Thesis. Scripture reveals one supreme God, the Father, the fountain of all being; and His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, a distinct and literal divine Person — "begotten, not created," brought forth from the Father in the days of eternity, so far back as to be to us practically without beginning, yet "of the very substance and nature of God," possessing by inheritance the divine attributes and "life in Himself" (Micah 5:2; John 1:1; Heb. 1:3-5; John 5:26; Waggoner, "Christ and His Righteousness"). The Father and the Son are two distinct Persons, one in nature, mind, and purpose; the Holy Spirit is the Spirit and presence of the Father and the Son, Christ's own representative sent to dwell in His people. In the incarnation the Son emptied and veiled His glory and the independent use of His divine power — living by faith on the Father as we must — yet He never divested His deity, and He keeps His humanity forever as "the man Christ Jesus," our High Priest in our nature. He took the full fallen nature of the race, "the likeness of sinful flesh," tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin — for the difference between Christ and us was not the nature He bore but the life He lived: He was, from His birth, in full surrender to the Father, and never once consented to sin.

Method. After Haskell's Bible Handbook: ref → gloss, scannable; every doctrine established first from Scripture (Miller's Rule — the Bible defines its own terms), then corroborated by a central cloud of witnesses — the Advent pioneers and Ellen G. White, quoted VERBATIM and verified against the corpus. This study argues the historic ADVENT-PIONEER understanding of the Godhead — the supreme Father, the literal begotten divine Son, and the Spirit of God as the presence of the Father and the Son — and does NOT impose the later creedal-Trinity formula or any 'the pioneers evolved into Trinitarianism' narrative. Where a pioneer source cannot be quoted from the local corpus, the point rests on Scripture and on what CAN be verified; no history is asserted without a receipt.

Part I — The Father and the Son

¶1. One God the Father, and One Lord Jesus Christ

"One God, the Father" and "one Lord Jesus Christ" — two named, two distinct Persons, one Source: the Father the fountain "of whom are all things," the Son the agent "by whom are all things," and the Godhead the one divine nature they share.

The pioneer confession in a single verse — 1 Cor. 8:6; Deut. 6:4; Eph. 4:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5:

• 1 Cor. 8:6. "But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him" — the whole frame in one line: the Father is THE one God and fountain ("of whom"), the Son is THE one Lord and agent ("by whom"). Two named, two roles, one source.
  • the one God (= the Father) = the supreme, self-existent Source and fountain of all being — "of whom are all things" — identified by Scripture specifically as the Father: the only true God to be known, the God and Father above all, greater than the Son who proceeds from Him (1 Cor. 8:6; John 17:3; Eph. 4:6; John 14:28; Deut. 6:4).
  • the one Lord (= Jesus Christ the Son) = a distinct divine Person — the Word who was with God and was God, the express image of the Father's Person, the agent "by whom are all things," the one Mediator — not a second self-existent God nor a mode of the Father, but the begotten Son who shares the divine nature (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:1; Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Eph. 4:5).
• Deut. 6:4. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD" — the Shema, root of the confession. Paul does not abolish it in 1 Cor. 8:6 but expounds it: the one God is the Father, the one Lord is Jesus Christ.
• Eph. 4:5-6. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all" — Paul pairs "one Lord" (Jesus) with "one God and Father of all" again — the same two-fold confession as 1 Cor. 8:6, the Father the supreme God over all.
• 1 Tim. 2:5. "For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" — "one God" and a distinct "one mediator" who stands between God and men; Christ can mediate precisely because He is a Person separate from the one God.

Two Persons, one true God — John 17:3; John 10:30; John 17:21:

• John 17:3. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" — Christ Himself names the Father "the only true God" and sets Himself alongside as the sent One. Two distinct Persons, one the Source and one the sent Son — eternal life is knowing both.
• John 10:30. "I and [my] Father are one" — unity, not single-personhood: "I AND my Father" — two — "ARE one." The grammar itself proves distinction of Persons within unity of nature and purpose.
• John 17:21. "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" — Christ's own definition of "one": the unity He shares with the Father is the pattern for the unity of believers — a unity of mind, purpose, and indwelling among distinct persons, not a fusion into one Person.
• UL 153.3. White: "Christ is one with the Father, but God and Christ are two distinct Personages. Read the prayer of Christ in the seventeenth chapter of John, and you will find this point clearly brought out" — confirms the thesis directly: "I and my Father are one" is oneness of unity, while Father and Son remain two distinct Persons.
• SD 286.3. White: "The unity that exists between Christ and His disciples does not destroy the personality of either. In mind, in purpose, in character, they are one, but not in person" — defines the kind of oneness of John 17:21: one in mind, purpose, and character, but not in person.
• MH 421.7. White: "The personality of the Father and the Son, also the unity that exists between Them, are presented in the seventeenth chapter of John, in the prayer of Christ for His disciples" — a pointer to the same chapter: John 17 holds distinct personality and unity together (read alongside UL 153.3 and SD 286.3, which carry the doctrinal weight).

The Son is true God — sharing the Father's nature — John 1:1; Heb. 1:3; Col. 2:9; Rom. 1:20; John 14:28:

• John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" — the Word is "with God" (distinct Person, two parties) yet "was God" (sharing the divine nature). Distinction of Person and unity of nature in one line.
• Heb. 1:3. "Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person... sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" — the Son is the radiance of the Father's glory and the exact image of His PERSON — language of two distinct Persons, the Son being of the very substance of the Father.
• Col. 2:9. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ; the Son fully shares the divine being of the Father, the ground of His true deity.
  • the Godhead = the divine nature/being itself — the eternal power and deity seen through creation, the fulness of which dwells bodily in Christ — the shared divine nature, distinguished from the Persons who possess it (Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9; John 1:1; Matt. 28:19).
• Rom. 1:20. "his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" — "Godhead" = the divine nature/deity, made evident through creation: the divine being the Father is the fountain of and the Son shares.
• John 14:28. "I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I" — the Son confesses the Father "greater than I": the Father is the supreme Source, the fountain; the Son is the begotten One who derives from Him — distinct order within the Godhead, not two co-equal self-existent Gods.
• DA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived" — the Son's true divine life, the deity of the one Lord, affirmed even as He is distinguished as a Person from the Father, the fountain.
• 1SM 296.2. White: "The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life... In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived... 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent' (John 17:3)" — joins the deity of the Son (John 1:1) with this section's key text John 17:3, held together by Ellen White herself.
• CHR 9.1. Waggoner: "It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten; but we know that he was the Divine Word, not simply before He came to this earth to die, but even before the world was created" — the pioneer anchor: the Son is the Divine Word existing before creation, begotten of the Father — the one Lord distinct from yet proceeding from the one God.
• CHR 22.1. Waggoner: "And since He is the only-begotten son of God, He is of the very substance and nature of God and possesses by birth all the attributes of God... So He has 'life in Himself'" — the Son's true deity as the pioneers framed it: of the very substance and nature of God by birth, sharing the Godhead (Col. 2:9; John 1:1) yet derived from the Father.
• CHR 21.1. Waggoner: "Now if He created everything that was ever created and existed before all created things, it is evident that He Himself is not among created things. He is above all creation and not a part of it" — guards the opposite error: the one Lord is not a creature but the Creator (cf. 1 Cor. 8:6, "by whom are all things").

The three named distinctly — Father, Son, and Spirit — Matt. 3:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:33; Rev. 5:13:

• Matt. 3:16-17. "he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" — at Jordan the three appear distinctly at once: the Son in the water, the Spirit descending, the Father's voice from heaven. The Father and Son are visibly two Persons, the Spirit proceeding upon the Son.
• Matt. 28:19. "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" — the baptismal name binds the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost together — naming them distinctly, not collapsing them into one Person.
• Acts 2:33. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" — the exalted Son RECEIVES from the Father the promise of the Spirit and pours it forth: the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, confirming the ordered relation named at Jordan and in baptism.
• Rev. 5:13. "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" — final worship is rendered to two distinct objects together: "him that sitteth upon the throne" (the Father) AND "the Lamb" (the Son) — the Father and Son named and adored side by side forever.
• Ev 615.1. White: "There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized" — confirms the distinct personhood of Father, Son, and Spirit (per Matt. 28:19) as "three living persons" / "three great powers" — distinction of Persons stated without the creedal one-substance formula.
• AA 50.1. White: "The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ's parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as His representative" — confirms the ordered relation of Acts 2:33: the Spirit is sent by Christ as His representative — given by the Father through the exalted Son (Acts 2:33), not an independent third God.

DEFINITION — ONE GOD THE FATHER, AND ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST = the apostolic confession of 1 Cor. 8:6 (expounding the Shema of Deut. 6:4) names two distinct divine Persons and one divine nature. The one God is the Father — the supreme, self-existent fountain "of whom are all things," the "only true God" (John 17:3), the "one God and Father of all" who is "above all" (Eph. 4:6), "greater" than the Son who proceeds from Him (John 14:28). The one Lord is Jesus Christ the Son — the Word who was "with God" and "was God" (John 1:1), the "express image of his person" (Heb. 1:3), the agent "by whom are all things," the "one mediator" (1 Tim. 2:5); of the very substance of the Father, having "life... original, unborrowed, underived" (DA 530.3), yet begotten and derived, not a second self-existent God nor a mode of the Father (CHR 9.1; CHR 22.1). Their oneness (John 10:30) is the unity of John 17:21 — one in mind, purpose, and character, "but not in person" (SD 286.3; UL 153.3). The Godhead is the divine nature itself (Rom. 1:20), whose fulness dwells bodily in Christ (Col. 2:9) — distinguished from the Persons who possess it. At Jordan (Matt. 3:16-17), in baptism (Matt. 28:19), and in heaven's worship (Rev. 5:13) the Father and Son stand named and distinct, the Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son (Acts 2:33; AA 50.1) — two distinct Personages, one God, adored together forever. Two co-equal self-existent Gods is the error on one side; one solitary Person wearing two names is the error on the other; the truth is one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ.

Symbols defined here:

• the one God (= the Father) = the supreme, self-existent Source and fountain of all being, "of whom are all things"; the only true God, the God and Father above all, greater than the Son who proceeds from Him (1 Cor. 8:6; John 17:3; Eph. 4:6; John 14:28; Deut. 6:4).
• the one Lord (= Jesus Christ the Son) = a distinct divine Person, the Word who was with God and was God, the express image of the Father's Person, the agent "by whom are all things," the one Mediator; the begotten Son who shares the divine nature, not a second self-existent God nor a mode of the Father (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:1; Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Eph. 4:5).
• the Godhead = the divine nature/being itself — the eternal power and deity seen through creation, the fulness of which dwells bodily in Christ; the shared divine nature, distinguished from the Persons who possess it (Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9; John 1:1; Matt. 28:19).

