June 14, 1905

A Contrast

EGW

Adam became a law to himself, and discord and unhappiness came into his life. A separation was made between him and God.ST June 14, 1905, par. 1

Christ's life was one of perfect obedience. Constantly He followed the pathway of obedience that He might set an example that all could follow.ST June 14, 1905, par. 2

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; ... even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”ST June 14, 1905, par. 3

Think of what Christ's obedience means to us. It means that in His strength we, too, may obey. He came to this world to show us what God can do for us, and what we can do in co-operation with God. In human flesh He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. He knows what it is to hunger and thirst. He knows the weakness and the infirmities of the flesh. He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted, yet without sin.ST June 14, 1905, par. 4

Ransomed from Sin

Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan. Christ stands before us as our divine example, our all-powerful helper. We have been bought with a price that it is impossible to compute. Who can measure the goodness and mercy of redeeming love?ST June 14, 1905, par. 5

Those who are indeed adopted into the family of God are transformed by His Spirit. Self-indulgence and love for self is changed for self-denial and supreme love for God. No man inherits holiness of character by nature, nor can any man, in his own strength, become loyal to God. “Without Me,” Christ says, “ye can do nothing.” Human righteousness is as “filthy rags.” But with God all things are possible. In the strength of the Redeemer, weak, erring man can be made more than a conqueror over the evil that besets him.ST June 14, 1905, par. 6

Christ Our Only Hope

As we see the condition of mankind today, the question arises in the minds of some, Is man by nature totally and wholly depraved? Is he hopelessly ruined?ST June 14, 1905, par. 7

Men have sold themselves to the enemy of all righteousness. They can not redeem themselves. Of themselves they can do no good thing. But there is a way of escape. When man sinned, Christ offered to stand as his substitute and surety, in order to provide a way whereby the guilty race might return to loyalty. He took humanity, and passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. Without swerving from His allegiance, He met the temptations wherewith man is beset.ST June 14, 1905, par. 8

Only by accepting Christ as a personal Saviour can human beings be uplifted. Beware of any theory that would lead men to look for salvation from any other source than that pointed out in the Word. Only through Christ can men sunken in sin and degradation be led to a higher life. Theories that do not recognize the atonement that has been made for sin, and the work that the Holy Spirit is to do in the hearts of human beings, are powerless to save.ST June 14, 1905, par. 9

Man's pride would lead him to seek for salvation in some other way than that devised by God. He is unwilling to be accounted as nothing, unwilling to recognize Christ as the only One who can save to the uttermost. To this pride Satan appealed in the temptation that he brought to our first parents. “Ye shall not surely die; ... ye shall be as gods,” he said. And by belief of his words, they placed themselves on his side.ST June 14, 1905, par. 10

Of Christ it is written: “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” “In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.”ST June 14, 1905, par. 11