10. Salvation, Grace, and Obedience

#141: "Ellen White stressed the keeping of the letter of the law along with many added rules to put one on the road to salvation."

#141: She said that before we can start on the road to salvation, we must keep the law. If this is true, which it is not, why did she say this?

Come with humble hearts, not thinking that you must do some good work to merit the favor of God, or that you must make yourself better before you can come to Christ. You are powerless to do good, and cannot better your condition. Apart from Christ we have no merit, no righteousness. Our sinfulness, our weakness, our human imperfection make it impossi­ble that we should appear before God unless we are clothed in Christ's spotless righteousness. We are to be found in Him not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is in Christ. Then in the name that is above every name, the only name given among men whereby men can be saved, claim the promise of God, saying, "Lord, forgive my sin; I put my hands into Thy hand for help, and I must have it, or perish. 1 now believe." The Saviour says to the repenting sinner, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), "and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "I am thy salvation" (Ps. 35:3).-Selected Messages, bk. 1, pp. 333, 334, italics added.

She well knew what the Bible teaches. We can't truly obey God until we have come to Christ (Gal. 5:17; Is. 64:6; Jer. 13:23). We "are powerless to do good." If we wait until we are keeping the law before we start on the road to salvation, we will never get on that road, for it is totally impossible to obey without Jesus in the heart.

As shown under #144 below, this statement of Mr. Martin is contradicted by the point he makes just two

#142 & #143: "She had no patience with Christians who dared to say 'I am saved.' 'We are never to rest in a satisfied condition... saying "I am saved".., they pervert the truth... They declare that we have only to believe on Jesus Christ and that faith is all sufficient; that the righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner's credentials... This class claim that Christ came to save sinners, and that he has saved them... But are they saved... No...' Signs of the Times February 8,1897."

#142: She wrote this quote. Not really. The quotation is both out of context and altered.

Two quotes written seven years apart from two different periodicals from two different continents have been fused into one at the second ellipsis. The second quote is not from Signs of the Times, an American journal, but from Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, an Australian journal. Proof that all this is so can be found under "Point 71" in the documentation package, which reproduces both quotes.

The portions of the quotes that the video omitted reveal clearly what she was trying to say, something quite different than Mr. Martin's allegation. We'll demonstrate this under the next number.

#143: She had no patience with those who believe in Jesus and say, "I am saved." To start with, let's fill in the first ellipsis in the quote from the first article, and the last two ellipses in the quote from the last article:

"We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advancement, saying, 'I am saved.' " -Review and Herald, June 17, 1890.

But are they saved while transgressing the law of Jehovah?-No; for the garments of Christ's righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity.-Bible Echo, Feb. 25, 1897.

Will the reader please compare these two statements with what Mr. Martin said? Does his quoting of Mrs. White sound at all like what she really did say?

Before we go on, let's review a point from #66. If we want to avoid misconstruing Mrs. White's statements, we must recognize the definitions she was using. Typically, most folk who talk about when they were "saved" are referring to their justification and conversion. While this must be the definition Mr. Martin is using here, it isn't the one Mrs. White is using. She's referring more to the end of the Christian walk than its beginning:

It is not he that putteth on the armor that can boast of the victory; for he has the battle to fight and the victory to win. It is he that endureth unto the end that shall be saved. The Lord says, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."-Review and Herald, June 17, 1890.

What was the problem with those in Mrs. White's day who, as Mr. Martin put it, "dared to say, 'I am saved' "? "As long as man is full of weakness,-for of himself he cannot save his soul, he should never dare to say, 'I am saved.' "-Ibid. How interesting! Out of human pride they were in danger of trusting in self rather than Christ. In actuality, Mrs. White's concern was exactly opposite of what Mr. Martin alleges.

Human pride, ceasing to make advancement, forgetting that we are full of weakness, to these concerns we must add one more:

But the doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made the law of God of none effect; that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the word.-Bible Echo, Feb. 25, 1897.

Both articles expressed this same concern for the doctrine called "antinomianism," a term meaning "against law." There are those who believe that one can live like the devil and still go to heaven. One gentleman of this persuasion conversed a bit with this writer on the topic. He was emphatic that even if he murdered a thousand people in cold blood one at a time and never repented, he would still go to heaven, for he had at some point in the distant past believed in Christ.

