PRESUMPTION by Julia E. Duffie

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 15, 1877

PRESUMPTION

By Julia E. Duffie

We understand that our Saviour was tempted with the strongest and most dangerous temptations that would assail his followers, and that the second of these was the sin of presumption. After he had passed the trial on the first point, the devil took him up to the pinnacle of the temple, and told him to cast himself down, quoting scripture to prove that if he was the Son of God, angels would bear him up that he should sustain no injury, thus tempting the Lord to display his power unnecessarily, or to protect him from a danger to which he had needlessly or willfully exposed himself.

We hear much nowadays of a religion that seems to me to be on about the same principle. The principal text quoted by its adherents is—“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” and certainly this is a most precious passage, if rightly applied. Now we should be very careful not to oppose any good work nor to place anything in the way of those who are seeking the Saviour; but when people are very loud and forward to urge upon us the idea that we are not expected to obey the law of God in order to please him, that the moment we believe on Christ we are “saved eternally,” and must never think of our characters or our sins again, but simply trust Jesus to make us pure, then perhaps we can be excused for speaking.

We know the Scriptures are the word of God, and that when rightly understood there must be perfect harmony throughout; and knowing this, we see there are many passages that cannot be taken alone in the broadest or most unqualified sense. For instance, Joel, in speaking of the last days, says, “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” And Christ says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” Thus we see the expression in Joel must be qualified in order to harmonize with the words of Christ. Those who call upon him “in spirit and in truth” are doubtless referred to.

And in the same manner these two texts can be understood: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved,” and “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” We can never be saved without faith in Christ from the simple fact that future obedience cannot atone for past sins, and also that we must have divine help to enable us to overcome; but we have no right to expect or claim this help, unless we are putting forth an earnest effort of our own in the right direction. Moreover must we not have a higher motive for serving God than simply a selfish desire for our own salvation? When a person says, Jesus has saved me, and I need have no further concern about myself or my sins, and makes no effort to ascertain what there may be about him that hinders the formation of Christian character, but follows the same course as before, walking deliberately over the law of God, saying, I am saved, and therefore need have no fear that God will suffer me to be led into a dangerous position, is it not very much the same as though Christ had said, I am the Son of God, and although this step is unnecessary and unreasonable, I will take it; for my Father will certainly protect me? But our great

Pattern did not say so. His words to the great deceiver were, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Thus we see our Master did not presume to abuse his Father’s mercy in this manner. And shall we, poor rebels, expect greater favors than he? Listen to the closing words of his remarkable sermon on the mount: “He that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand.”

JULIA E. DUFFIE.