INTRODUCTION

As Evangelicalism struggles to safeguard the Biblical and Christological foundations of the church from the subjective assault of Post-Modernism, she continues to wrestle with the continuity / discontinuity of the Old and New Testaments.

The Reform tradition camp (Covenant theology) and Dispensationalist school (Dispensational theology) have debated the issue for more than a century. The notoriety of the “Secret Rapture” teaching and the marketing sensation it enjoys courtesy of Dispensational advocates has given the latter system a popular edge. However, truth is not determined by majority vote. Biblical correctness finds no guarantee in mass sponsorship.

When we consider the historical development of eschatology, we would learn how the intellectual integrity and Biblical teachability of honest theologians, such as Dr. George Eldon Ladd, led them to denounce Dispensationalism. The hard break between Israel and the Church espoused by Dispensationalism implies a radical discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments. This is in contrast with the general continuity taught by Covenant theology.

A relatively new system entering the debate is New Covenant Theology (NCT) which attempts to strike a balance between Covenant Theology (CT) and Dispensationalism (Disp). Its beginnings could be traced to Krister Stendahl’s ground-breaking essay, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West,” printed in 1961. The movement intensified with the publication of E. P. Sanders “Paul and Palestinian Judaism” in 1977. According to one reviewer, Sander’s work has led to “the collapse of the Reformational consensus regarding the Pauline view of the law.”

Despite being catapulted by two very influential theological publications into Evangelical popularity, NCT has not been formally defined as a theological system. Neither does it have a confessional formulation. As refugees from the CT and Disp conflict trickle into the NCT camp, NCT’s identity becomes more difficult to establish. For instance, one of the most visible proponents of NCT is Fred Zaspel whose agreements with NCT expressions are eclipsed by his dispensationalist presuppositions.

Most recently, NCT has been presented in two books written by John G. Reisinger, entitled “Tables of Stone” and “Abraham’s Four Seeds.” The earlier engages CT in discussion while the latter confronts Disp. The main website of NCT is www.ids.org with the principal tenets outlined in www.ids.org/ids/wnct.html.

How Biblically accurate are the key premises of NCT? Is NCT radical enough to overturn the Reformers’ understanding of Paul’s teaching on Law and Grace? Should our Biblical hermeneutics be retrofitted to the NCT perspective? Most important, how consistent is NCT to the gospel, i.e. Justification by Faith? I’ll share my reflections on these questions in my succeeding posts. “Come, let us reason together.”

——————————————————————————————————
Reflections on NCT: PRIMARY PREMISE
——————————————————————————————————

LAW REPLACED IN NEW COVENANT?

The primary premise of NCT is that the New Covenant as mediated by Christ is a brand new covenant which totally REPLACES the Old Covenant. The Ten Commandments are NOT the essence of the “Moral Law” but are seen as a unit applying only as the terms of the Old Covenant with Israel. The Christian, then, is no longer bound by the terms of the Old Covenant. The Law of Christ is the objective standard for the New Covenant believer.

To paraphrase—the law written on the heart in the New Covenant is not the ten commandments. The key text on the question is Jeremiah. 31:31-34, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.” This is the only Old Testament passage that mentions the New Covenant by name. It is also the largest piece of text to be quoted in the New Testament (Hebrews 8:8-12, and partially repeated in Hebrews 10:16-17).

Jeremiah 31:33 states:

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Note that the law under the New Covenant is God’s law, a law already in existence at the time of the writing of Jeremiah. The language of God Himself writing a law is familiar Old Testament language as illustrated in Exodus 31:18:

“And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Jeremiah’s addressees must have thought of this verse as they read God’s promise of the New Covenant. This antecedent understanding suggests that the law God writes in the New Covenant is the same law God wrote previously as a natural assumption of the text. Jeremiah clearly teaches that the law of God in the New Covenant is a law that was written on stone by God (in the Old Covenant) and a law that will be written on the hearts by God (in the New Covenant).

This becomes more obvious if we compare Exodus 31:18, Jeremiah 31:33. and 2 Corinthians 3:3 in canonical order:

“And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

“clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

Both preceding revelation (Exodus 31:18) and ensuing Scripture (2 Corinthians 3:3) identifies the law of God with a law written by God Himself on tablets of stone. This law, without question, refers to the Decalogue. Jeremiah teaches that the basic law of God under the New Covenant is the Ten Commandments.

Thus, the change is NOT from one law to another law, but from stone to hearts. There is continuity and discontinuity. There is continuity of law — the Decalogue, and discontinuity in placement — stone to hearts. What God writes on the hearts of the New Covenant citizens is not the Ten Commandments as Old Covenant law but the Ten Commandments as New Covenant law!

Furthermore, the text in no way declares that the law of God under the New Covenant consists of a disposition to obey. This will be forcing the text to say something it does not say. The promise of the New Covenant includes both a law to observe and a disposition of the heart to obey — two distinct elements. Neocovenantalism can be read out of Jeremiah’s text but all forms of “neonomianism” can only be read into the text.

Now to Jeremiah 31:33:

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Note that the law under the New Covenant is God’s law, a law already in existence at the time of the writing of Jeremiah. Thus, it is NOT a new law as NCT claims.

A further claim of NCT is that “My Law” refers to a disposition to obey. This is also NOT in the text. The promise of the New Covenant is a heart disposition to obey a law ALREADY in existence.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN COVENANT AND LAW

The above two incorrect propositions NCT makes can be traced to the failure to distinguish between covenant and law.

A covenant is an agreement, contract, or compact between two parties. In this context, the covenant is an agreement between God and His people. Jeremiah uses the word BERITH derived from a root that means “to cut,” and thus, a covenant is a “cutting,” with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making covenant (Genesis 15; Jeremiah 34:18, 19).

Law on the other hand is the revealed will of God as to human conduct. Therefore, the verse treats God’s law as rules governing man’s conduct in his relationship with God.

