Sincerity Is Not Enough

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14:12

We must remember that the rich young ruler, Nicodemus, the foolish virgins, the man without a wedding garment, and the lukewarm were all sincere, and thinking they were on the right road to heaven!

"Ignorance is no excuse for error or sin, when there is every opportunity to know the will of God. A man is traveling and comes to a place where there are several roads and a guide board indicating where each one leads. If he disregards the guideboard, and takes whichever road seems to him to be right, he may be ever so sincere, but will in all probability find himself on the wrong road." GC 597, 598

"There are not many ways to heaven. Each one may not choose his own way. Christ says, 'I am the way.'" DA 663

"Those who are saved must travel the same road over which Christ journeyed. He says, 'Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'" 5BC 1095

"The cross stands where two roads diverge. One is the path of obedience leading to heaven. The other leads into the broad road, where man can easily go with his burden of sin and corruption, but it leads to perdition." 5BC 1095

"I beg of you, my brother, to search your heart diligently and inquire: 'What road am I traveling, and where will it end?'" 2T 295

"Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death." Jer. 21:8

"Christ calls upon us to enter the narrow pathway, where every step means a denial of self." OHC 172

"In order to go in the path that leads to destruction, there is no need of searching for the way; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, and the feet naturally turn into the path that ends in death.

"But the way to life is narrow and the entrance strait. If you cling to any besetting sin you will find the way too narrow for you to enter. Your own ways, your own will, your evil habits and practices, must be given up if you would keep the way of the Lord." MB 138, 139

"Regeneration is the only path by which we can enter the city of God. It is narrow, and the gate by which we enter is strait; but along it we are to lead men and women and children, teaching them that, in order to be saved, they must have a new heart and a new spirit. The old hereditary traits of character must be overcome. The natural desires of the soul must be changed. All deception, all falsifying, all evil speaking, must be put away. The new life, which makes men and women Christlike, is to be lived." 9T 23

"Many who profess to follow Christ have not genuine religion. They do not reveal in their lives the fruit of true conversion. They are controlled by the same habits, the same spirit of faultfinding and selfishness, which controlled them before they accepted Christ. We should know what we must do to be saved. We must meet the conditions laid down in the word of God or die in our sins. We must know what moral changes are essential to be made in our characters, through the grace of Christ, in order to be fitted for the mansions above." 5T 535

"Let no one take up with the delusion so pleasant to the natural heart, that God will accept of sincerity, no matter what may be the faith, no matter how imperfect the life. God requires of His child perfect obedience.

"In order to meet the requirements of the law, our faith must grasp the righteousness of Christ, accepting it as our righteousness. Through union with Christ, through acceptance of His righteousness by faith, we may be qualified to work the works of God, to be co-laborers with Christ." 1SM 37

"In the judgment men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity of learning what is truth." PP 55

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6

"I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." Rom. 10:2, 3

"Those who have an opportunity to hear the truth, yet take no pains to hear or understand it, thinking that if they do not hear, they will not be accountable, will be judged guilty before God the same as if they had heard and rejected. There will be no excuse for those who choose to go in error when they might understand what is truth. In His sufferings and death Jesus has made atonement for all sins of ignorance, but there is no provision made for willful blindness." 5BC 1145

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." John 15:22

"Jesus stands before the ark, making His final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God. This atonement is made for the righteous dead as well as for the righteous living. It includes all who died trusting in Christ, but who, not having received the light upon God's commandments, had sinned ignorantly in transgressing its precepts." EW 254

"Said the angel: 'If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject." 1T 116

"Men will not be judged for light they have never had. But those who have kept Sunday, whose attention has been called to this error, but who would not open their eyes to behold wondrous things out of the law, will be judged according to the light that has come to them." 5BC 1145

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17

 
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