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Salting Corrupt Channels
by David Qualls
Published on GreatControversy.org May 18, 2005.
Document URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/rar/qua-corruptchannels.php
Introduction
Those who hold the view that salvation is accomplished solely or primarily by means of justification—a justification that is restricted to an accounted righteousness that provides an overarching umbrella to cover inevitable ongoing sins in the life of the believer—often use the following quote as a leading proof:
The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God’s right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with the merits of Christ’s propitiation, the incense comes up before God wholly and entirely acceptable. Then gracious answers are returned.
Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must be placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ. The fragrance of this righteousness ascends like a cloud around the mercy seat (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 344).
Proponents of the aforementioned view see this statement (hereinafter referred to as the corrupt channels quote) as a confirmation of their assertions that because of the guilt-producing taint of the fallen nature, no one is able to live a sinless, perfect life. No, not even those who are fully converted, surrendered, and completely under the control of the Holy Spirit. All are destined to continue sinning to one degree or another until glorification. Thus, in their view, Christ must make up the difference between the inevitable sinning of believers and the unreachably high standard of God’s law. This legal declaration, they say, happens in the sanctuary in heaven.
Those who have not studied the topic well or who have approached the word of God with presuppositions in line with the aforementioned view, could very well conclude from a reading of the above quote, that indeed, it teaches what some are attempting to prove by it. That is, that an accounted, forensic (legal-only) justification is required to make up for and to cover inevitable ongoing sins in the life of the believer. Please note that we are not talking about the forgiveness of past sins. All agree that past sins that are confessed and forsaken are forgiven in a legal sense and that the sinner’s dark past record is replaced with the spotless record of Christ.
After quoting the above corrupt channels Ellen White statement, one author writes the following,
Our depravity is so pervasive that we need Christ’s merits to account us upright every moment of our Christian walk. As our sin pollutes even the best things that we do as Christians, the sober reality is that nothing we could do would ever merit or earn our salvation. A further implication of such pervasive depravity is that we can never claim perfection in any sense of sinlessness (either in our nature or acts) this side of glorification. Therefore, we need Jesus to declare us ‘perfect’ all the way to the gates of glory.1
We can agree with the author that “nothing we could do would ever merit or earn our salvation.” Let us quickly lay to rest the oft-used argument that says that those who uphold the biblical view of perfection in this life are somehow saying that their own works, apart from Christ, do anything to add to or in any way earn merit toward salvation.
Secondly, we must clear up another argument implied in the author’s quote above. Let it be forever settled that those who recognize the true teaching of the perfectibility of the saints in the Inspired writings will never “claim perfection” for themselves. Believing and taking God at His word, that He is indeed able to perfect His saints in this life, is vastly different from making boastful claims of having arrived at that state. Only God knows the heart of man; only He will recognize when He has finished His work in us (1 Kings 8:39). Our part is to believe Him to the point of acting on that belief.
Thirdly, we must make clear that perfection, as taught by the Bible and amplified in the writings of Ellen G. White, does not mean perfectionism—that is, holy or sinless flesh. Character perfection means a continual choosing of God’s way over our own way so that we have continual, uninterrupted victory over sin in our lives.
But, is it true that because our depravity is “so pervasive,” we need Jesus “to declare us ‘perfect’ all the way to the gates of glory”? Even for the Spirit-filled, re-born Christian? Is a legal declaration in heaven—a divine pronouncement that does not reflect the reality on the ground—the only avenue to perfection for the saints in this life? Does the corrupt channels quote force us to come to this conclusion?
Searchers for truth will immediately recognize grave problems in such a view. The weight of evidence from both the Bible and the inspired writings of Ellen G. White clearly sustains a different view than the one espoused by the author in his quote above (please refer to Appendix A below for a brief summary of inspired statement on the perfectibility of believers in this life). Let us see just what is meant by the corrupt channels statement by Ellen White.
