The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 76

March 14, 1899

“Editorial” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 11, p. 168.

THE righteousness of God is revealed to faith. Romans 1:17. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.1

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God, expecting that word to do what the word itself says. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.2

Is there, then, righteousness spoken by the word of God, so that people can depend completely upon that word, that the word shall accomplish what the word says? ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.3

There is. Indeed, that is the very object of the gift of Christ. For him “God hath set forth.... to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Romans 3:25. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.4

Seeing then that God hath set forth Christ expressly to declare, to speak, the righteousness of God, it is certain that the word of God has been spoken, upon which there can be complete dependence, expecting that word to do what that word says. In other words, there is righteousness that can be received by faith. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.5

Wherein is this word spoken?—It is spoken in the word “forgiveness.” “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;” “there is forgiveness with thee.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.6

Now what is the meaning of “forgive”? The word “forgive” is composed of “for” and “give,” which otherwise is give for. To forgive, therefore, is simply to give for. For the Lord to forgive sin, is to give for sin. But what does the Lord give for sin?—He declares “his righteousness for the remission of sins.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.7

Therefore when the Lord forgives—gives for—sin, he gives righteousness for sin. And as the only righteousness that the Lord has is his own, it follows that the only righteousness that God gives, or can give, for sin is the righteousness of God. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.8

This is the righteousness of God as a gift. As all men have only sinned, and, if they are ever clear, must have forgiveness entirely free; and as the forgiveness of sin—the righteousness of God given for sin—is entirely free,—this is the righteousness of God as a free gift “upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:18. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.9

Every soul, therefore, who ever asks God for forgiveness of sin, in that very thing asks it solely upon the word of God, which speaks forgiveness. And faith is entire dependence upon the word for what the word speaks. Thus righteousness is altogether of faith. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.10

“Every one that asketh receiveth.” You have asked the Lord many a time to forgive your sins; that is, you have asked him to give for your sin. But when you ask the Lord to give for your sin, in that you ask him to give the only thing that he does or can give for sin, which is righteousness. That is what it is to ask forgiveness of the Lord. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.11

And he does forgive—he does give for—your sins when you ask him. He says he does, and he does. “He is faithful”—that is, he will never fail—”and just to forgive us our sins.” And the only thing he gives for sins is his righteousness. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.12

Then why not thank him for the righteousness that he freely gives for your sins, when you ask him to? ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.13

Do you not see that righteousness by faith is just as plain and simple as the asking God for forgiveness of sin? Indeed, it is just that. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.14

To believe that righteousness is given you for your sin, when you ask forgiveness; and thankfully to receive that righteousness as the gift of God,—this is what it is to exercise faith. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.15

Yet how true it is that “we suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief, and of our ignorance of how to exercise faith.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.16

“Hast thou faith?” Have the faith of God. “Here are they that keep... the faith of Jesus.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.17

“Editorial Note” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 11, p. 168.

“WALK in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.18

What a blessed promise! and as sure as it is blessed, to every one who believes. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.19

Think of the lust of the flesh. How all-pervading it is! How stern are its dictates! How oppressive its rule! How dismal is the slavery that it lays upon men! ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.20

Everybody has experienced it,—longing to do the good that he would, yet doing only the evil that he hated; having ever a will to do better, but how to perform it, finding not; delighting in the law of God after the inward man, yet finding in his members another law, warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in his members; and at last crying out, “O wretched man that I am! who whall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:14-24. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.21

Thank the Lord, there is deliverance. It is found in Christ Jesus and in the Spirit of our God. Romans 7:25; 8:1, 2. And the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus having made you free from the law of sin and death, then “walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” There is not only deliverance from the bondage of corruption: there is also the glorious liberty of the children of God for every soul who receives the Spirit, and walks in the Spirit. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.22

“Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.23

See the list of the workings of the lust of the flesh: “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like.” None of these shall you fulfil, over all these things you have the victory, when you walk in the Spirit. It is the faithful word of God. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.24

Is not that a most desirable prospect? Is not such a thing as that worth having? And when it is had for the asking and the taking, then is it not worth asking for and taking? ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.25

Accept the deliverance that Christ has wrought out for you. Stand, and stand fast, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.26

“Ask, and it shall be given you.” “For every one that asketh receiveth.” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” “Be filled with the Spirit;” yes “Walk in the” “Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 168.27

“Editorial Notes” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 11, p. 169.

