Tag: law

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Spiritual Mathematics

Spiritual Mathematic

Moses had been a gallant leader of a rebellious people for forty years. They had been wandering around in a desolate wilderness while God was trying to teach them His ways. Now it was time for them to enter the Promised Land. Moses deeply loved them even though they have given him many trials. He would soon be taken from them so he wanted to remind them of some important points and admonish them to be faithful.

We have all had this experience in one way or another. Your son or daughter is leaving home for the new adventure called college. You desire very much that they prosper in this new environment. You want to them to be happy and healthy, making wise decisions when you aren’t around to guide them. They have given you many trials but you love them and long for them to prosper. You stand at the door saying good bye along with some last-minute advice.

What council did Moses give to the children of Israel?

Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. Deuteronomy 12:8

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2

Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them (heathen), after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. Deuteronomy 12:30-32

Do what God commands. Don’t add to it or subtract from it. Don’t be a spiritual mathematician.

Does this Old Testament principle apply to the Christian era as well?

Did Jesus come to change the laws of the Old Testament? What does He Himself say?

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17, 18

Jesus follows this statement with references to two of the Ten Commandments and to several other laws that God gave through Moses. How many laws were eliminated at the cross? What did Jesus say? Not one jot or tittle, not even a slight punctuation mark in the language. Heaven and earth have not passed away yet. So are we still to obey all the laws given in the Old Testament? Absolutely! The only thing that changed at the cross was the remedy for breaking the law, not the law itself. Jesus became the lamb sacrifice, the legal substitute to die for our sins.

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5, 6

We are told not to add to or take away from what God said. Don’t be a spiritual mathematician. If God says something, He means it. If He wants something changed, He will tell us about it. This He did in Daniel 9.

And he (the Messiah) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:27

Here we are told that Jesus, the Messiah, would cause sacrifice and oblation (burnt offerings) to cease.

The book of Hebrews explains more of what was changed at the cross. It speaks of Jesus being a better sacrifice than the animals burned on the Altar; a better priest than Aaron and his descendants; serving in a more perfect sanctuary than any on earth, even the magnificent one that Solomon built; introducing better promises of a heavenly inheritance rather than some earthly real estate. These are the things that were changed. Circumcision was replaced by baptism according to Colossians 2:11, 12. These all had to do with the remedy for breaking the law, not the moral law itself.

But modern day Christians have not only taken away what Jesus said He did not come to change, but they have also added many things that God did not command. Subtracting and adding—spiritual mathematics—can be dangerous business. The Christian world has rejected most of the Torah that God gave through Moses and added many of their own traditions. They say that all that is required of a Christian is obedience to the Ten Commandments. There are some who don’t even think they must do that. Their beliefs give the impression that it doesn’t matter whether one goes about killing, stealing, or worshiping idols. All that matters is that a person has the blood of Jesus covering them. But that blood is not a camouflage to cover evil. Rather, it is a body wash to cleanse the inward man from sin and the love of iniquity. Many religions have subtracted from God’s Holy Laws and added their own traditions and fables.

If we want to know what has been taken out in contradiction to Jesus’ words, just read the Torah; it’s right there for any to read who want to know what God requires of them. It includes laws about relationships, laws about employers and employees, about land management, the tithing system, laws against homosexuality and bestiality, health laws, dress code, education of our children, God’s festivals and much more! Are you taking God’s Word as He gave it or are you guilty of subtraction from His stated requirements? Beware! There are serious consequences for those who manipulate His Word by adding and subtracting!

What has been added? Many things were changed by the Roman Catholic church that are still retained in Christianity. Though we may not be part of that church, remnants of the changes that she made have filtered down to us thorough tradition. Here is a quote from a Catholic Cardinal that explains what was added by Catholicism.

The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church. [John Henry Neuman. Development of Christian Doctrine. London, 1878] (emphasis added)

All these are of pagan origin. Let’s look a little closer at some of these items and see what is really meant by them.

Lamps, Candles, Processions:

Another peculiarity of the Papal worship is the use of lamps and wax-candles. If the Madonna and child are set up in a niche, they must have a lamp to burn before them; if mass is to be celebrated, though in broad procession is to be formed, it cannot be thorough and complete without lighted tapers to grace the goodly show. The use of these lamps and tapers comes from the same source as all the rest of the Papal superstition. That which caused the “Heart,” when it became an emblem of the incarnate Son, to be represented as a heart on fire, required also that burning lamps and lighted candles should form part of the worship of that Son; for so, according to the established rites of Zoroaster, was the sun-god worshipped. [Alexander Hislop. The Two Babylons. p. 191] (emphasis added)

Temples and Asylums:

How did the bishops, who were originally appointed for purely spiritual objects, contrive to grasp at such a large amount of temporal authority? From Gibbon we get light as to the real origin of what Guizot calls this “prodigious power.” The author of the Decline and Fall shows, that soon after Constantine’s time, “the Church” [and consequently the bishops, especially when they assumed to be a separate order from the other clergy] gained great temporal power through the right of asylum, which had belonged to the Pagan temples, being transferred by the Emperors to the Christian churches. His words are: “The fugitive, and even the guilty, were permitted to implore either the justice or mercy of the Deity and His ministers.” Thus was the foundation laid of the invasion of the rights of the civil magistrate by ecclesiastics, and thus were they encouraged to grasp at all the powers of the State. Thus, also, as is justly observed by the authoress of Rome in the 19th Century, speaking of the right of asylum, were “the altars perverted into protection towards the very crimes they were raised to banish from the world.” This is a very striking thing, as showing how the temporal power of the Papacy, in its very first beginnings, was founded on “lawlessness,” and is an additional proof to the many that might be alleged, that the Head of the Roman system, to whom all bishops are subject, is indeed o anomos, “The Lawless One” (2 Thess. ii. 8), predicted in Scripture as the recognised Head of the “Mystery of Iniquity.” [Ibid., p. 260] (emphasis added)

Holy Water:

We have evidence that the purifying virtue of the waters, which in Pagan esteem had such efficacy in cleansing from guilt and regenerating the soul, was derived in part from the passing of the Mediatorial god, the sun-god and god of fire, through these waters during his humiliation and sojourn in the midst of them; and that the Papacy at this day retains the very custom which had sprung up from that persuasion. [Ibid., p. 142] (emphasis added)

Wedding Ring:

The wedding ring comes from paganism.  It cannot be found in the Old or New Testaments. There was no practice among early Christians to wear finger rings as a sign of marriage or an engagement.  Pope Gregory 1, in 860 AD decreed that as a required statement of nuptial intent, the groom to be had to give his intended an engagement ring. He further decreed the ring be of gold to signify financial sacrifice.  The first diamond engagement ring is the one given by King Maximillian in 1477 to Mary of Burgundy. Wedding rings can be traced to idols and heathen religions. It is not just the image of the idol we are commanded not to possess, but rather any part of the idol itself.  Thus, to make ones self after the image of the idol is to practice idolatry.  All images of false gods and goddesses show the use of earrings, finger rings, bracelets, nose rings, and other jewelry.  Where do we find this same practice associated with the God of the Bible?  Did Jesus wear jewelry? Did the Apostles and early Christians?  The answer is no!

The wedding ring originated in Babylon, the cradle of civilization.  The most ancient ring discovered there is in the shape of the eternal serpent. The image of the serpent biting its tail to form the circle of the ring is an ancient satanic symbol. The same symbol is used by the Theosophy Cult. Satan as the serpent, that great dragon of Revelation 12, has by this symbol joined a man and a woman under his cult.  [http://www.jesus-messiah.com/html/wedding_rings.html] (emphasis added)

Turning to the East:

…when the Inca, and his court, followed by the whole population of Cuzco, assembled at early dawn in the great square to greet the rising of the sun. “Eagerly,” says Prescott, “they watched the coming of the deity, and no sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from the assembled multitude, accompanied by songs of triumph, and the wild melody of barbaric instruments, that swelled louder and louder as his bright orb, rising above the mountain range towards the east, shone in full splendour on his votaries.” Could this alternate mourning and rejoicing, at the very time when the Babylonians mourned and rejoiced over Tammuz, be accidental? As Tammuz was the Sun-divinity incarnate, it is easy to see how such mourning and rejoicing should be connected with the worship of the sun. [The Two Babylons, p. 117] (emphasis added)

Benjamin of Tudela, the great Jewish traveller, gives a striking account of sun-worship even in comparatively modern times, as subsisting among the Cushites of the East, from which we find that the image of the sun was, even in his day, worshipped on the altar. “There is a temple,” says he, “of the posterity of Chus, addicted to the contemplation of the stars. They worship the sun as a god, and the whole country, for half-a-mile round their town, is filled with great altars dedicated to him. By the dawn of morn they get up and run out of town, to wait the rising sun, to whom, on every altar, there is a consecrated image, not in the likeness of a man, but of the solar orb, framed by magic art. [Ibid., p. 162] (emphasis added)

Where do Easter sunrise services come from? Paganism. The worship of the sun.

Holy Days and Seasons:

Ques. What are the days which the church commands to be kept holy?

Ans. The Sunday, or our Lord’s day, which we observe by apostolic tradition, instead of the Sabbath. The feasts of our Lord’s Nativity, or Christmas day; his circumcision, or New Year’s day; the Epiphany, or twelfth day; Easterday, or the day of our Lord’s resurrection, with the Monday following; the day of our Lord’s ascension; Whit-Sunday, or the day of the coming of the Holy Ghost, with the Monday following; Trinity Sunday; Corpus Christi, or the feasts of the blessed sacrament. We keep the days of the Annunciation, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We observe the feasts of All-saints; of St. John Baptist; of the holy apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. In this kingdom we keep the feasts of St. Patrick, our principal patron.” [Richard Challoner, The Catholic Christian Instructed, p. 209]

Notice whose authority is accepted when we keep these pagan holidays as “Christian.” Roman Catholic Church authority. Please note that this is in contrast to God’s authority and His holy days—the Biblical feasts. Let’s look at the papal and pagan origin of some of these “holy days”.

A New Calendar and Easter Observances:

About the end of the sixth century, the first decisive attempt was made to enforce the observance of the new calendar. It was in Britain that the first attempt was made in this way; and here the attempt met with vigorous resistance. The difference, in point of time, betwixt the Christian Pasch, as observed in Britain by the native Christians, and the Pagan Easter enforced by Rome, at the time of its enforcement, was a whole month; and it was only by violence and bloodshed, at last, that the Festival of the Anglo-Saxon or Chaldean goddess came to supersede that which had been held in honour of Christ. [The Two Babylons, p. 103] (emphasis added)

Such is the history of Easter. The popular observances that still attend the period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The “buns,” known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens — that is, 1500 years before the Christian era… The origin of the Pasch eggs is just as clear. The ancient Druids bore an egg, as the sacred emblem of their order. In this Dionysiaca, or mysteries of Bacchus, as celebrated in Athens, one part of the nocturnal ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg…The classic poets are full of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; [Ibid., p. 107] (emphasis added)

Christmas:

The festivals of Rome are innumerable; but five of the most important may be singled out for elucidation – viz., Christmas-day, Lady-day, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, and the Feast of the Assumption. Each and all of these can be proved to be Babylonian. [Ibid., p. 91] (emphasis added)

How, then, did the Romish Church fix on December the 25th as Christmas-day? Why, thus: Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition. “By us,” says he, “who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians.” . . . That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, “about the time of the winter solstice.” The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among ourselves — Yule-day — proves at once its Pagan and Babylonian origin. “Yule” is the Chaldee name for an “infant” or “little child,” and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, “Yule-day,” or the “Child’s day,” and the night that preceded it, “Mother-night,” long before they came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character. far and wide, in the realms of Paganism, was this birth-day observed. [Ibid., p. 93] (emphasis added)

The Christmas Tree:

It was no mere astronomic festival, then, that the Pagans celebrated at the winter solstice (Christmas). That festival at Rome was called the feast of Saturn, and the mode in which it was celebrated there, showed whence it had been derived. The feast, as regulated by Caligula, lasted five days; loose reins were given to drunkenness and revelry, slaves had a temporary emancipation, and used all manner of freedoms with their masters. This was precisely the way in which, according to Berosus, the drunken festival of the month Thebeth, answering to our December, in other words, the festival of Bacchus, was celebrated in Babylon… The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm-tree denoting the Pagan Messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the Sun-God and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognised as the “Man the branch.” And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas-eve, and the appearance of the Christmas-tree the next morning. As Zero-Ashta, “The seed of the woman,” which name also signified Ignigena, or “born of the fire,” he has to enter the fire on “Mothernight,’ that he may be born the next day out of it, as the “Branch of God,” or the Tree that brings all divine gifts to men. But why, it may be asked, does he enter the fire under the symbol of a Log? To understand this, it must be remembered that the divine child born at the winter solstice was born as a new incarnation of the great god (after that god had been cut in pieces), on purpose to revenge his death upon his murderers. Now the great god, cut off in the midst of his power and glory, was symbolised as a huge tree, stripped of all its branches, and cut-down almost to the ground. But the great serpent, the symbol of the life restoring AESCULAPIUS, twists itself around the dead stock and lo, at its side up sprouts a young tree — a tree of an entirely different kind, that is destined never to be cut down by hostile power — even the palm-tree, the well-known symbol of victory. The Christmas-tree, as has been stated, was generally at Rome a different tree, even the fir; but the very same idea as was implied in the palm-tree was implied in the Christmas-fir; for that covertly symbolised the new-born god as Baal-berith, “Lord of the Covenant,” and thus shadowed forth the perpetuity and everlasting nature of his power, now that after having fallen before his enemies, he had risen triumphant over them all. Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solis, “The birth-day of the unconquered Sun.” Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus — the slain god come to life again. [Ibid., pp. 96-98]

King Solomon was known for his wisdom but he had some serious blots on his record.

2 Kings 23:13, 14 (1 Kings 11:4-8). Memorials of Apostasy.– Goodness alone is true greatness. Everyone will transmit a heritage of good or of evil. On the southern eminence of the Mount of Olives were the memorial stones of Solomon’s apostasy. Huge idols, unshapely blocks of wood and stone, appeared above the groves of myrtle and olive. Josiah, the youthful reformer, in his religious zeal destroyed these images of Ashtoreth and Chemosh and Moloch, but the broken fragments and masses of ruins remained opposite Mount Moriah, where stood the temple of God. As strangers in after generations asked, “What mean these ruins confronting the temple of the Lord?” they were answered, “There is Solomon’s Mount of Offense, where he built altars for idol worship to please his heathen wives” [SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 1039] (emphasis added)

More than three centuries later, Josiah, the youthful reformer, in his religious zeal demolished these buildings and all the images of Ashtoreth and Chemosh and Moloch. Many of the broken fragments rolled down the channel of the Kedron, but great masses of ruins remained. Even as late as the days of Christ, the ruins on the “Mount of Offense,” as the place was called by many of the truehearted of Israel, might still be seen. Could Solomon, when rearing these idolatrous shrines, have looked into the future, how he would have started back in horror to think of the sad testimony they would bear to the Messiah! [Review and Herald, February 15, 1906] (emphasis added)

We too can have a Mount of Offense to God. Many Christians worship at the shrine of Ashtoreth today in their celebration of Easter. They bow at the shrine of Baal in their observance of Christmas? What does true biblical Christianity have to do with these holidays? We can try to “Christianize” them but they are still just a variation of pagan worship! The Israelites made the golden calf and called it “the God that brought you out of Egypt” but God did not accept their worship. He told Moses to go down from the mountain because the people had corrupted themselves.

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18, 19

It is time to quit playing mathematical games and start following true worship standards given in the word of God. Don’t add to or subtract from what God has said. God does not accept it!

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Dead to What?

Romans 6 the way Paul wrote it:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6 the way many Christians want to rewrite it:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the law, that legalism may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to the law, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that the old law was crucified with him, that it might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve the law. For he that is dead is freed from the law.

Now if the law be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live without it: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto the law once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto the law, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not the law therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should burdened with obedience to it. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of legalism unto the law: but yield yourselves unto whatever you feel is right, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of your own personal whims. For the law shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we obey the law? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of the law unto death, or of liberty unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were at one time the servants of the law, but ye have from the heart broken free from that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from the law, ye became the servants of liberty.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye had yielded your members to legalism and bondage; even so now yield your members servants to liberty unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of the law, ye were legalists. What fruit had ye then in those things that were such a burden? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from the law, and become servants to liberty, ye have your fruit unto situation ethics, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of obeying the law is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice that I took the liberty to replace the word “sin” with “law” and made a few other “minor” changes as a contrast to highlight what Paul actually says in this passage: our “old man,” the sinful human nature, was crucified with Christ, not the Law; we have been made free from sin, not from the law.

As we continue reading in Romans 7 we encounter a significant metaphor.

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Romans 7:1-4

The usual understanding of these verses is that Christ’s death frees us from the requirements of God’s Law; that careful, strict obedience is not necessary for Christians like it was for the Israelites. This is based on the concept that the “marriage” in Paul’s metaphor is between a person and the Law “until death do us part” and Christ’s death was the death that parted.

