The Lord has surely blessed us. To us has been given a spiritual magnifying glass, as it were, that brings to light, and into focus, the latent aspects of this great theme of the atonement. It brings into view aspects that the human eye, unaided, would not detect unless in closest spiritual communion with God and His Word. They are all in the Word, but they lie beneath the surface. When, however, they are brought to light, the whole theme becomes radiant with a beauty, a symmetry, and a luster that bring a divine glow iato the soul and put a song of gratitude and triumph on the lips. Moreover, if accepted and applied, they are bound to transform the life and service. We shall never be the same again if we permit this great truth of the atonement to take full possession of us. For this, our God is waiting; and anxious, needy souls are longing.
The term "atonement," which we are considering, obviously has a much broader meaning than has been commonly conceived. Despite the belief of multitudes in the churches about us, it is not, on the one hand, limited just to the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. On the other hand, neither is it confined to the ministry of our heavenly High Priest in the sanctuary above, on the antitypical day of atonement—or hour of God's judgment—as some of our forefathers first erroneously thought and wrote. Instead, as attested by the Spirit of prophecy, it clearly embraces both—one aspect being incomplete without the other, and each being the indispensable complement of the other. Misunderstanding has commonly arisen at this point. This needs to be clearly discerned, and the true relationship succinctly stated.
As we have seen, the atonement is intially, and foundationally, the tremendous act of the cross. That is basic. The death of Christ on Calvary paid the debt of sin. It furnished the ransom. It provided the propitiation. It constituted the slaying of the perfect and sinless substitutionary Victim—Jesus Christ Himself—in our stead. That was a single, transcendent act—once for all, all-sufficient, all-efficient, and never to be repeated.
But this should be most carefully noted: Christ's atoning death on Calvary provided redemption potentially for all mankind. That is, Christ died provisionally for every sinner in all the world, that the efficacy of His death might embrace all men in its sweep throughout all human history. That is the tremendous scope of the sacrificial act of the cross—a complete, perfect, and final atonement for man's sin.
But that is not all, nor is it enough. That completed act of atonement on the cross is valueless to any soul unless, and until, it is applied by Christ our High Priest to, and appropriated by, the individual recipient. Tliat becomes apparent upon a moment's reflection. Then, and only then, does the general covering provision become a personalized realization and a saving actuality to the individual. But that application is made, or ministered, by our heavenly Priest subsequent to His own death as substitutionary Victim. That is the second imperative part of the one complete and all-inclusive atonement.
Christ, we would stress, is Himself both the atoning Sacrifice and the mediating Priest. Everything therefore centers on and in Christ, and emanates from Him. He is all in all. In His priestly ministry He makes effectual, to the individual beneficiary, the saving provisions and benefits of His atoning act on the cross. Thus it may be said that from the heavenly sanctuary, Christ makes the atonement effectual, because personalized, to repentant sinners and aspiring saints.
This thought cannot be too strongly stressed: The atonement is twofold—first a single, comprehensive act, then a continuing process or work of application. The atoning sacrifice was, of course, made on this earth—on Calvary—nineteen centuries ago. But its application to needy man, mediated from heaven, has been continuous ever since. It takes the two phases to have a complete, effectual, applied atonement. The sacrificial death of Christ would have been of no avail, inspiration declares, if Christ had not risen triumphant from the tomb (1 Cor. 15:16-18), and had not ascended to heaven, thenceforth to minister the benefits of the foundational act of atonement.
The climax came, back in the earthly sanctuary, on the Day of Atonement. That day was symbolic of God's hour of judgment when every case will be decided on the basis of two things—what the individual does with the complete, twofold provision of the cross; and the subsequent application by our great High Priest—and all that is involved in these two complementary aspects of the one indivisible atonement. And, in this connection, we would reiterate that while we are judged by the great moral standard of God's holy law, our destiny is not determined simply by our infraction of that law, but rather by what we do with Jesus Christ—first our atoning Sacrifice, then our ministering Priest, currently our inerrant Judge, and soon our coming King.
