The Atonement-No. 19 by John Harvey Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 23, 1874

The Atonement.—No. 19.

By John Harvey Waggoner

Here a question naturally arises in regard to the present justification of the believer. If the blotting out of sin is the work of the Judgment in the cleansing of the sanctuary, which is certainly the last work of the priest, then the sins of the saints must stand on record until that time. And then it may be asked, In what sense are believers now justified? And the answer is, By faith, and this faith necessarily looks to a future fact.

It has been shown that justification and salvation are not identical. And here it will be necessary to examine the relation that the duties of the gospel sustain to the work of the atonement. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,” is the commandment of inspiration. From this it has been inferred that sin is remitted in the act of baptism, for which I can see no warrant; certainly no such thing is there expressed. That the terms signify in order to the remission of sin, we admit; but it is too much to claim that in laboring in order to gain a certain object, that object must be obtained in the very act of laboring.

God told his people that they should have life—eternal life—if they kept his commandments, which, to the faithful, will be fulfilled “when Christ who is our life shall appear,” and not till then, for we are yet in hope of it. Titus 1:2. While it is said that he that is baptized shall be saved, it is on a further condition that he endures unto the end. Matt. 24:13; Rom. 2:7; Heb. 3:6. The declaration above quoted from the apostle Peter, in Acts 2:38, points to the same fact as that in chapter 3:19. The remission of sin is the work of the Judgment; and the believer must stand justified by faith, looking to the priest for the accomplishment of his hope. But that the sin is not really blotted out, or atonement made at baptism, or at any other period in probation

is proved by the word of the Lord to Ezekiel, 18:26: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done he shall die.” Again, in chapter 32:13: “All his righteousness shall not be remembered.” That is, he shall be treated as though he had never been righteous. Now the righteousness of the righteous is by faith; therefore if he turn and commit iniquity he shall be treated as if he never had faith; his justification is annulled—he falls from grace.

For a demonstration of the truthfulness of this view, we look to the cases of the faithful who lived before the time of Christ. Were it admitted that the atonement was made at the death of Christ, it would still remain a fact in the cases of the patriarchs and prophets that their sins were not atoned for, not actually blotted out till the blood was shed by which they are blotted out. But they were justified by faith, and died in that justified state, looking forward to the work of Christ when the object of their faith should be realized; when his blood should take away the sins of which they had already repented; or, in other words, when the atonement should be made. And his blood may be said to be a deposit in our behalf from which we may draw if we fulfill certain conditions. But if we refuse or fail to fulfill those conditions, we cannot draw from the deposit, and have no more benefit from it in the Judgment than though it had never been made.

That justification by faith, or the pardon we receive while on probation, is a conditional pardon, is not a matter of mere inference, but it is most clearly proved by our Saviour’s words in Matt. 18:23–35. Here is presented the case of a servant who owed his lord ten thousand talents; but having nothing to pay, and manifesting honesty of intention, “the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.” But this servant met his fellow-servant, who owed him the trifling sum of two hundred pence, and who pleaded for mercy in the same terms in which the first had so successfully pleaded before his lord. But this servant would not show mercy; he thrust his fellow-servant into prison till he should pay the debt. Hearing of this, his lord called him, and said unto him, “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?” And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormenters, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” This we say is the Bible view of forgiveness in the gospel, or justification by faith, while we are waiting for the decisions of the Judgment. And on this plain case we are not left to merely draw a conclusion; the Saviour has made the application for us, and from this application there can be no appeal. He says: “So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”

Having traced this subject thus far; having found what the atonement is; by whom and where it is made; and also for whom; we may turn back to “first principles” and again consider the law of God, and the position it occupies under the gospel. In the type, the testimony—the law—was put into the ark, in the most holy place; and it was over the law that the blood of the covenant was sprinkled by the high priest on the day of atonement. The glory of God was above the cherubim; these were upon the mercy-seat, and this was upon the ark in which was the law. As God looked down upon his law, the very basis of his government, his justice was aroused, for his law was violated. But mercy interposed; the high priest entered with the blood that brings remission, that had been offered to vindicate the majesty of the law. The blood was sprinkled “upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat.” Again the Lord looks down upon his law, but between him and the law is the mercy-seat sprinkled with the blood of the victim; the law is honored; its penalty has been enforced; a substitute has been accepted; and the penitent sinner is pardoned.

We notice that here was a real law, taking hold of the moral relations of God’s creatures; that here was actual transgression on the part of the creatures, a disregard of moral obligations. But under the Aaronic priesthood there was no actual taking away of that sin; it remained to be taken away by the blood of Christ. Therefore Christ officiates in behalf of that same law, as Paul shows in Heb. 9:15; and therefore the ark of his testament in Heaven contains that same law, where Jesus offers his own blood. Our High Priest has declared that he delighted to do the will of God, yea, the law was in his heart; he magnified the law and made it honorable; he upheld it in his life; he honored it in his death by suffering its penalty to vindicate its justice; he pleads his blood in Heaven in behalf of those who have broken it.

You who claim that God’s law is abolished, look to his heavenly temple where Jesus our great High Priest is, and behold it there safely lodged in the ark. You who say that the law is changed, behold the original in Heaven, of which a copy only was given to Israel. Did not God speak it with his own voice? Did he not write it with his own finger? Did he not give it as a rule of holiness of life? Was it not perfect? Did it not contain the whole duty of man? Yes; and by it God will bring every work into judgment. Here is that justice and judgment which are the habitation of his throne. Ps. 89:14.

There is the same evidence in the Scriptures of the immutability of God’s law that there is of its perpetuity. The moral law of God as has been observed, must be a revelation of his own character as it is a transcript of his divine mind. But in him is neither variableness nor shadow of turning. And what is true of the law as a whole must be true of all its parts. In that law which he spake with his own voice, and wrote with his own finger, he said, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” This institution is based upon his own work of creation. Its obligation is found in his own act of blessing, and commanding its observance. Man may mutilate or change the copy which God has put into his hands; but the original in the ark of his testimony in Heaven is the copy by which we shall be judged, and before which Jesus, our High Priest, pleads for us.

J. H. WAGGONER.