Not Only Believe, But Do the Will of the Father

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Today's Text:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

The Message:

Holiness means perfect obedience to God's law-"Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not." Those who pay no heed to this law, except to tear it down by their unsanctified actions, are in rebellion against God and cannot possibly be holy. Not only do they break the law themselves, but by their transgression they teach others to break it; and unless they repent, heavy will be their punishment.

Christ declared, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:17, 18. And He says again, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:20. Are those who so boldly claim to be sanctified doing the works of Christ? Are they holding up before the people the law of God given on Mount Sinai? They declare that they have with them the power of God, but the Scriptures declare: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

Christ declares, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils: and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21-23.

Another doctrine that will be presented is that all we have to do is to believe in Christ-to believe that He has forgiven our sins, and that after we are forgiven, it is impossible for us to sin. This is a snare of Satan. It is true that we must believe in Christ. He is our only hope of salvation. But it also is true that we must work out our individual salvation daily in faith, not boastingly, but with fear and trembling. We are to use every power of our being in His service, and after we have done our utmost, we are still to regard ourselves as unprofitable servants. Divine power will unite with our efforts, and as we cling to God with the hand of faith, Christ will impart to us His wisdom and His righteousness. Thus, by His grace we shall be enabled to build upon the sure foundation.

It is not the purpose of God that we should be dwarfs in the religious life. He desires us to be constantly growing in grace and the knowledge of the truth. He wants us to be able to do better work for Him today than we did yesterday. He has for us a heaven full of blessings, and He wants us to claim these blessings, and in our humanity sanctified, glorify God as His obedient disciples.

As we follow on step by step to know the Lord, we need not expect that the way will be free from hindrances. Just as surely as we strive to serve the Lord, so surely will Satan put forth every effort in his power to accomplish our ruin. But help has been laid upon One that is mighty, and to every struggling child of His who asks Him for grace, believing, He comes with the needed aid. We have an all-powerful Saviour who was victorious in His assumed humanity, and we are to press forward in the work of overcoming in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In His strength, which we claim by faith, we are gaining the victory over sin. As temptation after temptation comes to us, we shall remember the conflict that we last gained and shall be armed with increased strength for the next conflict before us. Thus, through the blood of the Lamb and the word of His testimony, we are to overcome evil and become established.-Manuscript 27, 1886.

*Note: I have added in the parts that were left out by the compilers for what ever reason, that the true sentiment of the author may be seen. These parts are underlined.

Commentary:

My friend, the battle that we fight is a real one. In our own strength we cannot overcome sin, for our natures are sinful, prone to sin, and unless we are connected to divine power, we cannot do good. Our problem with sin begins in the heart, for "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, if we are to be in harmony with the law of God, we must have a transformation of heart, and that transformation is not something that we can learn, nor anything that we can achieve, but is the work of Christ within us.

God, speaking through the prophet Ezekiel said "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26). If we are to do the will of our Father we must have a new heart and have His Spirit within us.

Christ came that we might have life, and that that life might be a more abundant life. He came in the flesh and overcame sin. He was crucified and raised from the dead, that He may impart that life to us. The victorious life that He lived here in the flesh, He offers to us that we may live in harmony with the law of God. The Comforter that was to come is not another being but is the very life of Jesus living within us. Speaking of Himself as the Comforter Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18), and He comes to us through His Spirit.

To do the will of our Father in Heaven, we must be connected to Him. Christ is our mediator and it is by His life we are saved. Praying to His Father He said "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:1-3). "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11).

My friend, unless we are born again we cannot keep the law of God, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:3, 4). Unless the Spirit of Christ lives within us we cannot live a victorious life.

May you invite Christ into your life today, that you may do the will of our Father in heaven.

God bless,

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

The Trinity is the foundational teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, by it comes all of her doctrines, to include Sunday sacredness. While the Seventh-Day Adventist Church states that their trinity is different from the Catholic trinity, why does the Catholic Trinity look the same as the Seventh-day Adventist trinity?

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