Again, it is a NEW COVENANT but NOT A NEW LAW. The disposition to obey from the heart is a PROMISE in the New Covenant and NOT A REPLACEMENT of “My (God’s) law” already in existence at the time the New Covenant was established.

JEWISH ANTECEDENT

Old Testament scholars considers the language of “God Himself writing a law” as familiar Old Testament language illustrated in Exodus 31:18:

“And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Jeremiah’s addressees must have thought of this verse as they read the God’s promise of the New Covenant. This antecedent understanding suggests that the law God writes in the New Covenant is the same law God wrote previously as a natural assumption of the text. Jeremiah clearly teaches that the law of God in the New Covenant is a law that was written on stone by God (in the Old Covenant) and a law that will be written on the hearts by God (in the New Covenant). This unmistakably refers to the Decalogue.

THE LAW OF GOD AND THE LAWS OF MOSES

There are definite contrasts between the Decalogue and the Ceremonial Laws. Let me mention at least four:

1.  The Decalogue was spoken by God Himself (Exodus 20:1, 22);
The Ceremonial Laws were spoken by Moses (Exodus 24:3)

2.  The Decalogue was written by God (Exodus 31:18; 32:16);
The Ceremonial Laws were written by Moses (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:9)

3.  The Decalogue was written on stones (Exodus 31:18);
The Ceremonial Laws were written in a book (Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 31:24)

4.  The Decalogue was handed by God, its Writer, to Moses (Exodus 31:18);
The Ceremonial Laws were handed by Moses, their writer, to the Levites (Deuteronomy 31:25, 26)

This ‘combo’ cannot comprise the old covenant because they are laws and not the agreement. (Covenant is distinct from the law)

Neither can this ‘combo’ comprise “God’s Law” in Jeremiah 31:33. The above exegesis clearly points solely to the Decalogue as its identity. The contrastive tablets God uses for writing are stones and hearts. The laws of Moses were not written on stone tablets, let alone by God.

A bigger problem results from interpreting “My law” as the ‘combo.’ This means the existing ceremonial laws will be written in the hearts of the people of the New Covenant. Why will God write laws governing a typical and temporal sacrificial system in the minds and hearts of New Covenant people forever if they will be abrogated by the Antitypical Christ?

——————————————————————————————————-
Reflections on NCT: A NEW LAW OF CHRIST?
——————————————————————————————————–

A NEW LAW OF CHRIST?

John Reisinger, a principal NCT proponent writes on page 13 of his book “Christ, Lord and Lawgiver:”

“Christ did say, and say most clearly, that His law is infinitely higher and more spiritual than Moses ever wrote. Contrasting the Sermon on the Mount with the Tablets of Stone is like comparing the sun to a candle. Making the Sermon on the Mount to be only the true interpretation of Moses is to effectively deny Christ is a lawgiver and make him to be merely a rubber stamp of Moses.”

Reisinger adds in his other text, “But I Say Unto You” (p. 21):

“The correct way to approach Mt. 5:27 is just let it mean exactly what it says. Let it really contrast the difference between rule under covenant law and rule under grace.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, according to NCT, Christ revealed new and higher law in contrast with the law of Moses. To contrast two things mean to show differences when comparing them. In Matthew 5:27-28, Christ said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” According to NCT, Christ is here transcending the Law of Moses on adultery. The “But I say to you” phrase denotes that what He is about to say is new and more spiritual than anything merely written on stone.

If this NCT interpretation holds water, we would conclude that Moses in the 7th commandment refers to no more than external or physical adultery, implying that internal or heart adultery is not forbidden. Yet the 8th commandment clearly forbid heart adultery, “…you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant…” These are glaring prohibitions against heart adultery. The Bible does not wait until Matt. 5:28 to reveal the sin of lusting.

The same can be said of the previous “But I say to you” in Matt. 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” In Leviticus 19:17 is written, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” The Bible does not wait until Matt. 5:22 to reveal the sin of hatred (“heart murder”).

Thus, using the Sermon on the Mount as an argument establishing a contrastive neo-ethic for the New Covenant will not work. The law Christ expounded in the Sermon on the Mount includes portions of the very things Moses wrote, and sometimes without qualification.

A better way to understand Jesus’ words, “But I say to you,” in Matthew 5 is to see a contrast not between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ. Instead, the difference is a true discernment of the law of Moses and the hypocritical interpretation of the Pharisees. In the next chapter of Matthew, Christ contrasts true righteousness with hypocrisy.

Thus, Christ is not altering the Law of Moses in the Sermon on the Mount but rightly applying it, unlike the hypocritical obedience of the Pharisees. They distorted the Law of Moses by settling for externalism. This was never God’s intention as numerous Old Testament passages indicate (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; Exodus 25:2; Deuteronomy 8:2; 10:12-13; 11:13, 18).

————————————————————————————————————–
Reflections on NCT: BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS
————————————————————————————————————–

NOT REPEATED, NOT BINDING

NCT advocates assert with John Reisinger, “Since all of the 10 Commandments are not repeated in the New Testament, and only those repeated are still binding, therefore, not all are still binding. Nine of the ten are repeated in the New Testament Scriptures and are therefore as binding on the Christian as they were on the Israelite.” Whereas the Reformed hermeneutic presupposes CONTINUITY between the Old and New Testaments UNLESS REPEALED, NCT’s Biblical interpretation assumes DISCONTINUITY UNLESS REPEATED.

Certainly, not all of the Decalogue are “explicitly repeated” in the New Testament. Only the 5th through the 9th commandments have explicit NT reiterations (the first four commandments are implicitly taught). The NCT axiom: “Not repeated, not binding” presents a hermeneutical problem particularly when restricted to explicit restatements. For instance, it would mean that only those verses in Proverbs repeated in the New Testament are relevant for Christians.

Furthermore, NCT functionally denies that there are 66 books in the Canon of Scripture. When it comes to ethics, NCT limits the law for the Christian to our Lord’s earthly teachings and the rest of the New Testament (which by the way includes selective portions of the Old Testament).

