Arnold, do you believe the joy, thankfulness, and blessedness that flows back to God through the human channels described below is defiled and unacceptable to God?

True believers are like Jesus - pure, holy, harmless, undefiled, wholly acceptable to God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and separate from sinners. Ellen White states this truth over and over again. Listen:


Such "righteousness and true holiness" as described above requires the merits of Jesus to ascend acceptable to God. Listen:


"There are but few who are pure and undefiled. {Mar 153.1}

Of course it means that. But refusing to do anything contrary to the will of God doesn't mean the same thing for all people.
For Adam and Eve, it meant not eating the fruit. For Jesus it meant not to use His absolute power, not to tempt God, not to flee from the hardships inherent to His mission. For a smoker in recovery, it means not smoking. For a former adulterer, it means not to allow lustful thoughts. It may mean not to eat something, not to watch something, not to read something, not to wear something, not to think something, not to do something. The form the temptation assumes is not important. The key factor is the effort you have to do to remain faithful to God. This determines the strength of the temptation.

The Christian is pure and undefiled in a relative sense. No Christian has "spotless purity." She is clear about that.

I mean: Since they were not needed by sinless Adam, why are Christ's merits needed AT ALL?

It looks like your answer is that born-again believers have sins that need atoning, while sinless Adam did not. Did I get that right?

The white robe of character (God inspired me to this through hours of prayer)

"The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come. The harvest is a reproduction of the seed sown. Every seed yields fruit after its kind. So it is with the traits of character we cherish. Selfishness, self-love, self-esteem, self-indulgence, reproduce themselves; and the end is wretchedness and ruin. “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:8. Love, sympathy, and kindness yield fruitage of blessing, a harvest that is imperishable.8 {CG 162.4}

(Faithful witness; If you're judging my character right now, then you are judging yourself in the sight of God. I do not present myself as the example.)

Character is everything. Jesus was born with the sinless/ spotless Character of His Father. In all His works "He was revealing to them the character of the Father, who is long-suffering, merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and full of goodness and truth." {CT 29.3}

Mrs White was shown that the "covering" that Adam lost, and what Christ came to restore, is "the white robe of character, which is the righteousness of Christ."{AH 518.1}{CCh 358.3}{GC 428.1} His character is the wedding garment. Adam was born with this character but He lost it after sinning, and nothing he could ever do on his own could restore it. To be born again is to reflect the Character of Christ who reflected the Character of His Father.

"The humiliation and agonizing sufferings of Christ in the wilderness of temptation were for the race. In Adam all was lost by transgression. Through Christ was man’s only hope of restoration to the favor of God. Man had separated himself at such distance from God by transgression of His law that he could not humiliate himself before God in any degree proportionate to the magnitude of his sin. The Son of God could fully understand the aggravating sins of the transgressor, and in His sinless character He alone could make an acceptable atonement for man in suffering the agonizing sense of His Father’s displeasure. The sorrow and anguish of the Son of God for the sins of the world were proportionate to His divine excellence and purity, as well as to the magnitude of the offense.{Con 50.1}

He had a "SINLESS character". The Character of man is what dwells in the flesh, the mortal body or the Spirit of the Character of Christ. Our character is every aspect of our mind. So if Jesus had "sin in His sinful flesh" how could He have a sinless character?

Every single Prophet, Apostle and Patriarch admitted that his character was flawed. The prophet Daniel, 'born again' if ever there was a man said "for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption” and Paul said our "righteousness is as filthy rags". But Jesus was born in the perfect spotless character of His Father. So how could anyone dare to say He had "sin in His sinful flesh".

"Christ could have done nothing during His earthly ministry in saving fallen man if the divine had not been blended with the human." (Letter 5, 1889).{7BC 904.5}

"The temptations of Christ, and his sufferings under them, were proportionate to his exalted, sinless character. But in every time of distress, Christ turned to his Father. He “resisted unto blood” in that hour when the fear of moral failure was as the fear of death. As he bowed in Gethsemane, in his soul agony, drops of blood fell from his pores, and moistened the sods of the earth. He prayed with strong crying and tears, and he was heard in that he feared. God strengthened Him, as he will strengthen all who will humble themselves, and throw themselves, soul, body, and spirit, into the hands of a covenant-keeping God.{3SM 131.4}

This is how to attain the wedding Garment. This is the robe of righteousness.

“The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” [John 5:19.]

Jesus was born with the inherited character of His Father. The divine Character of God was in the Son. He did not have sin in His flesh because He delighted to do the will of the Father from birth.

"Wonderful in its significance is the brief record of His early life: “The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.” In the sunlight of His Father’s countenance, Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52. His mind was active and penetrating, with a thoughtfulness and wisdom beyond His years. Yet His character was beautiful in its symmetry. The powers of mind and body developed gradually, in keeping with the laws of childhood."{DA 68.2}

Show me one place in scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy that says Jesus had "sin in His sinful flesh". For you to say this and repeatedly assert that you are correct is beyond contempt Mt Man.

Show me one place in the Scriptures or Spirit of Prophecy that says that any of us have the divine nature inside of us. We may partake of His divine nature, but we have none of ourselves at birth.

So if He had the advantage of having the heavenly nature inside Him at birth and we do not have the heavenly nature within us at birth then how is He identical to a born again Christian?

"Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering.—Manuscript 94, 1893, 1-3. (“Could Christ Have Yielded to Temptation?” June 30, 1893.){6MR 112.2}

Jesus was born without a taint of sin in Him but He was born in a corrupted human flesh body. He is the perfect example of what we may attain to and He was born this way. He is eternal, He did not come here to develop character, He had the Character of His Father throughout eternity.

The Spotless robe of Character comes from Jesus who alone could ever give it.

The joy, thankfulness, and blessedness are fine. It's the corruption that makes them defiled and unacceptable. You would not serve pure water in a dirty glass to the King and expect Him to be happy because the water was pure, would you? I would not.

"The same?"

I looked at an apple and a lobster and realized that they are just the same.

I looked at the top and they were both red.
I looked at the bottom and they were both red.
I looked at the left side and they were both red.
I looked at the right side and they were both red.
I looked at the front and they were both red.
I looked at the back and they were both red.

But I wanted to be sure so I cut them open. They were just the same still.

I looked at the top and they were both off-white.
I looked at the bottom and they were both off-white.
I looked at the left side and they were both off-white.
I looked at the right side and they were both off-white.
I looked at the front and they were both off-white.
I looked at the back and they were both off-white.

I could give thousands upon thousands more proofs that they are just the same. God must be just as happy should I eat the lobster as He would be if I ate the apple. That is, assuming I put enough Blue Bonnet on the lobster.

True believers are like Jesus - pure, holy, harmless, undefiled, wholly acceptable to God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and separate from sinners. Ellen White states this truth over and over again. I have posted dozens of quotes as proof. It is the imputed and imparted righteousness of Jesus that makes it a reality. Jesus must perfume the fruit of faith for the simple reason it does not have merit. The defilement it receives passing through corrupt human channels does not make it sinful. Sin is not the culprit. Jesus does not perfume sin. He does not cover sin with His robe of righteousness. Again, the absence of merit is the problem. That's what Jesus adds to make it acceptable. It is pure and holy and undefiled, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, nevertheless, it lacks merit. When Jesus mixes in His merit, it is acceptable. Adding merit doesn't change it from sin to righteousness. It merely makes it acceptable.