1888 / Loud Cry Message

22.5 The 1888 Message

by Hubert F. Sturges, www.144000.cc, March 17, 2010

Topics:

Personal Background Re: 1888. What are the Questions We Need to Ask?
Defining Terms -- Justification, Legal Justification, Atonement
What is the 1888 Message?
What is Universal Legal Justification?
Evidence for Universal Legal Justification
Differentiation
Justification -- By Faith?
Is the Act of Faith a Work?
What Did Waggoner and Jones Teach?
The Loud Cry Message of Revelation 18
What Difference Does it Make?

Personal Background Regarding the 1888 Message

This article is to examine the message of the 1888 Message Study Committee (1888MSC). I do this from the standpoint of a third generation Seventh-day Adventist, who has a life-long close relation to the church. I was over 50 years old when I first heard the message of the 1888MSC. I present this as a friend, and as one who wants to believe.

The 1888 Message Study Committee and its constituency are a group of people interested in the Advent Message and who love deep Bible study. These features drew me to attend as many meetings as I could.

The leaders and speakers for the 1888 Message Study Committee understand the importance of knowing Bible truth. They look back to the message of the 1888 General Conference that brought Adventism out of legalism, and established righteousness by faith as the central message we have for the world. They desire and work toward promoting this message to the church and to the community at large -- looking to this as the beginning of the Loud Cry of the Fourth Angel of Revelation 18.

The central doctrine of the 1888MSC has been termed "universal legal justification." This central belief has spawned a number of related issues, but this article will focus on this central issue. There has been a surprising inability of its main promoters to give a clear presentation of this issue, until now. I suspect that over time, the message of the 1888MSC has been clarified in their own minds, and now they also support the "experiential justification" as a second step which must come by faith.

This article will use the recent pamphlet, "What Did Christ Accomplish On His Cross?" by Robert Wieland as a clear presentation of this doctrine. Wieland’s pamphlet is written in response to an article by Larry Kane.

What are the questions we need to ask?

1. What is the central issue of the 1888 Message Study Committee?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the support for this belief.
3. Is this what Waggoner and Jones actually taught?
4. Can we expect that the Loud Cry of Revelation 18 is based on this message?
5. What difference does it make?

While I pose these questions, I will admit that I do not have adequate answers to all of them, and probably not complete answers to any of them.

Here is a short list of articles on this topic:

1. The Loud Cry Message -- a sermon given by myself January 26, 2010. This is a rather broad view of what I believe the Loud Cry message will be.
2. Atonement and Justification -- definitions and brief discussions of the terms gathered from the internet.
3. Why Did Jesus Die? An article by George W. Reid from the Biblical Research Institute. This presents a focus on the Atonement.
4. Romans 5:12-21. An article by A. Leroy Moore, discussing his view of this critical passage of Romans; and examining the context.
5. Analysis of the Doctrine of Universal Legal Justification, by Larry Kane of the Biblical Research Institute.
6. What Did Christ Accomplish on His Cross? A Response to Larry Kane, by Robert Wieland.

The above articles are long, detailed, and not easy reading. I would recommend that this topic be approached with fasting and prayer. After reading these articles and my analysis which follows, will you be convinced? I don’t know. I do believe that you will be enlightened. The issue of righteousness by faith is critically important. That is how we are saved. This is the question that people are asking today. In Sabbath School classes, where the leader will allow free discussion, the class will always turn to how we are saved. I believe that this is the question that the secular world is also asking. We need to have a good answer, first for ourselves, and then for others.

Defining Terms

Justification

1. justifying or being justified

2. a fact that justifies or vindicates

3. Christian Theology: the state or condition, necessary for salvation, of being blameless or absolved of the guilt of sin.

Romans 5:8,9 while we were yet sinners ... now justified by his blood

Romans 5:10 reconciled to God by the death of His Son

Romans 5:11 by whom we have now received the atonement

Romans 5:16 judgment to condemnation ... free gift unto justification

Romans 5:18 judgment upon all to condemnation ... free gift upon all to justification

Romans 3:20 (Amp) justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable)

Romans 3:19-31 addressed to the Jews: the righteousness of God by faith is contrasted with depending on law-keeping for salvation.

To be justified, means to be declared or made righteous. Just actions towards other human beings must flow from those who have been made right. It is most often used in Paul's letters to the Romans and Galatians. The concern is with justice and being in a relationship with God. The just person is one who has been justified, is accepted by God, and lives in harmony with God's will.

Atonement

1. Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation.