Symbols carried: the express image (Heb. 1:3) is developed at length in "Christ — the Express Image, the Life" in the separate study "Righteousness by Faith — A Bible Handbook Study," where the Son as the unmarred image of the Father is the theme; here it serves to prove the distinct Personhood and true deity of the one Lord. As the opening overview, this section names each Person in brief and points forward to where each is developed: the supreme Father in "The Father — the One Supreme, Self-Existent God"; the begotten Son in "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?"; the Spirit's procession from the Father through the Son in "The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son"; and the ordered working of the three together in "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation."

For discussion:

1. 1 Cor. 8:6 names the Father as the one God and Jesus Christ as the one Lord, two Persons in two roles. How does this verse expound — rather than overturn — the Shema of Deut. 6:4, "the LORD our God is one LORD"?
2. Christ defines what He means by "one" in John 17:21: the unity He shares with the Father is the same unity He prays His disciples will have. If believers are "one" without becoming one person, what does that settle about the oneness of John 10:30, "I and my Father are one"?
3. John 17:3 makes eternal life depend on knowing "the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." How does keeping the Father as fountain and the Son as the sent, begotten One (John 14:28) guard us from collapsing the two into one Person on the one hand, or splitting them into two rival Gods on the other?

¶2. The Father — the One Supreme, Self-Existent God

Behind the Son, behind redemption, behind all things stands the one God — the Father, who alone has life of Himself as unoriginated Source — the single fountain from whom all being, including the Son's own "life in himself," is given, and the Head even of Christ.

One God — and that one God is the Father — Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; Mal. 2:10:

• Deut. 6:4. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" — the Shema, Israel's foundation confession; there is one God, and the Father heads that one Deity.
  • the Father = the one supreme, self-existent God — the single fountain and source of all being ("of whom are all things"), the only true God, the one God and Father of all, and the Head even of Christ; He alone has life underived as Source (the unoriginated Fountain), Christ being the Son to whom the Father GAVE to have life in Himself, the one Lord and agent "by whom" all things come (1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 17:3; John 5:26; 1 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 11:36). Defined in full at the close.
• 1 Cor. 8:6. "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" — the defining text: the one God IS the Father, the source ("of whom"); Christ is the one Lord, the agent ("by whom"). The Father is the fountain, the Son the channel.
• Eph. 4:6. "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" — one God and Father of all, supreme over all; the universal fountainhead from whom the whole family is named.
• Mal. 2:10. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" — one Father, one God who created us; the Father set forth as the single source of all His people, and the ground of their brotherhood.

The self-existent One — life in Himself, from everlasting — Exo. 3:14; Ps. 90:2; Isa. 44:6; 1 Tim. 6:15-16:

• Exo. 3:14. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM... I AM hath sent me unto you" — the self-existent name; God exists of Himself, deriving being from none. "I AM" is underived life itself.
  • self-existent (the I AM) = having life in oneself, deriving being from no other and giving being to none above oneself — the property of God alone, who simply IS (Exo. 3:14; Ps. 90:2, "from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God"; John 5:26, "the Father hath life in himself"). The Son's life, though "original, unborrowed, underived" in nature (DA 530.3), is GIVEN Him by the Father (John 5:26) and so is not "self-existent" in this I-AM sense.
• Ps. 90:2. "Before the mountains were brought forth... even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" — eternal, self-existent being prior to all creation; before there was anything made, He IS.
• Isa. 44:6. "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" — the first and the last, beside whom there is no God; the one supreme God, bounded by nothing before and nothing after.
• 1 Tim. 6:15-16. "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto" — the only Potentate who "only hath immortality" in the absolute, underived sense: supreme, self-existent, invisible.
• CIHS 138.4. White: "Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One is He who 'hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows'" — names the Father "the eternal, self-existent One," corroborating the supreme God of Ps. 90:2 and Exo. 3:14.

The order of the Godhead — life given, headship owned — John 5:26; John 17:3; John 14:28; 1 Cor. 11:3:

• John 5:26. "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" — the Father has life in Himself absolutely ("hath"); the Son has life in Himself as given by the Father ("hath given"). This is the order of the Godhead: source and gift.
• DA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived" — the disciplining foil to John 5:26: the Son's "life in himself" is no created or borrowed thing but original and underived, true Deity; yet the verse still names it GIVEN. The Father has life underived as Source; the Son has life underived as the Son to whom the Father GAVE to have it in Himself — order without inequality of nature.
• John 17:3. "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" — the Father named "the only true God," distinguished from Jesus Christ whom He sent; the sender and the sent.
• John 14:28. "I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I" — read with John 5:26 and 1 Cor. 11:3, "greater" is greater as Head and source in the order of the Godhead, not greater in nature; the verse itself states only "greater," and Scripture's own harmony (life GIVEN, headship owned) supplies the qualifier.
• 1 Cor. 11:3. "the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" — the head of Christ is God; the Father is Head even of the Son in the divine order, the very headship that the symbol definition turns upon.
• DA 21.2. White: "Through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all" — the Father is "the great Source of all," from whom life flows through the Son; corroborates 1 Cor. 8:6 "of whom are all things" and the order of life given through the Son.
• AA 359.1. White: "...the unselfish ministry which has its origin in God. God does not live for Himself... This ideal of ministry the Father committed to His Son" — ministry originates in the Father and is committed to the Son: the Father as source and Head in the divine order (1 Cor. 11:3).

The Father's love is the fountain of redemption — John 3:16; John 16:27; 1 John 4:9, 14:

• John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" — the Father's love is the fountain of redemption; He gave the Son. Salvation begins not in the Son's pleading but in the Father's love.
• John 16:27. "For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God" — the Father himself loveth you; His own love flows directly to believers, and the Son came out from Him.
• 1 John 4:14. "the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" — the Father is the sender, the originating mover of salvation; the Son is the sent Saviour.
• 1 John 4:9. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him" — the love of God the Father manifested in sending His only begotten Son: the fountain of redemptive love made visible.
• CIHS 139.1. White: "The love of the Father, no less than of the Son, is the fountain of salvation for the lost race... 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son'" — the Father's love named the fountain of redemption; corroborates John 3:16; 16:27; 1 John 4:14.
• RH July 9, 1895, par. 13. White: "The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, gave his only begotten Son, tore from his bosom Him who was made in the express image of his person, and sent him down to earth to reveal how greatly he loved" — the Eternal Father as giver and sender of the Son, out of His own love; corroborates 1 John 4:14.

Of Him, through Him, to Him — the source, sustainer, and goal of all — Rom. 11:36; Acts 17:28:

• Rom. 11:36. "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever" — God the Father as origin ("of him"), sustainer ("through him"), and goal ("to him") of all things; the threefold preposition seals the fountainhead — the whole circle of being begins and ends in Him.
• Acts 17:28. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being... For we are also his offspring" — in Him we live and move and have our being; every breath of derived life flows from the self-existent God.
• SC 77.1. White: "God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, like the streams of water bursting from a living spring, blessings flow out from Him to all His creatures" — God the fountain of all life and blessing; corroborates the Father as fountainhead (Acts 17:28; Rom. 11:36).

DEFINITION — THE FATHER, THE ONE SUPREME, SELF-EXISTENT GOD = the one God of the Shema (Deut. 6:4) is the Father — "but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things" (1 Cor. 8:6), the one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:6; Mal. 2:10). He is the self-existent I AM (Exo. 3:14), from everlasting to everlasting God (Ps. 90:2), the first and the last beside whom is no God (Isa. 44:6), the only Potentate who only hath immortality in the absolute, underived sense (1 Tim. 6:15-16) — "the eternal, self-existent One" (CIHS 138.4). Within the Godhead there is an order: the Father has life in Himself underived, and has GIVEN the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26) — life that is itself "original, unborrowed, underived" (DA 530.3), so the order is of source and gift, not of greater and lesser nature; the Father is "the only true God" who sent Jesus Christ (John 17:3), greater as Head and source (John 14:28, read with John 5:26; 1 Cor. 11:3), for "the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3). From this one supreme Source redemption itself springs: the Father so loved the world that He gave the Son (John 3:16; 16:27; 1 John 4:9, 14) — "the love of the Father... is the fountain of salvation" (CIHS 139.1). Of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things (Rom. 11:36); in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28); the Father's life flows out to all through the Son, and through the Son returns "to the great Source of all" (DA 21.2). The Father is the fountainhead — every stream of being, life, and love begins in Him.

Symbols defined here:

• the Father = the one supreme, self-existent God — the single fountain and source of all being ("of whom are all things"), the only true God, the one God and Father of all, and the Head even of Christ; He alone has life underived as Source (the unoriginated Fountain), Christ being the Son to whom the Father GAVE to have life in Himself, the one Lord and agent "by whom" all things come (1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 17:3; John 5:26; 1 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 11:36).
• self-existent (the I AM) = having life in oneself, deriving being from no other and giving being to none above oneself — the property of God alone, who simply IS (Exo. 3:14; Ps. 90:2; John 5:26). The Son's life, though "original, unborrowed, underived" in nature (DA 530.3), is GIVEN Him by the Father (John 5:26) and so is not "self-existent" in this I-AM sense.

Symbols carried: none — this is the opening section of "Part I — The Father and the Son," establishing the the Father thread (the one supreme, self-existent God = the fountain and Head of all) carried by every section that follows.

For discussion:

1. 1 Cor. 8:6 says "of whom are all things" of the Father and "by whom are all things" of the Son. How does this distinction between source ("of whom") and agent ("by whom") shape the way we pray and to whom we direct our worship?
2. Christ says "my Father is greater than I" (John 14:28), yet "I and my Father are one." Reading John 5:26 and 1 Cor. 11:3 alongside — and remembering that in Christ is life "original, unborrowed, underived" (DA 530.3) — in what sense is the Father "greater," and in what sense not?
3. John 3:16 and 1 John 4:14 trace redemption back to the Father's own love, not merely the Son's sacrifice. How does knowing that "the Father himself loveth you" (John 16:27) change the way you approach Him?

¶3. The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?

The Son is a true Son — begotten of the Father, not made; brought forth out of the Father's own substance in the days of eternity, so far back as to be to us without beginning, and therefore fully God: deity by birth, not deity acquired.

The Ruler whose goings forth are from everlasting — Micah 5:2:

• Micah 5:2. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah... out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" — the One born in Bethlehem is no newcomer: His "goings forth" (origins, proceedings) reach back "from of old, from everlasting" — the margin reads "from the days of eternity." He came forth, yet so far back as to be to us without beginning.
  • the Son / the Word = the literal, only-begotten divine Person — distinct from the Father yet "with God" and who "was God," of the Father's own substance; He existed "in the beginning," came forth from the Father in the days of eternity, and was made flesh as the only begotten of the Father (John 1:1; John 1:14; Micah 5:2; John 8:58; Col. 1:17).
• CHR 9.1. Waggoner: "It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten; but we know that he was the Divine Word, not simply before He came to this earth to die, but even before the world was created... it was so far back in the ages of eternity as to be far beyond the grasp of the mind of man" — the Word before the world, begotten in unknowable ages of eternity.
• PP 34.1. White: "Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose... 'His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.' Micah 5:2" — Micah's "goings forth" read of the only-begotten Son, one in nature with the Father.
• EP 9.3. White: "Christ the Word was one with the eternal Father, one in nature... His 'goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.' Micah 5:2" — and titled "The mighty God" (Isa. 9:6): the One whose goings forth are everlasting is full deity.