Paul is writing to people who were under the Roman legal system and he begins this passage with the assumption that his readers are acquainted with how a legal system works—“I speak to them that know law.” There is no definite article “the” in this phrase in the original Greek. He continues with an example of how the system works—the law regarding marriage.

In Paul’s time, both in the Roman culture and in the Jewish culture, marriage was monogamous. God designed that it should be a permanent union. The law bound those two specific people together for life. If there was a marriage certificate, it could have been considered “The Law” that governed those two people at that time in regard to that marriage. “The Law” (their marriage certificate) stated that neither of them could be married to another person. Death of one spouse terminated that union and annulled that particular law—the Law of their marriage. The surviving spouse was not married to that person anymore and could legally marry someone else. After describing this scenario, Paul says in verse 4, “ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.”

In God’s legal system, the Torah, given through Moses, there was a provision that was illustrated repeatedly. Under God’s Law, a sacrificial victim was a legal substitute for a sinner. According to that Law, the sinner legally died when the victim died. Paul is referring to this provision when he says, “ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.” His message is, “According to God’s ‘Constitution,’ you were considered legally dead when Christ died. Therefore, your legal bond to sin has been broken (the first “husband” was the “old man,” the sinful human nature, not the Law) in the same way that the law regarding marriage fidelity to the first partner no longer applies when one spouse dies. You are legally free from that sinful nature and its final destiny—eternal death. Your sinful nature (“the body of sin” Romans 6:6) died when Christ died (“by the body of Christ” Romans 7:6). He gave you new, spiritual life, and now you are free to be “married” to Him and can produce the fruit of righteousness instead of the fruit of sin.” That phrase “dead to the law” means “dead according to the law,” or “legally dead,” rather than “the law is dead.”

This same idea is brought out again in Galatians.

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19, 20

When Paul says here, “I through the law am dead to the law, . . . I am crucified with Christ,” he means, “Through the provisions of the law, I legally died when Christ died. My old self was crucified with Him.”

Let’s take Romans 6 at face value just the way Paul wrote it. We are disconnected from sin by Christ’s death. Sin has no legal jurisdiction over us anymore. Now we are free to live for God.

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Old Covenant / New Covenant

The question is often asked: What is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? What changed when Jesus died on the cross?

First, we must understand that there is an Eternal Covenant that is foundational to all others. Simply stated it is this: God says, “I will fulfill my promises to you if you do my will.” All of His people from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Jacob knew what God’s will was. They followed it and He blessed them. Then came the Israelite nation recently delivered from slavery. They had lost the knowledge of His will and needed reminders and careful discipline to help them live in His will. So God instituted the written Code of Conduct—the Torah—with everything spelled out carefully to reduce misunderstandings. Included in the Torah was the Ten Commandments as the basic standard of morality (Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5); the Statutes and Judgments, to explain and illustrate the Ten Commandments (given mostly in Exodus 21-23 and Deuteronomy, and interspersed throughout Leviticus and Numbers); and the Ceremonial / Sacrificial system as a remedy for the breaking of the Law—the symbols of the Gospel for that time (given primarily in Leviticus).

The Covenant with the Jews was originally something like this:

the Parties involved—God and Israel

the Promise—Jehovah would be their God; they would be His special people; they would receive an inheritance

the Terms or Conditions of the Covenant—obedience to God’s Laws

But there was a problem.

For finding fault with them (the people), he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Hebrews 8:8.

There was a fault, but it was not with the Terms of the Covenant. God’s Laws are perfect; His Statutes are right; His Commandments are pure; His Judgments are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:7-9). The fault was not with God. The fault was with the people involved. They kept breaking the Terms of the Covenant. They were not obedient. Their hearts were not in harmony with God. They continued to bring their sacrifices but God wanted something beyond that.

Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22

What changed when the Messiah came?

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:27

This prophecy predicts the Messiah’s coming, His ministry, and His death. It tells us that the sacrifices and oblations ceased. That was the change that occurred at the cross. The book of Hebrews explains more about the change as Paul describes several things that are better—better sacrifices, a better Priest, a better Sanctuary, better promises.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrews 4:14

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews 8:6

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Hebrews 9:11

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:13, 14

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Hebrews 9:23

Here we can see that Jesus brought in what was “better”:

He is a better High Priest for many reasons, including the fact that He was sinless, ever-living, etc.

The better promises involve, on God’s part, a better inheritance (heavenly rather than earthly) and, on Jesus’ part, His commitment to fulfill God’s will perfectly (John 8:29; Hebrews 10:7, 9) contrasted with man’s disobedience.

He ministers in a greater Tabernacle in Heaven, made by God Himself.

His blood is far superior to any animal blood, able to purify more than the flesh, actually cleansing the conscience, the deepest source of sin by revealing to us the terrible effect sin has had on God (we killed Him) and His continued encompassing love for us.

His sacrifice is far superior because He is the Son of God (nothing could be greater or better) so He only needed to do it once for all.

Paul was writing to Jewish Christians explaining the changes that the cross introduced. What did he mean when he spoke of a “new covenant” or “new testament?” Why was a new one needed? Because the old established only a temporary remedy for sin and pointed forward to the true, complete remedy—Jesus Christ. The Jews viewed the remedy that they had been given as all that was needed, rather then looking, by faith, through the sacrifices to the One they foreshadowed—Jesus, the Messiah. So they went on breaking God’s Laws and bringing sacrifices perpetually, not stopping to realize that they needed a change of heart to truly follow God’s will in spirit rather than merely in letter.

Jesus came to take humanity’s place in the Covenant as our Substitute. The New Covenant is between God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son, who completely fulfills all the Conditions of the Covenant for us and will receive all the Kingdom Promises. He became our surety, our guarantee, that all the Terms would be fulfilled. When we have Jesus living in our hearts, we become heirs to the Kingdom with Him. He also brings about a change in our character by instilling God’s Laws in our hearts and minds through the power of His Spirit so that we will be in harmony with God and can also fulfill the Terms of the Covenant.

The terms of the “old covenant” were, Obey and live: “If a man do, he shall even live in them” (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5); but “cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.” Deuteronomy 27:26. The “new covenant” was established upon “better promises”–the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God’s law. “This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. . . . I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33, 34. (Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 372)

So the change at the Cross was to replace erring humans with the perfect One—Jesus—and to replace the Sacrifices, Priests, and earthly Tabernacle system with Jesus, the BETTER Sacrifice and High Priest in the Heavenly Temple. He is the One who was always the true fulfillment of that system. The Hebrews had come to regard the Sacrifices as an end in themselves, but it was only by faith that true forgiveness and atonement were received. Salvation has always been by faith, as we know from Hebrews 11. It was by faith that Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

What changed at the cross was the remedy for breaking the Law, not the Law itself. All the Laws are still intact—the Ten Commandments and the other Laws given through Moses. Nothing was changed except what we are specifically told was changed. The prophecy of Daniel 9 and the book of Hebrews tell us what was changed.

To put it simply: The difference between the Old and New Covenants is Jesus, the True Remedy for the sins of man. What was foreshadowed in the Tabernacle system became a reality.

Did the Terms of the Covenant change? No! There was never a problem with the Terms. They are still obedience and cooperation with God.

Under the new covenant, the conditions by which eternal life may be gained are the same as under the old. The conditions are, and ever have been, based on perfect obedience. (Ellen White, Letter 216, 1906)

By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Romans 1:5

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:5

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 1 Peter 1:2

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

There are those who say that the Terms of the Covenant have changed, that God’s Laws are not part of it anymore, that everything is by Grace, meaning that God is more lenient now, not as strict as He was before. But where does the Bible say that? Jesus said He didn’t come to change any of God’s Laws (Matthew 5:17-19) and we are not given permission to change anything.

Here is a principle we must follow: God does not change. (Malachi 3:6) What He establishes does not change unless He Himself changes it. If the Bible doesn’t tell us that He changed something, then it remains.

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. Deuteronomy 12:32

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18, 19

The Laws of God have not been changed. Not the Ten Commandments nor the specifications given in the Statutes and Judgments. The only thing that changed was the remedy for sin. The shadows were replaced by Jesus, the fulfillment and true Remedy.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. Hebrews 8:10, 11

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Putting the Ladder on the Right Wall

In the article, The Ladder Against the Wrong Wall, we looked at the link between the Gospel in Galatians, the Loud Cry, and the “Law of Moses.” The message was given in 1888 and was rejected, which kept the people from receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and from entering the Heavenly Canaan. Please read that document first so you will better understand this one. It is very important if we do not wish to repeat their history.

We saw a connection between the theology of George Butler and our current theology. We got a glimpse of the teachings of E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones, which many of us have never really heard. The message in 1888 was not just Righteousness by Faith, but much more.

Here is a brief overview of some of the differences between George Butler’s theology and that of Jones and Waggoner:

Butler taught that the whole Law of Moses was a heavy yoke and was nailed to the Cross, and that Paul was teaching in Galatians that it was to be observed only in the Jewish dispensation before the Cross.

Jones and Waggoner taught that Paul was not referring to a certain part of the Law that could not save us but that all Law was powerless to save us; that sin was the heavy yoke; and that his (Paul’s) descriptions comparing “before” and “after” (Galatians 3:23-26) were not dispensational–ie. Jewish era vs. Christian era–but were referring to the personal experience of life in sin vs. life in Christ.

Which understanding shall we choose?

As a quick review, I will quote a few paragraphs from the previous article that we shared.

from a letter by A. T. Jones to C. E. Holmes, May 12, 1921–

“I can’t now name anyone who accepted the truth at that 1888 meeting openly – besides Ellen White [obviously]. But later many said they were greatly helped by it. One Battle Creek leader said at that meeting after one of Dr. Waggoner’s meetings: “Now we could say amen to all of that if that is all there were to it. But away down yonder there is still something to come. And this is to lead us to that . . . And if we say amen to this we will have to say amen to that, and then we are caught . . . ” (quoted in “Exposing the Skeleton in the SDA Closet of 1888” by Norman Bradley)

What was the “this” and the “that”?

In 1893 when the subject of pork eating was being discussed using the statute in Deuteronomy 14:8, “Uriah Smith explicitly rejected the applicability of the Mosaic distinction: “We believe there is better ground on which to rest [the prohibition on pork] than the ceremonial law of the former dispensation, if we take the position that that law is still binding, we must accept it all, and then we have more on our hands than we can easily dispose of.” (MR 852 2.1)

“. . . then we are caught” and “. . . then we have more on our hands than we can easily dispose of.” What is the subject here? It cannot be merely “Righteousness by Faith” which had been a pillar of Protestantism for centuries before 1888. What I came to understand as I studied these things was that this issue was not merely Righteousness by Faith, friends. It had to do also with the Law of Moses and its applicability to the Christian dispensation. Butler and other leaders, who were ready to dispose of the Law of Moses, based their assumptions on the idea that the Law in Galatians was the Ceremonial Law that was no longer binding. They included everything given through Moses except the Ten Commandments in this disposal. So the real issue in 1888, I believe, was the Law of Moses and its binding claims on Christians today.

from Ellen White–

In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law. (Review and Herald 05-06-75)

We are to become familiar with the Levitical law in all its bearings; for it contains rules that must be obeyed; it contains the instruction that if studied will enable us to understand better the rule of faith and practice that we are to follow in our dealings with one another. No soul has any excuse for being in darkness. Those who receive Christ by faith will receive also power to become the sons of God (Letter 3, 1905). (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 1110)

We are told in the above quotes that the Laws given to Moses at Sinai were not to pass away but were binding upon us as long as time should last and contained rules that must be obeyed. (I would like to refer you to a prior Zion’s Covenant article, sent out May 11, 2010, called “Statutes and Judgments,” that discusses God’s system of Law in more detail. If you did not receive it, you can find it at www.godsfoodforlife.org Click on Zion’s Covenant in the Menu on the left side of the screen for a list of the articles.)

Putting the Ladder Back on the Right Wall

In this article, I would like to put the ladder back on the right wall. We really must if we wish to reach our desired destination, the Heavenly Canaan. Let’s take a look at Scripture to learn more about the message that will prepare God’s people to meet Him. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11:15

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:1-6

What day is being described here that burns like an oven when all the wicked become as stubble and are burned up? It is the end of the world, Jesus’ second coming, and the destruction of the wicked.

What comes just before the dreadful Day of the Lord? The message of Elijah, who turns the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers.

What is this prophet’s message? Remember the Law of Moses with the statutes and judgments. It is really very simple, friends.

What is the “Law of Moses?” The word for Law in Malachi 4:4 is “Torah.” Here are some other verses where this word appears.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. Exodus 24:12

This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. Leviticus 11:46, 47

If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Deuteronomy 30:10

These are just a few examples of how this word is used in the Old Testament. As you can see, it refers to the Ten Commandments, to health laws, and to the Book of the Law which Moses heard from God and wrote down as a permanent record for later generations. I went through and looked at each one of the 219 times that this word is used in the Old Testament and found that it refers specifically to the Book of the Law written by Moses 70 times, to Law in general 83 times, to the Ten Commandments specifically 5 times, as well as other Laws from the Statutes and Judgments numerous times. The prophecy in Malachi 4 is reminding us that everything Moses wrote is critically important for these last days.

What does the Spirit of Prophecy tell us?

The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ. This prophecy is introduced with the admonition, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (The Southern Watchman, 03-21-05, para. 1 & 2)

John, as a prophet, stood forth as God’s representative, to show the connection between the law and the prophets and the Christian dispensation. Like Malachi, he pleaded with the Jews: “Remember ye the law of Moses, . . . with all the statutes and judgments.” His work and ministry pointed back to the law and the prophets, while he, at the same time, pointed the people forward to Christ as the Saviour of the world. He called upon them to “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (The Southern Watchman, 03-21-05, para. 7)

He (John the Baptist) was a representative of those living in these last days to whom God has entrusted sacred truths to present before the people to prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ. (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 3, p. 61)

The “Elijah Message” for the last days is the same as John the Baptist’s message. His message was “Remember the Law of Moses with the Statutes and Judgments.” In the above quotes, what is the message we are told to give? The same message that John gave. “Remember the Law of Moses with the Statutes and Judgments.” Does this include the Ten Commandments? Of course it does. Does it include the other Laws God gave that explain and reinforce the Moral Law? Absolutely! Remember the whole Torah! I think it is significant that the Hebrew word for “remember” in Malachi 4:4 is the same word as is used in Exodus 20:8 where we are told to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law. (Review and Herald, 05-06-75, para. 10)

Who decides what is still binding? Does the church? Do we as individuals?

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. Deuteronomy 12:32

There is no finite man that lives, I care not who he is or whatever is his position, that God has authorized to pick and choose in His Word. (SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 919, para. 2)

Did you catch that? We are forbidden to add or take away from what God has given as His laws! Absolutely no man has the right to do this. So who decides what is to be obeyed in the Christian era? God alone. If Scripture does not say that something ended at the cross, then it continues. If Scripture says that something was finished, then it no longer applies

Galatians does not say that the Law ended at the Cross. It merely says that the Law cannot save us. It never could. Its role has always been to point us to our Savior and to show us what righteous living is. By faith in Jesus, we can partake of the Divine Nature and live the perfect Law of love, the foundation of God’s government. This is true freedom, freedom from the bondage of sin. This is the message of Galatians.

The book of Hebrews is a thorough explanation of what was changed at the cross. Read it carefully. It speaks of the Sacrifices–Christ was a better Sacrifice. It speaks of the Temple Services–we now have a Heavenly Temple. It speaks of the role of the High Priest–Jesus is now our High Priest.

We are told in other places that circumcision was changed. Baptism has replaced it.

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:11, 12

We are told that the Passover lamb was replaced with bread and juice.

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Luke 22:15-19

Some people say that the Passover was finished at the Cross. But our Lord called the service He did with his disciples “Passover” and said it would be fulfilled in the Kingdom. It was the lamb sacrifice that ended at the Cross, being replaced by the symbolic bread and juice.

The Covenant Renewed–

In the last days of this earth’s history, God’s covenant with His commandment-keeping people is to be renewed. (Prophets and Kings, p. 299)

God wants to renew His Covenant with us. He wants to pour His Spirit upon us. What is required to again be in Covenant with God?

Under the new covenant, the conditions by which eternal life may be gained are the same as under the old–perfect obedience. Under the old covenant, there were many offenses of a daring, presumptuous character, for which there was no atonement specified by law. In the new and better covenant, Christ has fulfilled the law for the transgressors of law, if they receive Him by faith as a personal Saviour. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Mercy and forgiveness are the reward of all who come to Christ trusting in His merits to take away their sins. In the better covenant we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ (Letter 276, 1904). (SDA Bible Commentary, Volume 7, p. 931, para.10)

Faith in our Savior, Jesus, and obedience to the Torah, the same as in the times of Israel, are still the requirements for us to be in Covenant with God today.