Mrs. White just couldn't buy that, so she said that "such pervert the truth." Odds are, you probably agree with her.

#144 & #145: "The Adventist view of salvation is that Jesus made the down payment for our salvation at the cross, but once you've accepted his offer of salvation you've got to keep making up the monthly installments."

#144: Adventists believe that Jesus made the down payment for our salvation. Assuming that Adventists base their beliefs on Mrs. White, which they don't, Mr. Martin is contradicting himself.

Two sentences and a quotation ago he said, "Ellen White stressed the keeping of the letter of the law along with many added rules to put one on the road to salvation." So which is it? Did Jesus make the down payment? Or must we keep the law in order to put ourselves on the road to salvation? It can't be both. Either one or the other (or both) of Mr. Martin's statements is incorrect.

Jesus paid it all.

 #145: But they believe we must make the monthly installments. Thus it is suggested that Adventists believe we partially earn our salvation. This is false. First of all, and most importantly, such a position contradicts the Scriptures: "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:3).

Secondly, and less importantly, such a position contradicts Mrs. White: "The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ."-Desire of Ages, p. 300.

Title? Fitness? What does that mean?

The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.-Review and Herald, June 4, 1895.

So both our justification ("down payment") and our sanctification ("monthly installments") are found in the righteousness of Christ. We can earn neither.

#146, #147, & #148: "So not really relying upon the grace of God alone to save them, Adventists are striving to be rigidly obedient and this makes for an inflexible, guilt-ridden, legalistic lifestyle."

#146: Adventists do not rely upon the grace of God alone. This is not what Adventists believe, nor what Mrs. White taught:

Only through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin. His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of our fallen nature. Ministry of Healing, p. 428.

... there is safety only in Christ. It is through His grace alone that Satan can be successfully repulsed. -Testimonies for the Church vol. 2, p. 409.

His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.-Steps to Christ, p. 18.

Divine grace is needed at the beginning, divine grace at every step of advance, and divine grace alone can complete the work.-Testimonies to Ministers, p. 508.

It was by self-surrender and confiding faith that Jacob gained what he had failed to gain by conflict in his own strength. God thus taught His servant that divine power and grace alone could give him the blessing he craved.-God's Amazing Grace, p. 279.

And the list could go on.

#147: They're striving to be rigidly obedient. Actually, there isn't as much striving as there ought to be. The average member will likely tell you that there is a bit of laxity in the Adventist Church today. And that trend seems to be growing. 

#148: They're inflexible, guilt-ridden legalists. Probably every denomination has its legalists. This writer had one coming to a church he pastored back in the 1980's. She didn't seem guilt-ridden one bit, which was quite unfortunate given the situation. Repeatedly when confronted about her unchristlike behavior, she would list all the wonderful things she had done, as if good works could buy her a pardon for backbiting, gossip, and dishonesty.

It is probable that the average legalist feels no more guilt than the average person. Legalism is a way to get rid of guilt, not cause it.

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. (Rom. 7:9-11)

The law tells us what God requires. When we realize that we fall short, we feel guilty. Then we have a choice to make regarding how we deal with that guilt.

Legalism is one way. The legalist thinks that his partial, imperfect, self-centered "obedience" can earn him salvation. As he deceives himself into thinking that he really is obeying God's commandments, guilt to a large degree goes away.

When an individual realizes what God requires and wants to obey, he soon finds out that he has a problem:

For 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.... 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.... 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. (Rom. 7:14-23)

This is a necessary experience to go through for the one who is seeking Christ. Such an experience reveals to us our great weakness apart from Christ. Then we know Whom we must rely upon for strength and power to live the Christian life:

0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.... 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. (Rom. 7:24, 25; 8:1, 2)

No condemnation to those who walk after the Spirit? And why might that be?

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom. 8:4)

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16)

The life of rebellion has been transformed into one of loving obedience. Isn't the gospel beautiful?

#149: "Despite modern Adventist attempts to soften law-keeping, Ellen White's teachings are unmistakable: 'No one is saved who is a transgressor of the law of God...' Advent Review and Sabbath Herald June 17, 1890."

