He knew that without help from God, humanity must perish, and He saw multitudes perishing within reach of abundant help.  Desire of Ages p. 752

Christ assured the angels that by his death he would ransom many, and would destroy him who had the power of death. He would recover the kingdom which man had lost by transgression, and the redeemed were to inherit it with him, and dwell therein forever. Sin and sinners would be blotted out, nevermore to disturb the peace of heaven or earth. He bade the angelic host to be in accord with the plan that his Father had accepted, and rejoice that, through his death, fallen man could be reconciled to God.  Patriarchs and Prophets p. 65

The sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual reminder and a penitential acknowledgment of his sin and a confession of his faith in the promised Redeemer. They were intended to impress upon the fallen race the solemn truth that it was sin that caused death. To Adam, the offering of the first sacrifice was a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which only God could give. It was the first time he had ever witnessed death, and he knew that had he been obedient to God, there would have been no death of man or beast. As he slew the innocent victim, he trembled at the thought that his sin must shed the blood of the spotless Lamb of God. This scene gave him a deeper and more vivid sense of the greatness of his transgression, which nothing but the death of God’s dear Son could expiate. And he marveled at the infinite goodness that would give such a ransom to save the guilty. A star of hope illumined the dark and terrible future and relieved it of its utter desolation.  Patriarchs and Prophets p. 68

Enoch had been troubled in regard to the dead. It had seemed to him that the righteous and the wicked would go to the dust together, and that this would be their end. He could not see the life of the just beyond the grave. In prophetic vision he was instructed concerning the death of Christ, and was shown his coming in glory, attended by all the holy angels, to ransom his people from the grave. He also saw the corrupt state of the world when Christ should appear the second time—that there would be a boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation, denying the only God and the Lord Jesus Christ, trampling upon the law, and despising the atonement. He saw the righteous crowned with glory and honor, and the wicked banished from the presence of the Lord, and destroyed by fire.  Patriarchs and Prophets pp. 85,86

In too many households prayer is neglected. Parents feel that they have no time for morning and evening worship. They cannot spare a few moments to be spent in thanksgiving to God for his abundant mercies—for the blessed sunshine and the showers of rain, which cause vegetation to flourish, and for the guardianship of holy angels. They have no time to offer prayer for divine help and guidance and for the abiding presence of Jesus in the household. They go forth to labor as the ox or the horse goes, without one thought of God or heaven. They have souls so precious that rather than permit them to be hopelessly lost, the Son of God gave his life to ransom them; but they have little more appreciation of his great goodness than have the beasts that perish.  Patriarchs and Prophets pp. 143,144

Through type and promise God “preached before the gospel unto Abraham.”  Galatians 3:8. And the patriarch’s faith was fixed upon the Redeemer to come. Said Christ to the Jews. “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56, R.V., margin. The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead. When man was doomed to death by transgression of the law of God, the Father, looking upon his Son, said to the sinner, “Live: I have found a ransom.”  Patriarchs and Prophets p. 154

Furthermore, the first-born of both man and beast were to be the Lord’s, to be bought back only by a ransom, in acknowledgment that when the first-born in Egypt perished, that of Israel, though graciously preserved, had been justly exposed to the same doom but for the atoning sacrifice. “All the first-born are Mine,” the Lord declared; “for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: Mine they shall be,” Numbers 3:13. After the institution of the tabernacle service the Lord chose unto himself the tribe of Levi for the work of the sanctuary, instead of the first-born of the people. “They are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel,” he said. “Instead of the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto Me.” Numbers 8:16. All the people were, however, still required, in acknowledgment of God’s mercy, to pay a redemption price for the first-born son. Numbers 18:15, 16.  Patriarchs and Prophets pp. 274-277

The people of Israel praised God at the Feast of Tabernacles, as they called to mind his mercy in their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt and his tender care for them during their pilgrim life in the wilderness. They rejoiced also in the consciousness of pardon and acceptance, through the service of the day of atonement, just ended.  But when the ransomed of the Lord shall have been safely gathered into the heavenly Canaan, forever delivered from the bondage of the curse, under which “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22), they will rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christ’s great work of atonement for men will then have been completed, and their sins will have been forever blotted out.

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
        And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
        It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and
        singing:
        The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
        The excellency of Carmel and Sharon;
        They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our
        God.
        
        “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
        And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
        Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
        And the tongue of the dumb sing:
        “For in the wilderness shall waters break out,
        And streams in the desert.
        And the parched ground shall become a pool,
        And the thirsty land springs of water: ...
        “And an highway shall be there, and a way,
        And it shall be called The way of holiness;
        The unclean shall not pass over it;
        But it shall be for those:
        The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
        
        “No lion shall be there,
        Nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
        It shall not be found there;
        But the redeemed shall walk there:
        “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
        And come to Zion with songs
        And everlasting joy upon their heads:
        They shall obtain joy and gladness,
        And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
        Isaiah 35:1, 2, 5-10.   Patriarchs and Prophets p. 542
        
        To us, as to Peter, the word is spoken, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Luke 22:31, 32. Christ will never abandon those for whom He has
died. We may leave him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of his own life. Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves, and ready to die in discouragement. We should see angels flying quickly to the aid of these tempted ones, forcing back the hosts of evil that encompass them, and placing their feet on the sure foundation. The battles waging between the two armies are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of the spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.  Prophets and Kings pp. 175,176

Jesus comforts our sorrow for the dead with a message of infinite hope: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14.  “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, ... and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:18. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.  Prophets and Kings p. 240

Heaven’s plan of salvation is broad enough to embrace the whole world. God longs to breathe into prostrate humanity the breath of life. And He will not permit any soul to be disappointed who is sincere in his longing for something higher and nobler than anything the world can offer. Constantly He is sending his angels to those who, while surrounded by circumstances the most discouraging, pray in faith for some power higher than themselves to take possession of them and bring deliverance and peace. In various ways God will reveal himself to them and will place them in touch with providences that will establish their confidence in the One who has given himself a ransom for all, “that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” Psalm 78:7.  Prophets and Kings pp. 377,378

Yet amid the general ruin into which the nation was rapidly passing, Jeremiah was often permitted to look beyond the distressing scenes of the present to the glorious prospects of the future, when God’s people should be ransomed from the land of the enemy and planted again in Zion. He foresaw the time when the Lord would renew his covenant relationship with them. “Their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.” Jeremiah 31:12.  Prophets and Kings pp. 408,409

Humbled in the sight of the nations, those who once had been recognized as favored of Heaven above all other peoples of the earth were to learn in exile the lesson of obedience so necessary for their future happiness. Until they had learned this lesson, God could not do for them all that He desired to do. “I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished,” He declared in explanation of his purpose to chastise them for their spiritual good.  Jeremiah 30:11. Yet those who had been the object of his tender love were not forever set aside; before all the nations of earth He would demonstrate his plan to bring victory out of apparent defeat, to save rather than to destroy. To the prophet was given the message:

“He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth
        his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of
        him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height
        of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for
        wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul
        shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any
        more at all.... I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and
        make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests
        with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.”
        
