The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to
heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ.
The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced
of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields
himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God
is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is
withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness
dwells. ?For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him
also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.? Isaiah 57:15.
?Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.? By
these words Christ does not teach that mourning in itself has power
to remove the guilt of sin. He gives no sanction to pretense or to
voluntary humility. The mourning of which He speaks does not
consist in melancholy and lamentation. While we sorrow on account
of sin, we are to rejoice in the precious privilege of being children
of God.
We often sorrow because our evil deeds bring unpleasant conse-
quences to ourselves; but this is not repentance. Real sorrow for sin
is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals the
ingratitude of the heart that has slighted and grieved the Saviour, and
brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross. By every sin Jesus is
wounded afresh; and as we look upon Him whom we have pierced,
we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such
mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin.
The worldling may pronounce this sorrow a weakness; but it is
the strength which binds the penitent to the Infinite One with links
that cannot be broken. It shows that the angels of God are bringing
back to the soul the graces that were lost through hardness of heart
and transgression. The tears of the penitent are only the raindrops
that precede the sunshine of holiness. This sorrow heralds a joy
which will be a living fountain in the soul. ?Only acknowledge thine
iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God;? ?and
I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith
the Lord.? Jeremiah 3:13, 12. ?Unto them that mourn in Zion,? He
has appointed to give ?beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.? Isaiah 61:3.
And for those also who mourn in trial and sorrow there is com-
fort. The bitterness of grief and humiliation is better than the indul-
gences of sin. Through affliction God reveals to us the plague spots
in our characters, that by His grace we may overcome our faults.
Unknown chapters in regard to ourselves are opened to us, and the
test comes, whether we will accept the reproof and the counsel of
God. When brought into trial, we are not to fret and complain. We
should not rebel, or worry ourselves out of the hand of Christ. We
are to humble the soul before God. The ways of the Lord are obscure
to him who desires to see things in a light pleasing to himself. They
appear dark and joyless to our human nature. But God?s ways are
ways of mercy and the end is salvation. Elijah knew not what he was
doing when in the desert he said that he had had enough of life, and
prayed that he might die. The Lord in His mercy did not take him at
his word. There was yet a great work for Elijah to do; and when his
work was done, he was not to perish in discouragement and solitude
in the wilderness. Not for him the descent into the dust of death,
but the ascent in glory, with the convoy of celestial chariots, to the
throne on high.

?Blessed are the meek.? The difficulties we have to encounter
may be very much lessened by that meekness which hides itself
in Christ. If we possess the humility of our Master, we shall rise
above the slights, the rebuffs, the annoyances, to which we are daily
exposed, and they will cease to cast a gloom over the spirit. The
highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-control. He who
under abuse or cruelty fails to maintain a calm and trustful spirit robs
God of His right to reveal in him His own perfection of character.
Lowliness of heart is the strength that gives victory to the followers
of Christ; it is the token of their connection with the courts above.
?Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly.?
Psalm 138:6. Those who reveal the meek and lowly spirit of Christ

are tenderly regarded by God. They may be looked upon with scorn
by the world, but they are of great value in His sight. Not only the
wise, the great, the beneficent, will gain a passport to the heavenly
courts; not only the busy worker, full of zeal and restless activity. No;
the poor in spirit, who crave the presence of an abiding Christ, the
humble in heart, whose highest ambition is to do God?s will,?these
will gain an abundant entrance. They will be among that number
who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb. ?Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve
Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them.? Revelation 7:15.