The Word in the beginning — was with God, and was God — John 1:1, 14, 18:

• John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" — the Word already WAS at the beginning — co-existent "with God" (a distinct Person) and fully "was God" (the same divine nature). Personal distinction and full deity held together in one verse.
• John 1:14. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us... the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" — the Word incarnate is "the only begotten of the Father," a true Son sharing the Father's own glory, not an adopted or created being.
  • only begotten / begotten not created = truly brought forth OF the Father (not made, not created), and therefore of the very substance and nature of God, sharing His attributes by birth; the word Scripture uses is "begotten," said of no angel, and it places the Son above all creation as Creator, not within it (John 1:14; John 1:18; Heb. 1:5; Ps. 2:7; Col. 1:15-16; John 8:42).
• John 1:18. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" — the Son rests "in the bosom of the Father" — the language of a real, intimate filial relation; He alone declares the unseen God because He is of Him.
• CHR 21.2. Waggoner: "The Scriptures declare that Christ is 'the only begotten son of God.' He is begotten, not created. As to when He was begotten, it is not for us to inquire... There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from the bosom of the Father... but that time was so far back in the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without beginning" — the section's central statement: begotten, NOT created; brought forth in the days of eternity, practically without beginning.

Before Abraham, I AM — and I came forth from God — John 8:58, 42; 16:28:

• John 8:58. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" — Christ claims the self-existent name "I AM" (Exo. 3:14) — claiming full deity, His existence reaching before Abraham; the Jews took it as blasphemy and reached for stones (v. 59).
• John 8:42. "I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me" — "I proceeded forth and came from God": Christ's existence derives FROM the Father as fountain; He is not self-originated but truly came forth of God.
• John 16:28. "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father" — His mission is a procession from the Father's own presence into the world and a return to it — derivation, not creation.
• CHR 21.2. Waggoner: "Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from the bosom of the Father" — John 8:42 and John 1:18 joined: the proceeding-forth IS the begetting.

Life in Himself — given by the Father — John 5:26:

• John 5:26. "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" — the Father is the absolute fountain who "hath life in himself"; the Son also "hath life in himself" — but this life is GIVEN, inhering by the Father's bestowal. Full divine life by derivation.
• DA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. 'He that hath the Son hath life.' 1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — guarding the FULL divinity of the begotten Son: His life is no created loan.
• 1SM 296.2. White: "The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life... the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. 'I lay it down of myself' (John 10:18)... In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived" — John 1:1-4 and John 10:18 bound to the Son's inherent, unborrowed life.
• CHR 22.1. Waggoner: "since He is the only-begotten son of God, He is of the very substance and nature of God and possesses by birth all the attributes of God... the express image of His Person, the brightness of His glory... So He has 'life in Himself.' He possesses immortality in His own right" — the begotten Son holds life in Himself precisely because He is of the Father's substance.
• PREX1 15.2. Litch (1842): "As the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, he is also possessed of a self-existent living principle... 'For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.' John 5:25, 26. That self-living principle was... derived from the Father" — an installed pioneer applying the same life-self-possessed-yet-derived logic (there of Christ's humanity) that the begotten Son's divine life follows: self-living, yet derived from the Father (Litch is reasoning here of the incarnate Christ's humanity; the principle he draws from the verse — life self-possessed yet derived, not independently self-originated — is the very logic the begotten Son's divine life follows).

Firstborn — defined as Creator, not creature — Col. 1:15-18; Ps. 89:27:

• Col. 1:15-18. "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created... and by him all things consist... who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" — "firstborn of every creature" is at once defined as Creator of all things, before all things; so "firstborn" means heirship and preeminence, NOT first-created. The same word frames Him "firstborn from the dead."
  • firstborn / firstbegotten = a title of preeminence, heirship, and express-image standing — NOT first in creation; Scripture defines "firstborn" as "higher than the kings of the earth" (Ps. 89:27) and immediately calls the "firstborn of every creature" the Creator of all (Col. 1:16); the "firstbegotten" receives the worship of angels (Heb. 1:6).
• Ps. 89:27. "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth" — God Himself defines "firstborn" as a rank of supremacy, not chronological first-creation.
• CHR 21.1. Waggoner: "Neither should we imagine that Christ is a creature, because Paul calls Him (Colossians 1:15) 'The First-born of every creature' for the very next verses show Him to be Creator and not a creature... He is above all creation and not a part of it" — "firstborn of every creature" read exactly as the section reads it: Creator, not creature.

Heir, Maker, brightness, express image — Heb. 1:2-3:

• Heb. 1:2-3. "his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power" — the Son is heir of all things, Maker of the worlds, "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," upholding all — the radiance of the Father's own substance, not a separate lesser being.
• CHR 22.1. Waggoner: "the Father was pleased that His Son should be the express image of His Person, the brightness of His glory, and filled with all the fullness of the Godhead" — Heb. 1:3 tied directly to the begotten Son.

Begotten — said of no angel; called God by the Father — Heb. 1:5, 6, 8; Ps. 2:7; Prov. 8:22-25:

• Heb. 1:5. "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" — Scripture's own word is "begotten," what was never said to any angel; Christ's sonship is unique, in a class above all created beings.
• Heb. 1:6. "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" — the "firstbegotten" receives the worship of all the angels — worship due to deity alone, proving the begotten Son is no creature but God to be adored.
• Heb. 1:8. "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom" — the Father directly addresses the Son as "O God" with an everlasting throne: the begotten Son is explicitly called God by the Father Himself.
• Ps. 2:7. "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" — the decree the apostles apply to Christ (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5): the begetting is the ground of His Sonship.
• Prov. 8:22-25. "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting... When there were no depths, I was brought forth... before the hills was I brought forth" — Wisdom personified, applied by the pioneers to Christ, was "set up from everlasting" and twice "brought forth" before creation: the language of being begotten out of the Father in the days of eternity, before any work of His hands.
• PP 34.1. White: "And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: 'The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way... I was set up from everlasting'" — Prov. 8 read of Christ, joined to "the only begotten of God."
• PP 36.2. White: "the King declared that none but Christ, the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes... The Son of God had wrought the Father's will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due" — the Only Begotten as Creator of the heavenly hosts, due the homage of God — confirming the worship of the firstbegotten (Heb. 1:6).

DEFINITION — THE SON, BEGOTTEN, NOT CREATED = the Son is a literal, only-begotten divine Person, distinct from the Father yet "with God" and who "was God" (John 1:1), of the Father's own substance and nature. He was not made or created but truly begotten — "brought forth" out of the Father (Prov. 8:24-25; Heb. 1:5; Ps. 2:7), "proceeded forth and came from God" (John 8:42; John 16:28), so far back in the days of eternity that to finite comprehension He is practically without beginning (Micah 5:2; CHR 21.2; CHR 9.1). Because He is begotten of God, He is of the very substance of God and possesses every divine attribute by birth: the express image and brightness of the Father (Heb. 1:3), bearing the self-existent name "I AM" (John 8:58), life original, unborrowed, underived — yet that life "given" Him by the Father (John 5:26; DA 530.3; 1SM 296.2). Scripture's "firstborn / firstbegotten" is therefore no mark of creaturehood but of preeminence and heirship: the firstborn of every creature is the Creator of all (Col. 1:15-18; CHR 21.1), made "higher than the kings of the earth" (Ps. 89:27), and the firstbegotten receives the worship of all the angels and is addressed by the Father as "O God" (Heb. 1:6, 8; PP 36.2). The Son is thus deity by derivation, not deity acquired — fully God, begotten not created.

Symbols defined here:

• the Son / the Word = the literal, only-begotten divine Person, distinct from the Father yet "with God" and "was God," of the Father's own substance; existed "in the beginning," came forth from the Father in the days of eternity, and was made flesh as the only begotten (John 1:1; John 1:14; Micah 5:2; John 8:58; Col. 1:17).
• only begotten / begotten not created = truly brought forth OF the Father (not made, not created), and therefore of the very substance and nature of God, sharing His attributes by birth; the word Scripture uses is "begotten," said of no angel, placing the Son above all creation as Creator (John 1:14; John 1:18; Heb. 1:5; Ps. 2:7; Col. 1:15-16; John 8:42).
• firstborn / firstbegotten = a title of preeminence, heirship, and express-image standing — NOT first in creation; "higher than the kings of the earth" (Ps. 89:27), the firstborn of every creature is the Creator of all (Col. 1:16), and the firstbegotten receives the worship of angels (Heb. 1:6).

Symbols carried: express image / brightness of His glory (Heb. 1:3) is carried into "The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man"; here it is bound to the begetting — the Son is the express image precisely because He is brought forth of the Father's own substance.

For discussion:

1. Scripture calls Christ both "begotten" (Heb. 1:5; John 1:14) and "I AM" (John 8:58), both "firstborn of every creature" and the Creator of "all things" (Col. 1:15-16). How do these hold together without making the Son either a creature or a second self-existent God independent of the Father?
2. John 5:26 says the Son "hath life in himself," yet that life is "given" Him by the Father; DA 530.3 calls Christ's life "original, unborrowed, underived." What does it guard in our worship to confess that the Son's full deity is His by birth from the Father rather than something He acquired or something He holds apart from the Father?
3. Heb. 1:6 commands "all the angels of God" to worship the firstbegotten, and the Father addresses Him as "O God" (Heb. 1:8). If the begotten Son is the rightful object of the worship due to deity alone, what does that settle for how we relate to Christ today?

¶4. The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son

The Spirit of God is no third stranger peering in from outside, but God's own inmost self — the presence, life, knowledge, and power of the Father and the Son reaching into the heart; the Comforter is Christ Himself, present everywhere, "nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high."

The indwelling Spirit IS the presence of Christ — Rom. 8:9-11:

• Rom. 8:9. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." — in one breath Paul calls the one indwelling presence both "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ"; to have the Spirit is to have Christ, not a third party.
  • the Spirit of God = the divine presence, life, knowledge, and power of the Father and the Son — God's own inmost self reaching into the believer; Scripture uses "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ" interchangeably for the one indwelling presence, and "the Lord is that Spirit" (Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 3:16; Gal. 4:6). Defined in full at the close.
• Rom. 8:10. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." — Paul's own equation: having "the Spirit" (v. 9) is identical to having "Christ... in you" (v. 10); the Spirit's presence IS Christ's presence, and the Spirit is "life."
• Rom. 8:11. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." — the selfsame Spirit is "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus" (the Father's) and the agency by which the Father quickens; the Spirit is the Father's and Christ's own life and power reaching into the believer.