In contrast with this view, Christ taught that the whole Old Testament and not just those parts repeated in the New Testament had a place in His kingdom. After all, the Scripture He used in His earthly ministry was the Old Testament alone! When Paul wrote that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in RIGHTEOUSNESS, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” he too, was alluding to the Old Testament (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

Practically speaking, NCT reduces the canon for ethics to the New Testament only. In other words, NCT leaves us with a revelational canon — the Old and New Testaments — and an ethical canon — the New Testament. The early Christians would have had a very small ethical canon if they had held to this theory.

NCT guru Fred Zaspel wrote, “We would rather expect that for new covenant believers divine law would be codified in the new covenant.” Little wonder that some theologians labels NCT as neo-Marcianism –dubbed after Marcion, a 2nd century heretic who rejected the OT and reduced the NT to an abbreviated Gospel of Luke and ten Pauline epistles. How ironic that the foundational NCT text is found in Jeremiah, an OT major prophetic book!

—————————————————————————————————————
Reflections on NCT: FORERUNNER OF SABBATH VIEW
—————————————————————————————————————-

JOHN BUNYAN ON THE SABBATH

NCT leans on John Bunyan’s view of the Sabbath and considers him as the forerunner to the NCT Sabbath understanding. In fact, the most expansive cyber visibility of New Covenant theologians is named “The Friends of John Bunyan Internet Ministry.” John Reisinger, in his article “John Bunyan and the Sabbath,” focuses on Bunyan’s arguments against the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.

NCT claims that Bunyan broke rank with his Puritan brethren on the Sabbath issue by denying the perpetuity of the seventh-day Sabbath from creation to the resurrection of Christ. The title of his treatise on the Sabbath is: “Questions about the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh day Sabbath and proof that the First Day of the Week is the true Christian Sabbath.” This in itself divulges Bunyan’s purpose in writing. He was not combating the Sabbatarian teaching of the Puritans but disputing the imposition of the seventh day Sabbath as Moral Law on Christians.

Though John Bunyan denied the seventh day Sabbath to be Moral Law, he did not teach that the Sabbath concept itself is not Moral Law. In Volume 2 of his works p. 361, he says:

“I have here . . . proved that the seventh day sabbath was not moral. For that must be done before it can be made clear that the first day of the week is that which is the sabbath day for Christians . . . A SABBATH FOR HOLY WORSHIP IS MORAL [emphasis supplied]; but this or that day appointed for such service, is sanctified by precept or by approved example. The timing then of a sabbath for us lies in God . . .”

Bunyan obviously believed that a Sabbath for worship was part of the moral law, but that the seventh day as Sabbath was not. In his treatise on law and grace he clearly affirms that the Decalogue, in substance, predates the stone tablets:

“. . . it is evident that the substance of the ten commandments was given to Adam and his posterity . . . the law given before by the Lord to Adam and his posterity is the same with that afterwards given on Mount Sinai.” (Volume 1, p. 499)

In Bunyan’s thought, the seventh day Sabbath was not given until Sinai but a Sabbath for holy worship was demanded by the law of nature and the terms of the covenant between God and Adam as the representative of all mankind. On the one hand, a Sabbath for worship is Moral Law and binding on all men. On the other hand, the seventh day Sabbath is positive law and awaited the giving of the law on tablets of stone.

Evidently, NCT’s reading of their theological forerunner’s position on the Sabbath is lopsided. John Reisinger went out on a limb and claimed in his above article, “His [Bunyan’s] basic view of the nature and origin of the Sabbath commandment is exactly what I believe.” Bunyan was not anti-Sabbatarian; he was anti-seventh-day-Sabbatarian. Thus, it is quite puzzling for non-Sabbatarian NCT adherents to ground their position on the works of a Sabbatarian!

————————————————————————————————————-
Reflections on NCT: VIEW OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
————————————————————————————————————–

A LIMITED COVENANT VIEW

NCT subscribers, particularly those who left Seventh-day Adventism, claim adherence to the Reformation slogans: SOLO CHRISTO, SOLA GRATIA, SOLA FIDE, SOLA SCRIPTURA, and SOLI DEO GLORIA —yet NCT rejects the core of the Reformation Biblical hermeneutic, the Law-Gospel approach to Biblical interpretation. NCT also spurns the three uses of the law as taught by the Reformers.

However, the greatest difficulty I have with NCT is what I perceived to be its inconsistency with the gospel (by gospel I mean Justification by Faith). NCT’s signature covenant view is limited to the contrast between the Mosaic and New covenants. Thus, NCT refuses to accept the conditional Covenant of Works that God established with Adam before the Fall and denies the Everlasting Covenant of Redemption within the Trinity as well.

This raises serious questions. If Christ’s doing (perfect righteousness) and dying (infinite sacrifice) undergirds JBF (justification by fath), what law did Christ obey in the gospel transaction? If Christ as second Adam succeeded where the first Adam failed, what law did Adam disobey? On the basis of what law were the righteousness of Noah, Abraham, and other OT heroes of faith reckoned? Does God have a double legal standard? One for the OT and another for the NT? What was the gospel in the OT or was there a gospel at all in the OT economy? What about the clear declaration of Scripture that Christ is the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world?

When asked by the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 how one can obtain eternal life, Christ answered, “Obey the commandments” and directly alluded to the Decalogue. In effect, He’s saying that the standard for the first and second Adam’s and all of mankind, for that matter, is the Moral Law. To say that God’s moral standard has been abrogated is to destroy the forensic basis of Justification by Faith. On the contrary, if the perpetuity of the moral law is recognized with its exacting eternal demands, JBF would make sense as the only way of salvation.

Take away the Moral Law and you might as well take away the war cries of the Reformation — for where will be the perfect obedience of SOLO CHRISTO if He had nothing to keep? Where will be the sense of SOLA GRATIA without a substitutionary righteousness? Where will be the sense of SOLA FIDE without its object? Where will be the thrust of SOLA SCRIPTURA when its central testimony is gone? How can all redound to SOLI DEO GLORIA when His everlasting will and demands have not been satisfied?