2. a. Reconciliation or an instance of reconciliation between God and humans.

b. Atonement (Christianity) The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus.

In Christianity, atonement refers to the sacrifice of Christ in taking the penalty of the broken law for humanity. In so removing the guilt and condemnation of mankind, and making him subject to grace. (See www.144000.cc/215jesusdie.htm and www.144000.cc/213atonement.htm .)

Atonement centers on God and His law. Through Christ the penalty is paid.

Justification centers on the sinner. Through Christ he stands guiltless before God.

Legal Justification

A sufficient or acceptable excuse or explanation made in court for an act that is otherwise unlawful; the showing of an adequate reason, in court, why a defendant committed the offense for which he or she is accused that would serve to relieve the defendant of liability (justification for committing an unlawful act).

A legal excuse for the performance or nonperformance of a particular act that is the basis for exemption from guilt. A classic example is the excuse of Self-Defense offered as justification for the commission of a murder.

"When, through faith in Jesus Christ, man does according to the very best of his ability, and seeks to keep the way of the Lord by obedience to the ten commandments, the perfection of Christ is imputed to cover the transgression of the repentant and obedient soul." Christian Education, p. 112

"Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven." Review and Herald, June 4, 1895

What Is the 1888 Message?

Christians generally accept that Jesus on the Cross brought Atonement to all men. There is some disagreement on the substitutionary aspect of this atonement. This article deals with those who accept the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus’ sacrifice, as I strongly believe this is scriptural.

Christians also accept that through the cross we have justification and life. Does this justification require Faith? The 1888MSC looks on Faith as a work that God does not require for the justification that comes on "all men." Pastor Wieland here lists others who also hold this view:

The 1888 Message Study Committee is not alone in holding this view (of universal legal justification). Others see in the sacrifice of Christ a legal justification effected for "all men" which is not merely provisional or conditional, but is accomplished. Dr. Arnold Wallenkampf teaches the same in his What Every Christian Should Know About Being Justified (R&H, 1988, chapter 5). Wallenkampf has served as a member of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference). Elder Neal Wilson, while General Conference president, took the same position in his Week of Prayer reading for 1988. Elder Jack Sequeira presents the same in his widespread meetings, with Elder Robert Folkenberg’s approval and support. There are numerous pastors and thousands of church members who rejoice in the solid Good News they see in this doctrine. (Wieland, p. 3)

There is no question in my mind but that Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary changed the history of the world. What He did for us personally is described variously as legal justification, justification by faith, reconciliation or atonement -- all leading to salvation.

Up to 1888 Adventists had been "preaching the law until they were as dry as the hills of Gilboa." When E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones brought a message of Righteousness by Faith, it was in contrast to this previous emphasis. Pastor Wieland and the 1888MSC teach that this message included and emphasized a universal legal justification (Christ died for ALL men). This provided the legal basis that put men within reach of experiential justification that is by faith.

What is Universal Legal Justification?

Universal legal justification is the focus of this article. "Universal" means for "all men." "Legal" refers to it being to all men regardless of response, e.g. before faith. "Justification" speaks of the change of status of the sinner from condemnation, to standing before God justified.

Pastor Wieland states that this "legal justification" is the "basis on which that experience (of justification) rests." The question that remains is if that work is "justification?"

Paul has the authority to say what he believes; we have no authority to re-interpret his plain words to make them deny their obvious meaning. The fact that he has several times in chapter 3 mentioned experiential justification by faith does not forbid him to mention also the legal basis on which that experience rests. (Wieland, p. 4)

"Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives.

"[All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24, Amplified Bible),

The above are important relevant verses. These are discussed below:

He (Paul) says, "All have sinned" (aorist) and in the same sentence with the same subject of the sentence says they are "being justified freely by his grace." The "all" is clearly defined as those that "sinned." The NEB recognizes the obvious grammatical construction by translating verse 24, "and all are justified by God’s free grace alone." Such grammar cannot be controverted. The KJV correctly translates the "justified" for what it is—a present participle, "being justified freely." The participle is dependent on the tense of the main verb of the sentence, which in this case is past tense (aorist). In other words, the "being justified" takes place when the "all sinned." Paul’s use of the aorist tense requires the understanding that they "sinned" corporately "in Adam," as he explains later in chapter 5. He does not deny that "all" have continued to sin individually and personally, for in 3:23 he says that they (present tense) "come short of the glory of God."

