Spirit of Prophecy Counsels Relating To Church-State Relationships

Christ Does Not Compel—He Desires Only Voluntary Service

It is no part of Christ’s mission to compel men to receive Him. It is Satan, and men actuated by his spirit, who seek to compel the conscience. Under a pretense of zeal for righteousness, men who are confederated with evil angels sometimes bring suffering upon their fellowmen in order to convert them to their ideas of religion; but Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love.—The Acts of the Apostles, 541. SPCCSR 13.4