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THE WAY OF LIFE

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 28, 1876

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 1.

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THE WAY OF LIFE

By James White

FROM PARADISE LOST TO PARADISE RESTORED.

First Paper—Redemption.

The primary signification of the word redemption is to purchase back, to release, to ransom. Theologically, redemption means the bringing back of that which was carried away in the ruin of the fall. When all was lost in Adam, the plan of complete redemption through Christ was instituted. And that we may better understand the nature and extent of redemption through Christ, we shall do well to consider what was lost in Adam.
1. Innocence and purity of character were lost in the transgression by the representatives of the race, and their offspring became the lawful prey of the author of sin. Their lost condition is expressed by the apostle in these words: “I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14. The plan of redemption proposes to save men from the condemnation and practice of sin in this life. The announcement of the angel to Joseph respecting the infant Saviour was that he should “call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. And Paul, writing to the church at Colosse respecting Christ, says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:14. The apostle also bears this triumphant testimony to the Romans: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Chap. 8:1. The first stage in redemption is freedom from sin. And the accomplishment of this deliverance demands action on the part of the sinner, as verily as on the part of the Redeemer.
Repentance is demanded of the sinner. He must have a godly sorrow for his sins, and must forsake them, before pardon of them can be granted, and redemption from them can take place. But he must first have a knowledge of the nature and extent of his sins before he can understandingly repent of them. And that knowledge is derived from the moral code which God has given as the rule of men’s lives. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:20. And has God no other mirror into which the sinner may look and see the imperfections of his moral character? In his personal experience the great apostle answers: “Nay, I had not known sin but by the law.” Rom. 7:7.
It is admitted that the Spirit of God and the gospel of the Son of God both act upon the sinner’s mind and heart in harmony with the law of God. But if these are the means, independent of the law of God, in his conversion from a life of sin to obedience and holiness, should we not be able to read somewhere in the New Testament words like these: By the Holy Spirit is the knowledge of sin. Nay, I had not known sin but by the Holy Spirit. Or, by the gospel is the knowledge of sin. Nay, I had not known sin but by the gospel.
But as there are no statements in all the Bible that the Spirit of God, and the gospel of Christ are the agents to give the sinner a knowledge of his sins, and as Paul does say by the Holy Ghost that by the law is the knowledge of sin, the reader will agree with the writer that the grand old moral code of Jehovah, given as a rule of life, is the means by which sinners of the nineteenth century may learn the nature and the measure of their sins. The beloved John defines sin in these words: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.
The perpetuity of the law of God, transgressed, makes the death of Christ a vital and perpetual truth in the system of redemption to be set forth in the gospel of the Son of God as long as human probation shall last. This fundamental truth ranked first in the gospel preached by Paul. He reminds the church at Corinth of this fact in these words: “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15:3. And to the church of the Romans he makes the broad declaration: “Where no law is there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. Take away the moral code, and sin is removed from the world, and Christ and his gospel are no longer needed.
But the glorious gospel of the Son of God presents Christ as now pleading the merits of his blood which was shed for our sins. This fact constitutes the highest evidence of the perpetuity of the law of God. And hence the grand truth, lying at the very foundation of redemption, to be perpetuated in the gospel message to the end, as uttered by John in these words: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1. The sinner needs an advocate with the Father, because the wrath of God is upon him for breaking the moral code given as the rule of his life. Our adorable Redeemer, who in love inexpressible shed his blood for the offending sinner, is his advocate with the offended Father. In the plan of redemption the sinner has to do with both the Father and the Son. He must first see the nature and extent of his sins by the light of the moral law, exercise true repentance toward its Divine Author, and then the way is made ready for him to exercise a consistent and scriptural faith in Jesus Christ. With this agrees that portion of Pauline theology rehearsed by the great apostle in the presence of the elders of the church assembled at Miletus: “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:20, 21.
Away with the idea that the law of God alone can save the sinner, however carefully he may observe all its precepts. The law is the rule of conduct. It condemns the violator, and holds him guilty until he suffers the penalty of its transgression, or receives pardon through a mediating party. There is no redeeming power in law. If it were the province of law to redeem the transgressor of law, then Christ need not have died for our sins. The Jew is blind, to say the very least, in one eye. But away, away with the heresy that men may be saved by Christ and the gospel while trampling the law of God under their feet. God gave Christ to the world because his law was as unchangeable and enduring as his Eternal Self. And there was no other way to meet the demands of that law, and at the same time to save the sinner, than for Christ to die, the just for the unjust.