There is no "context" that can overthrow this grammatical structure. While in previous verses he has discussed the experience of justification by faith, he has every right in this sentence to explain the prior legal basis on which that experience rests. In verse 24 Paul specifically omits any reference to the "all" being justified by faith. Rather, they are being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus which was set forth (aorist again) at the cross. Verse 25 makes clear that the death of the cross ("whom God hath set forth," aorist) is a "propitiation" to reconcile the alienated heart to God. The one being propitiated is not God, but the sinner, "through faith in His blood." The blood was shed before the sinner could believe. (Wieland, p. 4,5)

Evidence for Universal Legal Justification

To support this, Romans 5:18 speaks of Adam’s sin bringing condemnation upon all men. In similar fashion Jesus’ sacrifice brings justification upon all men. Through His sacrifice we are ransomed (Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6), bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), redeemed and restored. The following verse emphasizes that men were elevated to stand before God without guilt. These verbs are actions that do not require (nor deny) faith, but to include all men. "The world" in this verse implies that Christ did a work for all men, regardless of faith.

"God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace" (2 Corinthians 5:19, NCV).

What Christ did on the Cross is also the Atonement. Atonement centers on God and His law and emphasizes man’s relation with God. Through Christ the penalty is paid. Justification centers on the sinner and emphasizes his acquittal. Through Christ he stands guiltless before God. Atonement is more easily understood as the special work Christ did on the Cross. However, in Romans 3 and 5 the word Justification is repeatedly applied to this action.

God gave the covenant to Adam and Eve in Eden only on authority from the prophesied Cross of Calvary. In that covenant, mankind was given a probation so that they could again choose Christ, and was given by God an "enmity" against sin. Further in the prophesied conflict, evil would be destroyed ("bruise thy head") but only at the cost of suffering ("bruise his heel").

The covenant transaction given at Eden would not be ratified until Calvary, but in prolepsis, Christ immediately bought back the human race, or redeemed them. The blood being effective in Eden, before sinners could believe. Adam and Eve were not in a position (through ignorance) to exercise faith at that time. But they were "bought" and put in a position where they could receive grace from God.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15, KJV).

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16, KJV)?

We do not understand all the meaning of the terms "bought or purchased." These terms indicate that the object is entirely passive, non-responsive to the initial transaction, which causes a significant change in the status of the object being bought.

"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:14, KJV).

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:20, KJV).

Wieland states that mankind was redeemed corporately. The human race was corporately in Adam when he sinned, and has been redeemed corporately in Christ, the second Adam.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16-17, KJV).

What did Christ redeem by His sacrifice? The world. The cross accomplished "the redemption of the purchased possession" (John 3:16, 17; Ephesians 1:14). Ellen White says that "all men are one family" through His redemption (PK 369), and "every blessing man enjoys" is the gift of His sacrifice (Ed 101). He redeemed "sinful humanity" (COL 118). Christ died for the world.

This is not saying that Christ "saved" the whole world eternally... But He paid the price for the world’s redemption, so that legally it was redeemed by His objective sacrifice. This is the only reason that physical life can continue on the planet. (Wieland p. 5)

When God so loved the world, and gave His only begotten Son -- had anything happened to that world? YES! Mankind had been freed of condemnation, and raised in standing before God as without guilt. Jesus Christ on calvary accomplished a profound work to save all mankind.

Differentiation

The most important question that arises is the place of faith in this transaction. It might be easy, but not necessarily true, to see that justification is only by faith. The term "justification by faith" is common. This is something that we must pray for guidance on. However, it is by faith we take hold on the power of grace (but not on justification?). Thus sanctification begins in the life.

Some verses associate faith with justification, and others do not. One cannot deny how certain verses read. However, is every doctrinal point completely elucidated in every reference? Do the words "by faith" occur in every reference to "justification and acquittal"? Just to ask this question would lead one to realize that the context becomes important to understanding the actual and implied aspects of the message.

How does this "legal justification" play out in the life? There is no question but that there are a host of unrepentant sinners among the "all men." The unrepentant sinner must be legally justified every day and through all events of his life. The option to exercise faith and consent to the work of grace (sanctification) in his life is continually held before him up to the moment of death, or in rare instances when the Holy Spirit is grieved and the soul lost.

One must be clear that this is not universal salvation. The sinner must at some point, exercise faith and consent to the work of grace in his life to be saved. This requires careful thought and prayer to understand.

