Messenger of the Lord

Sanctification Interacting With Last-day Events

Another emphasis embedded in the third angel’s message is the principle that “the Christian is in the world as a representative of Christ, for the salvation of other souls.” The purpose of character development is to prepare Christians for the latter rain and the “loud cry” (Revelation 18:4) when God steps in to greatly enhance the impact and credibility of the third angel’s message. Ellen White graphically depicts the Christian’s primary privilege: “Christ is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts of men; and He does this through those who believe in Him. The object of the Christian life is fruit-bearing—the reproduction of Christ’s character in the believer, that it may be reproduced in others.” ³⁴ MOL 272.7

The Great Controversy Theme informs all areas of Ellen White’s thought. Every area, because it unfolds out of this organizing principle, is coherent and interactive with all other areas. For example, her understanding of sanctification is thoroughly interactive with last-day events. As we will note later, her profound emphasis on the Adventist health message interacts with both sanctification and last-day events. ³⁵ MOL 273.1

Sanctification relates to eschatology not only in terms of each person’s moment of death but also in terms of the generation alive when Jesus returns. Sanctification prepares the Christian to be “safe” to save, ³⁶ for the latter rain, ³⁷ and for translation. ³⁸ The principle is transparent throughout her writings: “Character cannot be changed when Christ comes, nor just as a man is about to die. Character building must be done in this life.” ³⁹ MOL 273.2