TO every soul of mankind God has given the glorious gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Father is fulfilled,—the promise that the Spirit is to be poured out upon all flesh; all flesh may see the glory of the Lord, all flesh may be saved if they will. “As many as received him, to them gave he power,“—not simply to them gives he the power, but the power is given. There is nothing hypothetical, nothing conjectural. Nothing is left in doubt in the gospel of Jesus Christ. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.1

“A Question and the Answer” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 11, pp. 169, 170.

A sister asked how it is that 2 Chronicles 6:36 and 1 John 3:6-9 are both true; and also how it is that when 1 John 3:1-9 is true of an individual, he still prays the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us our debts.” Perhaps the answer will help others, as it did her, and therefore we publish it. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.1

DEAR SISTER: The thought was intended to prevail that when we are made free from sin, we are made free from sinning, and therefore free from the power of sin. That is all told in the sixth chapter of Romans, in almost every verse. It is the truth. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.2

Then, of course, there does appear something of a puzzle between 2 Chronicles 6:36 and 1 John 3:6-9; and between 1 John 3:6-9 and praying, “Forgive us our debts.” Yet that is all straight and plain when the matter is really understood. But of course, in understanding it, we have to go considerably below the surface of things; though even then it is simple and plain. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.3

It is all suggested and outlined in the three words that the Lord uses in giving his name, in Exodus 34:7: “Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Now these three words express different phases of sin. Think carefully while I show you the truth as to each one of these words. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.4

Iniquity is a thing done with evil intent. Transgression is, to pass over bounds, to go out of the way, and may be done without evil intent. Sin signifies, in its root idea, to miss the mark; that is, to aim at the right mark, to do our best to hit the mark, and yet miss it by coming short: this is the root idea in the original word defining sin. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.5

Let us take up these words, one by one, and go backward with them, beginning with the original idea of sin. There is no human language that has any word of its own that originally expresses the idea which we have in the word “sin.” This idea of sin comes altogether from the Lord. So it is literally true of what sin really is. Now when the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, he had to teach them this. Their minds were so darkened that they had lost all the true idea that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had from the Lord on this subject; and the Lord had to begin with them, as upon a blank paper,—and that paper black, too,—to teach them what he meant when he told them that they had sinned. In order to do this, he must select a word in their language into which he could instil this idea, and by which would be conveyed to their minds his thought. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.6

In those days they used bows and arrows, with which to shoot; they practised in this by shooting at a mark; and when one had aimed at the mark, the very best that he could do, and then had given to his arrow the strongest impulse that he was capable of, and yet missed the mark by his arrow falling short, those standing by to tell the result announced it by the word which, in Hebrew, signified to miss the mark by coming short. Now that particular word in Hebrew was the word chosen by the Lord through which he would convey to their minds what he meant when he said: “You have sinned; you have aimed to do right; you did your best, but you came short; that shortcoming is what I mean when I tell you that you have sinned; just as, when you aimed at your mark, and did your best to hit it with the arrow, you missed it by coming short.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 169.7

By the continual training which God gave to the Hebrew people, he had built them up to where they had a clear conception of this true idea of sin. But there came a time when the gospel, the truth of God, must be preached to all nations outside of Israel. At that time the Greek language, like all others, had in it no word expressing God’s idea of sin; therefore the Lord must choose, in that language, a word by which he would convey to the people who thought in that language what he means when he says, “You have sinned.” And he chose in the Greek language the identical word which corresponds to the one that he had chosen in Hebrew, which signifies to miss the mark. And as the Greeks had already carried into the field of thought the idea of the missing of the literal mark with the arrow by coming short, and had made that word express mental shortcomings, it was easy for the Lord’s thought to pass by this word to the mind of the Greeks. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.1

But when he had to choose in these two languages a word by which to convey his thought of what is sin, and in both languages he chose the same word, which means to miss the mark by coming short, this you see shows us plainly enough that that is the original idea, the very root, of what is meant by the word “sin.” And it is expressed in Romans 3:23: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” These are simply two expressions for the same thing. The “come short” is the explanation of the word “sinned.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.2

Now when you and I know the thing that is right, as we do by the word of God, and with good intent aim to do that right thing,—aim to hit the mark,—you know that we do come short; because every action must be perfect, to be accepted. You know that the very best that we could ever possibly do in that direction would come short. And you know that everything that was ever done by anybody, except the Lord Jesus, has come short just that way,—has missed the mark,—and so is sin. This is why it is that our very best efforts need to be actually displaced by the merit of Jesus Christ, which merit becomes our own by faith, before it can be accepted. Thus in all our actions we must be justified by faith, and the only righteousness that will avail in our behalf is the righteousness that is by faith of Jesus Christ. As every action of ours comes short of the perfect standard of the law of God, and as every such shortcoming misses the mark, it is sin; because the root idea of sin is just that thing,—to miss the mark by coming short. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.3

