The Divinely Appointed Remedies: "Gold"
Chapter 7 (continued — part 3)
Four possible explanations of these
apparent contradictions are:
-
"The worlds Redeemer accepts men
as they are, with all their wants, imperfections, and weaknesses" (SC
46). and lets them begin the Christian life with whatever motivation they
are at the moment capable of. Many may be baptized from purely selfish
reasons with no appreciation of Calvary. Their religion is at present
"worth nothing" (SC 49, but at least the law is their
"schoolmaster" to bring them unto Christ that eventually they
"might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24).
-
Millions of Christians have gone into
the grave without ever properly appreciating the Atonement. They lived in
eras of comparative darkness, and lived up to all the light they had. They
never found full release from self-centered legalism, but they did the
best they could. The Lord has accepted them. Many of them have died since
Steps to Christ was published. There is help in that book for those who
prepare for death. But there is also help there for those who will prepare
for translation!
-
The work of the High Priest in the
Most Holy Apartment will result in the complete purification of the
motives of those who follow His work by faith. They will become mature
Christians and "put away childish things" (1 Cor. 13:ll). In the
full context of Paul’s chapter on agape. "childish things" are
self-centered motivations. By understanding that Ellen White ministered in
a transition period, her apparent contradictions are resolved. Not yet had
all of God’s people been ready to "put away childish things",
nor were they quite ready yet to know that motivation "which is
perfect".
-
With no desire to contradict what our
Lord says, it may be better to be a "lukewarm" church member
than not to be a member at all. At least this is what we have supposed for
many decades, hence many immature efforts to increase our membership. If a
person accepts the terms of church membership and enters the church,
however unconscious he may be of his true spiritual state, there is always
a chance that he will respond to the Holy Spirit and overcome his
lukewarmness.
When our Lord says, "I would thou
wert cold or hot", we may not necessarily assume He means He wishes
we were either "hot" members or completely out of the church.
Perhaps so; but He may mean He wishes we were either "hot"
members, or "cold" members who truly felt our need of warmth.
The popular self-centered motivations employed in some evangelism may
indeed increase our membership; the point is, the true
"constraint" of the love of Christ alone can enable us to
overcome our lukewarmness.
Before we turn to examine more closely
what New Testament love is, let us look at one more Ellen G. White
statement that is exceedingly clear and incisive on this matter of faith
being a heart-appreciation of the Atonement:
The precious blood of Jesus is the
fountain prepared to cleanse the soul from the defilement of sin. When you
determine to take Him as your friend, a new and enduring light will shine
from the cross of Christ. A true sense of the sacrifice and intercession
of the dear Saviour will break the heart that has become hardened in sin;
and love. thankfulness. and humility will come into the soul. The
surrender of the heart to Jesus subdues the rebel into a penitent. and
then the language of the obedient soul is. Old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new". This is the true religion of the
Bible. Everything short of this is a deception. (4T 625).
Neither the words "faith" nor
"righteousness" appear in this passage; yet righteousness is
certainly the experience described. If righteousness comes only by faith,
it becomes obvious that true faith must be the means that effects this
great change.
Returning to our topic of the "gold’
we are counseled to "buy", we must seek to discover what New
Testament love is. Unless we understand and appreciate that, we cannot
possibly understand what faith is. Very briefly we may summarize the
contrast between Gods heavenly love (agape) and the human emotion
we all know which is commonly assumed to be "love":
| The Common Idea of Love |
God’s Love (Agape) |
| 1. Always dependent on beauty or goodness
of its object Loves "its own", such as family or those who are
good to us. |
1. Loves those who are ugly or unworthy.
"God commendeth His agape toward us. in that while we were yet
sinners [and enemies] Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, 10). |
| 2. Rests on a sense of need, as husband
or wife loves spouse because of need, or children love parents. and
parents their children, because they need them. |
2. God, who is infinite in wealth, loves
out of His goodness alone. "He [Christ] was rich. yet for your sakes
He became poor" (2 Cor. 8:9). |
| 3. Dependent on value of its object. |
3. Creates value in its object (Isa.
13:12). |
| 4.
Man seeking after God. All false religion based on idea that God is
esoteric, hiding Himself. Salvation thus depends on man’s
initiative. |
4. Not man seeking God but God seeking
after man. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save … "
(Luke 19:10). Thus, salvation dependent on Gods initiative. not ours. |
| 5. Always aspires to climb up higher.
Continual motivation of sinful man. (Seen even in the church and ministerial leadership). |
5. Ready to step down lower. Purest
revelation of agape seen in Philippians 2:5-8. Christ was in highest place but stepped down to
lowest, "even the death of the cross". |
| 6. Is basically self-love. Modern
evangelical leaders now strongly teach necessity for primary love of self.
Self-love confused with proper sense of self-respect dependent on
appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice in our behalf. Ultimate dimension of
self-love: |
6. Is the utter emptying of self. (But
this is not monastic asceticism or egocentric self-denial pursued as a
means to a greater eventual reward. Such is mere religious opportunism).
"Seeketh not her own", genuinely seeks the good of others. Its
fullest dimension is the following: |
| 7. Desires immortality as heavenly
reward. All religions, Christian or non-Christian, appeal to this basic
egocentric motivation. Has been dominant motivation employed in much
Seventh-day Adventist evangelism. Responsible for egocentric lukewarmness. |
7. Willing to sacrifice eternal life,
even to be lost eternally. Supreme demonstration is Christ on His cross
where He died the equivalent of the "second death" for us. Moses
and Paul are examples of redeemed sinners who knew such agape (cf.
Ex. 32:32; Rom. 9:1-3). |
| (Contrasts adapted from Anders Nygren, Agape
and Eros, p. 210). |
These contrasts explain why John created
that sublime equation "God is agape". And "he that
loveth not [with agape] knoweth not God’, but "every one
that loveth [with agape]is born of God, and knoweth God. … Herein
is our agape made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment. … There is no fear in agape; but perfect agape casteth
out fear. … He that feareth is not made perfect in agape".
No one can invent or originate such love from a human source!
We love because He first loved
us
|
