Demons of Righteousness

(High road to hell)

Some of the devil's most devoted disciples are

among the best-behaved people on earth. The most
deceived of them experience victory over sin. Some
are Seventh-day Adventists devoted to doing the will
of God but who are victims of satanic delusions.
Should it surprise us that demons can deceive and
empower well-intentioned people? Well, think of the
beaming faces of young Moonies testifying how they
used to be slaves of drugs and sinful relationships
before the "divine principles" of "Reverend" Moon
sanctified them. Consider also the New Agers who
exchange cigarettes for carrot sticks through the
power of Hindu-style meditation. The pagan power
channeled to them in New Age meditation chambers
certainly isn't the Holy Spirit. New Agers and Moon-
ies, rejoicing in victory over sinful habits, know not
that their spiritual state is worse than before they
became overcomers.
Well, why would the devil bestow victory over sin?
Before addressing this, let's affirm once again that
genuine victory over sin is a basic fruit of the gospel.
God has plenty of power that He intends for us to
claim.
But so does Satan! Our crafty foe wants to seize
our souls through his deceptions. Thus for all that
God offers, the devil has a counterfeit—even a coun-
terfeit victory over sin, to lure us away from the
cross so we trust in our own character attainments
and thus forfeit salvation by grace.
All true believers yearn for total victory over sin,
and the devil knows it. As we reach out for Jesus to
pull us out of one gutter, Satan tries to snatch our
229

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

hand and drag us into another. Bad as it is to be
snared in the slime of sinful indulgence, the ultimate
deception is the opposite ditch off the gospel free-
way: legalism. People imagine they are following
God when in reality another force is empowering
them.
Remember the Pharisees, those paragons of piety.
They had conquered the flesh and its lusts to the
point that they fasted twice a week. But Jesus said
these trophies of self-discipline and the disciples of
their zealous evangelism were actually sons of hell
(see Matt. 23:15).
"Lord, I thank Thee for what Thou art doing in my
life," prayed the Pharisee in the sanctuary as he
scorned the struggling soul who cast himself upon
God's mercy. That model of self-mastery knew not
that his own soul was in bondage to demons-not
demons of self-indulgence but demons of self-right-
eousness!
Demons of righteousness? Yes! The Bible warns of
spiritual zealots who preach Christ-but not Christ as
our only hope. They preach a gospel, but one of
merit rather than mercy (see 2 Cor. 11:2-4). This
false gospel brings them "into bondage" (verse 20)
—bondage to demons of righteousness: "For such
are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder!
For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers
also transform themselves into ministers of right-
eousness" (verses 13-15).

White magic
Satan's wolf-in-sheep's-clothing strategy multiplies
his power to deceive. Take witchcraft, for example.
According to the Encyclopedia Americana, "magic to
cause harm is often called black magic or sorcery,
and magic intended to help or cure is frequently
230

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
termed white magic."1 Do you see the deception?
For those eager to indulge in evil, the devil has black
magic (I lament the racial overtones of that term,
but such is the world of witchcraft). And for those
who admire the miracles of blessing Jesus per-
formed, Satan has white magic. Black magic or
white magic—he doesn't care whether people do evil
or do good as long as he is in control.
In Christ's day, Herod by the demons of indul-
gence killed John the Baptist for the sake of lust,
while the Pharisees by demons of righteousness
killed Jesus for the sake of law. In succeeding centur-
ies the emperors of Rome were playboys in their
palaces, as the bishops of Rome venerated monast-
ics in the desert and promoted perfectionism (with
purgatory as a fire escape for those not quite worthy
of heaven). Today, Satan continues his two-pronged
assault from opposite extremes. The singer
Madonna embodies immorality, while the virgin
Madonna images celibacy. No church is immune
from demonic attack. You can be sure that this
church, entrusted by God with the truths of the final
remnant, is a special target of both the demons of
indulgence and the demons of self-righteousness.
In some Seventh-day Adventist churches, demons
of indulgence champion a cheap gospel that com-
promises lifestyle and doctrine. Sin isn't taken seri-
ously. Sabbath rest becomes just a vacation from
the office and classroom. To many, hell and the judg-
ment are outmoded myths. The pleasures of the
world become a chosen lifestyle in which people cel-
ebrate their supposed freedom in Christ with a glass
of California wine.
Meanwhile, demons of righteousness pull other
church members toward the opposite extreme, pro-
moting obedience and victory apart from gratitude
1
"Magic," Encyclopedia Americana (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier,
1991), v. 18, p. 84.
231

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

and assurance in Jesus. Members under their influ-
ence are zealous for doctrine but devoid of God's
love. They live in the desert at Mt. Sinai. Their lives
are like the burning bush, but with the flame of
God's blessing gone out. Not satisfied with burning
off sin's dead leaves, they have broken off life's in-
nocent branches. Finally they become an unadorned
stump of stern spirituality.

Counterfeit victory
Recently I interviewed a member who told me how
Satan had given him victory over sin. Through read-
ing various private publications he became ob-
sessed with acquiring a sinless character worthy of
heaven. As he prayed, he received a power that
brought victory over every sin on his checklist.
Meanwhile, a hard-hearted, critical spirit displaced
his love, joy, and peace. Then an inner voice told
him to join an independent group. He became
deeply involved with them, but eventually their Wa-
conian-style mind control methods opened his eyes.
Having come to his senses, he fled to Calvary for
refuge from the demons of righteousness. He's back
in church, eager as ever to keep God's command-
ments, but now he trusts in the blood of Christ
rather than in his own attainment of sinlessness to
qualify him for heaven.
His wife told me how terrible it had been to live
with a man that attained "perfection." She discerned
that his spiritual power was inspired by an alien
force. Though amazingly victorious over the usual
besetments, he had ceased being a loving husband.
"By their fruits you shall know them," Jesus said.
And the fruit of the Spirit above all is "love, joy,
peace" (Gal. 5:22). God's true Spirit always works
through the joy and peace that come from believing
in Jesus (see Rom. 15:13). We might fast all day and
pray all night for the Holy Spirit, but without faith in
232

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
the blood of Jesus our earnest incantations are in
vain. Another spirit may possess us.
Remember, evil spirits are deceptive, luring us
from opposite directions. We can steer away from
one ditch and plunge into the other extreme. At
stake is our eternal destiny.

Legalism versus liberalism

This colossal conspiracy between demons of indul-
gence and demons of righteousness manifests itself
in a tug of war between legalism and liberalism. The
liberalism here warned against is not warm-hearted,
open-minded, Christianity that calls for a commit-
ment to social justice for the poor and oppressed.
Liberation in Christ from all injustice is a basic ele-
ment of koinonia. But false liberalism from the
demons of indulgence is a counterfeit spirituality
that marches in step with secular humanism, care-
lessly and flagrantly violating God's law while wav-
ing the banner of love. Such liberalism maximizes
love and minimizes law; whereas legalism majors in
law and tends to minor in love. Not realizing that liv-
ing God's love involves keeping His commandments
—and vice versa—both liberals and legalists have a
superficial concept of religion. Both groups are skat-
ing on thin ice, yet they are true Christians if their
faith, though shallow, is sincere. The blood of Christ
covers honest ignorance—but not willful blindness
(see Acts 17:30; John 9:41).
Intense religiosity isn't necessarily sincerity. The
clergy who crucified Christ retained zeal while suc-
cumbing to hypocrisy. Spiritual fervor can be a
smoke screen for secret sin and also an attempt to
atone for bad habits with good works. Only God
knows when legalists and liberals go so far as to for-
feit what feeble faith they might have. The church at
Galatia crossed that line into damnation, having
turned away from "the grace of Christ, to a different
233

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

gospel" (Gal. 1:6). In abandoning their faith to legal-
ism they were taking the high road to hell: "You have
become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to
be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (Gal.
5:4). Zeal is no substitute for faith. When ignorance
becomes willful unbelief, people squander their sal-
vation.
Before proceeding, we must further clarify our
terms. Legalism is not strict faithfulness to God in
harmony with His law out of an appreciation for sal-
vation in Christ. Rather, it's an attempt to be good
enough through one's personal spiritual attainment
instead of through Christ's atonement. We must
avoid church legalism—but we also must steer clear
of illegalism.