        “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this
        speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again
        their captivity; The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of
        holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof
        together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated
        the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
        
        “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with
        the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant
        that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring
        them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was
        an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will
        make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my
        law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
        they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
        and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me,
        from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive
        their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:10-14, 23-25,
        31-34.  
        
        Prophets and Kings pp. 475,476

It was love for sinners that led Christ to pay the price of redemption. “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor,” none other could ransom men and women from the power of the enemy; “therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” Isaiah 59:16.  Prophets and Kings p. 692

Often the church militant is called upon to suffer trial and affliction; for not without severe conflict is the church to triumph. “The bread of adversity,” “the water of affliction” (Isaiah 30:20), these are the common lot of all; but none who put their trust in the One mighty to deliver will be utterly overwhelmed. “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine.  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.”  Isaiah 43:1-4.   Prophets and Kings p. 723

The prophet caught the sound of music there, and song, such music and song as, save in the visions of God, no mortal ear has heard or mind conceived. “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” “Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” “As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there.” “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord.” Isaiah 35:10; 51:3; Psalm 87:7; Isaiah 24:14.  Prophets and Kings p. 730

When we study the divine character in the light of the cross we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and justice. We see in the midst of the throne One bearing in hands and feet and side the marks of the suffering endured to reconcile man to God. We see a Father, infinite, dwelling in light unapproachable, yet receiving us to Himself through the merits of His Son. The cloud of vengeance that threatened only misery and despair, in the light reflected from the cross reveals the writing of God: Live, sinner, live! ye penitent, believing souls, live! I have paid a ransom.  Acts of the Apostles p. 333

Again and again Jesus tried to establish his principle among His disciples. When James and John made their request for pre-eminence, He said, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28.       Acts of the Apostles p. 359

Satan presented this inducement to Christ, knowing that if He accepted it, the world would never be ransomed. And under different guises he presents the same temptation to God’s ministers today, knowing that those who are beguiled by it will be false to their trust.   Acts of the Apostles p. 366

Ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ, washed from sin in His blood, and clothed in His righteousness, Paul has the witness in himself that his soul is precious in the sight of his Redeemer. His life is hid with Christ in God, and he is persuaded that He who has conquered death is able to keep that which is committed to His trust. His mind grasps the Saviour’s promise, “I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40. His thoughts and hopes are centered on the second coming of his Lord. And as the sword of the executioner descends and the shadows of death gather about the martyr, his latest thought springs forward, as will his earliest in the great awakening, to meet the Life-giver, who shall welcome him to the joy of the blest.  Acts of the Apostles pp. 512,513

The lesson applies to believers in every age. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:20. The inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit is priceless. In the life of the true Christian the outward adorning is always in harmony with the inward peace and holiness. “If any man will come after Me,” Christ said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24. Self-denial and sacrifice will mark the Christian’s life. Evidence that the taste is converted will be seen in the dress of all who walk in the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord.  Acts of the Apostles p. 523

Jesus understood the motive that prompted the request and thus reproved the pride and ambition of the two disciples: “The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28.  Acts of the Apostles pp. 542,543

What sustained the Son of God during His life of toil and sacrifice? He saw the results of the travail of His soul and was satisfied. Looking into eternity, He beheld the happiness of those who through His humiliation had received pardon and everlasting life. His ear caught the shout of the redeemed.  He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.   Acts of the Apostles  p. 601

To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words of Christ, “Peace be unto you.” “Philosophers, doctors, and writers,” he said, “have endeavored to teach men the way to obtain everlasting life, and they have not succeeded. I will now tell it to you: ... God has raised one Man from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation....  Christ has vanquished! this is the joyful news; and we are saved by His work, and not by our own.... Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Peace be unto you; behold My hands;’ that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sin, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.”  Great Controversy p. 152

The command was obeyed; but the youth could not be long content in his native valley, and he soon resumed his studies, repairing, after a time, to Basel. It was here that Zwingli first heard the gospel of God’s free grace. Wittembach, a teacher of the ancient languages, had, while studying Greek and Hebrew, been led to the Holy Scriptures, and thus rays of divine light were shed into the minds of the students under his instruction. He declared that there was a truth more ancient, and of infinitely greater worth, than the theories taught by schoolmen and philosophers. This ancient truth was that the death of Christ is the sinner’s only ransom. To Zwingli these words were as the first ray of light that precedes the dawn.   Great Controversy p. 173

The doctrine of the divine decrees, unalterably fixing the character of men, had led many to a virtual rejection of the law of God. Wesley steadfastly opposed the errors of the antinomian teachers and showed that this doctrine which led to antinomianism was contrary to the Scriptures. “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all.” Titus 2:11; 1 Timothy 2:3-6. The
Spirit of God is freely bestowed to enable every man to lay hold upon the means of salvation. Thus Christ, “the true Light,” “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. Men fail of salvation through their own willful refusal of the gift of life.  Great Controversy pp. 261,262

“He shall bear the glory.” To Christ belongs the glory of redemption for the fallen race. Through the eternal ages, the song of the ransomed ones will be: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ... to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” Revelation 1:5, 6.  Great Controversy p. 416

Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency.  Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying: “Your conflict is ended.” “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  

Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for His disciples: “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”  “Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: “Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me.” “Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept.” Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’s discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!  Great Controversy p. 646

As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the
father of our race—the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does
not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.   Great Controversy p. 647

In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of redemption. With our finite comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and the glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in the cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp its full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of redeeming love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will not be fully understood, even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know as they are known; but through the eternal ages new truth will continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind. Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are ended and the cause removed, the people of God will ever have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost.   Great Controversy p.651

It will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for our salvation except the sacrifice of His Son. The compensation for this sacrifice is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and immortal. The result of the Saviour’s conflict with the powers of darkness is joy to the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God throughout eternity. And such is the value of the soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid; and Christ Himself, beholding the fruits of His great sacrifice, is satisfied.  Great Controversy  p. 652

Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their truehearted brethren, and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight. His mother is there to witness the result of her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder.  Great Controversy p. 667,668

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away.  No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.   Great Controversy pp. 674

In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called “a country.”  Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.  Great Controversy p. 675

All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.  With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation—suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.

