C O V E R F E A T U R E
BY DALE RATZLAFF
Strike where it leaves the pattern
I started Pacific Union College with a math major. Dr. Woods1 was the teacher in several of my classes, and even though it has been over 50 years since I sat at his revered feet in old Irwin Hall, I remember well a few things he did and said. I was continually amazed that he could draw a perfect circle on the blackboard time after time when illustrating principles in analytic geometry and calculus. He could also add a column of five digit numbers in his head and then start writing the answer from left to right. I forget what he was trying to illustrate, but I remember well his illustration.
One time Dr. Woods was watching a blacksmith making a number of identical decorative iron pieces. As he watched he asked the blacksmith, “How do you know where to hit the red hot metal with your hammer?”
The old blacksmith answered, “You strike where it leaves the pattern.”
The question to which this borrowed illustration leads me is this: do you know your life pattern? Do you know it well? Are you willing to mold your life after the pattern?
Is there an objective guide you can follow so you stay true to your pattern? Do you have one pattern, or are you trying to follow two? Is your pattern one that has been tested and tried? Do you know it well enough so that you know when and where to strike the hammer if your life starts to leave the pattern?
In this short article I would like to feature the one objective, tested, and true pattern that Jesus has given us. This pattern, summed up in a single sentence, works for all believers in Jesus, yet it yields unique fruit in each life:
Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17).
Reading the context will prove helpful.
I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me (Jn. 17:15-21)
We find this meaningful statement of Jesus in His prayer to the Father just before the events of His passion. Note the pattern: “As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” Then our Lord states, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.” Again we see the pattern. That we not misunderstand His words as referring to the eleven disciples only, we see that we are included in His prayer to the Father, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” Now we turn back to our central text for this study.
“Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17).
Sanctify means to set apart, to make holy. We note that the sanctifier in this sentence is the Father. He is the operative agent, setting us apart and counting us as holy. The fact that sanctification is the Father’s work is why so often the word “sanctified” in the NT is in the passive voice.2 However, the Father not only sets us apart in holiness for his service as Paul was set apart for the gospel,3 but He has also provided a way whereby we can progress in personal holiness. Moreover, we find the way to personal holiness as well as the path of useful service the same way: by applying the truth to our lives—and the truth is the Word of God.
Sometimes, however, we discover several problems that keep us from realizing this wonderful application of truth.
The problems
One problem that many of us had was a low view of Scripture. It has taken time for me to adjust my view of Scripture to match the Bible’s declarations about itself. Perhaps some of our readers are also in transition on this subject. As Adventists we were taught that it was not the words of the Bible that were inspired, but that the men who wrote the Bible were inspired and then wrote their inspired ideas in their own words.
A low view of the Bible’s inspiration often results in one of two outcomes. First, it often lays the foundation for liberalism. We begin to doubt the historicity of the Bible; we question the way God is pictured in the Old Testament. We may begin to regard the Bible as a record of what the ancients thought about God and not see Scripture as the message from God Himself. A second outcome related to a low view of Scripture was that many of us did not really believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. Therefore, we accepted the premise that we needed another “source of truth” to help us understand the Bible more clearly. We were not prepared to wrestle with the difficulties of Scripture or the simplicity of the gospel as presented in the New Testament. Instead, we often referred to the simple gospel of grace as “cheap grace”. We felt that there needed to be some degree—in fact a large degree—of obedience to the law before one could be accepted by God. From the letters we receive and from personal communication, we sense a great fear in many Adventists of studying the Bible without the prism of Ellen White’s commentary.
Many of us read Ellen White’s statements about what happens when we lose faith in her writings:
It is Satan’s plan to weaken the faith of God’s people in the Testimonies [writings of Ellen White]. Next follows skepticism in regard to the vital points of our faith, the pillars of our position, then doubt as to the Holy Scriptures, and then the downward march to perdition. When the Testimonies, which were once believed, are doubted and given up, Satan knows the deceived ones will not stop at this; and he redoubles his efforts till he launches them into open rebellion, which becomes incurable and ends in destruction. (Testimonies to the Church, vol. 4, p. 211.)
