Message of the Latter Rain - Kelvin M. Duncan

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Duncan and Peters address what they call "Adventist Arminianism." According to this understanding of the plan of salvation, Christ died for all humans, but His death is not equivalent to forgiveness, in any sense of the term. Thus, Adventists hold that only those who believe receive remission of sin. In other words, Jesus' death on the cross was not really applicable to all humans; something more is required to produce forgiveness. Because of a failure to identify the two aspects of forgiveness, the Arminian premise leads to a legalistic understanding of salvation by the Adventists and a cheap grace understanding of salvation by the Universalists and many others. Citing Ellen White's writings, the authors conclude that she refutes the concept of salvation partly by faith and partly by works. Salvation is entirely a divine gift. The gift of salvation is not to be received by a holy person but by a wholly undeserving one. Therefore, salvation is entirely and exclusively God's prerogative to give. His love prompts Him to forgive "all," without exception. Do they suggest that good works are unrelated to our salvation? Hardly! But it is where in the process that works have a role that is important to understand. To address the question of the relationship between faith and works, the authors highlight two Greek words for "forgiveness" (charizomai and aphiemi) to make their case that God through Christ forgave (charizomai) "all," even the ungodly. That phase of forgiveness is equivalent to what they call "corporate universal justification," and it explains why Adam did not die immediately, despite the death sentence which was incurred when he sinned. The Son of God stepped into the gap with His grace and forgave Adam's and, by extension, our sin, placing us under grace. Christ's death on the cross represented this first phase of God's unfathomable forgiveness. On the other hand, citing 1 John 1:9, the authors show that there is a second phase to God's forgiveness. Paraphrasing Ellen White, they write that God's forgiveness is "both a judicial pardon and a reclaiming from sin" 3
(106). In other words, God's "aphiemi" includes deliverance from the power of sin. This phase is applicable only to the believer (107). What is important here is that both the gratuitous and comprehensive forgiveness of all humanity and the reclaiming from sin are initiated by God and provided through the death of Jesus Christ. The only role humans play in all this is to accept what has already been done for them. Some will, and some won't. Is distinguishing between these two meanings of divine forgiveness really that important? The answer is that we need more than judicial pardon to enter heaven. We need righteousness provided by the second phase of God's forgiveness. In this phase, Christ's righteousness is imputed and imparted to the believer by faith, for the purpose of character transformation. Genuine obedience is not a condition for receiving salvation but the fruit of it. No inherent value is found in obedience if it does not arise out of the grateful and humble soul of one who understands him- or herself to be the object of an infinite, divine love gift. What if a human chooses not to accept this gift? This, called the unpardonable sin, the authors take great pains to explain in relation to God's forgiveness. Since all that we are asked to do is to accept the gift of God's forgiveness, the only sin for which Christ did/could not die was the sin of rejecting Him. The authors' explanation of this concept makes for an illuminating read. Above all, this study paints the picture of a God whose unspeakable love for the human race is such that there is nothing He would not sacrifice to raise us all up and seat us "in high places" with Him. Ours is a God who will deny us nothing of the privileges of holiness that He Himself enjoys and embodies. This forms the core of the Gospel, say the authors, and it is what every sermon and every Bible study should focus on. To realize that we are all "born forgiven" will make the reader fall in love with Jesus all over again! Our salvation has been handed to us, undeservedly, by the hand and heart of 4
Page 1 and 2: MESSAGE OF THE LATTER RAIN Kelvin M
Page 3: Foreword The reader ought not to ju
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 1 Showers of Blessing Await
Page 9 and 10: Exactly how did the "loud cry" begi