#149: Mrs. White said, "No one is saved who is a transgressor." This statement was part of the first article referred to under #142. Let's add just a tad bit of context:

If we are disobedient, our characters are out of harmony with God's moral rule of government, and it is stating a falsehood to say, "I am saved." No one is saved who is a transgressor of the law of God, which is the foundation of his government in heaven and in earth.

That's hard to argue with, given how the Bible defines salvation.

Jesus came to save us from our sins, not in our sins (Mat. 1:21). And what is sin? It's the transgression of the law (1 Jn. 3:4). In other words, part of salvation's work is to bring the sinner into repentance and obedience to all of God's commandments. Continued unrepentance for violations of God's law indicates that there is a sin that the individual refuses to be saved from. How then can one claim to be saved from sin while at the same time refusing to be saved from sin?

It is the clear teaching of the New Testament that we must repent of sin if we want to be saved. Mr. Martin could have just as well said, "Despite modern Adventist attempts to soften law-keeping....

... the apostle Paul's teachings are unmistakable: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effemi­nate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9, 10)

... the apostle John's teachings are unmistakable: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 Jn. 2:3, 4)

... the apostle Peter's teachings are unmistakable: "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." (Acts 5:32)

... the apostle Jude's teachings are unmistakable: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude 14, 15)

... the apostle James's teachings are unmistakable: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.... So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." (James 2:10, 11)

... Jesus's teachings are unmistakable: "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. 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." (Mat. 5:17-20)

God forbid that any believer or preacher would say such things! Jesus came to save us "from our sins," and we must let Him do it!

#150 & #151: "Yet the Bible teaches that we are under a New Covenant and the Old Covenant is obsolete. Christ is the end of the law."

#150: We're under the New Covenant now. Though this is a popular antinomian argument, it doesn't make sense in the light of the only New Testament passage that describes the New Covenant:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, 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:... 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. (Heb. 8:7-10)

First of all, this passage clearly says that the problem with the Old Covenant was the people, not the law. This harmonizes with how Romans 7:12 says that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." There is nothing wrong with the law.

Secondly, the passage clearly says that the New Covenant is God's writing His laws in our hearts and minds. If we don't have to obey the law under the New Covenant, how then can the New Covenant be God's writing His law in us?

In looking for what the difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant is, the following verses can be helpful:

And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. (Ex. 19:8)

And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. (Ex. 24:3)

And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. (Ex. 24:7)

They said they would obey, but since their promise didn't last forty days, they must have been trying to do it on their own. It is utterly impossible for us to write God's laws in our own hearts and minds. Only God can do that, for only He can convert the heart and bring us into repentance and obedience.

Therefore, a major difference between the Old and New Covenants must be who does the writing upon the heart. Under the Old, the people try to do it themselves, all in vain. Under the new, we let God do it.

Is the law of the New Covenant that's written in our hearts the Ten Commandments, or is it some other law? That's a fair question, and it deserves a fair answer.

"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament" (Rev. 11:19). Since "testament" is translated from the Greek word for "covenant," what we are seeing in this verse is the ark of God's covenant. But is it the ark of the Old Covenant or the New? Two points may be considered.

First, this verse is speaking of events that happen at the end of time. Since the Old Covenant is long since gone by the end of time, this ark must be the ark of the New Covenant.

Second, the sanctuary and its furniture that Moses made were but copies of the heavenly originals, and these originals belong to the New Covenant (Heb. 8:2, 5; 9:1). Since Revelation's ark is in a temple in heaven, not a temple on earth, it must therefore be the original ark, the ark of God's New Covenant.

But what was the purpose of the ark? Primarily, it served as a box to hold the Ten Commandments, the "tables of the covenant" (Deut. 9:9-11; 10:4). This is how it got its name. Thus Revelation's ark of God's New Covenant must likewise have "tables of the covenant" inside. Otherwise, the phrase "ark of his testament" is meaningless.

There is but one question left. Do the tables inside the ark of the Old Covenant and the tables inside the ark of the New Covenant read the same? Well, if the sanctuary that Moses made was but a copy of the heavenly, and if the ark he made was but a copy of the original in heaven, would not the earthly tables also be a copy of the originals in heaven? Of course!

 #151: Christ is the end of the law. This too is a popular antinomian argument, taken from Romans 10:4. Yet it contradicts what Christ 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. (Mat. 5:17,18)

It also makes Paul contradict himself in the very same book: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31).

