Larger View of the Plan of Salvation

Ellen White was led to see the results of “limited views of the atonement.” ^{3“In order to fully realize the value of salvation, it is necessary to understand what it cost. In consequence of limited ideas of the sufferings of Christ, many place a low estimate upon the great work of the atonement.... Some have limited views of the atonement. They think that Christ suffered only a small portion of the penalty of the law of God; they suppose that, while the wrath of God was felt by His dear Son, He had, through all His painful sufferings, the evidence of His Father’s love and acceptance; that the portals of the tomb before Him were illuminated with bright hope, and that He had the abiding evidence of His future glory. Here is a great mistake.... We should take broader and deeper views of the life, sufferings, and death of God’s dear Son. When the atonement is viewed correctly, the salvation of souls will be felt to be of infinite value.” Testimonies for the Church 2:200, 213, 215.} Some of these results included:MOL 268.5

(1) A limited sense of what Christ suffered on Calvary, linking His agony to physical pain only. ^{4Testimonies for the Church 2:200-215.}MOL 268.6

(2) A limited sense of how the Father was involved in the agony of Calvary, not comprehending that God’s wrath expressed in His withdrawal of His immediate presence was the ultimate “price of redemption.” ^{5Steps to Christ, 13.}MOL 268.7

(3) A limited sense of how Christ’s life and death together “were earning the right” for Jesus to become humanity’s High Priest. ^{6The Desire of Ages, 745.}MOL 268.8

(4) A limited sense of how far-reaching Christ’s atonement was in that it embraced everyone who has ever lived, this limited sense caused by the presupposition that God’s sovereignty has chosen both the special “elect” and those predestined to burn in an eternal hell-fire. ^{7Ibid. “Variously described as the decline of Calvinism, the rise of Arminianism, and the defeat of deism.... it may be summed up by saying that Americans ceased to believe, between 1800-1860, in the doctrines of predestination and election preached by Edwards and Whitefield; they could no longer accept the notion that men were too depraved to play any part in their own salvation. Instead they decided that God had given man the ability, the freedom of the will, to understand his fallen state, to repent of his sins, and to turn to Christ for help and salvation.” William G. McLoughlin, “Revivalism,” Gaustad, ed., Rise of Adventism, p. 142; see also p. 131.}MOL 268.9

(5) A limited sense of the “cost” of what God “gave” (John 3:16) in the death of Jesus by not recognizing that Jesus did not resume all of His former prerogatives, that He indeed “gave” Himself to the human race, to forever identify as a human with the human race—He was forever limited to time and space. ^{8The Review and Herald, December 22, 1891; The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:925; Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 19.}MOL 269.1

(6) A limited sense of what Christ “satisfied” on Calvary in not recognizing that He died to give sinners a “second probation ... that they might return to their loyalty and keep God’s commandments,” not that He died so that obedience to God’s law was unnecessary. ^{9Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 134; The Review and Herald, September 17, 1901. “Christ came to this earth to show the human race how to obey God. He might have remained in heaven, and from there given exact rules for man’s guidance. But He did not do this. In order that we might make no mistake, He took our nature, and in it lived a life of perfect obedience. He obeyed in humanity, ennobling and elevating humanity by obedience.... By so doing, he not only declared that we ought to obey, but showed us how to obey.... We need to keep ever before us the reality of Christ’s humanity.... He came to show what God is willing to do and what he has done that we might be made partakers of the divine nature.... The obedience that Christ rendered is exactly the obedience that God requires from human beings today.” The Signs of the Times, January 25, 1899.}MOL 269.2

(7) A limited sense of the “atonement” by confining the benefits to justification only, not grasping that the atonement was a “divine remedy for the cure of transgression and the restoration of spiritual health,” not sensing that it provided the means “by which the righteousness of Christ may be not only upon us but in our hearts and characters.” ^{10Letter 406, 1906, cited in The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 6:1074.}MOL 269.3

(8) A limited sense of the depth in Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, why? ...” whenever a person believes in the immortal soul error, not realizing that His hour of death was that which all sinners will experience in their “second” death after the judgment. Nobody on this planet except Christ has really died, those who have “passed on” are only sleeping, awaiting the Life Giver’s call; Jesus felt the final agony of sinners who realize what they have rejected. ^{11The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1149; The Desire of Ages, 752, 753; The Great Controversy, 668, 671; Fundamentals of Christian Education, 429; Selected Messages 1:340.} Further, Jesus experienced the unspeakable “wages of sin” (Romans 6:23), thus proving that Satan was wrong when he said, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).MOL 269.4

(9) A limited sense of sin in that most Christians have no idea of the universal implication of sin on this earth and how it affects the well-being of the universe. ^{12Patriarchs and Prophets, 68, 78, 79; The Signs of the Times, December 22, 1914.}MOL 269.5

(10) A limited sense of how God plans, because of the atonement, to “place things on an eternal basis of security,” a plan that involves an executive review including angels prior to the Second Advent of all people who have ever lived, and then a peer review conducted by the redeemed between the two resurrections (John 5:29). ^{13The Desire of Ages, 759; Selected Messages 1:341; The Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889 (The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1132).}MOL 269.6