Messenger of the Lord

Unfolding the Theme

How does the Great Controversy Theme inform and determine those principles of theology, education, health, and all the other topics that Ellen White has unified into a coherent, interconnected, distinctively Adventist way of life? What are those theological principles that undergird and permeate all these various aspects of Adventist thought? MOL 257.7

Each of the following foundation principles not only unfolds the Theme but also exposes some error in contemporary Christian thought: MOL 257.8

God is not the kind of person that Satan has made Him out to be. God is not severe, unforgiving, harsh, arbitrary, or unfair. ¹⁴ Although God revealed Himself in His law and other revelations through His prophets, Jesus is God’s clearest revelation. ¹⁵ MOL 257.9

What we need to know about God can be understood by observing the actions of Jesus and listening to His counsel while on earth. In revealing the truth about God, Jesus revealed God’s image. ¹⁶ In revealing the truth about human beings, Jesus manifested humanity’s lost image, the image He has promised to restore in all who trust Him and obey His will. ¹⁷ MOL 257.10

(a) Jesus proved that God was not unfair—that is, He did not make laws that created beings cannot keep. ¹⁸

(b) Jesus proved that God was not selfish by demanding submission and sacrifice from His created intelligences without manifesting the same willingness to sacrifice for others. His own life and death, an eternal gift to humanity, revealed God’s unselfishness toward His created beings. ¹⁹

(c) Jesus proved that God was not “severe, exacting, and harsh,” by revealing God’s tact, thoughtfulness, self-denial, forbearance, and love under rejection. ²⁰

Because God is fair, loving, and respectful of His created intelligences, He does not coerce, force, intimidate, or deceive them in order to obtain their loyalty, submission, or compliance. ²¹ MOL 258.1

(a) He does not use peer pressure, or compel a person to make a decision against his or her will, or attempt to bypass reason—all of which are techniques employed by the forces of evil. ²²

(b) He appeals to reason and waits for each person to decide on the basis of the weight of evidence and the constraint of love. ²³

(c) Thus, His people are to be known for their defense of liberty for others and the absence of oppressive methods among themselves. ²⁴

Because God is willing to wait until all the evidence is in regarding Satan’s charges, and because He will not force compliance, the principle of conditionality permeates His relationship with His created intelligences—He waits for people to respond. ²⁵ MOL 258.2

(a) The process of salvation by faith requires certain human conditions more than mere mental assent and appreciation for what Christ has done. Saved people are transformed rebels (the degree of change subject to the time and opportunities available), and transformation involves human decisions at every step. ²⁶

(b) The timing of the Second Advent depends, in part, on certain human conditions. The Advent is delayed, depending on the preparedness of God’s people to receive the latter rain and thus be equipped to help implement the “loud cry” that brings the world to decision. ²⁷

(c) The incarnation of Jesus Christ involved a conditionality that beggars the human imagination—the possibility that Jesus might fail. ²⁸

(d) Character development determines destiny—the human response to God’s gifts of destiny—pardon and power. ²⁹

Human beings were created to be God’s counterparts, “in His own image.” They were created to communicate with God and with freedom to choose. Thus, they are responsible (able-to-respond) beings; human beings can be irresponsible, but never unresponsible—they were, and are, free moral agents. ³⁰ MOL 258.3

(a) Since men and women are responsible beings, it is evident that they are not totally depraved; their destiny is not determined by a sovereign God who “elects” some to be saved and others to be lost. ³¹

(b) Because human beings are responsible beings, God must communicate with them in human terms, in thought patterns that humans can understand. For this reason, the principle of the incarnation explains why Jesus “took humanity with all its liabilities” in order that His followers would know that He identified with them in every way. ³²

(c) The principle of the incarnation explains why God used the thought patterns and vocabulary of human beings when He revealed Himself in the Bible. ³³

Human beings were created as an indivisible whole wherein such components as the physical body, mind, soul, spirit, emotions, and the will interact, influencing each of the other components. Components are interdependent and all are needed for human beings to survive in a healthy state. ³⁴ MOL 258.4

(a) Thus, people do not possess immortal souls that live in physical bodies for a short space of time. When they physically die, they do not continue to live somewhere in a spiritual, disembodied state. They “sleep” (in Biblical terms) awaiting the call of the Life Giver. ³⁵

(b) Because human beings are not composed of three units (body, spirit, soul) separate from one another, the well being of the physical body directly affects the health of the mind (including the emotions and spiritual values), and vice versa. Each person’s health depends on the optimal interacting of all that contributes to a healthy body and to a healthy mind. ³⁶

Because God is love He yearns for a loving response from human beings. He has promised eternal life to those who freely appreciate His love and who choose to obey His loving will for them. ³⁷ MOL 259.1

(a) Thus, eternal life is promised to those who cheerfully forsake their sins and gladly cooperate with His Spirit in reconstructing their habit patterns so that they will spontaneously love others—the ultimate will of their loving Lord. ³⁸

(b) Thus, God will not play word games and “save” those who mentally say the right words but whose lives do not reflect, in some maturing fashion, the profession of their lips. ³⁹

(c) Therefore, God has permitted the law of cause and effect to play out so that created intelligences throughout the universe, as well as human beings, can see the results of both obedience and disobedience to God’s expressed will. ⁴⁰

(d) The redeemed will be composed of those who have cooperated with God in developing a habitual attitude of loving trust and cheerful obedience to His will; they have demonstrated that they can be trusted with eternal life, never again to put the security of the universe in jeopardy. ⁴¹