The above theological discrepancies and Biblical compromise inherent in NCT, in my opinion, has made it quite arduous to formalize NCT as a theological system. Taken to its logical end, NCT renders JBF void of saving worth. As Todd Wilken, Lutheran Bible commentator, pointed out:

“It’s this simple: if you get Justification wrong, you get the Gospel wrong. And a wrong Gospel can’t save sinners. This was the whole reason for the Reformation.”

—————————————————————————————————————
Reflections on NCT: CONCLUDING PERSONAL COMMENTS
—————————————————————————————————————-

LIMITING ADVENTISM TO LEGALISTIC ADVENTISTS

Most breakaway Adventists admit that their decision was influenced by their defection to New Covenant Theology (NCT). Their denominational desertion is most pronounced in their new Sabbath view which teaches that Christ has replaced the Sabbath.

When David Newman was senior pastor of Damascus Grace Fellowship he wrote:

“If I grow up with the subtle misunderstanding that Sabbath keeping is connected to my salvation, a prerequisite to my entering heaven, and then discover grace, that I am saved ONLY by what Jesus did for me at Calvary, I will suddenly have a very different view of the Sabbath. I will want to DISCARD IT, and I should, as a MEANS OF SALVATION. But the relief of discovering grace can be so overwhelming that it is quite possible to throw out blessings simply because we have previously seen them as HAVE TO’s or MUST’s or SHOULD’s.”

Could it be that Pastor Newman was describing another motivation of Adventist breakaway groups? If so, their chosen direction throws the proverbial baby with the bath water. In steering away from a legalistic Sabbath interpretation they’ve abandoned the Sabbath altogether.

In my personal bout with legalistic Adventism, God’s grace led me to the centrality of the gospel. That meant throwing a lot of sermon outlines and Bible study materials and making a radical switch in my growth in the knowledge and grace of Christ. My Scriptural paradigm shift drove me into studying gospel materials of inter-denominational persuasions. The exercise confirmed the gospel-centeredness of Adventism in my mind. As my friend Bille Burdick, At Issue editor, would say, “I became an evangelical through Ellen White but I understood the meaning of evangelical through John Stott.”

On that note, I’m quite uncomfortable when former Adventists who adhere to NCT make a blanket statement to the effect that gospel-centered Adventists wrongly interpret the Sabbath because of their “Adventist bias.” Worse, they even imply that Adventist Sabbath-keeping is legalism. These views are quite pronounced within the purview of New Covenant Theology. Yet, if they cease to limit their perception of Adventism to legalistic Adventists, they might just realize the shortcomings of NCT:

(1) Exegetically, NCT forces a new law rather than a new placement of the law in their interpretation of the new covenant passages of the Bible.

(2) Ethically, NCT inaccurately claims that Christ replaced the Moral Law rather than magnified it.

(3) Canonically, NCT drives an artificial wedge between the Old and the New Testaments by espousing a revelational canon — the Old and New Testaments — and an ethical canon limited to the New Testament.

(4) Historically, NCT fails to do justice to the Reformed confessional theology of the Decalogue misconstruing even their theological forerunner John Bunyan who was a Sabbatarian.

(5) Evangelically, NCT’s abrogation of the Moral Law compromises the gospel of Justification by Faith and limits the Biblical teaching on the covenants to the contrast between the Mosaic and the New Covenants bypassing the Everlasting Covenant and the Covenant of Works God made with the two Adam’s.

Biblical discussions however eloquent and/or keen and noble are no more than high-sounding fluff when devoid of the gospel of Christ. Subjecting New Covenant Theology to careful Biblical scrutiny in comparison with the Adventist Reformed position reveals how much more consistent the Adventist faith is to the gospel of Justification by Faith.

THE GOSPEL AND DISTINCTIVE ADVENTIST DOCTRINES
(ADVENTISM: Cultic or Christian to the Core – Section 3)

ADVENTIST FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS

The 28 Fundamentals are a set of theological beliefs held by the Seventh-day Adventist. Traditionally, Adventists have been opposed to the formulation of creeds. It is claimed that the 28 Fundamentals are descriptors not prescriptors; that is, that they describe the official position of the church but are not a criterion for membership. The beliefs were known as the 27 Fundamentals until 2005 when another was added. They may be grouped into the doctrines of God, humankind, salvation, church, Christian life, and last things.

The preamble to the 28 Fundamentals states that Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed, and that revision of the statements may be expected:

“Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. These beliefs, as set forth here, constitute the church’s understanding and expression of the teaching of Scripture. Revision of these statements may be expected at a General Conference Session when the church is led by the Holy Spirit to a fuller understanding of Bible truth or finds better language in which to express the teachings of God’s Holy Word.”

The editors of the Adventist Fundamentals clearly stated, “We have not written this book to serve as a creed—a statement of beliefs set in theological concrete. Adventists have but one creed: “The Bible, and the Bible alone.” They identified their objectives as follow:

We have written this book with the deep conviction that all doctrines, when properly understood, center on Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and are extremely important. Doctrines define the character of the God we serve…

We have written this book to lead Adventist believers into a deeper relationship with Christ through a study of the Bible. Knowing Him and His will is vitally important in this age of deception, doctrinal pluralism, and apathy…Only those who have fortified their minds with the truth of the Scriptures will be able to stand in the final conflict.

We have written this book to assist those who are interested in knowing why we believe what we believe. This study, written by Adventists themselves, is not just window dressing. Carefully researched, it represents an authentic exposition of Adventist beliefs.

Finally, we have written this book recognizing that Christ-centered doctrine performs three obvious functions: first, it edifies the church; second, it preserves the truth; and third, it communicates the gospel in all its richness…A true knowledge of God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit is “saving knowledge.” That is the theme of this book.—Editors.