?Those who would follow
Christ must be grounded upon the principles of truth. They need to
understand what the Bible teaches in regard to faith, and sanctifica-
tion through the truth. They must be so established in this knowledge
that they cannot be moved to take false positions on the doctrine
of holiness, but will be able to illustrate in their lives the practical
workings of this heaven-given principle. The people of God must be
able to distinguish between the genuine and the spurious.
There are those who profess holiness, who declare that they are
wholly the Lord?s, who claim a right to the promises of God, while
they do not render obedience to His commandments....
It is true that there are many who have never had the light of
present truth, who, through the grace given them of Christ, are
keeping the law as far as they understand it. Those who are thus
living up to the best light they have, are not of the class whom the
apostle John condemns. His words apply to those who boast of
believing in Jesus, who claim holiness, while they lightly regard
the requirements of the law of God. While they talk of the love of
Jesus, their love is not deep enough to lead to obedience. The fruit
they bear, shows the character of the tree. It proves that their faith is
not genuine. Yet this class, though entitled to nothing, though they
have no right to the promises of God, boldly claim all His blessings.
While they give nothing, they claim everything. They close their
ears to the truth, refuse to listen to the plain ?Thus saith the Lord,?
but by professing holiness they deceive many, leading souls away
by their pretentious faith that has no foundation.

There is but one power that can break the hold of evil from the
hearts of men, and that is the power of God in Jesus Christ. Only
through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin.
His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of
our fallen nature. This power the spiritualistic theories concerning
God make of no effect. If God is an essence pervading all nature,
then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has
only to develop the power that is within him.
These theories, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away
the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity
for the atonement, and make man his own savior. These theories
regarding God make His Word of no effect, and those who accept
them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole
Bible as a fiction. They may regard virtue as better than vice; but
God being removed from His position of sovereignty, they place their
dependence upon human power, which, without God, is worthless.
The unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome
evil. The defenses of the soul are broken down. Man has no barrier
against sin. When once the restraints of God?s Word and His Spirit
are rejected, we know not to what depths one may sink.

Many young men are sent forth to labor who do not understand
the plan of salvation and what true conversion is; in fact, they need
to be converted. We need to be enlightened on this point, and the
ministers need to be educated to dwell more particularly upon the
subjects which explain true conversion. All who are baptized are to
give evidence that they have been converted. There is not a point that
needs to be dwelt upon more earnestly, repeated more frequently, or
established more firmly in the minds of all than the impossibility of
fallen man meriting anything by his own best good works. Salvation
is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
When this question is investigated we are pained to the heart to
see how trivial are the remarks of those who ought to understand the
mystery of godliness. They speak so unguardedly of the true ideas
of our brethren who profess to believe the truth and teach the truth.
They come far short of the real facts as they have been laid open
before me. The enemy has so entangled their minds in the mist and
fog of earthliness and it seems so ingrained into their understanding
that it has become a part of their faith and character. It is only a new
conversion that can change them and cause them to give up these
false ideas?for this is just what they are shown to me to be. They
cling to them as a drowning man clings to a life preserver, to keep
them from sinking and making shipwreck of faith.

Discussions may be entered into by mortals strenuously advocat-
ing creature merit, and each man striving for the supremacy, but they
simply do not know that all the time, in principle and character, they
are misrepresenting the truth as it is in Jesus. They are in a fog of be-
wilderment. They need the divine love of God which is represented
by gold tried in the fire; they need the white raiment of Christ?s
pure character; and they need the heavenly eyesalve that they might
discern with astonishment the utter worthlessness of creature merit
to earn the wages of eternal life. There may be a fervor of labor
and an intense affection, high and noble achievement of intellect,
a breadth of understanding, and the humblest self-abasement, laid
at the feet of our Redeemer; but there is not one jot more than the
grace and talent first given of God. There must be nothing less given
[24] than duty prescribes, and there cannot be one jot more given than
they have first received; and all must be laid upon the fire of Christ?s
righteousness to cleanse it from its earthly odor before it rises in a
cloud of fragrant incense to the great Jehovah and is accepted as a
sweet savor.
I ask, How can I present this matter as it is? The Lord Jesus
imparts all the powers, all the grace, all the penitence, all the inclina-
tion, all the pardon of sins, in presenting His righteousness for man
Ellen White Clarifies the Issues
17
to grasp by living faith?which is also the gift of God. If you would
gather together everything that is good and holy and noble and lovely
in man and then present the subject to the angels of God as acting
a part in the salvation of the human soul or in merit, the proposi-
tion would be rejected as treason. Standing in the presence of their
Creator and looking upon the unsurpassed glory which enshrouds
His person, they are looking upon the Lamb of God given from the
foundation of the world to a life of humiliation, to be rejected of
sinful men, to be despised, to be crucified. Who can measure the
infinity of the sacrifice!