The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people. (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 310)

The light given me is that we are to study more than we do the instruction given to Moses by God after He had proclaimed the law from Sinai. The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were then written on tables of stone, to be preserved till the judgment should take place. After the giving of the law, God gave Moses specifications regarding the law. These specifications are plain and explicit. No one need make a mistake.

In the day of judgment we shall be asked whether we have lived in harmony with these specifications. (Australasian Union Conference Record, 03-25-07)

Did you catch that? We will be judged by these Laws. Have we lived in harmony with them? How can we live in harmony with Laws we don’t accept or study?

Friends, if we want to stop wandering in the wilderness, then we must start to live the Elijah Message. We must put our ladder on the right wall. These Laws were not all nailed to the Cross. Only a very few came to an end at that time.

Each of the Ten Commandments has other Laws that enforce, illustrate, and apply them. Which ones reinforce the Sabbath?

Again the people were reminded of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath. Yearly Feasts were appointed, at which all the men of the nation were to assemble before the Lord, bringing to Him their offerings of gratitude and the first fruits of His bounties. The object of all these regulations was stated: they proceeded from no exercise of mere arbitrary sovereignty; all were given for the good of Israel. The Lord said, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me”–worthy to be acknowledged by a holy God. (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 311)

Remember: The Laws that reinforce the Ten Commandments are still binding.

Someone will say: “Surely, if this is truth and we are to do these things, our church fathers would have understood it and been doing them.” Would they?

Wonderful possibilities are open to those who lay hold of the divine assurances of God’s word. There are glorious truths to come before the people of God. Privileges and duties which they do not even suspect to be in the Bible will be laid open before them. As they follow on in the path of humble obedience, doing His will, they will know more and more of the oracles of God. (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 8, p. 322)

This was written after the essential doctrines of the SDA church were firmly in place. There is more to come!

The question has been asked me, “Do you think that the Lord has any more light for us as a people?” I answer that He has light that is new to us, and yet it is precious old light that is to shine forth from the Word of truth. We have only the glimmerings of the rays of the light that is yet to come to us. We are not making the most of the light which the Lord has already given us, and thus we fail to receive the increased light; we do not walk in light already shed upon us. (Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 401, 402)

We have only the glimmerings of the rays of light. That was written in 1890. Have we advanced since then? I’m afraid we have stagnated where our church fathers were. Can we have favor with God in this state?

When God’s people are at ease and satisfied with their present enlightenment, we may be sure that He will not favor them. It is His will that they should be ever moving forward to receive the increased and ever-increasing light which is shining for them. The present attitude of the church is not pleasing to God. There has come in a self confidence that has led them to feel no necessity for more truth and greater light. We are living at a time when Satan is at work on the right hand and on the left, before and behind us; and yet as a people we are asleep. God wills that a voice shall be heard arousing His people to action. (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, p. 708)

Friends, the time is here to go forward with the Loud Cry. We must give the Elijah Message. We are told what that Message is. Let us look at it one more time.

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:4-6

Let these sayings sink down into your ears: Luke 9:44

*All emphases and highlighting in quotes were supplied by the author of this article.

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The Ladder Against the Wrong Wall–The Hidden 1888 Issue

What was the 1888 conflict all about? Was “Righteousness by Faith” really the main issue? What were Elder E. J. Waggoner and Elder A. T. Jones teaching? What did Ellen White teach? I have personally read several books by church leaders on this subject and I still couldn’t figure it out. Why? There just seems to be something missing. I have struggled for a long time with the proposition that Righteousness by Faith was the main issue. That doctrine was taught by Martin Luther in the 1500’s and Protestantism emerged because of that “new” belief system. If Seventh-day Adventists are Protestants, which they are, then that belief was in the framework long ago. I have heard about Righteousness by Faith and Martin Luther’s work of reformation all my life. How could such a well-established basic truth be the question? This just did not seem to make sense. So I started studying for myself. In this article, I will try to explain what I have found. There is much more to the subject than what meets the eye at a casual glance.

The Law in Galatians–

This seems to be the hub that the wheel turns on. What is the Law in Galatians? Was it the Ceremonial Law or was it the Moral Law? Which belief system controls our theology today? Someone has said, “If your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall, every step you take gets you further from where you ought to be.” So it is with truth.

Let us look at what was written by Elder George Butler, who was the leading opponent of Waggoner, Jones, and Ellen White in 1888.

from Elder Butler’s work, “The Law in Galatians”–

“What law is the principal subject of the apostle’s discourse in the epistle to the Galatians? Is it the moral law? or the typical remedial system and laws peculiarly Jewish? Perhaps there has never been a theological question in all the history of our work concerning which there has been so much disagreement among our ministry and leading brethren as this. Such differences have existed more or less with varying phases, since the rise of the message, and at times have been discussed with more or less warmth. At other periods they have been tacitly left untouched. Generally, a mutual forbearance has been exercised, so that bitterness of feeling between brethren has been avoided.

Leading brethren have been on both sides of the question. In the early history of the work, it is probable that quite a majority of them accepted the view that the moral law was the main subject of Paul’s consideration in the book of Galatians. But there came quite a change in this respect at a later period, when some of our leading brethren, to whom our people have ever looked as safe counselors in questions of perplexity, gave up the view that the moral law was mainly under discussion, and took the position that it was the ceremonial law. Many others who have come later to act a part in the work, have accepted the latter view with strong confidence. It would be quite difficult to ascertain the comparative strength in numbers on either side; but to the best of the writer’s judgment (and his opportunities of forming a fair opinion have not been meager), he would say that at the present time at least two thirds of our ministers hold the latter opinion.” (p. 3)

Here Butler is telling us that there was a change in what Seventh-day Adventists believed in this regard. The early Adventists believed it was the Moral Law while the leaders at the time of Butler believed it was the Ceremonial Law. So why does it matter? Remember: if we put our ladder against the wrong wall, every step takes us further from our desired destination—understanding truth.

What was Butler trying to teach?

“Believing strongly, as we do, that the law principally considered in Galatians is the typical remedial (ceremonial law) system, which passed away at the cross, and is not the moral law, and feeling that an unfair advantage has been taken in urgently teaching the contrary opinion to our young people preparing to labor in the cause, and in making our Instructor lessons and pioneer paper mediums for teaching an opposite view, and hoping to add some information which will be valuable upon the subject, we have felt it not only proper but a duty to bring the subject before the General Conference of our people, the only tribunal in our body where such controverted questions can be properly considered and passed upon.” (Ibid., p. 6)

Jones and Waggoner were teaching the young people that it was the Moral Law and not the Ceremonial Law under consideration in Galatians. This is what prompted Butler to write this article.

This may seem to some to be merely a theological debate. It was more, much more. Here is a quote from Ellen White as to the significance of this debate at the 1888 General Conference. And this is why it is important to you and I today.

An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord’s message through Brethren Waggoner and Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world.” (Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 234, 235 written June 6, 1896)

Did you catch that? It is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Latter Rain, that was refused in 1888.

In the last days of this earth’s history, God’s covenant with His commandment-keeping people is to be renewed. (Prophets and Kings, p. 299)

We have been “out of covenant” for all these years and now it is time to renew that covenant.

For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord’s professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years. (Evangelism, p. 696)

We have wandered in the wilderness for more than 100 years because the light given us through Jones and Waggoner was refused. Will we reject the truth again or will we accept it, receive the Latter Rain, and give the Loud Cry? Jesus is coming soon! If we don’t do our duty, we will be passed by and others will be given the privilege. Let me repeat: this 1888 subject has to do with our Salvation, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Loud Cry. Does it affect our future? Absolutely! It is time for us to study and understand. So let us look at the real problem with Butler’s errors, which have been taught for all these years, and comprehend the truth that Waggoner and Jones taught. Let me promise you, there is much more here than meets the casual eye.

from “Studies In Galatians” by A. T. Jones (articles in the Review and Herald 1899 to 1900)–

“Several letters have been received asking what law is the subject of consideration in the book of Galatians. The answer is: Not any law at all; it is the gospel that is the subject, and the whole subject, under consideration in the book of Galatians. So emphatically is this so, that in the very first part of the first chapter it is declared and repeated, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Verses 8, 9. (p. 1)

from The Glad Tidings (as originally published) by E. J. Waggoner, Pacific Press Publishing Co. Oakland, Cal. New York. Kansas City, Mo., 1900–

“It is evident, therefore, that the Galatians were being seduced from God, by something that promised them life and salvation, but by a power other than that of God, namely, their own power. This other gospel was solely a human gospel. The question consequently would be, Which is the true Gospel? Is it the one that Paul preached? or the one the other men set forth? Therefore, we see that this epistle must be an emphatic presentation of the true Gospel as distinguished from every false gospel.” (p. 27)

Do we have that kind of gospel taught in our day as well? We hear things like: “You have the power within you, the power of positive thinking,” etc. This is self-righteousness. It does not require faith or a Savior. Any gospel that teaches that we do not need the Savior, Jesus Christ, is not the same gospel as is in the Bible.

So, were these “Judiazers” that were troubling the early Galatian church, teaching God’s Laws? What does Waggoner say about that?

“We hear much about the “Judaizing teachers,” who sought to pervert the Galatians, and we know that they who were teaching “another gospel” were Jews; but we must not fall into the error of supposing that these “Judaizing teachers” were presenting the Bible, or any part of it, to the new converts, or trying to get them to follow the Scriptures written by Moses. Far from it; they were leading them away from the Bible, and substituting for its teaching the commandments of men. This was what roused the spirit of Paul. The “Jews’ religion” was an entirely different thing from the religion of God, as taught in the law, the prophets, and the psalms.” (Ibid., p. 40)

What does Ellen White say about these things?

The doctrines which the Galatians had received, could not in any sense be called the gospel; they were the teachings of men, and were directly opposed to the doctrines taught by Christ. (Sketches from the Life of Paul, p. 189)

What Law does Waggoner understand Paul to be referring to in Galatians?

from Waggoner “The Gospel in Galatians” (a response to Butler)–

“I pass to page 33, to your closing remarks on the second chapter, where you say:–

‘We have had here nearly two entire chapters in this letter, about one-third of the whole epistle, and hitherto we have not had a single reference to the moral law; but through it all constant reference is made to the other law, that of Moses.’

“I think you could not have had in mind the nineteenth verse of the second chapter when you wrote the above. That verse reads, “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” The ceremonial law never had power to slay anyone. But even allowing that it did once have that power, it had itself died, having been nailed to the cross at least three years before Paul was converted. Now I ask, How could Paul be slain by a law that for three years had had no existence? This verse shows upon the face of it that the moral law is referred to. It is the same law to which Paul refers when he says, “I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” (p. 16)

Let me try to summarize, though I suggest that people read and study for themselves. How do these things that we are reading from Waggoner’s writings fit together? To state it in simple words: Faith in Jesus has always been the only means of receiving the free gift of Salvation. By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice. By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Abraham obeyed and left his home for the inheritance promised to him. By faith Moses refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. (all from Hebrews 11). The system given to the Hebrews was the Gospel. The Gospel for us is the same Gospel they received. There is no other Gospel and never was any other Gospel! The only way any man has ever been saved is by faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. These all received the promises of God by faith whether in Old Testament times or New Testament times. The Moral Law, spoken of in Galatians, merely brings us to Christ and is like the guard rails on the narrow road to heaven. It is God’s standard of righteousness but cannot save a single soul. It shows us our need of a Savior and brings us to that Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel.

I wish to share my testimony that I, too, have found Him to be faithful. His promises and power are sufficient. So many doubt His power to overcome sin in their lives. But I have found Him more than able as long as I am willing to cooperate. It does not matter what circumstances we may have to encounter, by faith He can carry us through; on tender wings He holds us above our trials. He may allow us to be stretched to what feels like our limit of endurance, but He will not forsake us if we do not forsake Him. Our Heavenly Father only has our good in mind when He works in our lives.

So what was so difficult to accept in what Jones and Waggoner taught? I wish to re-quote Waggoner’s above statement: “. . . we must not fall into the error of supposing that these “Judaizing teachers” were presenting the Bible, or any part of it, to the new converts, or trying to get them to follow the Scriptures written by Moses. Far from it; they were leading them away from the Bible, and substituting for its teaching the commandments of men.” (The Glad Tidings, p. 40)

So, in other words, the book of Galatians does not teach that the “Law of Moses” was the Ceremonial Law and was done away with. Nor was that the cause of the great difficulty in the Galatian church. Obedience to that Law was not the issue. Circumcision was not the issue (Galatians 5:6). Salvation by circumcision or law or any means other than Jesus Christ was the issue.

The Law of Moses Nailed to the Cross?–

Unfortunately, these brethren who joined Butler, Uriah Smith, and others, were teaching that the whole Law of Moses was nailed to the cross. This teaching, though contrary to Scripture and Spirit of Prophecy was comfortable to them. And the book of Galatians was the platform on which they stood for this assertion, shaky though it is.

Let’s look again at what was being discussed by these men.

from Waggoner, “The Gospel in Galatians”–

“You very properly connect the book of Galatians with the fifteenth chapter of Acts. You justly claim that in Galatians Paul pursues the same line of argument which was pursued in the council. And you depend on the assumption that the council took no cognizance of the moral law, in order to prove that the moral law does not come into the account in Galatians. But a simple reading of the report of the council shows that the moral law did come in there; and therefore, according to your own argument, the moral law must be considered in the book of Galatians.

“Take for a moment the supposition that the ceremonial law alone was considered by the council; then it necessarily follows, as is plainly stated in the “Two Laws,” page 31, that the council decided that four points of the ceremonial law were declared to be binding on Christians. Now let me ask: 1. Is the decision of the council as binding on us as it was on the primitive Christians? If so, then the ceremonial law was not taken away at the cross, and we are still subject to it.

“2. If the ceremonial law was a yoke of bondage, and that council decreed that a part of it was to be observed by Christians, did they not thereby deliberately place Christians under a yoke of bondage, in spite of Peter’s emphatic protest against putting a yoke upon them? 3. If those “four necessary things” were part of the ceremonial law, and were binding twenty-one years after the crucifixion, when, if ever, did they cease to be in force? We have no record that those four necessary things ever ceased to be necessary things; and therefore, according to the theory that the ceremonial law was a yoke of bondage, it is impossible for Christians ever to be perfectly free. This one thing is certain, if the ceremonial law was nailed to the cross, then the apostles, acting in harmony with the leadings of the Spirit of God, would not declare a part of it be “necessary things.” And whoever claims that the “four necessary things.” enjoined by the council at Jerusalem, were a part of the ceremonial law, thereby denies that the ceremonial law ceased at the cross. I cannot think that you would have taken the position which you have, if you had taken time to carefully consider this matter.

“Peter said, “Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Now the fathers had the ceremonial law, and did bear it; they practiced it, and throve under it, as David said: “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Ps. 92:13, 14. Anyone who reads the Psalms will see that David did not regard the ceremonial law as a burdensome yoke, nor think it grievous bondage to carry out its ordinances. It was a delight to him to offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, because by it he showed faith in Christ. Faith in Christ was the soul and life of his service. Without that his worship would have been a meaningless form. But if he had been so ill-informed as to suppose that the simple mechanical performance of the ceremonial law would cleanse him from sin, then indeed he would have been in a grievous condition. There are two yokes, — the yoke of sin (Satan’s yoke), and the yoke of Christ. The yoke of sin is hard to bear, — Satan is a hard master; but the yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden is light. He sets us free from sin, that we may serve him by bearing his mild yoke. Matt. 11:29, 30.

“Now what was the reason that only four things were enjoined upon these troubled converts. It was because these four things covered the danger . . . ” (p. 13-15)

So what was nailed to the cross? What is Waggoner saying here? He is telling us that these laws given by the Council at Jerusalem were not a part of the Ceremonial Law. The Ceremonial Law consisted of sacrifice and oblation, which Daniel 9:27 tells us would cease 3 1/2 years after the Messiah started his ministry. That was when Jesus was crucified. He bore our sins (the yoke of bondage) and nailed our death penalty to the cross. These sacrifices represented our death certificate and the Substitute that would die in our place. What were the Laws that the Council in Jerusalem gave to the Gentiles? They were a part of the “Law of Moses.” They were still binding. Some were from the Ten Commandments and some were not. Fornication and idol worship are forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The injunctions against eating blood and things strangled were a part of the Statutes and Judgments given after the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai and are still binding today. That’s what Acts 15 is telling us. (Acts 15:20). The yoke which is hard to bear is not the “Law of Moses;” it is the yoke of sin and its subsequent penalty, death.

In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law. (Review and Herald 05-06-75)

Why was this message so threatening to the early church leaders that they would send God’s Messenger, Ellen White, all the way to Australia to get rid of her, rather than accept the message? What connection does this message have to the Latter Rain or Loud Cry? Let’s see what was said about it.

from A. T. Jones, “The Third Angel’s Message:” 1893 General Conference Sermon Series–

“Well then the latter rain–the loud cry–according to the testimony and according to the Scripture, is “the teaching of righteousness,” and “according to righteousness,” too. Now brethren, when did that message of the righteousness of Christ, begin with us as a people? [One or two in the audience: “Three or four years ago.”] Which was it, three? or four? [Congregation: “Four.”] Yes, four. Where was it? [Congregation: “Minneapolis.”] What then did the brethren reject at Minneapolis? [Some in the Congregation: “The loud cry.”] What is that message of righteousness? The Testimony has told us what it is; the loud cry–the latter rain. Then what did the brethren in that fearful position in which they stood, reject at Minneapolis? They rejected the latter rain–the loud cry of the third angel’s message.” (p. 9)

Why would the leadership take such a risk of receiving the disfavor of God? What was the real issue?