Lukewarm legalism and liberalism

Many legalists and liberals have a superficial spir-
itual commitment that accompanies their superficial
concept of God's law and grace. Jesus said of them:
"These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far
from Me" (Matt. 15:8). Lukewarm legalists and liber-
als are more religious than they are secular, yet
their worship is more an exercise than an experi-
ence. They claim Jesus as Saviour while not knowing
how much they need His salvation. They sing about
a closer walk with Christ when, more than that, they
should be clinging to Him for their very lives.
Lukewarm liberalism is not outright worldliness
but a subtle yet serious undermining of behavioral
principles to which faith must remain faithful. Luke-
warm legalism even more deceptively compromises
Christianity, because it vigorously promotes God's
law while shunning fanatical extremes—yet it neg-
lects the caring and compassion that are the es-
sence of true commandment keeping.
Lukewarm legalists and liberals don't have the
234

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
commitment to join the self-denying ministries that
represent their respective beliefs; they would rather
sit back and send donations (tax deductible, of
course). Lukewarm liberals talk about following
Christ's loving example like Mother Teresa, but they
would rather applaud her than go and do likewise.
Lukewarm legalists also speak much about following
Christ's example, in terms of fulfilling the law's re-
quirements as He did. But they fail to entirely de-
vote themselves to the high standards they champi-
on.

Two roads to hell

Carnally-minded liberals take the low road to hell.
God says love not the world, but they heed not His
warning. They do what the world does, watch what
the world watches, eat what the world eats, and
dress like the world dresses. They claim the name of
Christ as their ticket to heaven, but unless they re-
pent, they will tragically wake up 1,000 years too
late facing hellfire.
And who will be with them in the second resurrec-
tion unto damnation? The legalists, who took the
high road to hell, having rejected comfort in Christ
as well as the pleasures of the world. They spurned
the blood of Jesus to make health reform their gos-
pel, sipping lukewarm soy milk and eating oil-free
tofu burgers sprinkled with organic bean sprouts
(and perhaps raw wheat germ). Imagine their sur-
prise when they wake up in the resurrection of dam-
nation and find themselves keeping company with
good-time Charlies and sultry harlots.
"God!" they shout with shaking fists. "If we knew
we were going to hell, we wouldn't have fasted twice
a week! At least we would have watched MTV!"
All their good works amounted to nothing in the
judgment. They had taken the high road to hell.
Let's recall that it wasn't a gang of hungover drug
235

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

addicts or a commune of leftover hippies from the
sixties who crucified Jesus. His murderers were the
sternest, strictest religionists of history, and they
killed Him in the name of Moses, the lawgiver. With
sweat pouring down their clenched faces, they
scaled the Alps of spiritual discipline, determined to
plant the banner of self-righteousness on the snow-
capped heights. Often they peered below them,
scorning the wretched sinners cruising in their con-
vertibles down easy street, the low road to hell.
"Commandment-breaking fools!" they scoffed.
"Maybe you're having a good time now, but you
don't know what's waiting for you around the bend
in the road on the other side of Mt. Sinai.
Then, redoubling their efforts, they pressed on-
ward and upward to what they imagined was their
just reward. Occasionally they would strenuously
sing: "I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights
I'm gaining every day!" They imagined that when
they finally gained the summit, God Himself would
be obliged to step aside respectfully and let them
march on through heaven's golden arch of triumph.
Finally, after endless self-denial and exertion, they
proudly reached the top. But—nobody was there
waiting for them. No smiling angels handing them
crowns of jewels never worn before. It was bleak,
foggy and cold. Very slippery, too. They wandered
around up there, shivering and sliding, trying to
keep warm. Suddenly their feet slipped on a patch of
ice and they found themselves skidding down the
other side of the mountain. Screaming in terror, they
plunged over an unseen cliff and down, way down,
all the way down to hell. Having rejected the gift of
God in Jesus Christ, they reaped the same reward as
those who took the easy way out of religious re-
sponsibility.
"What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who
did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a
236