The Spirit is God's own self-knowledge — 1 Cor. 2:10-11:

• 1 Cor. 2:10. "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." — the Spirit reaches into "the deep things of God"; He is God's own searching intelligence, not an outsider peering in.
• 1 Cor. 2:11. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." — Paul's defining analogy: as a man's own spirit is in him and knows his own depths, so the Spirit of God is God's own self-knowledge — the inmost presence of God Himself.
• TM 482.2. White: "the apostle brings to view the true source of wisdom for the believer: 'God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God....'" — the Spirit read as God's own revealing wisdom.
• AA 250.4. White quotes the analogy in full — "even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" — reading the Spirit of God as God's inmost self-knowledge, what a man's own spirit is to the man.

Named the Spirit of Christ across the Word — Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Pet. 1:11:

• Gal. 4:6. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." — the Spirit sent into the heart is "the Spirit of his Son," Christ's own Spirit, by which the Father's adopted children cry "Abba."
• Phil. 1:19. "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" — Paul names the supplying Spirit "the Spirit of Jesus Christ"; the one Holy Spirit is Christ's Spirit, supplied to the believer.
• 1 Pet. 1:11. "Searching what... the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ" — the Spirit who inspired the Old Testament prophets is "the Spirit of Christ which was in them"; Christ present and active by His Spirit long before Bethlehem.

The Comforter is Christ's own coming — John 14:16-18, 23, 26:

• John 14:16. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" — Jesus promises "another Comforter," One of the same kind as Himself, given by the Father to abide for ever.
  • the Comforter = Christ's own continuing presence with His people by the Spirit — "another Comforter" of His own kind, whom Jesus identifies with Himself: "I will come to you"; the Spirit of truth, sent by the Father in Christ's name to teach His words, glorify Him, and deliver "of mine" to the believer (John 14:16-18, 23, 26; 16:13-14). Defined in full at the close.
• John 14:17. "the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive... but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." — the Comforter is named "the Spirit of truth," who already dwelt WITH them (in Christ) and would soon be IN them — the same divine presence moving from beside them to within them.
• John 14:18. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." — Jesus interprets His own promise: the coming of the Comforter (vv. 16-17) is HIS OWN coming; the Comforter is Christ returning to His own by the Spirit, not a substitute stranger.
• John 14:23. "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." — the indwelling is the Father and the Son together: "we will come... and make our abode"; the Spirit's abiding is the abiding of the Father and the Son in the believer.
• John 14:26. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" — the Comforter is the Holy Ghost, sent by the Father "in my name" to teach and remind of Christ's words: the personal continuation of Christ's own ministry.
• DA 277.4. White: "After His ascension He was to be absent in person; but through the Comforter He would still be with them... they were to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, His representative, and to rejoice in the light of His presence." — through the Comforter Christ Himself "would still be with them," the Spirit His representative.
• CTr 301.5. White: "On the day of Pentecost Christ gave His disciples the Holy Spirit as their Comforter. It was ever to abide with His church." — Christ gives the Spirit as the Comforter to abide, exactly the promise of John 14:16.

The Spirit speaks not of Himself but conveys Christ — John 16:13-14:

• John 16:13. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak" — the Spirit of truth "shall not speak of himself"; He is the conveying presence of the Father and the Son, never an independent voice apart from them.
• John 16:14. "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." — the Spirit's whole office is to glorify Christ and deliver "of mine" to the believer; the Spirit is Christ's own self communicated, the channel of His presence.

Personal in operation — God Himself praying, sealing, grieved — Rom. 8:26-27; Eph. 4:30:

• Rom. 8:26. "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities... the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" — the Spirit intercedes within us; personal in operation, God Himself praying through the believer's weakness.
• Rom. 8:27. "he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." — "the mind of the Spirit" is wholly "according to the will of God"; the Spirit's intercession is God's own mind operating in perfect unity, not a separate will.
• Eph. 4:30. "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." — the Spirit can be grieved, proof that the divine presence in the believer is personal and living; He is "the holy Spirit of God," God Himself wounded by sin.

The Spirit dwelling makes the heart God's temple — 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 3:17:

• 1 Cor. 3:16. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" — the Spirit dwelling makes the believer "the temple of God"; the indwelling Spirit is God Himself taking up residence in the inner sanctuary.
• 2 Cor. 3:17. "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." — Paul flatly identifies them: "the Lord is that Spirit"; the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord present and at work, and liberty follows His presence.
• AA 50.1. White: "The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ's parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as His representative." — the Spirit is Christ's representative, sent by Christ; not a third self sending itself.
• AA 47.1. White: "The Saviour was pointing forward to the time when the Holy Spirit should come to do a mighty work as His representative." — reads John 14:16-17 exactly thus: the Comforter is the Spirit coming as Christ's representative.
• DA 669.2. White: "The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally... By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high." — the keystone: by the Spirit the Saviour Himself is accessible and nearer than in the flesh.
• ChS 255.3. White, under "Christ's Successor": "By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high." — corroborates that the Spirit makes Christ Himself accessible to all.
• 14MR 23.3. White: "He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent." — Christ is present in all places BY His Holy Spirit; the Spirit is the mode of Christ's universal presence.
• DA 671.2. White: "It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer.... Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church." — the Spirit is "His Spirit," the operating power of Christ making His own work effectual. (The same paragraph also names the Spirit "the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead," come "in the fullness of divine power" — Ellen White's own words, set beside the "representative... present everywhere as the Omnipresent" strand; this section frames the Spirit as the personal divine presence of the Father and the Son and quotes both strands without flattening either.)
• DA 672.1. White: "Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples." — the Spirit is Christ's promised gift, proceeding from and belonging to His promise.

DEFINITION — THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THE PRESENCE OF THE FATHER AND THE SON = the Spirit of God is God's own inmost self — His presence, life, knowledge, and power reaching into creation and into the believer. As a man's own spirit is in him and knows his own depths, so the Spirit of God is God's self-knowledge searching "the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10-11). Scripture names Him interchangeably "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ" for the one indwelling presence (Rom. 8:9-11; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Pet. 1:11), and "the Lord is that Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17): not a separate third self apart from the Father and the Son but their very presence, by which they are everywhere present and dwell in the temple of the heart (1 Cor. 3:16; John 14:23). The Comforter is Christ Himself returning to His own — "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:16-18) — the Spirit of truth sent by the Father in Christ's name to teach His words, glorify Him, and deliver "of mine" to the believer (John 14:26; 16:13-14). He is personal in operation: He intercedes (Rom. 8:26-27), seals, and can be grieved (Eph. 4:30). And He is the mode of Christ's omnipresence: "cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally," but by the Spirit He is "present in all places... as the Omnipresent," and so "nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high" (DA 669.2; 14MR 23.3). The Spirit is how the Father and the Son are with us still.

Symbols defined here:

• the Spirit of God = the divine presence, life, knowledge, and power of the Father and the Son — God's own inmost self reaching into the believer; named interchangeably "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ," and "the Lord is that Spirit" (Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 3:16; Gal. 4:6).
• the Comforter = Christ's own continuing presence with His people by the Spirit — "another Comforter" of His own kind whom Jesus identifies with Himself ("I will come to you"), the Spirit of truth sent by the Father in Christ's name to teach His words, glorify Him, and abide for ever (John 14:16-18, 23, 26; 16:13-14).

Symbols carried: the Son / the Word (from "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?") is here shown to be the One whom the Spirit glorifies and communicates to the believer — "he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:14); and the one Lord (from "One God the Father, and One Lord Jesus Christ") is now shown present in all places by His Spirit, "as the Omnipresent" (14MR 23.3) — the Son distinct from the Father yet, by the Spirit, with His people everywhere.

For discussion:

1. Paul calls the one indwelling presence "the Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Christ," and "Christ... in you" within three verses (Rom. 8:9-11). What does this collapse of names mean for how we think about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit dwelling in us — are these three presences or one?
2. Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18) immediately after promising "another Comforter." If the Comforter is Christ's own coming, how should that change the way you pray to and walk with Him today?
3. The Spirit "shall not speak of himself" but receives "of mine" and glorifies Christ (John 16:13-14), and He "can be grieved" (Eph. 4:30). How do we test whether a movement is truly of the Spirit — does it exalt and reveal Christ? — and what in your daily life either grieves that presence or makes room for it?

Part II — The Word Made Flesh

¶5. The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man

The eternal Word, who was with God and was God, was made flesh and dwelt among us — truly God and truly man, two natures in one Person; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, yet He took part of the same flesh and blood as His brethren.

The Word that was God was made flesh — John 1:1, 14, 18; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9:

• John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" — the Word (Logos) is eternal, distinct from the Father, and Himself God: deity stated before any mention of flesh.
  • the Word made flesh = the eternal Son, the Logos who was with God and was God, becoming truly human without ceasing to be God — the same Person who is the pre-existent Word now dwelling among men in real flesh, truly God and truly man, two natures in one Person (John 1:1, 14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; Heb. 2:14, 17; Phil. 2:6-8; Gal. 4:4).
• John 1:14. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" — the central text: the very Word of v. 1 was MADE flesh and tabernacled among us; the glory beheld is the glory of God in a man.
• John 1:18. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" — the unseen God is declared (exegeted, shown forth) by the only begotten Son in the Father's bosom; the incarnation is God making God known.
• 1 Tim. 3:16. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" — the mystery named plainly: God Himself manifest in flesh; deity and humanity in one Person.
• Col. 2:9. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily in the incarnate Christ; not a partial, diluted, or borrowed divinity.
• PREX1 15.2. Litch: "The natures were blended in one, and yet distinct... In this mysterious being 'dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.' The Word or Logos which was in the beginning with God, and was God, dwelt in the Son of God, the man Christ Jesus" — a Millerite-pioneer witness binding the spine texts (Col. 2:9; John 1:1) into the two-natures confession: blended yet distinct.
• DA 23.1. White: "Had He appeared with the glory that was His with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of His presence... His divinity was veiled with humanity,—the invisible glory in the visible human form" — the incarnation stated precisely: deity veiled in, not exchanged for, humanity.
• 6LtMs, Ms 24, 1890, par. 23. White: "Remember, in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — Col. 2:9 confessed of the incarnate Christ.

The deity that was made flesh — Heb. 1:3, 8; Rom. 9:5:

• Heb. 1:3. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" — the very radiance and exact stamp of God's substance (full deity), yet purging our sins as man.
• Heb. 1:8. "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom" — the Father directly addresses the Son as "O God" on an eternal throne: explicit deity of the Son.
• Rom. 9:5. "of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" — both natures asserted in one verse: as to the flesh, of Israel; in His Person, "God blessed for ever."
• DA 530.3. White: "'I am the resurrection, and the life.' In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived... The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — the underived, original life that belongs to God alone, held in the One who became flesh; this marks Him off from every creature.
• GC 493.1. White: "Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose... and to Christ, equally with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance" — the One who became flesh is worshipped equally with the Father.

