As a condition for attending the recent GYC (Generation of Youth for Christ) conference in Houston, Texas, it was necessary to receive a negative COVID test result from within the previous 72 hours. I was able to get tested on Monday, December 27th, but did not receive the results till late the following evening, a scant few hours before my flight to Houston.
Though I was vaccinated in May 2021 and boosted early in December, I confess to having been nervous about the test results, considering my recent presence in large and unmasked crowds. The possibility of having to miss GYC for the first time offered the specter of painful disappointment. But whatever my personal feelings, I knew that for the sake of others I would have to miss the conference should the test come back positive.
Thus it was with great joy that at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, December 28, I received the test results via text. The words flashed before my eyes: NOT DETECTED.
Lessons
Like many of life’s experiences, this one offers some pointed object lessons relative to God’s plan of salvation and His eternal purpose in the controversy with evil. Perhaps the two most significant of these lessons are as follows:
1. Whose security matters most? My COVID test wasn’t primarily about me—even though, had I tested positive, I would have needed to take steps to recover and eventually test negative. But most importantly, my need to get a negative test result before attending GYC was for the sake of those with whom I would come in contact at the conference and elsewhere. The security of others, not my own peace of mind or possible disappointment, was the principal issue.
In today’s theological climate in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we hear much about personal assurance of salvation. Sadly, there are those who mistakenly believe their assurance to be based solely on Christ’s justifying (forgiving) righteousness. But as important as justifying righteousness most assuredly is, the Bible never presents it as the sole ground of our salvation.
Many will cite the following passage as the basis of the Christian’s assurance of salvation:
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (I John 5:11-13).
But what is often ignored is what the same author, in the same context, is talking about when he speaks of having eternal life. Consider what he states in verse 20 of this same chapter:
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).
Despite what some believe, none need fear that an untimely death might catch them unawares in a moment of transgression, forestalling the chance for repentance and forgiveness. The God of Scripture is declared by the apostle Peter to be “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). Ellen White affirms this reality in the following statement
The angels never leave the tempted one a prey to the enemy who would destroy the souls of men if permitted to do so. As long as there is hope, until they resist the Holy Spirit to their eternal ruin, men are guarded by heavenly intelligences [1].
The experience of having eternal life is further 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 [2].
It is by the continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained [3].
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 [4].
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 [5].
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 [6].
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 [7].
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 [8].
So while in fact there is a true assurance of salvation available to the Christian, it is based as much on the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in the life as it is on the substitution of Christ’s sinless life for our past failings in the transaction called justification, or forgiveness. The Bible is clear that the means by which Christians are saved include both justification and sanctification (Eph. 1:7; II Thess. 2:13), both Christ’s work for us and His work in us (II Cor. 5:21; Titus 3:5). Thus Ellen White declares:
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 [9].
The basic reason why the perfecting of Christian character through the sanctifying process is essential to our salvation is because the security of the universe is at stake. While many Christians, including too many contemporary Adventists, obsess about their own security relative to God’s standard of righteousness, the ultimate security issue involves the universe, just as the result of my COVID test concerned primarily the safety of others, as distinct from my own. God and His universe have to be sure that those taken to heaven from this planet won’t start another rebellion. Thus Ellen White declares:
God, in His wisdom and mercy, tests men and women here, to see if they will obey His voice and respect His law, or rebel as Satan did. If they choose the side of Satan, putting his way above God’s, it would not be safe to admit them into heaven; for they would cause another revolt against the government of God in the heavenly courts. He who fulfills the law in every respect, demonstrates that perfect obedience is possible [10].
God will accept nothing less than unreserved surrender. Halfhearted, sinful, professing Christians would spoil heaven, were they permitted to enter. They would stir up a second rebellion there [11].
Without perfection of character no one can enter the pearly gates of the city of God, for if, with all our imperfections, we were permitted to enter that city, there would soon be in heaven a second rebellion. We must first be tried and chosen, and found faithful and true. Upon the purification of our character rests our only hope of eternal life [12].
Without Christ, it is impossible for [man] to render perfect obedience to the law of God; and heaven can never be gained by an imperfect obedience, for this would place all heaven in jeopardy and make possible a second rebellion [13].
Those who accept Christ as their Saviour, becoming partakers of His divine nature, are enabled to follow His example, living in obedience to every precept of the law. Through the merits of Christ, man is to show by his obedience that he could be trusted in heaven, that he would not rebel [14].
