Avoiding the Red Herrings

Hi,

I believe that Jesus while on earth took our fallen nature, but my pastor believe differently. I gave him to read " Touched With Our Feelings" by J. R. Zurcher. In response he gave me those texts below from SOP and some comments which are in green fonts.

What would you answer to him? Could you help me on this, please?

Wally

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Hi,

The Signs of the Times
02-13-93
The Plan of Salvation
-PR- 06

When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the Satanic nature. (Jesus too?) The image of God in which he had been created was marred and distorted. The character of man was out of harmony with the character of God; for through sin man became carnal, and the carnal heart is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. To the angels there seemed to be no way of escape for the transgressor. They ceased their songs of praise, and throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning for the ruin sin had wrought. Out of harmony with the nature of God, unyielding to the claims of his law, naught but destruction was before the human race. Since the divine law is as changeless as the character of God, there could be no hope for man unless some way could be devised whereby his transgression might be pardoned, his nature renewed, and his spirit restored to reflect the image of God. Divine love had conceived such a plan. It was through Satan's misrepresentation of God's character that man was led to doubt the reality of his love, and came to look upon God as his enemy. As Satan had done in heaven, so he did on earth,--declared God's government unjust, the restrictions of his law unnecessary, and bade man, as he had angels, to throw aside the yoke and let the dictates of their own nature be their only guide and law. He promised liberty; but as he himself is the servant of corruption, he brought the race into bondage, to sin, misery, and death. He represented God as claiming all and giving nothing, as requiring men's service for his own glory, but denying himself nothing for man's good.

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The Signs of the Times
02-13-93
The Plan of Salvation
-PR- 07

In the work of creation, Christ was with God. He was one with God, equal with him, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, the representative of the Father. He alone, the Creator of man, could be his Saviour. No angel of heaven could reveal the Father to the sinner, and win him back to allegiance to God. But Christ could manifest the Father's love; for God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Christ could be the "day's man" between a holy God and lost humanity, one who could "lay his hand upon us both." None but Christ could redeem man from the curse of the law. He proposed to take upon himself the guilt and shame of sin,--sin so offensive in the sight of God that it wou(cnecessitate separat oi from his Father. Christ proposed to reach to the depths of man's degradation and woe, and restore the repenting, believing soul to harmony with God. Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, offered himself as a sacrifice and substitute for the fallen sons of Adam though in this offering all heaven was involved in infinite sacrifice. But the Father so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that through his smitten heart a channel might be found for the outflowing of infinite love for fallen man. Man had become so degraded by sin, his nature so perverted by evil, that it was impossible for him of himself to come into harmony with God, whose nature is purity and love. But Christ redeemed him from the condemnation of the law, and imparted divine power, and through man's cooperation, the sinner could be restored to his lost estate.

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My Victory comes from Jesus Divinity not His Humanity.

Avoid the Red Herrings!

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Dear Wally,

I'm willing to bet that this pastor also believes that Christ, being "begotten" must have had an origin, (was created)?? You'd be surprised on how many SDAs sincerely believe this!

I noticed that he didn't use one single proof text. Does he put Sister White above Scripture too? Does Sister White define our doctrines?? Talk about RED HERRINGS!

I'll try to find some solid scripture to defend your position, but the essence of it is that Christ became the new Adam. He had to prove to mankind than man was capable of living a sinless life on this earth. Yet he had to do it as a human, NOT as divinity. The secret to His triumph was His complete and total relationship with His Father. If this wasn't the case, then why did Christ submit Himself to the 40 days in the wilderness without any sustenance to be tempted by Satan?? What was the point of it? Do you think Satan would have bothered?

The key to this question lies in Genesis 3:15. When Satan heard that eventually his head would be crushed, he tried in many ways to defeat this plan. He introduced the pagan women to intermarry with God's chosen people for instance. God has had a devoted 'royal" line from Adam until the birth of Christ. Sinners all, but from this line would come the sinless One. The difference between this 'royal' line and other lines were that these were God-fearing individuals that tried to live according to His will, and when they failed, as in David's case, they were quick to repent and ask forgiveness.

What did Christ prove by being Devine and dying for the human race? It was only though His humanity that we’re saved. Only Christ could be both human and divine and He had to keep His divinity shielded while on earth. Never once, did Christ use His divinity to help Him out of any difficulty.

Divinity did flash through on several occasions, but that was directly from His Father.

If Christ was made FLESH as John 1:14 tells us, do we accept Him as the Creator?

Wally, I only have one suggestion for you. Find another church to attend. Pastors of this type will not enhance your spiritual walk, that's for certain. You will receive a greater blessing staying at home and trying to start your own little home church than by attending this man's church....May God have mercy on his soul.

If you really want to nail him to the wall, ask him this question:

If he believes that Christ was crucified on Friday, then why does John 12:1 tell us that Christ came to Bethany 6 days before Passover? According to John 12:12, that would make the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on MONDAY! ... This may be off the subject, but it only demonstrates how shallow these men are. They only know what they've been told.

These additional support texts were submitted by Daniel Bernhardt after reading your letter: