It is the mingling of judgment and mercy that makes salvation full and complete. It is the blending of the two that leads us, as we view the world′s Redeemer and the law of Jehovah, to exclaim, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.”Psalm 18:35. We know that the gospel is a perfect and complete system, revealing the immutability of the law of God. It inspires the heart with hope, and with love for God. Mercy invites us to enter through the gates into the city of God, and justice is sacrificed to accord to every obedient soul full privileges as a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King.
(6BC 1072.1)
MC
VC
If we were defective in character, we could not pass the gates that mercy has opened to the obedient; for justice stands at the entrance, and demands holiness, purity, in all who would see God. Were justice extinct, and were it possible for divine mercy to open the gates to the whole race, irrespective of character, there would be a worse condition of disaffection and rebellion in heaven than before Satan was expelled. The peace, happiness, and harmony of heaven would be broken up. The change from earth to heaven will not change men′s characters; the happiness of the redeemed in heaven results from the characters formed in this life, after the image of Christ. The saints in heaven will first have been saints on earth.
(6BC 1072.2)
MC
VC
The salvation that Christ made such a sacrifice to gain for man, is that which is alone of value, that which saves from sin—the cause of all the misery and woe in our world. Mercy extended to the sinner is constantly drawing him to Jesus. If he responds, coming in penitence with confession, in faith laying hold of the hope set before him in the gospel, God will not despise the broken and contrite heart. Thus the law of God is not weakened, but the power of sin is broken, and the scepter of mercy is extended to the penitent sinner (Letter 1f, 1890).
(6BC 1072.3)
MC
VC
24-28 (see EGW comment on Galatians 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). Speculations About Righteousness by Faith—Many commit the error of trying to define minutely the fine points of distinction between justification and sanctification. Into the definitions of these two terms they often bring their own ideas and speculations. Why try to be more minute than is Inspiration on the vital question of righteousness by faith? Why try to work out every minute point, as if the salvation of the soul depended upon all having exactly your understanding of this matter? All cannot see in the same line of vision (Manuscript 21, 1891).
(6BC 1072.4)
MC
VC
31 (Romans 6:15; 1 Samuel 15:22; Revelation 22:14; see EGW comment on 2 Corinthians 3:7-18; Ephesians 2:14-16; Revelation 2:6). God′s Standard Has Not Changed—The gospel of good news was not to be interpreted as allowing men to live in continued rebellion against God by transgressing His just and holy law. Why cannot those who claim to understand the Scriptures, see that God′s requirement under grace is just the same He made in Eden—perfect obedience to His law. In the judgment, God will ask those who profess to be Christians, “Why did you claim to believe in My Son, and continue to transgress My law?”“Who required this at your hands—to trample upon My rules of righteousness?”“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”1 Samuel 15:22. The gospel of the New Testament is not the Old Testament standard lowered to meet the sinner and save him in his sins. God requires of all His subjects obedience, entire obedience to all His commandments. He demands now as ever “perfect righteousness”(Proverbs 11:5) as the only title to heaven. Christ is our hope and our refuge. His righteousness is imputed only to the obedient. Let us accept it through faith, that the Father shall find in us no sin. But those who have trampled on the holy law will have no right to claim that righteousness. O that we might view the immensity of the plan of salvation as obedient children to all God′s requirements, believing that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, our atoning sacrifice (The Review and Herald, September 21, 1886)!
(6BC 1072.8)
MC
VC