At one point in 1878, Ellen White found herself traveling by boat from California to Oregon. An incident occurred during this voyage which speaks with powerful, sobering relevance to the continuing controversy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church over whether human beings can keep God’s law through God’s power here on earth.
On this boat was an Elder Brown (not an SDA) who was teaching to others how impossible it presumably was for any human being to keep the law of God. In Ellen White’s words:
I heard the elder stating to a company gathered about him that it was impossible for any man to keep the law of God; that man never did keep it, and never can keep it [1].
She then writes:
I was astonished at the position taken by Elder Brown on the question of the law. It seemed incredible that one who professed to be a Bible student, and teacher, should affirm that no man ever kept the law of God, or could keep it. This is the fearful position taken by many ministers, in order to get rid of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Such teachers throw a very unfavorable light on the character of our heavenly Father, when they represent Him as giving man a code of laws which is the foundation of all civilized national and domestic government, yet which it is impossible that men ever have or ever can obey. Such sentiments expressed by public teachers lead men, not only to disregard the divine law, but to trample upon it as an arbitrary requirement which they are justified in rebelling against. The teachers of such pernicious doctrines will not be in an enviable position when they shall meet the great Lawgiver over His broken law…. Those who by word or action, or interpretation of Scripture, lessen or explain away the sacred claims and dignity of God’s holy law shall have no place in the kingdom of heaven [2].
Keep in mind this was a non-Seventh-day Adventist teaching these theories. One can only imagine her chagrin and outrage were she to hear such pernicious doctrines taught by pastors and teachers professing to adhere to the three angels’ messages, whose agenda declares to the watching universe, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).
Elder Brown in Contemporary Adventism
This week I encountered one of the most despairing, defeat-saturated articles in memory from a professedly Seventh-day Adventist author. Its title? “Believers Who Know They Are Sinners and Always Will Be” [3]. Like those who presume to find in the Bible such heresies as Sunday-sacredness, the immortality of the soul, the eternal torment of the wicked, and similar falsehoods, this author presumes to find in the writings of Ellen White the assurance that Christians who supposedly can’t help sinning, even when divinely empowered, will still be acquitted at last in God’s final judgment.
Joshua and the Angel
Like other critics of the Bible/Spirit of Prophecy construct known as Last Generation Theology, the author in question uses a tiny portion of the relevant inspired evidence, ignoring vast reaches of material from both Scripture and Ellen White that affirm both the imperative of sinless obedience here on earth through God’s empowering grace, and the particular imperative of this achievement for those awaiting Christ at His second coming. But the principal focus of the article in question is Ellen White’s commentary on the Biblical narrative of Joshua and the Angel (Zech. 3:1-5).
Unfortunately for his case, the author in question focuses exclusively on Ellen White’s recounting of this narrative in the book Prophets and Kings [4], without comparing her statements in this book with statements elsewhere on the same narrative. This is the typical approach taken by erroneous theology when it comes to the inspired writings. Certain passages receive a dominant focus, while others are ignored. But the only way a path to unity can be found for the church relative to such controversies, is for the totality of inspired counsel to be brought to bear on a given subject, which is the only means whereby the singular, harmonious voice of the inspired text can be heard.
Central to the argument made by the article in question is the following statement by Jesus regarding His saints:
They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them [5].
Based on this statement, the article in question assumes that the saints at this time are still imperfect, still falling into occasional sin. But what seems not to be recognized by the author in question is the investigative quality of this exchange between Christ and Satan. We see this investigative tone even more pronounced in the following recounting of the same narrative by Ellen White, in another passage:
Satan endeavors to bring reproach upon those who are trying to serve and honor God. He presents them in a questionable light, as those who are clothed with filthy garments. But God says, “Take away the filthy garments. You have no right to put them upon My people. Take them away. My people may have imperfections of character; they may fail in their endeavors; but if they repent, I will forgive them” [6].