That is the inner issue and the larger, wondrous involvement of the atonement. Such a concept puts the emphasis not on condemnation because of the law but on salvation because of Christ—for the atonement is both the enabling act and the curative provision of salvation. And be it ever remembered that it is principally over the matter of unbalanced emphasis and of confused or conflicting terminology that Adventists have been misunderstood and censured by so many in the Christian world. We have often been regarded as minimizing, if not rejecting, the completeness of the atonement of the cross. But actually we neither reject nor minimize the cross; rather, we magnify it, when rightly understood. The censure disappears when the soundness and logic of our real position is set forth clearly. Misunderstanding melts, and prejudice gives way.
Here, then, is where we need to place our emphasis: We are not saved by obedience to the law; we are saved solely by the obedience and righteousness of Christ, and by the atoning efficacy of His death as Sacrifice and of His ministry as Priest. And we are not condemned simply because of our infraction of God's law; but because of failing to avail ourselves of the full salvation that is vested in Christ Jesus, our Propitiation, Advocate, Judge, and King. What a wonderful Saviour! What tremendous, all-encompassing atonement!
The Answer to Two Vital Questions
The question has been asked, "Why, in our early days, in the light of all this, did not Mrs. White point out and correct the limited or sometimes erroneous concepts of some of our early writers concerning the atonement? And why did she employ some of their restricted phrases without contrasting, at the time, her own larger, truer meaning when using them?" In answer, it is essential that first of all we remember this basic fact: No doctrinal truth or prophetic interpretation ever came to this people initially through the spirit of prophecy—not in a single case. The messenger of the Lord never ran ahead of the church's discovery of truth directly from the Word. That may be a surprise to some, but it is true. It is true of the sanctuary, our teaching concerning the Sabbath, the nature of man, prophetic interpretation, et cetera.
And along with this must be placed a paralleling fact: The discovery and clarification of Bible truth was always left for diligent Bible students to discover and bring forth from the Word itself, through prayerful study—which is the historic Protestant procedure. (And we are fundamentally Protestant, taking the Bible only as our sole rule of faith and practice.) Then, when there was hesitancy by some to accept the unfolding light brought out through reverent study of the Word, or when opposition developed, or even downright rejection, Ellen White would be given supporting, clarifying messages to sustain the new or fuller light that had been discovered and presented from the Word. This was the uniform procedure. The Spirit of prophecy confirmed truth; it did not initiate truth.
Moreover, these confirmatory counsels would often continue to be given over a period of years, or even decades—amplifying, enforcing, and clarifying the discovered truth, frequently going far beyond the position taken by any of its original advocates. This was obviously the method of special guidance through the gift, as employed by our all-wise Father. This our history clearly bears out. And these counsels would often be so clear, so full, and so far-reaching that they proved to be far ahead of the concepts of any of her contemporaries—sometimes fifty years in advance of their acceptance by some. By many their real significance was not grasped at the time they were given—possibly not for decades. This was particularly true of some of the counsels set forth following 1888—some of which are even yet not clearly perceived. But they stand undeviatingly on record for our guidance and blessing awaiting our perception and acceptance.
The further question has likewise arisen: "Just why were these counsels, clarifications, and expositions on the atonement, and its priestly application, not brought together fdr our use before this?" The answer, we believe, is equally simple and straightforward and obvious: No one had taken the time for the sustained effort involved in laborious, comprehensive search necessary to find, analyze, and organize them. Since our leaders were largely unaware of this latent evidence and its priceless value, the need was not felt, and the time required for such a vast project was not considered available. Access to the complete files of all the old periodicals containing Ellen White's two thousand articles is not easy, for there is no complete file in any one place. More than that, the priceless manuscript statements are not available in published form.
Further, as a church we have been so engrossed in giving our special message to the world, in keeping our complex movement rolling onward in its multiple activities, and in meeting the opening providences, that no one seemed to have the time or even the burden requisite for such a huge task. It was known that the search involved would be a most laborious one because of the vast amount of material that must be compassed.
However, when the need clearly arose and the time for such a search had obviously come, the necessity was recognized and the time was taken to compass not only the familiar book statements, but the vast array of periodical articles and manuscript counsels bearing thereon.