Without ambiguity, they also make the following qualification:

This is not a speculative work…Rather, it is a thorough, Biblically-based, Christ-centered exposition of what we believe. And the beliefs expressed are not the product of a studious afternoon; they represent more than 100 years of prayer, study, prayer, reflection, prayer…In other words, they are the product of Adventist growth “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND GREAT CONTROVERSY THEME

The unique contribution of Adventism to Christendom is our understanding of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The Great Controversy is the overarching theme of our theology. We can diagram this as follows:

GREAT CONTROVERSY ISSUES

Number 8 of the Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventism states:

Great Controversy:
All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God’s adversary. He led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation. (Rev. 12:4-9; Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-18; Gen. 3; Rom. 1:19-32; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; Gen. 6-8; 2 Peter 3:6; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14.)

Paul completes his discourse on the righteousness of God in Romans 3:21-26 by emphasizing that the gospel is a declaration of God’s justice. “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 ESV). Paul discloses the gospel’s “broader and deeper purpose” than just the salvation of man, to honor God’s holy character and declare His righteous way of justifying those who believe in Christ.

God’s kingdom stands on two great pillars: justice and mercy (Psalms 89:14). The Fall presented an infinite dilemma. God’s hatred for sin (justice) demanded that He punish transgression. Yet His eternal love for the sinner (mercy) called for compassion to spare this offending world. God solved the dilemma through the gospel! Christ’s life and death exhausted the rigors of divine justice while effecting man’s eternal salvation. In the gospel, justice and mercy met in Jesus Christ and “kissed each other” (Psalms. 85:10).

In the end, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10, 11). This is the cosmic view of the Cross, the gospel in the framework of the great controversy. This is the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14 which is proclaimed in the setting of God’s judgment hour. Its celestial perspective showcases the conflict between Christ and Satan.

Paul alludes to this larger view in Ephesians 3:10 where he uses phrases such as “principalities and powers” and “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm.” Asserting his apostleship, he wrote the Corinthians, “we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (I Corinthians 4:9 NKJV).

Earlier in Ephesians, Paul establishes the main purpose of the gospel is to praise the glorious grace of God:

“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins…that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:6-7; 10-14 NKJV emphasis supplied)

Jesus Christ Himself clearly declared this purpose in John 13:30-32 after Judas set out to betray Him:

“Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.” (cf. John 12:27-33; 17:1-2)

In Reformation terms, the preoccupation of Adventism in these last days is SOLI DEO GLORIA. As vital as the other 4 war cries of the Reformation are:

SOLUS CHRISTUS (Christ Alone)
SOLA SCRIPTURA (Scripture Alone)
SOLA GRATIA (Grace Alone)
SOLA FIDE (Faith Alone)

SOLI DEO GLORIA (Glory to God Alone) is the foundational slogan that glues all of them together. At times, this is not included in the emphases of Evangelicals, even Reformed churches. However, the messages of the 3 angels in Revelation 14 intentionally make God’s glory and His worship the central hub in proclaiming the everlasting gospel. This Adventist trademark testifies to a God-centered gospel.

GREAT CONTROVERSY CONTENDERS

The cosmic conflict began in heaven as we read in the Book of Revelation:

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 7:7-9 NASB)

The main contenders in the great controversy are Michael and the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil or Satan. It is fascinating that Bryan Chappell, who wrote what many Christian leaders consider the best volume on Christ-centered preaching, alluded to the great controversy as a vantage point in crafting Biblical messages with Christ as the focus.

So long as the message exposes theological truths or historical facts that show the relation of the passage to the war between the Seed of the woman and Satan, Christ assumes His rightful place as the focus of the message.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND THE IDENTITY OF MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Due to the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teaching that Michael is a created being, most Christians recoil from identifying Michael with Jesus Christ. Yet, Michael is the chief protagonist in the great controversy against Satan. Thus, He must be Jesus Christ. He is the same Michael the archangel of Jude 9 and Michael the great prince of Daniel 12:1 and contrary to common misconception, this understanding in no way relegates Christ to a being less than God.

The term “angel” can be interpreted not as a specific class of created heavenly beings as generally viewed in the Scriptures, but more broadly as any being serving as a messenger from God. This English word “angel” is derived from the Greek ANGELO meaning “messenger.” In the strictest sense, Christ is the chief (“arch”) messenger of God in His incarnation. Michael is also Chief of the angels (archangel) in heaven, one of the many titles applied to the Son of God.

The word Archangel is compounded from two words, ARKH, a prefix denoting “chief” or “first in rule and power,” and ANGELOS, or “messenger.” Christ alone could cast Satan out of heaven. It was no mere angel that cast Satan out of heaven! He was cast out by the power of his Christ. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10).

It is also the voice of the Archangel that calls the dead from their graves. That voice is the same voice of Christ who conquered death on the cross and His loud shout will awaken the dead at His return (1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 5:28). No created being has the power, let alone the right, to challenge the power of death. Only Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, dealt the grave an utter defeat.

Apart from the account in Jude 9, the only Biblical reference to the burial of Moses is Deuteronomy 34:5, 6 where it is recorded that the Lord buried His faithful servant and that his grave was not known to men. Jude reveals that the dead body was the subject of dispute between Christ and Satan. It is evident that the Lord triumphed in His contest with the devil and raised Moses from his grave, making him the first known subject of Christ’s resurrecting power to eternal life (Matthew 17:3). Moses appeared with Elijah on the Mount of transfiguration.

Michael also appears in the book of Daniel. Michael your Prince in Daniel 10:21 refers to the Prince of princes in Daniel 8:25 and the same Person as Messiah the Prince in Daniel 9:25, the Christ who will be cut off to fulfill the sacrifice for our salvation. As Michael the Archangel is a title of Christ so is Prince: the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), the Prince and Savior (Acts 5:31), and the Prince of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:5)

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND THE HOLISTIC VIEW OF MAN

It is common place among many Christians not to despair during the funeral of a departed loved one because he or she, they believe, is more alive after death since the soul of a believer goes straight to heaven at death. Such a belief comes from the philosophy of Greek dualism imposed on the Scriptures.