So what does "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" mean? "Ye have heard of the patience of job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy" (James 5:11). Apparently, "end" has more than one meaning, unless we want to say that the "Lord" has ended.

"End" in Romans 10:4 means "that which the law leads to." This makes the text parallel the thought of another passage of Paul: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (Gal. 3:24, 25).

The law tells us what God requires and what sin is (Rom. 3:20; 7:7). When we realize our helplessness to atone for the past and to live in the present, we are drawn to Christ as our only hope. Christ is thus the "end" of the law because the law leads us to Christ.

Back to the ark of the covenant for a moment. "And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened" (Rev. 15:5). Notice how the heavenly temple is described as the "tabernacle of testimony." Often in the Old Testament the tabernacle was called the tabernacle of testimony or witness. Why? Because the ark was inside, and it was called the ark of testimony or witness. And why was it called that? Because it contained the "tables of testimony" (Ex. 38:21; 25:16; 31:18; 32:15; 34:29). And why are the Ten Command­ments called tables of testimony? Because they testify and tell us exactly what sin is, and how we are in dire need of a Savior.

The prophet Micah foretold the second coming (Mic. 1:3, 4). In that context, he had this to say to everyone in the end of time, whether Jew or Gentile: "Hear, all ye people; hearken, 0 earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple" (Mic. 1:2).

Will we let God testify to us about our sins through the Ten Commandments of His heavenly temple? Or shall we shut our ears to what God says through His Word, go on in our disobedience and sin, and be lost in the end? Dear reader, won't you choose to follow Christ wherever He leads?

#152: "The New Testament teaches that the law was given by God to be our tutor or teacher leading us to Christ. Listen to what Galatians 3:25 says. It says, 'We are no longer under a tutor.' " -

#152: We're no longer under a schoolmaster or tutor. Is Mr. Martin implying that not being under the law means that we don't have to keep the law? Is he saying that those who obey the law are still under the law? Interpreting Paul's usage of the phrase "under the law" or "under a tutor" in such a way is highly inaccurate.

Certainly, Paul did not mean that we can continue to kill, hate, fornicate, lust, steal, covet, and lie and still go to heaven. The same book of Galatians says:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19-21)

Why can't people who do such things enter heaven? The next two verses answer this question: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuf­fering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22, 23). Clearly, what excludes the unrepentant murderer, fornicator, and thief from heaven in New Testament times is the law of God.

"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18). Why is this? Why is the believer not under the law?

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Gal. 5:16, 17)

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:24, 25)

Before continuing, let's summarize what these verses we've already looked at from Galatians are saying:

1. Unrepentant sinners can't go to heaven, because there is a law against that.

2. There is a war between the flesh and the Spirit, so that we in and of ourselves are powerless to do what is right.

3. If believers walk in the Spirit, they will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

4. Such believers who are not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh are not under the law.

It appears, then, that Paul is saying that the Spirit­filled believer is not under the law because he is truly keeping the law. Here is another way to arrive at the same conclusion:

1. "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed" (Gal. 3:23). So those who are under the law are not yet under faith.

2. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23). Those who are not yet under faith must therefore still be under sin.

3. "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 In. 3:4). Those who are still under sin must therefore be those who are transgressing the law.

Thus, those who are under the law must be those who are transgressing the law. In essence, to be under the law must mean to be under its condemna­tion. Consequently, it makes no sense whatsoever to say that a transgressor is not under the law, or that a law-abiding Christian is under the law. Someone who is truly keeping the law cannot be under the law, and someone who is breaking the law cannot but be under the law.

These conclusions harmonize with how the apostle Paul equates being under sin's dominion with being under the law: "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" (Rom. 6:14, 15).

The law's purpose is to shut the mouth of both Jew and Gentile, and to make them both guilty before God: "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19).

To conclude:

Some time ago, when we were passing through Oswego, N. Y., we saw two stern officers, and with them two men were coupled, carrying in their hands large leaden balls. We did not come to the conclusion that they had been keeping the law of the State of New York, but that they had been breaking it, and that they could not walk at liberty because they were transgressors of the law. We were trying to live in harmony with all the laws of the State of New York, and with the law of God; and we were walking at liberty, we were not under the bondage of the law. If we live in harmony with the life of Christ, with the law of God, that law does not condemn us-we are not under the bondage of the law.-Review and Herald, Jan. 4, 1887.

