Two views on the Nature of Christ

THE NATURE OF CHRIST - TWO OPPOSING VIEWS

The nature of Christ is fundamental to our salvation and therefore is everything to us. Get this wrong and one is on the slippery slope to perdition and the devil would love that to happen to God's people. The names of individuals have been deleted except for the fact that the view in the left column was put out by the editor with the consent no doubt of his associate editors of "The Ministry" magazine an "Official Organ of the Ministerial Association of Seventh-Day Adventists".

September, 1964
Dear Reader:

In a previous brochure called Is Perfection Possible? Versus How Is Perfection Possible?, copies of whichare still available from me, I called your attention to one facet of a major doctrinal issue among Seventh-day Adventists. The basis of the theological differences seems to lie in something fundamental--a serious difference on the subject of the human nature of Christ . Representing one point of view on the subject of the Incarnation a are quotations from The Ministry, the editor of which is ........ Representing the other point of view is an article by ..... .

I have no burden here to press you to take your stand on one side or the other, but I am interested in placing before you the clearest facts I can find expressed by both sides . Truth has nothing to lose by candid investigation . There is no clearer evidence of emotional and spiritual sickness than the inability to candidly and thoughtfully examine controverted points. I received some letters from my last mailing that were so emotionally charged that I am sure the correspondents decided the matter from the standpoint of feeling rather than from an objective analysis of all the evidence . Loyalty to truth does not require that we carry on like this . We live in a democratic country, and we are supposed to have a democratic church. People in this country can take issue with the views of the Administration without being considered traitors to the country . Are the children of this world wiser in their generation than the children of light?

Some think that nothing but harm can result from the present agitation . But I can see a great amount of good resulting from it. There are two irreconcilable theologies within Adventism today. They are in serious and determined conflict. Between them there is a great mass of Seventh-day Adventist people who are soundly "asleep," largely preoccupied with the treadmill of life . God wants an intelligent, awakened people. As yet, the general run of Adventist ministers and laymen have no idea what the issues of the present conflict are about. But as things are developing and the lines are being drawn, more and more are asking : What is the agitation all about?" As they individually investigate and decide for themselves, it is leading to a waking up in Laodicea. With it must come the great shaking, but ultimately the glorious destiny, "Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, 0 Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, 0 Jerusalem, the holy city ."--Isaiah 52 :.

Trusting that the perusal of the following material will be a blessing to all who read, I am

Your brother in Christ,
...................

MINISTRY MAGAZINE

HUMAN, NOT CARNAL
By... September 1956

Soteriology is a theological term that covers the many aspects of the great doctrine of salvation . But it is often easier to express a word than explain its meaning. That is certainly true when we come to the study of redeeming grace. To reduce the great doctrine of God and the incarnation to human language is impossible, for when we have done our best it all sounds so meager in comparison with the immensity of God's revelation in Christ.

In contemplating the incarnation of Christ in humanity, we stand baffled before an unfathomable mystery, that the human mind cannot comprehend. The more we reflect upon it, the more amazing does it appear. Ellen G. White in "The Signs of the Times," July 30, 1896.

The all absorbing theme of the apostle Paul was "the mystery of godliness." He sought to explain it in many ways ; but he once summed it up in a series of expressions: "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 Tim . 3 :16) . Some claim this was a stanza from one of the apostolic hymns . It might well have been, but whatever the origin of this poem it certainly expresses the salient features of the gospel of salvation. When God became flesh, that was the greatest mystery of the ages. How Deity could clothe Himself with humanity, and at the same time retain His deity that will challenge the thinking of men and angels throughout eternity. The deepest theologians during nineteen centuries have tried to explain this truth, but it is beyond human comsrehension and expression .

This issue of THE MINISTRY carries in the Counsel section as full a coverage of this subject as can be found in the writings of Ellen G. White (turn to pages 17-24) . The gathering together and classifying of these quotations represent the combined efforts of your editors, certain General Conference officers, and the Ellen G . White Publications staff. As far as we have been able to dis- cover, this compilation fully represents the thinking of the messenger of the Lord on this question. A few other statements have been found, but these are either repetitions or mere verbal variations, and add no new thought. This editorial is written to urge all our readers to take time to carefully and prayerfully study these illuminating paragraphs.

