Keeping the Commandments to Enter Heaven
The editorial makes entrance into eternal life conditional upon keeping the commandments. The Bible, however, says that salvation is a free gift of God, received by faith, and not by works.
Por Rodrigo Custódio ·
The moment
On Thursday, February 24, 1881, the weekly Signs of the Times, founded by James White and published in Oakland, California, carried on page 90 the editorial "The Will of God." The signature at the end—merely "J. W."—reveals the author: James White himself, founder of the paper and one of the editors of that issue. What is read there, therefore, is not the opinion of an occasional contributor, but the official voice of the movement printed in the editorial column.
The masthead of the issue confirms the institutional weight of the text: vol. 7, no. 8, with James White, J. N. Andrews, and Uriah Smith listed as editors, and J. H. Waggoner as resident editor. The weekly shaped Adventist theology week after week—and the editorial occupied the most noble place on the page, the column in which the editorial staff spoke in its own name.
The editorial's argument is built step by step. It opens with Matthew 7:21—"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven"—and then declares that in an eminent sense the will of God for fallen man would be expressed in the Ten Commandments. The will of an emperor, the text explains, is expressed in his decrees, which tell his subjects what they may or may not do; so too the precepts of the law would tell man what he may or may not do.
And then comes the conclusion: in harmony with this sentiment would be the "golden text"—the quotation of Revelation 22:14 in the reading "they that keep his commandments"—followed by the final sentence: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Entrance into eternal life, says the paper founded by James White, would depend on keeping the commandments. Salvation by works of the law, printed as official doctrine.
Locked gate before the luminous city on a starry night—period image in bluish tones, the mood of the 1881 editorial.
The absurdity
Read without evasion what the editorial says. The paper conditions the right to the tree of life and entrance through the gates of the heavenly city upon keeping the commandments—whoever wants to enter, let him keep the law. The exact words of the printed text:
"In harmony with this sentiment is the golden text: '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.' If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Source: Signs of the Times, vol. 7, no. 8, February 24, 1881—p. 90.
Highlighted clipping of the printed page with the quoted passage, issue of February 24, 1881, p. 90.
Why this is serious
The first harm is to the believer's assurance. If entrance into life depends on keeping the commandments, no reader can know whether he will enter—because no one keeps the law perfectly. Salvation becomes a conditional promise with no date of confirmation: perhaps one day, if you do well enough. The Bible presents eternal life as a present possession of the one who believes; the editorial turns it into a future wages of the one who obeys.
The second harm is to the cross. Paul wrote that by the law no one will be justified before God, because by the law comes the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). The law was given to expose sin, not to open the door of heaven. To make it the key to the heavenly city is to exchange the Mediator for performance: Christ ceases to be the door and becomes merely the example of one who passed through it by his own effort.
There is also the dishonesty of the quotation. The editorial chooses the reading of Revelation 22:14 that says "they that keep his commandments" and presents it as a "golden text"—but it silences the older reading of the text, in which the blessed are those who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. To enter through the gates is the privilege of those who have been washed, not of those who washed themselves by their own obedience.
And the most subtle poison: the final sentence imitates Jesus' words to the rich young man—"if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17). But the paper tears the sentence from its context. In that encounter, Jesus used the law as a mirror to expose the young man's sin—and the young man went away sorrowful, because the law only condemns the one who tries to fulfill it in order to save himself. The editorial turns the diagnosis into a prescription: what Christ used to show the disease, the paper sells as the remedy.
Technical engraving of stone tablets inscribed in an excavation, with compasses and measuring tools—atmospheric period illustration.
The verdict of the Scriptures
Scripture is categorical: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28). Justified—declared righteous—by faith, without the deeds of the law. Not "with the help of the law," not "by faith plus keeping the commandments." Without. The gate of the heavenly city has no lock of performance.
Paul also closes the other exit door: "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace" (Rom. 11:6). Grace and works are mutually exclusive as a means of salvation. The editorial wants both—grace in the discourse and the commandments at the door. God does not accept the arrangement: either entrance is a gift, or it is a debt—and a debt no one pays.
And as for Revelation 22:14, the Bible itself corrects the paper's reading: blessed are those who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. The right to the tree of life does not come from keeping commandments, but from washing one's robes in the blood of the Lamb. Entrance is by washing, not by obedience.
Jesus himself defined the door: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). And he defined the work that God requires: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). To believe, not to keep. Whoever enters into life enters through Christ, by faith—and the keeping of the commandments, when it exists, is the fruit of salvation, never its price.