And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.  Great Controversy pp. 677,678

Thank God, He has presented to our imagination no picture of a sorrowful shepherd returning without the sheep. The parable does not speak of failure but of success and joy in the recovery. Here is the divine guarantee that not even one of the straying sheep of God’s fold is overlooked, not one is left unsuccored. Every one that will submit to be ransomed, Christ will rescue from the pit of corruption and from the briers of sin.  Christ's Object Lessons p. 188

We have been redeemed by a costly ransom. Only by the greatness of this ransom can we conceive of its results. On this earth, the earth whose soil has been moistened by the tears and blood of the Son of God, are to be brought forth the precious fruits of Paradise. In the lives of God’s people the truths of His word are to reveal their glory and excellence. Through His people Christ is to manifest His character and the principles of His kingdom.   Christ's Object Lessons p. 296

And the means used to bless others will bring returns. Riches rightly employed will accomplish great good. Souls will be won to Christ. He who follows Christ’s plan of life will see in the courts of God those for whom he has labored and sacrificed on earth.  Gratefully will the ransomed ones remember those who have been instrumental in their salvation. Precious will heaven be to those who have been faithful in the work of saving souls.  Christ's Object Lessons p. 373

Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died.  The soul may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life. Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves and ready to die in discouragement.  We should see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones, who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force back the hosts of evil that encompass these souls, and guide them to plant their feet on the sure foundation. The battles waging between the two armies are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of the spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.  Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing pp. 118,119

The Saviour’s life on earth was not a life of ease and devotion to Himself, but He toiled with persistent, earnest, untiring effort for the salvation of lost mankind. From the manger to Calvary He followed the path of self-denial and sought not to be released from arduous tasks, painful travels and exhausting care and labor. He said, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28. This was the one great object of His life. Everything else was secondary and subservient. It was His meat and drink to do the will of God and to finish His work. Self and self-interest had no part in His labor.   Steps to Christ p. 78

Sorrow filled heaven as it was realized that man was lost and that the world which God had created was to be filled with mortals doomed to misery, sickness, and death, and that there was no way of escape for the offender. The whole family of Adam must die. I then saw the lovely Jesus and beheld an expression of sympathy and sorrow upon His countenance.  Soon I saw Him approach the exceeding bright light which enshrouded the Father. Said my accompanying angel, “He is in close converse with His Father.” The anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense while Jesus was communing with His Father. Three times He was shut in by the glorious light about the Father, and the third time He came from the Father we could see His person. His countenance was calm, free from all perplexity and trouble, and shone with a loveliness which words cannot describe. He then made known to the angelic choir that a way of escape had been made for lost man; that He had been pleading with His Father, and had obtained permission to give His own life as a ransom for the race, to bear their sins, and take the sentence of death upon Himself, thus opening a way whereby they might, through the merits of His blood, find pardon for past transgressions, and by obedience be brought back to the garden from which they were driven. Then they could again have access to the glorious, immortal fruit of the tree of life to which they had now forfeited all right.  Early Writings p. 126

The angels prostrated themselves before Him. They offered their lives. Jesus said to them that He would by His death save many, that the life of an angel could not pay the debt. His life alone could be accepted of His Father as a ransom for man. Jesus also told them that they would have a part to act, to be with Him and at different times strengthen Him; that He would take man’s fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs; that they would be witnesses of His humiliation and great sufferings; and that as they would witness His sufferings, and the hatred of men toward Him, they would be stirred with the deepest emotion, and through their love for Him would wish to rescue and deliver Him from His murderers; but that they must not interfere to prevent anything they should behold; and that they should act a part in His resurrection; that the plan of salvation was devised, and His Father had accepted the plan.

With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him who had the power of death. And His Father would give Him the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, and He would possess it forever and ever. Satan and sinners would be destroyed, nevermore to disturb heaven or the purified new earth. Jesus bade the heavenly host be reconciled to the plan that His Father had accepted and rejoice that through His death fallen man could again be exalted to obtain favor with God and enjoy heaven.   Early Writings pp. 150,151

It was difficult for the angels to endure the sight. They would have delivered Jesus, but the commanding angels forbade them, saying that it was a great ransom which was to be paid for man; but it would be complete and would cause the death of him who had the power of death.  Jesus knew that angels were witnessing the scene of His humiliation. The weakest angel could have caused that mocking throng to fall powerless and could have delivered Jesus. He knew that if He should desire it of His Father, angels would instantly release Him. But it was necessary that He should suffer the violence of wicked men, in order to carry out the plan of
salvation.  Early Writings p. 170

We have a living Saviour. He is not in Joseph’s new tomb; He is risen from the dead and has ascended on high as a Substitute and Surety for every believing soul. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The sinner is justified through the merits of Jesus, and this is God’s acknowledgment of the perfection of the ransom paid for man. That Christ was obedient even unto the death of the cross is a pledge of the repenting sinner’s acceptance with the Father. Then shall we permit ourselves to have a vacillating experience of doubting and believing, believing and doubting? Jesus is the pledge of our acceptance with God. We stand in favor before God, not because of any merit in ourselves, but because of our faith in “the Lord our righteousness.”  Faith and Works p. 107

The way that God has provided is so complete, so perfect, that man cannot, by any works that he can do, add to its perfection. It is broad enough to receive the most hardened sinner, if he truly repents, and yet so narrow that in it sin can find no place. This is the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in.  Gospel Workers p. 160

A true shepherd will have an interest in all that relates to the welfare of the flock, feeding, guiding, and defending them. He will carry himself with great wisdom, and will manifest a tender consideration for all, especially for the tempted, the afflicted, and the desponding. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  [Matthew 20:28.] “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” [John 13:16.] Christ “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” [Philippians 2:7.] “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.  For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me.” [Romans 15:1-3.]   Gospel Workers p. 189

Could the afterlife of that little group be opened before us, we should see the mothers recalling to the minds of their children the scene of that day, and repeating to them the loving words of the Saviour. We should see, too, how often, in after years, the memory of these words kept the children from straying from the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord.   Ministry of Healing p. 41

Much is said concerning our duty to the neglected poor; should not some attention be given to the neglected rich? Many look upon this class as hopeless, and they do little to open the eyes of those, who, blinded and dazed by the glitter of earthly glory, have lost eternity out of their reckoning. Thousands of wealthy men have gone to their graves unwarned. But indifferent as they may appear, many among the rich are soul-burdened. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase.” He that says to fine gold, “Thou art my confidence,” has “denied the God that is above.” “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever).” Ecclesiastes 5:10; Job 31:24, 28; Psalm 49:7, 8.  Ministry of Healing p. 210

Our children stand, as it were, at the parting of the ways. On every hand the world’s enticements to self-seeking and self-indulgence call them away from the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. Whether their lives shall be a blessing or a curse depends upon the choice they make. Overflowing with energy, eager to test their untried capabilities, they must find some outlet for their superabounding life. Active they will be for good or for evil.   Ministry of Healing p. 396

Christ saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied. He viewed the expanse of eternity and saw the happiness of those who through His humiliation should receive pardon and everlasting life. He was wounded for their
transgressions, bruised for their iniquities. The chastisement of their peace was upon Him, and with His stripes they were healed. He heard the shout of the redeemed. He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Although the baptism of blood must first be received, although the sins of the world were to weigh upon His innocent soul, although the shadow of an unspeakable woe was upon Him; yet for the joy that was set before Him He chose to endure the cross and despised the shame.   Ministry of Healing p. 504

(Revelation 13:8). Death Penalty Not Enforced at Once.—Adam listened to the words of the tempter, and yielding to his insinuations, fell into sin. Why was not the death penalty at once enforced in his case?—Because a ransom was found. God’s only begotten Son volunteered to take the sin of man upon Himself, and to make an atonement for the fallen race. There could have been no pardon for sin had this atonement not been made. Had God pardoned Adam’s sin without an atonement, sin would have been immortalized, and would have been perpetuated with a boldness that would have been without restraint (The Review and Herald, April 23, 1901).  SDABC vol 1 p. 1082

1. Satan Uses Instruments.—In Eden Satan used the serpent as his instrument. Today he makes use of the members of the human family, striving by means of every species of cunning and deception to hedge up the path of righteousness cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in (Letter 91, 1900).   SDABC vol 1 p. 1083

29-33 (2 Corinthians 3:13-15). Moses Saw the Day of Christ.—In the mount, when the law was given to Moses, the Coming One was shown to him also. He saw Christ’s work, and His mission to earth, when the Son of God should take upon Himself humanity, and become a teacher and a guide to the world, and at last give Himself a ransom for their sins. When the perfect Offering should be made for the sins of men, the sacrificial offerings typifying the work of the Messiah were to cease. With the advent of Christ, the veil of uncertainty was to be lifted, and a flood of light shed upon the darkened understanding of His people.