Most of the records of what Jones and Waggoner taught during the pre-sessions and the 1888 Conference have disappeared. I personally went and searched in the Andrews University Library for some of the original transcripts. Uriah Smith started taking notes on the meetings, but strangely, he quit at session 5. So, we have to piece together the evidence. Parts of what Ellen White wrote during that time have disappeared, as well. I will give you one example, though I found more such instances, while searching the 1888 and surrounding materials.

from a sermon by Mrs. E. G. White, March 9, 1890 regarding the Minneapolis meeting–

Well now, how are we going to know anything about that message if we are not in a position to recognize anything of the light of heaven when it comes to us? And we will just as soon pick up the darkest deception when it comes to us from somebody that agrees with us, when we have not a particle of evidence that the Spirit of God has sent them. Christ said, “I come in the name of my Father, but ye will not receive me” [see John 5:43]. Now, that is just the work that has been going on here ever since the meeting at Minneapolis. Because God sends a message in his name that does not agree with your ideas, therefore [you conclude] it cannot be a message from God. How dare you run the risk of trying in the least to shut [remainder missing] (Unpublished Manuscripts, Volume 4, p. 74, para. 2)

The rest of what she said is missing. If they recorded the first part of her sermon, what happened to the remainder? It appears that someone didn’t want us to have it and it was purposely removed or unrecorded.

Here are a couple of clues that I would like to share.

from a letter by A. T. Jones to C. E. Holmes, May 12, 1921–

“I can’t now name anyone who accepted the truth at that 1888 meeting openly – besides Ellen White [obviously]. But later many said they were greatly helped by it. One Battle Creek leader said at that meeting after one of Dr. Waggoner’s meetings: “Now we could say amen to all of that if that is all there were to it. But away down yonder there is still something to come. And this is to lead us to that . . . And if we say amen to this we will have to say amen to that, and then we are caught . . . ” (quoted in “Exposing the Skeleton in the Closet of 1888” by Norman Bradley)

What was the “this” and the “that”?

In 1893 when the subject of pork eating was being discussed using the statute in Deuteronomy 14:8, “Uriah Smith explicitly rejected the applicability of the Mosaic distinction: “We believe there is better ground on which to rest [the prohibition on pork] than the ceremonial law of the former dispensation, if we take the position that that law is still binding, we must accept it all, and then we have more on our hands than we can easily dispose of.” (MR 852 2.1)

“. . . then we are caught” and “. . . we have more on our hands than we can easily dispose of.” What is the subject here? It cannot be merely “Righteousness by Faith” which had been a pillar of Protestantism for centuries before 1888. What I came to understand as I studied these things was that this issue was not merely Righteousness by Faith, friends. It had to do also with the Law of Moses and its applicability to the Christian dispensation. Butler and other leaders, who were ready to dispose of the Law of Moses, based their assumptions on the idea that the Law in Galatians was the Ceremonial Law that was no longer binding. They included everything given through Moses except the Ten Commandments in this disposal. So the real issue in 1888, I believe, was the Law of Moses and its binding claims on Christians today.

from Ellen White–

In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law. (Review and Herald 05-06-75)

We are to become familiar with the Levitical law in all its bearings; for it contains rules that must be obeyed; it contains the instruction that if studied will enable us to understand better the rule of faith and practice that we are to follow in our dealings with one another. No soul has any excuse for being in darkness. Those who receive Christ by faith will receive also power to become the sons of God (Letter 3, 1905). (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 1110)

We are told in the above quotes that the Laws given to Moses at Sinai were not to pass away but were binding upon us as long as time should last and contained rules that must be obeyed! Where did we get the idea that everything was nailed to the cross?

Here is a quote that shows us the importance of these things.

I recalled the covenant which I had made with God at my husband’s deathbed,–that I would not

become discouraged under the burden, but would labor more earnestly and devotedly than ever before to present the truth both by pen and voice; that I would set before the people the excellence of the statutes and precepts of Jehovah, and would point them to the cleansing fountain where we may wash away every stain of sin. (Sketches from the Life of Paul, p. 269)

So what am I saying? That there is very little in the Books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy) that was nailed to the Cross. Most of it is still valid and binding. The question of what was nailed to the Cross is the real touchy part of the debate in 1888. Yes, there were changes after the Cross. What was nailed to the Cross? Which parts of the Law are no longer binding? What were the changes? Answer: only what we are told was changed and nothing else. If the Bible says it changed, then it changed. If the Bible does not say it was changed, then it remains the same. Where do we find what was changed? In the Book of Galatians? No. It is in the Book of Hebrews. Paul wrote to Jewish Christians and explained in detail what was changed. Study the Book of Hebrews and learn what has been changed. Let’s put the ladder against the right wall.

*All emphases and highlighting in quotes were supplied by the author of this article.

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Why did Jesus do it?

That little question “Why?” may be a small word but it has huge potential. It is a very important tool, one of the most basic components of science and learning. It shows curiosity and can lead to all sorts of discovery and growth in understanding. As we apply it to the spiritual science of Salvation, it can open many windows to Truth. In this study, I would like to apply the question to the issue of why Jesus did what He did. Why was the Plan of Salvation formulated by Heaven the way it was? Why were its various aspects carried out in the way they were?

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16

It is a great mystery because it is very deep and complicated, but God did not intend for it to be totally incomprehensible.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29

We can begin to study it now, with our limited abilities during our life on earth, and continue advanced studies when we are in the eternal kingdom.

The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science that is the study of the angels, and of all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite–“kept in silence through times eternal”; the science that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout the endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind, and uplift the soul.  Education, p. 126

The theme of redemption is one that the angels desire to look into; it will be the science and the song of the redeemed throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is it not worthy of careful thought and study now?  Steps to Christ, p. 88, 89

In giving us His word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation. Thousands have drawn water from these wells of life, yet there is no diminishing of the supply. Thousands have set the Lord before them, and by beholding have been changed into the same image. Their spirit burns within them as they speak of His character, telling what Christ is to them, and what they are to Christ. But these searchers have not exhausted these grand and holy themes. Thousands more may engage in the work of searching out the mysteries of salvation. As the life of Christ and the character of His mission are dwelt upon, rays of light will shine forth more distinctly at every attempt to discover truth. Each fresh search will reveal something more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. The subject is inexhaustible. The study of the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice and mediatorial work, will employ the mind of the diligent student as long as time shall last; and looking to heaven with its unnumbered years he will exclaim, “Great is the mystery of godliness.”

In eternity we shall learn that which, had we received the enlightenment that it was possible to obtain here, would have opened our understanding. The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and minds and tongues of the redeemed through the everlasting ages. They will understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but which they did not have faith to grasp. Forever and forever new views of the perfection and glory of Christ will appear. Through endless ages the faithful Householder will bring forth from His treasures things new and old.  Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 133, 134

This study is not an attempt to be comprehensive or conclusive in explaining God’s reasons for what He does, but merely an introduction, a sample, a cupful of the ocean of truth. To ask the question “Why?” is to delve into several different realms of operation, from the simple physical explanation of the method or event (Jesus washed the disciples’ feet because they were dusty.) to the underlying motive and reason behind it (Jesus washed the disciples’ feet because He wanted them to understand certain aspects of His ministry and their personal responsibility.). It is very likely that there is no conclusive answer to the question, “Why?” The more we learn of God’s ways, the more we see the potential for further understanding.

If it were possible for us to attain to a full understanding of God and His word, there would be for us no further discovery of truth, no greater knowledge, no further development. God would cease to be supreme, and man would cease to advance. Thank God, it is not so. Since God is infinite, and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, we may to all eternity be ever searching, ever learning, yet never exhaust the riches of His wisdom, His goodness, or His power.  Education, p. 172

He who studies most deeply into the mysteries of nature will realize most fully his own ignorance and weakness. He will realize that there are depths and heights which he cannot reach, secrets which he cannot penetrate, vast fields of truth lying before him unentered. He will be ready to say, with Newton, “I seem to myself to have been like a child on the seashore finding pebbles and shells, while the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me.” Education, p. 133

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.   Isaiah 55:8, 9

So I have asked, “What was the reason for . . . ?” or “What was accomplished by . . . ?” and I share some of the answers here. The verses and quotes gathered here are separated into a few broad categories to help us get an overview of the Plan. Some don’t fit neatly into just one category but you will get the picture as you study and contemplate the specifics. Some thoughts come from the symbolism of the Sanctuary services in the Old Testament; some are stated directly in both the Old and the New Testaments; some are enlarged in the Spirit of Prophecy. The categories I have included are: Christ’s Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Heavenly Ministry. Within those broad categories there are some general subcategories of issues of the great controversy between Christ and Satan that needed to be dealt with: legal issues, personal relationship issues between man and God, revelations of truth about God, Satan, sin, etc. I have not attempted to specifically categorize these but as you contemplate all that Jesus did, you will understand how these are all part of the picture.

May the Lord bless and guide you as you ponder what He has done for you.

INCARNATION

The word incarnation means “made flesh.” Jesus, a glorious Heavenly being, the One who came down on Mount Sinai in such awesome majesty that the Israelites thought they would die from the experience, was made visible to humans as an ordinary, physical person.

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:1, 2

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:6-8

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16

Why did Jesus leave His Heavenly glory to come down here and live as an ordinary human?

because the Father loves us and didn’t want us to be lost

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14

to be “God with us”

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23

to give knowledge of God as our loving Father

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. John 14:6-11

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 1:1-3

In all the gracious deeds that Jesus did, He sought to impress upon men the parental, benevolent attributes of God. . . . Jesus would have us understand the love of the Father, and He seeks to draw us to Him by presenting His parental grace. . . . It was only by living among men that He could reveal the mercy, compassion, and love of His heavenly Father; for it was only by actions of benevolence that He could set forth the grace of God. . . . The bounties of God’s providence speak to every soul, confirming Christ’s testimony to the supreme goodness of His Father. Sons and Daughters of God, p. 139

to give knowledge of the glory of God

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

to reveal God’s holiness

In the person and work of Christ the holiness of God is revealed; for Christ came to reveal the Father. Satan had cast his shadow athwart the pathway of humanity, and misrepresented the character of God. Signs of the Times, December 11, 1893

to demonstrate the riches of God’s grace

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7

to reveal God’s name (character)

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. John 17:6

to demonstrate God’s will

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. Hebrews 10:9

to glorify the Father

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17:4

to express and demonstrate God’s thoughts and character to the entire universe

By coming to dwell with us, Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels. He was the Word of God, – God’s thought made audible. In His prayer for His disciples He says, “I have declared unto them Thy name,” – “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” – “that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” But not alone for His earthborn children was this revelation given. Our little world is the lesson book of the universe. God’s wonderful purpose of grace, the mystery of redeeming love, is the theme into which “angels desire to look,” and it will be their study throughout endless ages. Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross of Christ their science and their song. It will be seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is the glory of self-sacrificing love. In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God; and that in the meek and lowly One is manifested the character of Him who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto. The Desire of Ages, p. 19, 20

In the light of the Saviour’s life, the hearts of all, even from the Creator to the prince of darkness, are revealed. Satan has represented God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all, and giving nothing, as requiring the service of His creatures for His own glory, and making no sacrifice for their good. But the gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are “thoughts of peace, and not of evil.” Jeremiah 29:11. It declares that while God’s hatred of sin is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. The Desire of Ages, p. 57

to unveil Satan’s deceptions

Satan represents God’s law of love as a law of selfishness. He declares that it is impossible for us to obey its precepts. The fall of our first parents, with all the woe that has resulted, he charges upon the Creator, leading men to look upon God as the author of sin, and suffering, and death. Jesus was to unveil this deception. As one of us He was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences. “In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” Hebrews 2:17. If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us. Therefore Jesus was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Hebrews 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God. He says, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:8. As He went about doing good, and healing all who were afflicted by Satan, He made plain to men the character of God’s law and the nature of His service. His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God. The Desire of Ages, p. 24

to reveal God’s true character to Satan himself

Christ exposed Satan’s falsehoods and deceiving character, and in many hearts destroyed his corrupting influence. It was this that stirred Satan with such intense hatred. With his hosts of fallen beings he determined to urge the warfare most vigorously; for there stood in the world One who was a perfect representative of the Father, One whose character and practices refuted Satan’s misrepresentation of God. Satan had charged upon God the attribute he himself possessed. Now in Christ he saw God revealed in His true character–a compassionate, merciful Father, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance, and have eternal life. Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 254

to be the Way to God, the Truth about God, the Life from God

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

to “adjust the claims” between heaven and earth (to change our priorities)

Christ’s coming was at a time of intense worldliness. Men were subordinating the eternal to the temporal, the claims of the future to the affairs of the present. They were mistaking phantoms for realities, and realities for phantoms. They did not by faith behold the unseen world. Satan presented before them the things of this life as all-attractive and all-absorbing, and they gave heed to his temptations.

Christ came to change this order of things. He sought to break the spell by which men were infatuated and ensnared. In His teaching He sought to adjust the claims of heaven and earth, to turn men’s thoughts from the present to the future. From their pursuit of the things of time, He called them to make provision for eternity.  Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 366

In his teaching, Christ sought to adjust the claims of heaven and earth. In his lessons of instruction, this was an all important subject. He saw that men are in danger of cherishing an inordinate love for the world. The love of God is supplanted by a love for the world. Nothing but the power of the omnipotent God can dislodge this love. The things which are earthly and temporal lead men away from God, although the advantages to be gained are but an atom in comparison with eternal realities. They have eyes, but they see not aright. Instead of keeping the heavenly world in view, the things of this world are ever before their eyes, and are magnified till they eclipse the world of bliss.

Turning away from heavenly attractions, from imperishable wealth, from peace, from nobility of soul, man pours out his affections on unworthy, unsatisfying things; and by constantly beholding this world, he becomes conformed to it. His mind, capable of elevation, and privileged to grasp the eternal blessedness of the saints, turns away from an eternity of greatness, and allows its powers to be chained like a slave to an atom of a world. It is humiliated and dwarfed by allegiance to worldly things.

Jesus came to change this order of things, to correct this wide-spread evil. He lifts up his voice as the voice of God in warnings, reproofs, and entreaties, seeking to break the spell which infatuates, enslaves, and ensnares men. He presents before them the future eternal world, and addressing them in decided language, says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”   Review and Herald, February 2, 1897

Our Saviour came to the world to adjust the claims between heaven and earth. He knows that man, formed in his image, has been endowed by his Creator in such a way that he may rise to the highest eminence of moral efficiency through cooperation with divine agency provided for his assistance. With what sorrow Jesus looks upon man wasting his energies in pursuit of that which profiteth nothing. In tones of sorrow in which mingle tears, Jesus asks, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? “The arch-deceiver has inspired in man, by his temptations, by his presentation of flattering inducements, an inordinate desire to get the riches of this world, and he leads men to practice every form of sin in order that they may gain every earthly treasure. In the acquirement of this world’s wealth, the precious promises of God are cast aside as worthless. Through the service of mammon the love of God has been expelled from the heart, and the love of the world has rushed in to fill the vacuum, and to firmly enthrone itself in the heart, to rule and reign in the life. The power of God alone can force it from its usurped position. Through love of the world the spiritual vision is blinded, and the pleasures and attractions of the future world are hid from sight.   Signs of the Times, June 26, 1893

Our Saviour’s work is to adjust the claims between earthly and heavenly interests, to put the duties and responsibilities of the life that now is in proper relation to those that pertain to eternal life. The fear and love of God are the first things that should claim our attention. We cannot afford to put off that which concerns our soul’s interest till tomorrow. The life which we now live we are to live by faith in the Son of God. We are redeemed from the beggarly elements of the world with a redemption that is full and complete, that cannot be increased by any supplement from human sources. Signs of the Times, July 17, 1893

The commonplace matters of time and earth had engrossed the minds of the people at the time of Christ, just as Satan had designed that they should. Sin had expelled from the heart the love of God, and instead of the love of God there was found in the heart the love of the world, the love of sinful indulgence of evil passions. Christ alone could adjust the claims between heaven and earth. Man’s vision had become blinded, because he did not keep in view the spiritual and eternal world. But the kind of teaching that Christ gave to the world did not harmonize with the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees; for their religion consisted in a round of forms and ceremonies, and the offering of sacrifices, which had been designed by Christ to keep his sacrifice in mind, had lost its significance. Unless the sacrifices were offered in faith, accompanied with contrition and humility, they were valueless in the eyes of God, and even an abomination to him. God repeatedly had declared that the sacrifices acceptable to him were a broken and a contrite heart. He said, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Signs of the Times, December 11, 1893

to confirm the Covenant

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:27

to bring grace and truth

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:17, 18

to strengthen seekers, reveal the Father, restore God’s image in man

The Lord Jesus came to strengthen every earnest seeker for truth, he came to reveal the Father. He allowed nothing to divert his mind from the great work of restoring the moral image of God in man. The Youth’s Instructor, October 27, 1898

to counteract evil and restore humanity to original purity

He (God, the Father) would have us comprehend something of his love in giving his Son to die that he might counteract evil, remove the defiling stains of sin from the workmanship of God, and re-instate the lost, elevating and ennobling the soul to its original purity through Christ’s imputed righteousness.