The Christian who trusts in Christ for salvation while breaking the commandments of God, is suffering as great blindness as the Jew, though it be in the other eye. He dishonors both the Father and the Son, by making God’s moral government of trifling importance and consequently the atonement of the Son of corresponding value. He is even flinging insult into the very face of Heaven in boasting of saving faith in the Son while rejecting the commandments of the Father. But, thank God, John in prophetic vision sees a loyal army under the last merciful message to the world, obedient and true, waiting for the coming of the Son of man, who are not swayed by Satan to the right or to the left. These have sight in both eyes. It is said of them: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12.
It is when the sinner sees himself exposed to the wrath of God by the violation of the divine law that he feels his need of Christ, and casts himself upon his mercy as his only hope. And it is here that the repenting, confiding sinner finds pardon, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit as he seeks for that fulness of grace there is in the Redeemer. His life is now in joyous harmony with the exhortation of the apostle: “And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Rom. 12:2. And as he travels on in the Christian life, and reaches out by faith for complete deliverance from the power of Satan and redemption from the dominion of sin, he reads in the following burning words of Paul the triumphs of his own experience:—
“That ye might be filled with a knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:9–14.
This is redemption in its first stage. It is a deliverance from the power of darkness, and a translation above the corruptions of this world into the kingdom of Christ’s abounding grace. Bible conversion is a great change. When men are understandingly convicted of sin by the very moral code given as a rule of life, and are led to Christ as their only hope of pardon and eternal life, they will, with very few exceptions, remain steadfast, and grow in grace. Why so large a per cent of the fruits of the popular revivals of our day immediately fall back is because they do not experience Bible conversion. The moral code is not applied as the measure of sin, preparatory to their casting themselves upon the mercy of Christ as their only hope of redemption from sin.
Those who are really converted as they enter upon the Christian life will gain victories, and add graces, and increase in spiritual strength, as they pursue their journey home to their eternal reward. This is forcibly expressed by Peter in these words: “Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:5–11.
But no one of the writers of the epistles expresses the high and holy attainments of the Christian life in stronger terms than John. He, as a proper witness in the case, testifies to what he had seen and heard as follows:—
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:3–7.
The several points of thrilling interest in the foregoing words of the beloved John are:—
(1) That the man who is redeemed from the condemnation and power of sin, and becomes a loyal subject of the kingdom of grace, enjoys fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
(2) His union with Christ and his gospel, does not separate him from the Father and his moral code. “I and my Father are one,” says Christ. The divine law and the glorious gospel, though instituted for different reasons, and designed to serve different purposes in the great plan of redemption, are in perfect harmony with each other, as are their divine Authors.
(3) John bears the joyful message that Christians may hold fellowship with both the Father and the Son. The Jew is satisfied with his efforts to be in fellowship with the Father, and the majority of Christians hold that it is enough to be in fellowship with the Son. But the full measure of joy estimated by the apostle was to be in fellowship with both the Father and the Son.
(4) God is light and in him is no darkness, Christians may walk in the light as God is in the light. And if they thus walk they will have fellowship one with another. Can a man enjoy fellowship with the Father, and walk in the light as he is in the light while breaking the precepts of his moral code?
(5) When in fellowship with both the Father and the Son, and walking in the pure light of God, it is then that the blood of Christ cleanses from all the stains of transgression. And again we inquire, Can the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse a man from all sin while he is living in transgression?
The apostle continues: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Before this cleansing work can take place on the mind and heart, the sinner must see his sins by the rule of life which God has given, must sorrow for his sins, must confess his sins, and must put them away by turning to the Lord in the path of obedience. It is then, and not until then, that the blood of Christ can be applied to cleanse the sinner from his unrighteousness.
Our heart exults that we are able to bear testimony upon the best authority that the sinner may repent before God of the transgression of his law, and may find in Christ a complete Redeemer. His heart and life may be in harmony with the law of God and the gospel of Christ, and in fellowship with the Father and the Son. He may walk in the pure light of God, as he is in the light. He may be cleansed from all unrighteousness, and pursue the path of light, triumphant in the love of the Father and the Son, that leads in through the gates of the golden city of God.
But John speaks plainly to guard against self-deception, and to keep high the standard of walking with God, in his light. He warns: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” These are cutting words indeed, but safe for the church of Christ. And the beloved apostle seems to anticipate the depressing influence of his words on some trembling disciple and, by way of giving further light and comfort, adds: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” In love he would speak plainly to warn the church against transgressing the law of God, and in love he would point the erring to our adorable Redeemer as the only means of redemption from sin.
J. W.