The result of it all is that a wealth of priceless material is now available in compact, convenient form that will bring consequent enlargement of concept concerning this great theme. But that is not all: A distinct clarification of terms and of meaning emerges that is destined to have far-reaching consequences. Expressions used by Ellen G. White in earlier writings are now seen in a new and larger sense—their truer and fuller intent. Earlier expressions are now seen to have a comprehensiveness and a significance not sensed by most of her associates in the past, but nevertheless inherent in the terms to which others assigned a limited or faulty meaning because of constricted concepts. Mrs. White's later statements do not contradict or change her earlier expressions. They simply invest those earlier terms with a larger, truer meaning inherently there all the time.
Such is specifically the case with such expressions as "making the atonement" and "continuing the atonement," used by Ellen White in connection with Christ's priestly ministry. This will be clearly seen by a careful study of the compilation of priceless expository counsels appearing in the Counsel section of this issue. Not only are they clear and forceful, but they are frequently expressed in exquisite phrasing. And they are fraught with significance of greatest importance to the approaching accelerated course of this movement. Again we see the tremendous blessing and advantage of the presence and operation of this gift in our midst, calling us insistently back to the Bible, confirming truth as discovered, and opening vistas of meaning therein that might otherwise be missed. For this we give thanks to our heavenly Father, and for His clear guidance and infinite love.
The Cross the Provision; the Mediation the Application
Let there be no confusion, then, over the term "making atonement," used by Ellen G. White in connection with Christ's priestly ministry in heaven—obviously meaning applying the completed atonement to the individual. The supreme transaction, or act—complete, perfect, efficacious, once for all, and all-sufficient—took place on the cross. And we emphasize that as such it was potentially and provisionally for all, and never to be repeated. But the acceptance, the realization of its benefits, is a subsequent and individual and imperative matter extending over the centuries, as the sinner comes to God in repentance, and as saints stretch out their hands to God for spiritual victory, growth, and power. In that sense, and that sense only, the initial provision, consummated on the cross, is now applied, or made effectual.
We see, then, that "atonement" is a comprehensive term—first the offering provision, then, in inseparable and continuing connection therewith, the application of that enabling act, or provision, to the repentant sinner through the centuries. The latter is obviously inapplicable and ineffective without the first; and the first is just as clearly incomplete and ineffective without the second.
In the earthly sanctuary of old, the substitute victim, to be slain in type as an atonement for man's sin, was altogether separate and apart from the ministering Priest, who applied the propitiatory blood of the offering, and thus consummated the atonement. That was the type, the figure, the forerunner of the true antitypical work of Christ. These types were not the exact likeness of the true (Heb. 10:1), but foreshadowed in accommodated form the reality. In this great antitypical gospel reality, Christ is Himself both Victim, or Offering, and Priest.
Each of the multiple offerings of old prefigured some particular aspect of Christ's one all-encompassing sacrifice of Himself, and all the various offerings were required to typify His all-comprehensive offering. Likewise, all the functions of the earthly, typical priesthood, including both common priest and high priest, all met their complete fulfillment in our one heavenly Priest. Thus it is that Christ is all and in all in the work of redemption, and in the fulfillment of every type. This, then, is eternally true: In His one indivisible Person, Christ was at once both Offering and Offerer.
In the typical sanctuary of old, the earthly priest, himself a sinner, must have an offering for himself to cleanse in figure his own imperfect life from sin. But in the gospel reality, Christ, the perfect, spotless, sinless One, offered Himself as the one all-sufficient, complete, and perfect Atonement for the sin of man. Then, having made the complete and perfect atonement at and on the cross, dying efficaciously and completely for sin in man's stead, Christ arose triumphant over death and the tomb, and ascended to His Father, there to carry out His priestly ministry in applying the atonement, or more accurately, the benefits and provisions of the atonement, to those who approach Him as Mediator between God and man.
To summarize, then: The cross was the provision; the mediation, the application. The death on the cross is the beginning of the one indivisible transaction; the heavenly ministry, the consummation. The atoning sacrifice on the cross was potentially for all men; but it is efficacious to the individual sinner only and actually as Christ, our mediating Priest, applies the provision to the repentant sinner and supplicating saint. It may be stated, then, as a basic truth that the atonement is potentially for all men, but is experimentally and actually only for those who come to Christ as their all-sufficient Saviour-Priest. That is the Adventist understanding of the atonement, confirmed and illuminated and clarified by the Spirit of prophecy.
