A Message of Hope
Even before the creation of this planet, the fundamental principles of divine government are based on the eternal Law of God. Before the rebellion of Lucifer and his associates, there was perfect harmony in the whole creation because the divine Law was engraved in the heart of all intelligent creatures.
After the mutiny promoted by Lucifer in heaven, the war against the divine principles brought conflict, disharmony, and unhappiness. As a result, the third part of the angels was expelled from the heavenly environment.
Adam and Eve were also created in full harmony with God’s Law, which was engraved in their hearts. Their happiness depended upon complete obedience to those principles of God’s administration.
Sadly, Satan was successful in bringing to this planet the seed of rebellion, and our first parents accepted the words of Satan instead of obeying the divine constitution. As a result, our world became a rebellious planet.
The ultimate goal of the plan of salvation is to bring humanity back to harmony with the Law of God. The whole system of sacrifices instituted after the fall of Adam and Eve included forgiveness to repented sinners and restoration to their previous position in harmony with the will of God.
After sin, human nature became corrupt and in enmity against God. We are born in this sinful condition.
In the prayer of David, after his terrible sin against God in the case of Bathsheba and Uriah, he declared: “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5).
Paul, in Romans 3:23, wrote that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The same apostle, talking about human experience, said in Romans 7:p> “We know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (verses 14–24). In these Scriptures, Paul describes a real struggle. After knowing God’s law, the sincere believer starts a battle against sin, but he discovers that his own strength is not enough to win. He becomes conscious that there in his human nature what Paul calls “the law of sin” against which human power is totally incapable. Even after knowing Christ, the sinner continues this struggle against his sinful tendencies. Observe the following verse: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (verse 25). The good news is that Paul did not stop his discourse in a double-minded state. Just as the psalmist prayed, “I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name” (Psalm 86:11), the passage in Romans continues with the apostle Paul explaining how we can choose to do right through the divine strength imparted through Christ: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 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. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:1–14). Our victory against sin and our power to obey God’s commandments depend on full surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit, when we submit our life totally to Christ. When we study the history of Israel, God’s people for more than 3,000 years, we see how rebellious is human nature against the Law of God. Then it comes to our mind the important question: “Is it really possible for human beings to obey the Law of God?” We can answer with a strong YES because the Bible describes a people about whom is written: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). Here we find three basic characteristics of God’s people: 1. They possess the patience of the saints; 2. They keep the commandments of God; and 3. They have the faith of Jesus. The life of Christ on earth proved that Satan is a liar. After his rebellion in heaven, he started spreading through the whole universe that the Law of God could not be obeyed, and when Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God in Eden, the enemy tried to prove that he was right. But after taking human nature upon Himself, Christ declared before His crucifixion: “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46). We need to understand that, in our own, we cannot obey the commandments of God, but through faith in Christ obedience is really possible. “Apparently the whole world is guilty of receiving the mark of the beast. But the prophet sees a company who are not worshiping the beast, and who have not received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands. ‘Here is the patience of the saints,’ he declares; ‘here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ ”1
“Of the remnant people of God it is written, ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ (Revelation 12:17).”2
After falling in sin, humans became, by themselves, totally unable to obey God’s precept. Christ said: “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Only when we realize our total impossibility to fulfill God’s will in our own strength we are prepared to submit ourselves totally to Christ, and then we can obey God’s word. “The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been—just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents—perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized. “It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God’s law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. “More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So you may say, ‘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 2:20). So Jesus said to His disciples, ‘It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you’ (Matthew 10:20). Then with Christ working in you, you will manifest the same spirit and do the same good works —works of righteousness, obedience. “So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and through us. “When we speak of faith, there is a distinction that should be borne in mind. There is a kind of belief that is wholly distinct from faith. The existence and power of God, the truth of His word, are facts that even Satan and his hosts cannot at heart deny. The Bible says that ‘the devils also believe, and tremble;’ but this is not faith (James 2:19). Where there is not only a belief in God’s word, but a submission of the will to Him; where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith—faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of God. And the heart that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the psalmist, “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day’ (Psalm 119:97). And the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, ‘who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1).”3