Throughout our denominational history we have not always had as clear an understanding of this subject as would have been helpful . In fact, this particular point in Adventist theology has drawn severe censure from many outstanding Biblical scholars both inside and outside our ranks . Through the years statements have been made in sermons, and occasionally some have appeared in print, that, taken at their face value, have disparaged the person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord . We have been charged with making Him altogether human.

Such opinions have been molded in the main by two or three expressions in The Desire of Ages.
And coming from such a source, these have naturally been regarded as final authority . However, these are but a fraction of the published statements by the same writer, all of which, taken together, throw much light on this theme. Unfortunately this larger group of statements has been overlooked. One reason is that most of these key statements have been published in articles in our leading periodicals, appearing frequently from 1888 onward, and files of these periodicals have not been readily accessible to our workers in general.

A hasty reading of the two or three statements from The Desire of Ages without the repeated coun- terbalancing statements found in so many other places has led some to conclude our official position to be that Christ, during His incarnation, partook of our corrupt, carnal nature, and therefore was no different from any other human being. In fact, a few have declared that such would have to be the case in order for Him to be "in all points tempted like as we are" ; that He would have to share our corrupt, sinful nature in order to understand our needs and sympathize with lost mankind . On the surface such reasoning sounds somewhat plausible; but when we begin to think it through more carefully, when we sink the shaft of truth deeper into the mine of God's revelation, a new and glorious vista opens to our view.

The Scriptures state clearly that through Adam's transgression death passed upon all men, for "by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation," and "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." The only sinless One who ever lived on earth was our Lord Jesus Christ-"holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." He was born holy and He lived on a plane separate from sinners. He was sinless not only in His outward conduct but also in His very nature.

Had this not been the case, He could never have redeemed us. If He had been born with a carnal nature, with all its propensities to evil, as is the case with every natural son and daughter of Adam, then He Himself would have needed a Saviour, and under no circumstances could He have been our Redeemer . His nature must of necessity be holy in order to atone for ours, which is unholy. His mother, Mary, highly favored of the Lord, recognized her need of salvation, for in the Magnificat she sang of "God my Saviour." While she recognized her need of a Saviour, she also realized that Jesus, her Son in the flesh, was the Lamb of God, who had come to take away the sin of the world. Yet she could not comprehend this mystery any more than can we . In fact, it was doubtless more difficult for her to grasp this truth than for those who have lived since the events of the crucifixon and resurrection . As the Son of God, Jesus stood in contrast with all other members of the human family, for He was God manifest in the flesh.
Among the many important paragraphs already referred to, it is emphasized that our Lord partook of our limited human nature, but not our corrupt, carnal nature with all its propensities to sin and lust.In Him was no sin, either inherited or culti- vated, as is common to all the natural descendants of Adam . We grant that this is a mystery. But the Lord through His messenger has warned us to exercise extreme care how we present this subject lest we give the impression that Christ was altogether hu-man and simply one like ourselves. Note carefully these timely cautions

Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is that second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. Ellen G. White letter 8, 1895, quoted in "The SDA Bible Commentary," vol. 5, pp. 1128, 1129.

In treating upon the humanity of Christ, you need to guard strenously every assertion, lest your words be taken to mean more than they imply, and thus you lose or dim the clear perceptions of His humanity as combined with divinity. . . . These words do not refer to any human being, except to the Son of the infinite God. Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to, corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption... But let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves ; for it cannot be. Ibid., pp. 1128, 1129.
Other quotations from this letter appear in the Counsel section, pages 17-24, as well as in volume 5 of the Commentary.

