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The Youth’s Instructor

309/477

September 21, 1899

An All-Powerful Saviour

Part 1.

EGW

Christ took upon him the form of sinful man, clothing his divinity with humanity. But he was holy, even as God is holy. He was the sin-bearer, needing no atonement. Had he not been without spot or stain of sin, he could not have been the Saviour of mankind. One with God in purity and holiness, he was able to make a propitiation for the sins of the world. YI September 21, 1899, par. 1

Christ has declared our position. “He that followeth me,” he says, “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He is the light of the world. Through him light shines amid moral darkness. He is the bright and morning star. He is the Sun of Righteousness, the brightness of the Father's glory. He is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” YI September 21, 1899, par. 2

A physician, a healer, Christ came to restore the moral image of God. This is the covenant, the pledge, that if we come to him, renouncing our own ways and works, we shall receive the imputed righteousness of Christ. As man works out his own salvation, God works with him, to will and to do of his good pleasure. Those in whose hearts he abides are made all light in the Lord. The presence of the Saviour is apparent. Good and pleasant words reveal the Holy Spirit's influence. Sweetness of temper is manifested. There is no angry passion, no obstinacy, no evil-surmising. There is no hatred in the heart. YI September 21, 1899, par. 3

Faith is genuine only when it works by love and purifies the soul. Self must be crucified, else sin will remain to defile the whole being. The Cain-spirit must not be allowed to enter the heart; for the hatred it brings is next of kin to murder. Man can not enjoy divine blessings unless he shows love to God and to his neighbor. He has lost God's favor by sin, and can not be saved unless Christ takes away his sin. The moral image of God can not be restored in him while he cherishes his own image; for this means defilement. He must work diligently for the right, if he desires to see the restoration of the divine image. YI September 21, 1899, par. 4

Christ is a complete Saviour. It was a perfect sacrifice that he offered on Calvary's cross, that man might have a full and complete sanctification. Wonderful is the provision that he has made, yet many who claim to believe have only a nominal faith. Their profession does not convert them. They have not surrendered all to Christ. They have not opened the door of the heart to welcome him as a heavenly guest. They love themselves and their own ways, failing to realize that their ways, their words, and their characters are opposed to God. Such can never reach perfection unless they see themselves as they are. If the natural disposition is not changed, if it remains as it was before Christ spoke to them, they are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. Christ says to them, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” I can not plead in your behalf; for you have no desire for my glory. YI September 21, 1899, par. 5

Many professed Christians have never seen the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is why there is so little genuine sanctification. One safeguard after another is removed from the sanctuary of the conscience. The failure to overcome, leaves the soul unguarded. Evil habits, unresisted, strengthen into chains of steel, binding the whole man. YI September 21, 1899, par. 6

Slipshod religion is a dangerous thing, in the home or in the church; and to educate the mind to look for defects in others unfits the soul for communion with God. This is the leaven of evil. The very act of looking for evil in others develops defects in those who look. These would be alarmed could they see the facts that are registered against them in the books of heaven. The man with the beam in his own eye thinks he has discovered a mote in his brother's eye. But the very discovery of the mote is the sign of the beam. Christ says to us: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” YI September 21, 1899, par. 7

Mrs. E. G. White