Similarly, Adventists don’t conduct funeral services without hope but for quite a different reason. With their mourning comes a bright hope for a resurrection morning when they will be reunited with their loved ones who died. This hope is solidly founded on the Biblical holistic view of man.

Greek dualism dichotomizes man into body and soul while Biblical holism sees man as a total, indivisible being. Man is not a divided entity:

He is, instead, a total being that can be viewed in 3 dimensions:

Greek dualism assumes an immortal soul that is encased in the human body. Therefore, immortality is innate to man. This is diametrically opposed to the most loved gospel verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV) If the sinner has inherent immortality, then the gospel is irrelevant. The Cross of Christ becomes a travesty!

Contrary to the Grecian view of an immortal soul, the Bible teaches conditional immortality. Upon believing in Jesus Christ, immortality is given by God. Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 6:15-26 that “God… alone is immortal,” while in 2 Timothy 1:10 he writes that immortality only comes to human beings as a gift through the gospel. Immortality is something to be sought after (Romans 2:7 NIV) therefore it is not inherent to all humanity.

The Platonic dualism of Greek philosophy also claims that the soul is good and the body is evil. Consequently, only the body is sinful and not the soul. This categorically distorts the doctrine of sin. Salvation can simply be attained, as Socrates believed when he drank the cup of hemlock, by letting the body die and allowing the soul to escape.

On the other hand, Biblical holism recognizes that the whole man sinned and consequently, the whole man suffers and dies. Man does not have a soul. He is a soul and “the soul who sins dies” (Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV). As a result, sinners need a Savior and the Cross alone answers this need.

Christian Platonists attempt to bridge the gap between the views of Biblical holism and Greek dualism through the doctrine of holistic dualism. It concedes that Grecian dualism is objectionable from the standpoint of Scripture. As an alternative, an immaterial component of man is advanced to reckon with what is thought of as a Biblical tenet on survival between death and the resurrection. A main reference to this approach is John W. Cooper’s “Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting.”

Nevertheless, holistic dualism still dichotomizes the human being and it does so because of the a priori assumption of the dualism-laden historical church that man survives the death of the body (the soul survives death). The Biblical witness is to the contrary and teaches soul-sleep. When the living soul (total man) dies, he sleeps to await the resurrection (John 5:29; 11:11-14).

The question is soul immortality or the resurrection of the whole being. Through the dogma of an immortal soul, Satan hurls a most overt attack against the gospel using his minions of demons. Via the promotion and practice of spiritism, he persists in propagating his original lie that sinners will not die. His aim is to make sin and death irrelevant and lure people away from the saving power of the Cross of Christ. Yet, Biblical holism upholds the gospel truth that the whole man sinned and anyone who trust will have the gift of immortality by faith, now, and by sight when Jesus comes back.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND ANNIHILATIONISM

The doctrine of conditional immortality goes with annihilationism, that the souls of the wicked will be destroyed in Gehenna (hell) fire rather than suffer eternal torment. After all, if the soul is not innately immortal and the soul that sins dies then hell means eternal punishment, not eternal punishing. The gospel is quite lucid that those who believe in Christ will have eternal life but those who will not believe in Him will perish as opposed to having an eternal life of suffering in hell.

Many who believe in an unending hell recognize how inconsistent it is with the character of God and claim that He does not send anyone to hell; they send themselves there. Of course, they do not cite any scripture for this idea, for the Bible states that God will judge the world through Jesus the Lord (Acts 17:31) and that it is He who has the power to destroy the entire person (Matthew 10:28). Paul wrote that, according to the righteous judgment of God, those who refuse to obey the gospel of Jesus will “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-9).

Also confounded is the expression of Jesus about the unquenchable fire of Gehenna (Mark 9:44, 48). To say that a fire is “unquenchable” and say that it “never shall be quenched” are different. The Bible speaks of fires that were said to be unquenchable, but eventually went out (Jeremiah 17:27, Isaiah 34:10, and Ezekiel 20:47, 48). Some also speak of “the devil in hell.” The Bible gives no hint that such is the case. In Revelation 20 it is said that the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, but this will be only after the millennium.

The Cross of Christ won a decisive victory over Satan and His enemies. “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:26-27 NKJV). Even death will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). The “heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up…all these things will be dissolved (2 Peter 3:10-11). Everything will pass away including death—the death of Satan, his demons, and the wicked. Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND THE JUDGMENT

Number 24 of the Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventism reads:

24. Christ’s Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent. (Heb. 8:1-5; 4:14-16; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)

The Bible presents with certainty the prospect of final judgment. Most Christians conceive of the final judgment to be a single divine event but Seventh-day Adventists have come to regard the final judgment as occupying at least four successive phases:

1. the pre-advent investigative judgment of the professed people of God,
2. the second-advent separation of sheep and goats based on their works,
3. the examination of the records of the wicked by the saints during the 1000 years, and
4. the execution of judgment on the wicked at the end of the 1000 years.

This can be illustrated by the diagram below:

Adventism’s doctrine of an investigative judgment does not mean that God seeks information He does not have. After all, God is the Author of the books which His judgment opens. The books stand not for new knowledge that God has yet to acquire but for old knowledge that God now will expose. So the purpose of the investigative judgment on God’s part is not to discover reality but to unmask it, not to find out the truth but to reveal it.

As the Cross brings salvation in 3 tenses (past, present, and future), so does it sheds light on the 3-fold judgment of the believer:

In His dual office as Savior and Lord, Christ judged sin at the Cross, justifies the sinner by faith, and judges the justified by works. The cross is the means by which justification is effected; faith is the means by which justification is accepted; and good works are the means by which justification is manifested.