If you lose confidence in the Testimonies you will drift away from Bible truth. (Testimonies to the Church, vol. 5, p. 98.) [All emphases here and throughout this article are mine.]
Actually, just the opposite of her warnings has happened in my life. When I left the Adventist ministry, I determined not to look at the books written by Ellen White for a period of six months. I forced myself to deal with Scripture alone. By the end of the six months my understanding of the Bible had grown tremendously, and I never wanted to let her interpret it for me again.
Another outcome stemming from a low view of Bible inspiration is that many are blind to the dire warnings found in Scripture for adding to, subtracting from, or changing what Scripture teaches.
Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Truth, life changing truth, is found in Scripture alone. We can only hope to experience the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer if we honor Scripture, hold a high view of Scripture, and diligently study and follow the truth revealed therein. That is the only objective pattern we have to direct our lives.
A high view of Scripture needed
Whether we believe the Bible writers were inspired or that the words of the Bible themselves were God-given, we would do well to see what Scripture says about itself. If, as Jesus said, His Word is truth, we should thoroughly understand His Word so that the truth would be planted and grow in our hearts. It is only by His Word being implanted in our hearts that we will be sanctified, set apart as holy by the Father, and become able to grow in grace so that we might be all that He desires of us. I cannot fully develop the implications of this reality in this short article, but I invite the reader to delve deeply into how God’s word transforms us by purchasing and reading Scripture and Truth edited by D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge.4
Having a high view of Scripture, however, leads us to grapple with the question, can we trust the words of the Bible?
The witness of the Old Testament
From the very beginning, Scripture portrays God as speaking in words.
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 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 will surely die” (Gen, 2:16-17).
We may speculate how Moses, the writer of Genesis, knew the words God spoke at creation. In fact, some scholars believe Moses used previously existing documents in writing Genesis. The Bible itself, however, gives us the answer. For example, in my Bible computer program I counted over one hundred instances where Scripture says, “the LORD spoke to Moses” or “the LORD spoke further with Moses”. Thus, Genesis 5:1 states,
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God (Gen. 5:1).
This statement is followed by a list of Adam’s posterity. Interestingly, this formula of an announcement of a genealogy followed by a list of names occurs multiple times throughout Genesis.5 We can trust that our speaking God told Moses the names appearing in those lists. If His Word brought forth creation, His Word could inform Moses what words to write—just as the declarations of His speaking to Moses affirm.
The Old Testament story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24 is interesting to observe from the perspective of inspiration. Balaam was asked by Balak to come and curse the Israelites because Balak was afraid after he saw what Israel had done to the Amorites.
“Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him. He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as the LORD may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” (Num. 22:6-12).
Most of our readers know the rest of the story. Little by little Balaam rejected the clear direction of God given through words.
Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. He took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’ How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks, and I look at him from the hills; behold, a people who dwells apart, and will not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!” Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” (Num. 23:5-12).
As you read the whole story in Numbers, and how Peter interprets it, it becomes clear that Balaam was not personally inspired; rather, his words were inspired. Despite Balaam’s desire for the wages of evil, God did not let his mouth curse Israel. In 2 Peter 1:20 we have this well-known statement:
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Pet. 1:20-21).
A little later Peter states:
The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment (2 Pet. 2:9).
And he then uses Balaam as an example.
Having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet (2 Pet. 2:14-16).
No writer of the Bible suggests that we should not accept any other portion of Scripture. We do, however, have dire warnings to those who masquerade as prophets claiming to “speak for God” when God has not given them His words.
I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, “How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him (Deut. 18:18-22).
Thus says the LORD of hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD (Jer. 23:16).
The above references state forthrightly that God communicates to His true prophets through His words. It also gives a dire warning to false prophets whose predictions do not come true.6
There are numerous instances that could be referenced which show that God speaks to his messengers in words. Here are some examples:
David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. “But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me (1 Chr. 22:7-8).