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pur-
sued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but
as if it were by works. They stumbled over the
'stumbling stone.' As it is written: 'See, I lay in Zion
a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that
makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will
never be put to shame'" (Rom. 9:30-33, NIV).
Unfair? No. God owes us nothing but wrath. "There
is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10). Nobody
gets the wages deserved in the vineyard of the Lord.
All we deserve is death (see Rom. 3:23). It's only
"through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not" (Lam. 3:22).
Well, if we all are unworthy, can we just live as we
please? No, that's the low road to hell. We must sur-
render what fallen Adam offers us in exchange for
God's gift in Christ. He leads us up and away from
this world on the straight and narrow road to eternal
life—the way of the cross. The way of the cross leads
home! Let's not confuse this with Satan's counterfeit
straight and narrow road: not the way of the cross
but away from the cross up the toilsome slopes of
self-righteousness, then plunging over the cliff into
damnation. The high road to hell.
Demons of indulgence or demons of righteous-
ness, the devil doesn't care which team you're on as
long as your playing on his ball field. Black magic or
white magic, Satan doesn't care which you involve
yourself with as long as you are under his spell. Car-
nal liberalism or legalism, he doesn't care whether
you take the low road or the high road, as long as
you end up with him in the lake of fire.

The playpen and the workbench

All of us are vulnerable to both legalism and liber-
alism; in fact, to some extent both legalism and lib-
eralism afflict every human being, saved or un-
237

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

saved. We know what it's like to be tempted to in-
dulge appetite, thanks to the demons of indulgence.
And we all know what it's like to feel guilty about
sins confessed and forsaken. God has forgiven us,
but we still feel guilty. What's wrong? Spiritual har-
assment from the demons of righteousness. Where-
as the passions are the playpen of the demons of in-
dulgence, the conscience is the workbench of the
demons of righteousness.
Depending upon one's personality, environment
and attitude, there may be a predisposition that puts
either legalism or carnal liberalism on center stage—
yet the other is also there, hiding behind the cur-
tains. Even straightlaced legalists experience wild
fantasies that they dare not indulge or even acknow-
ledge. And on the other hand, reprobates despite
their sinful lifestyle have invisible, unfulfilled yearn-
ings for legalism. Their conscience may be rusted
and warped, but it still works. When particularly
troubled by conviction they sin with a frenzy, seek-
ing to silence God's still small voice. In their sober
moments they make sporadic resolutions to over-
come addictive or abusive habits, hoping to work
their way back to the Father's house from the
playpens and pigpens of their far-off land. But they
are deterred by the steep stairway to God they think
they would have to climb. Many fear they could nev-
er be forgiven, or if they got past that hurdle they
could never walk across the tightrope of divine ex-
pectations for daily living. Thus hopeless, they re-
main helplessly trapped by the latent legalism that
often smolders underneath the surface of sinfulness.
Liberalism and legalism may both be active, often
in binge/purge behavior. Demons of indulgence
tempt people to go on a binge of sinning. Then
demons of righteousness take over and tempt the
defeated ones to purge themselves of sin and climb
the steep stairs back to God. This is how guilt from
238

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
an ice cream feast is followed with a week of atone-
ment fruit fast.
Extremes of both liberalism and legalism some-
times get entangled in an incongruous mess. One
zealot whose family I counselled assigned his wife
daily readings in health and dress testimonies, for-
cing her to adopt rigid and outmoded standards.
Meanwhile he enjoyed the charms of well-adorned
girlfriends and regularly molested his daughter.
Most church members wouldn't descend to such
degradation, but all of us suffer cravings for both
legalism and liberalism. Without the moment by mo-
ment intervention of the Holy Spirit, unenlightened
conscience pulls us toward legalism and unres-
trained flesh pulls us toward liberalism. We may
train ourselves not to heed these cravings or to sup-
press one kind beneath the other, but the fact re-
mains that both legalism and liberalism in varying
proportions attract each of us. Despite disagree-
ments about theology and differences in lifestyle,
we have much more in common with fellow believ-
ers and lost sinners than we realize or might want to
admit.
Unaware of their shared weaknesses, proponents
of legalism and liberalism view the errors of the op-
posing camp and thank God they don't participate.
Their continual contention is fueled by extremism on
both sides.

