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In 1854,
Ellen White said that God devised the plan
of redemption after the fall of Adam and
Eve;
“Sorrow filled heaven,
as it was realized that man was lost, and
the world that God created was to be filled
with mortals doomed to misery, sickness and
death, and there was no way of escape for
the offender. The whole family of Adam must
die. I saw the lovely Jesus, and beheld an
expression of sympathy and sorrow upon his
countenance. Soon I saw him approach the
exceeding bright light which enshrouded the
Father. Said my accompanying angel, “He is
in close converse with his Father.” The
anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense
while Jesus was communing with his Father.
Three times he was shut in by the glorious
light about the Father, and the third time
he came from the Father we could see his
person; and his countenance was calm, free
from all perplexity and trouble, and shone
with loveliness, such as words cannot
express. He then made known to the angelic
choir that a way of escape had been made for
lost man; that he had been pleading with his
Father, and had obtained his consent to give
his life a ransom, to bear their sins, and
take the sentence of death upon himself to
open a way that man might find pardon for
transgressing God’s command; that man, by
taking hold of the merits of Christ’s blood,
could find pardon for past transgressions,
keep God’s law, and by their obedience be
brought back to the garden from which our
first parents were driven, and again have
access to the glorious, immortal fruit of
the tree of life that Adam and Eve forfeited
all right to.”
[1]
Ellen White
revised her statements about the plan of
redemption in the book Patriarchs and
Prophets (1890), to agree more with what the
Bible says.
“Before the
Father He pleaded in the sinner’s behalf,
while the host of heaven awaited the result
with an intensity of interest that words
cannot express. Long continued was that
mysterious communing—“the counsel of peace”
(Zechariah 6:13) for the fallen sons of men.
The plan of salvation had been laid before
the creation of the earth; for Christ is
“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world” (Revelation 13:8); yet it was a
struggle, even with the King of the
universe, to yield up His Son to die for the
guilty race.” [2]
In the Desire of Ages (1898),
Ellen White gave an even more biblical
account for the plan of redemption;
“The plan for our redemption was not an
afterthought, a plan formulated after the
fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the
mystery which hath been kept in silence
through times eternal.” Romans 16:25, R. V.
It was an unfolding of the principles that
from eternal ages have been the foundation
of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and
Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of
the fall of man through the deceptive power
of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin
should exist, but He foresaw its existence,
and made provision to meet the terrible
emergency.” [3]
Then, in the Great Controversy
(1911), Ellen White reverted back to her
original claim that the Father and the Son
made their plan after the fall of Adam and
Eve.
“The kingdom of grace
was instituted immediately after the fall of
man, when a plan was devised for the
redemption of the guilty race. It then
existed in the purpose and by the promise of
God; and through faith, men could become its
subjects.” [4]
Which statement is true?
Which of Ellen G. White’s claims are the
inspired commentary Seventh-day Adventists
say her writings are, and which claim is to
be discarded? This is not a minor subject!
We are talking about God’s plan of
redemption! The plan of salvation God put
into place to forgive our sins and restore
our relationship with Him. Ellen White
didn’t seem to know the answer. How can a
true prophet of God not understand God’s eternal
purposes for the deliverance of the human
race? What kind of prophet was Ellen White
really?
The scriptures tell
us plainly that God’s plan of redemption was
made before the world began!
Ephesians 1:4 says, “even as he chose us
in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before
him. In love”
1 Peter 1:20 says, “He
was foreknown before the foundation of the
world but was made manifest in the last
times for the sake of you”
2 Timothy
1:9 says, “who saved us and called us to a
holy calling, not because of our works but
because of his own purpose and grace, which
he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began,”
Titus 1:1-2 says, “Paul, a
servant of God and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s
elect and their knowledge of the truth,
which accords with godliness, in hope of
eternal life, which God, who never lies,
promised before the ages began”
John
17:24 says, “Father, I desire that they
also, whom you have given me, may be with me
where I am, to see my glory that you have
given me because you loved me before the
foundation of the world.”
Revelation
13:8 says, “and all who dwell on earth will
worship it [the beast], everyone whose name
has not been written before the foundation
of the world in the book of life of the Lamb
who was slain.”
Revelation 17:8 says,
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and
is about to rise from the bottomless pit and
go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth
whose names have not been written in the
book of life from the foundation of the
world will marvel to see the beast, because
it was and is not and is to come.”
Acts 2:22-23 says, “Men of Israel, hear
these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man
attested to you by God with mighty works and
wonders and signs that God did through him
in your midst, as you yourselves know— this
Jesus, delivered up according to the
definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
crucified and killed by the hands of lawless
men.”
Ephesians 3:9-11 says, “to
bring to light for everyone what is the plan
of the mystery hidden for ages in God who
created all things, so that through the
church the manifold wisdom of God might now
be made known to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places. This was according
to the eternal purpose that he has realized
in Christ Jesus our Lord,”
Colossians
1:26 says, “the mystery hidden for ages and
generations but now revealed to his saints.”
Ellen G. White didn’t understand God’s
plan of redemption formed before the world
began. She was confused and contradicted the Bible and
herself on many occasions and proved she was
not a true prophet of God.
Remember
what 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is
not a God of confusion but of peace.”
References:
1. Ellen G.
White, Supplement to the Christian
Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, p.
47, (1854). https://media2.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_ExV54.pdf
2. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets,
p. 63, (1890). https://media2.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_PP.pdf
3. Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 22,
(1898). https://media2.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_DA.pdf
4. Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p.
347, (1911). The 1888 version has the same
quote on p. 347 as well.
https://media4.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_GC.pdf
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