As Moses saw the day of Christ, and the new and living way of salvation that was to be opened through His blood, he was captivated and entranced. The praise of God was in his heart, and the divine glory that attended the giving of the law was so strikingly revealed in his countenance when he came down from the mount to walk with Israel, that the brightness was painful.  Because of their transgressions, the people were unable to look upon his face, and he wore a veil that he might not terrify them....

Had the Israelites discerned the gospel light that was opened to Moses, had they been able by faith to look steadfastly to the end of that which was abolished, they could have endured the light which was reflected from the countenance of Moses. “But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ.” The Jews as a people did not discern that the Messiah whom they rejected, was the Angel who guided their fathers in their travels in the wilderness. To this day the veil is upon their hearts, and its darkness hides from them the good news of salvation through the merits of a crucified Redeemer (The Signs of the Times, August 25, 1887).  SDABC vol 1 p. 1110

5. Christ Can Ransom Every Soul.—It was not alone by dying on the cross that Christ accomplished His work of saving men. The ignominy and suffering and humiliation was a part of His mission. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” This penalty Christ bore for the sins of the transgressor; He has borne the punishment for every man and for this reason He can ransom every soul, however fallen his condition, if he will accept the law of God as his standard of righteousness (MS 77, 1899).  SDABC vol 4 pp. 1147,1148

(1 Corinthians 2:2; Colossians 1:20.) Light From the Cross.—Without the cross, man could have no connection with the Father. On it hangs our every hope. In view of it the Christian may advance with the steps of a conqueror; for from it streams the light of the Saviour’s love. When the sinner reaches the cross, and looks up to the One who died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy; for his sins are pardoned. Kneeling at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ; and the words of pardon are spoken: Live, O ye guilty sinners, live. Your repentance is accepted; for I have found a ransom.

Through the cross we learn that our heavenly Father loves us with an infinite and everlasting love, and draws us to Him with more than a mother’s yearning sympathy for a wayward child. Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”? It is our privilege also to glory in the cross of Calvary, our privilege to give ourselves wholly to Him who gave Himself for us. Then with the light of love that shines from His face on ours, we shall go forth to reflect it to those in darkness (The Review and Herald, April 29, 1902).   SDABC vol 5 p. 1132

17, 18 (Isaiah 6:8; Philippians 2:6-8; see EGW on Mark 16:6). Christ Man’s Surety.—Not one of the angels could have become surety for the human race: their life is God’s; they could not surrender it. The angels all wear the yoke of obedience. They are the appointed messengers of Him who is the Commander of all heaven. But Christ is equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. He could pay the ransom for man’s freedom. He is the eternal self-existing Son, on whom no yoke had come; and when God asked, “Whom shall I send?” He could reply, “Here am I; send Me.” He could pledge Himself to become man’s surety; for He could say that which the highest angel could not say,—I have power over My own life, “power to lay it down, and ... power to take it again” (The Youth’s Instructor, June 21, 1900).   SDABC vol 5 p. 1136

4-10. Glorified in Those Who Believe.—In the intercessory prayer of Jesus with His Father, He claimed that He had fulfilled the conditions which made it obligatory upon the Father to fulfill His part of the contract made in heaven, with regard to fallen man. He prayed: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. [That is, He had wrought out a righteous character on earth as an example for men to follow.] And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” In this prayer He further goes on to state what is comprehended by the work which He has accomplished, and which has given Him all those who believe on His name. He values this recompense so highly that He forgets the anguish it has cost Him to redeem fallen man. He declares Himself glorified in those who believe on Him. The church, in His name, is to carry to glorious perfection the work which He has commenced; and when that church shall be finally ransomed in the Paradise of God, He will look upon the travail of His soul and be satisfied.
Through all eternity the ransomed host will be His chief glory (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:260, 261).   SDABC vol 5 p. 1145

12-19 (Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15). Strength in Cooperating With God.—[Romans 5:12, 18, 19 quoted.] The apostle contrasts the disobedience of Adam and the full, entire obedience of Christ. Think of what Christ’s obedience means to us! It means that in His strength we too may obey. Christ was a human being. He served His heavenly Father with all the strength of His human nature. He has a twofold nature, at once human and divine. He is both God and man.

Christ came to this world to show us what God can do and what we can do in cooperation with God. In human flesh He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. He knows what it is to hunger and thirst. He knows the weakness and the infirmities of the flesh. He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted.

Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan. Christ stands before us as our divine example, our all-powerful Helper. We have been bought with a price that it is impossible to compute. Who can measure the goodness and mercy of redeeming love (MS 76, 1903)?   SDABC vol 6 p. 1074

51-55 (Isaiah 65:17; Matthew 25:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 5:12; 21:4). The Finishing Touch of Immortality.—We have a living, risen Saviour. He burst the fetters of the tomb after He had lain there three days, and in triumph.  He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” And He is coming. Are we getting ready for Him?  Are we ready so that if we shall fall asleep, we can do so with hope in Jesus Christ? Are you laboring for the salvation of your brothers and sisters? The Life-giver is soon to come. The Life-giver is coming to break the fetters of the tomb. He is to bring forth the captives and proclaim, “I am the resurrection and the life.” There stands the risen host. The last thought was of death and its pangs. The last thoughts they had were of the grave and the tomb, but now they proclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”  The pangs of death were the last things they felt. “O death, where is thy sting?” The last thing they acknowledged was the pangs of death. When they awake the pain is all gone....

Here they stand, and the finishing touch of immortality is put upon them, and they go up to meet their Lord in the air. The gates of the city of God swing back upon their hinges, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There are the columns of angels on either side, and the ransomed of God walk in through the cherubims and seraphims. Christ bids them welcome and puts upon them His benediction. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” What is that joy? He sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied.

That is what we labor for. Here is one, who in the night season we pleaded with God on his behalf. There is one that we talked with on his dying bed, and he hung his helpless soul upon Jesus. Here is one who was a poor drunkard. We tried to get his eyes fixed upon Him who is mighty to save and we told him that Christ could give him the victory. There are the crowns of immortal glory upon their heads, and then the redeemed cast their glittering crowns at the feet of Jesus; and then the angelic choir strikes the note of victory, and the angels in the two columns take up the song, and the redeemed host join as though they had been singing the song on the earth, and they have been.