The humanity that the Word took — Gal. 4:4; Rom. 1:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17:

• Gal. 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" — the pre-existent Son was "sent forth" and "made of a woman": He was the Son before He was made man.
• Rom. 1:3. "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh" — "according to the flesh" He is David's seed: true humanity in real human lineage.
• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" — He took the same flesh and blood as the children, so that He could die and through death destroy the devil: true humanity for redemption.
• Heb. 2:16. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" — He took human nature, not angelic: this defines the kind of incarnation.
• Heb. 2:17. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" — made like His brethren in all things, the saving purpose of the two natures in one Person: a merciful and faithful High Priest.
• DA 25.3. White: "In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken... God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature... It is the 'Son of man' whose name shall be called, 'Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God'" — the Son permanently took our nature, yet that Son of man is "The mighty God" (Isa. 9:6).
• 6LtMs, Ms 16, 1890, par. 87. White: "In Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption" — the bodily fulness of deity stands behind the One who was truly tempted as a man.

Being in the form of God, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant — Phil. 2:6-8:

• Phil. 2:6-8. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" — being equal with God, He took the form of a servant: the self-emptying of deity into humanity, without ceasing to be God. (The manner of that emptying — veiled, never divested — is unfolded in "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested.")

Immanuel — the virgin's son who is The mighty God — Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35:

• Isa. 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" — the sign: a virgin's son bearing a name that fixes who He is, the OT promise of God dwelling with His people in a human child.
  • Immanuel = "God with us" (Scripture's own interpretation, Matt. 1:23) — the name of the virgin-born son, identifying the human child as God Himself come to dwell with His people, the deity ("The mighty God," Isa. 9:6) resident in the man (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35).
• Matt. 1:23. (partial) "...they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" — the NT supplies the definition itself: Immanuel = God with us; the symbol is glossed by inspiration.
• Isa. 9:6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given... and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" — the born child / given son is named "The mighty God": full deity predicated of the human infant — two natures, one Person.
• Luke 1:35. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee... therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" — the conception by the Holy Ghost: the One truly born of Mary is at once "the Son of God"; the mechanism of the union.
• GSAM 49.3. Loughborough: "How could he be a child born of the seed of David, and yet be Immanuel—God with us? Yet Isaiah, their own prophet, declared, 'A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel'" — a pioneer framing the very paradox of the section and anchoring it in Isa. 7:14.
• DA 19.1. White: "'His name shall be called Immanuel, ... God with us.'... From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father... To this sin-darkened earth He came... to be 'God with us'" — defines Immanuel exactly as Scripture does and roots it in the Son's eternal oneness with the Father.

The incarnation is the dividing line — 1 John 4:2-3:

• 1 John 4:2. "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God" — confessing the incarnation is the test of the Spirit of God.
• 1 John 4:3. "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist" — to deny it is the spirit of antichrist; the Word made flesh is a dividing-line doctrine on which everything turns.

DEFINITION — THE WORD MADE FLESH — TRULY GOD AND TRULY MAN = the eternal Son, the Word who "was with God, and was God" (John 1:1), was "made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) — God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), the mystery of godliness. The deity is full and undiminished: in Him "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9; 6LtMs, Ms 24, 1890), He is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person, whom the Father addresses as "O God" (Heb. 1:3, 8), with life "original, unborrowed, underived" (DA 530.3), worshipped equally with the Father (GC 493.1). The humanity is real: the pre-existent Son was "sent forth... made of a woman" (Gal. 4:4), "made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3), "took part of the same" flesh and blood as the children and was "made like unto his brethren" in all things (Heb. 2:14, 16-17), being in the form of God yet making Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, "found in fashion as a man" (Phil. 2:6-8). The two natures are "blended in one, and yet distinct" (PREX1 15.2) — divinity veiled with humanity, the invisible glory in the visible human form (DA 23.1) — and the Son took our nature "forever to retain His human nature" (DA 25.3). Isaiah seals the union in one name: the virgin's son is Immanuel, "God with us," and "The mighty God" (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6), conceived by the Holy Ghost and called "the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). To confess this is to be of God; to deny it is the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:2-3). On this the whole work of redemption stands: only One who is truly God could save, and only One truly man could die and be a merciful and faithful high priest for His brethren (Heb. 2:14, 17).

Symbols defined here:

• the Word made flesh = the eternal Son, the Logos who was with God and was God, made truly human without ceasing to be God — two natures in one Person, all the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwelling in One who partook of flesh and blood like His brethren (John 1:1, 14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; Heb. 2:14, 17; Phil. 2:6-8; Gal. 4:4).
• Immanuel = "God with us" (Scripture's own gloss, Matt. 1:23) — the name of the virgin-born son, marking the human child as God Himself, "The mighty God," come to dwell with His people (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35).

Symbols carried: none — this section establishes the incarnation thread (the Word made flesh, truly God and truly man) that the rest of Part II carries forward; the manner of the self-emptying is unfolded in "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested."

For discussion:

1. John 1:1, 14 name the same Person as both "the Word" who "was God" and the Word "made flesh." Why does our salvation require that these be one and the same Person — fully God and fully man, not a God and a separate man (Heb. 2:14, 17; 1 Tim. 3:16)?
2. Scripture interprets its own symbol: "Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matt. 1:23). How does naming the virgin's son "The mighty God" (Isa. 9:6) guard us against thinking of Jesus as a created or merely exalted being — and what does it change that this God chose "forever to retain His human nature" (DA 25.3)?
3. 1 John 4:2-3 makes confession of "Jesus Christ... come in the flesh" the test of the Spirit of God. In what practical ways does denying either His full deity (Col. 2:9) or His true humanity (Heb. 2:14) undercut the gospel?

¶6. He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested

Christ "made himself of no reputation" not by surrendering His deity but by veiling His glory and laying aside the independent use of His power, choosing to live as a dependent man — and the humanity He took, He keeps forever.

The kenosis text — what the emptying IS — Phil. 2:5-8:

• Phil. 2:5. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" — Paul holds up the kenosis as the believer's own pattern; the emptying is something to be imitated, not a metaphysical loss we could never share.
• Phil. 2:6. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" — the starting point is full deity: "the form of God," "equal with God." Nothing here is surrendered; this is who He IS while He empties.
  • emptied himself / "made himself of no reputation" (kenosis) = not a divesting of deity but a veiling of His glory and a laying aside of the INDEPENDENT exercise of His divine power, choosing to live as a dependent man — defined by the text's own appositives: He emptied Himself by "taking the form of a servant," being "made in the likeness of men," and "humbling himself" to death (Phil. 2:7-8); on earth "the Son can do nothing of himself" (John 5:19, 30) and "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10), yet throughout "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9; John 14:9; John 1:14).
• Phil. 2:7. "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" — the Greek ekenosen ("emptied") is defined by what follows: the emptying IS the taking of servant-form and man's likeness. He empties by ADDITION of humanity and the servant's place, not by subtraction of Godhead.
• Phil. 2:8. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" — the bottom of the descent is not loss of nature but depth of self-humbling, all the way to the cross — the act of One who retains the exalted nature He stoops from.
• AA 481.2. White: "As their example in the Christian life, Paul pointed the Philippians to Christ, who... 'made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant'" — anchors the term in Phil. 2 and frames it as "their example in the Christian life"; the self-emptying is a pattern for the believer, not a surrender of deity.
• DA 436.1. White: "While Lucifer counted it a thing to be grasped to be equal with God, Christ, the Exalted One, 'made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant'" — sets the emptying against Lucifer's grasping: Christ, "the Exalted One," voluntarily descends from a position He still holds.

Deity clothed, not abandoned — the veil was thin — John 1:14; Col. 2:9; John 14:9:

• John 1:14. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" — the divine Word truly "was made flesh," yet the glory was still there "to be beheld" — veiled in flesh, not extinguished. Deity was clothed, not abandoned.
• Col. 2:9. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — the decisive proof: even incarnate ("bodily"), "all the fulness of the Godhead" remained in Him. Full Godhead and a real body coexist; He never divested His deity in becoming man.
• John 14:9. "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" — the veil was thin: to see Christ is to see the Father. Deity was present and revealed, only screened by humanity so sinful men could endure His presence.
• EP 230.3. White: "Christ, the divine Mediator, veiled His divinity with humanity when He came to earth. Had He come clothed with the brightness of heaven, men in their sinful state could not have endured the glory of His presence" — the emptying was a VEILING of His divinity with humanity, not a loss of it; the glory hidden so sinful men could endure His presence.
• AA 33.3. White: "As in the typical service the high priest laid aside his pontifical robes and officiated in the white linen dress of an ordinary priest; so Christ laid aside His royal robes and garbed Himself with humanity... so Christ will come the second time, clothed in garments of whitest white... in His own glory" — what He laid aside was the ROBES (the visible glory/royalty), and He "garbed Himself with humanity"; an exchange of garments, not of nature, the glory resumed at the second coming.
• DA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived... The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — even as He laid aside the independent exercise of power, His DEITY was never divested: His life is "original, unborrowed, underived." He remained fully God while living the dependent human life.

The dependent life He lived — the pattern for us — John 5:19, 30; 14:10; 6:57:

• John 5:19. "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" — on earth He laid aside the INDEPENDENT exercise of His power: "can do nothing of himself." He lived as a man dependent on the Father — the very position He calls us to occupy.
• John 5:30. "I can of mine own self do nothing... I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" — repeats and seals it: "of mine own self" He does nothing; His whole life is surrendered will and received power. He drew no advantage from deity that we cannot draw from God.
• John 14:10. "the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" — the source of His works named: "the Father that dwelleth in me." The miracles flowed not from independent self-use of deity but from the indwelling Father — the same faith-channel open to every believer.
• John 6:57. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" — "I live by the Father": Christ's earthly life was a life of faith-dependence, the exact pattern of the believer who lives by Him. He laid aside self-sufficiency, not deity.
• GW92 29.1. White: "As the Son of man, he prayed to the Father, showing that human nature requires all the divine support which man can obtain that he may be braced for duty and prepared for trial. As the Prince of Life, he had power with God, and prevailed for his people" — "As the Son of man, he prayed," drawing the same "divine support which man can obtain"; He took the dependent position, the faith-life confirmed as our pattern.

The humanity He took, He keeps forever — Heb. 2:14-17; Luke 24:39; Acts 1:11:

• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" — He took flesh and blood to defeat the devil through death. The incarnation was undertaken to save us in our nature, not as a temporary disguise.
• Heb. 2:16-17. "he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham... that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest" — He took human, not angelic, nature precisely to serve as our "merciful and faithful high priest" — a priesthood requiring He KEEP that nature, not shed it.
  • the man Christ Jesus (permanent humanity / mediator) = the Son retains His humanity forever as our mediator and high priest — risen, He is no ghost but "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39); "this same Jesus" ascended and so returns (Acts 1:11); the one mediator now IS "the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5); as "this man" with "an unchangeable priesthood" He "ever liveth to make intercession" (Heb. 7:24-25), "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb. 4:14-15), "the same... for ever" (Heb. 13:8). The incarnation is permanent.
• Luke 24:39. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" — after the resurrection He insists He is no disembodied spirit. The risen Christ retains a real, tangible human body — the same nature, glorified, not discarded.
• Acts 1:11. "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go" — "this same Jesus," the identical incarnate Person, ascended bodily and will return bodily. The humanity is carried into heaven, not left behind at the ascension.

