Few Seventh-day Adventists have not heard some reference to the 1888 message. Unfortunately, to most, it has been just another Adventist term, but with uncertain meaning. Such lack of understanding has led to confusion of voices proclaiming various ideas of what this message is all about. To some, it had something to do with a rejected message back in 1888, but they are not sure just what it was. Others will tell you that it had something to do with the concept of Christ Our Righteousness; however, beyond that they are not clear. Though some believe it has to do with justification by faith, they teach that, since Jesus did everything on the cross, it is easier to be saved than to be lost. They see no place for what they view as legalistic concerns about obedience or the perfecting of character.
In this two-part series the writer has made an effort to clear up this confusion with a careful study of the writings of Ellen White, who was there in 1888 and participated in the whole experience, writing extensively about it. In Part 1 we will explore the historical setting of the issue. In the next part we will examine in Ellen White's own words what the actual message was and what it should mean to each Seventh-day Adventist today.
--Editors
Therefore, at the 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis, God, in His mercy sought to redress this lack by the presentation of the message of Christ Our Righteousness. The young preachers, Elder A. T. Jones (37 years old) and Dr. E. J. Waggoner (33 years old), presented messages that were greatly supported by the servant of the Lord as the true message of righteousness by faith.
It is not surprising that in the dialogue on the message that was presented, the writings of Jones and Waggoner become central. There is no question that many times Sister White endorsed the message that they gave. While she recognized that Jones and Waggoner were fallible mortals, that fact did not deter her from emphasizing that this was a most precious message from the Lord:
"I believe without a doubt that God has given precious truth at the right time to Brother Jones and Brother Waggoner. Do I place them as infallible? Do I say that they will not make a statement or have an idea that cannot be questioned or that cannot be error? Do I say so? No, I do not say any such thing. Nor do I say that of any man in the world. But I do say God has sent light, and do be careful how you treat it." Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 566.
Unfortunately, this wonderful message has been perverted, especially by the antinomians.(1) There has been a desire to diminish the relevance of the law of God to the principles of salvation. That was never the intent. It has led others to assert that the gospel of salvation is justification alone, and that sanctification does nothing to qualify us for heaven.
Part of this may be due to the direction that A. T. Jones followed later in his ministry. Sister White sought to bring him back to a proper understanding of the relationship between faith and good works.
"In my dream you were presenting the subject of faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith. You repeated several times that works amounted to nothing, that there were no conditions. The matter was presented in that light that 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. I know your meaning, but 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." Selected Messages, vol. l, 377.
Jones had been confusing the people by saying that there were no conditions of salvation.
"Then when you say there are no conditions, and some expressions are made quite broad, you burden the minds, and some cannot see consistency in your expressions. They cannot see how they can harmonize these expressions with the plain statements of the Word of God. Please guard these points. These strong assertions in regard to works never make our position any stronger. The expressions weaken our position, for there are many who will consider you an extremist, and will lose the rich lessons you have for them upon the very subjects they need to know." Ibid., 378.
It is my firm conviction that in spite of the wonderful insights that Jones and Waggoner gave, we must look to the Spirit of Prophecy for the final recognition of what the true message of Christ Our Righteousness is. Whereas Jones and Waggoner eventually wandered away from the truth of God, the servant of the Lord remained steadfastly loyal to God and to her mission. Therefore, this article will concentrate on the insights of Sister White on this most precious message--insights that were not only needed in 1888, but are urgently needed now for the preparation of God's saints for the return of Jesus Christ. Surely this is a message that was to bring the latter rain to embolden men and women to give the loud cry and to take the gospel message to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
I have read extensively Sister White's comments on the message of righteousness by faith. The most comprehensive materials that are available are the four volumes published in 1987 by the Ellen G. White Estate entitled The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials.
But for those who are wanting to get the clearest picture of the prophet's presentations on righteousness by faith, I would suggest that you read carefully Testimonies to Ministers, 89-98; Selected Messages, vol. l, 355-405; and Selected Messages, vol. 3, 156-204. After reading these passages, any honest reader will be left in no doubt as to what this message is.
1) Many earnest Seventh-day Adventist believers had lost sight of the centrality of Jesus Christ to the salvation of man:
"Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent." Testimonies to Ministers, 92.
2) Because of this, many earnest Christians were turning away from the Seventh-day Adventist message because they saw it as a Christless religion:
"The uplifted Saviour is to appear in His efficacious work as the Lamb slain, sitting upon the throne, to dispense the priceless covenant blessings, the benefits He died to purchase for every soul who should believe on Him. John could not express that love in words; it was too deep, too broad; he calls upon the human family to behold it. Christ is pleading for the church in the heavenly courts above, pleading for those for whom He paid the redemption price of His own lifeblood. Centuries, ages, can never diminish the efficacy of this atoning sacrifice. The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ." Ibid.
