A recent article by a prominent denominational scholar claims that Christians are saved solely by the work of Christ outside of the believer, and that while His work inside the believer is necessary and important, it doesn’t save us [1].

Modern and contemporary Adventists have encountered this claim repeatedly during the past few decades. But again we are forced to ask: Is this claim in harmony with the teachings of Scripture and the writings of Ellen G. White, the latter often called the Spirit of Prophecy?

Confusion

The article begins with the question, “What is the relationship between justification by faith and Christian perfection?” [2]. The article answers: “They are certainly related, but they are not the same” [3]. Actually, this is misleading. While it is true that justification and perfection are not identical, the former is most definitely part and parcel of the latter. We will see that the rigid distinctions some try to draw between these two features of the Christian life are based more on the quest for assurance and peace of mind than on an objective reading of the inspired writings.

This method of “doing theology” is always confusing, because when people listen to those they deem “experts” and then discover inspired statements which point very much in the opposite direction, they become more perplexed than enlightened. The total weight of inspired evidence must always be considered before doctrinal or moral conclusions are reached.

God’s Initiative, Humanity’s Response

To begin with, the article is correct when it states that God’s plan for human salvation was developed “without asking for our opinion” [4], “without consulting us” [5], and was an initiative in which “our obedience or lack thereof played no role” [6]. God designed the process by which men and women could be saved from sin entirely on His own, before any of us in fact desired salvation.

But when we consider what in fact the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy teach regarding the conditions for receiving justification by faith, the above statements by the article in question could become more confusing than clarifying. Even more confusing is the article’s statement that “the only thing required from us is to accept the gift of salvation through faith in Christ—the righteousness of Christ imputed/credited to us” [7].

If in fact we permit the inspired pen to define what accepting the gift of salvation means, the above statement would not be problematic. But unless we consider such inspired statements as those we will soon review, to speak simply of “accepting the gift of salvation” can lead people astray.

The author of the article in question rightly uses the terms justification and forgiveness as interchangeable. Indeed, Ellen White declares that “pardon (forgiveness) and justification are one and the same thing” [8]. With this in mind, let’s consider what the Bible says regarding the conditions for receiving God’s forgiveness:

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and heal their land (II Chron. 7:14).

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Prov. 28:13).

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isa. 55:7).

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt. 6:14-15).

Ellen White thus stands in perfect accord with Scripture when she writes that “God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place” [9].

Equally important for us to recognize is the fact that the fulfillment of the conditions for forgiveness (justification) listed above does not purchase, or earn, God’s forgiveness for the believer, as if this forgiveness is now deserved. All of the above—humility, confession, the forsaking of sin, and a willingness to forgive others—represent gifts of divine grace to the Christian, just as surely as the forgiveness itself. King David’s tribute to God before Israel in what was likely the final public appearance of his life makes this plain, as he declared to the Lord, “For all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee” (I Chron. 29:14).

Justification: Both Declarative and Transformative

Those who insist that justification is only a declarative act of God, supposedly not involving actually making the believer righteous, run afoul of some of the clearest statements in both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. The Bible is clear that when God declares something to be so, it in fact becomes so. When God said, “Let there be light” at the creation, the Bible says, “And there was light” (Gen. 1:3). When Jesus said to the leper who came to Him for healing, “Be thou clean,” the Bible says, “And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt. 8:3). Ellen White reflects this Biblical reality when commenting on Paul’s justification theology in the book of Romans:

In the creation “He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Psalm 33:9; Rom. 4:17); for when He calls them, they are [10].

Both the prerequisites and the process of Biblical justification—the imputation of righteousness—involve divinely-empowered inward change (Psalm 32:1-2; Rom. 4:6-8). Thus Paul declares, contrasting self-generated works with the regenerating work of the Spirit, writes:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7).

Ellen White is clear beyond misunderstanding that justification by faith includes not only a declaration of divine forgiveness, but divine transformation as well:

To be pardoned in the way that Christ pardons, is not only to be forgiven, but to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. The Lord says, “A new heart will I give unto thee.” The image of Christ is to be stamped upon the very mind, heart, and soul [11].