Does this in fact mean sin is still possible in the experience of the Last Generation saints? Let’s keep reading:
The word of assurance is given to all who have faith in God. Receive this wonderful promise. It is not a human being who is speaking: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts. If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.”
Among those who stand by—the hosts of the enemy, who are trying to bring God’s people into disrepute, and the hosts of heaven, ten thousand times ten thousand angels, who watch over and guard the tempted people of God, uplifting and strengthening them. These are they who stand by. And God says to His believing ones, You shall walk among them. You shall not be overcome by the powers of darkness. You shall stand before Me in the sight of the holy angels, who are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation [7].
In other words, while God is willing to still forgive His people if they fail in their endeavors, He won’t need to, because they won’t fail Him again. Not only is God’s promise declared here to be conditional on obedience—“If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge”—God proceeds to assure His people: “You shall not be overcome by the powers of darkness.”
Here we see the investigative judgment up close and personal. As in post-Fall Eden, where God confronts Adam with such questions as, “Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:9), and, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (verse 11)—questions to which God fully knew the answers—God’s exchange with His adversary in the final judgment includes tentative statements subject to verification, such as, that His people “may have imperfections of character” [8]. The whole universe is watching this process (Dan. 7:9-14; Rev. 3:5), and as God alone knows the heart (I Kings 8:39), He must do a thorough and fully public investigation of those who will enter His kingdom so as to assure His creatures of His absolute transparency.
But as the investigation proceeds, it is found that the imperfections of character in the lives of God’s people have been fully vanquished and expelled from their experience. Hence the divine declaration, “You shall not be overcome by the powers of darkness” [9].
Let’s also bear in mind that when Ellen White quotes Jesus as declaring of His saints, “They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them” [10], that elsewhere she defines repentance as “a sorrow for sin, and a turning away from it” [11]. This is the key to understanding Ellen White’s description of God’s people at this point in their spiritual journey, as we shall see.
In other statements depicting this narrative, Ellen White is absolutely clear that the sins of God’s people are in the past, not the present. In her description of this exchange in volume 5 of the Testimonies, Ellen White declares regarding Joshua’s vindication and that of Israel:
Israel was clothed with “change of raiment,”—the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. The miter placed upon Joshua’s head was such as was worn by the priests, and bore the inscription, “Holiness to the Lord,” signifying that notwithstanding his former transgressions, he was now qualified to minister before God in His sanctuary [12].
Notice how the sins of Joshua and of Israel (whom Joshua represents) are described as former, not current. A few pages later, Ellen White clarifies this further:
But while the followers of Christ have sinned, they have not given themselves to the control of evil. They have put away their sins, and have sought the Lord in humility and contrition, and the Divine Advocate pleads in their behalf [13].
In another statement she is even stronger in her assertion that only those who have stopped sinning are included in the faithful, vindicated company described in the narrative of Joshua and the Angel:
“And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hast chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel” (Zech. 3:1-3). Joshua here represents the people of God; and Satan pointing to their filthy garments claims them as his property over which he has a right to exercise his cruel power. But these very ones have improved the hours of probation to confess their sins with contrition of soul and put them away, and Jesus has written pardon against their names.
Those who have not ceased to sin and who have not repented and sought pardon for their transgressions are not represented in this company [14].
Failing to Consider the Full Weight of Evidence
The article in question places enormous weight on Ellen White’s statement that the saints “may have imperfections of character” at this time [15], ignoring the clarifying evidence of both the investigative nature of Jesus’ statement [16] and Ellen White’s other statements which clearly place the sins of the Last Generation saints in the past at this particular point [17]. Because the author fails to consider the larger weight of inspired evidence, he writes as follows regarding Ellen White’s well-known statement in Christ’s Object Lessons regarding the perfect reproduction of Jesus’ character in Christian lives as a prerequisite for the coming of Jesus. This, of course, is the statement where she writes:
When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own [18].
The article in question, citing this statement in light of the earlier one from Prophets and Kings (“they may have imperfections of character”), observes as follows:
When we compare the material from Christ’s Object Lessons with the material from Prophets and Kings, logically we must give the COL passage a corporate interpretation because Joshua and his cohorts as individuals have “imperfections of character” [19].
Years ago I first heard this “corporate” interpretation of character perfection from another modern (now deceased) Adventist author [20]. But it is totally contrary to the collective teachings of both the Bible and the writings of Ellen White, as the following passages bear witness:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure…
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous (1 John 3:2-3,7).
All are personally exposed to the temptations that Christ overcame, but strength is provided for them in the all-powerful name of the great Conqueror. And all must, for themselves, individually overcome [21].
The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Everyone must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing [22].
One is truly perplexed as to what this “corporate perfection” described by the article in question is supposed to look like—as if the unbeliever who encounters a church member who nurtures racial hostility, abuses his children, or deals dishonestly in business can console himself that while the Christian he happened to meet wasn’t perfect, the church as a corporate body somehow is! The lyrics of a song some years ago come to mind: “You’re the only Jesus some will ever see; you’re the only words of life some will ever read” [23].
Like so many others, the author of the article in question seems to think that if he can only find a way to de-sharpen the famed exhortation to perfect Christlikeness in Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69, that he can somehow succeed in undermining the case for Last Generation Theology that pervades both Scripture and the writings of Ellen White. But the Bible verses which affirm the necessity of Spirit-empowered sinless conduct in this life (e.g. Psalm 4:4; 119:1-3,11; John 8:11; Rom. 6:14; 8:4; I Cor. 15:34; II Cor. 7:1; 10:4-5; Eph. 5:27; Phil. 4:13; I Peter 2:21-22; 4:1; I John 1:7,9; Jude 24), in particular for the final generation of saints who await Christ at His coming (Zeph. 3:13; I Thess. 5:23; I Tim. 6:13-14; James 5:7-8; II Peter 3:10-14; I John 3:2-3; Rev. 3:21; 12:17; 14:5,12), are numerous and ubiquitous throughout both Testaments. Like the Trinity, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the Sabbath, natural mortality, the investigative judgment, and a host of other tenets, Last Generation Theology is first and foremost a Bible doctrine.
And far from being based on one or two Ellen White statements, as the article in question and other critics of Last Generation Theology allege [24], Ellen White’s support of this Biblical teaching is pervasive throughout her writings, throughout every period of her prophetic ministry. Such statements as the following are but a few that affirm her witness on this point:
Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully….
I saw that none could share the “refreshing” (latter rain) unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action [25].
Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost [26].
Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold, and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth, and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity.
Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven [27].
The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display…. The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against. In their untainted purity and spotless perfection, Christ looks upon His people as the reward of all His suffering, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory [28].
The Saviour is wounded afresh and put to open shame when His people pay no heed to His word. He came to this world and lived a sinless life, that in His power His people might also live lives of sinlessness. He desires them by practicing the principles of truth to show to the world that God’s grace has power to sanctify the heart [29].
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 all 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 [30].
Conclusion: Elder Brown in Contemporary Adventism
The article in question closes with the following flourish of misguided, misperceived hope regarding God’s people at the close of time:
These imperfect saints take refuge in their “clean clothes,” symbolic of their total trust in the grace of Christ.
Therefore, we can conclude that if there is a “final generation,” it is a generation that trusts solely in the grace of Christ
And all the discouraged Adventists shouted, “Amen!” [31].
The author of this article quotes another Ellen White statement that figures prominently in the promotion of Last Generation Theology, which reads:
Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above, are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator [32].
But had he only allowed Ellen White to complete a few more sentences in this passage, he would have encountered Ellen White’s understanding of how God’s grace works in tandem with human cooperation:
Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil [33].