In only three or four places in all these inspired counsels have we found such expressions as "fallen nature" and "sinful nature." But these are strongly counterbalanced and clearly explained by many other statements that reveal the thought of the writer . Christ did indeed partake of our nature, our human nature with all its physical limitations, but not of our carnal nature with all its lustful corruptions . When He entered the human family it was after the race had been greatly weakened by degeneracy . For thousands of years mankind had been physically deteriorating. Compared with Adam and his immediate posterity, humanity, when God appeared in human flesh, was stunted in stature, longevity, and vitality.

These conditions were in marked contrast with those of Adam in his Edenic environment. He knew nothing of infirmities or degeneracy in his physical or mental being, for he came fresh from the hand of his Creator. But when the Creator Himself became man in order to take Adam's place He faced hazards the like of which Adam in Eden could never have imagined. Our Saviour met the archfoe time and again when physical limitations had weakened Him. He was hungry and emaciated when He met the tempter in the wilderness. But while He suffered physical hunger, His was not a corrupt, carnal nature. When He took upon Him sinless human nature, He did not cease to be God, for He was God manifest in the flesh. True, we cannot understand it, but we can accept it by faith .

Many years ago a statement appeared in Bible Readings for the Home Circle (1915 edition) which declared that Christ came "in sinful flesh ." Just how this expression slipped into the book is difficult to know. It has been quoted many times by critics, and all around the world, as being typical of Adventist Christology. But when that book was revised in 1946 this expression was eliminated, since it was recognized as being out of harmony with our true position.

A . V. Olson, January 1962
Wonder of wonders, the majestic being who from the beginning was with God, and who was God (John 1 :1) the mighty God, the Creator and upholder of all things (Heb. 1:3)-"was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1 : 14) ! Because of His unfathomable love for lost mankind, He left His throne, came down to earth, clothed His divinity with humanity, lived with us as one with us, and died in our stead, that we might have life (John 10 :10) .

Speaking of this wonderful voluntary humiliation of the Son of God, the apostle Paul says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil . 2 :5-8) .

Amazed by this wonderful voluntary humiliation of Christ, E. G. White exclaims: What humility was this! It amazed angels. The tongue can never describe it ; the imagination cannot take it in. The eternal Word consented to be made flesh! God became man! It was a wonderful humility. "Review and Herald," July 5, 1887. Quoted in "Questions on Doctrine," p. 56. (Boldface supplied.)

The voluntary humiliation of Christ went farther than to take human nature. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesusaccepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity . "The Desire tf Ages," p. 49.

In this citation our attention is called to the sad fact that sin has had a deteriorating effect on the human race. When Adam was created he was lofty of stature, with corresponding strength and vitality. We read: As Adam came forth from the hand of his Creator, he was of noble h[e]ight, and of beautiful symmetry. He was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned . His features were perfect and beautiful. "The Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 1, p. 25.

Such was not the size, strength, and perfection of the human race when Jesus was born into the world. Four thousand years of reckless violation of the divine laws of nature had greatly reduced the size and impaired the strength and perfection of the human body. Nerves and muscles had been weakened through centuries of indulgence . By permitting the law of heredity to operate in His icarnation, Jesus inherited, from the side of His mother, a body comparable in size to that of the bodies of the men of His day, and was subject to the infirmities and weaknesses of other men . Thus, speaking prophetically of Jesus when He was here on earth, Isaiah declares that He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," that "surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Isa. 53 :3, 4) . Referring to this declaration, Matthew says of Jesus : "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matt . 8 :17) . Weymouth's translation reads : "He took on Him our weaknesses, and bore the burden of our diseases." Thus in this sense the second Adam was not physically identical with the first Adam. It was also in this sense of depreciation in size and vitality that Christ by the law of heredity is said to have taken upon Himself our "fallen nature" (The Desire of Ages, p. 112), "our nature in its deteriorated condition" (Signs of the Times, June 9, 1898) .

J. R. Spangler, December 1963
It would have been a condescension beyond de- scription for Christ to have assumed human form when the world first stood without blot or blemish. His entrance was made when the magnificence of Eden had been contaminated with the false philosophy of Satan's corrupt mind . The moment of His birth came when darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people . Romans 1 is a forthright description of the Greco-Roman world during the time of Christ .

