The Essentials of
the Jones-Waggoner Message
-
Seen in this
light, justification by faith is the dynamic of the 1888 message.
We must not take an extreme view and try to work out an
artificially minute "balance" between justification and
sanctification,57 implying that the Reformation taught
justification by faith, and the 1888 messengers merely added
sanctification. Jones and Waggoner perceived deeper dimensions to
justification by faith than did the 16th century Reformers. Not
only must we "come out of Babylon"; genuine
justification by faith will take us out of Babylon. The
distinctive truths of the "third angel’s message"
invested justification by faith with a "verity" beyond
what previous generations had been able to perceive. It was
"the beginning" of "great truths that have lain
unheeded and unseen since the day of Pentecost."58
It is true,
according to The Great Controversy, that "the great
doctrine of justification by faith [was] so clearly taught by
Luther."59 But this does not mean that it was fully taught by
him. Ellen White did not say that Luther in his day taught the
"third angel’s message in verity,"60 as Conradi
mistakenly asserted. She specifically said Luther did not teach
it; there were aspects of "the message of salvation" in
"the gospel" that he "did not proclaim."61
And Luther’s and
Calvin’s followers soon departed further from what clarity there
was in the Reformers’ understanding. The famous Formula of
Concord of 1580, years after Luther’s death, fixed the so
called "Reformation" view of justification by faith in a
retrograded mold that failed to recognize its true effective
nature.62
The 1888
message of righteousness by faith was parallel to and consistent
with the
unique Seventh-day Adventist truth of the cleansing of
the heavenly sanctuary.
Notes:
-
6 BC 1072; see Waggoner, GCB 1891, Studies on
Romans, p. 4. [return to text]
-
See Jones, GCB 1893, pp. 242-246, 257-266, 342-347; GCB
1895, p. 365; FE 473 (RH June 3, 1890).
[return to text]
-
GC 253.
[return to text]
-
60 RH April 1,1890 (1 SM 372).
[return to text]
-
GC 355, 356 ["This message is a part of the gospel
which could be proclaimed only in the last days … The
Reformers did not proclaim it."] [return to
text]
-
See Hans LaRondelle, Spectrum, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp.
48-57. [return to text]
|