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Commentary on "The Promise of His Return"
Day 7: Friday, March 30, 2012 - Further Study
Overview
For the final day, the author brings Ellen White to the stage with a quotation written a few days before the year 1903 in Review and Herald. In it she insists on reminding people of the shortness of life, of the opportunity to seek after the Lord while still being alive, about the way in which man’s plans are changed by God’s plans. Ellen White’s peculiar theology is reflected in the following statement:
"Remember how brief the period of life allotted you. You know not how soon your probation may close."
Observation
There is a powerful combination of factors here: probation and only a short time allotted to pass the test. The Adventist has two reasons to try harder to be obedient: the final test of obedience will decide his eternal destiny, and he has not enough time on his hands to reach the required standard.
Here there is a partial dividing line in the Adventist church. The conservative traditionalists believe that the standard is absolute perfection, while the progressive camp embraces a more "friendly", accessible standard. Still, they are united in the belief that reaching a certain standard of sanctification is not an option, and failure to do so results in the loss of salvation. Even on the looser, more “progressive” terms, however, the obstacles are insurmountable.
First, if perfection is not the standard, what is the standard? While diversity of views exists, the common denominator among Adventists is that God will look at the heart of the believer, and He will take the believer’s good intentions and good will into account. Then, at the bar of judgment, the overall attitude of one’s heart and determination plus one’s regret and sorrow for failure will be enough for God to render a favorable verdict. This notion is thought to bring comfort: God will be merciful and will render a positive judgment even if His justice requires the opposite. But is this comfort solid enough?
One of the beloved pieces of Christian literature in the Adventist’s world is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The following dialogue speaks for itself in relation to the Adventist mindset described above:
Christian: Come, how are you? how stands it between God and your soul now?"
Ignorance: Well I hope; for I am always full of good intentions, that come into my mind to comfort me as I walk.
Christian: What good intentions? Pray tell us.
Ignorance: Why, I think of God and heaven.
Christian: So do the demons and condemned souls.
Ignorance: But I think of them, and desire them.
Christian: So do many that are never likely to come there; the soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing (Proverbs 13:4)
Ignorance: But I think of them, and leave all for them.
Christian: That I doubt, for leaving all is a hard matter; yes, a harder matter than many are aware of. But why, or by what, are you persuaded that you have left all for God and heaven?
Ignorance: My heart tells me so.
Christian: The wise man says, "He that trusts his own heart is a fool". Proverbs 28:26
Ignorance: That is spoken of an evil heart; but mine is a good one.
Christian: But how can you prove that?
Ignorance: It comforts me in the hopes of heaven.
Christian: That may be through its deceitfulness; for a man’s heart may minister comfort to him in the hopes of that thing for which he yet has no ground to hope.
Ignorance: But my heart and life agree together; and therefore my hope is well grounded.
Christian: Who told you that your heart and life agree together?
Ignorance: My heart tells me so.
Christian "Ask my fellow if I am a thief." Your heart tells you so! Except the Word of God bears witness in this matter, other testimony is of no value.
God’s word tells us that God demands absolute perfection and that He exercises absolute justice. Unless we repent before Him and receive His once-for-all sacrifice for our sin, we will not be forgiven at God’s judgment bar. Either our sins are on Jesus, or they remain on us.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 28, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 13
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 13
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 13
Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings
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