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The Language of Heaven
Part One
Marilyn M. Campbell
"Could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? . . . No, no. . . they have never trained the mind to love purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is too late" (GC 542-3).
Light On the Dark Side of God contains all the elements of the gospel and the life of faith, as I presently understand them. But due to the need to focus on the main theme, many topics could receive only casual mention. My hope has been that I could someday develop some of these important gospel themes, such as "the language of heaven," a prominent, vital subject of the inspired word.
In Light On the Dark Side of God, this theme appears in several places. Page 106 says, "Read His word and give Him your words every morning. Never leave your prayer closet without humbly insisting in Jesus' name that He come with you and be Captain of your day. Pour out everything that is in your heart at that moment. Never forget to praise." And so on.
Some say, playfully, that Spanish is the language of heaven. While I concede the melodic Spanish sound, I don't believe Spirit of Prophecy means "dialect" when speaking of the language of heaven.
Rather, it has to do with the expression--the presentation--of the inner person. When babies come into the world have you noticed how much excitement and joy surrounds their language development? When baby learns new words, the parent can't wait for a "show and tell" opportunity. "Dada", "Mama". These are "baby-book moments". But in learning language, in teaching it to our children, we have sought mere word communication and have not seen the potential God intends for us in deeper aspects of this wonderful gift of language.
We have given a nod of the head to sanctified speech. We know that when we become Christians some things change in our mode of expression. Yet we have failed to utilize the power God has given us in our voice-making apparatus. How did God create the world? With His word. Were we created in His image? Could that include the ability to create with words? to create (or perhaps facilitate) righteousness? I believe so. We'll see that this idea finds support in the Bible, Spirit of Prophecy, the writings of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, and in the world of modern science. This is the true "language of heaven" which is the subject of this series.
(As with the theme of Light On the Dark Side of God, I ask your indulgence until the subject is fully presented. Don't assume you know where it's going until it's done.)
Gospel Paradigms:
Learning the language of heaven begins with our understanding of what constitutes the gospel. Whether we realize it or not, we have a paradigm (or a picture) in our minds of how God saves. A paradigm is a model, like a model airplane or an architectural mode. When we see the model, we don't have to wait until the final product appears to conceptualize how it will look.
A gospel model is similar. Within Adventism there are three major models of the gospel--how God saves humans. I cannot express too strongly that this fact has created an enormous amount of disorder and confusion among us. Many see the disorder and confusion but cannot pinpoint its source in the fact that different pictures of the gospel exist in our heads. When we hear sermons, when we read printed articles, when we communicate among ourselves regarding eternal things, we automatically fit them into our gospel model. And sometimes they don't seem to fit. We can come away confused. Or we can come away thinking we understand--but not understanding at all, because the speaker or writer was working in a paradigm different from our own. We cannot understand a lot of what is taking place among us today without examining our own model and understanding that others may have a different paradigm in their minds.
Importantly, "new light" cannot be accurately assessed without a correct gospel model in mind.
Here, briefly, are the three main views of the gospel that exist among us, and you will note the principal difference lies in how each views the sin issue. (Keep in mind these models exist among many Christian communities, not just Adventism.)
Which model is in your head?:
1. Historical:
Full victory over sin is expected and required. Sins are overcome by first acknowledging them. Then effort is put forth to overcome them, one by one. Humans do all they can, but if the work becomes too difficult, the Holy Spirit, representing Christ, will come to one's aid and bring the victory. This view emphasizes the ten commandments, the Sabbath, health reform, paying tithe, witnessing and represents the general character of Adventism through most of its history.
2. The New View:
Adventists who have taken their religion seriously and attempted the above have generally had one of two reactions to the exercise. They have either believed they were achieving success with their efforts and complacently carried on (giving the world reason to accuse us of legalism), or they have given up in defeat, amazed at their inability to overcome sin. The fact is, sin cannot be overcome in the historical way. Many bruised souls who have tried can attest it doesn't work.
Those who have tried this approach and failed have struggled to understand their continual defeat. Christians cannot ignore the issue of sin in their lives; they have to do something with it. Thus since the late 1950s the evangelical view, that Christ paid sin's price for us on Calvary and now there is nothing more to do, has made great gains within our borders. The problem with this view is that, while wrong, it is just close enough to right to be dangerous. It is, in fact, as near right as the historical view--and just as wrong. In fact, it is far enough off to cause the loss of the souls of those who receive it.
