ments. [t is highlighted in the contrast
between Cain’s offering of the product of
his own labor and Abel’s offering of the
lamb. It is pictured in the ram that took
[saac’s place upon the sacrificial altar.
This truth was splashed on the doorposts
of Israel as, at midnight, the homes that
displayed the blood found salvation.
Graphically, substitutionary salvation
was traced in the sands of the desert as
serpent-stung sinners turned their eyes in
simple faith to the brazen serpent on the
pole. Climaxing the Old Testament,
Isaiah 53 stands out like a snowcapped
alpine peak, reflecting its gospel radiance
across all time.
The repentant thief on the cross pro-
vides a classic example of salvation by
substitution. Despite whatever good
might have been in the man’s experience
before the cross, and taking into account
his few minutes of belief on the cross, we
must realize that spiritually he stood na-
ked and unworthy of heaven. He will be
allowed into heaven not on the merits of
his own record, but because he relied im-
plicitly on Another's perfect record.
This same scarlet thread of salvation
by substitution runs through the eternal
gospel of Revelation 14:6.% There it is
interwoven with the judgment, and the
call to worship and honor the Creator.
The Babylonian principle
The second angel of Revelation 14
warns against the Babylonian principle.
What is this principle? To discover it, we
must go back to ancient Babel, where we
hear the sentiment expressed, “Let us
make us a name” (Gen. 11:4). Later we
hear Nebuchadnezzar say, “Is not this
great Babylon, that I have built for the
house of the kingdom by the might of my
power, and for the honor of my maj-
esty? ” (Dan. 4:30).
The essence of the Babylonian princi-
ple is bound up in self-glorification and
reliance on human merit. The sin of
pride originated in Lucifer’s heart (see
Isa. 14:12-14) and became the dominant
trait of apostate religion. “The principle
that man can save himself by his own
works lay at the foundation of every hea-
then religion.” °
Justification by faith is God's answer to
the Babylonian principle. It is the very
antithesis of salvation by achievement,
by human merit and works. “What is jus-
tification by faith? It is the work of God
in laying the glory of man in the dust, and
doing for man that which it is not in his
power to do for himself.” ©
38  MINISTRY/FEBRUARY/1988
Whenever we are tempted to look to
our own works for salvation, to depend
on the merits of our health-reform pro-
gram, to take pride in our maintaining
the standards, or to trust partly in our-
selves and partly in Christ for eternal life,
we must beware of the Babylonian prin-
ciple. At such times we need the Minne-
apolis thrust: “No works that the sinner
can do will be efficacious in saving his
soul. Obedience was always due to the
Creator; for he endowed man with at-
tributes for his service. God requires
good works from man always; but good
works cannot avail to earn salvation. It is
impossible for man to save himself. He
may deceive himself in regard to this
matter; but he cannot save himself.
Christ's righteousness alone can avail for
his salvation, and this is the gift of
God.” 7
The law of God certainly has a place in
the three angels’ messages, for it is con-
nected to the judgment and is featured in
the description of the characteristics of
those who respond to the message: “Here
are they that keep the commandments of
God” (Rev. 14:12).
At the time of the Minneapolis ses-
sion, controversy raged around the law
and its role in salvation. Some were em-
phasizing the Ten Commandments to
such an extent that Ellen White wrote:
“As a people, we have preached the law
until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa
that had neither dew nor rain.” ®
Many feared that the idea that the
moral law was part of the Galatian prob-
lem would undermine the whole Ad-
ventist message. For years after the con-
ference they resisted this interpretation.”
They believed that Christians attained
righteousness as they cooperated with
God by keeping the moral law. '°
One hundred years this side of Minne-
apolis we should give the trumpet a cer-
tain sound regarding the law and salva-
tion. The moral law must be upheld as
the standard of righteousness, not as the
means to righteousness. Perfect obedi-
ence to the law remains the condition of
eternal life —but because sinful man can-
not meet this condition, God provided
one Man who could. Through this Man’s
obedience many are made righteous; in
justification by faith the believer is de-
clared righteous and is enabled to live a
life of obedience. This obedience is made
perfect by the merit of Christ's
righteousness.
Ellen White has beautifully summa-
rized the process: “Righteousness is obe-
dience to the law. The law demands righ-
teousness, and this the sinner owes to the
law; but he is incapable of rendering it.
. . . By faith he can bring to God the
merits of Christ, and the Lord places the
obedience of His Son to the sinner’s ac-
count. Christ's righteousness is accepted
in place of man’s failure, and God re-
ceives, pardons, justifies, the repentant,
believing soul, treats him as though he
were righteous, and loves him as He loves
His Son. This is how faith is accounted
righteousness.” !!
Justification by faith
If we accept Ellen White’s famous
statement that justification by faith is the
third angel's message in verity, then we
need to look a little more closely at the
ramifications of justification by faith in
the light of the third angel's message. Let
us consider the following aspects of justi-
fication by faith: (1) its importance, (2)
its fruitage, (3) its relationship to sancti-
fication, and (4) its relationship to the
judgment.
1. Importance. What about the mes-
sage of the third angel? Would it not be
more logical to confine justification by
faith to the “everlasting gospel” of the
first angel and to speak of sanctification
or character development or perfection
in connection with the third angel's mes-
sage! Could we not regard justification as
an important, necessary initial step in
the Christian life, but believe that by the
time we reach the third angel's message,
the capstone of God’s final message to
mankind, we should have eclipsed justi-
fication by faith and passed on to some-
thing higher?
Does not the very nature of the third
angel’s message seem to demand some-
thing other than justification? That mes-
sage deals with the beast power, its im-
age, and mark. It emphasizes the
importance of obedience to God; the
Sabbath becomes a burning issue. Does
not the Sabbath fit in well with sanctifi-
cation, the very sign of the God who
sanctifies? In view of the contents of this
message, how can justification by faith
be equated with it?
Ellen White's statement must mean
that those who accept the third angels
message will always need the substitution
of Christ's righteous life to make them
acceptable to God. No matter how glori-
ous our obedience, we will never in this
life be able to stand before God without
the merits of a Saviour.
2. Fruitage. It has been aptly stated