There is full assurance of hope in believing every word of Christ, believing in Him, being united to Him by living faith. When this is his experience, the human being is no longer under the law, for the law no longer condemns his course of action. In Heavenly Places, p. 144.

#153: "Christians are to grow in grace and keep God's commandments out of a love for Him, not under compulsion."

#153: Christians will keep God's commandments out of love. This statement is one of the most prominent contradictions in the video. How more self-destructive can this logic be? "We should not try to keep the law, but we will keep the law if we love God."

It can't be both ways. We have to pick one or the other: 1) Christians should keep the law of God and refrain from murder, adultery, theft, and lies. 2) Christians do not need to worry about that at all and can continue all the old perversions they used to do before they came to Christ.

If Mr. Martin's statement that Christians will keep the law because they love God is true, which it is, then whether they are indeed keeping the law or not is an indicator of how much they love Him. So adamantly refusing to keep a biblical command of God is evidence that we do not really love Him.

Why would Mr. Martin or anyone else contradict himself in this way? Actually, this kind of thing is all too common. It typically happens when someone is trying to avoid one of the Ten Commandments. The arguments against obedience are aimed at just one of the ten, while the statements in favor of obedience are concerning the other nine.

Which one of the ten do you think Mr. Martin might be trying to avoid? Is he trying to convince us that it is all right to kill, fornicate, steal, lie, covet, dishonor our parents, have other gods in place of God, bow down to images, or take God's name in vain? Or might he be trying to avoid the one that says to remember the Sabbath of the Lord to keep it holy?

Christians will "keep God's commandments out of love." Mr. Martin's connection between obedience to God's law and love is biblically sound, supported by thirteen verses from the New Testament and eleven from the Old:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. (John 14:21)

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:10)

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great com­mandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two com­mandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mat. 22:37-40)

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Rom. 13:8)

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Rom. 13:10)

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Gal. 5:14)

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his command­ments: and his commandments are not grievous. (1 In. 5:2, 3)

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. (2 Jn. 6)

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Ex. 20:6; Deut. 5:10)

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. (Deut. 7:9)

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. (Dent. 11:1)

If ye shall hearken diligently unto my command­ments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God. (Dent. 11:13)

For if ye shall diligently keep all these command­ments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God. (Dent. 11:22)

If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God. (Deut. 19:9)

In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments. (Deut. 30:16)

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments. (Josh. 22:5)

0 LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. (Neh. 1:5)

0 Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments. (Dan. 9:4)

Whether in Old Testament or New Testament times, the obedience that God requires is an obedience that is motivated by love. Anything less is not really obedience at all.

We ought to briefly revisit one point. Remember how under #93 we saw that the New Testament teaches that no one has ever seen God the Father? Thus when we read about Abraham or Jacob or Manoah seeing God, it means that they saw Christ.

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. (Ex. 24:9-11)

So this must have been Christ as well who met with these folk on Mt. Sinai.

This answers for us the following question: When Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15), do His "commandments" include the Ten?

#154: "In fact being under the law leads to sin. 1 Corinthians 15:56 says, 'The strength of sin is the law.' "-Mark Martin.

#154: Being under the law leads to sin. Mr. Martin appears to be saying that obeying the law leads to sin. This is a rather strange conclusion, for how can obeying the law lead to breaking the law?

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (Rom. 7:7)

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:20)

According to the New Testament, while the law cannot save us, it does define what sin is. As we saw under #152, "under the law" means "under the condemnation of the law." These simple Bible facts make it clear that, rather than being under the law leading to sin, sin is what puts us under the law.