The Issue
At issue is the question: Must believers rely on an ongoing forensic, legal declaration pronounced from heaven, apart from the life of the sinner, to reach the high standard of perfection? Or, is it possible that perfection is attainable in this life by a full, complete surrender to Christ, with the Holy Spirit continually dwelling in the heart, perfuming the thoughts, words, and actions of the believer with the sweet incense of the righteousness of Christ?
Stated another way, does the corrupt channels statement speak of legal, forensic justification or does it speak of active, purifying, heart-changing sanctification in the life of the believer? Where does the purifying take place? Where does the divine fragrance get added? In the sanctuary above or in the heart of the believer? Keep reading. You might be surprised at the answers.
We must note what the corrupt channels quote says and what it does not. We must be careful not to read into it our own presuppositions. Nowhere does the statement contain the words, “justification,” “imputed,” “forgiveness,” “pardon,” “counted” or “accounted,” etc. It instead contains words such as “purified” and “cleansing.” We must remember that the blood of Christ not only covers sin; it also cleanses us from sin as well as sanctifies (Leviticus 16:19; Ezekiel 43:20; Hebrews 13:12; 1 John 1:7).
Interpreting God’s Word
We would never think of taking a passage of Scripture such as Revelation 14:10, 11 (tormenting fire burning forever and ever), pull it out alone apart from the rest of the Bible and hope to come to a correct interpretation. Even a study of the immediate context may not be sufficient to shed light on the passage. The only safe method of understanding any passage is to interpret it in the light of all that Inspiration has to say on the subject. Only thus may we learn what God is trying to reveal.
As with Scriptures, so with the inspired writings of Ellen G. White. She herself states this principle:
The testimonies themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given, as scripture is explained by scripture (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 42).
In keeping with the method she prescribes for interpreting her writings, let us proceed to see what is said in other places where she uses the same or similar language as in the corrupt channels statement. (In all cases in this paper, emphasis is supplied.)
Before the believer is held the wonderful possibility of being like Christ, obedient to all the principles of the law. But of himself man is utterly unable to reach this condition. The holiness that God’s Word declares he must have before he can be saved is the result of the working of divine grace as he bows in submission to the discipline and restraining influence of the Spirit of truth. Man’s obedience can be made perfect only by the incense of Christ’s righteousness, which fills with divine fragrance every act of obedience. The part of the Christian is to persevere in overcoming every fault (Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 532).
Shall we not, then, give to Christ that which He has died to redeem? If you will do this, He will quicken your conscience, renew your heart, sanctify your affections, purify your thoughts, and set all your powers to work for Him. Every motive and every thought will be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. Those who are sons of God will represent Christ in character. Their works will be perfumed by the infinite tenderness, compassion, love, and purity of the Son of God. And the more completely mind and body are yielded to the Holy Spirit, the greater will be the fragrance of our offering to Him (Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 909).
Man is permitted to handle the Lord’s goods. Thus he is tested and proved. His heart must be perfumed with the incense of Christ’s righteousness, the Saviour must work in him to will and to do of His good pleasure (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 26, 1901).
Truth must reach down to the deepest recesses of the soul, and cleanse away everything unlike the spirit of Christ, and the vacuum be supplied by the attributes of His character who was pure and holy and undefiled, that all the springs of the heart may be as flowers, fragrant with perfume, a sweet smelling savor, a savor of life unto life (Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 18).
The offering that is made to God without a spirit of reverence and gratitude, He does not accept. It is the humble, grateful, reverential heart that makes the offering as a sweet-smelling savor, acceptable to God (Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1118).
‘Christ also hath loved us,’ writes Paul, ‘and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.’ This is the oblation of a life-gift in our behalf, that we may be all that He desires us to be—representatives of Him, expressing the fragrance of His character, His own pure thoughts, His divine attributes as manifested in His sanctified human life, in order that others may behold Him in His human form, and, comprehending God’s wonderful design, be led to desire to be like Christ—pure, undefiled, wholly acceptable to God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1118).