When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak (2 Chr. 12:7).
Wayne Grudem summarizes:
The distinguishing characteristic of a true prophet is that he does not speak his own words or “words of his own heart,” but words that God has sent Him to deliver (Deut. 18:18-20; Jer. 14:14; 23:16-40; 29:31-32; Ezek. 13:1-19; cf. Num. 16:28). Throughout the Old Testament there is an emphasis not simply on the general content of prophetic speech as coming from God, but on the very words themselves. God says to Moses, the archetypal Old Testament prophet, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Exod. 4:12; cf. 24:3). The same is said of other prophets; “I will put my words in his mouth” (Deut. 18:18 cf. vv. 21-22); “I have put my words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9); “The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak” (Num. 22:38; cf. 23:5, 16); “You shall speak my words to them” (Ezek. 2:7; cf. 3:27.7
This emphasis on the actual words spoken by the mouth of the prophet indicates something more than a conviction that ideas have been given by God to the prophet, who will then express the ideas in his own words. Not just the general message but also the very words in which it is expressed are seen as coming from God. And “the prophet who presumes to speak a word ‘not from the mouth of the Lord’ (Jer. 23:16) was a false prophet.”8
The witness of the New Testament
The New Testament writers quote Old Testament historical events as true. Jesus quotes from one of the most disregarded stories of the Old Testament:
For just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Mt. 12:40).
Matthew, quoting Jesus, mentions that the men of Nineveh repented.9 Luke records Jesus using several historical incidents from the Old Testament not only as illustrations, but as illustrations based upon true history.
But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian (Lk. 4:25-27).
John accounts Jesus referring to historical events in the Old Testament as true to fact.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (Jn. 3:14).
So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there (Jn. 4:5-6).
Paul refers to numerous Old Testament historical events and never questions their historicity: Abraham and the covenant of circumcision;10 Abraham was about a hundred years old;11 Rebecca was told that her elder child would serve the younger.12
The writer of Hebrews gives a detailed description of the Sinai tabernacle.13 He states that the world was created by the word of God.14 In his chapter on faith15 the writer of Hebrews mentions details from the lives of Able, Cain, Enoch, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Isaac, Abraham, Moses, Rahab and others, and there is no hint that one should question the Old Testament record of their lives.
Daniel is a book that has been questioned by liberal scholars, but Jesus speaks of him as “Daniel the prophet” and also as one who prophesies truth.
Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains (Mt. 24:15-16).
There does not seem to be even a hint in the New Testament that the historical events recorded in the Old Testament are untrustworthy. Not only are the Old Testament people, prophets, and historical events portrayed as real and factual, but the general writings are seen as God-given.
Jesus quotes a psalm of David and introduces it with, “David said in the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that Jesus understood the Psalms to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.
David himself said in the Holy Spirit, “THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, ‘SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET.’ “David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him (Mk. 12:36-37).
On another occasion Jesus quotes from the Old Testament and says, “Scripture cannot be broken.”
Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, “I am the Son of God”? (Jn. 10:34-36).
That we may understand the far reaching implication of this statement to our discussion of the reliability of Scripture, I quote from Leon Morris.
Jesus’ answer is to direct them to Scripture. He uses the term “law”, which strictly applied only to the Pentateuch, but which was extended in meaning to embrace the whole Old Testament, and this is the use here, for the passage He cites is from the Psalms … Jesus points out that in Ps. 82:6 it stands written, “Ye are gods” (the citation is exact, agreeing both with the Hebrew and LXX). The passage refers to the judges of Israel, and the expression “gods” is applied to them in the exercise of their high and God-given office …A very high authority is being recognized in Scripture, for Jesus goes on “and the Scripture cannot be broken”. Notice that he says this, not in connection with some declaration which might be regarded as among the key declarations of the Old Testament, but of what we might perhaps call without disrespect a rather run-of the mill passage. The singular is usually held to refer to a definite passage from the Old Testament and not to Scripture as a whole. Even so, what was true of this passage could be true only because it was part of the inspired Scriptures and shows the characteristics of the whole.16
We could safely conclude from Jesus’ usage of “Scripture” in this incident, that He considered the whole of Scripture to be inspired by God and to be true, even in portions which we deem mundane.