Justification means pardon. It means that the heart, purged from dead works, is prepared to receive the blessing of sanctification [12].

God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10 [13].

By receiving [Christ’s] imputed righteousness, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we become like Him [14].

The grace of Christ purifies while it pardons, and fits men for a holy heaven [15].

Notice how each of the above statements identifies the Spirit’s inward transformation of the believer as part of the pardoning (justifying) process, not merely the result thereof. One must defy the simplest rules of grammar and syntax to read the above statements as teaching anything other than a definition of justifying righteousness as both declarative and transformative.

The sharp distinction drawn by the article in question between justification and perfection is difficult to harmonize with Ellen White’s statement that “by perfect obedience to the requirements of the law, man is justified. Only through faith in Christ is such obedience possible” [16]. Certainly the perfect obedience required for the initial experience of justification doesn’t reach the same level as the perfect obedience experienced as one’s journey continues on the upward path of holiness. Character surrender and the perfecting thus accomplished becomes deeper as one’s growth in grace progresses. But it is all part of the same process.

Abbreviating Saving Righteousness

The article in question states as follows:

Based on what I have said, I would suggest that Christ’s work in us is not what saves us but that it is rather a manifestation of His power, through the Spirit, procuring to restore in us His image [17].

But both Scripture and the writings of Ellen White disagree. The apostle Paul is clear that in addition to forgiving, justifying righteousness (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7), the work of Christ and His Spirit in regeneration and sanctification is very much a part of how we are saved:

God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (II Thess. 2:13).

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5).

Ellen White agrees, making it clear that both forgiving and transformative righteousness constitute the ground of our salvation:

So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and through us [18].

The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ [19].

Elsewhere she confirms that “the righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven” [20]. In other statements she is clear that imparted righteousness (sanctification) is part of the means whereby salvation and acceptance with God are attained:

The world is seeking for those things that perish with the using; its diligence and activity are not exerted to obtain the salvation gained through the imparted righteousness of Christ [21].

The life and death of Christ on behalf of sinful man were for the purpose of restoring the sinner to God's favor, through imparting to him the righteousness that would meet the claims of the law and find acceptance with the Father [22].

We are saved by climbing round after round of the ladder, looking to Christ, clinging to Christ, mounting step by step to the height of Christ, so that He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness, and charity are the rounds of this ladder [23].

Thank God, He attends us every step of the way through, if we are willing to be saved in Christ's appointed way, through obedience to His requirements [24].

The following statements clarify just how perfect this obedience must be as a condition of our salvation:

Before the believer is held out the wonderful possibility of being like Christ, obedient to all the principles of the law. But of himself man is utterly unable to reach this condition. The holiness that God's word declares he must have before he can be saved is the result of the working of divine grace as he bows in submission to the discipline and restraining influences of the Spirit of truth [25].

So perfect is the character represented which men must have in order to be Christ's disciples that the infidel has said that it is not possible for any human being to attain unto it. But no less a standard must be presented by all who claim to be children of God. Infidels know not that celestial aid is provided for all who seek for it by faith [26].

He [God] sent His Son to this world to bear the death penalty of man's transgression, and to show man how to live a sinless life. There is no other way in which he can be saved. “Without Me,” Christ says, “ye can do nothing.” Through Him, and Him alone, can the natural heart be changed, the affections transformed, the affections set flowing heavenward [27].

In the day of judgment the course of the man who has retained the frailty and imperfection of humanity will not be vindicated. For him there will be no place in heaven. He could not enjoy the perfection of the saints in light. He who has not sufficient faith in Christ to believe that He can keep him from sinning, has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom of God [28].

Christ came to this earth and lived a life of perfect obedience, that men and women, through His grace, might also live lives of perfect obedience. This is necessary to their salvation [29].

The article in question, tragically, has abbreviated what the inspired pen identifies as saving righteousness. As noted earlier, sadly, this is more a matter of achieving a spiritual comfort level than of accurately reflecting the inspired consensus. It is this question, that of the assurance of salvation, to which we now turn.