Now in all this we were in the right line; we did not go out of the bounds; we aimed right, but came short. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.4

There is another phase of this. Our view of the mark may have become obscure. In our efforts to hit the mark, we may have stumbled and passed out of the bounds,—crossed over the boundary of right into the field of wrong,—and so trans-gressed. Yet bear in mind that this transgression is not distinct from sin; it is only an extension of the idea of sin, a carrying further the coming short. This is also sin, though it is a phase of sin further off than the former one: it is out of the right line. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.5

The next, “iniquity,” is further off than this. It is not simply passing over the bounds into the field of wrong by some error of judgment, or stumbling; it is the doing of wrong, knowing it to be wrong, and intending to do it, though we know it to be wrong. This is iniquity, evil-doing. This, in turn, is yet a further extension of the idea of sin; it is further off from the mark than when one is aiming at the mark; and because this also misses the mark, it is sin. Yet this is a deeper phase of the original idea of coming short. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.6

Of course the idea of sin covers all of these, even to the utmost; because sin is coming short. And it matters not how far short, even to being directly opposite of right, an action may come, it is sin. Yet taking the original, the right, idea of sin, and holding fast to that, you can see how these other two words are expressive of the other two points in the different phases of the one great thought of coming short. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.7

Now I think that you are prepared to see what is involved in the questions that you have asked, and in the scriptures that you have cited. Do you see that it is literally true that there is not a man on earth “that sinneth not,” in the original sense of coming short? Is it not true that there is not a soul on earth, who in the very best thing he ever does, does not come short? Of course you say “Yes.” Very good. That is why we confess our sins, which is simply confessing to the Lord that what we have done has come short of perfection,—has come short of hitting the true mark that God has set up; and therefore we ask him to put the merit of Jesus Christ, which does hit the mark, in the place of our missing the mark. We ask him to “forgive us our debts.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.8

Our flesh is sinful flesh; there is in it the tendency to wrong and only wrong,—the tendency to pass over the bounds,—transgress. Now the Lord Jesus, dwelling within by his Spirit, delivers us from this power of sin that is in us, and holds us back from doing wrong. He condemns sin in our flesh, and so frees us from the power of sin. Thus in the sense that we do not transgress, do not go over the bounds, we do not sin. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.9

Now, on the other word: iniquity is evil-doing, bad intent. This Jesus Christ abolishes in us, takes away from us, delivers us from, and gives us a new mind, a new heart, a new spirit, a new disposition, that neither wants to do evil nor even thinks of doing evil. We commit no iniquity. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.10

Thus we are made free from all the life of sin that has bound us; we are made free from sinning, by the power of Christ holding us back from transgression; we are made free from iniquity, by being given another Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, which loves the good, and will neither do evil nor think evil. Thus it is that “whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: ... whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.11

And still it is true that the best we do, when aiming to do right, when aiming at perfection, which is the only standard,—in all that we can do, we come short, we miss the mark, without the perfect merit of Jesus Christ to be our substitute and surety. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.12

And thus it is that as to the root idea of sin,—to miss the mark,—it is literally true that there is not a man on earth that “doeth good, and sinneth not.” We come short; and therefore ever pray, “Forgive us our debts.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.13

Thus also, as to the idea of sin in transgressing,—going out of bounds into the wrong way,—it is literally true that Christ saves us from sinning. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.14

And thus further as to sin being iniquity,—evil-doing,—it is literally true that Christ completely delivers his people from this, so that in deed and in truth they do not commit sin: “They do no iniquity.” Psalm 119:5. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.15

And above all, thank the Lord that he forgives “iniquity and transgression and sin.” ARSH March 14, 1899, page 170.16

“Editorial Bite” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 11, p. 171.

WHAT is to-morrow, and where is it, anyway? Did you ever see to-morrow? To try to have to do with to-morrow or yesterday is like stepping on the stair that is not there. There is no yesterday, there is no to-morrow; it is simply to-day. While it is to-day, to-morrow is nothing; and when to-day is gone, there is none of it. So that all we ever have is to-day, TO-DAY, TO-DAY. Never get out of to-day. Work to-day, now; for God works only now. He speaks only now. And “to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” God lives just now. With him there is no to-morrow. He does not take care of to-morrow, and yesterday is passed. God lives to-day, and just as certainly as you live only in to-day, you will live with God. ARSH March 14, 1899, page 171.1