Oh, what music! There is not an inharmonious note. Every voice proclaims, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” He sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied. Do you think anyone there will take time to tell of his trials and terrible difficulties? “The former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (MS 18, 1894).   SDABC vol 6 p. 1093

9. Christ’s Poverty a Part of His Great Sacrifice.—The apostle called upon them to consider the example of Christ. The Commander of heaven gave Himself to a life of humiliation and poverty that He might stand side by side with the fallen race, to restore the moral image of God in man. The Lord Jesus was willing to become poor, that through His humiliation and His death on the cross He might pay the ransom for us.

Whether rich or poor, we must never forget that the poverty of Christ was a part of His legacy in humanity. It was not alone His betrayal in the garden or His agony upon the cross that constituted the atonement. The humiliation of which His poverty formed a part was included in His great sacrifice. The whole series of sorrows which compassed humanity Christ bore upon His divine soul (MS 12, 1900).   SDABC vol 6 p. 1103

4, 5, 11 (Romans 8:29, 30; 1 Peter 1:2). God’s Predestination.—The Father sets His love upon His elect people who live in the midst of men. These are the people whom Christ has redeemed by the price of His own blood; and because they respond to the drawing of Christ, through the sovereign mercy of God, they are elected to be saved as His obedient children. Upon them is manifested the free grace of God, the love wherewith He hath loved them. Everyone who will humble himself as a little child, who will receive and obey the Word of God with a child’s simplicity, will be among the elect of God....
[Ephesians 1:2-11 quoted.]
In the council of heaven, provision was made that men, though transgressors, should not perish in their disobedience, but, through faith in Christ as their substitute and surety, might become the elect of God, predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. God wills that all men should be saved; for ample provision has been made, in giving His only-begotten Son to pay man’s ransom. Those who perish will perish because they refuse to be adopted as children of God through Christ Jesus (The Signs of the Times, January 2, 1893).    SDABC vol 6 p. 1114

9 (1 Peter 1:18, 19; see EGW on Matthew 27:45, 46; Mark 16:6; John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 4:15).  Sufferings of Deity.—“In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Men need to understand that Deity suffered and sank under the agonies of Calvary. Yet Jesus Christ whom God gave for the ransom of the world purchased the church with His own blood. The Majesty of heaven was made to suffer at the hands of religious zealots, who claimed to be the most enlightened people upon the face of the earth (MS 153, 1898).   SDABC vol 7 p. 907

(Ch. 9:11-14, 22; Ruth 4:13, 14.) God of the Living and the Dead.—As the sin bearer, and priest and representative of man before God, He entered into the life of humanity, bearing our flesh and blood. The life is in the living, vital current of blood, which blood was given for the life of the world. Christ made a full atonement, giving His life as a ransom for us. He was born without a taint of sin, but came into the world in like manner as the human family. He did not have a mere semblance of a body, but He took human nature, participating in the life of humanity.

According to the law Christ Himself gave, the forfeited inheritance was ransomed by the nearest of kin. Jesus Christ laid off His royal robe, His kingly crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, in order to become a substitute and surety for humanity, that dying in humanity He might by His death destroy him who had the power of death. He could not have done this as God, but by coming as man Christ could die. By death He overcame death. The death of Christ bore to the death him who had the power of death, and opened the gates of the tomb for all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.

Christ proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He, the world’s Redeemer, has bruised the serpent’s head, depriving him of all power ever to make men feel his scorpion sting; for He has brought life and immortality to light. The gates of eternal life are thrown open to all who believe on Jesus Christ. All believers who pass through a natural death, have, through eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, eternal life in them, which is the life of Jesus Christ. In dying, Jesus has made it impossible for those who believe on Him to die eternally....

Christ lived and died as a man, that He might be God both of the living and of the dead. It was to make it impossible for men to lose eternal life if they believe on Him. The life of men and women is precious in the sight of God; for Christ has purchased that life by being executed in their stead. Thus He made it possible for us to attain to immortality (Letter 97, 1898).    SDABC vol 7 p. 925,926

(Ephesians 2:1-6; see EGW on Genesis 2:7; Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 4:1-11; Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15.) Partakers of the Divine Nature.—We must learn of Christ. We must know what He is to those He has ransomed. We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful propensity....

[Ephesians 2:1-6 quoted.] ...

As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good. Ever learning of the divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature, we cooperate with God in overcoming Satan’s temptations. God works, and man works, that man may be one with Christ as Christ is one with God. Then we sit together with Christ in heavenly places. The mind rests with peace and assurance in Jesus (The Review and Herald, April 24, 1900).  SDABC vol 7 p. 943

(Isaiah 49:16; Zechariah 3:1; Hebrews 4:14-16; see EGW on Matthew 28:18; Hebrews 5:5, 6; 10:19-21.) Efficiency of Christ’s Priesthood.—Let us remember that our great High Priest is pleading before the mercy seat in behalf of His ransomed people. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

The blood of Jesus is pleading with power and efficacy for those who are back-slidden, for those who are rebellious, for those who sin against great light and love. Satan stands at our right hand to accuse us, and our Advocate stands at God’s right hand to plead for us. He has never lost a case that has been committed to Him. We may trust in our Advocate; for He pleads His own merits in our behalf. Hear His prayer before His betrayal and trial. Listen to His prayer for us; for He had us in remembrance.  He will not forget His church in the world of temptation. He looks upon His tried and suffering people, and prays for them....

Yes, He beholds His people in this world, which is a persecuting world, and all seared and marred with the curse, and [He] knows that they need all the divine resources of His sympathy and His love. Our Forerunner hath for us entered within the veil, and yet by the golden chain of love and truth, He is linked with His people in closest sympathy.

He is making intercession for the most lowly, the most oppressed and suffering, for the most tried and tempted ones. With upraised hands He pleads, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” God loves to hear, and responds to the pleadings of His Son ... [Hebrews 4:14-16 quoted] (RH Aug. 15, 1893).   SDABC vol 7 p. 948

The church of Christ on earth is amid the moral darkness of a disloyal world, which is trampling upon the law of Jehovah. But their Redeemer, who has purchased their ransom with the price of His own precious blood, has made every provision that His church shall be a transformed body, illumined with the Light of the world, possessing the glory of Emmanuel. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, shining through His church, will gather into His fold every lost, straying sheep, who will come unto Him and find refuge in Him. They will find peace and light and joy in Him who is peace and righteousness for ever (Letter 89c, 1897).   SDABC vol 7 p. 968

2, 3 (Exodus 15:1-19; Deuteronomy 31:30 to 32:44; Isaiah 26:2). The Final Song of Victory.—What a song that will be when the ransomed of the Lord meet at the gate of the Holy City, which is thrown back on its glittering hinges and the nations that have kept His word—His commandments—enter into the city, the crown of the overcomer is placed upon their heads, and the golden harps are placed in their hands! All heaven is filled with rich music, and with songs of praise to the Lamb. Saved, everlastingly saved, in the kingdom of glory! To have a life that measures with the life of God—that is the reward (MS 92, 1908).  SDABC vol 7 p. 982

