The Divinely Appointed Remedies: "Gold"
Chapter 7 (continued — part 2)
Christ Himself makes clear what New
Testament faith is, and His view is different from that of the popular
concept. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him … " (John 3: 16). Note: (1)
Gods love is the first thing, and until that love is revealed there can be
no "believing". (2) As the
result of His "loving" and "giving", the sinner finds
it possible to "believe". ("To believe" and "to
have faith" is one word in Greek). Thus, faith is a heart-experience, "heart-work" to borrow Ellen White’s phrase, and
it cannot exist until God’: love is understood and appreciated.
Please note very carefully a fundamental
point: the "believing" is not motivated by a fear of perishing
or an acquisitive reward of everlasting life. The primary causative clause
of Jesus’ statement is "for God so loved". The two
secondary clauses are "that He gave His only begotten
Son" and "that whosoever believeth ". The believing
is a direct result of the loving. And Christ Himself spoke the words of
John 3:16.
Thus there begins to emerge a clear
definition of New Testament "faith": Faith is a heart-response to, or a heart-appreciation of: the love of God revealed at the
cross. Re-read Romans and Galatians with this John 3:16 definition in
mind and you will find Paul reproduced with startling high-fidelity
realism. He will come alive for you.
The redemption from perishing and the
reward of everlasting life are only byproducts of genuine New Testament
faith. The twin motivations of fear-of-hell and hope-of-reward are not
valid aspects of the faith itself.
There are those who are perplexed by this
New Testament definition of faith. They feel inclined to accept the idea
that Ellen G. White has somehow changed Christ’s and Paul’s definition
of faith and made it a self-centered acquisitive act of the soul as the
popular churches teach. In her writings, they say, faith is
"trust", and "trust" presupposes a state of egocentric
insecurity. It is true that she often says that faith is trust.
In fact there are scores of differing
definitions of faith in the Index among the 700 entries under that
word. There were probably many varying nuances of meaning even in Paul’s
day.
But Ellen White does not destroy Paul’s
grand concept of faith. When the apostle presented his great teaching of
"righteousness by faith", the word "faith" gained a
stupendous, explicit and dynamic meaning that was not possible before the
cross or at least could not be clearly seen until then. Even Nicodemus,
who heard Jesus say the words in John 3:16, could not see it until the
cross. Hellenistic Greek cannot define faith clearly.
It was the same with the word
"love". No one really knew what love was until the cross. The
life and death of Jesus invested an obscure Greek word, agape, with
a meaning never dreamed of before. And then these two words, agape, and
its human response, faith, turned the ancient "world upside
down". And Ellen G. White is in complete harmony with New Testament
faith.
We understand neither Paul or Ellen White
until we recognize that the faith which brings righteousness is something
immeasurably greater than the egocentric idea we have supposed it to be.
The only entry among the 700 in the Index that is the common
denominator of them all is the same as Paul’s working definition of
faith: "Faith — Genuine (or real) always works by love" (6 BC
1111; Index, Vol. 1, p. 968). Note how she clearly upholds Paul’s
definition of faith:
Joshua desired to lead them to serve God.
not by compulsion, but willingly. Love to God is the very foundation of
religion. To engage in His service merely from hope of reward or fear of
punishment would avail nothing. Open apostasy would not be more offensive
to God than hypocrisy and mere formal worship. (PP 523).
It is not the fear of punishment or the
hope of everlasting reward that leads the disciples of Christ to follow
Him. They behold the Saviour’s matchless love, revealed throughout His
pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross,
and the sight of Him attracts. it softens and subdues the soul. Love
awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice. and they
follow him. (DA 480).
There are those who profess to serve God.
while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right
character and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep
sense of the love of Christ. but they seek to perform the duties of the
Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven.
Such religion is worth nothing. SC 44, 45, emphasis added).
The context of the last statement is
interesting. With the strongest emphasis that words could possibly convey,
Ellen White continually points us to the cross and the revelation of Gods
love there. This is the true motivation for serving the Lord, she says.
And of this motivation she adds:
Oh. let us contemplate the amazing
sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us try to appreciate the labor
and energy that Heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them
back to the Father’s house. Motives stronger. and agencies more
powerful. could never be brought into operation:. . Let us place ourselves
in right relation to Him who has loved us with amazing love. (SC 21, 22).
It is true that the Lords messenger also
employs other "mighty incentives and encouragements to urge us to
give the heart’s loving service to our Creator and Redeemer", which
appear superficially to endorse a self-centered view of faith. This is
perplexing. Does she contradict herself? Are we to remain in a kind of
limbo on this matter, and when we read of the love of God revealed at the
cross tend to discount it as ineffective motivation?
Four possible explanations of these
apparent contradictions are:
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