So what ultimately matters in the great controversy regarding my salvation is not my personal comfort level during my earthly sojourn, but rather, the eternal peace of the universe.
2. The Scrutiny of God’s Judgment. The theory that God’s determination of our ultimate destiny in the final judgment is basely solely on justifying, declarative righteousness, is found nowhere in the pages of Scripture. The wisest of kings wrote of how “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:14). Jesus declared that “by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matt. 12:37), and taught in His parable of the sheep and the goats that how we treat our fellow humans will be weighed in the balances of heaven’s judgment as a condition of our receiving eternal life (Matt. 25:31-46).
Echoing the words of Solomon, the apostle Paul wrote:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the deeds done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (II Cor. 5:10).
Echoing the judgment theology of both Old and New Testaments, Ellen White declares in such statements as the following:
By the king’s examination of the guests at the feast is represented a work of judgment. The guests at the gospel feast are those who profess to serve God, those whose names are written in the book of life. But not all who profess to be Christians are true disciples. Before the final reward is given, it must be decided who are fitted to share the inheritance of the righteous. This decision must be made prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven; for when He comes, His reward is with Him, “to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12. Before His coming, then, the character of every man’s work will be determined, and to every one of Christ’s followers the reward will have been apportioned according to his deeds.
It is while men are still dwelling upon the earth that the work of investigative judgment takes place in the courts of heaven. The lives of all His professed followers pass in review before God. All are examined according to the record of the books of heaven, and according to his deeds the destiny of each is forever fixed.
By the wedding garment in the parable is represented the pure, spotless character that Christ’s true followers will possess. To the church it is given “that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,” “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Rev. 19:8. This fine linen, says the Scripture, “is the righteousness of saints.” Eph. 5:27. It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour” [15].
When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be judged according to the things written in the books, then the tables of stone, hidden by God until that day, will be presented before the world as the standard of righteousness. Then men and women will see that the prerequisite of their salvation is obedience to the perfect law of God. None will find excuse for sin. By the righteous principles of that law, men will receive their sentence of life or of death [16].
Each one in the day of investigative judgment will stand in character as he really is; he will render an individual account to God. Every word uttered, every departure from integrity, every action that sullies the soul, will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. Memory will be true and vivid in condemnation of the guilty one, who in that day is found wanting. The mind will recall all the thoughts and acts of the past; the whole life will come in review like the scenes in a panorama. Thus every one will be condemned or acquitted out of his own mouth, and the righteousness of God will be vindicated [17].
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 [18].
The only question asked in the judgment will be, “Have they been obedient to My commandments?” [19].
Conclusion: Not Detected
Not a moment passes in which we shouldn’t thank God for the forgiving righteousness that covers our wicked past, and for the transformative, empowering righteousness that purifies our hearts and enables us to vanquish temptation, prove our loyalty to the divine requirements, and be fit for the courts of glory. No outward rectitude imposed by culture or convenience can pass heaven’s scrutiny. Only the justifying, sanctifying righteousness of Christ can meet the standard of God’s judgment and prepare us to join the heavenly society.
When I saw those words, NOT DETECTED, on my iphone late that night, relief flooded over me, and I thanked the Lord from the depths of my heart. My prayer is that each of us will emerge from the investigative judgment with the same verdict relative to our sins, that the searching test of heaven’s tribunal will find all transgression purged from our hearts and lives through the cleansing blood of our Lord (Heb. 13:12,20-21). The third stanza of one of my favorite judgment hymns comes to mind in this regard:
The solemn moment is at hand
When we who have His name confessed
Each in his lot must singly stand
And pass the final searching text.
Jesus we hope in Thee alone
In mercy now upon us look
Confess our names before the throne
And blot our sins from out Thy book [20].
REFERENCES
1. Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 23.
2. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 366.
3. Ibid, p. 397.
4. ----Faith and Works, p. 16.
5. ----Sons and Daughters of God, p. 42.
6. ----Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 524.
7. ----Signs of the Times, July 2, 1896.
8. ----Review and Herald, May 3, 1898.
9. ----Steps to Christ, p. 63.
10. ----Review and Herald, July 21, 1891.
11. ----The Upward Look, p. 197.
12. ----Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, p. 294.
13. ----Signs of the Times, Dec. 30, 1889.
14. ----That I May Know Him, p. 292.
15. ----Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 310.
16. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 225.
17. ----Review and Herald, Nov. 4, 1884.
18. ----Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 360.
19. ----Gospel Workers, p. 315.
20. R.F. Cottrell, “O Solemn Thought,” Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 417.
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