To have assumed the full and complete physical stature of Adam would have been of utmost hu- miliation. But Christ came after sickness and dis- ease had dwarfed the physical nature of man for four thousand years. Christ as a man was no physical giant, and according to Isaiah 53 those who saw Him during His Incarnation would find no beauty that would make them desire Him.
Another step down in the ladder of mortification was the town in which He was born . Micah 5:2 emphasizes the insignificance of Bethlehem . How eager we are to identify our own birthplace with a city of renown, but Christ forfeited all this. He assumed human nature in its lowest common denominator, which would result in a cover of salvation for all mankind and would forever seal the lips of any person from saying that Christ's experience cannot touch that of humanity.

Mrs .Ernest W . Cox, December, 1957
Before Adam fell, he was pure and clean, without any taint of sin. He possessed human nature, undefiled, as God created it . When Jesus, "the second man," "the last Adam" (1 Cor . 15 :45-47), came, in addition to His divine nature, He also possessed human nature, undefiled, as God had originall y created it. Naturally, Christ was without Adam's stature and pristine physical splendor, thus fulfilling the Messianic forecast of Isaiah 53 :2 : "He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him ." There is great spiritual significance in the fact that Christ assumed the infirmities of a degenerate race without partaking of their sinfulness. On this point Ellen G . White declares, "For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth ; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation ." -The Desire of Ages, p. 117.

Mrs. White here refers to Christ's acceptance of a degenerated physical human frame, such as is common to man. Even a superficial reading of the Gospels is sufficient to show that He was far from deficient in mental power. His keen perception was the terror of His foes. Equally, He is shown far to transcend the sons of men in moral worth. Had Christ appeared with the stature of the unfallen Adam, He would at once have become an object of curiosity, rather than an object of faith . Therefore, He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3).Being in the likeness of sinful flesh cannot mean that Christ became sinful flesh, any more than our being made after the likeness of God (Gen . 1:26) can, of itself, confer on us divinity.

Note
Next page see "The Ministry's" compilation of Ellen G. White statements. Pay particular attention to the headings which are added.-Ed .

SEPTEMBER . 1956
III. Took Sinless Nature of Adam Before the Fall

1. CHRIST TOOK HUMANITY As GOD CREATED IT.-"Christ came to the earth, taking humanity and standing as man's representative, to show in the controversy with Satan that man, as God created him, connected with the Father and the Son, could obey every divine requirement."-The Signs of the Times, June 9, 1898.

2. BEGAN WHERE ADAM FIRST BEGAN .-"Christ is called the second Adam . In purity and holiness, connected with God, and beloved by God, He began where the first Adam began. Willingly He passed over the ground where Adam fell, and redeemed Adam's failure."-The Youth'sInstructor, June 2, 1898.

3. TOOK HUMAN FORM BUT NOT CORRUPTED SINFUL NATURE.-"In the fullness of time He was to be revealed in human form . He was to take His position at the head of humanity by taking the nature but not the sinfulness of man.In heaven was heard the voice, 'The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.'"-The Signs of the Times, May 29,. 1901.

4. TOOK ADAM'S SINLESS HUMAN NATURE.-"When Christ bowed His head and died, He bore the pillars of Satan's kingdom with Him to the earth. He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory. The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature. The power of the Saviour's Godhead was hidden . He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power."-The Youth's Instructor, April 25, 1901.

VI . Bore the Imputed Sin and Guilt of the World

1. BORE IMPUTED GUILT OF WORLD'S SIN .-"Christ bore the guilt of the sins of the world . Our sufficiency is found only in the incarnation and death of the Son of God. He could suffer, because sustained by divinity. He could endure, because He was without one taintof disloyalty orsin."- The Youth'sInstructor, Aug. 4, 1898.