There is no doubt about what it means the commandments of God, however, when we talk about the “faith of Jesus,” then we meet with many interpretations. What is the real meaning of the “faith of Jesus”? Without the “faith of Jesus” is practicably impossible to obey the commandments of God. The words of John Nevins Andrews are very appropriate in this context: “The language of verse 12, ‘Here is the patience of the saints,’ is sufficient of itself to overthrow the application of these messages to the future age. The following scriptures clearly teach that the patience of the saints refers to the present time, and not to the period of their future glorious reward: ‘Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise’ (Heb. x, 36). ‘In your patience possess ye your souls’ (Luke xxi, 19). ‘Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord’ (James v, 7). Will the saints have need of patience in the kingdom of God? Will they have to possess their souls in patience after they have received the promise, even life everlasting? 1 John ii, 25. It is tribulation that worketh patience. Rom. v, 3; James i, 2, 3. Are the saints in tribulation after they are made immortal and crowned with everlasting joy? No, never. Isa. xxv, 8, 9; xxxv, 10; Rev. vii, 13–17. But the saints are in their patience when the third angel’s message is given. Hence that message does not belong to the future age. “But verse 12 concludes thus: ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’ It is evident that this refers to the period when the remnant are keeping the commandments of God while exposed to the wrath of the dragon [Rev. xii, 17], and that it does not refer to the period when the commandment-keepers shall have entered in through the gates into the Holy City [Rev. xxii, 14]; and that it refers to the period when the saints are living by faith [Heb. x, 38, 39], and not to the period when they shall have received the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls. 1 Pet. i, 9.”4
“The offering of Cain was an offense to God, because it was a Christless offering. The burden of our message is not only the commandments of God, but the faith of Jesus. A bright light shines upon our pathway today, and it leads to increased faith in Jesus.”5
“God’s denominated people—those who on this earth have witnessed to their loyalty. Who are they?—Those who have kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; those who have owned the Crucified One as their Saviour.”6
“The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are both important, immensely important, and must be given with equal force and power. The first part of the message has been dwelt upon mostly, the last part casually. The faith of Jesus is not comprehended. We must talk it, we must live it, we must pray it, and educate the people to bring this part of the message into their home life. . . . “Why are our lips so silent upon the subject of Christ’s righteousness and His love for the world? Why do we not give to the people that which will revive and quicken them into a new life? The apostle Paul is filled with transport and adoration as he declares, ‘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). . . . “The character of Christ is an infinitely perfect character, and He must be lifted up, He must be brought prominently into view, for He is the power, the might, the sanctification and righteousness of all who believe in Him.”7
“The faith of Jesus has been overlooked and treated in an indifferent, careless manner. It has not occupied the prominent position in which it was revealed to John. Faith in Christ as the sinner’s only hope has been largely left out, not only of the discourses given but of the religious experience of very many who claim to believe the third angel’s message.”8
“The third angel’s message is the proclamation of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God have been proclaimed, but the faith of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists as of equal importance, the law and the gospel going hand in hand. I cannot find language to express this subject in its fullness. “ ‘The faith of Jesus.’ It is talked of, but not understood. What constitutes the faith of Jesus, that belongs to the third angel’s message? Jesus becoming our sin-bearer that He might become our sin-pardoning Saviour. He was treated as we deserve to be treated. He came to our world and took our sins that we might take His righteousness. And faith in the ability of Christ to save us amply and fully and entirely is the faith of Jesus. “The only safety for the Israelites was blood upon the doorposts. God said, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you’ (Exodus 12:13). All other devices for safety would be without avail. Nothing but the blood on the doorposts would bar the way that the angel of death should not enter. There is salvation for the sinner in the blood of Jesus Christ alone, which cleanseth us from all sin. The man with a cultivated intellect may have vast stores of knowledge, he may engage in theological speculations, he may be great and honored of men and be considered the repository of knowledge, but unless he has a saving knowledge of Christ crucified for him, and by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, he is lost. Christ ‘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’ (Isaiah 53:5). ‘Saved by the blood of Jesus Christ,’ will be our only hope for time and our song throughout eternity.”9
By the amazing grace, let us cultivate “the patience of the saints,” the obedience to the “commandments of God,” and keep firmly the “faith of Jesus” which is total distrust in ourselves and complete confidence in Jesus as our only Saviour and Lord!