The highest angel in heaven had not the power to pay the ransom for one lost soul.  Cherubim and seraphim have only the glory with which they are endowed by the Creator as His creatures, and the reconciliation of man to God could be accomplished only through a mediator who was equal with God, possessed of attributes that would dignify, and declare him worthy to treat with the infinite God in man’s behalf, and also represent God to a fallen world. Man’s substitute and surety must have man’s nature, a connection with the human family whom he was to represent, and, as God’s ambassador, he must partake of the divine nature, have a connection with the Infinite, in order to manifest God to the world, and be a mediator between God and man.  Selected Messages  vol. 1 p. 257

God has made every provision that His purpose in the creation of man shall not be frustrated by Satan. After Adam and Eve brought death into the world by their disobedience, a costly sacrifice was provided for the human race. A higher value than that they originally possessed was placed upon them. By giving Christ, His only-begotten Son, as a ransom for the world, God gave all heaven.  Selected Messages vol 1.  p. 299

The words of Christ, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25), were distinctly heard by the Roman guard. The whole army of Satan heard them. And we understand them when we hear. Christ had come to give His life a ransom for many. As the Good Shepherd, He had laid down His life for the sheep. It was the righteousness of God to maintain His law by inflicting the penalty. This was the only way in which the law could be maintained, and pronounced holy, and just, and good. It was the only way by which sin could be made to appear exceeding sinful, and the honor and majesty of divine authority be maintained.  SM vol 1 p. 302

No one less holy than the Only Begotten of the Father, could have offered a sacrifice that would be efficacious to cleanse all—even the most sinful and degraded—who accept the Saviour as their atonement and become obedient to Heaven’s law. Nothing less could have reinstated man in God’s favor.  

What right had Christ to take the captives out of the enemy’s hands?—The right of having made a sacrifice that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed. He came to this earth as the Redeemer of the lost race, to conquer the wily foe, and, by His steadfast allegiance to right, to save all who accept Him as their Saviour. On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price of the race. And thus He gained the right to take the captives from the grasp of the great deceiver, who, by a lie, framed against the government of God, caused the fall of man, and thus forfeited all claim to be called a loyal subject of God’s glorious everlasting kingdom.

Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan.  Christ stands before us as our all-powerful helper. “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:17, 18).  Selected Messages vol 1 p. 309,310

Through Christ, restoration as well as reconciliation is provided for man. The gulf that was made by sin has been spanned by the cross of Calvary. A full, complete ransom has been paid by Jesus, by virtue of which the sinner is pardoned, and the justice of the law is maintained. All who believe that Christ is the atoning sacrifice may come and receive pardon for their sins; for through the merit of Christ, communication has been opened between God and man. God can accept me as His child, and I can claim Him and rejoice in Him as my loving Father. We must center our hopes of heaven upon Christ alone, because He is our substitute and surety.
Selected Messages vol 1 p. 363

When we accepted Christ as our Redeemer, we accepted the condition of becoming laborers together with God. We made a covenant with Him to be wholly for the Lord; as faithful stewards of the grace of Christ, to labor for the upbuilding of His kingdom in the world. Every follower of Christ stands pledged to dedicate all his powers of mind and soul and body to Him who has paid the ransom money for our souls. We engaged to be soldiers, to enter into active service, to endure trials, shame, reproach, to fight the fight of faith, following the Captain of our salvation.  Selected Messages vol 2 p. 124

Very many things are sanctioned and upheld by the world when they are an offense to the Holy One of Israel. It was seemingly a small thing for Eve to depart from God’s specified restrictions and do the thing He told her
not to do, and for Adam to follow her example; but that very thing was planned by the archdeceiver to destroy the souls of men by leading them to follow their own imaginations rather than the revealed will of God. So in these associations principles are held that bring men under the deceptive power of Satan, leading away from safe paths into rebellion against God and disregard of His holy standard of righteousness. “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38), is the oft-repeated injunction of our Saviour. Watch, watch with diligence and care, lest Satan succeed in ensnaring the souls of those for whom Christ has paid the
ransom money of His own blood.  Selected Messages vol 2 p. 132

Now, before the time comes when you must render up your account to God, I urge you to give heed to His word, “Lay up for yourselves” a “treasure in the heavens” (Matthew 6:20; Luke 12:33), not in secret societies. Consider that there is only one Proprietor of the universe, and that every man, with his time, his intellect, his resources, belongs to the One who has paid the ransom for the soul. God has a righteous claim to constant service and supreme affection. God’s will, not your pleasure, is to be your criterion. And though you should accumulate a fortune less rapidly, you are laying up treasure in heaven. Who of the church is resolved to
maintain his spirituality? Who will develop an experience that reveals Christian fervor, persevering energy? Who, like Jesus, will not fail nor be discouraged, not in grasping means for the service of self, but in laboring together with God?  Selected Messages vol 2 p. 137

Because of the ransom paid for him, man, by his own choice, by obedience, may accomplish the design of God, and through the grace given of God bear the image that was first impressed upon him, and afterwards lost through the fall....   Selected Messages vol 3 p. 91

As we come to feel our utter reliance upon Christ for salvation, are we to fold our hands, and say, “I have nothing to do; I am saved; Jesus has done it all”?—No, we are to put forth every energy that we may become partakers of the divine nature. We are to be continually watching, waiting, praying, and working.

But do all that we may, we cannot pay a ransom for our souls. We can do nothing to originate faith, for faith is the gift of God; neither can we perfect it, for Christ is the finisher of our faith. It is all of Christ. All the longing after a better life is from Christ, and is an evidence that he is drawing you to Himself and that you are responding to his drawing power.—The Bible Echo, May 15, 1892.  Selected Messages vol 3  p. 129,130

The Son of God pities fallen man. He knows that the law of his Father is as unchanging as himself. He can only see one way of escape for the transgressor. He offers himself to his Father as a sacrifice for man, to take their guilt and punishment upon himself, and redeem them from death by dying in their place, and thus pay the ransom. The Father consents to give his dearly beloved Son to save the fallen race; and through his merits and intercession promises to receive man again into his favor, and to restore holiness to as many as should be willing to accept the atonement thus mercifully offered, and obey his law.  For the sake of his dear Son the Father forbears a while the execution of death, and to Christ he commits the fallen race.   Spiritual Gifts vol 3 p. 46,47

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joeb]

I have hundreds of more quotes from Ellen White showing how fully she supported the concept of our redemption was purchased by Christ when He paid the ransom required to save us.  And I haven't even searched the entirety of her writings.  I finally stopped because the evidence is just so overwhelming I didn't think another couple of hundred quotes would make a difference because if someone will not accept the volume of evidence I already have the additional quotes will not persuade them. 

[joeb]

There is so much in the SOP that show Ellen White understood the plan of salvation was built around the concept of ga'al.  What follows is a direct expression of that thought.

Quote

Of Christ’s relation to His people, there is a beautiful illustration in the laws given to Israel.  When through poverty a Hebrew had been forced to part with his patrimony, and to sell himself as a bondservant, the duty of redeeming him and his inheritance fell to the one who was nearest of kin. See Leviticus 25:25, 47-49; Ruth 2:20. So the work of redeeming us and our inheritance, lost through sin, fell upon Him who is “near of kin” unto us. It was to redeem us that He became our kinsman. Closer than father, mother, brother, friend, or lover is the Lord our Saviour. “Fear not,” He says, “for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” “Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” Isaiah 43:1, 4.   Desire of Ages p. 327

There is zero evidence in the laws of Isreal that the "in Christ" motif is scriptural, for in the laws given to Israel we find the entire plan of salvation.  As "in Christ" does not exist there, it is not Biblical.