In other words, Ellen White agrees with the apostle Paul, who taught that in the sanctifying process divine grace is the enabler of human effort (II Cor. 12:9; Heb. 12:28), not its substitute. God’s grace will indeed be the refuge of the Last Generation saints, but only—as Scripture teaches—as a covering for sins confessed and forsaken (II Chron. 7:14; Prov. 28:13; Isa. 55:7)—not as a covering for presumably unconquerable transgression. God’s grace is the means whereby the erstwhile fornicator, race bigot, abuser, materialist, and all the rest can cleanse their souls of every defilement. It is not a canopy under which allegedly irresistible disobedience is to persist in the Christian’s journey so long as this earthly life lasts.
Tragically, what Elder Brown taught on that boat ride to Oregon is now being taught by any number of notable voices within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The prophet’s words in reply to this degrading doctrine of defeatism should strike terror in the hearts of these false teachers among us:
The teachers of such pernicious doctrines will not be in an enviable position when they shall meet the great Lawgiver over His broken law…. Those who by word or action, or interpretation of Scripture, lessen or explain away the sacred claims and dignity of God’s holy law shall have no place in the kingdom of heaven [34].
Elsewhere she writes:
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 [35].
Discouraged Adventists can take courage in the inspired truth that God’s grace has power to sanctify every heart and life, no matter how corrupt—that it can subdue every addiction, every ingrained habit, every lustful passion, no matter how persistent. For indeed, when probation closes and the mediation of Christ comes to an end, the only covering available for those with unconquered sin in their lives will be the rocks and the mountains (Rev. 6:15-17).
REFERENCES
1. Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, July 18, 1878.
2. Ibid.
3. Alden Thompson, “Believers Who Know They Are Sinners and Always Will Be,” Adventist Today, Aug. 15, 2023 https://atoday.org/believers-who-know-they-are-sinners-and-always-will-be/
4. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 582-592.
5. Ibid, p. 589.
6. -----Signs of the Times, Aug. 28, 1901.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid; Prophets and Kings, p. 589.
9. ----Signs of the Times, Aug. 28, 1901.
10. ----Prophets and Kings, p. 589.
11. ----Steps to Christ, p. 23.
12. ----Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 469 (italics supplied).
13. Ibid, p. 474 (italics supplied).
14. ----Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, pp. 249-250 (italics supplied).
15. ----Prophets and Kings, p. 589.
16. ----Signs of the Times, Aug. 28, 1901.
17. ----Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 469,474; Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, pp. 249-250.
18. ----Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69.
19. Thompson, “Believers Who Know They Are Sinners and Always Will Be,” Adventist Today, Aug. 15, 2023 https://atoday.org/believers-who-know-they-are-sinners-and-always-will-be/
20. Jack Sequeira, Beyond Belief: The promise, the power, and the reality of the everlasting gospel (Boise, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Assn, 1993), pp. 152-153.
21. White, Confrontation, p. 64.
22. ----The Great Controversy, p. 490.
23. David Will, “You’re the Only Jesus,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjEaJTZybnQ
24. Thompson, “Believers Who Know They Are Sinners and Always Will Be,” Adventist Today, Aug. 15, 2023 https://atoday.org/believers-who-know-they-are-sinners-and-always-will-be/; Jiri Moskala and John C. Peckham (eds.), God’s Character and the Last Generation (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Assn, 2018), pp. 215,261.
25. White, Early Writings, p. 71.
26. ----Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 214.
27. Ibid, p. 216.
28. ----Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 18-19.
29. ----Review and Herald, April 1, 1902.
30. ----Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 355.
31. Thompson, “Believers Who Know They Are Sinners and Always Will Be,” Adventist Today, Aug. 15, 2023 https://atoday.org/believers-who-know-they-are-sinners-and-always-will-be/
32. White, The Great Controversy, p. 425.
33. Ibid.
34. ----Signs of the Times, July 18, 1878.
35. ----Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 360; see also Review and Herald, March 10, 1904.
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