The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, I want to bring hope and a biblical understanding of “the testing truth” to the many thousands1 who have left the fellowship of the Adventist church over the past years and who may be experiencing uncertainty regarding their salvation. Second, perhaps this material will be of help to others who minister to those who come from legalistic, Sabbath keeping backgrounds.
In Colossians 2 and Galatians 3–5, Paul listed the old covenant observance of the Sabbath as one of the things which could undermine a Christian’s standing in Christ. It has been my experience that sabbatarians2 often do not have a clear understanding of the gospel. For this reason, it is vital to our study to outline the way of salvation as set forth in the new covenant. This will serve two purposes. First, it will help those who read this book, who may come from backgrounds where the gospel was not clearly understood, to find a solid base for their acceptance with God. Second, it will show how the continued required observance of the Sinaitic Sabbath undermines that assurance. With this short introduction, let us examine what the New Testament teaches regarding the way of salvation and what it defines as the testing truth.
Salvation in the New Covenant
Eternal life is a free gift
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6:23).
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us (Tit. 3:5).
Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24).
The good news of the new-covenant gospel is that the “work” of salvation has already been completed. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Never let anyone take away the glad tidings of the new covenant gospel. Salvation is a free gift based upon the work of Jesus Christ alone!
God has given us heaven’s best
I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:3−5).
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us… (Eph. 3:20).
In ourselves we are all sinful and lost
It is a good thing that salvation is free, for God’s word clearly teaches that we all sin in the following ways. First, by our own actions we have all sinned.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).
An understanding of the Greek verbs used in this verse adds additional insight. “Have sinned” refers to past actions of sin. However, “fall short” relates to a present ongoing activity. A literal rendering of the last part of this verse would read, “and continue to fall short of the glory of God.” This verse means that those who are seeking to be justified by their own right behavior will not make it. For we all have sinned in the past and we all continue to fall short of God’s requirement in the present.
A second way we all sin is by the sin of thought.
Everyone who is angry…shall be guilty (Mt. 5:22).
Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mt. 5:28).
Here we see again how Jesus raised the moral level of new covenant righteousness far above that of the old covenant law. Who of us can claim to never sin by our thoughts?
A third way we all sin is by the sin of neglect. Jesus said,
To the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did it not unto me (Mt. 25:45).
How many times have we neglected to do good to someone who was in need and by that neglect have actually sinned against Christ?
A fourth way we all sin is through the sin of lack of faith.
Whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).
Then if these four ways were not enough to condemn us all, there is yet a fifth which we cannot escape. Our fallen, human nature is sinful at the core.
We too…were by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3).
We are called to repentance and confession
When we see our own sinfulness and utter helplessness in contrast to the holiness, purity and righteousness of God which is far above that represented by the law, we are led to repentance. Repentance is a godly sorrow for our sin and a turning away from it. Jesus said,
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Lk 5:32).
On the day of Pentecost when Peter outlined the magnitude of Israel’s sin in putting Christ to death, the response of the people was, “What shall we do?” Peter’s answer was,
Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
As repentant sinners we understand our lost condition and our need for God’s saving grace. We recognize that if we are depending upon our own good behavior for our right standing with
God not one of us has the slightest chance! Understanding our completely helpless condition we are now willing to accept God’s solution to the sin problem.
Confession is the completion of repentance. We move from being willing to turn from sin, to actual confession or acknowledgment of sin. We agree with God’s verdict that we are sinners. The confession of sin is linked with God’s promise of forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).
Evangelists who have insisted on specific confession of sin have had the best long-term results.
It was found by actual research that over eighty-five in every hundred persons professing conversion to Christ in Finney’s meetings remained true to God, whereas seventy percent of those professing conversion in the meetings of even so great an evangelist as Moody afterwards became backsliders. Finney seems to have had the power of impressing the consciences of men with the necessity of holy living in such a manner as to procure the most lasting results.3
Those who have read the writings of Charles Finney cannot but be impressed by his insistence upon total and specific repentance and confession of every known sin.4
Repentance and confession of sin are sometimes glossed over in modern Christendom. They are, however, important steps in allowing God’s grace to rule in the life.
While repentance is necessary in coming to Christ, it should never be thought of as a human work. It, too, is a gift of God.
God exalted him [Christ] to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel (Acts 5:31).
Love finds a way
God is love (1 Jn. 4:8).
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).
God knew there was no way we could be good enough to make it to heaven so He graciously provided a way of salvation which would meet our needs.
Jesus Christ is the only way
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (Jn. 14:6).
Jesus calls Himself the “good shepherd” and says,
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (Jn. 10:9,11).
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
It is important to remember that in the New Testament the covenant partners are God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s elect One. He is a “covenant to the people.” The old covenant was made between God and the “the sons of Israel.” The old covenant was faulty because the “sons of Israel” could not keep their promises.
For finding fault with them…Says the Lord…I will effect a new covenant (Heb. 8:8).
The new covenant is far better for us than was the old covenant in that we are not the ones who must keep the covenant contract. The loving behavior and righteous living of Jesus satisfied the new covenant.
We shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5:10).
So then as through one transgression [Adam’s] there resulted condemnation to all men; even so through one act of righteousness [Jesus’] there resulted justification of life to all men (Rom. 5:18).
While the new covenant is better for us, it was costly for Jesus. Under the old covenant the sons of Israel were the ones who had to demonstrate covenant loyalty by their obedience to the commandments. Under the new Christ had to perfectly obey His Father’s will. Under the old covenant the sons of Israel received the curses of the broken covenant. In the new covenant we find that,
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).
Under the old covenant atonement for sin was typified by the death of animals. However, under the new covenant Christ gave His life to reconcile us to Himself.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3).
The new covenant and us
Salvation is a free gift. We are all sinners on at least five counts. God understands our predicament and out of His gracious love made a new and better covenant. In the new covenant it is Christ’s behavior, not ours, which matters. Now we must ask how this affects us. How do we participate in the blessings of the new covenant? The following is vital to our understanding of personal salvation and our understanding of the Sabbath. Here is the important question: How do I as a sinner become incorporated into the blessings of the new covenant if Jesus is the obedient covenant partner?
First, let us see how we do not enter into the new covenant blessings.
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5).
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law (Rom. 3:28).
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4).
These are forceful verses of Scripture for those who seek to make Sabbath keeping a testing truth which will determine a person’s eternal destiny!
If our good behavior will not entitle us to the blessings of the new covenant, what will?
They said therefore to Him, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (Jn. 6:29).
…that is the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed ” (Rom. 10:8 −11).
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life (Jn. 6:47).
Scripture is not muddy or unclear regarding the way of salvation in the new covenant. It was the work of Jesus to provide the righteousness we needed. He did that. It was the work of Jesus to receive the curse of sin. He did that. It is our work to believe in Him, and in so doing we enter by faith into the blessings of the new covenant—without works. Under the new covenant salvation is by grace through faith in Christ plus nothing!—and even saving faith is a gift of God!5
But what do we mean by “faith” and “belief”? The story is told of a tight-rope walker who a number of years ago stretched a cable across Niagara Falls. The newspapers carried the story that he was going to walk across this dangerous place on a given day. That day hundreds gathered to watch this man perform his risky skill. Shortly before he was to go out on the cable this tight-rope walker made his way into the crowd. He would approach people and ask them if they believed he could make it across without falling to his death. Most said he could. He came up to a young man and said, “Do you believe I can safely walk across this cable above the falls?”
“Yes,” answered the young man. “You are a tight-rope walker and have the necessary skills to do it.”
“Do you really believe I can do it?” asked the tight-rope walker.
“Yes, I really believe you can do it,” answered the young man.
