CHECK-LIST Christians believe they gain merit or divine favor toward salvation by conforming to a set of rules and regulations. This is legalism. It is salvation by works and is totally futile, for salvation is "by grace" (Eph. 2:8), "without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28).
However, does "grace" mean that the rules and regulations go into the wastebasket? Obviously, any founded wholly on tradition, or that have served their purpose, such as the ceremonial laws, are unnecessary. But what about God's Ten Commandments and other counsels and requirements of the Word?
Actually, the truly born-again Christian, the one who really loves the Lord, will be as concerned about God's rules and regulations as the legalist ever could be. His greatest desire will be to know and do the will of God. He will "hunger and thirst after righteousness." He will welcome all the Biblical instruction available, that he might know what God approves or disapproves. He will want to please Him in all things by his influence, his conduct, his conversation, his appearance. He will want to live a life of purity, of separation from the world, of abstinence from things detrimental to either the soul or the body. He will want to develop his gifts or talents so that he can be a more effective witness.
The big difference between the check-list Christian and the grace-alone Christian is not that one follows a set of rules and the other does not, but that the latter recognizes that the only possible way of keeping the rules is through the indwelling Christ. He recognizes that grace not only provides forgiveness for sins of the past but power for victory in the present.
God led Israel out of Egypt that He might lead them into Canaan. During the forty intervening years there was a work of preparation to be done. So today God is not content simply to lead us out of the bondage of past sins. He wants to prepare us to enter the heavenly Canaan. This, too, involves a work of preparation, the process of sanctification, which in simple terms is obedience by faith.
This obedience is by "grace through faith" just as surely as is forgiveness. And both are vital. If conversion is not followed by obedience, the experience is not genuine. Works are not the cause of salvation. Still, none will be saved without good works. They are the fruit of conversion.
Seventh-day Adventists, more than all other Christians, should emphasize that the everlasting gospel by which we are saved is by grace through faith. But let us not fall into the error of other Christian bodies who divorce grace from obedience and sanctification. In fact, if we -really believe the end is near, but that God must first have a prepared people who reflect fully the image of Jesus, then it would seem an urgent matter to give special emphasis to this important phase of the gospel. This being true, we should seek as never before to know what God's standards are--what the guidelines are that have been laid down in Scripture as safeguards against sin, worldliness, apostasy, and rebellion.
