The Office of Faith by S. N. Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 16, 1873

The Office of Faith.

By S. N. Haskell

NOTHING is more clearly taught in the sacred record than the importance of good works. It is “not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, [that] shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” Upon this point, thousands will be deceived, for “many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” It is the formation of a holy, righteous character which is acceptable in the sight of Heaven. And faith will not take the place of works in the forming of this character. The language of the apostle James is very much to the point: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say that he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered his son Isaac upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.” “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2: 14-17, 20-22, 24, 26.

Faith is never referred to as coming into the Judgment, and such expressions as imply a reward according to our faith are never found. But whenever the Judgment is referred to by Bible writers and the rewards spoken of as being rendered to mankind, it is according to their works. “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” “And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” See 2 Cor. 5: 10; Rev. 22: 12; 20: 12; Rom. 14: 12; 2: 6; 1 Cor. 4: 5; 3: 13, 14. Faith is a handmaid to works, to enable mankind to form such characters as will stand in the Judgment. We “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous, no, not one.” However righteous we now may become, we cannot atone for the past. We can have no good works to spare, for we can only do what present duty requires. Hence, “to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Faith in Christ brings a pardon of past sins. “Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Faith, therefore, does not form the character, but it lifts the burden of the past, and Christ’s righteousness is accepted in our behalf. And in the second place, it brings grace and strength to form a righteous character. Hence the words of the apostle, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness [i. e., right doing] of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8: 3, 4.

It is, therefore, readily seen how that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” For first it makes a reconciliation with God the Father by our accepting Christ as the only being that can deliver us from our past offences, and in him is the all-sufficient strength to enable us to do right, which strength is obtained by faith. While, therefore, the provision is ample, and while there is a fountain filled with blood, it is the act of the sinner himself by faith to plunge beneath that flood, and thus lose all his guilty stain. In the language of inspiration, the redeemed “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7: 14. The fine linen, clean and white, “is the righteousness [or represents the right doing] of the saints.” Rev. 19: 8.

Our life record, as it will appear in the day of Judgment, will show the nature of the faith we possessed in this life. If it was a living, practical faith, the works will show it. If it was a cold, lifeless faith, which led the possessor to be satisfied with a certain round of duty, without any heart in it, and without any reaching out after God, which gives a living, Christian experience, the works will show it, and “every man will be rewarded as his works shall be.”

We are in a time when God is weighing character, and it is moral worth that counts in God’s sight. Every secret motive of the heart comes in review before the Judge of all the earth. “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of Judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” The counsels of men’s hearts are to be laid open to the view of holy angels, and a final decision is to be rendered by God himself. A little space is now granted us to form a righteous character, while Christ is pleading his precious blood in our behalf. We are in a world of sin, surrounded by every evil; such circumstances as are well calculated to bring to the surface every evil trait of our nature. So that with the provision which is so ample, we may be overcomers. The promise is to him that overcometh, not to him that is overcome. There is an effort to be put forth, a battle to be fought, a victory to be won, and a crown to be given to him that comes off victor. We are now upon the battle field, and our watchword is, “Onward to victory.” Self should be lost sight of, and no time should be spent in dallying with Satan and his suggestions. Laborers are called for to enter the harvest field and gather souls. An excellent opportunity offers itself now to develop that principle of disinterested benevolence for our fellow-men that brought Christ down from Heaven. Happy is he that improves the present opportunity and thus secures an interest in Christ that shall never be lost.

S. N. HASKELL.