Is Biblical Assurance Based Exclusively on Forgiveness?

The article in question offers the following definition of Christian perfection:

This is precisely what Christian perfection is—we are daily growing in grace in order to be like Him (I Peter 2:1-3,21; I John 2:6), while concurrently placing our faith exclusively in Christ’s forgiving grace for the assurance of our salvation (I John 2:1,2) [30].

But at no time does either the Bible or Ellen White instruct us to place our faith “exclusively in Christ’s forgiving grace for the assurance of our salvation.” The passage quoted above by the article from First John simply says:

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:1-2).

Any straightforward reading of the above verses demonstrates that all they are saying is that God wishes us not to sin, but if we do, we have an Advocate (Mediator) in heaven, Jesus Christ the righteous. The following verse tells us that Jesus is our Sacrifice for sin, and that he died for the whole world, not simply for those who believe in Him. But nothing in these verses teaches that forgiveness is the sole ground of our salvation or for our assurance of the same.

Many are fond of quoting the apostle John’s statement: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (I John 5:13). But if we simply read the rest of the chapter, it becomes clear that the apostle doesn’t identify forgiveness as the exclusive basis for assurance. Verse 20 of this same chapter tells us:

We are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

And what, according to the same author in the same book, does it mean to be “in Christ”?

And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him (I John 3:24).

This of course is similar to the apostle Paul’s statement, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17). In other words, to “have eternal life,” as the apostle John says, is not to rest under a canopy of declarative righteousness while occasional sin persists. Rather, it means to experience the transforming power of the new creation and to thus render obedience to all of God’s commandments (Rom. 8:4).

We see the same principle explained in Jesus’ prayer for His disciples in the Gospel of John, when He prays, “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). And how, according to the apostle John, can we know that we know Jesus?

And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (I John 2:3-4).

So it is clear that to have eternal life is synonymous in the New Testament with the keeping of God’s commandments. This is not an assurance of salvation based on forgiveness only—not by any means. True, we can be certain of God’s forgiveness if we fall into sin and experience true repentance (II Chron. 7:14; Prov. 28:13; Isa. 55:7; Matt. 6:14-15; I John 1:9; 2:1). But to “know that [we] have eternal life” (I John 5:13), when considered both in context and in the light of the full Biblical message, is also based on continual surrender to the divine will through obedience to the divine law. Thus Ellen White declares:

In order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active living faith that works by love and purifies the soul [31].

It is by the continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained [32].

Ellen White echoes this Biblical focus in the following statements regarding the role of Spirit-empowered obedience in the believer’s assurance of salvation:

We cannot have the assurance and perfect confiding trust in Christ as our Saviour until we acknowledge Him as our King and are obedient to His commandments [33].

His (the believer’s) life, cleansed from vanity and selfishness, is filled with the love of God. His daily obedience to the law of God obtains for him a character that assures him eternal life in the kingdom of God [34].

If we neglect the cases of the needy and the unfortunate that are brought under our notice, no matter who they may be, we have no assurance of eternal life, for we do not answer the claims that God has upon us [35].

The conditions upon which salvation is assured are plain and simple, so that the wayfaring man need not err therein. . . . Let the Lord explain what He would have the sinner do to inherit eternal life. He has furnished ample provision for his salvation, for He gave Himself in Christ. He provided a salvation as full and complete as was the offering full and complete. A lawyer came to Christ asking what he should do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus said unto him, “What is written in the law? how readest thou? And He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

The lawyer spoke just as he was convicted, and Christ confirmed him in his interpretation of the law. “And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” How beautiful was this truth in its simplicity! This is what God requires of us. Through faith in Jesus Christ as our substitute, surety, and righteousness, we may lay hold upon divine power, so that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit [36].

The commandment-keeping people of God are to walk in the sunlight of Christ’s righteousness, their countenances expressing cheerfulness and thanksgiving, joyful in the assurance, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the City.” Revelation 22:14 [37].