Page 11 and 12: accept the "truth" lingered for sev
Page 13 and 14: "labor under the Holy Spirit‘s di
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 2 The Unresolved Theologica
Page 17 and 18: words of Christ, when He says, "Abi
Page 19 and 20: member of the human race. However,
Page 21 and 22: Chapter 3 Three Attempts at Resolut
Page 23 and 24: Article 2 emphasizes that Christ di
Page 25 and 26: The Universalist Reaction The Unive
Page 27 and 28: Christians. They accept the authori
Page 29 and 30: Notice the following: "The sting of
Page 31 and 32: The Gift of God Only one solution t
Page 33 and 34: only for the believers. Whether we
Page 35 and 36: mankind. No rift occurred in the sp
Page 37 and 38: Implications of Corporate Universal
Page 39 and 40: that under which we believe we were
Page 41 and 42: "proof" that the death of Christ wa
Page 43 and 44: Present Tense For the message of th
Page 45 and 46: present is referred to as "justific
Page 47 and 48: High Priest, and conquering King. T
Page 49 and 50: the latter rain. Notes: 1. To deny
Page 51 and 52: over the sins that were previously
Page 53 and 54: We must demonstrate that the gospel
Page 55 and 56:
Chapter 8 The Unpardonable Sin: An
Page 57 and 58:
face to face, when we could have ac
Page 59 and 60:
LORD, and their righteousness is of
Page 61 and 62:
"Adam ... where are you?" (Genesis
Page 63 and 64:
First Executive Judgment Each phase
Page 65 and 66:
Now we can clearly answer the quest
Page 67 and 68:
incarnation, genetic inheritance, d
Page 69 and 70:
e forgiven unto men ... whosoever s
Page 71 and 72:
Chapter 10 Why the Unpardonable Sin
Page 73 and 74:
was taken away by Christ. This sin
Page 75 and 76:
faith determines the nature of our
Page 77 and 78:
Chapter 11 Two Phases of Forgivenes
Page 79 and 80:
them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). If in f
Page 81 and 82:
Finally, Paul puts all of these eve
Page 83 and 84:
These insights are good news, but t
Page 85 and 86:
Chapter 12 Charizomai in the Sanctu
Page 87 and 88:
whole world, Jews and Gentiles, bel
Page 89 and 90:
Chapter 13 Pardon Precedes Confessi
Page 91 and 92:
God than is our love."[1] We have b
Page 93 and 94:
The biblical narrative continues: "
Page 95 and 96:
Notes: 1. E. G. White, Manuscript R
Page 97 and 98:
spark of hope in her soul, but He d
Page 99 and 100:
"Well, no. I have this bottle. It's
Page 101 and 102:
were some who would deny this truth
Page 103 and 104:
Jesus alluded to this aspect of the
Page 105 and 106:
"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me a
Page 107 and 108:
order to save our own skins. We und
Page 109 and 110:
presented in the Spirit of Prophecy
Page 111 and 112:
This statement regarding the "in Ch
Page 113 and 114:
Notes: 1. E. G. White, Fundamentals
Page 115 and 116:
Seventh-day Adventists share many b
Page 117 and 118:
offence of one judgment came upon a
Page 119 and 120:
attempt to communicate more clearly
Page 121 and 122:
lood. Never one, saint or sinner, e
Page 123 and 124:
Chapter 18 The Significance of Corp
Page 125 and 126:
faith. The Arminian concept tends t
Page 127 and 128:
In one sense, we were born forgiven
Page 129 and 130:
eing "cured of selfishness." This i
Page 131 and 132:
Chapter 19 Charizomai Produces True
Page 133 and 134:
that we might be treated as He dese
Page 135 and 136:
according to his deeds. The preciou
Page 137 and 138:
Chapter 20 The Cross: An Atonement
Page 139 and 140:
oken down which intercepted the fre
Page 141 and 142:
lost, when He said, "He that believ
Page 143 and 144:
Chapter 21 The Unpardonable Sin Whi
Page 145 and 146:
Connecting the act of attributing t
Page 147 and 148:
Notes: 1. E. G. White, Testimonies
Page 149 and 150:
manifested against "a most precious
Page 151 and 152:
persistent refusal to respond to th
Page 153 and 154:
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aa
Page 155 and 156:
The Spirit of Prophecy explicitly d
Page 157 and 158:
Chapter 23 Genuine Confession Flows
Page 159 and 160:
eceive the gift of cleansing from a
Page 161 and 162:
expression: "Every departure from t
Page 163 and 164:
doubts are very unfortunate, becaus
Page 165 and 166:
practically, in his own experience,
Page 167 and 168:
heart of the book which you hold in
Page 169 and 170:
conclude in a form of double jeopar
Page 171 and 172:
why Laodicea has not understood Chr
Page 173 and 174:
of biblical evidence. The question
show all

Message of the Latter Rain - Kelvin M. Duncan

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?