"The Lord requires that we return to Him in tithes and offerings a portion of the goods He has lent us. He accepts these offerings as an act of humble obedience on our part and a grateful acknowledgment of our indebtedness to Him for all the blessings we enjoy. Then let us offer willingly, saying with David: “All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.” Withholding more than is meet tends to poverty. God will bear long with some, He will test and prove all; but His curse will surely follow the selfish, world-loving professor of truth. God knows the heart; every thought and every purpose is open to His eye. He says: “Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.” He knows whom to bless and who are deserving of His curse. He makes no mistakes, for angels are keeping a record of all our works and words. 5T 267"
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
EGW's passage directly addresses the principle of returning tithes and offerings to God, and the consequences of withholding them, which is the central theme of Malachi 3:8-10. The connection is strong and explicit.
"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee."
EGW directly quotes David's words from 1 Chronicles 29:14, acknowledging that all things come from God and that offerings are given from what He has already provided. This is a clear and direct allusion.
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
EGW directly quotes David and alludes to Proverbs 11:24 regarding withholding and poverty. The connection is strong and explicit.
"Brethren, your duty, happiness, future usefulness, and final salvation call upon you to sever the tendrils of your affections from everything earthly and corruptible. There is an unsanctified sympathy that partakes of the nature of lovesick sentimentalism and is earthly, sensual. It will require no feeble effort for some of you to overcome this and change the course of your life, for you have not placed yourselves in connection with the Strength of Israel and have become enfeebled in all your faculties. Now you are loudly called upon to be diligent in the use of every means of grace, that you may be transformed in character and may grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. 5T 267.1"
"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
Both passages address the need to detach oneself from earthly and corruptible desires and affections. The EGW passage speaks of severing affections from earthly things, while Colossians 3:5 speaks of mortifying earthly members and affections.
"We have great victories to gain, and a heaven to lose if we do not gain them. The carnal heart must be crucified; for its tendency is to moral corruption, and the end thereof is death. Nothing but the life-giving influences of the gospel can help the soul. Pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness. You will thus become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust; and in your souls will be reflected the image of Him by whose stripes you are healed. 5T 267.2"
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
EGW directly echoes the concept of becoming 'partakers of the divine nature' and escaping corruption through lust, which is explicitly stated in 2 Peter 1:4. The connection is clear and direct.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Both passages discuss the concept of being 'crucified' with Christ, representing the death of the old self and the beginning of a new life in Christ. EGW expands on the implications of this crucifixion, connecting it to overcoming carnal desires and moral corruption, which aligns with the broader themes in Galatians.
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"
Both passages address the idea of being made alive or 'quickened' from a state of spiritual death. EGW elaborates on this quickening as a process of restoration and transformation through the Holy Spirit, which aligns with the concept presented in Ephesians 2:1.