[Gerr]

As much as we would all like to believe that we each have the unadulterated truth of the gospel, if truth be known, our own views are probably a hodgepodge of  truth, half-baked truths, and

probably even downright error.

[Robert]

3 hours ago, joeb said:

That, Robert, is a dishonest reading of what Ellen White says in entirety. 

Whatever!

I'm not going to sit here and read a ton of quotes from Ellen G. White.  I can easily show you from Paul that the "in Christ" motif is true....

[joeb]

After reading the post where debbym insinuated I am "fighting" I realized I need to explain why I am so
passionate about what is being discussed here and the implications of what is being said.  The two
issues that I see at stake are: 1.  Do we trust God?  2.  Is sanctification necessary.  I've spent
a considerable amount of time since then praying about this and restudying the entire subjects.  So,
here goes....

We all say we love and trust God to save us.  We say we have faith in Him to do this.  So how do we
come to such opposite conclusions about things.  Why do some of us discount those parts of the Bible
that disagree with our beliefs?  Is that safe to do?  Let's explore this.

God has chosen to save us through the instrument of faith.  What is faith in God?  Simply put, it is trust
in Him.  Our level of faith in God is our level of trust in Him.  So why is this important in the discussions
taking place here?  Because whether we trust God or not is reflected in how we view the tools He uses
to educate us about Himself.  And what is the main tool He uses?  His word, the Bible.  In it we find the
record of the battle between God and the devil.  We also find out who God is through what we find in it.
Plus, we find how God works with us and how He plans to save us.  So, obviously, it is of primary
importance whether or not we can trust the Bible when it describes the issues I just listed .  Is He the
infinitely powerful and loving God He describes Himself as?  Is He fully invested in caring for us and in
His plan to save us?  Why are the answers to these questions important?  Because how we view them tells us
how we view God Himself.  

There is a brain teaser that is based upon the premise that we enter a country inhabited by two races of
people.  They look identical but there is a stark difference between them.  One race will always tell us
the truth and the other will always lie to us.  This is a good analogy for explaining one of the great
differences between God and the devil.  God always tells us the truth, and the devil always uses
sophistry.  In other words, he will always lie to us in a way that will tend to destroy our trust in God, and
everything associated with Him.

So, first let's go on the assumption that God is fully invested in educating us about Himself, His love for
us, and his plan to save us.  How would He demonstrate that to us?  By expending the time, effort, and
power necessary to keep His word uncorrupted by the devil.  Why that?  Because for us to truly
understand who He is His word cannot be mixed with lies the devil tells about Him.  God cannot
afford to have His word associated with sophistry that leads us to distrust Him.  It is antithetical to all
that He wants to accomplish.  So, does God have this ability?  The answer to that is that God is infinite
and the devil, just like us, is finite.  So who wins a contest between the two over His word?  The infinite
One, or the finite one?  I think the answer is exceedingly obvious.

Now, if God is not fully invested in our welfare and educating us about Him, why?  Would that not be
completely at odds with what He has sacrificed to save us, or is that somehow another of the devil's
misrepresentations about God?  Is God really selfish and only wants to exert His power over others
whether or not exerting that power is just?  To me, this is a rabbit hole that only gets more surreal the
futher we follow this line of thinking.  Did God really speak our world and everything that surrounds us
into existence or is that another lie the devil tells us about Him?  Is God really our Father, or did we just
come about by happenstance?  Is the entire Bible trustworthy or are only the parts of it that agree with
we what want to believe true?  If the Bible steps on our toes and tells us we aren't nearly as good as
we think we are is that not to be believed?  Is telling us that we are sinful to the core a lie told by the
devil?  These are the things we run into if we really examine our distrust of the Bible.  

The above two paragraphs ought to tell us that God's word is trustworthy.  That means that all of His
word is true for He will not allow the devil to place his sophistry about God in God's chosen medium of
communicating with us.  He simply cannot afford to if He wants us to understand Him correctly.  And, it
simply makes no sense for the Bible to exist if it is corrupted other than that it is a tool of the devil to
mislead us about God. In that case he would do everything he could to preserve it and point people to
it.

Now, on to the other parts of the discussion taking place in this thread.  It has been asserted that there
is not necessarily any relationship between faith and works, that faith exists in the absence of
obedience to God.  How does this relate to what the Bible teaches us about trusting in God?

One night when Abraham was peacefully sawing logs in his tent God woke him by speaking to him.  
(As an aside here, think about what this means.  Abraham had spoken with God enough times that he
recognized the voice of God when coming out of a deep sleep.)  God didn't ask him to sacrifice Isaac,
He told Him to do it.  It was an order, not a request.  So what did Abraham do when God withdrew after
telling him what he must do?  Even though his heart, his dreams, his love, were all wrapped up in Isaac
he took Isaac and a couple of servants and headed off to obey God.  I don't know if I can even imagine
the stress this placed upon Abraham.  The light of his life was to die, and he was to be the one who was
to kill him.  It took them 3 days of walking to reach mount Moriah and at any time during that entire walk
Abraham could have changed his mind and said, I'm not going to sacrifice my only son.  Why didn't he?
That's a very important question for the answer to that is that Abraham had learned through difficult
experience that to break faith with God always ended with bad results.  In other words, he had spent
his entire life learning to trust God in all things and he didn't waver even though it appeared to him that
to obey God would cost him his only son.   When he and Isaac left the servants at the base of mount
Moriah Isaac asked him where the sacrifice was.  They had traveled all this way and they didn't even have a
lamb to sacrifice.  So how did Abraham answer him?  He answered him according to his trust in God.
He said that God would provide.  Was that answer good enough for Isaac?  Yup.  

So, when Abraham and Isaac get to the top of the hill and have built an altar Abraham cannot keep
what is going to happen from him anymore.  So, he tells Isaac about his conversation with God 3 nights
before.  What is Isaac's response?  He helps his father prepare him to be sacrificed.  What an amazing
example of trust in God by Isaac! So, Abraham raises the knife ready to slay his son and God stops him right
there.  What does He say to Abraham?  Now I know that you really reverence me.  

How did Abraham display his reverence for God?  By obeying Him.  What does Paul say about this
experience?  He said Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.  What does
 James say?  He said Abraham was justified by what he did when he committed to sacrificing Isaac.  
Why?  Because his actions revealed his trust in God.  If he had refused to sacrifice Isaac would he,
could he, still have been called the father of the faithful?  Could he have been justified because he
refused to obey?  How could a demonstration of lack of faith in God result in justification when he was
justified because of his faith?