3) There was a failure to preach of the sacrifice of Jesus as the basis of human hope:
"If Christ is all and in all to every one of us, why are not His incarnation and His atoning sacrifice dwelt upon more in the churches?" Selected Messages, vol. 3, 187.
Thus the sermons of Seventh-day Adventist preachers became dry and unconvicting:
"There have been entire discourses, dry and Christless, in which Jesus has scarcely been named. The speaker's heart is not subdued and melted by the love of Jesus. He dwells upon dry theories. No great impression is made." Ibid., 184.
The preachers had proclaimed with a "loud voice" the claims of the law of God, but barely an "inaudible whisper" was heard of the faith of Jesus:
"The faith of Jesus has been overlooked and treated in an indifferent, careless manner. It has not occupied the prominent position in which it was revealed to John. Faith in Christ as the sinner's only hope has been largely left out, not only of the discourses given but of the religious experience of very many who claimed to believe the third angel's message." Ibid., 168.
Thus, the Seventh-day Adventist message was in danger of becoming a lifeless, Christless message:
"A legal religion has been thought quite the correct religion for this time. But it is a mistake. The rebuke of Christ to the Pharisees is applicable to those who have lost from the heart their first love. A cold, legal religion can never lead souls to Christ; for it is a loveless, Christless religion." Ibid., vol. l, 388.
How needed was the message of Christ Our Righteousness! But when E. J. Waggoner began to preach this message he was confronted with great hostility. That hostility spread to the prophet, and indeed she was charged with lying, by some of the delegates of the 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis:
"When I stated before my brethren that I had heard for the first time the views of Elder E. J. Waggoner, some did not believe me." Ibid., vol. 3, 172.
Long before the 1888 General Conference Session, there was considerable hostility toward Jones and Waggoner, who were the editors of the Signs of the Times, because of the view that they had espoused that the law in Galatians was the moral law; whereas Uriah Smith, the editor of the Review and Herald, and George Butler, the General Conference President, among others, believed that the law in Galatians was the ceremonial law. Years later Sister White was to clarify that both laws were encompassed in the law in Galatians.
However, because of that controversy, many were ready to throw aside the message from the Lord that came at the General Conference Session. Sister White wrote in strong terms:
"But when the plain, straight testimony comes from lips under the moving of the Spirit of God, there are many who treat it with disdain. There are among us those who, in actions if not in words, 'say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.' " Testimonies to Ministers, 89.
Sister White spoke especially of some of the leaders whom she saw rejecting this message, and she wondered if indeed they may have gone too far to repent:
"I inquire of those in responsible positions in Battle Creek, What are you doing? You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. There needs to be a cleansing of the heart, the feelings, the sympathies, the words, in reference to the most momentous subjects--the Lord God, eternity, truth. What is the message to be given at this time? It is the third angel's message. But that light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. Be careful how you treat it. Take off the shoes from off your feet; for you are on holy ground. Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and to repent." Ibid., 89-90.
How many had actually gone beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit is not known. It was from that time forward that Louis R. Conradi never again was to have confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy. While he was to become a dominant figure in leadership in Europe, he later apostatized from the church and died outside of the Seventh-day Adventist truth.
Less than a year later when Sister White was speaking at the Kansas meeting held in July 1889, she expressed the darkness and blindness that had come upon God's people which led to doubt and a lack of confidence in the Seventh-day Adventist movement:
"At the Kansas meeting my prayer to God was, that the power of the enemy might be broken, and that the people who had been in darkness might open their hearts and minds to the message that God should send them, that they might see the truth, new to many minds, as old truth in new framework. The understanding of the people of God has been blinded, for Satan has misrepresented the character of God. Our good and gracious Lord has been presented before the people clothed in the attributes of Satan, and men and women who have been seeking for truth, have so long regarded God in a false light that it is difficult to dispel the cloud that obscures His glory from their view. Many have been living in an atmosphere of doubt, and it seems almost impossible for them to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel of Christ." Selected Messages, vol. l, 355.
It is understandable that confusion reigned across a wide spectrum of the Seventh-day Adventist membership. On the one hand, the prophet, standing with Jones and Waggoner, proclaimed the certainty of the message of Christ Our Righteousness. However, many of the most respected leaders of the church, including Uriah Smith and George Butler, were openly opposed to the message, believing that it would lead to antinomianism. Perhaps they also saw it as a condemnation of the emphasis that they had been giving in their presentations.
Today there are many claiming to be presenting the authentic message that was given over a century ago at the Minneapolis camp meeting, and followed by presentations through the middle of the 1890s. But we need to go to the pen of Inspiration to determine what the true message really was. That is what we will do in Part 2, with an examination of its critical importance for every Seventh-day Adventist in these end-times.
To be continued.
Footnote
1 "Antinominanism--The doctrine or belief that the Gospel frees Christians from obedience to any law, whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely through faith and divine grace." The American Heritage College Dictionary, 59.