The grace of Christ is to control the temper and the voice. Its working will be seen in politeness and tender regard shown by brother for brother, in kind, encouraging words. An angel presence is in the home. The life breathes a sweet perfume, which ascends to God as holy incense. Love is manifested in kindness, gentleness, forbearance, and long-suffering. The countenance is changed. Christ abiding in the heart shines out in the faces of those who love Him and keep His commandments.... As these changes are effected, angels break forth in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude (Ellen G. White, God’s Amazing Grace, p. 18).
The merit of Jesus must be mingled with our prayers and efforts, or they are as worthless as was the offering of Cain. Could we see all the activity of human instrumentality, as it appears before God, we would see that only the work accomplished by much prayer, which is sanctified by the merit of Christ, will stand the test of the judgment (Ellen G. White, Christian Service, p. 263).
There is none too much of any of the workers, be they possessed of large or small talents, to render themselves to God that they may be sanctified and fitted for His service. Give all you have and are, and it is all nothing without the merit of the blood that sanctifies the gift. Could those who hold responsible positions multiply their talents a thousandfold, their services would have no worth before God unless Christ was mingled with all their offerings (Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, p. 337).
Note that in the above nine passages, where the same or similar wording exists to that of the corrupt channels quote, invariably she refers to action taking place in the heart of the believer. That is where the fragrance is added; that is where the purification takes place; that is where the cleansing happens. It coincides with what is happening in heaven. When the heart of the believer is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, when it is cleansed, purified, made new; when the Holy Spirit acts within the believer, then the offering ascends to God as a sweet smelling savor, acceptable to Him. Yes, the righteousness of Christ must be added, but it is added in the believer on earth; not after the fact in the sanctuary in heaven.
Nor is this righteousness infused into the believer as in the Roman Catholic conception, as if he were a battery to be recharged and hold that charge for himself. Rather, the righteousness from Jesus is imparted to the believer; it remains while the connection remains. It is while the branch is connected to the vine that the sap flows (See John 15:4, 5). The believer must remain connected to Christ to have His righteousness in himself.
Let us remember that the imagery of what is taking place in heaven is but a reflection of what is really being effected in the hearts and lives of believers here on earth. Yes, there is a literal sanctuary in heaven. Yes, there is literal furniture; a literal High Priest; a literal mediation. The sanctuary is the great throne room of heaven; the headquarters where the sin problem is being dealt with. That is where the action is being directed from. But it is all in vain if the actions of the mediation and intercession in heaven have no effect on the hearts and minds of the believers on earth.
Take, for example, the Ten Commandment law of God. It exists literally in the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. And yet, while it exists literally in heaven, the new covenant tells us that it is written in hearts and minds of actual believers here on earth (Hebrews 8:10). What appears literally in heaven is effected in the lives of actual believers on earth. Thus the mediation in heaven has its point of effect on earth in the lives of literal believers.
Salt to the Rescue
Jesus gives us some insight into this topic in a passage from the gospel of Mark:
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another (Mark 9:49, 50).
Note the following:
- These two verses sum up a passage in which Jesus has been telling His listeners how to enter into eternal life. He talks of reforms that are needed in the life to ensure salvation, even going so far as to advocate cutting off offending parts of the body if these hinder one from doing right.
- The practice of adding salt to every sacrifice was commanded in the OT:
- “And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13); See also Ezekiel 43:24.
- Note the location where Jesus says to have the salt: “Have salt in yourselves.”
Notice what Ellen White says in regard to this passage:
In the ritual service, salt was added to every sacrifice. This, like the offering of incense, signified that only the righteousness of Christ could make the service acceptable to God. Referring to this practice, Jesus said, ‘Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.’ ‘Have salt in yourselves’ (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 439).
What does the salt represent according to this passage? The righteousness of Christ. And it is this righteousness that makes the sacrifice acceptable to God. And where is the salt applied? Is it added after the fact in heaven or is it applied to the sacrifice at the time it is offered?