The only way in which the fallen race could be restored was through the gift of his Son, equal with himself, possessing the attributes of God. Though so highly exalted, Christ consented to assume human nature, that he might work in behalf of man and reconcile to God his disloyal subject. When man rebelled, Christ pleaded his merit in his behalf, and became man’s substitute and surety. He undertook to combat the powers of darkness in man’s behalf, and he prevailed, conquering the enemy of our souls, and presenting to man the cup of salvation.   Review and Herald, November 8, 1892

to take away (lift and bear) sin

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 1 John 3:5

to give us assurance of deliverance from sin’s power

“God with us” is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven. The Desire of Ages, p. 24

to be our example of a holy life

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. John 13:15

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 1 Peter 2:21-23

In His earthly life the Saviour gives us an example of the hallowed lives that may be ours if we will devote our days to doing good to the souls that need our help. Sons and Daughters of God, p. 42

It is your work to impress upon your children in their early years the thought that they are formed in the image of God. Christ came to this world to give them a living example of what they all must be, and parents who claim to believe the truth for this time are to teach their children to love God and to obey His law. Sons and Daughters of God, p. 43

to call sinners to repentance

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:32

to condemn sin in the flesh (“There is no excuse for sin. A human can fully obey.”)

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 of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.   Romans 8:3, 4

Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, by a pure and holy life to condemn sin in the flesh. He came to our world to represent the character of God, and it is our work to represent the character of Christ. Manuscript Releases, Vol. 6, p. 395

Christ pleased not Himself. His whole life was the development of a pure, disinterested benevolence. He assumed human nature to show to the fallen world, to Satan and his synagogue, and to the heavenly universe, that human nature, united with the divine nature, could become entirely obedient to the law of God, that His followers could manifest the glory of God by their love and unity for one another, that they could give evidence that God has sent His Son to save sinners. Pacific Union Recorder, February 16, 1905

to find and save the lost

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10

to save from sin

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:17

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

to qualify to be humanity’s High Priest

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Hebrews 2:16-18

to give life

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; John 5:24-26

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. John 6:33

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:40

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  John 6:47-51

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. John 6:57, 58

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

to bring freedom

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

to receive authority to judge

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. John 5:27

to elevate man in the scale of moral worth

While on earth, Christ accomplished the work for which he left the throne of God in heaven. He worked for humanity, that through his work, humanity might be elevated in the scale of moral value with God. He assumed human nature, that he might elevate the human family, make them partakers of the divine nature, and place them on vantage-ground with God. His every action had been in behalf of the fallen world, – to seek the sheep that had strayed from the fold, and bring it back to God. Review and Herald, February 15, 1898

to reveal heavenly things so we can understand them and believe

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. John 3:11-13

to grant discernment

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. John 9:39

to reveal truth (light) and encourage saving faith

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. John 3:16-21

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. John 18:37

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9

to transform us from servants to friends

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. John 15:14, 15

to grant the privilege of being sons of God

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:12-14

to consummate our adoption as sons of God

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Galatians 4:4-6

to instate us as heirs of God

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:7

to establish the Kingdom

And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. Luke 4:43

to instill God’s attributes in us

The law requires righteousness, – a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:26. The Desire of Ages, p. 762

to justify the government of God

Through Christ’s redeeming work the government of God stands justified. The Omnipotent One is made known as the God of love. Satan’s charges are refuted, and his character unveiled. Rebellion can never again arise. Sin can never again enter the universe. Through eternal ages all are secure from apostasy. By love’s self-sacrifice, the inhabitants of earth and heaven are bound to their Creator in bonds of indissoluble union. The Desire of Ages, p.D 26

DEATH

Why did Jesus have to die?

This is a question that many Bible students have pondered. It is not merely the question “Why did Jesus die?” but “Why did He HAVE TO die?” Because sin is such a serious problem, much more serious than our human minds can comprehend, God had to use drastic action to solve it. He had to go to the absolute ultimate extreme to completely eradicate it from His universe or He ran the risk of it cropping up again. Jesus accomplished many things through His work on earth, but one of the most basic purposes for His death was to get our attention and change how we think so we would return to God. The sin problem was such a serious threat to us and the rest of the universe, and such a difficult issue to solve because of our rebellious heart condition, that anything less than what He did would not have been adequate. If Christ had not suffered and died, there would have been unresolved issues and unanswered questions that would have posed a risk to the security of the universe. God did everything He possibly could to make sure that sin and all of its manifestations would never come up again.

to be the epitome of supreme, divine love

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9, 10

Christ draws the sinner by the exhibition of his love upon the cross, and this softens the heart, impresses the mind, and inspires contrition and repentance in the soul. Review and Herald, April 1, 1890

to be God’s Lamb

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. Genesis 22:8

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. . . . And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:29, 36

to be our Substitute in bearing the results of sin

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: Galatians 1:4

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Galatians 3:13.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:4-12

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “With His stripes we are healed.” The Desire of Ages, p. 25

As the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was suffering under divine justice. He saw what justice meant. Hitherto He had been as an intercessor for others; now He longed to have an intercessor for Himself.  The Desire of Ages, p. 686

Under the mighty impulse of his love, he took our place in the universe, and invited the ruler of all things to treat him as representative of the human family. He identified himself with our interests, bared his breast for the stroke of death, took man’s guilt and its penalty, and offered in man’s behalf a complete sacrifice to God.   Review and Herald, April 18, 1893

He stood in the place where fallen man was to stand under the descending stroke of justice, and, innocent, he suffered for the guilty, in order that those who believe in him as their personal Saviour, should be accounted guiltless.   The Home Missionary, December 1, 1894

to be the propitiation for our sins

Whom God hath 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; Romans 3:25

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Just a quick note about propitiation: a propitiation is an effort to win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them. (from the New Oxford American Dictionary) An example in the Bible is what Jacob did for Esau in Genesis 32:13-21. We humans have each offended the Ruler of the Universe, yet He gave us a propitiation in an attempt to win us back. Amazing!

to bring about atonement / reconciliation

Leviticus 4-6, 16

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 5:11

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  Romans 5:8-10

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19

The humanity of Christ reached to the very depths of human wretchedness, and, identified itself with the weaknesses and necessities of fallen man, while his divine nature grasped the Eternal. His work in bearing the guilt of man’s transgression was not to give him license to continue to violate the law of God, which made man a debtor to the law, which debt Christ was himself paying by his own suffering. The trials and sufferings of Christ were to impress man with a sense of his great sin in breaking the law of God, and to bring him to repentance and obedience to that law, and through obedience to acceptance with God. His righteousness he would impute to man, and thus raise him in moral value with God, so that his efforts to keep the divine law would be acceptable. Christ’s work was to reconcile man to God through his human nature, and God to man through his divine nature. Review and Herald, August 4, 1874

to preserve from destruction and death

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:12, 13

to purify from defilement of death

Numbers 19

His blood is for our atonement

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  Hebrews 9:22

to save from the serpent’s deadly bite

And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Numbers 21:8, 9

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:14-19

to restore to us the privilege of choosing our master

For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. . . . But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:20, 22

You must remember that your will is the spring of all your actions. This will, that forms so important a factor in the character of man, was at the Fall given into the control of Satan; and he has ever since been working in man to will and to do of his own pleasure, but to the utter ruin and misery of man. But the infinite sacrifice of God in giving Jesus, His beloved Son, to become a sacrifice for sin, enables Him to say, without violating one principle of His government: “Yield yourself up to Me; give Me that will; take it from the control of Satan, and I will take possession of it; then I can work in you to will and to do of My good pleasure.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 515

to expose sin

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. John 15:22-24

Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin. Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 116

The offensive character of sin can be estimated only in the light of the cross. When men urge that God is too merciful to punish the transgressors of his law, let them look to Calvary; let them realize that it was because Christ took upon himself the guilt of the disobedient, and suffered in the sinners stead, that the sword of justice was awakened against the Son of God. It was to save us from shame and everlasting contempt that he endured the scorn and mockery which the world heaped upon him. It was our sins that caused the Saviour of the world such intense agony, pouring darkness into his soul, and extorting from his pale lips the anguished cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”   Signs of the Times, January 6, 1881

to reveal the thoughts of men

By the life and the death of Christ, the thoughts of men also are brought to view. From the manger to the cross, the life of Jesus was a call to self-surrender, and to fellowship in suffering. It unveiled the purposes of men. Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him. The worshipers of self belonged to Satan’s kingdom. In their attitude toward Christ, all would show on which side they stood. And thus everyone passes judgment on himself. The Desire of Ages, p. 57

to expose Satan’s true character

At the cross of Calvary, love and selfishness stood face to face. Here was their crowning manifestation. Christ had lived only to comfort and bless, and in putting Him to death, Satan manifested the malignity of his hatred against God. He made it evident that the real purpose of his rebellion was to dethrone God, and to destroy Him through whom the love of God was shown. The Desire of Ages, p. 57

Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion. The Desire of Ages, p. 758

Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken. The Desire of Ages, p. 761

to show that God perfectly blends justice and mercy, law and love

By His life and His death, Christ proved that God’s justice did not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed. Satan’s charges were refuted. God had given man unmistakable evidence of His love.

Another deception was now to be brought forward. Satan declared that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of Christ abrogated the Father’s law. Had it been possible for the law to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have died. But to abrogate the law would be to immortalize transgression, and place the world under Satan’s control. It was because the law was changeless, because man could be saved only through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Yet the very means by which Christ established the law Satan represented as destroying it. Here will come the last conflict of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The Desire of Ages, p. 762, 763

to fulfill the plan made at the very beginning

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Peter 1:18-20

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8

The instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood between the living and the dead, saying, “Let the punishment fall on Me. I will stand in man’s place. He shall have another chance.” Letter 22, Feb. 13, 1900

to save man while maintaining the dignity and honor of God’s Law

Whom God hath 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. Romans 3:25, 26

The transgression of God’s law made the death of Christ essential to save man and yet maintain the dignity and honor of the law. Christ took upon Himself the condemnation of sin. He opened His bosom to the woes of man. He who knew no sin became sin for us.

As man’s substitute and surety, the iniquity of men was laid upon Christ; He was counted a transgressor that He might redeem them from the curse of the law. . . . He, the Sin-Bearer, endures judicial punishment for iniquity and becomes sin itself for man.

Sin, so hateful to His sight, was heaped upon Him till He groaned beneath its weight. The despairing agony of the Son of God was so much greater than His physical pain, that the latter was hardly felt by Him.

God permits His Son to be delivered up for our offenses. He Himself (God) assumes toward the Sin-Bearer (Christ) the character of a judge, divesting Himself of the endearing qualities of a father.

Herein His love commends itself in the most marvelous manner to the rebellious race.

The sin of the whole world was laid upon Jesus, and divinity gave its highest value to the suffering of humanity in Jesus, that the whole world might be pardoned through faith in the Substitute. The most guilty need have no fear that God will not pardon, for because of the efficacy of the divine sacrifice the penalty of the law will be remitted. Through Christ the sinner may return to allegiance to God.  The Faith I Live By, p. 104

to glorify the Father

Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. John 13:31, 32

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: John 17:1

to grant repentance, forgiveness, justification

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:46

Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Acts 13:38, 39

to gather God’s children

And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. John 11:49-52

to win the kingdom back from Satan

Christ’s sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The condition of the atonement had been fulfilled. The work for which He had come to this world had been accomplished. He had won the kingdom. He had wrested it from Satan and had become heir of all things. He was on His way to the throne of God, to be honored by the heavenly host. Clothed with boundless authority, He gave His disciples their commission, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end.” Matthew 28:19, 20. Acts of the Apostles, p. 29, 30

to reveal the effect sin has on God

Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God, – subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death, – it is said that “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” “In all their affliction He was afflicted: . . . and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9. Education, p. 263

to lead us to hate sin

The Spirit reveals the ingratitude of the heart that has slighted and grieved the Saviour, and brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross. By every sin Jesus is wounded afresh; and as we look upon Him whom we have pierced, we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin. The Desire of Ages, p. 300

to destroy sin and Satan and make the universe secure

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Saviour’s cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made certain, that the redemption of man was assured, and that the universe was made eternally secure. Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished.” The Desire of Ages, p. 764

RESURRECTION

What was the purpose and result of Jesus’ resurrection?

to demonstrate His power of life and authority over death

He will swallow up death in victory; Isaiah 25:8

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. John 10:17, 18

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: John 11:25

to destroy the devil

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:14, 15

When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take up His life again. He claimed the Lord’s body, and set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger. When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die. The Desire of Ages, p. 782

to be Firstfruits, the hope of the harvest

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.  1 Corinthians 15:20-23

The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14. The Desire of Ages, p. 785

to raise some saints as Firstfruits with Himself

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.   Matthew 27:52, 53

As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The earthquake at His death had rent open their graves, and when He arose, they came forth with Him. They were those who had been co-laborers with God, and who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead.

During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.

These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth of the words, “Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise.” Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19. The Desire of Ages, p. 786

to receive the right to give immortality

In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. The Desire of Ages, p. 786, 787

HEAVENLY WORK

What is Jesus doing for us now in Heaven?

providing the gift of the Holy Spirit

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  John 14:16

integrating us into the heavenly family

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12

God did not deem the principle of salvation complete while invested only with His own love. By His appointment He has placed at His altar an Advocate clothed with our nature. As our Intercessor, His office work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. Christ intercedes in behalf of those who have received Him. To them He gives power, by virtue of His own merits, to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ, who paid our ransom with His blood, by receiving and welcoming Christ’s friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, p. 363, 364

transforming us from rebels to cooperative subjects

But God is clothed with power; he is able to take those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and by the operation of the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead, transform the human character, bringing back to the soul the lost image of God. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are changed from being rebels against the law of God into obedient servants and subjects of his kingdom. They are born again, regenerated, sanctified through the truth. The Youth’s Instructor, February 7, 1895

refining and purifying His people

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:1-3

bringing us to repentance and forgiveness

Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31

presenting our requests to the Father

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. John 14:13, 14

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:23, 24

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Ephesians 2:18

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 1 John 5:14, 15

our Advocate with the Father

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: 1 John 2:1

our High Priest in the Heavenly Temple

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Romans 8:34

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:24, 25

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. Hebrews 8:1-3

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9:11, 12

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:24-26

completing the process of Atonement

Leviticus 16

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.  Daniel 8:14

preparing a home for His people

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-3

receiving the Kingdom

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13, 14

He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. Luke 19:12

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Understanding Colossians 2

     As a teenager in an Adventist academy, I was studying Colossians 2 in Bible class and was told that Colossians 2:14 states that the Law of Moses is no longer in force but was nailed to the cross. I asked the question, “If the Law of Moses was nailed to the cross, why are we still teaching that it is binding in some areas such as tithing, abstinence from alcoholic drinks, and listings of clean and unclean meats?” This seemed to be an inconsistency, particularly since Colossians 2:16 says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat . . . ” The answer I got was that the clean and unclean meat laws were given before the Israelite nation existed – at the time of the flood. Well, I couldn’t see that this argument carried much weight since circumcision was also given before the Israelite nation existed – at the time of Abraham. And sacrifices were given from Adam’s time on. We don’t teach that the rite of circumcision, for religious reasons, is still necessary, nor burnt sacrifices. So, what should we do with this inconsistency?
     Let’s study Colossians 2 for a different perspective and a possible solution to this dilemma. We will first look at the verses and their possible meaning. Then we will look at some more reasons for a needed change in our understanding, studying the context and the various commentaries.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.   Colossians 2:8

I was directed to this scripture as especially applying to modern spiritualism: Colossians 2:8: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Thousands, I was shown, have been spoiled through the philosophy of phrenology and animal magnetism, and have been driven into infidelity. If the mind commences to run in this channel, it is almost sure to lose its balance and be controlled by a demon. “Vain deceit” fills the minds of poor mortals. They think there is such power in themselves to accomplish great works that they realize no necessity of a higher power. Their principles and faith are “after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Jesus has not taught them this philosophy. Nothing of the kind can be found in His teachings. He did not direct the minds of poor mortals to themselves, to a power which they possessed. He was ever directing their minds to God, the Creator of the universe, as the source of their strength and wisdom. Special warning is given in verse 18: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”   (Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 297)

The “rudiments of the world” are here associated with spiritualism, the power from within to be all that you want to be, to be gods.

Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the Word of God. The light of His truth shows that these theories are soul destroying agencies. Darkness is their element, sensuality their sphere. They gratify the natural heart, and give leeway to inclination. Separation from God is the result of accepting them.

A warning against such teaching is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The apostle declares that the hearts of the believers were to be “knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say,” he continues, “lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. . . . As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:2-10.   (Ellen G. White, Pacific Union Recorder, December 31, 1903)

This gives us some clues about the context of Paul’s writing. In recent years, many scholars have concluded that an early form of Gnosticism was the culprit in the Colossian church. Colossians 2 is primarily dealing with Gnostic spiritualistic teachings such as pantheism, developing one’s inner powers, man’s power to become as God. These things are being taught frequently today. They have many earmark words such as the power of positive thinking, the emerging church, spiritual formation, Christian yoga, etc.

Let’s look at what the Gnostics believed.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) records the following general characteristics found within most varieties of Gnosticism:

The following may be regarded as the chief points in the Gnostic systems:
(1) a claim on the part of the initiated to a special knowledge of the truth; a tendency to regard knowledge as superior to faith and as the special possession of the more enlightened, for ordinary Christians did not possess this secret and higher doctrine;
(2) the essential separation of matter and spirit, matter being intrinsically evil and the source from which all evil has arisen;
(3) an attempt to solve the problems of creation and the origin of evil by postulating a demiurge, i.e., a creator or artificer of the world distinct from the deity, and emanations extending between God and the visible universe (the demiurge for the Gnostics being the God of the OT, an inferior being infinitely remote from the Supreme Being who can have nothing to do with anything material);
(4) a denial of the true humanity of Christ; a docetic Christology which considered the earthly life of Christ and especially His sufferings on the cross to be unreal;
(5) the denial of the personality of the Supreme God, and also the denial of the free will of mankind;
(6) the teaching, on the one hand, of asceticism as the means of attaining spiritual communion with God, and, on the other hand, of an indifference that led directly to licentiousness;
(7) a syncretistic tendency that combined certain more or less misunderstood Christian doctrines and various elements from oriental, Jewish, Greek, and other sources;
(8) ascription of the OT to the demiurge or inferior creator of the world.

Some of these ideas are more obvious in one and some of them in another of the Gnostic systems.     (Bryan T. Huie   www.herealittletherealittle.net [quoting from ISBE, Vol. 2, “Gnosticism,” pp. 486-487])

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  Colossians 2:9-13

Here Paul is talking about the process of our death to self by laying off the body of the sins of the flesh, being buried with Jesus in baptism (a symbol of the death of our old sinful nature), and putting on the new nature of Jesus in the resurrection analogy. To be quickened is to receive the new spiritual life from God. This is not a life force that we possess but power from outside of us, power which can only come from God. Paul is explaining that Circumcision was replaced with the rite of Baptism, both being symbols of Justification, that first change that takes place when a sinner comes to his Savior in repentance and is given a new heart and a new desire to serve the Father in Heaven.

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;  Colossians 2:14

Through Christ the hidden glory of the holy of holies was to stand revealed. He had suffered death for every man, and by this offering, the sons of men were to become the sons of God. With open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, believers in Christ were to be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. The mercy seat, upon which the glory of God rested in the holiest of all, is opened to all who accept Christ as the propitiation for sin, and through its medium, they are brought into fellowship with God. The veil is rent, the partition walls broken down, the handwriting of ordinances cancelled. By virtue of His blood the enmity is abolished.

With His life Christ has purchased every human being. He died a cruel death to save human beings from eternal death. He gave His sinless life to obtain for the sinner a life that measures with the life of God. Through His death, He provided a way whereby man may break with Satan, return to his allegiance to God, and through faith in the Redeemer obtain pardon. . . . (Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 228, 230)

Note that “handwriting (cheirographon) of ordinances” and “enmity” are somewhat paralleled as are “canceled” and “abolished.”

“Most commentators interpret the cheirographon either as the “certificate of indebtedness” resulting from our transgressions or a “book containing the record of sin” used for the condemnation of mankind. Both renderings, which are substantially similar, can be supported from rabbinic and apocalyptic literature.”   (Samuele Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday p. 348, 349)

Let’s look at the word “blotting” in Strong’s Greek Dictionary.

G1813   exaleipho   ex-al-i’-fo

From G1537 and G218; to smear out, that is, obliterate (erase tears, figuratively pardon sin): – blot out, wipe away.

The same word is used in a few other texts in the English translation as well as the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament. Looking at these texts may help clarify the typical usage of the word, and especially Paul’s usage.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.   Psalm 51:1-2

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.   Psalm 51:9

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Isaiah 43:25

These texts tell us what Jesus came to blot out. Careful research of the use of this word in the Septuagint, G1813, which is used in Colossians 2:14, shows that it never refers to the blotting out of a Law or Decree, but repeatedly refers to the blotting out of sin and transgressions, as well as the blotting out or not blotting out of one’s name. Also, the blotting out of wicked nations in Judgment by God. This would indicate that the use of the word “blot” to refer to blotting out Laws would be inconsistent with its typical Biblical Greek Old Testament usage. The other references in the New Testament where G1813 occurs are: Acts 3:19 “that your sins may be blotted out,” and Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” The idea that Colossians 2:14 refers to blotting out the whole Law given through Moses is not consistent with the rest of Scripture, and though this interpretation is hoary with age, there is little evidence for it. There is ample usage of the word in reference to the blotting out of sins or iniquity. But let us not forget what Jesus himself has said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.   Matthew 5:17

Have the heavens and earth passed away yet?

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.   Matthew 5:19, 20

Jesus then expounds upon what law he is speaking of:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:   Matthew 5:21

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:   Matthew 5:27

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:   Matthew 5:31

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:   Matthew 5:33

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:   Matthew 5:38

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.   Matthew 5:43

Please note what laws Jesus is referring to: two of them are from the Ten Commandments and the other four are from the “Laws given to Moses.” These shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

What about the phrase “against us?” What was against us? The handwritten ordinance that was against us is our record of sin, our certificate of indebtedness, that brought about our condemnation. In other words, in the case of those who repent and accept the free gift of God, their death sentence was nailed to the Cross. That is what the Ceremonial Law, the sacrificial system, symbolized – the death of Jesus on the Cross. He bore our sins in His body and therefore, our sins and our death certificate were nailed to the Cross.

What is the Biblical definition of the phrase “Ceremonial Law?” There isn’t one; that term does not occur in the Bible. But Daniel tells us what would change at the Cross.

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.   Daniel 9:27

Here Daniel tells us very clearly what ended at the Cross: sacrifice and oblation.

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.   Colossians 2:15

Jesus has triumphed over those powers that were worshiped in mysticism and spiritualism and Paul is showing these Gentiles, who had recently come out of heathenism, the value of worshiping the most powerful God of heaven and reasoning with them about how useless it would be to return to those heathen mystic ideas of worship. Let’s read about this in Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible.

“And having spoiled – Plundered as a victorious army does a conquered country. The terms used in this verse are all military, and the idea is, that Christ has completely subdued our enemies by his death. A complete victory was achieved by his death, so that every thing is now in subjection to him, and we have nothing to fear.”

“Principalities and powers – The ‘principalities and powers’ here referred to, are the formidable enemies that had held man in subjection, and prevented his serving God. There can be no doubt, I think, that the apostle refers to the ranks of fallen, evil spirits which had usurped a dominion over the world. (see John 12:31 and Ephesians 2:2)”

So we see that Jesus is the power by which Satan, his demon angels, and our fallen human nature are subdued and overcome.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Colossians 2:16

Who was judging the Colossian converts? These were probably mystic Jews, who were promoting a strange mixture of Gnosticism, Spiritualism, Judaism, and Christianity. Here is a quote from Spiros Zodhiates’ comments on Colossians 2:8-23.

“Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis (1108) meaning ‘knowledge.’ This heresy was repudiated not only by the writers of the NT epistles, but also by the church fathers who lived in the period after the early church. It is from them that there is knowledge of Gnosticism’s general tenets.”
“The Gnostics separated matter from thought. They concluded that matter was evil, and formulated the idea that the possession of knowledge was the only requirement for salvation. . . . The result was a complete denial of sexual and other bodily appetites (i.e., one being asceticism and the other a practice of unrestrained indulgence of the body. [vv. 20-23]).”
“In this passage, Paul countered the teaching that stressed the way to holiness was through asceticism. He emphasized that spirituality is not achieved by self-centered efforts to control the passions, but by putting on Christ, ‘setting one’s affections on Him.’ and in so doing, removing all that is contrary to His will (vv. 20-23; Col. 3:1-17).”   (Key Word Study Bible, p. 1480, 1481)

from Robertson’s Word Pictures on Colossians 2:16–

“Let no one judge you. Prohibition present active imperative third singular, forbidding the habit of passing judgment in such matters. For krino see note on Mat_7:1. Paul has here in mind the ascetic regulations and practices of one wing of the Gnostics (possibly Essenic or even Pharisaic influence). He makes a plea for freedom in such matters on a par with that in 1 Corinthians 8-9; Romans 14; 15. The Essenes went far beyond the Mosaic regulations. For the Jewish feasts see note on Gal_4:10. Josephus (Ant. III. 10, 1) expressly explains the ‘seventh day’ as called ‘sabbata’ (plural form as here, an effort to transliterate the Aramaic sabbathah).

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,   Colossians 2:16-18

Let’s learn more of what Paul is admonishing these Gentile Christians to stay away from. Josephus tells us about the Gnostic Jews as he describes the Essens, (Essenes) one branch of Gnosticism, some of whom had accepted Christianity.

“These Essens reject pleasures as an evil, but esteem continence, and the conquest over our passions, to be virtue. They neglect wedlock, . . . ”
“. . . the cook also brings a single plate of one sort of food, and sets it before every one of them;”
“. . . And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sun-rising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising.”
“. . . he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of.”

“Moreover, he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one any otherwise than as he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels * [or messengers]. These are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes to themselves. [* This mention of the “names of angels,” so particularly preserved by the Essens, (if it means more than those “messengers” which were employed to bring, them the peculiar books of their Sect,) looks like a prelude to that “worshipping of angels,” blamed by St. Paul, as superstitious and unlawful, in some such sort of people as these Essens were, Colossians 2:8; as is the prayer to or towards the sun for his rising every morning, mentioned before, sect. 5, very like those not much later observances made mention of in the preaching of Peter, Authent. Rec. Part II. p. 669, and regarding a kind of worship of angels, of the month, and of the moon, and not celebrating the new moons, or other festivals, unless the moon appeared. Which, indeed, seems to me the earliest mention of any regard to the phases in fixing the Jewish calendar, of which the Talmud and later Rabbins talk so much, and upon so very little ancient foundation.]” p. 674, Para. 5, [2]. THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS VOLUME ONE. p. iii, Para. 1, [1]. CHAPTER 8 ARCHELAUS’S ETHNARCHY Is REDUCED INTO A. THE SEDITION Of JUDAS OF GALILEE. THE THREE SECTS, p. 673-675     (This note [*] was added by the translator, Dr. Hudson.)

Here we see that the Essens practiced mystery religions which are in contrast to true Christianity. The above quotes mention severe restrictions in dietary practices, judgment of how holy days were kept, fasting vs. feasting, worshiping of angels, worship of the rising sun, secret oaths and doctrines, the omission of normal marital relations, rote prayers, mortification of the body, and other heathen practices.   Also, we see how Christians might have been judged for not following the Essen’s practices in relation to HOW they kept the Holy Days of Yahweh rather than WHETHER OR NOT they kept them.

This sect was strict in ascetic practices of refusing pleasure and therefore would fast (having only one small portion of one kind of food) rather than feast on God’s Holy Days. God had told His people to rejoice on those days, not fast. They also followed the practices of the “Christians” from Alexandria in their timing of the holidays following the pagan customs of moon and sun worship. The issue here seems clearly to be a matter of HOW the early Gentile Christians kept these feast days rather than WHETHER OR NOT they kept them. Paul is here telling them to rejoice (feast) not mourn (fast) on those days since they are to commemorate eternal rejoicing experienced after the second coming of Jesus.

“If one is carefully considering this matter, this understanding can be seen to fit the context of the entire chapter with clarity and consistency.   It speaks much more clearly to the subject of the entire passage then the common interpretation which concludes Paul to be eradicating the keeping of these days. Let us research this further.” (Bryan T. Huie, “Colossian Heresy” www.herealittletherealittle.net)

In verse 16, Paul comes to the primary point he wants to make. He tells the Colossians not to let anyone (including the Gnostics) judge them in eating or drinking, or in the observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths.

This passage is widely misunderstood because most scholars begin with the assumption that the Holy Days, New Moons, and Sabbaths mentioned in verse 16 are among the false teachings Paul is combating. They assume that the Gentile Colossians were not keeping these days, but the heretics who were bothering them (usually labeled “Jewish Gnostics”) were trying to force them to observe these days.   Two points discredit this theory:

1) Paul calls the Gnostic teachings the “tradition of men” (Colossians 2:8) and the “commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:22). Regardless of how he felt about the observances he lists in verse 16, being a Pharisee trained in the Law (Acts 22:3; 23:6; 26:5; Philippians 3:4-6), he would not have called them the “tradition of men.” They are clearly defined in the Torah (Exodus 16, 20; Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 16) as divine commands the Israelites were to obey.

2) It is clear that the heretics’ teaching involved strict ascetic regulations (Colossians 2:21-23). Yet asceticism is the opposite of feasting. You don’t promote asceticism by encouraging the observance of feast days. Instead, you elevate asceticism by criticizing the way someone is keeping a Feast, or by condemning the fact that they are celebrating a Feast at all.

Because of an anti-Jewish bias which can be traced back to the early Roman Catholic church, almost all scholars have misunderstood the meaning of Paul’s statement in these verses. For the Gnostics to be judging the Colossians regarding their manner of observing the Holy Days, New Moons, and Sabbaths, they (the Colossians) must have been keeping them.

The phrase “in meat (food), or in drink” does not accurately convey the meaning of the original text. The Greek reads “en brosei kai en posei” and refers to the acts of eating and drinking. The strict Gnostics were substituting an ascetic philosophy (Colossians 2:8, “tradition of men”) and “doctrines of devils” (see 1 Tim. 4:1-3) for the truth that had previously been taught to the Colossians. They were evidently quick to find fault with anyone who did not follow their teaching of denying oneself food and drink.

The text shows that the Gnostic teachers were also condemning the Colossian Christians for their observance of the Holy Days, New Moons, and Sabbaths. The Gnostics’ reason for judging the Colossians in these matters goes hand in hand with their criticism of “eating and drinking.” Jews in the 1st century (as well as early Christians) treated the Sabbath as a weekly feast day, and fasting was forbidden on the Sabbath. During most of the annual Festivals (with the exception of the Day of Atonement), God commanded his people to rejoice and enjoy food and drink. (Deuteronomy 14:23-26, Nehemiah 8:10, 12) This most certainly would have conflicted with the Gnostics’ ascetic outlook.

“For the Jews the Sabbath was anything but a day of fast or of mourning. Even the strictest Jewish sects objected to fasting on the Sabbath. . . . That the early Christians adopted this Jewish custom is implied, for instance, by Augustine’s rhetorical remark, when referring to the Sabbath, he says: “Did not the tradition of the elders prohibit fasting on the one hand, and command rest on the other?” Further support can be seen in the opposition to the Sabbath fast by Christians in the East and in some important Western areas, such as Milan at the time of Ambrose (d. A.D. 397), and in certain churches and regions of North Africa.” (Samuele Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath To Sunday, pp. 187, 188)

“To gain protection from these cosmic powers and principalities, the Colossian ‘philosophers’ were urging Christians to offer cultic adoration to angelic powers (2:15, 18, 19, 23) and to follow ritualistic and ascetic practices (2:11, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22).”   (Ibid., p. 345)

There are some misconceptions and inconsistencies in certain traditional SDA interpretations regarding Colossians 2. Let’s take a look at them.

Misconception: the Biblical Festivals were part of the Ceremonial Law and ceased at the Cross.

What does the Bible and history reveal about this?

Jesus observed the Feasts but not ceremonial law –

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:   For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.   Luke 22:15, 16

Christ passed through all the experiences of his childhood, youth, and manhood without the observance of ceremonial temple worship. He held no office, he assumed no rank. He passed through the experience of infancy, childhood, and manhood without a stain upon his character. He consecrated himself to God that he might benefit and bless others, to show that in every period of life the human agent can do the Master’s will.  (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, October 24, 1899)

Among the Jews the twelfth year was the dividing line between childhood and youth. On completing this year a Hebrew boy was called a son of the law, and also a son of God. He was given special opportunities for religious instruction, and was expected to participate in the sacred feasts and observances. It was in accordance with this custom that Jesus in His boyhood made the Passover visit to Jerusalem. Like all devout Israelites, Joseph and Mary went up every year to attend the Passover; and when Jesus had reached the required age, they took Him with them.   (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 75)

Jesus said that He was going to keep the Passover with his disciples, yet we are told that He never observed ceremonial temple worship. Those ceremonies were the remedy for sin, and since He never sinned, He didn’t need that remedy. From these quotes we can also understand that the Feasts were not a part of the Ceremonial Law since Jesus did observe them.

