Representative
A vital part of correcting the sin problem lies in correcting a sinner's misconception about the character of God.
On the one hand, many echo Satan's original claim. He said that “God was not just in imposing laws… that in requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, He was seeking merely the exhalation of Himself.”1 Furthermore they claim that “God's law could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that, should the law be broken, it would be impossible for the sinner to be pardoned.”2
“By His life and His death, Christ proved that God's justice did not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed. Satan's charges were refuted. God had given man unmistakable evidence of His love.”3
On the other hand, many echo a new claim Satan made after Calvary: “that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of Christ [abolished] the Father's law.”4 In this view, God is seen as now being soft on the sin problem—a permissive parent who prefers that His children do good, but forever forgiving them regardless of what they do.
As we have already seen, God's true character (His glory) is the perfect balance of both justice and mercy. This is what He proclaimed when His glory passed before Moses.5 Calvary demonstrated both attributes of God.6 In giving His Son as a ransom for sin, God demonstrated His great mercy. But if the law could have been abolished, He would not have had to die in the first place. In requiring the life of His Son, He showed that the demands of the law could not be laid aside even in the case of overwhelming affection.
But it was not only in His death that Christ demonstrated this balance in God's character. His ministry demonstrated both attributes. He preached judgment while showing mercy to the poor, the lame, and those possessed by devils. Consider the parables of Christ—how so many of them dealt with themes of judgment; but consider them as told by a Savior—the sinners best friend and only hope! Presenting this two-sided picture of God's character is what the Galilee Protocol is all about.
The fifth directive emphasizes our responsibility to accurately portray Christ. This we must do “according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”7
Peter continues the above greeting to the saints by promising not to be negligent as long as he is “in this tabernacle” (alive in his body of flesh), but rather to stir them up and establish them in the present truth. How does he do this? By challenging them to add to their “faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”8
This is vital to the work under the Galilee Protocol. We must be living representative of Christ—and as such we must be like Him.
It was true of Christ—that “all the strength of passion of humanity clamored for expression,” just as it is with us. It must also be true of us like it was of Him—“never did He yield to temptation to do one single act that was not pure and elevating and ennobling.19 “Our loyalty or disloyalty will decide our destiny. Since the fall of Adam, men in every age have excused themselves for sinning, charging God with their sin, saying they could not keep His commandments. This is the insinuation Satan cast at God in heaven. But the plea, 'I cannot keep the commandments,' need never be presented to God; for before Him stands the Savior, the marks of the Crucifixion upon His body, a living witness that the law can be kept. It is not that man cannot keep the law, but that they will not.”20
“In His human nature Christ rendered perfect obedience to the law of God, thus proving to all that this law can be kept. He endured the death penalty Himself, not to abrogate the law, not to immortalize sin, but to take away sin. It is because He has born the punishment that man can have a second probation. He may, if he will, return to his loyalty. But if he refuses to obey the commands of God, if he rejects the warnings and messages God sends, choosing rather to echo the word of the deceiver, he is willingly ignorant, and the condemnation of God is upon him. He chooses disobedience because obedience means lifting the cross, practicing self-denial.”21
As for the fifth directive—those who engage the Galilee Protocol must be fit representatives of Christ. We can only represent Him if His image is restored in us as a result of our becoming partakers of the divine nature through obedience, Bible study, and prayer for the indwelling Holy Spirit; and we must let our light shine in active witness to others. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”24
These four things: obedience, Bible study, prayer, and witnessing, are essential daily behaviors that actually bring about changes that are made manifest in our lives through the fruit of the Spirit. Christ said “make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. For the tree is known by the fruit.25 The Christian must show visible evidence of His connection to God.
1Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 42. 2White, Desire of Ages, p. 761, 3Ibid, p. 762. 4Ibid. 5Exodus 34:5-7. 6See chapters 78 and 79 in Desire of Ages. 72 Peter 1:3-4. 82 Peter 1:12-13, 5-7. 19White, Desire of Ages, p. 391. 20White, Gospel Workers, p. 254. 21Hebrews 10:22, 19-21. 242 Corinthians 10:3-5 25Matthew 12:33.