Salt is a preserver, a purifier, and a seasoning. In the OT sanctuary service, which was a practical illustration of the salvation process, salt was used to demonstrate the righteousness of Christ being added to the earthly sacrifice to make it acceptable to God. It is important to realize that salt must be added to and thoroughly mixed with the item being seasoned or preserved for it to be effective. It does little good to add the salt after the fact.
Have you ever eaten a dish of food where the cook forgot to add salt during cooking? It seems that no matter how much salt you try to add after the fact, the taste is just not quite right. The salt must be mixed thoroughly into the food during the cooking phase.
With this illustration in mind, let us see the remainder of the passage quoted above:
All who would present themselves ‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God’ (Rom. 12:1), must receive the saving salt, the righteousness of our Saviour. Then they become ‘the salt of the earth,’ restraining evil among men, as salt preserves from corruption. Matt. 5:13. But if the salt has lost its savor; if there is only a profession of godliness, without the love of Christ, there is no power for good. The life can exert no saving influence upon the
world…. Jesus says, depend upon your receiving of My Spirit. You must be partakers of Mygrace…. (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 439).
We are invited and commanded to offer ourselves (our mind, body, and soul with its corrupt channels) a living sacrifice to God. This sacrifice is to be holy; it is to be acceptable to God. The biblical method of making a sacrifice acceptable to God was to add salt representing the righteousness of Christ. It must be added to the sacrifice, not at some later point when the meat or blood was taken into the sanctuary building itself. Thus, Jesus points us back to a very practical and fitting illustration to be applied to our own lives.
God does not accept an offering mixed with selfishness, pride, and sinful imperfections and then “fix” the deficiency merely by adding a declaration of forensic justification once the offering arrives in the sanctuary in heaven. He does more than this! He takes our services and sacrifices, purifies them at the source with the salt of Christ’s righteousness that He imparts to us and thus, this sacrifice ascends up to God a sweet savor because it is purified, preserved, and flavored with the righteousness of Christ.
Merit and the Propitiation
But some may ask, What about the reference to merit in the corrupt channels statement? And what about the reference to propitiation? Does that not indicate that this paragraph is speaking exclusively of the forensic atonement at the cross applied to the believer in the sanctuary service above?
Let us examine these and see if the forensic-only conclusion is the only valid interpretation. Note the following statements from the pen of Inspiration:
He who was once a sinful human being may be refined and purified by the imparted merits of Christ, and stand before His fellow men as a laborer together with God (Ellen G. White, This Day With God, p. 151).
A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 331).
When the law of God is thus implanted in the soul of the believer, he is approaching eternal life through the merits of Jesus.... Here in this life is the testing, trying time. The angels of God are watching the development of character, and weighing moral worth. The whole question is settled in this: Is he obedient or disobedient to the commandments of God? Has the sinner been transformed in this world, through the merits of Christ, to an obedient servant, so that he is fitted to join the heavenly society? (Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 50).
Shall I stand without fault before the throne of God? Only the faultless will be there. None will be translated to Heaven while their hearts are filled with the rubbish of earth. Every defect in the moral character must first be remedied, every stain removed by the cleansing blood of Christ, and all the unlovely, unlovable traits of character overcome (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 705).
Search oh search, as for your life, and condemn yourself, pass judgment upon yourself, and then by faith claim the cleansing blood of Christ to remove the stains from your Christian character (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 81).
Through the merits of His blood, you may overcome every spiritual foe, and remedy every defect of character (Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 227).
Unquestionably, as the above quotes demonstrate, the use of the terms “merits,” “blood,” and “propitiation” need not force us into a view that is at variance with the consensus of Inspiration. The sacrifice of Christ, His merits, His righteousness applied to our lives, transforms us into new creatures, makes us partakers of His divine nature, and allows us to be acceptable to God. Our acceptance with God is not based on our own righteousness. It is based on the righteousness and merits of Christ who is living in us through the Holy Spirit by faith (Galatians 2:20).