Transformed at His Coming?

The article in question speaks as follows regarding the second coming of Christ:

Unilaterally God determined that His Son will come back to earth to take His people to the Father’s house (John 14:1-3). He also established that at the Second Coming He would transform us (I Cor. 15:51-54) and remove us from an environment characterized by sin, suffering, and death [38].

But the word “transform” in the above statement could easily, without clarification, be misunderstood. The only transformation described in the context of the passage the article quotes from First Corinthians involves our fleshly nature, as Paul writes that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 15:50). The effects of sin, not sin itself, are being described here. Elsewhere the New Testament is clear that the Christian is to found “without spot, and blameless” at the coming of Jesus (II Peter 3:14), that while we still have the hope of the advent that the Christian “purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (I John 3:2-3).

These verses inform us that sin will have been fully removed from the believer prior to Jesus’ coming in the clouds of glory. Thus Ellen White declares:

When He comes, He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions. If wrought for us at all, this work will be accomplished before that time. When the Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. . . . The Refiner does not then sit to pursue His refining process and remove their sins and their corruption. This is all to be done in these hours of probation [39].

When Christ shall come, our vile bodies are to be changed, and made like His glorious body, but the vile character will not be made holy then. The transformation of character must take place before His coming [40].

In fairness, the article in question does not say that sin will be removed from the Christian in the transformation that occurs at the second coming. But the unqualified use of the word “transform” might in fact lead the reader to conclude that the transformation being described includes the removal of sin. The inspired pen, however, forbids any such conclusion.

Conclusion

Strictly speaking, the article in question is correct that justification and perfection are not the same. However, the inspired writings are clear that the former is very much a part of the process that produces the latter, and that justification is both declarative and transformative. Moreover, the Bible is clear that the entire process—declaration, transformation, regeneration, justification, and sanctification—is what saves the believer (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; II Thess. 2:13; Titus 3:5). Again we cite the words of the modern prophet, which draw a plain contrast between boastful self-exaltation and the Biblical ground of the Christian’s hope, the latter clearly including both the Savior’s work for us and His work in us:

REFERENCES

1. Angel Manuel Rodriguez, “Justified and Perfected,” Adventist World, September 2021, p. 26. https://www.adventistworld.org/justified-and-perfected/

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1070.

9. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 366.

10. ----Education, p. 254.

11. ----Review and Herald, Aug. 19, 1890.

12. ----Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 96.

13. ----Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 114 (italics original).

14. ----SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1098; see also Sons and Daughters of God, p. 346; The Upward Look, p. 328.

15. ----That I May Know Him, p. 336.

16. ----In Heavenly Places, p. 146.

17. Rodriguez, “Justified and Perfected,” Adventist World, September 2021, p. 26. https://www.adventistworld.org/justified-and-perfected/

18. White, Steps to Christ, p. 63.

19. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 300.

20. ----Messages to Young People, p. 35.

21. ----Manuscript 31, 1907.

22. ----Faith and Works, p. 118.

23. ----Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 147.

24. ----This Day With God, p. 72.

25. ----Acts of the Apostles, p. 532 (italics supplied).

26. ----In Heavenly Places, p. 201 (italics supplied).

27. ----Youth’s Instructor, April 16, 1903 (italics supplied).

28. ----Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 360.

29. ----Review and Herald, March 15, 1906 (italics supplied).

30. Rodriguez, “Justified and Perfected,” Adventist World, September 2021, p. 26. https://www.adventistworld.org/justified-and-perfected/

31. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 366.

32. Ibid, p. 397.

33. ----Faith and Works, p. 16.

34. ----Sons and Daughters of God, p. 42.

35. ----Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 524.

36. ----Signs of the Times, July 2, 1896.

37. ----Review and Herald, May 3, 1898.

38. Rodriguez, “Justified and Perfected,” Adventist World, September 2021, p. 26. https://www.adventistworld.org/justified-and-perfected/

39. White, Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 355.

40. ----Our High Calling, p. 278.

41. ----Steps to Christ, p. 63.

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