2. BORE PHYSICAL INFIRMITIES OF DEGENERATE RACE.- "He [Christ] took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race."- The Review and Herald, July 28, 1874. YEARS' HEREDITY .-"It would have been an almost infinite

3. ACCEPTED WEAKENING RESULTS OF FOUR THOUSAND YEARS' HEREDITY.-"It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden . But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law ofheredity.What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.

"Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity . He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss."-The Desire of Ages, p. 49.

ACCEPTED INROADS OF PHYSICAL DEGENERACY AND DISEASE.-"Wondrous combination of man and God! He might have helped His human nature to withstand the inroads of disease by pouring from His divine nature vitality and undecaying vigor to the human. But He humbled Himself to man's nature. . . . God became man!"-The Review and Herald, Sept. 4. 1900.

5. CAME AFTER FOUR THOUSAND YEARS DETERIORATION OF RACE.-"In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure. But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him . He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body . He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jest's when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan . For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation ."-The Desire of Ages, p. 117.

6. BORE IMPUTED SINS OF OUR SINFUL NATURE.-"Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity, He sought to regain for man that which, by disobedience, Adam had lost for himself and for the world. In His own character He displayed to the world the character of God."-The Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1896
[END]

BROTHER........

"LIKE UNTO HIS BRETHREN" By ......

In recent years teachings have been coming in among Seventh-day Adventists that would have us believe that the incarnate Christ possessed nothing more than the physical degeneracy of mankind . Except for the decreased size of the physical form, it is being affirmed that Christ's human nature was wholly like that of Adam's before sin entered .

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the logical end of this teaching is the acceptance of the doctrines of the immortality of the soul and Sunday-sacredness.

Weakened Physical, Mental and Moral Powers
The Bible declares : "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same nature [as the children] . . . Therefore He had to be made like His brethren in every respect." Hebrews 2 :14, 17. RSV . In declaring that Jesus had the same nature as the children of men, Paul is not referring to the condition of the heart and mind as in Ephesians 2:3, but he means "flesh and blood"-the whole human organism. The nature of man is threefold-physical, mental, and moral (Testimonies, vol . 5, p. 522) . Jesus took the physical, mental, and moral powers of the fallen race.

In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure . But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings . It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in me al worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity . Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation . "The Desire of Ages," p. 117 (emphasis ours) See also "Selected Messages," Book 1, p. 267-8

He who was one with the Father stepped down from the glorious throne in heaven, laid aside His royal robe and crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, thus bringing Himself to the level of man's feeble faculties . "Review and Herald," Dec . 11, 1888

The Inter-Dependence of the Physical, Mental and Moral Powers
Catholics and Protestants in general admit that Christ's bodily form was not that of Adam's when he stood in his original perfection. But since they conceive of the soul as a meta-physical, separate entity from the body, they do not consider that these bodily weaknesses had any real bearing on the life of Christ. But the third angel's message has given Adventists a totally different view of the nature of man. We see man as fundamentally a physical organism, with every function of his being operating through the function of a physical body. "The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character." The Ministry of Healing, p. 130 Therefore whatever weakens the physical powers of man will also weaken his mental and moral powers. Instruction upon this point in the Spirit of Prophecy is definite

Since the mind and soul find expression through the body, both mental and spiritual vigor are in a great degree dependent upon physical strength and activity; whatever promotes physical health, promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character. "Education," p. 195

Whatever injures the health, not only lessens physical vigor, but tends to weaken the mental and moral powers. "The Ministry of Healing," p . 128.
Mental and moral power is dependent upon physical health. "Review and Herald," Oct. 31, 1871.

Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind. . . . "Counsels on Diet and Food," p . 48.

Vigor of mind depends largely upon vigor of body. "Testimonies," vol. 7, p. 247.

Between the mind and the body there is a mysterious and wonderful relation. "Testimonies," vol. 3, p. 485.