Conclusion
We have seen that the corrupt channels statement, when rightly understood and interpreted, does not force us to conclude that a forensic, legal, continual, justifying declaration on the part of God is required to make us acceptable to Him. Instead, by allowing the Bible and the writings of Ellen White to speak for themselves, the consensus of Inspiration leaves no doubt that the believer is made acceptable to God by the justifying and sanctifying work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This work is directed from the sanctuary in heaven but it is made effectual in the life of the believer on earth. Thus while the heavenly sanctuary is being cleansed, a simultaneous, connected work of cleansing is taking place in the lives of believers on earth. When the source of sins is dried up, then the sanctuary will be closed in heaven.
This end-time aspect of the plan of salvation is crucial. If we are to believe, like the author quoted above, that “we need Jesus to declare us ‘perfect’ all the way to the gates of glory,” where does that leave our understanding of the close of probation and the time of trouble in which God’s last generation will stand without a mediator or intercessor (but still with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit) when the sanctuary doors close forever? The interpretation of the corrupt channels statement that is put forth by some, would force Ellen White to contradict herself. But that is unnecessary if, as demonstrated above, we simply allow her writings to explain themselves.
Indeed, the corrupt channels of humanity and earthliness are to be cleansed and purified while here on earth. When Christ through the Holy Spirit produces faith-motivated obedience from a heart that is fully surrendered to Him, it is acceptable to God.
All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin; but that which is wrought through faith is acceptable to God (Ellen G. White, Faith and Works, p. 94).
All heaven is in the business of cleansing corrupt channels so that before Jesus comes He will have a people who will reflect His character perfectly.
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69).
That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27).
Appendix A: Character Perfection in Inspiration
The following is but a sampling of what Inspiration tells us is possible and necessary for the Christian in the perfection of character (All emphasis added):
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Note: Luke 6:36 uses the word merciful in place of perfect. If a person can be truly merciful to their enemies, it is safe to say that they have probably reached character perfection. A similar idea is expressed by James in declaring that “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body” (James 3:2).
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).
If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).
How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:2).
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:3, 4).
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29).
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9).
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13).
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4).
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:10).
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked (1 John 2:6). [Christ is our example.]
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (1 John 5:3).
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne (Revelation 3:21).
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24).
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins [spiritually]. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3-5).
Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:14).
Be ambitious, for the Master’s glory, to cultivate every grace of character. In every phase of your character building you are to please God. This you may do; for Enoch pleased Him though living in a degenerate age. And there are Enochs in this our day (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 332).
A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next. Those who are under the instruction of Christ in this world will take every divine attainment with them to the heavenly mansions. And in heaven we are continually to improve. How important, then, is the development of character in this life (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 332).
The heavenly intelligences will work with the human agent who seeks with determined faith that perfection of character which will reach out to perfection in action. To everyone engaged in this work Christ says, I am at your right hand to help you (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 332).
As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 333).
In order to perfect Christian character, we must dwell upon the perfection of Christ, and as we behold his matchless charms, we shall desire to be like him, and become changed, reflecting more and more of his spirit of love (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, January 26, 1891 par. 7).
We need the blood of Christ to cleanse us from sin, the grace of God to bring us to perfection (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, November 3, 1887 par. 12).
This experience [ladder of progress] every one who is saved must have. In the day of judgment, the course of the man who has retained the frailty and imperfection of humanity will not be vindicated. For him there will be no place in heaven. He could not enjoy the perfection of the saints in light. He who has not sufficient faith in Christ to believe that He can keep him from sinning, has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom of God (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 360). GCO
- Whidden, Woodrow, Ellen White on Salvation (Hagerstown, MD: Review
and Herald Publishing Association, 1995), p. 46,
http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/books/wws/salv06.htm, accessed May 10, 2005.
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