A Human-Based Allegorical Story
A man purchased a ballpen to give to his favorite pupil. The man gave it to his pupil. But just after handling him the ballpen, the man said with a tone “Do not use it, you have no right to use it, because you have no power like me. I am only giving it to you for nothing, because I am the one who will use it for you.”
God gave us the freedom to choose, a freewill. That these will might be used in accordance to His own will but never did He command us not to use it.
What can you say about a person who gave gift but ask the person whom he gave it to not to use it at all. And claim to himself that the gift he gave will be used by him in favor for the person whom he gave the gift?
If the case is, we can do nothing at all. Then would it be better if we are made without senses? Or for short, ROBOTS?
What truly is Christ our Righteousness? Why did He gave us commandments to serve as our mirrors? Is the command just a useless word added in the decalogue? That that word command does not really mean literal to us? Is it just a filler word? Or does it tell something that because we are given freewill, that freewill should be used in accordance to the commandment? In accordance to His will, for His Glory?
Are we really not supposed to do something? We are required to do something but that we cannot accomplish alone so that is why we need Him. But He will not come to our help if we are doing against His will. Say, we are assassin and we pray “God help me to accomplish this”. Will He come? NO! But if we are working and doing our best to advance the work in accordance to His will, the path which He tells us to walk for that work. And we pray for His Help. Absolutely He will send the comforter to come for our help and guide us.
What was presented above is an allegory which is human-based theory not from biblical standpoint.
1. The Allegory above is a Misrepresentation of God’s Gift of Righteousness
The ballpen analogy makes it sound as if:
God gives a gift (righteousness, salvation), but then denies the recipient any active role or participation in using it.
This is not how the Bible presents Christ's righteousness.
Correction: God does not say, “Do not use it”, but rather, “Let me teach you how to use it rightly, because without Me, you can do nothing.”
“For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
— Philippians 2:13
“Without Me, ye can do nothing.”
— John 15:5
Christ does not replace our effort; He empowers it.
“God does not design that our will should be destroyed. For even Christ said, ‘Not My will, but Thine, be done.’ Our will is to be yielded to Him, that it may be molded and fashioned after the divine likeness.”
— MYP, p. 151
2. Are We Robots If We Can Do Nothing Without Christ?
Absolutely not.
The Bible is clear: We are free moral agents (Joshua 24:15), but our will is weakened by sin and must be empowered by grace.
“Man can accomplish nothing without God, yet God has arranged His plans so as to accomplish nothing in the restoration of the human race without the co-operation of the human with the divine.”
— RH, March 10, 1904
So we are not robots. We are called to cooperate.
“The divine life will animate the soul that is dead in trespasses. It will exert a transforming influence upon the entire being.”
— DA, p. 176
3. Why Did God Give Commandments If He Knew We Could Not Obey on Our Own?
Because the commandments serve as:
A mirror – to show us our sin and need of a Savior (Romans 3:20),
A standard – to show what God’s righteousness looks like (Psalm 119:142),
A guide – to lead us in the way of holiness (Psalm 119:105).
God gave us the law not to condemn us to failure, but to drive us to Christ who writes the law in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
“It is only through the grace of Christ that the work of obedience can be made possible.”
— SC, p. 62
4. Christ Our Righteousness: A Cooperative Relationship
From the Shepherd’s Rod:
“The righteousness of Christ is not a substitute for obedience, but the power by which we may obey.”
— 1 Shepherd’s Rod, p. 222
“God will not finish His work with a people that have not the righteousness of Christ in their hearts and lives.”
— 1SR p. 222
From Ellen White:
“Christ’s righteousness will not cover one cherished sin. A man may be a lawbreaker in heart; yet if he commits no outward act, he may be regarded by the world as possessing great integrity. But God’s law looks into the secrets of the heart.”
— RH, May 7, 1901
So Christ’s righteousness is not simply credited to us while we remain unchanged. It is both imputed (justification) and imparted (sanctification).
5. God's Work, Our Willing Cooperation
We are not saved by works, but we are saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:8–10). When we obey God’s commandments, it is not to earn salvation but to reflect that salvation has taken hold of us.
“The will of man is aggressive and is constantly striving to bend all things to its purposes. But if it is yielded to Christ, it becomes the agent of the Holy Spirit.”
— COL, p. 57
Conclusion: Answer to the Allegory
The story of the man and the ballpen presents a twisted version of God’s grace. In truth:
God gives the gift of righteousness freely.
He does not forbid us to use it — He commands us to use it by faith.
He does not treat us as robots — He invites us to cooperate with His Spirit.
The commandments are not useless — they are the standard Christ helps us to meet through His power.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) — not Christ instead of you, but Christ in you, working through you.