If Christ took man's degenerate physical powers, He also took the degenerate mental and moral powers of the human organism. If we deny this, we deny the most fundamental truths on the nature of man, and in order to be logical, we would have to accept the "Babylonian" concept of the nature of man- that the condition of the physical powers has no vital relation to the soul of man. If only we had kept before us the great principles upon which the health reform message is based, we could never have become so confused on the nature of Christ as to contend along with Catholics and the Protestant world that Christ possessed only the physical weaknesses of the fallen race.

The Sinlessness of Jesus' Human Nature
The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy abound in statements affirming the sinlessness of the human nature of Christ. The proponents of the "new- view" of the nature of Christ have done so well in quoting them that there is no need to repeat them here. We must agree wholeheartedly on the emphasis on the sinlessness of the human nature of Christ-that He had no propensity, inclination or bent to sin. But the statements declaring Christ's sinlessness do not deny that Jesus took man's degenerate faculties . "The mental and moral powers which God has given us do not constitute character . They are talents, which we are to improve, and which. if properly improved, will form a right character." Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 606.The faculties are the "tools" with which man forms his character. Christ did not have the "tools" which Adam had, but He took the inferior "tools" common to all the sons of men.

While Christ took man's weakened mental and moral powers, we do not say that the Master was weak in mental and moral powers. "In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined." Questions on Doctrine, p. 649. "Having taken our fallen nature, He showed what it might become, by accepting the ample provision He has made for it, and by becoming partaker of the divine nature." Ibid., p. 657. Christ revealed more than ordinary mental perception, not because the laws of inheritance failed to operate in His birth, but because "His divine nature knew what was in man." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1124. So too, Christ was strong in moral power, not because His human nature was inherently strong in moral power, but because through surrender and faith He united His weakened human nature to the infinite source of moral power. Christ had to demonstrate that one who is weakest in moral power may overcome in the strength given of God. For this reason, the Spirit led Christ to the wilderness :

For forty days He fasted and prayed. Weak and emaciated from hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, "His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isa. 52:14. Now was Satan's opportunity. Now he supposed that he could overcome Christ. . . . It was in the time of greatest weakness that Christ was assailed by the fiercest temptations. Thus Satan thought to prevail. By this policy he had gained the victory over men . When strength failed, and the will power weakened, and faith ceased to repose in God, then those who had stood long and valiantly for the right were overcome . "The Desire of Ages," p . 118, 120.

In the wilderness, Jesus demonstrated how even the soul who is weakest in mental and moral power may overcome. For here Jesus Himself was weakened to the point of death. Not only were His physical powers weakened to the uttermost, but He was greatly weakened in mental and moral powers . Whatever weakens physical strength weakens the strength of the mental and moral powers. Christ was haggard with mental agony. When His strength failed His will power weakened too. Now the Saviour could experience what the weakest mortal must experience when striving against sin and temptation. "Christ's humanity alone could never have endured this test, but His divine power combined with humanity gained in behalf of man an in- finite victory." Review and Herald, Oct. 13, 1874.

Not through the strength of His human will did Christ overcome, but through the right action of His weakened human will He overcame. Through surrender He said, "Not My will, but Thy will be done." He linked the weak human will with the divine will, and proved the truth of the following statement : "As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent ." Christ's Object Lessons, p . 333 . His victory declares that man may copy the pattern, that he may overcome as Christ overcame. His experience declares that there .is not a soul who is so weak in moral power that he cannot find victory through laying hold of the infinite fund of moral power in the divine nature. His example shows that when the weakest human will co-operates with the divine will, it becomes omnipotent.

He met man as man, and testified by His connection with God that divine power was not given to Him in a different way to what it will be given to us . . . "SDA Bible Commentary," vol . 7, p. 925.
When we give to His human nature a power that it is not possible for man to have in his conflicts with Satan, we destroy the completeness of His humanity . . . Jesus, the world's Redeemer, could only keep the command- ments of God in the same way that humanity can keep them. "Ibid," p. 929.

Did Christ Take the Sinless Nature of Man?
Not only does the "new-view" deny that Christ was subjected to all our infirmities-for we have much more than mere physical infirmities to contend with but it proposes that Christ "took sinless human nature," or that He "took the sinless nature of Adam before the Fall." (See Questions on Doctrine, p. 650, Heading ; The Minisitry, Sept.

