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The Great Controversy
“No fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is
an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Ephesians 5:5
, A.R.V. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord.”
Hebrews 12:14
. “Blessed
are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the
tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
Revelation
22:14, 15
.
God has given to men a declaration of His character and of His
method of dealing with sin. “The Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will
by no means clear the guilty.”
Exodus 34:6, 7
. “All the wicked will He
destroy.” “The transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the
wicked shall be cut off.”
Psalm 145:20
;
37:38
. The power and authority
of the divine government will be employed to put down rebellion; yet
all the manifestations of retributive justice will be perfectly consistent
with the character of God as a merciful, long-suffering, benevolent
being.
God does not force the will or judgment of any. He takes no
pleasure in a slavish obedience. He desires that the creatures of His
hands shall love Him because He is worthy of love. He would have
them obey Him because they have an intelligent appreciation of His
wisdom, justice, and benevolence. And all who have a just conception
of these qualities will love Him because they are drawn toward Him in
admiration of His attributes.
The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and exemplified
by our Saviour, are a transcript of the will and character of God. Christ
declared that He taught nothing except that which He had received
from His Father. The principles of the divine government are in
perfect harmony with the Saviour’s precept, “Love your enemies.”
God executes justice upon the wicked, for the good of the universe,
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and even for the good of those upon whom His judgments are visited.
He would make them happy if He could do so in accordance with the
laws of His government and the justice of His character. He surrounds
them with the tokens of His love, He grants them a knowledge of His
law, and follows them with the offers of His mercy; but they despise