The man Christ Jesus mediates now — and forever — 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:14-15; 7:24-25; 13:8:

• 1 Tim. 2:5. "there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" — present tense, after the ascension: the one mediator IS "the man Christ Jesus." He mediates now still wearing our nature.
• Heb. 4:14-15. "we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens... touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — our high priest "passed into the heavens" still able to be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" — a real human sympathy that requires keeping real humanity in glory.
• Heb. 7:24-25. "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood... he ever liveth to make intercession" — "this man" with "an unchangeable priesthood" "ever liveth to make intercession." The incarnation is permanent; to divest His humanity would dissolve His priesthood.
• Heb. 13:8. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" — the incarnate Christ is unchanging. Having taken our nature, He remains "the same" forever — the standing guarantee that He never divests His humanity.
• 12LtMs, Ms 115, 1897, par. 28. White: "The One who was obedient unto death is now taken into eternal unison both as God and man. The Father says to Him, 'Thou art a priest for ever'" — the risen Christ is "now taken into eternal unison both as God and man," the God-man forever, our eternal priest — a direct refutation of the idea that He divested His humanity.
• GW92 29.1. White: "This Saviour... is now before the throne, to receive and present to his Father the petitions of those for whom he prayed on earth" — the same Saviour who prayed as Son of man "is now before the throne" interceding; the permanence confirmed (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).

DEFINITION — HE EMPTIED HIMSELF — VEILED, BUT NEVER DIVESTED = Christ's "made himself of no reputation" (Gk. ekenosen, Phil. 2:7) is not a subtraction of deity but a self-humbling defined by the text's own appositives — He emptied Himself by "taking the form of a servant," being "made in the likeness of men," and "humbling himself" to death (Phil. 2:6-8; AA 481.2; DA 436.1). The emptying is therefore twofold: He VEILED His glory in flesh (John 1:14; EP 230.3; AA 33.3) and He laid aside the INDEPENDENT exercise of His divine power, choosing to live as a dependent man — "the Son can do nothing of himself" (John 5:19, 30), "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10), "I live by the Father" (John 6:57; GW92 29.1). Throughout He kept full deity — "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9), "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9), life "original, unborrowed, underived" (DA 530.3) — and drew no advantage from His Godhead that we cannot draw from God. And the humanity He took He keeps forever: risen, He is "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39); "this same Jesus" ascended and returns (Acts 1:11); the one mediator now IS "the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5), "this man" with "an unchangeable priesthood" who "ever liveth to make intercession" (Heb. 7:24-25; 4:14-15; took not on him the nature of angels but the seed of Abraham, 2:16-17), "the same... for ever" (Heb. 13:8), "taken into eternal unison both as God and man" (12LtMs, Ms 115, 1897). He divested neither His deity in coming down nor His humanity in going up — and His self-emptying is "their example in the Christian life" (AA 481.2).

Symbols defined here:

• emptied himself / "made himself of no reputation" (kenosis) = not a divesting of deity but a veiling of His glory and a laying aside of the independent exercise of His divine power, to live as a dependent man, while keeping full Godhead (Phil. 2:6-8; John 5:19, 30; John 14:10; John 6:57; Col. 2:9; John 14:9; John 1:14).
• the man Christ Jesus (permanent humanity / mediator) = the Son retains His humanity forever as our mediator and high priest; the incarnation is permanent (1 Tim. 2:5; Luke 24:39; Acts 1:11; Heb. 7:24-25; 4:14-15; 2:16-17; 13:8).

Symbols carried: the divine Word who is fully God, the express image in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead (defined in "The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man"); the real, fallen human nature He took, tempted in all points yet without sin (defined in "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin"); the eternal relation of Father, Son, and Spirit within which the Son was sent and now intercedes (defined in "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation").

For discussion:

1. Paul says "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5) — if the kenosis is our pattern, what does "emptying yourself" by ADDITION (taking the servant's place, humbling yourself) look like in your daily relationships this week?
2. Jesus said "the Son can do nothing of himself" (John 5:19, 30) and "I live by the Father" (John 6:57) — since Christ drew no advantage from His own deity but lived as a dependent man (GW92 29.1), what excuse for our own failures does this remove, and what power does it make available in our temptations and duties?
3. "The man Christ Jesus" still mediates for us, "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:15), "the same... for ever" (Heb. 13:8). How does the truth that He carried our very nature into heaven — and keeps it forever — change the way you approach Him as your high priest in prayer?

¶7. The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin

God sent His Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh" — inside our fallen nature, not beside it — and there, in the very flesh that fails in us, He condemned sin by never sinning: full fallen nature, yet without sin.

He was sent in the likeness of SINFUL flesh — Rom. 8:3:

• Rom. 8:3. "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" — the foundation text: not "the likeness of flesh" but "the likeness of sinful flesh," and in that very flesh He condemned sin — proving sin can be overcome in fallen human nature.
  • the likeness of sinful flesh = the full fallen human nature Christ assumed — the real flesh and blood of the race, the seed of Abraham and David after four thousand years of degeneracy, bearing all our infirmities, weaknesses, and liabilities, yet not the guilt of sin (Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17; Rom. 1:3). Defined in full at the close.

He took part of the SAME flesh and blood — the seed of Abraham, the seed of David — Heb. 2:14, 16; Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7:

• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death" — He took part of the SAME flesh and blood as the children, real common humanity, not a separate sinless order, in order to die and destroy the devil.
• Heb. 2:16. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" — not angelic nature but the seed of Abraham, the line of fallen, post-Fall humanity after generations of degeneracy.
• Rom. 1:3. "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh" — He inherited the actual human lineage, and behind that flesh stands David's own confession, "in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5).
• Gal. 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" — entering the human race by ordinary birth, under the law's full claim, at the appointed time after four thousand years.
• Phil. 2:7. "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" — the self-emptying: a real descent into our condition, the form of a servant, not a costume worn over a different nature; this kenosis text is the load-bearing verse of "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested," carried here to show the descent reached into our actual fallen flesh.
• CHR 26.2. Waggoner: "the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject... He 'was made of the seed of David according to the flesh'" — the central pioneer voice argues straight from Rom. 8:3 and Rom. 1:3: the flesh Christ took was fallen man's.
• Con 32.3. White: "Since the fall, the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth... He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He who knew no sin became sin for us" — anchors the four-thousand-years-of-degeneracy frame: He bore the race's accumulated infirmities, yet "knew no sin."
• 17MR 28.4. White: "We have nothing to endure that He has not endured.... For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity" — the degeneracy stated explicitly; He took the infirmities of degenerate humanity, so nothing we endure is outside what He endured.

In ALL THINGS made like His brethren — touched with our infirmities — Heb. 2:17; 4:15:

• Heb. 2:17. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" — in ALL THINGS made like His brethren; the comprehensiveness rules out exemption from the fallen liabilities we bear, and this very likeness qualifies Him as merciful high priest.
• Heb. 4:15. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — the two streams in a single verse: touched with the feeling of our infirmities and tempted in all points AS WE ARE, yet WITHOUT SIN — same temptations, no sinning.
• 4BC 1147.4. White: "He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin. He took our sorrows, bearing our grief and shame. He endured all the temptations wherewith man is beset" — the strongest "full fallen nature" phrasing, paired with enduring all our temptations.
• 1SM 256.1. White: "In taking upon Himself man's nature in its fallen condition, Christ did not in the least participate in its sin. He was subject to the infirmities and weaknesses by which man is encompassed... He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are. And yet He knew no sin" — the decisive reconciliation: fallen nature with its infirmities and full temptation, but NO participation in sin.
• DA 24.2. White: "Therefore Jesus was 'in all points tempted like as we are.' Hebrews 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God" — He used no power not offered to us, overcoming as Man — proving His example is reproducible.
• YRP 368.3. White: "many say that Jesus was not like us... that He was divine, and therefore we cannot overcome as He overcame. But this is not true... He took upon Himself our nature; He was tempted in all points like as we are" — directly rebuts the objection that His divinity exempted Him: He was as we are, and overcame as we may.

Tempted in all points YET WITHOUT SIN — He did no sin, knew no sin, in Him is no sin — Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26:

• Heb. 4:15. "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — the hinge verse: same temptations, no consent; the line is drawn not at the nature but at the sinning.
  • without sin = sinlessness defined by the life lived, not by a different nature: tempted in all points as we are "yet without sin," never consenting, doing no sin and speaking no guile, knowing no sin, with no sin in Him, holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26). Defined in full at the close.
• 1 Pet. 2:22. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" — sinlessness defined by conduct: He DID no sin, no act, no guile — the life lived, not a different nature, is the difference.
• 1 John 3:5. "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin" — in Him is no sin: He bore sin away precisely because there was none in Him; the nature He took never produced sin in Him.
• 2 Cor. 5:21. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" — the mystery at full strength: made to be sin for us, yet He knew no sin — the great exchange, His sinlessness for our righteousness.
• Heb. 7:26. "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" — holy, harmless, undefiled: His character and conduct, "separate from sinners" morally though sharing their flesh.
• CHR 27.3. Waggoner: "Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner but actually taking upon Himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness" — Waggoner holds both streams at once, sinless YET taking sinful nature, reconciling 2 Cor. 5:21 with the "yet without sin" of Heb. 4:15.
• FH 38.2. White: "In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature" — both streams in a single sentence.
• CTr 208.7. White: "Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God" — the precise reconciliation: nature "fallen but not corrupted" — He bore our liabilities but would not be corrupted, because He held the Word against the tempter.

The difference was the LIFE He lived — "born a Christian," overcoming from the first — Luke 1:35; John 8:29; Heb. 5:8; Heb. 7:26; Luke 4:1; Matt. 4:4:

• Luke 1:35. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee... therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" — the counter-stream: the One born of Mary is "that holy thing," holy from birth by the overshadowing Spirit, never sharing the guilt of the nature He bore.
  • born a Christian = the study's term for the moral difference between Christ and us: from birth He was "that holy thing" (Luke 1:35), set apart by the Spirit and living in unbroken surrender to the Father — "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29), holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 7:26). The difference was never the nature He bore but the life He lived; from the first He overcame, learning obedience (Heb. 5:8) by the Spirit and the Word available to us. Defined in full at the close.
• John 8:29. "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" — the life He lived: unbroken surrender, "I do ALWAYS those things that please him" — the moral constancy that marks Him off from us though He shared our nature.
• Heb. 5:8. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" — He learned obedience by suffering: real moral development and overcoming in fallen flesh, not an automatic immunity native to His person.
• Luke 4:1. "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness" — He met the wilderness temptation full of the Holy Ghost, overcoming by the same Spirit available to us, not by an exemption native to His person.
• Matt. 4:4. "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" — He overcame by the same weapon offered us, the written Word, standing as Man against the tempter.
• DA 311.5. White: "He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3), He lived a sinless life" — the position stated exactly: fallen nature taken, sinless life lived, victory transferable to us.
• 5BC 1108.6. White: "He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory... He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all" — binds nature and victory: He conquered in our human nature with hidden Godhead, relying on God — and this same dependence is the privilege of all.

