Twin Truths are Joined
The following examples show where Ellen White has transcended the either/or arguments in crucial theological areas wherein Christians have been divided for centuries. In these examples, note the ellipse of truth joining twin components as securely as hydrogen bonds with oxygen to make water:MOL 261.8
1. The relationship between Christ’s work on the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail.... It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer.” 53The Desire of Ages, 671.MOL 262.1
2. The relationship between the law and the gospel: “No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears.” 54Christ’s Object Lessons, 128. “There is perfect harmony between the law of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. ‘I and My Father are one,’ says the Great Teacher. The gospel of Christ is the good news of grace, or favor, by which man may be released from the condemnation of sin, and enabled to render obedience to the law of God. The gospel points to the moral code as a rule of life. That law, by its demands for undeviating obedience, is continually pointing the sinner to the gospel for pardon and peace.... God has given a complete rule of life in His law. Obeyed, he shall live by it, through the merits of Christ. Transgressed, it has power to condemn. The law sends men to Christ, and Christ points them back to the law.” The Review and Herald, September 27, 1881.MOL 262.2
3. The relationship between Christ as Redeemer and as Ruler: “Let this point be fully settled in every mind: If we accept Christ as a Redeemer, we must accept Him as a Ruler. We cannot have the assurance and perfect confiding trust in Christ as our Saviour until we acknowledge Him as our King and are obedient to His commandments. Thus we evidence our allegiance to God. We have the genuine ring in our faith, for it is a working faith. It works by love.” 55Faith and Works, 16.MOL 262.3
4. The relationship between objective authority and subjective responsibility in the faith experience: “Faith in Christ as the world’s Redeemer calls for an acknowledgment of the enlightened intellect, controlled by a heart that can discern and appreciate the heavenly treasure. This faith is inseparable from repentance and transformation of character. To have faith means to find and accept the gospel treasure, with all the obligations which it imposes.” 56Christ’s Object Lessons, 112. “A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul. The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power.” The Desire of Ages, 347.MOL 262.4
5. The relationship between God’s work and man’s work in the salvation process: “God works and cooperates with the gifts He has imparted to man, and man, by being a partaker of the divine nature and doing the work of Christ, may be an overcomer and win eternal life. The Lord does not propose to do the work He has given man powers to do. Man’s part must be done. He must be a laborer together with God, yoking up with Christ.... God is the all-controlling power. He bestows the gifts; man receives them and acts with the power of the grace of Christ as a living agent.... Divine power and the human agency combined will be a complete success, for Christ’s righteousness accomplishes everything.” 57Faith and Works, 26, 27. “Though Ellen White spoke of making strenuous efforts in the life of sanctification, the effort was always conceived of as being empowered by God’s grace. This grace was primarily ministered through the Word and the Spirit, working in intimate concert. This combined ministry would bring spiritual truth home to the individual heart in such a way that character transformation takes place.” Woodrow W. Whidden, II, Ellen White on Salvation (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1995), pp. 128, 129.MOL 262.5
6. The relationship between imputed and imparted righteousness: “Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought out by His Spirit working in and through us.” 58Steps to Christ, 63.MOL 262.6
7. The relationship between forgiveness of sin and a transformed life in defining genuine Christianity: “The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means taking away our sins, and filling the vacuum with the graces of the Holy Spirit. It means divine illumination, rejoicing in God. It means a heart emptied of self, and blessed with the abiding presence of Christ. When Christ reigns in the soul, there is purity, freedom from sin. The glory, the fullness, the completeness of the gospel plan is fulfilled in the life. The acceptance of the Saviour brings a glow of perfect peace, perfect love, perfect assurance. The beauty and fragrance of the character of Christ revealed in the life testifies that God has indeed sent His Son into the world to be its Saviour.” 59Christ’s Object Lessons, 419, 420. “The atonement of Christ is not a mere skillful way to have our sins pardoned; it is a divine remedy for the cure of transgression and the restoration of spiritual health. It is the Heaven-ordained means by which the righteousness of Christ may be not only upon us but in our hearts and characters.” Letter 406, 1906 cited in The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 6:1074.MOL 262.7
8. The relationship between the prayer for pardon and the prayer for divine help to resist sin: To show how simple theology, rightly put, can be understood by the general public, note Ellen White’s report of a sermon she preached in Basel, Switzerland: “All listened with the deepest interest, and at the close of the discourse an invitation was given for all who desired to be Christians, and all who felt that they had not a living connection with God, to come forward, and we would unite our prayers with theirs for the pardon of sin, and for grace to resist temptation.” 60The Review and Herald, November 3, 1885.MOL 262.8
9. The relationship between Christ’s role as Sacrifice/Saviour and as High Priest/Mediator: “Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His truth.” 61The Great Controversy, 488.MOL 262.9
10. The relationship between the new birth and obedience to God’s law: “In the new birth the heart is brought into harmony with God, as it is brought into accord with His law. When this mighty change has taken place in the sinner, he has passed from death unto life, from sin unto holiness, from transgression and rebellion to obedience and loyalty.” 62The Great Controversy, 468.MOL 263.1
11. The relationship between repentance and reformation: “No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven.” 63The Desire of Ages, 555, 556; see also Patriarchs and Prophets, 92.MOL 263.2
12. The relationship between the work of Christ without and the work of the Spirit within: “I call upon every one who claims to be a son of God, never to forget this great truth, that we need the Spirit of God within us in order to reach heaven, and the work of Christ without us in order to give us a title to the immortal inheritance.” 64Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 442; “The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.” Messages to Young People, 35; see also The Review and Herald, June 4, 1895.MOL 263.3
13. The relationship between faith and works: “Abraham’s faith was made manifest by his works. ... There are many who fail to understand the relation of faith and works. They say, ‘Only believe in Christ and you are safe. You have nothing to do with keeping the law.’ But genuine faith will be manifest in obedience.” 65Patriarchs and Prophets, 153, 154.MOL 263.4
14. The relationship between the old and new covenants: “As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden.... To all men this covenant offered pardon, and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ.... The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine will.... Another compact—called in Scripture the ‘old’ covenant—was formed between God and Israel at Sinai.... But if the Abrahamic covenant contained the promise of redemption, why was another covenant formed at Sinai? ... Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God’s law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught.... The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone, is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart.” 66Patriarchs and Prophets, 370-372.MOL 263.5
15. The relationship between believing in Christ and abiding in Him: “It is not enough that the sinner believe in Christ for the pardon of sin; he must, by faith and obedience, abide in Him.” 67Patriarchs and Prophets, 517.MOL 263.6
16. The relationship between Christ’s free gift of remission of sins and His free gift of His attributes in the development of the Christian’s character: “His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can ‘be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26).” 68The Desire of Ages, 762.MOL 263.7
“The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven.” 69The Great Controversy, 489.MOL 263.8