1956, Headings p. 19) . Are there statements from Inspiration which support this contention? Indeed there are statements affirming the very opposite:

He took upon Him our sinful nature. "Review and Herald," Dec. 15, 1896.

He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature . "Medical Ministry," p. 181.

The nature of God, whose law had been transgressed, and the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus SDA Bible Commentary," vol . 7, p. 926.

When Christ came to this earth, there was no "sinless human nature" for Him to take . Christ was made of a woman, and she had no sinless human nature to give to Him. Yet Christ did take a sinless nature, not the sinless human nature of Adam before the Fall, but the sinless nature of His own eternal pre-existence. Through being born of the Holy Spirit, He united this sinless nature to the nature He received from Mary. The result of this union was that Christ's human nature was sinless. We must be careful to notice that Christ's human nature was sinless, not because He took a superior human nature, but because He united the human nature to the divine nature. This means that we may overcome as Christ overcame. He showed us what fallen nature might become when united to the divine nature. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1 :4.

Christ's human nature was sinless because that human nature was fully united to the divine nature.
In this union is our only hope . This wonderful union cannot be explained, but it may be experienced. When a fallen, sinful man becomes a partaker of the divine nature, he becomes a "new creature" (2 Corinthians 5 :17), sinful propensities are cut away from the character (SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 943), "a new moral taste is created," (Christ our Righteousness . 1926 Ed., p. 122), and he is given "new motives new tastes, new tendencies." (SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p . 1101) . And the more fully a believer partakes of the divine nature, the more fully will he experience the power of the "new creation." Christ was that "new creation" of the Holy Spirit. When the offending nature of man united with the divine nature of the Deity in the person of Jesus, there was a "new creation." Human nature became sanctified and sinless. And only because Jesus chose to be guided by and filled with the Holy Spirit every moment of His life was His human nature sinless . His temptations were the same as ours. Satan appealed to the instincts of self-preservation and self- expression when tempting the Saviour. "Save Thyself" was the basis of every temptation. But moment by moment Jesus "emptied Himself." He chose the cross of self-denial at every step, and did the Father's will. Thus Christ crucified "self" which is in essence the sinful nature and the devil found in Him no response to please Himself. Calvary was but the culmination of a whole lifetime of cross bearing for Jesus.

We should not place the obedience and sinless life of Christ by itself as something for which His human nature was peculiarly adapted. To the church awaiting translation is given the promise: ''To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne ." Revelation 3:21. We may overcome as Christ overcame. By partaking of the divine nature, every hereditary and cultivated tendency to evil may be cut away from the character (SDA Bible Commentary, vol.7, p.943) . By being filled with the Spirit as He was filled with the Spirit, the work of grace may be completed in our natures so that they may be "pure and holy ." Our High Calling, p. 278 . "Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was ." The Desire of Ages, p . 664 . This is the hope of those expecting translation after attaining through the grace of Christ the following experience:

Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation . Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold ; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Him- self, "The prince of this world cometh, and bath nothing in Me ." Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage . This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. "The Great Controversy," p. 623.

Those only who through faith in Christ obey all of God's commandments will reach the condition of sinlessness in which Adam lived before his transgression. They testify to their love of Christ by obeying all His precepts. "SDA Bible Commentary," vol . 6, p. 1118

The transformation of character must take place before His coming. Our natures must be pure and holy. . "Our High Calling," p. 278.

While Christ is in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, His followers on earth must unite with Him in the full and complete union of divinity and humanity which Jesus knew in His own experience. This is "the marriage'' which will be consummated while Jesus is in the most holy place. It is the experience that the 144,000 will enter into by faith.

The Issues at Stake
The nature of man and the law of God will be the points especially controverted in the final battle between truth and error. In the crisis, a larger pro- portion than we now anticipate will defect from the third angel's message and accept the doctrines of the immortality of the soul and Sunday-sacredness . (See Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 369 ; Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 463) . But what we must realize is that a big step in that direction has already been taken right within the ranks of Adventism .