God communicates using words in the New Testament
There is abundant evidence that the New Testament revelation is communicated to the writers using words. Consider the following references:
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Mt. 3:16-17).
Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” (Mk. 9:7).
For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”—and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Pet. 1:17-21).
As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do” (Act 9:3-6).
The evidence is overwhelming that God uses the very words of the language of men to communicate to His chosen agents. Consider these other examples: the instructions to Ananias;17 Peter’s vision;18 and the words of comfort and direction to Paul:
And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10).
Sometimes we wonder how the gospel writers could remember and record the very words of Jesus years later. Jesus gives us the answer.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (Jn. 14:26).
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you (Jn. 16:13-1).
Moreover, the apostle Peter considered the writings of Paul as part of Scripture.
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:14-16).
It is my prayer that you, the reader, will consider standing on a “high view” of Scripture. I recognize this may create problems in some minds. However, the evidence for a strong view of verbal inspiration is well founded. Rather than pull the Bible down when we cannot logically understand something, let us recognize that the infinite Creator sees things we cannot see. We must bow the knee at the mystery of divine activity as well as His means of communicating His revelation to us. What Paul stated in a different context also applies here:
Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar (Rom. 3:4).
The sufficiency of Scripture
As Paul sensed he would soon be executed for his faith, he addressed Timothy, his “son in the gospel”, with his important and final instruction:
And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
Read the text above again, slowly. We can be assured that Scripture is all we need. It gives us wisdom. That wisdom leads us to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. “All19 Scripture” including both Testaments is inspired by God. We don’t have to cut out all the miracles or things we don’t understand. Because it is inspired by God, Scripture is profitable or useful for teaching and should be the basis for Christian teaching. Pastors should be able to handle the word of God in a thorough and truthful manner. Moreover, Scripture corrects our waywardness. Reading Scripture keeps us from straying; it corrects our course, our life, and our decisions. Also, studying Scripture gives us training in righteousness so that we may be adequate. “Adequate” may also be translated as perfect, complete, or capable for every good work.
If a person has salvation, wisdom, and a tool that is useful, instructive, corrective, up-building in righteousness, adequate and capable for every good work, what else is needed? Scripture is sufficient because it is God-breathed. This verse in 2 Timothy is in perfect harmony with what Jesus said, “Sanctify them through the truth; Your word is truth”. In other words, if we follow the pattern in Scripture, the prayer of Jesus will be fulfilled in our lives; we will be sanctified in the truth because His word is truth.
Here we find the pattern for the Christian life. This pattern is sufficient for all we need, and it leads us to a glorious destination. Because we have this pattern given to us by God, our job is to “strike” when any teaching leaves the pattern of Scripture.
Christian truth must rest on Scripture alone
This was the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation. We must be careful not to be led astray by the convoluted arguments of the cults which claim to follow Scripture:
- Some claim their modern-day prophet was foretold in Scripture; therefore the writings of their prophet should carry the authority of Scripture.
- Some claim that the Bibles used by the Christian church today were corrupted when they were translated from the “original Aramaic” to Greek even though the earliest manuscripts are all in Greek and there is ample evidence that many of the people of New Testament times, including Christ, were bilingual and spoke both Aramaic and Greek.
- Some claim that the Bible has been “corrected” by their prophet.
- Some publish and promote a corrupt “Bible”, supporting unbiblical doctrines. Readers of such a “Bible” will be led away from the true gospel and sanctifying truth.
The literal Bibles we have today, such as the English Standard Version, the Updated New American Standard, the New English Translation or the New King James are very accurate and trustworthy and should be the source of our doctrinal Bible study. Yes, we can trust Scripture to be our objective pattern that leads us to our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal.