Wieland makes these statements:

"The divine sacrifice was made irrespective of human faith.... The gift was freely given before we could appropriate it....A gift does not have to be received before it qualifies as a gift, it can be rejected after it is "freely" given." (Wieland, p. 6,7)

One must recognize that there was a profound work done at the Cross. Jesus did not cry "It is finished" unless that important work was done. John 17 describes this work in some detail (see verse 4). Mankind was bought back, and raised to a status of " no condemnation" (Romans 5:16,18) before God. "Condemnation" in each of these verses is opposed to the "justification" that is received as the free gift of God.

This is not an easy topic to understand. I have changed my mind three or four times even while writing this article. But I believe that the evidence points to a momentous work that Christ did on Calvary, and that the whole human race is redeemed, bought back through His work. The word "justification" is used just too often in Romans 3 and 5 to escape its meaning here. I am happy to see that the 1888MSC also emphasizes that to experience the grace of God the sinner must come to faith.

Justification -- by Faith?

Justification refers to the imputed righteousness of Christ, by definition. Can a person "ask" for this righteousness? Can a person appropriate this righteousness by faith? OR is it just GIVEN? It may well be that faith is exercised only in the realization that justification has already been given. If this is true, then justification is a legal transaction by definition. ALL justification then is "legal justification!"

The term "legal justification" is never used in the Bible. Rather the term arises from the use of the words "free gift" and the omission of the word "faith" in some of these verses. The unresolved issues are that the word "faith" can be implied where it is not used. The concept that Christ has already and truly accomplished a work in His sacrifice on Calvary is not in question. He has bought back the human race. Men were placed where he could be reached by the grace of God. Romans 3 and 5 use the word justification.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

If this verse describes the new life, it is describing sanctification, a sanctification that is possible only because justification has already been given.

Justification, to "declare righteous," is the righteousness of Christ imputed to the sinner. To be "made" righteous invokes sanctification. It is important to not confuse these terms. Is there such a thing as universal legal justification? Or is justification only by faith, or is justification always before faith? Many have said that you cannot separate justification from sanctification. Jesus used two simple words to describe both: "Follow Me."

Romans 5:16 and 18 make an interesting comparison between the condemnation we receive through Adam and the justification we receive through Christ. The implication here is that the terms are equivalent. Would not the settings also be equivalent? Humanity had nothing to do with the condemnation we receive through Adam; and conversely we have nothing to do with the justification we are given through Christ!

Romans 5:8 speaks of Christ dying for us "while we were yet sinners." We cannot say that nothing happened in the sacrifice of Christ. This is shown even more graphically in Luke 23:34 when Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Were they actually forgiven, or did Jesus’ words "fall to the ground?" The answer is self-evident. The door was opened and sinners were given access to the throne of God as if they had not sinned.

We need to open our eyes and see all through the New Testament evidence of what Jesus did on the cross for all men.

Is the Act of Faith a Work?

The 1888MSC has said that all men are given "legal justification" before faith. Sometimes in such a discussion, protagonists will get pushed into untenable positions. One of these is to consider "faith" a "work."

James in a rather extensive passage in James 2, contrasts faith and works. Works are an effort to keep the law and attain salvation by personal determination. It is the Old Covenant. Faith is to deny self, fight the "hard stern battle with self," choose Christ and accept His grace to write the law on our hearts. Please note the verbs: "deny, fight, choose and accept" all from well known Bible verses. God gave us free will and expects us to use it. However, when He sees the "flax beginning to smoke" He will fan the flame and make your effort successful.

Here is another quotation from Wieland:

Dr. Kane’s position is that no legal justification can take place until the believer accepts by faith. But this logically eventuates in justification by obedience instead of justification by faith. The reason is that it requires the sinner’s faith to actuate the process of justification so that it is the believer’s initiative that makes salvation possible. The gospel presents justification by faith as a response to what Christ has already accomplished. Dr. Kane may say that God takes the initiative, but his position logically contradicts itself by representing God’s initiative as only making a potential offer; His sacrifice has accomplished nothing solid, decisive, eternal. (p. 7)

With all kindness I would suggest that "justification by obedience" is a coined term, a red herring. Even to use the term "justification by obedience" indicates some confusion between justification and sanctification. It is simply not valid to equate faith and obedience as a means to reach justification. Justification by faith is the anti-thesis of justification by works.

The following quotation is presented a second time. It calls in question the concept of a "potential offer" as having "accomplished nothing solid, decisive, eternal."

Did Waggoner and Jones teach this in their 1888 messages?