When men learn they cannot earn righteousness by their own
merit of works, and they look with firm and entire reliance upon
[26] Jesus Christ as their only hope, there will not be so much of self and
so little of Jesus. Souls and bodies are defiled and polluted by sin,
the heart is estranged from God, yet many are struggling in their own
finite strength to win salvation by good works. Jesus, they think,
will do some of the saving; they must do the rest. They need to see
by faith the righteousness of Christ as their only hope for time and
for eternity.

?Ye are God?s husbandry? (1 Corinthians 3:9). The heart is to
be worked, subdued, plowed, harrowed, seeded, to bring forth its
harvest to God in good works. ?Ye are God?s building.? You cannot
build yourself. There is a Power outside of yourself that must do the
building of the church, putting brick upon brick, always cooperating
with the faculties and powers given of God to man. The Redeemer
must find a home in His building. God works and man works. There
needs to be a continual taking in of the gifts of God, in order that
there may be as free a giving out of these gifts. It is a continual
receiving and then restoring. The Lord has provided that the soul
shall receive nourishment from Him, to be given out again in the
working out of His purposes. In order that there be an outflowing,
there must be an income of divinity to humanity. ?I will dwell in
them, and walk in them? (2 Corinthians 6:16).
The soul temple is to be sacred, holy, pure, and undefiled. There
must be a copartnership in which all the power is of God and all the [27]
glory belongs to God. The responsibility rests with us. We must
receive in thoughts and in feelings, to give in expression. The law
of the human and the divine action makes the receiver a laborer
together with God. It brings man where he can, united with divinity,
work the works of God. Humanity touches humanity. Divine power
and the human agency combined will be a complete success, for
Christ?s righteousness accomplishes everything.

?Ye are God?s husbandry? (1 Corinthians 3:9). The heart is to
be worked, subdued, plowed, harrowed, seeded, to bring forth its
harvest to God in good works. ?Ye are God?s building.? You cannot
build yourself. There is a Power outside of yourself that must do the
building of the church, putting brick upon brick, always cooperating
with the faculties and powers given of God to man. The Redeemer
must find a home in His building. God works and man works. There
needs to be a continual taking in of the gifts of God, in order that
there may be as free a giving out of these gifts. It is a continual
receiving and then restoring. The Lord has provided that the soul
shall receive nourishment from Him, to be given out again in the
working out of His purposes. In order that there be an outflowing,
there must be an income of divinity to humanity. ?I will dwell in
them, and walk in them? (2 Corinthians 6:16).

The reason so many fail to be successful laborers is that they act
as though God depended on them, and they are to suggest to God
what He chooses to do with them, in the place of their depending
on God. They lay aside the supernatural power and fail to do the
supernatural work. They are all the time depending on their own and
their brethren?s human powers. They are narrow in themselves and
are always judging after their finite human comprehension. They
need uplifting, for they have no power from on high. God gives us
bodies, strength of brain, time and opportunity in which to work.
It is required that all be put to the tax. With humanity and divinity
combined you can accomplish a work as enduring as eternity. When
men think the Lord has made a mistake in their individual cases, and
they appoint their own work, they will meet with disappointment.
?By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God? (Ephesians 2:8). Here is truth that will unfold
the subject to your mind if you do not close it to the rays of light.
Eternal life is an infinite gift. This places it outside the possibility of
our earning it, because it is infinite. It must necessarily be a gift. As
a gift it must be received by faith, and gratitude and praise be offered
to God. Solid faith will not lead anyone away into fanaticism or into
acting the slothful servant. It is the bewitching power of Satan that
leads men to look to themselves in the place of looking to Jesus. The
[28] righteousness of Christ must go before us if the glory of the Lord
becomes our rereward. If we do God?s will, we may accept large
blessings as God?s free gift, but not because of any merit in us; this
is of no value. Do the work of Christ, and you will honor God and
come off more than conquerors through Him that has loved us and
given His life for us, that we should have life and salvation in Jesus
Christ.