The Falling Away by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 15, 1902

The Falling Away

By Editor

Editorial

The Falling Away

IN speaking of the circumstances which led up to the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, the historian D’Aubigné says: “The church had fallen, because the great doctrine of justification by faith in the Saviour had been taken away from her. It was necessary, therefore, before she could rise again, that this doctrine should be restored to her.” In this brief statement is found the whole philosophy of the falling away, of which the church was warned by the apostle Paul, and of the movement under Luther and his associates for the restoration of a pure gospel.

A Living Principle

THE one fundamental and vital doctrine, the essential principle of Christianity as opposed to heathenism under any guise, is a personal faith in the gift of God’s righteousness as the power of the gospel which saves from sin. “This article of justification,” said Luther, “is what creates the church, nourishes it, edifies it, preserves and defends it: no one can teach worthily in the church, or oppose an adversary with success, if he does not adhere to this truth. This is the heel that shall bruise the head of the serpent.”

The Power of the Reformation

THE light and life which brought about the Reformation began to be revealed to Luther in his early experience as a lecturer on the Bible before the students of the University at Wittenberg. “In the retirement of his quiet cell, he used to consecrate whole hours to the study of the divine Word; this epistle of St. Paul (the epistle to the Romans) lying open before him. On one occasion having reached the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, he read this passage from the prophet Habakkuk: The just shall live by faith. This precept struck him. There is, then, for the just a life different from that of other men; and this life is the gift of faith. This promise, which he received into his heart as if God himself had placed it there, unveils to him the mystery of the Christian life, and increases this life in him. . . . This powerful text had a mysterious influence on the life of Luther. It was a creative sentence both for the Reformer and for the Reformation. It was in these words God then said, Let there be light! and there was light.”

Another Falling Away

THE work which was begun by Luther and his fellow workers was not carried to completion. In the course of years the very principles which had wrought the Reformation were gradually abandoned in large degree. The same subtle working of the mystery of iniquity, which was the cause of the original falling away, manifested itself again in substituting a creed for “the Word of God . . . the palladium of the Reformation,” an elaborate ritual in the place of simple heart worship, and the traditions of men in the place of the commandments of God. This has brought about another falling away, and the logic of the situation demands a return to genuine gospel principles.

Another Reformation

AND this final reformation, which is to prepare the way of the Lord, must be wrought by the very same vital principle which revealed its power so gloriously in the sixteenth century: “The just shall live by faith.” We must proclaim “the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. . . . This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of his Spirit in a large measure.” The providence of God is just as much calling now for men like Luther and Melancthon, men who will devote their lives to the principles of truth, and give themselves to God to be used mightily in the restoration of the pure gospel in this our day, as it called for them in their day. The hour is ripe for a new reformation. Let it begin in the hearts of even a few, and it will soon spread to the ends of the earth.

For men who are full of that divine courage which is born of a personal fellowship with God, there is now the greatest possible opportunity for valiant service in the cause of truth and righteousness; but, as Luther himself said, “Let him that will not, or who cannot, risk something with confidence in God, take heed how he undertakes anything.” “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?”