In 1891 (Waggoner) did not clearly articulate it in this (1891) text, but that does not nullify his seeing it in the next passage, nor does it mean that the basic idea is not there. His understanding grew by the time he wrote his 1896 article for the Signs that does articulate it clearly: "As the condemnation came upon all, so the justification comes upon all" (March 12; Waggoner on Romans, p. 101)... Jones forcefully taught the idea of a legal justification for "all men" in his 1895 sermons at the General Conference (see Is Beyond Belief Beyond Belief? pp. 48-54).

It bothers me that Waggoner did not reach this conclusion until 1896. By this time Waggoner was deep into the "mystical understanding of the death of Christ ... which here refers to some spiritual substance that is infused into the soul.... By 1893, Waggoner abandoned totally the idea that Christ’s death was needed to bear the just penalty of sin as the sinner’s substitute in order to satisfy the just demands of God’s justice. (in other words, he abandoned the concept of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross.) With this in mind, Waggoner would not be a good reference for understanding Justification. (See Whidden, Woodrow: E. J. Waggoner. Review and Herald. 2008, p. 269-295; and Appendix C, p. 382-383.)

Regarding A. T. Jones, Ellen White found it necessary to warn Jones to be more careful in his presentation of grace, that people might be led to believe that obedience was not needed. While Jones and Waggoner brought to the church a much needed message, we must be careful to examine all that they, or any other human agent, said in light of Bible teaching.

"Unless your spirit is decidedly changed, your course will greatly detract from your influence. God does not want the ways and words of A. T. Jones to be woven into your discourses....

Let not unadvised words and actions injure your influence. Do not think that your course of action is perfect, and that no one should question it... The sharp way in which you sometimes bear down on others will tell upon you. You need to be melted over by the Spirit of God. You need to cherish the gentleness of Christ." White EG: Letter 215, 1902, pp. 1-4.

"You repeated several times that works amounted to nothing, that there were no conditions... I knew minds would be confused and would not receive the correct impression in reference to faith and works, and I decided to write to you. You state this matter too strongly. There are conditions to our receiving justification and sanctification, and the righteousness of Christ... You leave a wrong impression upon many minds. While good works will not save even one soul, yet it is impossible for even one soul to be saved without good works. God saves us under a law, that we must ask if we would receive, seek if we would find, and knock if we would have the door opened unto us." White EG: Faith and Works. p. 111.

The Loud Cry Message of Revelation 18

Ministers, laymen, and all thinking people in the Seventh-day Adventist church desire to know and be able to take part in the Loud Cry Message of Revelation 18. Ellen White described the 1888 Message as the beginning of the Loud Cry. Is this same message going to make up the Loud Cry Message? Please see www.144000.cc/210loudcry.htm . In this sermon I emphasize that we preach the message "more fully." Not a different message, but more fully. And I believe that we demonstrate the message more fully in how we show the love of Christ in our lives.

Yet there is another aspect: The first 40-50 years of this denomination, we emphasized keeping the Sabbath and the law of God in our evangelism. While this had a place, it became too much the center of our message. In 1888 A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner brought the message of righteousness by faith to bring us back to the gospel center. This was greatly needed, and was a benefit to the church. Since about 1950 we may have gone too far, and in concert with the general permissiveness of the day, over-emphasized grace at the expense of the law.

Now, Revelation 12:17 state that the Remnant Church will be known by keeping the commandments of God. Revelation 14:12 identify the people of God as being they that keep the commandments of God. Revelation 7 and 13 pit the seventh-day Sabbath as the seal of God against the Mark of the Beast. Putting these things together, there is going to be renewed interest in keeping and preaching the ten commandments of God.

However, it must be a balanced presentation -- balanced with an equal emphasis on the work of grace in the lives of God’s people. This message can succeed only if there is a people in whom these principles are demonstrated to the world. To each of you who are reading this, the greatest gift you can give to your Lord, Jesus Christ, is to commit your life to the full working of the power of grace.

What Difference Does It Make?

Very frankly, this is a topic that most people and church members, will not be able to understand. However, it is important for scholars, teachers, and pastors to know. Belief has consequences, and an understanding and a belief in what Jesus has done on the Cross of Calvary will color the sermons of pastors and beliefs of every Christian. As this belief becomes a part of the milieu of the church, it will change the church, bringing it closer to the Christ who died that we might live.

I have spent many hours reading, thinking, and praying in putting this article together. I realize that I am not a scholar. There are rough spots in the writing and in the conclusions that are proposed. In the months ahead, no doubt there will be changes and refinements made.

In some areas I have come to different conclusions from what the 1888MSC has taught, and for these I apologize. I do hope that there will be feedback and a chance for correction and consensus.