The pre-advent judgment and sanctuary beliefs are foundational to Adventism. It has gotten a bad rap because of the October 22, 1844 Great Disappointment. Despite reinterpreting the date from the Second Coming of Christ to His high priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, Adventism has matured in its understanding of the atonement as observed in the following models described in the thesis of Johann A. Japp:

Adventists believe that Christ’s work of atonement encompasses both his death on the Cross and his ministration in the heavenly sanctuary. Early Adventism went as far as to claim that the atonement occurs in heaven, not on the cross.

“[Christ] ascended on high to be our only mediator in the sanctuary in Heaven, where, with his own blood he makes atonement for our sins; which atonement so far from being made on the cross, which was but the offering of the sacrifice, is the very last portion of his work as priest…” Quoted from Fundamental Principles taught and practiced by the Seventh-day Adventists (1872), proposition II.

Present Adventism has moved away from this unorthodox view, and now insists that Christ’s death on the cross was a fully completed work of atonement. Yet, Adventism continues to identify Christ’s priestly work in heaven as an “atoning ministry.”

The preceding models recognize the all-sufficiency of the cross but at the same time that recognition appears to negate a complete atonement at the cross. Two more models can resolve this seeming contradiction.

Conversion and the end-time judgment are consequences of the Cross. They are not stages but dimensions of the atonement.

TYPOLOGY OF THE JEWISH FEASTS

One of the strongest arguments for the pre-advent judgment is the typology of the Jewish feasts. The Old Testament holidays are a pattern of shadows fulfilled in a Messiah who has already come in the first phase of a two-part plan to save His people and rule the world. These holidays provide a panorama of history that paint a compelling picture of the past, present, and future work of Christ.

The plan of God was revealed during the spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost. On Passover, Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb whose blood marked all who believe in Him for deliverance. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, He died to take away our sin and to give us, in the place of our own efforts, the “bread” (life-sustaining provision) of His eternal presence. On the Feast of Firstfruits, He arose from the dead to show that it was by God’s power that He carried out our rescue. Then 50 days later on the Feast of Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot), Jesus sent His Spirit to show His presence with all who are willing to stake their lives on Him.

Spring Feasts:
1. Passover (Pesach)
2. Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot)
3. Firstfruits (HaBikkurim)
4. Pentecost (Shavuot)

The New Testament endorses the idea that the Jewish festival year typified the entire Christian age. In 1 Corinthians 5:& Paul alludes to the Passover as the type of the crucifixion of Christ. In Revelation 7:9 the redeemed are pictured as standing before the throne “clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” As shown in the marginal notations of the KJV, this is a reference to the Feast of Tablernacles. This feast was also called the Feast of Harvest in harmony with Christ’s allusion to the harvest at the end of the world. The New Testament references to Christ as the firstfruits and the time of Pentecost help portray the Christological significance of the Jewish ceremonial year.

By and large, the spring festivals have been applied to the First Advent of Christ by Evangelicals. Nonetheless, the autumn festivals have not met with the same study emphasis. While the Jewish spring festivals typified the significant events of the First Advent of Christ, the Jewish fall feasts point to important milestones related to the Second Advent of Christ. As Pentecost typified the first fruits of the world’s harvest in the gathering of the saved from all nations, the feast of tabernacles typifies the completion of that harvest in the final and universal gathering of the saved when Christ appears the second time.

As in the antitypical fulfillment of the wavesheaf in the resurrection of our Lord, the resurrection of all from the dead at His coming fulfills the celebration of the feast of tabernacles.

In like manner, the Day of Atonement has a special significance to those living in the last days of earth’s history. Whereas, Christ completed the atonement for our sin at the cross during the Passover, Yom Kippur typifies the consummation of that atonement in the final judgment and restoration of the earth.

Fall Feasts:
1. Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)
2. Atonement (Yom Kippur)
3. Tabernacles (Sukkot)

Let’s diagram the parallel meanings of the Jewish feasts:

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND THE SABBATH

Closely related to the Adventist teaching on the judgment is the importance given to the Sabbath. Dr. Jon Paulien, Adventist New Testament scholars, concludes:

“The cumulative evidence is so strong that an interpreter could conclude that there is no direct allusion to the Old Testament in Revelation that is more certain than the allusion to the fourth commandment in Rev. 14:7. When the author of Revelation describes God’s final appeal to the human race…he does so in terms of a call to worship…”

Jon Paulien asserts that worship is clearly the central issue in the earth’s final history and he considers Revelation 14:6-7 to be the central appeal of the Apocalypse. He elaborates on 3 parallels of the verses with the Sabbath:

1. Verbal Parallels. The language of Revelation 14 makes an unmistakable reference to the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11).
2. Structural Parallels. The first table of the law is at the center of the Great Controversy. The context of Revelation 13 shows the beasts counterfeit The first 4 commandments of the Decalogue. The sea beast usurps worship from God (Revelation 13:4, 8). The land beast raises up an image to be worshipped (Revelation 13:14-15). The sea beast has the names of blasphemy written all over it (Revelation 13:1, 5, 6). Ancient covenants were stamped with a seal of ownership. The Decalogue follow the form of these covenants with the seal of ownership in the center: the Sabbath.
3. Thematic Parallels. The first tablet of the Ten Commandments contains 3 motivations for obedience. The first is salvation, “I brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2). The second is judgment, “…visiting the iniquity of fathers upon their children” (Exodus 20:5) The third is creation, “Worship Him who made…” (Exodus 20:11).The same 3 motivations occur in Revelation 14:6-7. Salvation in the “everlasting gospel.” Judgment in “the hour of His judgment…” Creation in the summons to “Worship Him who made…” The same motivations even come in the same order as they do in Exodus 20.

In Hebrews 4:1-2, the following warning and invitation is given:

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

It will be helpful to trace the theme of the Sabbath rest from the New Testament back into the Old Testament, rather than vice versa. After all, it is the New Testament that clarifies the Messianic implications of the Sabbath rest.

