This month features excerpts from an article in the January 3, 1963, issue of the Review and Herald, in which E.E. Cleveland highlights how believers become children of God through childlike trust and simple faith in Christ’s righteousness.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1).1
We are not sons of God by nature, but creatures of sin. “You were at that time separate from Christ, strangers to the community of Israel, outside God’s covenants and the promise that goes with them” (Eph. 2:12, The New English Bible).2Man’s status, by reason of his sinful nature, is that of an alien, not a son. The sinner can claim nothing of the promises of God as long as he chooses to remain in his natural state. The promises of the covenant are for sons, not strangers.
Man’s first and most pressing need, therefore, is a changed relationship familywise. He must be brought into position to receive Heaven’s life-giving currents. The water of life may be freely partaken of, but only by sons, or those in the process of choosing God as Father and Christ as Saviour.
In the great heart of God abundant provision has been made for this change in relationship. It is literally true that all men may become sons. “It is not that the Lord is slow in fulfilling his promise, as some suppose, but that he is very patient with you, because it is not his will for any to be lost, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, N.E.B.).
To remove all doubt as to the depth of His love, our heavenly Father yielded the life of His Son for our ransom. For 4,000 years innocent animals died as sacrifices, each drop of blood serving as an invitation from God to man to become His son. At last Christ died on the cross, atoning for our sins and giving the supreme demonstration of God’s love. “Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and that is God’s own proof of his love towards us” (Rom. 5:8, N.E.B.). And now sin’s prisoners may with confidence make their dash for freedom, in hope proclaiming, “A great door and effectual is opened unto me.”
Is it not strange that so many, offered so much, accept so little? The sad fact is, the call to sonship falls unheeded on the ears of the majority of earth’s inhabitants. To them, the open door means nothing. The fearful price paid at Calvary for man’s redemption is ignored.
But God continues His appeals. The Creator summons the creature to the throne of grace. He invited man to receive the benefits of sonship. And what does He require?
It is man’s refusal to believe in his own nothingness that hinders his spiritual development.
Acceptance. Acceptance of His terms, purpose, and person. It is the simplicity of the plan of salvation that, in a way, makes it complicated. How can any proposition that offers something for nothing be trusted? And yet this is exactly what God offers—something (salvation) for nothing (ourselves). This requires faith above and beyond our natural inclination to trust. Such faith must be conferred. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8, KJV).
The receipt and exercise of such faith is a base requirement without which spiritual progress is impossible. “Without faith it is impossible to please him; for anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who search for him” (Heb. 11:6, N.E.B.).
Heaven-born faith may be grown like the flower that daily extends its reach heavenward. It may be nourished through (1) Prayer—“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5, KJV).
(2) Bible study—“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17, KJV). Some have a tendency, in moments of discouragement, to absent themselves from church services. This they do to their spiritual loss, for where the Word of God is read, faith is fed.
(3) Exercise also strengthens faith. “But can you not see, you quibbler, that faith divorced from deeds is barren?” (James 2:20, N.E.B.).
It is through faith in Christ that man accepts the righteous character of Christ, freely bestowed. This dispensation of grace infuses the whole man with new life. Christ becomes in man an element of life. Man’s response to this new Presence assumes whatever form Heaven requires. As the convert progresses toward perfection, his expressions, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, increasingly assume the divine mold. Thus it is that by faith in Christ, aliens become sons, and man receives status with God.
A man in a large Eastern city was faced with financial ruin unless he could obtain a loan. Knowing his position to be too risky, no bank would honor his request. In his extremity he remembered a friend of sound financial standing in the community. In desperation he sought him out and poured out his story in a torrent of words. “I will stand for you,” his friend assured him. And he did, thus saving him from ruin.
And so it is with us. We are without merit before God, of ourselves. Our performances in whatever area of church activity add nothing to our standing with God. Financial contributions or solicitation avail nothing in our search for merit with Christ; nor does abstemiousness in diet. All of these virtues are taught in the Scriptures. They are vital in their place. But to obtain sonship for us is not their function. Becoming a son of God requires none of these things! We become sons of God through faith in Christ—alone!
“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.”
It is man’s refusal to believe in his own nothingness that hinders his spiritual development. It is Satan’s studied purpose to benumb our sensitivity to our own true condition. Dear reader, we are helpless to save ourselves. The twin evil is to assume that by some righteous activity we gain God’s favor. This is gross error. The blood of Jesus Christ alone is legal tender at the throne of grace. We are saved from sin by what He did, not by what we do or leave undone. Man, stripped of his pride, is eligible for sonship, for he knows his utter helplessness. Through childlike trust and simple faith in Christ’s righteousness bestowed, the sinner becomes a saint and the alien a son.
1 E. E. Cleveland, “From Aliens to Sons: How Do Sinners Obtain Salvation—Through Works or Through Faith?” Review and Herald, Jan. 3, 1963, pp. 1, 8.
2 Texts credited to N.E.B. are from The New English Bible. © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961. Reprinted by permission.