The late Desmond Ford was fond of saying, “The gospel is not good advice nor good views. It is good news” [1]. A popular Adventist promoter of righteousness by faith in the late twentieth century wrote in one of his books: “The gospel is the unconditional good news of salvation for all mankind” [2].
But one finds it hard to reconcile such statements with the following words of Jesus, delivered at the start of His earthly ministry:
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15).
The first angel of Revelation 14 is declared to have “the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth” (verse 6). This angel goes on to say with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come, and worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (verse 7).
The call to repentance, to fear God and give Him glory, and to worship Him as Creator—identified here as synonymous with believing and proclaiming the gospel—hardly sounds unconditional, and it certainly sounds like good advice. It is dangerous to craft definitions of Biblical terms without thoroughly considering how the Bible uses these terms. Modern and postmodern approaches to the gospel and salvation frequently indulge such misbegotten creativity. More often than not, such carelessness with inspired vocabulary leads directly away from the Biblical message.
A significant number of Ellen White statements confirm what Scripture teaches regarding the doctrinal and moral substance of the Biblical gospel. Speaking of John the Baptist’s message and its relevance to the work of God’s end-time church, she comments:
The teaching of John aroused in the hearts of many a great desire to have a part in the blessings that Christ was to bring, and they received the truth. These saw the need of reform. They must not only seek to enter in at the strait gate; they must strive and agonize in order to have the blessings of the gospel. Nothing save a vehement desire, a determined will, a fixedness of purpose, could resist the moral darkness that covered the earth as the pall of death. In order to obtain the blessings that it was their privilege to have, they must work earnestly, they must deny self.
The work of John the Baptist represents the work for these times. . . . The messengers of God who bear the last message of warning to be given to the world are to prepare the way for Christ’s second advent as John prepared the way for His first advent. If the kingdom of heaven suffered violence in the days of John, it suffers violence now; today the blessings of the gospel must be secured in the same way [3].
Elsewhere the same author writes:
The very essence of the gospel is restoration [4].
Perfection of character is attainable by every one who strives for it. This is made the very foundation of the new covenant of the gospel. The law of Jehovah is the tree; the gospel is the fragrant blossoms and fruit which it bears [5].
The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossoms and fruit which it bears [6].
The gospel message proclaimed by Christ’s disciples was the announcement of His first advent to the world. It bore to men the good tidings of salvation through faith in Him. It pointed forward to His second coming in glory to redeem His people, and it set before men the hope, through faith and obedience, of sharing the inheritance of the saints in light. This message is given to men today, and at this time there is coupled with it the announcement of Christ’s second coming as at hand [7].
The Lord desires His servants today to preach the old gospel doctrine, sorrow for sin, repentance, and confession [8].
Said the apostle, speaking of the gospel, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” [9].
Teach them the first principle of the gospel, which is Christ formed within, the hope of glory [10].
The gospel of Christ is the law exemplified in character [11].
Repentance is associated with faith, and is urged in the gospel as essential to salvation [12].
The gospel of Christ requires penitence for sin, and sin is the transgression of the law [13].
Individual responsibility, individual effort, personal sacrifice, is the requirement of the gospel [14].
The union of Christlike work for the body and Christlike work for the soul is the true interpretation of the gospel [15].
When temperance is presented as a part of the gospel, many will see their need of reform [16].
The Lord has given instruction that the gospel is to be carried forward, and the gospel includes health reform in all its phases [17].
What is absolutely clear in the above passages is that repentance, restoration, obedience, individual effort, responsibility, perfection of character, temperance, health reform, and similar features of practical godliness, were not seen by Ellen White is merely the fruits of the gospel, but as actual parts of the gospel itself. Any notion of the gospel being “unconditional good news,” or as “good news, not good advice,” is thoroughly shattered by these statements as well as the verses we have seen in Scripture. According to both the Bible and Ellen White, the gospel is most assuredly good news. But it is the good news of power as well as pardon, of the possibilities to be realized when human initiative and resolve are blended with supernatural strength in the lives of committed Christians.
The Gospel and Social Justice
But the gospel according to Scripture isn’t merely about personal piety. It also concerns our obligation as Christians to address the temporal adversities and injustices experienced by fellow humans.
Recent dialogue in certain Adventist circles on the subject of social justice has tended to gravitate between two apparent extremes. One of these insists that “social justice is the gospel,” while the other maintains that “social justice is a counterfeit gospel.” I believe the last three Ellen White statements quoted above, on the relation of temperance and health reform to the gospel, offer the best solution relative to the connection between social justice and the gospel. We will return to those Ellen White statements in a moment.
One is hard pressed, to be sure, to ignore the social dimension of the Biblical message, particularly in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Such passages as the following are some of the strongest in this regard:
Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil,
Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isa. 1:16-17).
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt;
Ten will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever (Jer. 7:6-7).
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully (Eze. 22:29).
And I will come near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts (Mal. 3:5).