Christ-centered legalists and liberals

We must not condemn extremist legalists and lib-
erals; many are tragically sincere. They may even
devoutly follow Jesus as their example. Christ-
centered legalists pursue a relationship with Him
mostly for the sake of strength to fulfill the law as
He did so they can be saved. Trusting in their own
attainments rather than in Christ's accomplishments
on their behalf, they unwittingly compete with His
239

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

substitutionary merits. It matters not whether they
depend on their own strength or on Christ's; the fact
is they are trying to become good enough to go to
heaven. This is legalism—Christ-centered legalism.
Its victims want to love Jesus with all their hearts,
but they worry more about their own love for Him
than they rejoice in His love for them.
Christ-centered liberals also seek a relationship
with Jesus, more for His comfort and companionship
than for strength to obey His requirements. They
feel uneasy about the commandments, seeing them
as a set of strictures generating guilt and legalism.
Declaring that relationships are more important than
rules, Christian liberals devote themselves to follow-
ing Christ's example by relieving suffering. Their
misguided compassion on moral matters such as ho-
mosexuality and abortion is based more upon hu-
man reasoning than upon Bible principles. Many re-
gard misconduct as moral sickness and an expres-
sion of low self esteem rather than as sin. They see
humanity as inherently good but deprived of love.
Their solution is the popular gospel of affirmation
and self worth that denies or downplays the Bible
doctrine of human depravity and regards Christ
more as an understanding friend than as a Saviour
from the condemnation of the law—when He is both.

Identical solutions
Solving the shortcomings of liberalism begins with
gaining respect for God's law. Humanistic morality is
insufficient; "there is a way that seems right to a
man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 16:25).
Lest we drift away from God on the shifting tides of
relativism, we need the anchor of His absolutes.
Genuine love does not deny or downplay the law but
fulfills it (see Rom. 13:10). Liberals need the Ten
Commandments to teach them truth. They must
learn that being good citizens isn't enough to make
240

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
them good people. God is absolutely holy and none
can ever become righteous enough to deserve ac-
ceptance; the only hope of relieving sin's debt is the
gift of God's grace in Christ.
Perhaps surprisingly, the solution for legalists also
is a deeper understanding of God's law. They would
hunger and thirst for Christ's righteousness—His
alone—if they fathomed the hopelessness and sin-
fulness of their own supposed goodness. Before they
can truly appreciate the Saviour, they must compre-
hend what He is saving them from. For that, they
need the convicting testimony of God's law.
Legalists major in minors but have "neglected the
more important matters of the law—justice, mercy
and faithfulness" (Matt. 23:23, NIV). They try to pry
out the specks of dust from the liberals' eyes while
neglecting the beams of their own blindness. They
speak of "raising the standards," not knowing that
Sinai's righteous standard is much higher than their
own comprehension. To God, the inhumanity of man
toward man is our greatest sin, while heaven-born
love fulfills the law.
The irony of such legalism—any kind of legalism,
lukewarm or otherwise—is that its own standard is
too low. It cannot adequately measure and quantify
the absolute holiness required by God's command-
ments. Remember, the law condemns not just obvi-
ous sins of commission such as killing, stealing, and
fornicating, but also sins of omission. Neglecting to
bear one another's burdens violates the law of
Christ. Withholding an encouraging word of witness
is a sin. Any failure to show the total love of Christ in
every situation is sinful behavior. Thus by God's
standard, all of us are sinners, unworthy servants.
We all fall short of accurately reflecting Christ's char-
acter of caring. Our only hope is to come to the
cross and lay hold upon His mercy to atone for our
guilt before God's law.
241

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

Any time the law is mentioned, though, those who
tend toward liberalism will raise the charge of legal-
ism. Actually, those who rightly regard God's law can
never live as legalists, hoping to be saved through
success in keeping the commandments. Honoring
the high demands of the holy law produces what the
Bible calls "the fear of God," which involves respect
for His righteousness. Convinced that we cannot do
business with Almighty Yahweh on the basis of our
merit, we crave His mercy. Fleeing Mt. Sinai, we find
refuge at Calvary, crying "Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!" Thus saved from the curse of con-
demnation, our gratitude for life-giving grace unites
us to the Saviour. We become Christ-centered in-
stead of law-centered.
We also cease being sin-centered, since faith in
Christ requires that we shun the world's counterfeit
fulfillments. Ancient Lot learned this the hard way
after pitching his tent toward Sodom. Today's envir-
onment is even more treacherous; even the air-
waves around us have sodomized with televised
temptation. Many liberals let the devil ravage them
with his allurements. They need to repent of this
spiritual fornication, but they don't welcome warn-
ings about breaking God's law. They want a pastor
who affirms them in loving themselves rather than
one who guides them in loving God and losing them-
selves for Christ's sake. Without old-fashioned re-
pentance for sin, however, confidence in God's
mercy amounts to presumption. Mere infatuation
with God's forgiveness is not faith. Remember,
happy songs of praise and even fervent prayers can
be an exercise in damnation: "One who turns away
his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall
be an abomination" (Prov. 28:9).

Assurance of salvation
Having forsaken what the world offers for what
242

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
God offers us at Calvary, we may rejoice in His sal-
vation. Carnally-minded liberals overlook the import-
ance of repentance before claiming assurance in
Christ. They refer to the welcoming arms of the
prodigal's father, forgetting that the repentant son
came home empty-handed. He wasn't bringing back
the wine bottles of his former lifestyle.
When listening to lukewarm liberals, one pictures
St. Peter at heaven's gate happily handing out lolli-
pops to everyone alike, no matter how they lived.
Going to the other extreme, legalists would portray
the mythical gatekeeper with his arms crossed,
wearing a suspicious scowl, grimly disqualifying any
poor soul who had recently indulged in a chocolate
milk shake.
Many legalists consider any assurance of salvation
as something of a questionable amusement. Others
have fallen prey to a cruel and deceptive counter-
feit: "Sure you can have the assurance of salvation!
Just pray for the Holy Spirit's power to overcome all
sin, and then based on your victorious experience,
you can know you are saved." That sounds simple
enough, except that all of us are sinners. So who can
have any assurance? We had better find a better
basis than our own perfection.
Since liberals who are carnally minded enjoy as-
surance, mistaken though it is, their worship is
emancipated from anxiety about the Almighty.
Sometimes their services are sophisticated and
sometimes boisterous. Legalists, by contrast, have
an aura of counterfeit reverence that may reflect
spiritual apprehension. They are solemn and sub-
dued. Everything is decent and in order—as it should
be—yet there is no heartbeat in their worship. But
watch them come alive Sunday afternoon during the
Redskins' football game. See them clapping and cel-
ebrating. Does their refusal to rejoice in heavenly
things while they adore the things of this world say
243

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

anything about their spirituality?
Not that it's necessarily wrong to watch a football
game, nor is enthusiastic praise the only proper wor-
ship format. The point is that whatever our style, we
must worship God in spirit as well as in truth, with
our hearts and souls as well as with our minds. If we
are incapable of spiritual emotion but full of enthusi-
asm as sportsaholics, perhaps our faith is funda-
mentally flawed.
God alone can judge. And remember, He will do
just that. A holy God must ultimately punish sin in
even the least of its manifestations. So let us hide
ourselves in Christ. Only through the Lord's mercies
are we not consumed, thus we must cease making
sinlessness our hope of salvation. Whatever good is
in our lives is never good enough to make us worthy.
When we learn to respect the height and depth of
God's law, we will become ashamed of our own
works and glorify the works of Jesus Christ. We will
cease being enamored with all we are doing for Him
and feel our utter need of what He offers us. We will
consistently and exclusively present the truth as it is
in Jesus. Then the Sabbath will no longer be a
tightrope on which to perform our holy acts; we will
honor it as the memorial of Christ's accomplish-
ments. Heaven's sanctuary will no longer be a fur-
niture showroom of denominational antiquities;
when we think of Christ's final phase of priestly min-
istry, as symbolized by the second apartment, we
will focus on the mercy seat, the throne of grace. For
a long time, God has been waiting there to meet
with us. As we make ourselves at home in His mer-
its, Christ's coming will no longer be the cursed
threat of those who lack assurance of salvation; it
will indeed become our blessed hope.

Is the church going through?

Speaking of assurance, it's amazing how many Ad-
244

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
ventists have none regarding personal salvation—
they don't even believe in it—yet they proclaim
once-saved always-saved for our organizational
structure: "No matter what happens, the Sev-
enth-day Adventist Church is going through to the
kingdom!" One man told me: "Even if the General
Conference president and I are the only ones left in
the church, I'm staying with the ship."
Let us thank God for spiritual leadership, but then
we must pause and consider for ourselves: What is
this "ship" of salvation? Merely having our names re-
corded on the books of the Adventist Church? Or is it
the gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of biblical
truth?
And what do we mean by "the church" that is "go-
ing through"? Do we mean that God will preserve a
remnant in the last days who keep His command-
ments and have the faith of Jesus? Or do we imagine
that the Seventh-day Adventist organization is guar-
anteed a once-saved, always-saved status?
While some Adventists are harsh and irrational in
their criticism of the church and its institutions, oth-
ers are caught up in blind denominational patriot-
ism. Have they forgotten the principle of conditional
prophecy? Obedience to God's covenant has always
been the condition of salvation—and that goes for
organizations as well as individuals. So how can we
insist that it is impossible for our church to forfeit
favor with God, no matter what we do? The arrog-
ance of such a statement is exceeded only by its ig-
norance. Do we imagine ourselves immune from the
rejection suffered by the Jewish nation—God's
chosen people—when they rejected the gospel?
Let me affirm again my personal appreciation for
those leaders of integrity God has given to our
church. How sad that we tend to criticize them more
than we pray for them. If we could look past our own
limited perspective and see the multi-faceted di-
245

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

mensions of the problems they wrestle with, we
might cherish greater appreciation for what they are
doing.
Speaking personally, I'm not an administrator; I
just don't have that talent. Whatever mistakes are
being made in this church, I'm certain that I'd be
making 10 times as many if I tried to do the job. (If
that sounds humble, let me assure you that I have
every reason to be!) So I had better pray more than
criticize. How about you? And let's not allow the
things that are wrong keep us from rejoicing in all
that is right about our church.
While we praise God for whatever He is doing, we
also need the courage to confess and confront our
undeniable spiritual problems. While our songs and
sermons insist that we want Jesus to return, perhaps
many of us are no more eager for Christ to come
than for Attila the Hun to come and invade our
prosperity. Such seems to be is the spiritual state of
many members. We don't smoke, but we're not on
fire. We don't drink, but we refuse to be under His in-
fluence. We don't dance but neither do we delight in
His salvation.
This lethargic attitude causes our Lord to lament: "I
know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I
could wish you were cold or hot" (Rev. 3:15).
We Adventists have long recognized the relevance of
this rebuke to our own generation. We could be re-
joicing in the New Jerusalem but instead are lan-
guishing in Laodicea. Being selfish and indolent, we
are yet somehow proud of ourselves for possessing
the pillars of truth.
Many Adventists have yet to learn the truth within
the truth. Like the Pharisees of old, are we zealous
sabbatarians who have resisted Sabbath rest? We
know where the dead are but we have not been
alive in Christ. We accept the sanctuary doctrine but
we ignore the daily intercession of our Priest. We
246

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
talk of His soon return, yet we live as if He never
will.
God attempted a breakthrough in 1888 with the
truth as it is in Jesus. Still we slumber, more than a
century later. Yet the pillars of our truth remain. And
since this is the only denomination that has claimed
those pillars of truth, we are indeed the fold God
seeks to prepare for His sheep from Babylon. No
question about it. Enfeebled and defective though
we be we are still God's chosen movement of des-
tiny. But where do we go from here?
Thank God, there's still hope. Christ's warning to
Laodicea closes with a heart touching invitation to
His lukewarm church and a glorious promise for
eternity: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
He who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My
throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:20,21).
Our church has here a wonderful glorious promise if
we repent, but a fearful warning if we refuse to get
down to business with God. One thing is certain. Je-
sus wasn't bluffing when He threatened rejection of
Laodicea. Ellen White recognized this when she
warned in 1888 that "if the Church should go into
darkness the Lord would raise up others to finish the
work—that He had agents that He could call into ac-
tion at any moment."2 Evidently we Adventists don't
have an exclusive franchise on God's truth, nor is He
obligated to wait forever until we finally sing His
song.
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Lord entrus-
ted a New England man with a special message for
the community. He hesitated and squandered his op-
portunity, perhaps thinking that God was obliged to
2
Ellen G. White, quoted in LeRoy E. Froom, Movement of
Destiny, p. 255. Emphasis supplied.
247

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

wait. Then one morning he woke up and somebody
else was singing his song. The Lord chose a humble
teenager to take his place. The rest of the story is
history, the history of Ellen White and the Seventh-
day Adventist Church.

Four essentials
Let us beware that history does not repeat, this
time against our favor. To preserve our heritage, I
see four essential goals we must achieve and main-
tain:
1) Uphold Christ crucified as the central focus of
our public proclamation and personal beliefs. Re-
member our mandate: "Of all professed Christians,
Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplift-
ing Christ before the world."3 Until this actually hap-
pens, we will never be the people God wants us to
be.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Any belief
or lifestyle standard that denies or diminishes this is
a doctrine of devils.
2) Keep the Bible alone as our rule of faith and
teaching. Some fellow Christians consider us a cult
because too many of us have done with Ellen White
what the Pharisees did to Moses. While some Ad-
ventists ignore her prophetic gift, others seek to en-
throne her as lord over the Word, its final authority.
The way to truly honor Ellen White is to do what she
says and keep the Bible first and foremost in our
teaching.
3) Keep the law of God as our standard of holi-
ness, not cultural standards that don't make sense.
Let us put the emphasis where God does on faithful
obedience and loving service, not exaggerating the
importance of trinkets and trivia. There must be suf-
ficient tolerance for individual worship styles and the
freedom to serve God according to one's individual
3
Ellen G. White, 1888 Manuscripts, p. 68N.
248

DEMONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
talents and personality. "Where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17).
4) Affirm the historic doctrines of the church but
be open to learn more about the truth as it is in Je-
sus. We must guard every pillar of our faith, while
seeking constantly to upgrade our appreciation of
truth as it is in Jesus. Remember, "the path of the
just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter
unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). God wants us to
be ever growing, never holding back.
Perhaps right now many of us need to get jolted
by some lightning and thunder from Mt. Sinai. That
might wake us up from both liberalism and legalism.
Then we will be able to hear that still, small voice
from Calvary: "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." Drawn by that tender love to
make an uncompromised commitment, we will wel-
come lifestyle standards—but we will also acknow-
ledge that vegetarian virtues are not kosher enough
to qualify us for the kingdom. Realizing that we have
been forgiven much, we will love much. Filled with
hope, joy and peace through believing in Jesus, we
will have the Holy Spirit's power in our lives. See Ro-
mans 15:13. With the faith of Jesus in our hearts, we
will finally be keeping the commandments of God.
No longer will we be satisfied offering merely the
turtledoves of tithe. Restored to the joy of His salva-
tion, we will offer bullocks of personal sacrifice.
That's what it will take to finish the work of God.
Nothing less will do.

The final overcomers

From the tragedy of the Titanic, we get a symbol
of the saints who survive the shipwreck of legalism
and liberalism in the last days. Imperiled passengers
on that sinking ship no longer segregated them-
selves into first class, second class and steerage.
They crowded together on the sloping decks, pray-
249

WHO'S GOT THE TRUTH?

ing and singing as they waited for the lifeboats. Like-
wise, when our human institutions and organizations
collide with the icebergs of earth's final crisis, we
will not mind mingling with one another while wait-
ing for Jesus, our lifeboat. No longer will we segreg-
ate ourselves along racial, cultural and economic
lines. Huddled together under the shelter of His
wings, we will sing "Nearer My God to Thee." And we
will mean it. The church will then finally experience
koinonia, that quality of community that the earliest
Christians enjoyed after Pentecost.
Meanwhile, may God save us from both the
demons of indulgence with their carnal liberalism,
and the demons of righteousness with their legal-
ism. In the final time of trouble so soon to burst
upon us, the world will be caught in the clutches of
Satan's deceptions. But there will be a remnant
people who "keep the commandments of God and
the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). By keeping God's
commandments, the final remnant overcome the
demons of indulgence. And by cherishing faith in Je-
sus, they overcome the demons of righteousness.
So let us beware and be wise. Amid the worldli-
ness around us, God offers His church victory over
sin, but so does the devil. May we resist his tempta-
tion to jump from the frying pan with the demons of
indulgence into the fire with the demons of right-
eousness.
___________________