“Good,” said the tight-rope walker. “You are just the person I am looking for. I want to push this wheelbarrow across the falls and I want you to sit in it!”
Did the young man get in? No, for his “belief” was only an intellectual concept; it was not trust. He was not willing to trust his life to his belief. When Scripture speaks of faith or belief (they are the same word in Greek) it means both belief and trust. In other words, the condition for salvation in the new covenant is simply to believe in who Jesus is—the divine Son of God who perfectly obeyed His Father’s will, died for our sins, and was raised from the dead for our justification—and trust our eternal salvation to what He did. We must, so to speak, climb into the wheelbarrow and let Christ push us across. We must recognize there is no way we can ever be good enough. We must trust our very life to His work. Too many of us, however, want to get out and help Christ push the wheelbarrow!
Christ is our true redemption so we can live a life of full assurance
But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (Jn. 1:12).
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:13, 14).
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having now been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5:10).
In the new covenant we can come with confidence into the very presence of God because of the blood of Jesus.
Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the [most] holy place by the blood of Jesus…(Heb. 10:19).
God wants us to experience true “rest”
The writer of Hebrews says, “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” He admonishes us to “be diligent to enter that rest.” And he says “we who have believed enter that rest” (Heb. 4:3,9,11). Christians who believe enter the “rest” of fellowship with God, the “rest” of Eden’s seventh day when all was very good. We now have eternal life (Jn. 6:47)! We now know we have eternal life (1 Jn. 5:13). We now have peace with God (Rom. 5:1). We now have been reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10). Our old self (man) was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6.). We are now to consider ourselves to be dead to sin (Rom. 6:11). We are now freed from sin (Rom. 6:18,22; 1 Jn. 3:8,9). We are now dead to the law (Rom. 7:4). We now have been released from the law! (Rom. 7:6). We now serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter! (Rom. 7:6). There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! (Rom. 8:1). We have now received the spirit of adoption! (Rom. 8:15). We now overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us! (Rom. 8:37). We are now sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise! (Eph. 1:13). We are now saved through faith! (Eph. 2:8). We are now the dwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:22). We are now chosen in Christ (Eph. 1:4). We now have redemption through his blood (Eph. 1:7). God is now at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). We are now qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12). We have now been transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). We now have each received a spiritual gift (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4). The Spirit now helps our weaknesses (Rom. 8:26). We have now been predestined to be like Christ (Rom. 8:29). And this is just the beginning! Do you see why the gospel is “good news”? One cannot work righteousness from the outside in—that was the old covenant way6 and it never worked. Rather, in the new covenant God creates or regenerates our spirits. We are born of God. (Jn. 3:3–5) We have the divine DNA, God’s life living in us and that life is perfect.7
If anyone loves Me he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him (Jn. 14:23).
What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete (1 Jn. 1:4).
This intimate fellowship with the Lord is the “rest” which “remains.” This is the “rest” which can be entered “today.” This is the true “rest” Jesus had in mind when He said,
Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light (Mt. 11:28−30).
According to the New Testament the testing truth is faith in Jesus. It is not the seventh-day Sabbath. Don’t let anyone take away from you the simple gospel of faith in Christ!
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Rom. 10:9,10).
“If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you FREE ” (Jn. 8:31, 32).
Endnotes
- Approximately 300,000 Adventist members worldwide leave the Seventh-day Adventist church every year.
- Either Sabbath or Sunday sabbatarians.
- James Gilchrist Lawson, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, (Glad Tidings Publishing Company, 1911), p. 243.
- See Charles Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, (Fleming H. Revell Co., New York, NY, 1868), pp. 35−47.
- Eph. 2:8,9.
- “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us” (Deut. 6:25).
- 1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:9–12, 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 Cor. 3:16.
- 27. The Testing Truth - September 11, 2025
- 26. Assembling and Resting - September 4, 2025
- 25. The Sabbath and Seventh-day Adventists - August 28, 2025