One day Jesus' disciples came to Him and asked him to teach them to increase their faith.  His
response was really interesting.  First He told them how small their faith really was by the example of
how they could make mountains move if they had faith as large as a mustard seed.  Now that's a rather
small amount of faith because mustard seeds are tiny.  His next example was even stranger to most
people.  He tells them to think of themselves as working for a master.  He then asks them if after a full
day of work if their master would tell them to sit down and eat? He answers that question Himself.  He
says, No way.  He will tell you to fix him something to eat and after you have taken care of everything
associated with that chore you could then sit down to eat and relax.  He gets even stranger in what He
says next.  He says after you've done all that just consider yourself an average, unprofitable servant.

Why would He give this answer to a request from His closest friends as to how they could increase
their faith?  He must have been very eager to instruct them in faith because He often chided them over
their lack of faith.  So what is the main idea behind His statements to His disciples.  He's telling them
that the way to increase their faith is to obey God.  How does this work?  Abraham's experience shows
us how this works.  We learn to trust God just a little bit more every time we obey Him.  Why?  Because
we are exercising the faith we already have by demonstrating that we know God only has our best
interests at heart in everything He asks us to do, and then on top of that learning all over again that God
rewards our obedience by drawing us closer to Himself.  Why are we to then consider ourselves unprofitable
servants after obeying Him?  Because all we have really done is what is required of us.  We haven't
done anything to be proud of in doing just what is required of us.  Our relationship with God is not one
between equals.  He is the master and Lord.  We are the servants.  So where is the reason to feel proud
when we obey?  There is none.  If we do take pride in that we are in effect saying that we are much
more important than we really are.  

Now, if we accept that obedience is the evidence of our faith as well as means of increasing our faith,
what does disobedience do in our lives.  What is it evidence of?  Paul tells us in Hebrews chapter 3.
In this chapter Paul contrasts Moses' faithfulness with the lack of belief in God that caused many
Hebrews to stay in the wilderness as nothing more than carcasses.  Paul warns us to make sure we do
not have an "evil heart of unbelief" within us.  Then he demonstrates what that means through the story
of the children of Israel.  He speaks about the "day of provocation" and how God swore that those who
provoked Him would not enter into His rest.  Who were those who God swore would not enter into His
rest?  Those who had a heart of unbelief and demonstrated it by disobeying Him in the wilderness.   

So, how were the people Paul is writing to, and we ourselves,  recognize an "evil heart of unbelief"
within us?  Paul tells us in the same verse he speaks of this evil heart.  We demonstrate this heart by
parting ways with God.  He says, do this.  We do that.  In other words, just like the Israelites who died
in the wilderness due to unbelief, when God says, don't do something we don't do it.  And, when He
says, do this, we do it.  We know by how we choose to respond to God whether we have a heart that
trusts Him or a heart that doesn't believe Him.  There is no substantial difference between this and
whether we trust His word or not.  In either case we either demonstrate faith or unbelief by our choices..  

These reasons and more are why I am so passionate about these things.  I see them as essential to our
salvation.  If we don't trust God we are not going to heaven and I don't want to see anyone miss out on
what that is going to be like.  We can learn to trust Him in all things.  I know once I figured out that my
obedience was linked to my trust in God my relationship with God has improved a lot.  At one time I
thought I really had a lot of faith, but every time the winds of misfortune or temptation really blew hard
I let go of my hold on God.  I would drift into disobedience and my spiriitual life would plummet.  It would
take a long time sometimes for me to rediscover my walk with Him, but He has always been faithful.
Understanding that trust in God will make us hang onto Him with everything we have and just continue
to trust no matter how bleak the circumstances and how much it just appears impossible to obey Him
has taught me a lot about how God works with us and just how true the Bible is.  

I've been asked here before why I am so literal in how I see the Bible.  I see it that way because I found
that it is literally true.  God's promises are literally true.  You can take them to the bank, so to speak, only
taking one of God's promises to Him and claiming it in faith is a far more sure proposition than allowing
a bank to hold something.  God never fails.  Banks do.  

 

    

 

[joeb]

On 9/23/2016 at 3:10 PM, Gerry Cabalo said:

As much as we would all like to believe that we each have the unadulterated truth of the gospel, if truth be known, our own views are probably a hodgepodge of  truth, half-baked truths, and

probably even downright error.

Really?  I guess you don't really believe what Jesus said.  He said, if any man will do His will he will know the doctrine, whether it be of God....

Now, He was speaking of Himself, but the promise is for all of us.  If we will obey God, trust Him completely, we will know the truth.  There is absolutely no reason for any of us to be doubtful as to whether or not we can know what the truth is. 

God is to be trusted, and it is in His best interest to make sure we understand truth.  We just have to make it a priority in our lives.  This idea that knowing truth is basically impossible is more of the devil's sophistry.  He wants us walking around doubting everything for then there is no way we can hold tightly onto God and keep on trusting Him through good times and bad.  He wants us separated from a complete and total trust in God.  It's in his best interest and fits closely to his agenda of destroying as much of humanity as he can.

[joeb]

On 9/23/2016 at 5:47 PM, Robert said:

Whatever!

I'm not going to sit here and read a ton of quotes from Ellen G. White.  I can easily show you from Paul that the "in Christ" motif is true....

Yeah, I know you're not.  I didn't expect you to do it.  You only use Ellen White when you can twist her words to support your theology. 

As to Paul....  He took his understanding of the plan of salvation from the OT.  He studied it in depth his entire life and every time he refers to redemption, being redeemed, etc... the Greek words he used mean to be ransomed or purchased, which is exactly what the concept of ga'al teaches.  Since there is nothing in the OT laws of Israel that even remotely refer to the "in Christ" motif he could never have had that understanding.  He would have had to abandon the entire Bible that he had at his disposal to create such a belief, and one thing we know about Paul is that he was constantly quoting the OT.  He clearly demonstrated that his beliefs came directly from the OT.   So, you have tough row to hoe to show Paul preaching something that doesn't have its foundation in the OT. 

[Gerr]

joeb, do you think you have the pure unadulterated truth?   No errors?

[Gregory Matthews]

Gerry:  If Joeb does, he is alone in holding to that position.

Further, if he thinks that people will read his massive quotes . . . . .

[LifeHiscost]

4 hours ago, joeb said:

Since there is nothing in the OT laws of Israel that even remotely refer to the "in Christ" motif he could never have had that understanding.  He would have had to abandon the entire Bible that he had at his disposal to create such a belief, and one thing we know about Paul is that he was constantly quoting the OT.  He clearly demonstrated that his beliefs came directly from the OT.   So, you have tough row to hoe to show Paul preaching something that doesn't have its foundation in the OT. 

Maybe not, and admittedly not knowing exactly what you're referring to, however  taking God at His Word I'm satisfied that Jesus can be found throughout all of the Word, re: His saving grace. The fact that it was not clearly recognized or understood did not make it less than the Truth.

 

 

1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

 

2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.....Jude 1

God is Love!~Jesus saves!        

[LifeHiscost]

On 8/24/2009 at 3:48 PM, Guest said:

This thread would get Robert put out for another 90 days.

 

"ol Serequel" It used to make Robert mad when I called him that. I probably shouldn't have done it. Serequel is a drug that makes you sleepy.

I shouldn't but.....aw what the heck....           Keep looking up!

God is Love!~Jesus saves!