Part III — The Godhead and Our Salvation

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 in the Symbol Dictionary.
• 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.
• WitnessCHR 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).
• WitnessCHR 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 in the Symbol Dictionary.
• 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.
• Witness7LtMs, 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.
• WitnessEd 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.
• WitnessDA 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 in the Symbol Dictionary.
• 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."
• WitnessAA 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”).
• WitnessLS 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.
• WitnessTSA 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?”).
• WitnessCH 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.
• WitnessMYP 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.