Strike where it leaves the pattern
The old blacksmith in Dr. Woods’ illustration was knowledgeable in his trade. He had a trusted pattern and knew the consequences of leaving the pattern. He would strike where the metal left the pattern. Similarly, we are given the trusted and tried pattern of Scripture. We should be just as vigilant as that blacksmith and reject any deviation from Scripture which is the very word of God.
If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Rev 22:).
It is true that the above quote primarily refers to the book of Revelation. However, the organization of the books of the Bible is not haphazard. Genesis is a book of beginning and is thus found at the front of the canon. Revelation deals with the last times and is a fitting concluding book. It has dozens of quotations from other portions of Scripture and properly ends the canon of Scripture. Therefore, it is not inappropriate to extend the warning given in Revelation to the whole canon of Scripture.
We should know our pattern in Scripture well enough so that when teachings arise that will begin to direct us away from the sanctifying truth of Scripture, we know it is time to “strike”.
Read over the following quotes. You decide if they speak with the inspiration of God and are in agreement with the trusted Word of God.
- “While Moses was shut in the mount with God, the plan of salvation, dating from the fall of Adam was revealed to him” (Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 231, 232).
- “Now, our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ” (The Great Controversy, p. 623, 1888).
- “But Christ gave his life that man should have another trial. He did not die on the cross to abolish the law of God, but to secure for man a second probation” (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 143).
- “To be redeemed means to cease from sin” (The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 71-35-1, Aug. 28, 1894).
- “Those who accept the Saviour, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or feel that they are saved.” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 155).
- “You have a great work to do…It is impossible for you to be saved as you are” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316).
- “To obey the commandments of God is the only way to obtain his favor” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 28).
- “We must be reconciled to God through obedience to his law and faith in Jesus Christ” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 294).
- “Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator” (The Great Controversy, p. 425, 1888).
- “I saw that Old Jerusalem never would be built up” (Early Writings, p. 75).
- “…if you [Ellen White] are faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds” (Early Writings, p. 40).
- “The power of God would come upon me and I was enabled clearly to define what is truth and what is error” (Gospel Workers, p. 302).
- “As the points of our faith were thus established, our feet were placed upon a solid foundation. We accepted the truth point by point, under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit. I would be taken off in vision, and explanations would be given me” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 32).
- “I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel, ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.’ Solemn words were these, spoken by the angel.” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 131,132, written in 1856).
- “My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4. P. 230).
Scripture is the eternal, inerrant, sufficient word of our Triune God. We must reject all but the last statement of Ellen White above. Her writings have deviated from the clear pattern of Scripture, and in order to be faithful to God’s Word, we have to detach our connection with a prophet who claims to speak for God yet contradicts Scripture. Not only do many of Ellen White’s statements contradict Scripture, they also undermine the gospel. It also is clear that Ellen White’s “angel” did not tell the truth on several occasions. This fact should be like a large, red flag to get our spiritual attention.
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal. 1:8-9).
Yes, we must strike where the writings of Ellen G. White leave the trusted pattern of Scripture.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). †
Endnotes
- Now deceased.
- 1 Cor. 1:11; 2 Tim. 2:21; Heb. 2:11; 10:10, 14, 29.
- Rom. 1:1.
- Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1992.
- Gen. 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2.
- I encourage our readers to get White Washed by Sydney Cleveland and read the chapter entitled, “Failed Prophecies”.
- Wayne A. Grudem, Scripture and Truth, p. 22, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich. 1992.
- Ibid., p. 23.
- Mt. 12:41.
- Rom. 4:10.
- Rom. 4:19.
- Rom. 9:10-12.
- Heb. 9:1-5.
- Heb. 11:3.
- Heb. 11.
- Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, p. 526, 527. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., 1971.
- Acts 9:11-16.
- Acts 10:13.
- This could be translated as “each Scripture” but it makes little difference.
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