The Nature of Man : When the Spirit of Prophecy tells us that Christ took "our nature in its deteriorated condition," some of our theologians are telling us that this means only that Christ's physical powers were weakened. But the nature of man is three-fold-physical, mental and moral-and if the physical powers are weakened, the mental and moral powers will be weakened also. To deny this is to deny fundamental truth on the nature of man and take the "Babylonian" position on the nature of man that the condition of the physical powers has no real effect on the soul . The logical end of this concept is the doctrine of the immortal soul ; and the logical end of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is Spiritualism.

The Law of God:Not only do those who take the "new-view" of the Incarnation deny that Christ took man's degenerate mental and moral powers, but they affirm that He took the sinless nature of Adam before the fall. Granted, Christ's human nature was sinless, but this was not due to His taking some superior human nature ; rather it was due to His being born of the Holy Spirit, surrendered to the Holy Spirit, guided by the Holy Spirit, and filled with the Holy Spirit through the right action of His will every moment of His earthly life. The difference between these two concepts that of Christ's taking the sinless nature of man, and that of Christ's having a sinless human nature because the human nature was united to the divine nature is the difference between life and death. The first concept places the sinlessness of Christ by itself, for none of us partake of the sinless human nature of Adam before the fall . But the second concept places the obedience and sinless life of Christ within the reach of all who will choose to be born of the Holy Spirit, surrendered to the Holy Spirit, guided by the Holy Spirit, and filled with the Holy Spirit even as Jesus was .

Those who teach that Christ took a superior human nature draw the logical conclusion that it is impossible for the rest of mankind to perfectly obey the law of Jehovah in this life. Everywhere today we hear the pronouncements from pen and pulpit that God has not made provision for man to live a sinless life on this earth. Those who accept
this "new-view" of the Incarnation logically take the side of Satan in the great controversy over the law, claiming that God has not made provision for us to perfectly obey it. If God's people accept this delusion, then there will be no third angel's message, no sealing of the saints, no finishing of the mystery of God, no cleansing of the sanctuary, no community of saints prepared to live without a Mediator, no first fruits of the harvest, and no people ready for translation at least as fat as they are concerned.

Did Jesus come to prove that we cannot keep the law of God? Is this what we are supposed to learn from the great truth of the Incarnation? See how this is answered by one of the most explicit declarations found in the Spirit of Prophecy

Satan represents God's law of love as a law of selfishness. He declares that it is impossible for us to obey its precepts, ..... Jesus was to unveil this deception. As one of us He was to give us an example of obedience . For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences . "In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren." Heb. 2:17. If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us . . . . His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God. "The Desire of Ages," p. 24.

Three Steps

Ellen G. White saw that God had three steps to the platform of truth (Early Writings, p. 258) . Satan has three steps down from the platform. The first step is the teaching that Christ took the human nature of man as it was before the fall. This leads to the second step-to the teaching that man cannot find the grace to perfectly obey the law of God in his life. This will inevitably lead to the third step giving up the Sabbath. This last step must logically follow the original premise, for if it be conceded that we cannot obey all the law all the time, then there is no point in the Sabbath being a test question. The great argument for the Sabbath is found in James 2 :10: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." But the "new-view" of the Incarnation leads to the conclusion that we cannot really "keep the whole law ."

Led by certain prominent theologians, many in our ranks have already taken steps numbers one and two down from the third angel's message . "And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord [rejecting the great sanctuary message], and their faces toward the east ; and they worshipped the sun toward the east." Ezekiel 8 :16. Thus the foundation is already laid for a great land- slide into the camp of the Sunday-keepers. This is an indication that the final test on the law of God is right upon the church . Soon the "man with the writer's inkhorn" must "go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Ezekiel 9 :4.

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His." 2 Timothy 2 :19. "The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall . It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out the chaff separated from the precious wheat ."
Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 380

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