Paul observed the Feasts –

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.   Acts 18:21

For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.   Acts 20:16

Paul’s Gentile converts observed the Feasts –

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.   Acts 20:6

At Philippi Paul tarried to keep the passover. Only Luke remained with him, the other members of the company passing on to Troas to await him there. The Philippians were the most loving and true-hearted of the apostle’s converts, and he enjoyed a peaceful and happy visit with them during the eight days of the feast.   (Ellen G. White, Life of Paul, p. 196)

Since Paul kept the Passover with his converts at Philippi, it seems highly unlikely that he would tell those at Colosse not to keep the biblical Festivals (as some understand Colossians 2:16).

Early Christians continued to observe the Feasts –

Some historical references –

“The fourteenth day, the true Passover of the Lord; the great sacrifice, the Son of God instead of the lamb, who was bound, who bound the strong, and who was judged, though Judge of living and dead, and who was delivered into the hands of sinners to be crucified, who was lifted up on the horns of the unicorn, and who was pierced in His holy side, who poured forth from His side the two purifying elements, water and blood, word and spirit, and who was buried on the day of the passover, the stone being placed upon the tomb.”   (Apollinaris. Concerning Passover, c. A.D. 180)

“When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time that Sagaris suffered martyrdom, there arose a great controversy at Laodicea concerning the time of the celebration of the Passover, which on that occasion had happened to fall at the proper season.”   (Melito of Sardis, c. A.D. 180)

The Orthodox Church reports this brief explanation of events in one of its timelines:
193 A.D. – Council of Rome, presided over by Bishop Victor, condemns the celebration of Pascha on Nisan 14, and addresses a letter to Polycrates of Ephesus and the Churches in Asia.
193 A.D. – Council of Ephesus, presided over by Bishop Polycrates, and attended by several bishops throughout Asia, reject the authority of Victor of Rome, and keep the Asian paschal tradition.

(Markou, Stavros L. K. An Orthodox Christian Historical Timeline. Copyright© 2003 OrthodoxFaith.com).

Polycrates wrote the following to Bishop Victor c. A.D. 195:

“We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’ ” (Eusebius. Church History, Book V, Chapter 24. Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. Excerpted from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series Two, Volume 1. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. American Edition, 1890. Online Edition Copyright© 2004 by K. Knight).

Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders (the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from the Gospel, and that they kept the Passover on the correct date, and not on a Easter Sunday. Also notice that they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ “obey God rather than men.”

“Pentecost is a most auspicious period . . . “(Tertullian, “On Baptism” [c. A.D. 200])

There are many more historical writings that indicate the early church was keeping the biblical Feasts, but these will suffice for this article.

The Roman Catholic Church changed the Feasts –

“The Catholic Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish festivals.” (T. Enright C.S.S.R., Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1905)

“Question – What are the days which the church commands to be kept holy?”

“Answer – 1. The Sunday, or our Lord’s day, which we observe by apostolic tradition, instead of the Sabbath. 2. The feasts of our Lord’s Nativity, or Christmas day; his circumcision, or New Year’s day; the Epiphany, or twelfth day; Easterday, or the day of our Lord’s resurrection, with the Monday following; the day of our Lord’s ascension; Whit-Sunday, or the day of the coming of the Holy Ghost, with the Monday following; Trinity Sunday; Corpus Christi, or the feasts of the blessed sacrament. 3. We keep the days of the Annunciation, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 4. We observe the feasts of All-saints; of St. John Baptist; of the holy apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. 5. In this kingdom we keep the feasts of St. Patrick, our principal patron.”   (“The Catholic Christian Instructed” quoted in “Who Changed the Sabbath” by Uriah Smith)

What is the “Ceremonial Law?”

Many Adventists have understood the “handwriting of ordinances” spoken of in Colossians 2:14 to be the Ceremonial Law, and the Holy Days, New Moons, and Sabbaths in Colossians 2:16 to be a brief list of some of the things included in it. We have seen earlier in this article that Colossians 2:14 is referring to our record of sin, our certificate of indebtedness, our death sentence which was nailed to the cross. The Spirit of Prophecy gives us a very succinct definition of the Ceremonial Law.

There are two distinct laws brought to view. One is the law of types and shadows, which reached to the time of Christ, and ceased when type met antitype in his death. The other is the law of Jehovah, and is as abiding and changeless as his eternal throne. After the crucifixion, it was a denial of Christ for the Jews to continue to offer the burnt offerings and sacrifices which were typical of his death. It was saying to the world that they looked for a Redeemer to come, and had no faith in Him who had given his life for the sins of the world. Hence the ceremonial law ceased to be of force at the death of Christ. (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, July 29, 1886)

Burnt offerings and sacrifices = Ceremonial Law.

Misconception: the expression “sabbath days” in Colossians 2:16 is referring to yearly Festival Sabbaths.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath (G4521) days:   Colossians 2:16

The Greek word used in this verse is (from Strong’s Greek Dictionary):

G4521   sabbaton   sab’-bat-on

Of Hebrew origin [H7676]; the Sabbath (that is, Shabbath), or day of weekly repose from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself); by extension a se’nnight, that is, the interval between two Sabbaths; likewise the plural in all the above applications: – sabbath (day), week.

This word (G4521) appears over 60 times in the New Testament. In all of those places we say it is referring to the seventh-day Sabbath; but this one instance is singled out and understood to be speaking of Festival Sabbaths. This seems to be inconsistent theology. Since Festivals have already been mentioned in the verse, it would be needless repetition to refer to them again. The probability that this text is speaking of the seventh-day Sabbath is consistent and logical. This is especially true when one compares the New Testament to the Old. This same triad (Holy Days, New Moons, Sabbaths) is mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament in 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4, 8:12, 31:3, Nehemiah 10:33, Ezekiel 45:17, Hosea 2:11. In all these references, Seventh day Adventists say that Sabbath is referring to the seventh day.

One author makes his case against Colossians 2:16 speaking of the seventh day by saying that in the Old Testament references there is a fourth dimension, Sacrifices. He therefore assumes that Colossians 2 is not talking about the seventh day and that this triad in Colossians 2 is not the same as the Old Testament triads, in that the Old Testament has the added dimension of the Sacrifices. But it seems more probable that this is the same triad, that Paul is indeed quoting the Old Testament, and that the Sacrifices are not mentioned because they were no longer observed. This especially makes good sense if one considers that Paul is talking about how the Feasts, New Moons and Sabbaths were kept, not whether they were kept.

from Robertson’s Word Pictures commentary on Colossians 2:16–

“Josephus (Ant. III. 10, 1) expressly explains the ‘seventh day’ as called ‘sabbata’ (plural form as here, an effort to transliterate the Aramaic sabbathah). ”

Question: Does “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, . . . ” refer to (1) meat offerings and drink offerings; or to (2) the health principles given in the Old Testament? Many Bible students assume that “Let no man judge you” means these things are no longer applicable because they were part of the Laws of Moses and were done away with at the Cross.

Let’s look at another word study to understand choice (1) above.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, (G1035) or in drink, (G4213) or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:   Colossians 2:16

from Strong’s Greek Dictionary:

G1035   brosis   bro’-sis

From the base of G977; (abstractly) eating (literally or figuratively); by extension (concretely) food (literally or figuratively): – eating, food, meat.

This word is NEVER used in the Septuagint for a meat offering. Instead it uses G2378.

G2378   thusia   thoo-see’-ah

From G2380; sacrifice (the act or the victim, literally or figuratively): – sacrifice.

This word is used in the Septuagint in reference to a general sacrifice or a burnt meat offering.

These two words (G1035 and G2378) are completely separate. They are not interchangeable. The word used in Colossians 2:16 refers to eating food, not a sacrificial meat offering. G1035 (used in Colossians 2:16) occurs 37 times in the Septuagint and not once does it refer to a meat offering. In all cases it refers to eating food.

The word for drink used in Colossians 2:16 is:

G4213   posis   pos’-is

From the alternate of G4095; a drinking (the act), that is, (concretely) a draught: – drink.

The word used for drink offering in the Septuagint is:

G4689   spendo   spen’-do

Apparently a primary verb; to pour out as a libation, that is, (figuratively) to devote (one’s life or blood, as a sacrifice) (‘spend’): – (be ready to) be offered.

It is quite obvious that Colossians 2:16 is not referring to sacrificial laws regarding meat and drink offerings which were done away with at the cross. Paul is saying, “Let no man judge you in what or how you eat or drink.” But is he saying, as is brought out in part (2) of the question above, that there are no longer any restrictions on what we should eat or drink? If that is the case, we have no biblical basis for our health principles as based on Leviticus 11 (clean and unclean meats), Leviticus 17:12 (no blood), Leviticus 10:9 (no alcohol). There is no other eating and drinking prohibition except for persons taking a Nazarite vow (which Paul himself apparently took in Acts 18) which prohibited eating or drinking any grape products and cutting the hair for a specified length of time. The rule about not eating blood was given to the Christian converts in Acts 15.

To say that this verse is referring to “the Laws of Moses” gets us backed into a theological corner that is very difficult to wiggle out of. But that is not what is being said. Paul is referring to how they ate and drank at Feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths – fasting vs. feasting.   Obedience to Mosaic Laws is not the question here. There is NOT ONE reference to the Law (nomos in Greek) in the entire book of Colossians! Paul is not talking about Laws.

“Paul is plainly saying here that the church was to be the Colossians’ only guide on eating and drinking, as these things related to Sabbath, new moon, and festival observances. They were not to let the Gnostics force ascetic practices on them, especially during these holy times (which are a shadow of the good things coming in the future – cf. Heb. 9:11, 10:1).”   (Bryan T. Huie, www.herealittletherealittle.net)

We may want to qualify the above statement and say that God is to be our only guide in what we do on these days.

Question: What is the “shadow” referring to?

Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.   Colossians 2:17

Traditionally SDA’s have said there is no shadow in the Sabbath. So how can we reconcile the probability of Colossians 2:16 referring to the seventh-day Sabbath and speaking of it as a shadow? Are the Sabbath or biblical Feasts a shadow? I’d like to suggest a different line of thinking on this: Maybe what Paul is saying is that the way in which Sabbath and Feasts are kept is a shadow – feasting rather than fasting – rejoicing in commemoration of the blessed rest we will enjoy in Heaven when we can rest far removed from all sin and death. In other words, the shadow is not the days themselves but the way those days were kept–as a celebration feast, not a wearisome fast.

Now let’s look briefly at some of the next verses.

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.   Colossians 2:20-23

The leaven of false doctrine will be accepted in preference to the truth. “Beware,” writes Paul, “lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”   (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 16, 1897)

These rudiments of the world are false doctrines, man-made ordinances. We repeat part of an earlier quote to illustrate this.

“he who is thus separated from them (the Essens) does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish.” THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS VOLUME ONE. p. iii, Para. 1, [1]. CHAPTER 8 ARCHELAUS’S ETHNARCHY Is REDUCED INTO A. THE SEDITION Of JUDAS OF GALILEE. THE THREE SECTS. p. 675, Para. 1.

This gives us an example of the restrictions that were put on one who joined the Essene Gnostics. Food and drink were restricted by their vows. Fasting was promoted on God’s Feast days and Sabbaths contrary to His commands. This practice was carried on later in Roman Catholicism to facilitate substituting God’s appointed days with human, pagan traditions. Let’s read about it.

“That the early Christians adopted this Jewish custom is implied, for instance, by Augustine’s rhetorical remark, when referring to the Sabbath, he says: ‘Did not the tradition of the elders prohibit fasting on the one hand, and command rest on the other?’ [Epistle to Casulanus by Augustine, 36, 6, NPNF 1st, 1 p. 267]. Further support can be seen in the opposition to the Sabbath fast by Christians in the East and in some important Western areas, such as in Milan at the time of Ambrose (d. A.D. 397), and in certain churches and regions of North Africa. The transformation of the Sabbath from a day of feasting and joy to a day of fasting and mourning, as we shall see represents a measure taken by the Church of Rome to degrade the Sabbath in order to enhance Sunday Worship. [F. A. Regan, Dies Dominica, p. 60]”   (Samuelle Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 188)

This quote tells us why Paul would have made a strong case in Colossians against fasting on God’s holy days. This was the catalyst used to destroy those days and set in their place man-made holy days.   Read on.

“That the weekly Sabbath fast was introduced early in Rome is clearly implied by a statement of Hippolytus (written in Rome between A.D. 202-234) which says: ‘Even today some . . . order fasting on the Sabbath of which Christ has not spoken, dishonoring even the Gospel of Christ.’ [Hippolytus, In Danielem Commentarius 4, 20, 3 GCS I p. 234]”    (Ibid., p. 191)

What about Feast days other than Sabbath?

“Augustine similarly associates the fasting of the weekly Sabbath fast with the annual paschal Sabbath fast. He explains, however, that while the weekly Sabbath fast was kept only by ‘the Church of Rome and some churches in the West . . . once a year, namely at Easter, all Christians observed the seventh day of the week by fasting’ (Epistle to Casulanus 36, 31, NPNF 1st, I p. 270).”   (Ibid., p. 190)

“The same prohibition to fast on the Sabbath with the exception of the annual Paschal Sabbath fast, is found in the Apostolic Constitutions 5, 15, 20 and in the Apostolic Canons 64.”   (Ibid., p. 190)

Here is another quote from Bryan Huie’s article.

“Verse 22 makes it clear that these prohibitions were human institutions. Every indication is that Paul is not referring to the Law in this chapter. Indeed, the word “law” is never used in the Colossian epistle. Evidently these false teachings were human traditions derived from demonic precepts (Col. 2:8; I Tim. 4:1-3).”

“In verse 23, Paul says that these doctrines might seem on the surface to promote wisdom and spiritual growth through the abuse of the physical body. Yet he concludes that they’re really of no value in curtailing fleshly indulgence. Paul shifts gears in the third chapter and begins to exhort the Colossians to seek heavenly things, not the things which pertain to this world (Col. 3:1-2).”   Bryan T. Huie www.herealittletherealittle.net

Question: Were all the Feasts fulfilled at the Cross?

This opinion is promoted widely, but if we ask, “How were the fall Feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles) fulfilled at the Cross?” no one can give an answer. There is no fulfillment of these days at the Cross. And if they were done away with in some way, where is the basis for October 22, 1844? That date was chosen because it was the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh (lunar) month in the year 1844.

The Feasts in the future

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Luke 22:15, 16

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, . . .   And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, . . . and (it) shall cleave in the midst thereof . . .   And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations . . . shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.   Zechariah 14:1, 4, 16

Conclusion:

The evidence seems quite clear that what Paul is dealing with in Colossians 2 is Gnostic, Spiritualistic, man-made beliefs and not God’s Laws. Therefore, this chapter is not a license to do away with any of God’s Laws! But it certainly does warn us not to take up and do any man-made laws contrary to God’s Laws.

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Trouble for the Early Church

Paul wrote some things to the churches he started that have puzzled many since then.  Someone was trying to influence his converts in the wrong way and he was trying to protect them from these troublers.  Who were these troublers? What were the issues Paul was dealing with?  Let’s take a look.

How turn ye again? –

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.   Galatians 4:8-11

Who are the “no gods” that Paul is concerned about? Some think that the “days, and months, and times, and years” that the Galatians were turning back to were the Festivals spoken of in the Old Testament. From that line of reasoning, we would have to conclude that the “no gods” would be the God of Heaven. I doubt any true Christian would wish to call God in Heaven a “no god.” Maybe more careful study is the remedy for such confusion. We know that Paul kept the Feasts of Scripture, (without the sacrifices of course) as the book of Acts reveals.

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.   Acts 18:21

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.   Acts 20:6

At Philippi Paul tarried to keep the passover. Only Luke remained with him, the other members of the company passing on to Troas to await him there. The Philippians were the most loving and true-hearted of the apostle’s converts, and he enjoyed a peaceful and happy visit with them during the eight days of the feast.  (Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 196)

For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.   Acts 20:16

Paul would not chastise the Galatians for keeping the Biblical Feasts when he observed them himself. But being concerned about them going back to their old pagan feasts with all their sexual orgies and idolatry makes logical sense. What else could “turn ye again” mean for those who were previously pagans and were in danger of going back to their pagan practices?

Some History
     I’d like to look at some historical evidence which might clarify some of the unclear things Paul is writing.
the Gnostics–
     In his book, From Sabbath to Sunday, Samuel Bacchiocchi speaks of some who were leading away from the Sabbath and Feasts by instituting other days of worship. Let’s read about this movement.

“Justin reduces the seventh day to a trademark of Jewish infidelity. To prove such a thesis he contends that the Sabbath was not observed before Moses, that God Himself did not keep it and that several persons in the Old Testament, like the priests, legitimately broke it.

“These ‘proofs’ became the standard repertory utilized in the controversy not only by the Fathers but even by Gnostic sects . . .