The new view says that beyond the cross, the issue of sin, for Christians, is resolved. Christ carried our sins with Him to Calvary, which He surely did. Therefore, beyond the time of the cross, 30 or so A.D., no Christian need get too upright about sin. Simply professing Christ, observing Christian ritual and doing one's best suffices to save.
What is wrong with this paradigm? Remember the sanctuary--the gospel portrayed in the wilderness? What represented the cross? the altar of burnt offering, right? This stood outside the entrance to the tent itself. But a world of activity took place beyond the altar of burnt offering. The priests took the sins into the sanctuary to have them resolved.
The new view resigns itself to co-exist with sin and deprives God's worshipers of victory over it in this life. "Righteousness" is a bookkeeping entry in heaven's ledgers, granting humans credit for the righteousness of Christ because they have professed Christianity. Conscientious souls, longing for relief from a besetting sin, are offered little hope. Truly, the theological pendulum swung far in an opposite direction.
3. Righteousness By Faith:
I can say the above models are incorrect on the basis of the inspired word. A growing number of Adventists are aware that in 1888 God sent a special message to the church through Elders A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner. Ellen White said their message was true, that it was the beginning of the latter rain. Some say it was accepted. Some say it was rejected. But if it was accepted, then we have been in the time of the latter rain since 1888. To me, that does not compute.
The message they brought explained how humans acquire the righteousness that will meet the demands of the judgment. Righteousness, by definition, is the absence of sin. Jones and Waggoner brought a completely new model (paradigm) to the church, showing that sinless living was clearly possible (without reliance on a mere bookkeeping entry), no credit to human works at all. ("Sabbath" (rest) is the ultimate symbol of living by faith.) Many in positions of influence at the time did not like the challenge to their old historical model and set their backs against it, declaring: "Stand by the old landmarks!" Thus sincere, misguided men fought to protect "truth", when God was working to bring in better light. What, then, was the model these men presented, which Ellen White also called the Laodicean message?
Simply stated, they said humans must open the heart to the Holy Spirit. He would come in, representing Christ, and He, as a living power, would take over the reins of the life. Christ (through the Holy Spirit) never comes in uninvited. But once invited, He brings in the perfect human history of Christ. He brings Christ's wisdom and right-doing into the present moment. Thus human decision-making and character reflect the One living within. When God looks at the human, He sees Christ--real, influential, but invisible to human eyes--and credits the human with the perfection and the righteousness of Christ, invisible His companion.
All the human work in this arrangement is "knee-work," seeking powerful bonds between the soul and Christ, as the Holy Spirit represents Him in human lives. Prayer and surrender of the will enable the Holy Spirit to take over and sanctify the life, for never will the Holy Spirit compromise human free agency.
Imputed Righteousness:
The crediting (or imputing) of righteousness takes place once those bonds of union are forged: "When this intimacy of connection and communion is formed, our sins are laid upon Christ; His righteousness is imputed to us" (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 229) emphasis supplied). Therefore, while imputed (or gifted) righteousness certainly exists in the gospel, it does not take place outside the believer's experience. And credited righteousness does not occur until the bond with Christ is final. Jones' and Waggoner's paradigm entails intimacy between the believer and Christ (as the Holy Spirit represents Him in the human life). Then the righteousness, the actions, words and attitude manifesting from the human actually flow from Christ within. This picture constitutes the heart and soul of the message Jones and Waggoner brought.
(If you have not studied the actual Jones/Waggoner message, a workbook is available from CHJ Publishing $6.95 plus $3 s/h).
The obvious questions, then, are how is this bond formed? how is it maintained? Words are the bonds in any close relationship. Where we find a good human relationship of any sort, the right words have invariably created it. Could words have anything to do with bringing about this bonding between humanity and divinity? This brings us to our subject, "The Language of Heaven," which will continue next issue.
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Assignment: Read "The Test of Discipleship" in Steps To Christ.
Next Time:
a) How the Day of Atonement Fits In,
and
b) Bible Secrets of the Human Mind
On to "InterNet Update" .......................
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