DEFINITION — THE NATURE HE TOOK — FULL FALLEN NATURE, YET WITHOUT SIN = God sent His own Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh" — not the likeness of flesh merely, but of SINFUL flesh (Rom. 8:3) — and there condemned sin in the flesh. He took part of the SAME flesh and blood as the children (Heb. 2:14), the seed of Abraham and of David (Heb. 2:16; Rom. 1:3), made of a woman and in all things like His brethren (Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:17) — the real fallen human nature of the race after four thousand years of degeneracy, with all its infirmities, weaknesses, and liabilities (Con 32.3; 17MR 28.4; 4BC 1147.4), yet "did not in the least participate in its sin" (1SM 256.1). That is one stream. The other is held with equal force: He was tempted in all points like as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN (Heb. 4:15) — holy, harmless, undefiled (Heb. 7:26), doing no sin and speaking no guile (1 Pet. 2:22), knowing no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), with no sin in Him (1 John 3:5). The two reconcile not at the nature but at the life: the nature was "fallen but not corrupted" (CTr 208.7), sinful flesh borne but never sinned in (CHR 27.3; FH 38.2). The difference between Him and us was never the nature He took but the life He lived — "that holy thing" from birth (Luke 1:35), in unbroken surrender, "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29), learning obedience by what He suffered (Heb. 5:8), overcoming full of the Spirit and by the Word (Luke 4:1; Matt. 4:4). And He exercised in His own behalf no power not freely offered to us (DA 24.2); He overcame in human nature, relying upon God — "this is the privilege of all" (5BC 1108.6). "He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome" (DA 311.5; YRP 368.3).

Symbols defined here:

• the likeness of sinful flesh = the full fallen human nature Christ assumed — the real flesh and blood of the race (Heb. 2:14), the seed of Abraham and David after four thousand years of degeneracy (Heb. 2:16; Rom. 1:3), bearing all our infirmities, weaknesses, and liabilities (Heb. 2:17; 4:15), yet not the guilt of sin; "in the likeness of SINFUL flesh," not merely "of flesh" (Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17; Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7).
• without sin = sinlessness defined by the life lived, not by a different nature: tempted in all points as we are "yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15), never consenting to temptation, doing no sin and speaking no guile (1 Pet. 2:22), knowing no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), with no sin in Him (1 John 3:5), holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 7:26) — no guilt, no act of sin, though He bore our fallen flesh.
• born a Christian = the study's term for the moral difference between Christ and us — from birth "that holy thing," set apart by the Spirit, living in unbroken surrender to the Father, holy, harmless, undefiled, learning obedience and overcoming by the Spirit and the Word; the difference was never the nature He bore but the life He lived (John 8:29; Luke 1:35; Heb. 5:8; Heb. 7:26).

Symbols carried: the fallen nature taken — real flesh and blood, the seed of Abraham and David — as the descent into our actual condition (carried from "The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man" and "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested"); the Godhead's power held hidden, so that He overcame as Man relying upon God and not by exercised divinity (carried from "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?").

For discussion:

1. Romans 8:3 says Christ came "in the likeness of SINFUL flesh," and Hebrews 4:15 says He was tempted "yet without sin." If His sinlessness was the life He lived rather than a nature different from ours, what does that change about the temptations you face this week (DA 24.2; Luke 4:1; Matt. 4:4)?
2. Ellen White writes that He "overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all" (5BC 1108.6). Where in your life have you assumed you must overcome by your own strength rather than by the same dependence and the same Word He used?
3. If the difference between Christ and us was "never the nature He bore but the life He lived" (Luke 1:35; John 8:29), where is your own battle really fought — in the flesh, or in the surrender of the heart?

Part III — The Godhead and Our Salvation

¶8. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation

Salvation is the joint work of the whole Godhead: the Father loves and gives His only begotten Son, the Son redeems by taking our nature and dying in it, and the Spirit makes real in us what the Son made possible on the cross — one saving act, three divine Persons.

The plan springs from the Father's love — He gives, He sends — John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4-6:

• John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" — salvation begins in the Father's heart; love is the spring, and the gift is His own only begotten Son.
  • the plan of salvation = the joint work of Father, Son, and Spirit — the Father loves and gives/sends His only begotten Son (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4), the Son redeems by taking our nature and dying (Gal. 4:5; Heb. 2:14-17), and the Holy Ghost renews and applies the salvation (Titus 3:5-6; Gal. 4:6) — one saving act, three divine Persons. Defined in full at the close.
• 1 John 4:9. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him" — the same giving-love, now defined as sending: the Father sends the Son so we "might live through him."
• 1 John 4:10. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins" — the love is one-sided and prior; it sends the Son "[to be] the propitiation," the price of sin paid in His own person.
• Gal. 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" — the Father sends the Son down into our very nature, "made of a woman" (see "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin"), born under the law that condemned us.
• Gal. 4:5. "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" — the purpose of the sending: redemption, and through it adoption — slaves made sons.
• Gal. 4:6. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" — all three in one motion: the Father sends the Son into our nature, then sends the Spirit of the Son into our hearts. The plan is Father, Son, and Spirit.
• CHR 9.1. Waggoner: "It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten; but we know that he was the Divine Word, not simply before He came to this earth to die, but even before the world was created" — the One the Father gives is the literal divine Word, begotten before creation; a real Son, the object of overcoming faith (1 John 5:5).
• CHR 21.2. Waggoner: "The Scriptures declare that Christ is 'the only begotten son of God.' He is begotten, not created" — a real divine Son, of the Father's own substance; therefore the gift cost the Father His own (see "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?").

The Son redeems by taking our nature and conquering in it — Heb. 2:14-18; Rom. 8:3-4; Heb. 4:15-16:

• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" — He took the SAME flesh and blood the children wear, and by dying in it breaks the devil.
• Heb. 2:16. "For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham" — not an angel's nature, but Abraham's seed; He comes down to the very stock that needed saving.
• Heb. 2:17. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" — likeness to His brethren "in all things" is the qualification for a sympathizing high priest and for reconciliation.
• Heb. 2:18. "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" — He can succour BECAUSE He was tempted in our flesh and conquered; the victory He won, He can lend.
  • the victory = Christ's overcoming in our own fallen nature, made ours by faith and applied by the indwelling Spirit — God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), that righteousness is fulfilled in us through the Spirit (Rom. 8:4), and the means of appropriating it is faith that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5). Defined in full at the close.
• Rom. 8:3. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" — the Father sends His own Son in the very flesh where sin had reigned, and condemns sin THERE, on its own ground.
• Rom. 8:4. "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" — the whole aim: His victory "fulfilled in us" by the Spirit; what He achieved becomes ours.
• Heb. 4:15. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — the temptation was real, "in all points," and the victory was real, "without sin"; both are needed for a Saviour we can lean on.
• Heb. 4:16. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" — the conclusion of a real Saviour: "therefore" come "boldly" for "grace to help"; sympathy proven becomes assurance given.
• 7LtMs, Lt 30a, 1892, par. 9. White: "'For verily he took not on him the nature of angels: but he took on him the seed of Abraham' (that humanity might reach humanity, and divinity lay hold on divinity)" — the mechanism of Heb. 2:16: Christ took our humanity so that humanity might reach humanity and divinity lay hold on divinity.
• Ed 78.5. White: "'In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.' Hebrews 2:18" — EGW cites the very text: because the Son overcame in our nature, He can succour the tempted; the victory is transferable.
• DA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. 'He that hath the Son hath life.' 1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — a truly divine Son is the ground of a real assurance; the Saviour who stooped is God Himself.

By His Spirit the Father and the Son dwell in us — the Comforter — John 14:16-18, 23; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 John 4:13:

• John 14:16. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" — the Son asks, the Father gives, the gift is "another Comforter" who abides "for ever."
  • the Comforter / another Comforter = the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives at the Son's request, by whom the Father and the Son make their abode in the believer — Christ's own return to His people ("I will come to you"), His representative who makes real in us what He accomplished on the cross (John 14:16-18; John 14:23; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 John 4:13). Defined in full at the close.
• John 14:17. "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" — the Spirit the world cannot receive moves from "with you" to "in you": the indwelling is the new thing.
• John 14:18. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" — by the Spirit Christ Himself returns; the Comforter's coming IS the Son's coming, "I will come to you."
• John 14:23. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" — the Father and the Son together, "we will come... and make our abode with him": the joint indwelling of the Godhead in the believing soul.
• Rom. 8:9. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" — "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ" name the one indwelling; to lack it is to be none of His.
• Rom. 8:10. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" — "Christ be in you" stated outright; the indwelling Spirit is the indwelling Christ, and He is "life."
• Rom. 8:11. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you... shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" — the very resurrection power that raised Jesus dwells in us; the Spirit applies Christ's victory to the present mortal life.
• 1 John 4:13. "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit" — the seal: we know the mutual abiding of John 14:23 is real "because he hath given us of his Spirit."
• AA 50.1. White: "The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ's parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as His representative" — the Spirit is given as Christ's representative, the abiding presence that fulfills "I will come to you" (see "The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son").
• LS 472.3. White: "The Holy Spirit, Christ's representative on earth... sent to this world by our Lord at His ascension, to make real in the hearts and lives of men all that He had made possible by His death on the cross" — precisely the thesis: the Spirit makes real in us what the Son accomplished on the cross.

The one saving act in miniature — and the love made inward — Titus 3:4-6; Rom. 5:5:

• Titus 3:4. "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared" — the plan opens, as in John 3:16, with the appearing of the Father's kindness and love.
• Titus 3:5. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" — not our works but His mercy, applied by "renewing of the Holy Ghost" — the Spirit applying the salvation.
• Titus 3:6. "Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" — the plan in miniature: love appears, mercy saves, the Holy Ghost renews, shed on us through Jesus Christ — Father, Spirit, and Son in one saving sentence.
• Rom. 5:5. "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" — the Father's love (John 3:16) reaches the heart by the Holy Ghost; the Spirit is the channel that makes the love of God an inward experience, not a doctrine only.
• TSA 39.3. White: "The love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us, will lead to right actions. Partaking of the divine nature, we shall work as Christ worked" — the section's term from Rom. 5:5 joined to partaking of the divine nature: the Spirit applying Christ's victory inwardly.