“The Gnostics, in fact, who, as J. Danielou points out, “were decided enemies of Judaism, were carried away by this theme [ i.e. eighth day ], since it enabled them to do away with the “Jewish Sabbath.” (Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 286, para 1-3)

The Gnostics were promoting eighth-day worship, which is really first-day worship – Sunday worship instead of Sabbath worship, and Easter instead of Passover.

Who were these Gnostics? Let’s study into their history a bit further. Here is some information on the Gnostics from two websites on the internet. Please keep in mind as you read these quotes that the authors are not Christians. I am quoting them merely for their descriptions of Gnosticism.

from www.earlychristianwritings.com

“A one-sentence description of Gnosticism: a religion that differentiates the evil god of this world (who is identified with the god of the Old Testament) from a higher more abstract God revealed by Jesus Christ, a religion that regards this world as the creation of a series of evil archons/powers who wish to keep the human soul trapped in an evil physical body, a religion that preaches a hidden wisdom or knowledge only to a select group as necessary for salvation or escape from this world.

“The term “gnostic” derives from “gnosis,” which means “knowledge” in Greek. The Gnostics believed that they were privy to a secret knowledge about the divine, hence the name. (Huxley coined “agnosticism” on the basis that all knowledge must be based on reason. We cannot rationally claim to have access to knowledge that is beyond the powers of the intellect.)

“There are numerous references to the Gnostics in second century proto-orthodox literature. Most of what we know about them is from the polemic thrown at them by the early Church Fathers. They are alluded to in the Bible in the pastorals (spurious Paulines of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus), for example 1 Tm 1:4 and 1 Tm 6:20, and possibly the entirety of Jude. Ignatius of Antioch writes against them as well as Docetism, a doctrine closely related to Gnosticism that stated that Christ was pure spirit and had only a phantom body. Second Clement is a document aimed at refuting early second century Gnosticism. Marcion was the most famous of the Gnostics, and he established a “canon” of the Pauline epistles (minus the pastorals) and a “mutilated” Luke (presumably considered so because it lacked proof-texts such as Lk 22:43-44). Justin Martyr mentioned him c. 150 CE, and Irenaeus and Tertullian wrote against him extensively in the late second century (in Against Heresy and Against Marcion, respectively).

“Some scholars have theorized that Gnosticism has its roots in pre-Christian religions, instead of being merely an offshoot of Christianity.”

from www.jesusneverexisted.com/gnostic

“The Samaritan “Simon the Magus” was an early Jewish Gnostic who inspired both the mystical “Kabala” (a refinement of Pythagorean “magic” numbers) and later Christian Gnostics – Basilides, Saturninus, Carpocrates among them. Later Catholic writers demonized the poor guy. He may actually be the figure on whom the apostle Paul is based!

“Simon goes unmentioned in the Gospels but in Acts he has “bewitched” all the people of Samaria. “They all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the great power of God.’ And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.” Acts 8.10,11″

This second web site is very gnostic and very opposed to Christianity. But it is interesting to see what it says about the origin of Gnosticism.

About the time of Paul’s second arrest, Peter also was apprehended and thrust into prison. He had made himself especially obnoxious to the authorities by his zeal and success in exposing the deceptions and defeating the plots of Simon Magus the sorcerer, who had followed him to Rome to oppose and hinder the work of the gospel. Nero was a believer in magic, and had patronized Simon. He was therefore greatly incensed against the apostle, and was thus prompted to order his arrest.  (Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Book 3, p. 436)

What did the Gnostics teach in addition to Sunday worship?

“The Gnostics separated matter from thought. They concluded that matter was evil, and formulated the idea that the possession of knowledge was the only requirement for salvation. This is why they did not want to attribute humanity to Jesus Christ because to them, material things were evil. Docetism resulted, which taught that the body of Christ was something that only appeared material, but in reality it was only spiritual. Such a belief led to an immoral life, for since the spirit was separated from the physical body, they ignored their responsibility for the actions done in the body. This is the reason why Paul stressed that “. . . in him [Jesus Christ, as He appeared on earth], dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (v. 9). Jesus was truly God in the flesh (John 1:14). As a result of the philosophical concept of the evil of the body, the Gnostics ignored or diminished the significance of the historic facts of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as not being real but simply apparent. To them, all the secrets of God were in the mind, or appearing in an immaterial identity. The result was a complete denial of sexual and other bodily appetites (i.e., one being virtual asceticism and the other a practice of unrestrained indulgence of the body [vv. 20-23]).”   (footnote on Colossians 2 in The Complete Word Study New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates, editor)

These strange philosophical ideas about evil matter and spiritual knowledge, and Jesus not having a physical body are what John addresses in 1 John and 2 John where he warns of the dangers of antichrist.

“Many early Christians migrated to Rome in the wake of the Jewish war. Among them was Valentinus, Marcion, a wealthy ship owner from Pontus, and Cerdo, who established a school in which the new theology was taught. The gnostic leaders openly proclaimed that all things Jewish should be discarded. They declared that the God of the Old Testament was an inferior god, the deity of the lower, material world.

“Having jettisoned “Jewish practices”, familiarity with the Greek “mystery religions” led the Gnostics to copy their style. Within an inner circle of adepts a secret “higher Wisdom” was passed orally from Master to Initiate. Their claim to authority rested on earlier holy men, apostles and sages, who, it was said, had entrusted arcane knowledge to their favourite disciples, the founders of the gnostic sects.

“The cults, as competitive clubs, vied with each other for acolytes, with some groups committed to asceticism and the denial of all “pleasures of the flesh” and others to indulgence, in which sex, revelry and all manner of dissolute behaviour were encouraged. Their common goal was to find “the Christ within.”   (from www.jesusneverexisted.com/gnostic)

What do these paragraphs tell us that the Gnostics believed? A strange mixture indeed.

1. Jesus was not truly a flesh-and-blood human
2. all things Jewish should be discarded
3. the God of the Old Testament was inferior to the God revealed by Jesus
(see also the first paragraph in the quote from www.earlychristianwritings.com above)
4. true religion was a secret only for the initiated
5. asceticism
6. denial of all pleasure
7. indulgence in sex and revelry

8. finding the christ within

Some comments on the above points:

1. If Jesus was not truly real and human, then everything He “supposedly” did was not real – no real suffering, no real blood shed, no real death, no real resurrection, no real atonement. Everything about Him would be merely an illusion and we would have no salvation in Him.

2. This idea is still echoed today by Christian churches in many ways such as: “The law of God was nailed to the cross.”   “The Law of Moses (which is really the Law of God) was nailed to the cross.”

But what did Jesus say?

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Matthew 5:17-18

Then He goes on to say what law will not pass till heaven and earth pass away.

Matthew 5:21 murder (Exodus 20:13)
Matthew 5:27 adultery (Exodus 20:14)
Matthew 5:31 divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1)
Matthew 5:33 oaths (Leviticus 19:12)
Matthew 5:38 eye for eye, tooth for tooth (Leviticus 24:20)

Mathew 5: 43 love your neighbor, hate your enemy (Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 23:6)

Jesus said He did not come to destroy these Laws. Instead He expanded on the spirit of the Law behind the letter. To say that the letter was eliminated but we keep the spirit of the Law would be like saying, “I love my wife, so I will keep the spirit of not committing adultery. But the letter was nailed to the cross, so I can find a prostitute and have sex with her, and as long as I pretend in my mind that it’s my wife, I don’t violate the spirit of the law.” If we violate the letter of the Law, we have already violated the spirit. And if the eye for an eye principle was used in our courts today, how few law suits would come to court! The damages would often be too small to even pay the lawyer’s fees.

In these verses, Jesus refers to two of the Ten Commandments and four items from the “Law of Moses.” So according to our Lord, none of these laws were destroyed by his death, not one jot or tittle. The only thing nailed to the cross was that which was the remedy for the breaking of the Law – the sacrifices, sanctuary, and priestly offices and ministrations. Prior to the cross, these were all done by faith in the Messiah who was to come. If there was no faith, there was no atonement. The Gospel was by faith then as it is now.

So, were all things Jewish discarded? Absolutely not! That is a Gnostic teaching.

3. Is the God of the Old Testament different from and inferior to the God that Jesus revealed? What does scripture say?

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.   Malachi 3:6

God does not change! Jesus and the Father were one. The God of the Old Testament is the same as in the New. But how often we hear these sentiments echoed from Christians today: God is so harsh in the OT; Jesus is so nice in the NT. Actually, the NT speaks of judgment just as much as the OT and the OT describes God’s patience and mercy just as vividly as the NT.

4. Religion of secrets?

Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.   John 18:20

5. and 6. Asceticism and denying all pleasure

They refused marriage and would do things to mortify the body. They ate very little food of only the plainest type. This is what Paul refers to in Colossians 2.

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, . . . (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.  Colossians 2:18, 21-23

The Essenes–

Another group, similar to the Gnostics, were the Essenes (or Essens as Josephus refers to them in the following paragraphs).

“These Essens reject pleasures as an evil, but esteem continence, and the conquest over our passions, to be virtue. They neglect wedlock, but choose out other persons children, while they are pliable, and fit for learning, and esteem them to be of their kindred, and form them according to their own manners. They do not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage, and the succession of mankind thereby continued; but they guard against the lascivious behaviour of women, and are persuaded that none of them preserve their fidelity to one man.

“. . . while they go, after a pure manner, into the dining-room, as into a certain holy temple, and quietly set themselves down; upon which the baker lays them loaves in order; the cook also brings a single plate of one sort of food, and sets it before every one of them;

“. . . and that he will neither conceal any thing from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doctrines to others, no, not though anyone should compel him so to do at the hazard of his life. Moreover, he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one any otherwise than as he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels * [or messengers]. These are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes to themselves.

“[* This mention of the “names of angels,” so particularly preserved by the Essens, (if it means more than those “messengers” which were employed to bring, them the peculiar books of their Sect,) looks like a prelude to that “worshipping of angels,” blamed by St. Paul, as superstitious and unlawful, in some such sort of people as these Essens were, Colossians 2:8; as is the prayer to or towards the sun for his rising every morning, mentioned before, sect. 5, very like those not much later observances made mention of in the preaching of Peter, Authent. Rec. Part II. p. 669, and regarding a kind of worship of angels, of the month, and of the moon, and not celebrating the new moons, or other festivals, unless the moon appeared. Which, indeed, seems to me the earliest mention of any regard to the phases in fixing the Jewish calendar, of which the Talmud and later Rabbins talk so much, and upon so very little ancient foundation.] (A footnote added by the publisher of this volume.)

“But for those that are caught in any heinous sins, they cast them out of their society; and he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of.”   (The Life of Flavius Josephus-Antiquities of the Jews, Volume One, p. 673-675)

These excerpts from Josephus serve to illustrate some of the beliefs and teachings of the Essenes – the worship of angels, self-abasement, sun and moon worship, dietary restrictions, refusal to marry, etc. They were not even allowed to eat food that had not been blessed by the Essene leadership, so they would starve outside the group.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.   Colossians 2:16, 17

This is referring to the Gnostic regulations of these Festivals, various aspects of eating, drinking, and timing. They could hardly have a feast on the diet specified by the Essenes. God had not prescribed fasting on His Festivals. They were to be a celebration commemorating joyful events in the history of the Jewish nation and in the progression of His Plan of Salvation – deliverance from sin and death, the gift of the Law and the Spirit, anticipation of the eternal kingdom. But there was an agenda behind the feasting / fasting issue.

“Since Easter-Sunday, . . . differentiate(d) the Christian Passover from that of the Jews, it is possible that the weekly Sabbath fast arose contemporaneously as an extension of the annual paschal Sabbath fast.” (Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, pp. 190, 191)

One can see that fasting was made an issue during Sabbath and Festival times. Dr. Bacchiocchi goes on to show how this fasting was the catalyst used by the Roman Church, which adopted many of these pagan-gnostic rites, to change from God’s worship days to man’s worship days. This is a major emphasis in his book with many pages dedicated to a clearer understanding of this issue.

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.   Romans 14:5, 6

This is referring back to the man-made days for fasting which the Jews and the Gnostics had in abundance.

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?   Zechariah 7:5

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.   Zechariah 8:19

Notice that these fast days were not the Feast days given by God. The Jews commemorated various events in the history of Jerusalem by setting aside fast days in the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th months. The days God had specified were not left to personal discretion, nor had He told them to fast on any of His Feast days except the Day of Atonement. The Jews had multiplied their fast days by the time of Christ. Paul does not condemn these man-made fast days but merely says that fasting on a certain day or feasting on that day really doesn’t matter as long as you keep the Lord foremost in your mind. It should be to God’s glory whichever way you choose to spend the day.

“Even the strictest Jewish sects objected to fasting on the Sabbath.”   (Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 187)

7. Sensual pleasures: While there was a cloak of piety, there was hidden corruption of all kinds as can be observed in the lives of the descendents of this sect – the Catholic Priests.

8. Finding the christ within: What we see in the New Age Movement, Spiritual Formation, etc. is nothing new. It’s the same old “man is god” idea that has been around for thousands of years.

From the above evidence and many more historical documents, it seems that the significant problem that Paul was addressing in many places in his letters to the various churches was the infiltration of this dangerous mix of Jewish-Gnostic-Christian beliefs. Paul was accused by the Jews of teaching against their ways but he refuted their claims. (Acts 21:20-28; 23:1-5; 24:5-21; 25:8; 28:17, 18) He was not trying to turn his converts from the eternal things God had given His people but from the things others were attempting to introduce to them (Gnostic, Essene, and Jewish rabbinical rites and regulations) and from returning to their former pagan ways.

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Obeying God

There is a lot of discussion among Christians about morality and obedience to God’s law, and grace, faith, and works. These are very important subjects. Let’s learn what the Bible says about them.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8, 9

Many Christians understand these verses to mean that we are not obligated to keep God’s law – the Ten Commandments – because we are saved by His grace and we don’t need to (and shouldn’t try to) earn or work our way to heaven.

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.  Romans 6:14

This is another verse that is often understood to mean that we don’t have to keep the Ten Commandments. But, what does the very next verse say?

What then? Shall we sin, since we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  Romans 6:15

Paul says we shouldn’t sin. How does the Bible define sin?

Whoever commits sin is transgressing the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.   1 John 3:4

When we combine the teachings in these verses we learn that God’s grace delivers us from the curse of the law – our death sentence- but not from the obligation to obey that law. Grace is not a license to disobey; rather, it provides a release from condemnation. We are freed from death, which is the final result of sin, but not from obedience to the law.

Truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.  John 5:24

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 6:23

Some Christians feel that they only need to have faith in Jesus.  They base that idea on this verse:

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your house.  Acts 16:31

But . . .

You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe and tremble. But will you know, oh vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:19, 20

Works is whatever we do and say – how we live – as a result of our faith. We do what God wants – good works – because we believe and love Him.

By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.    1 John 2:3, 4

If you love me, keep my commandments.  John 14:15

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.   For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  James 1:22-24

God’s law, the Ten Commandments, is our standard to live by. It is like a mirror, showing us our defects. It doesn’t correct those defects; it only points them out to us.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.  James 1:25

In some ways the law is also like an owner’s instruction manual; it tells us how God designed us to live – what we should and shouldn’t do to get the most out of the life He has given us.

Many Christians do recognize the importance of the Ten Commandments as a standard for morality. They feel an obligation to obey God; but their actual practice has an interesting twist to it. They are very conscientious in keeping nine of the ten; but the longest one, the one that has the most specifications, the one that starts with the word Remember is usually ignored or forgotten or modified. Here is the 4th commandment the way God gave it to us:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.   Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates.   For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20:8-11

Remembering to keep the 7th day, Saturday, as God’s holy Sabbath day is as much a part of His law as the other commands against murder, adultery, etc.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.   For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  James 2:10-11

Protestants, as a result of the Reformation, claim to have rejected the authority and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church to follow “the Bible and the Bible only”; yet, they have retained one very significant doctrine: Sunday sacredness. The Catholic Church is not hesitant to state that it transferred the sacredness of Saturday to Sunday. Notice the following statements from Catholic sources:

From a Catholic catechism:

“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?

“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” (1)

From another catechism:

“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her–she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” (2)

There is no statement from God anywhere in the Bible that says the first day of the week is holy instead of the seventh day; so, who is a Christian obeying when he keeps Sunday holy?

And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:9

When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them a very specific command:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

Later, Satan came along and told them it didn’t matter what they did; he claimed that they would actually be greatly benefitted if they disobeyed God’s command. (see Genesis 3:1-5) Did God approve of what they did when they obeyed someone else??

God gave us the Sabbath as a sign that He is our God.

Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.  Ezekiel 20:20

Who is your God??

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  Romans 6:16

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words; then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.  Isaiah 58:13-14

We are stepping outside of God’s will when we treat with disrespect what He has made holy and try to make something holy that He has not blessed.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.  Revelation 22:14

Endnotes
1. Peter Geiermann, The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1957 edition), p. 50

2. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism (New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, third American edition, revised, n.d.), p. 174