The Gift of Prophecy (The Role of Ellen White in God’s Remnant Church)

The witness to Jesus

In his first letter, John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:1, 2). When John wrote these words, he was thinking of certain false teachers who denied that the Son of God had actually become a human being. They denied that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). In a broader sense, this test applies not only to the Incarnation but to everything the Bible teaches about Christ— His sinless life, His atoning death, His resurrection and ascension, His high priestly ministry in heaven, and His second coming. A true prophet will recognize and teach all these things. GP 61.3

Anyone familiar with the writings of Ellen White will have to admit that she not only accepted all that the Bible teaches about Jesus, but that she also continually pointed people to Him as their Lord and Savior. For example, “Look, O look to Jesus and live!”(FE 179). “Go to Jesus, and ask Him to forgive you, and then believe that He does” (HP 124). “It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand before the law without shame or remorse” (SC 51). GP 62.1

Repeatedly she expressed her love for Jesus: “I love my Lord and Saviour, and it is my life to honor and glorify him upon the earth” (RH, April 19, 1870). “I love my Saviour this morning because He first loved me. If there is anything in my life, my words, my teachings that is good, it is because Christ has put it there. It is not because of any goodness in me, and there is no glory to be directed to myself” (11MR 241). GP 62.2