The victory is ours by the same faith — sealed by the Spirit — and the closing call — 1 John 5:4-5; Heb. 12:1-2:

• 1 John 5:4. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith" — the new birth overcomes, and the overcoming weapon is named: "even our faith."
• 1 John 5:5. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" — the object of that faith is exact: "that Jesus is the Son of God." The divine Sonship Waggoner confessed (CHR 21.2) is load-bearing for the overcoming life (see "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?").
• CH 592.2. White: "'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' 1 John 5:4" — EGW cites the section's victory text, calling believers to resist the world by that overcoming faith.
• MYP 17.1. White: "When Christ ascended to the Father, He did not leave His followers without help. The Holy Spirit, as His representative... is sent forth to aid those who against great odds are fighting the good fight of faith" — the indwelling Spirit empowers the daily conflict; Christ's victory becomes the believer's.
• Heb. 12:1. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" — surrounded by the cloud of witnesses, lay aside sin and run.
• Heb. 12:2. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" — the closing call: "Looking unto Jesus," the author and finisher of the faith that is itself the victory (1 John 5:4); the whole plan ends where the Son now sits.

DEFINITION — THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT IN THE PLAN OF SALVATION = salvation is one saving act of three divine Persons. The Father loves and gives His only begotten Son — the plan springs from His heart and is the gift of His own substance, the literal divine Son, "begotten, not created," so the gift cost the Father His own (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4; CHR 9.1; CHR 21.2). The Son redeems by taking our very nature — flesh and blood, the seed of Abraham, "in all things" like His brethren, in the likeness of sinful flesh — and conquering sin in it, so that He is "able to succour them that are tempted" and the righteousness of the law is "fulfilled in us" (Heb. 2:14-18; Rom. 8:3-4; Heb. 4:15-16; Ed 78.5; DA 530.3). And by His Spirit — the Comforter the Father gives at the Son's request — the Father and the Son make their abode in the believer, "we will come unto him, and make our abode with him," and "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus" quickens our mortal life with the same resurrection power (John 14:16-18, 23; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 John 4:13), shedding abroad the love of God and renewing us, "to make real in the hearts and lives of men all that He had made possible by His death on the cross" (Titus 3:4-6; Rom. 5:5; LS 472.3; TSA 39.3). Because Christ — the literal divine Son — took our fallen nature and overcame, His victory is ours by the same faith and the same Spirit: "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith," and its object is "that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5), sealed by the Spirit He hath given us (1 John 4:13). A real Saviour, truly divine and truly partaker of our nature, gives real assurance (Heb. 4:16; DA 530.3) — and the call stands: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:1-2).

Symbols defined here:

• the plan of salvation = the joint work of Father, Son, and Spirit — the Father loves and gives/sends His only begotten Son, the Son redeems by taking our nature and dying, the Holy Ghost renews and applies the salvation; one saving act, three divine Persons (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4-6; Titus 3:4-6).
• the victory = Christ's overcoming in our own fallen nature, made ours by faith and applied by the indwelling Spirit; the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us through faith that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5; Rom. 8:3-4; Heb. 2:18).
• the Comforter / another Comforter = the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives at the Son's request, by whom the Father and the Son make their abode in the believer — Christ's own return, His representative who makes real in us what He accomplished on the cross (John 14:16-18; John 14:23; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 John 4:13).

Symbols carried: the only begotten Son, begotten not created (defined in "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?"); the Father, the one supreme self-existent God (defined in "The Father — the One Supreme, Self-Existent God"); the Spirit as the presence of the Father and the Son (defined in "The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son"); the likeness of sinful flesh / full fallen nature taken without sin (defined in "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin").

For discussion:

1. John 3:16 says the Father "gave," and 1 John 4:10 says He "sent... his Son [to be] the propitiation." If the gift is the literal, divine, only begotten Son (CHR 21.2; DA 530.3), what does that tell us the plan of salvation cost the Father — and how should that reshape the way we receive it?
2. Heb. 2:18 and Heb. 4:15-16 ground our boldness at the throne of grace in the fact that the Son was "tempted in all points like as we are," and Rom. 8:3-4 says His victory is "fulfilled in us" by the Spirit. How does a Saviour who really overcame in our nature give a different kind of assurance than one who merely pitied us from outside?
3. 1 John 5:4-5 names "our faith" as the victory and "that Jesus is the Son of God" as its object, while Rom. 8:9-11 and 1 John 4:13 make the Spirit the One who indwells and seals. Practically, how do faith in the Son and the indwelling of the Spirit work together so that Christ's victory becomes ours day by day, as we keep "Looking unto Jesus" (Heb. 12:2)?

¶Appendix — Symbol Dictionary

Every symbol defined in this handbook, alphabetically (leading articles ignored), with its receipts and owning section.

• born a Christian = the study's term for the moral difference between Christ and us — from birth "that holy thing," set apart by the Spirit, living in unbroken surrender to the Father, holy, harmless, undefiled, learning obedience and overcoming by the Spirit and the Word; the difference was never the nature He bore but the life He lived (John 8:29; Luke 1:35; Heb. 5:8; Heb. 7:26). — defined in "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin".
• the Comforter = Christ's own continuing presence with His people by the Spirit — "another Comforter" of His own kind whom Jesus identifies with Himself ("I will come to you"), the Spirit of truth sent by the Father in Christ's name to teach His words, glorify Him, and abide for ever (John 14:16-18, 23, 26; 16:13-14). — defined in "The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son".
• the Comforter / another Comforter = the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives at the Son's request, by whom the Father and the Son make their abode in the believer — Christ's own return, His representative who makes real in us what He accomplished on the cross (John 14:16-18; John 14:23; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 John 4:13). — defined in "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation".
• emptied himself / "made himself of no reputation" (kenosis) = not a divesting of deity but a veiling of His glory and a laying aside of the independent exercise of His divine power, to live as a dependent man, while keeping full Godhead (Phil. 2:6-8; John 5:19, 30; John 14:10; John 6:57; Col. 2:9; John 14:9; John 1:14). — defined in "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested".
• the Father = the one supreme, self-existent God — the single fountain and source of all being ("of whom are all things"), the only true God, the one God and Father of all, and the Head even of Christ; He alone has life underived as Source (the unoriginated Fountain), Christ being the Son to whom the Father GAVE to have life in Himself, the one Lord and agent "by whom" all things come (1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 17:3; John 5:26; 1 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 11:36). — defined in "The Father — the One Supreme, Self-Existent God".
• firstborn / firstbegotten = a title of preeminence, heirship, and express-image standing — NOT first in creation; "higher than the kings of the earth" (Ps. 89:27), the firstborn of every creature is the Creator of all (Col. 1:16), and the firstbegotten receives the worship of angels (Heb. 1:6). — defined in "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?".
• the Godhead = the divine nature/being itself — the eternal power and deity seen through creation, the fulness of which dwells bodily in Christ; the shared divine nature, distinguished from the Persons who possess it (Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9; John 1:1; Matt. 28:19). — defined in "One God the Father, and One Lord Jesus Christ".
• Immanuel = "God with us" (Scripture's own gloss, Matt. 1:23) — the name of the virgin-born son, marking the human child as God Himself, "The mighty God," come to dwell with His people (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35). — defined in "The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man".
• the likeness of sinful flesh = the full fallen human nature Christ assumed — the real flesh and blood of the race (Heb. 2:14), the seed of Abraham and David after four thousand years of degeneracy (Heb. 2:16; Rom. 1:3), bearing all our infirmities, weaknesses, and liabilities (Heb. 2:17; 4:15), yet not the guilt of sin; "in the likeness of SINFUL flesh," not merely "of flesh" (Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17; Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7). — defined in "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin".
• the man Christ Jesus (permanent humanity / mediator) = the Son retains His humanity forever as our mediator and high priest; the incarnation is permanent (1 Tim. 2:5; Luke 24:39; Acts 1:11; Heb. 7:24-25; 4:14-15; 2:16-17; 13:8). — defined in "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested".
• the one God (= the Father) = the supreme, self-existent Source and fountain of all being, "of whom are all things"; the only true God, the God and Father above all, greater than the Son who proceeds from Him (1 Cor. 8:6; John 17:3; Eph. 4:6; John 14:28; Deut. 6:4). — defined in "One God the Father, and One Lord Jesus Christ".
• the one Lord (= Jesus Christ the Son) = a distinct divine Person, the Word who was with God and was God, the express image of the Father's Person, the agent "by whom are all things," the one Mediator; the begotten Son who shares the divine nature, not a second self-existent God nor a mode of the Father (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:1; Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Eph. 4:5). — defined in "One God the Father, and One Lord Jesus Christ".
• only begotten / begotten not created = truly brought forth OF the Father (not made, not created), and therefore of the very substance and nature of God, sharing His attributes by birth; the word Scripture uses is "begotten," said of no angel, placing the Son above all creation as Creator (John 1:14; John 1:18; Heb. 1:5; Ps. 2:7; Col. 1:15-16; John 8:42). — defined in "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?".
• the plan of salvation = the joint work of Father, Son, and Spirit — the Father loves and gives/sends His only begotten Son, the Son redeems by taking our nature and dying, the Holy Ghost renews and applies the salvation; one saving act, three divine Persons (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4-6; Titus 3:4-6). — defined in "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation".
• self-existent (the I AM) = having life in oneself, deriving being from no other and giving being to none above oneself — the property of God alone, who simply IS (Exo. 3:14; Ps. 90:2; John 5:26). The Son's life, though "original, unborrowed, underived" in nature (DA 530.3), is GIVEN Him by the Father (John 5:26) and so is not "self-existent" in this I-AM sense. — defined in "The Father — the One Supreme, Self-Existent God".
• the Son / the Word = the literal, only-begotten divine Person, distinct from the Father yet "with God" and "was God," of the Father's own substance; existed "in the beginning," came forth from the Father in the days of eternity, and was made flesh as the only begotten (John 1:1; John 1:14; Micah 5:2; John 8:58; Col. 1:17). — defined in "The Son — Begotten, Not Created; Did Christ Have a Beginning?".
• the Spirit of God = the divine presence, life, knowledge, and power of the Father and the Son — God's own inmost self reaching into the believer; named interchangeably "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ," and "the Lord is that Spirit" (Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 3:16; Gal. 4:6). — defined in "The Spirit of God — the Presence of the Father and the Son".
• the victory = Christ's overcoming in our own fallen nature, made ours by faith and applied by the indwelling Spirit; the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us through faith that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5; Rom. 8:3-4; Heb. 2:18). — defined in "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Plan of Salvation".
• without sin = sinlessness defined by the life lived, not by a different nature: tempted in all points as we are "yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15), never consenting to temptation, doing no sin and speaking no guile (1 Pet. 2:22), knowing no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), with no sin in Him (1 John 3:5), holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 7:26) — no guilt, no act of sin, though He bore our fallen flesh. — defined in "The Nature He Took — Full Fallen Nature, Yet Without Sin".
• the Word made flesh = the eternal Son, the Logos who was with God and was God, made truly human without ceasing to be God — two natures in one Person, all the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwelling in One who partook of flesh and blood like His brethren (John 1:1, 14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; Heb. 2:14, 17; Phil. 2:6-8; Gal. 4:4). — defined in "The Word Made Flesh — Truly God and Truly Man".