Who is the author of this quotation?



How does that apply to the lessons we are studying now?

How many of us are or have been Arians in our thinking?

How does the second lesson this quarter deal with it?

In 1909 M L Andreassen visited Ellen White at Elmshaven because he wanted to be certain she had written the wording which changed the views of the church from Arian to Trinitarian.

In connection with this lesson I have been listening to The Desire of Ages and Steps to Christ as well as reading the comments in SDABC vol. 5.

These books show me how far astray from Christianity one can get by using quotations from these books without reading the whole book.

In the Desire of Ages I find several times repeated in various ways that you can have all the doctrines right and still be lost.

Combining what all three books state I find that Ellen White emphasizes both the human and divine nature of Christ. She indicates that Jesus had the human nature of Adam before the fall, and yet he could not appear on earth like Adam. He had to appear in human flesh without any glory so that people would not recognize his divinity until they got acquainted with Him.

It seems very important to discover His divinity because it is only in His divine nature He is able to save, but even though many Pharisees recognized His divinity they were not saved because they would not admit it openly.

As stated above there is little help in knowing and accepting all of the right doctrines, because none of them save you. The only way you will be saved is by retaining a constant living relationship with Jesus Christ, and this is possible without knowing any doctrine. She emphasizes that it is only the saving ministry of Jesus Christ which you accept by faith that is acceptable. Living in that relationship will have its impact on you life and attitude towards God and others.

Not even in preaching all of the right doctrines is there any salvation.

Agree that the knowledge of doctrine will never save anyone if they have not committed their lives to Christ and living in connection to Him.

However, it is by understanding the correct DOCTRINE that one finds the TRUE Christ!

You do realize there are many false Christ's? There are even demon "masters" who call themselves "Christ" or "Jesus" who (according to New Age channellor Bailey) work "especially with the masses of the Christian people who inhabit the occidental countries and who gather in the churches. He acts ceaselessly on the inner esoteric council of the churches.."
And I'm sure this imposter is NOT leaving the Adventist church alone.

So it is very IMPORTANT to know the true doctrines concerning Jesus Christ our Creator, Redeemer, Savior.

And I do agree 100% with your statement that we need to read the WHOLE of books like "Desire of Ages" and the WHOLE Biblical gospels and other Biblical books.
The cut and paste method has been used to prove just about any and every imagined doctrine, and cannot be relied upon to find truth.

While finding many passages that speak on the same subject can be very beneficial, yet one must be sure each and every quote retains the true meaning of its intended context, thus one needs to read the whole BOOK.

The importance of understanding true doctrine --
Doctrine meaning primarily "teachings".



The last verse says giving heed to doctrine shall save thee. Does it prove that the doctrine itself saves? No, though someone could use the verse to try and prove that, but it equates knowing the true doctrine of salvation with knowing the true Christ and Savior and His salvation.

Christ, the Son of the Living God
By M.L.Andreasen

The deity of Christ is probably the most important question in the Bible, for on that hangs our salvation. If Christ is not God, He cannot save us; for no created being, however highly exalted, can save another. The deity of Christ lies at the foundation of all true religion. For this reason the church throughout the ages has consistently refused to acknowledge those as Christians who hold any other view of the Son of God. Christ is divine, Christ MUST be divine, or we are without hope.

To the deity of Christ, John bears witness when he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God.” John 1:1. This Word was “Made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Verse 14.
God the Father bears witness to Christ’s deity when He addresses Him as God. “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever....And, thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” Heb. 1:1-10 Here the Father addresses Christ as God and Lord, and tells us that the Son is the Creator of heaven and earth. We could have no higher testimony than this. The Father recognizes Him as God and Creator and states that His throne shall stand forever.

This is an important question, for if Christ is not God essentially and in the highest sense, if He is not self-existent and self-existing, then we have a savior who is not God in himself, who owes his life to another, who has had a beginning and may therefore have an end. Thus Christ’s saving work sinks into insignificance, God simply brought into existence a being who was to die for us; or perhaps more correctly, who was to die to save God from making any personal sacrifice. But this is belittling and derogatory to God and to His character.

There is no doubt that Christ claimed divinity for Himself. He knew “that he was come from God and went to God.” John 13:3. He existed from eternity. “Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,” “Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:5,24

Christ claimed oneness and equality with the Father. (John 10:30 John 5:8, John `9: 7 quoted) Christ had made statements which justified the Jews in accusing Him of claiming to be divine. Perhaps the principal claim is that recorded in John 8:58. “Before Abraham was I am”.
The phrase “I am” is an exclusive title of the Godhead, and denotes eternal existence. In using these words Christ claimed absolute Godhood. .....it signifies perpetual existence, Independent of all time...the Deity has no past or future, but a perpetual present and therefore He uses the present tense and says “I am”. (The Faith of Jesus, p. 21-23)

Here is the link to the 3rd lesson study:

http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/14c/less03.html

This one is all about the Holy Spirit as a Person and member of the Godhead.