Other Old Testament passages warn against the oppression of the stranger (Ex. 22:21; Lev. 19:33-34; Deut. 1:16; 10:19; Psalm 94:1-6)—a most relevant issue in today’s America on account of the ongoing debate over immigration, be it legal or otherwise. Other passages from throughout the Bible describe the imperative of justice and mercy toward the poor and the weak (e.g. Neh. 5:1-13; Psalm 82:3-4; Prov. 1:31; 22:16; Isa. 1:17; 58:6-10; Jer. 7:6; 22:15-16; Amos 5:11-12; Zech. 7:9-10; Mal. 3:5; James 5:1-5). The Bible in both Testaments offers a convincing case for racial justice as well, declaring as it does the equality of all ethnicities and nations in the plans and purposes of God (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; II Chron. 16:9; Psalm 22:27; Isa. 11:10; 45:22; 49:6,12; 56:7; 60:1-3; 66:12,18-21; Matt. 8:11; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 10:34-35; 17:26).
And then, of course, we have Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, in which the Christian’s eternal destiny is depicted as contingent upon how we treat those less fortunate in material and temporal lines (Matt. 25:31-46).
The following Ellen White statements, among others we could cite, directly connect the gospel with the relief of tangible suffering—what many today would call social justice:
The widow, the orphan, the sick, and the dying will always need our help. Here is an opportunity to proclaim the gospel—to hold up Jesus, the hope and consolation of all men. When the suffering body has been relieved, and you have shown a lively interest in the afflicted, the heart is opened, and you can pour in the heavenly balm [18].
The poor need comfort and sympathy, for there are those who without a helping hand will never recover themselves. In working for these Christ’s disciples will fulfill their commission. This is the highest credential of the gospel ministry. Had the gospel been of men, it would have been popular with the rich and mighty; but it pours contempt upon the rich and mighty, and calls upon all who accept it to work the works of Christ, helping those who are destitute, despised, forsaken, afflicted [19].
A Part, But Not the Whole
Without question, the above inspired statements include a social imperative within the purview of the gospel. But as with temperance and health reform, this imperative is not fully equivalent with the gospel, but is rather a part of it. Just as Ellen White maintains that temperance should be “presented as a part of the gospel” [20], just as she says that “the gospel includes health reform in all its phases” [21], so it is correct to say—on the basis of the inspired statements referenced above—that the gospel includes social justice.
Without wishing to dispute the sincerity of those who might say, “Social justice is the gospel,” it would be wiser and more accurate for them to say that social justice is a part of the gospel—just like temperance, health reform, and all other practical imperatives of the Christian message covered by the inspired statements referenced at the beginning.
The Government or the Individual?
The question invariably arises in a discussion such as this, Are these inspired commands addressed to civil government in a non-theocratic state? Or are they addressed simply to the individual?
The answer to this question lies beyond the purview of this article, as it is not addressed by the inspired pen. The wisdom or lack thereof on the part of various policies and proposals meant to relieve the temporal suffering of citizens in the secular political realm, is not a subject expounded upon in the inspired writings. Christians, like others in society, can opine regarding the alleged prudence or folly of such initiatives, but in the absence of clear inspired counsel—such as Ellen White’s instruction regarding the infamous Fugitive Slave Act [22]—it is wrong for those holding to the supreme authority of the inspired writings to make dogmatic spiritual or theological pronouncements concerning such efforts or ideologies.
Conclusion
The point of the present article is simple. Sanctified Christian behavior, including the relief of temporal injustice and suffering, is in fact a part of the gospel. Such behaviors and initiatives only become a counterfeit when they fail to encompass the entire Biblical message. This was a problem with much of the Social Gospel movement in Christian circles a century ago. For Seventh-day Adventist Christians, whose spiritual agenda involves the complete restoration of Bible truth in the final moments of sacred history, no feature of Biblical teaching or morality can be marginalized or treated with contempt.
REFERENCES
1. Desmond Ford, Good News for Adventists (Auburn, CA: Good News Unlimited, 1985), p. 15.
2. Jack Sequeira, Beyond Belief: The promise, the power, and the reality of the everlasting gospel (Boise, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Assn, 1993), p. 36.
3. Ellen G. White, From the Heart, p. 349.
4. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 824.
5. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 212.
6. ----Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 128.
7. Ibid, pp. 226-227.
8. ----Evangelism, p. 179.
9. ----Review and Herald, June 11, 1889.
10. ----Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, p. 73.
11. ----Maranatha, p. 18.
12. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 365.
13. ----Review and Herald, Sept. 3, 1901.
14. ----The Ministry of Healing, p. 147.
15. ----My Life Today, p. 224.
16. ----Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 75.
17. ----Medical Ministry, p. 159.
18. ----Welfare Ministry, p. 26.
19. Ibid, p. 171.
20. ----Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 75.
21. –---Medical Ministry, p. 159.
22. ----Testimonies, vol. 1, pp. 201-202.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan