The continuation of "the movings of the Spirit of God" (1SM130) through Elder A.T. Jones at the 1893 General Conference:
"The last study we had here was an effort to get as plainly as possible before this people, the difference between satanic belief and the faith of Jesus Christ; the difference between justification by works under the heading of justification by faith--the difference between that and justification by faith as it is. That was the effort; that was the aim. And you will remember how it was done, and that brought us to the subject that is ever before us: that we must have the teaching of righteousness according to righteousness. And this can be, as we have found, only according to God's idea of righteousness, and not our own; and in order to have God's idea of righteousness instead of our own, we must have the mind that can comprehend it, and that alone is the mind of Jesus Christ. Whoever has not the mind of Jesus Christ itself, whoever has not yielded up himself, and all that he has and is, and received the mind of Christ instead, does not know, and he cannot know what righteousness by faith is; he cannot know what justification by faith is. He may profess it; he may assent to it; he may claim it, but he cannot know it; for no man can know it, with the natural mind. Let us turn now and read from the Bible where it says so. 1 Cor.2:14.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him." That is just the way the righteousness by faith has been treated by hundreds of people who profess to believe it. Elder Johnson: The priests of the State church in Scandinavia preach it that way. Yes, the Catholics all preach it that way. With the natural mind it belongs that way. And it will always be that way with the man who has not the mind of Christ. But the man who has not that mind does not know it. He thinks he is straight; he thinks he has got the righteousness of God which is by faith. And yet what he has is not so good but what he has to do ever so much himself in order to patch it up and complete it; but yet he thinks that that is righteousness by faith.
How can a man then know the righteousness of God with the natural mind? Now, I just appeal to you. I do not care who you are, whether you have ever heard of Christ before in your life; now just take that verse as it reads: how can a man know the righteousness of God for himself with the natural mind?
Again: the righteousness of God as expressed in letters, in words, in the ten commandments, is the law of God. Now, all agree with that; there is not a Seventh-day Adventist that will not agree with that. The difficulty is, so many people try to get the righteousness of God out of the law by the law. Some try to get it--No; they actually get it without the law, by the faith of Jesus Christ, which is 'unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.' Rom.3:21,22.
He who obtains it in that way has it, but I say we all agree, every Seventh-day Adventist will confess, that the ten commandments express in letters, in words, the righteousness of God.
Now, then, 'The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' How then, can the carnal mind know the righteousness of God? How can the carnal be subject to it? It cannot be, says the Lord. Then the man who has only the carnal mind, who knows only the natural birth, and has not the mind of Jesus Christ, cannot know the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.
And now, just now, when the Lord wants to reveal to us the righteousness of God according to righteousness, to give to us the teaching of righteousness, now as never before on earth, it is that we need and must have the mind of Jesus Christ alone.
Now, 'The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' Is the mind of Christ subject to the law of God? (Congregation: 'Yes.') Was it ever anything else? (Congregation: 'No.') The mind of Christ was subject to the word of God always. The whole Bible, of course, is simply the drawing out of the law of God as it is in Christ. Well then, was not the mind of Christ always subject to the law? to the whole word of God just as it is? (Congregation: 'Yes.') There was never any hitch upon that. Wherever the word of God was read, how did the mind of Christ receive it?--It instantly received it. He would not say, 'Now how can that be, I wonder.' Don't you suppose He said, 'Well now I think that means this way.' Didn't He say, 'Are you not a little too strong about reading that text?' 'Can't you modify it just a little?' Did he ever get troubled over what the Bible said about anything, or what the Lord would say? No. Whenever the word of God was spoken, the mind of Christ instantly responded.
Brethren, I know that you can know, and that any man in this world can know, can have, just that kind of a mind. I know that you can have just such a mind, that whenever the word of God speaks the response is instantenous; and there is no question, or doubt, or sign of rejection. Now you can see upon this very thing, that if you and I have such a mind as that, then when the word of God is read, there is no rising up, or objection, or dissent--is that the mind of Christ? (Congregation: 'Yes.') Then it is easy enough to know whether we have the mind of Christ, or not.
If your mind or my mind, if your disposition or my disposition, or yourself or myself is not in that surrended condition--that position of surrender unto God--that whenever He speaks, in the word there, or by His prophets, and there is anything in that mind or in that heart that raises up any objection or dissent, then whose mind have we? (Congregation: 'The carnal mind.') That is the mind that started out to object in the first place. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET RID OF THAT THING.
But I say that a man can have just that kind of a mind that whenever and whatever the word of God speaks there is instant response. There is nothing in that mind or about it in the world that can rise up in objection against it. That mind is not natural to a man, but a man can have it, and can know that he has it, and that is the mind that we are to have. That is the mind to which the Lord can reveal His righteousness according to righteousness; because it is the mind that receives from God just what God has to give in God's own way, and not in any way that I would fix up, or modify, or discount it.
So then, the man who receives the idea, the truth, of justification by faith or righteousness by faith, according to his own idea or his own view of it, simply cannot do it; he simply has not got it; that is all. It is just that same satanic idea of righteousness by faith; it is simply the same Roman Catholic system of Justification by works, passing it off for Justification by Faith. And the time has come now in a great deal more serious sense than ninetenths of us dream of, when we need to know that we have the righteousness of God and Jusfification by Faith in another sense than the Roman Catholics use it. That is settled." A.T. Jones, 1893 G.C. Bulletin, p.296,297.
"Implicit belief in Christ's word is true humility, true self-surrender." D.A.535.
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WE BELIEVE THE WORD IMPLICITLY AND OUR FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS! THIS IS THE MIND OF CHRIST! PRAISE THE LORD! HE IS GOOD!
[This message has been edited by L.Picard (edited 02-25-2001).]