The text cited, 1 Corinthians 15:56, is an interesting one. What does it mean? Consider the thoughts on this very verse found in these well-known commentaries written by scholars who were not Seventh-day Adventists:

[N]ot that the law of God is sinful, or encourages sin: it forbids it under the severest penalty; but was there no law there would be no sin, nor imputation of it; sin is a transgression of the law: moreover, the strength of sin, its evil nature, and all the dreadful aggravations of it, and sad consequences upon it, are discovered and made known by the law; and also the strength of it is drawn out by it, through the corruption of human nature; which is irritated and provoked the more to sin, through the law's prohibition of it; and this is not the fault of the law, but is owing to the vitiosity of nature; which the more it is forbidden anything, the more desirous it is of it; to which may be added, that sin is the more exceeding sinful, being committed against a known law, and that of the great lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; whose legislative power and authority are slighted and trampled upon by it, which makes the transgression the more heinous; it is the law which binds sin upon a man's conscience, accuses him of it, pronounces him guilty, curses, condemns, and adjudges him to death for it.-Gill's Expositor and the Body of Divinity.

The strength of sin. Its power over the mind; its terrific and dreadful energy; and especially its power to produce alarm in the hour of death.

Is the law. The pure and holy law of God. This idea Paul has illustrated at length in Rom. 7:9-13, and he probably made the statement here in order to meet the Jews, and to show that the law of God had no power to take away the fear of death; and that, therefore, there was need of the gospel, and that this alone could do it. The Jews maintained that a man might be justified and saved by obedience to the law. Paul here shows that it is the law which gives its chief rigour to sin, and that it does not tend to subdue or destroy it; and that power is seen most strikingly in the pangs and horrors of a guilty conscience on the bed of death. There was need, therefore, of the gospel, which alone could remove the cause of these horrors, by taking away sin, and thus leaving the pardoned man to die in peace. -Barnes' New Testament Notes.

Without the law sin is not perceived or imputed (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 5:13). The law makes sin the more grievous by making God's will the clearer. (Rom. 7:8­10). Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown.

The law, broken, is sin, and when this law is consciously broken the conscience is wounded. When a moral law is broken, moral death follows. If there was no law of any kind, there would be no sin, no wounded consciences, no moral death. See Rom. 7:7.-Peoples New Testament Notes.

#155: "In contrast, being under grace leads to holiness. I love what Titus 2 verses 11 and 12 says. 'For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. It instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.' "

#155: Grace leads to holiness and righteousness. This too, similar to #153, is contradictory and self­destructive to Mr. Martin's principal argument. If we do not have to worry about keeping the law under the gospel of grace, why would that grace lead to holiness?

The Old Testament connects holiness with commandment keeping:

That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. (Num. 15:40)

The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. (Deut. 28:9)

Both the New Testament and the Old Testament connect righteousness with commandment keeping:

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:6)

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom. 8:4)

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2 Pet. 2:21)

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. (Deut. 6:25)

0 that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. (Is. 48:18, 19)

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. (Is. 51:7)

Did you notice the last two texts? These clearly connected commandment keeping with the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the New Covenant. Isaiah 48 referred to God's promise to Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the sand of the sea (Gen. 22:17). Isaiah 51 referred to the New Covenant promise that God's law will be written in our hearts (Heb. 10:16; Jer. 31:33). Thus once again we see that the righteousness of Christ offered through the Abrahamic covenant, the New Covenant of grace, is vitally connected to the commandments of God.

According to Paul, God accounts a Gentile to be a Jew if he keeps the righteousness of the law: "Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?" (Rom. 2:26). This is not to say that righteousness comes by the law, for this idea the New Testament emphatically denies (Gal. 2:21). Rather, the gospel of grace leads one into obedience to all of God's commandments. To quote Mrs. White, [John Wesley] continued his strict and self-denying life, not now as the ground, but the result of faith; not the root, but the fruit of holiness. The grace of God in Christ is the foundation of the Christian's hope, and that grace will be manifested in obedience. Wesley's life was devoted to the preaching of the great truths which he had received justification through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, bringing forth fruit in a life conformed to the example of Christ.-Great Controversy, p. 256.

For Mr. Martin to say that the grace of God leads to holiness while seeking to avoid obedience to the fourth commandment is extremely contradictory. This is because the Sabbath in Scripture is a sign of sanctification and holiness:

Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. (Ex. 31:13)

Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. (Ezek. 20:12)

"Sanctification" and "holiness" come from the same root words in both Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek. Thus, when the Bible says that the Sabbath is a sign of sanctification, it is also saying that it is a sign of holiness. So if the grace of God does in fact lead to holiness, which it does, surely it will lead to obedience to the fourth commandment as well as to the other nine!