The two greatest events in all history are the creation of the world and the redemption of mankind. Each involved a divine week of work and a day of rest. Creation Week, which culminated in a perfect world (Genesis 1:31), was followed by man’s fall and God’s Curse on the world (Genesis 3:17). Passion Week, which culminated in the death and burial of the Maker of that perfect world, is followed by man’s restoration and the ultimate removal of God’s Curse from the world (Revelation 22:3). A Tree (Genesis 3:6) was the vehicle of man’s temptation and sin; another Tree (1 Peter 2:24) was the vehicle of man’s forgiveness and deliverance.

The record of Creation stresses repeatedly that the entire work of the creation and making of all things had been finished (Genesis 2:1-3). In like manner does John’s record stress repeatedly the finished work of Christ on the Cross.

As the finished creation was “very good,” so is our finished salvation. The salvation which Christ thus provided on the cross is “so great” (Hebrews 2:3) and “eternal” (Hebrews 5:9), and the hope thereof is “good” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Then, having finished the work of redemption, Christ rested on the seventh day, His body sleeping in death in Joseph’s tomb. He had died quickly, and the preparations for burial had been hurried (Luke 23:54-56), so that He could be buried before the Sabbath. As He had rested after finishing His work of Creation, so now He rested once again.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND THE END TIMES

After the French revolution took atheism in the public arena, liberalism gripped Christendom in the early 1800′s and reason held sway as the Bible was humanized. Doctrinal preaching was all but unheard of, and the second advent was held up to ridicule by the clergy. Amillennialism was affixed to papal abuses and could not make a dent in the religious crisis. Postmillennialism contemplated a human utopia and practically lost the expectancy of Christ’s return.

When Napoleon’s General Berthier took Pope Piuus VI as prisoner in 1798, renewed interest in Biblical prophecy was kindled and advent movements arose. Joseph Smith taught a regathering of Israel and put out the Book of Mormon in 1830—the same year John Darby was acclaimed as the leader of the Bretheren movement (precursor to dispensationalism). In 1831, William Miller began a group which proclaimed 1844 as the end of the world leading to the formation of Seventh-day Adventism. Judge Rutherford wrote “Comfort for the Jews” after succeeding Charles Russell who founded Millennial Dawnism, the root of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

All the above movements, except for the dispensationalists and the Millerites, espoused aberrant doctrines and were justifiably dismissed as cults by the Christian community. The 1844 Great Disappointment discredited Millerism and in an atmosphere of spiritual starvation, Dispensationalism seemed to be the only sound alternative left to remedy the dearth in scriptural teachings.

ADVENTISM AND DISPENSATIONALISM

The advent movements in Britain and America in the late 19th century revived widespread attention to premillennialism. John Darby led the dispensational British advent movement while William Miller guided the American counterpart. The Great Disappointment of 1844 discredited the Millerite movement. Thus, the Adventist millennial view is hardly acknowledged, if at all, in Christian circles and publications.

Meanwhile, Dwight L. Moody joined the dispensationalist camp. On John Darby’s death, C. I. Scofield took over the reins and made dispensationalism an integral part of the best-selling Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Swindoll, a very popular Evangelical writer and preacher even among Adventists, is chancellor of the Dallas Theological Seminary and is also a dispensationalist. Moody Bible Institute (MBI), Dallas Theological Seminary, the Scofield Reference Bible, and now The Left Behind series co-authored by Jerry Jenkins, chair of MBI Board of Trustees, are 4 major reasons why dispensational premillennialism is sweeping contemporary Christianity.

DISPENSATIONAL and ADVENTIST PARALLELS

• Both believe that the judgment of (for) the church will take place before God’s throne prior to the Second Advent.
• Both believe that there will be some sort of separation of the righteous and the wicked just before the great tribulation.
• Both believe that the second advent of Christ will be preceded by a short period of catastrophic stress and persecution.
• Both believe in the literal second coming of Christ to earth before the beginning of the millennium.
• Both believe in a real thousand-year millennium.
• Both believe in a second resurrection of the wicked and a final judgment at the end of the millennium.
• Both believe that the new earth will be the eternal home of the saved.

Historic premillennialism’s chief proponent was the late George Eldon Ladd, a leading New Testament scholar of our time. He is closest to the Adventist millennial scheme. The only difference is his placement of the millennial reign of Christ, i.e. on earth. Immersed in dispensationalism for years before abandoning the position in favor of historic premillennialism, he has unknowingly become the most influential apologist for the Adventist historic premillennial position.

While the Bible staunchly advocates only one gospel, dispensationalism teaches 4 gospels as described on page 1343 of the Scofield Reference Bible: (1) The gospel of the kingdom – This is the good news that God will set up a political, Jewish and universal kingdom ruled by Jesus as the greater Son of David during the millennium; (2) The gospel of the grace of God – This is the good news that Jesus died, was buried, and that he rose again to save wholly apart from forms and ordinances; (3) The everlasting gospel – This is to be preached by Jews after the church is “secretly raptured” during the “tribulation.” It is the good news that those who are saved during the “tribulation” will enter the millennial reign of Christ; and (4) Paul’s gospel. This is the gospel of grace which has a fuller development than that preached by Christ and the apostles.

The word “millennium” is not a Biblical term but is used by Bible students for the thousand-year period mentioned six times in Revelation 20. The millennium chapter (Revelation 20) continues the Revelation 19 narrative which proclaims the marriage of the Lamb, the triumphant return of Christ and His victory over all of His enemies. The 19th chapter reveals Christ’s conquest of the beast and the false prophet. Chapter 20 details Christ’s destruction of the devil which occurs in two stages.

We share beliefs in the second advent, resurrection, end-time judgment, and a future new eternal order with Postmillennialists and Amillennialists. Unlike the earlier, we maintain that Revelation 19 is a narrative on the second advent which will occur before the millennium. In contrast with the latter, we hold that the events in Revelation are distinct episodes in the “end times” played out in the “great controversy” between Christ and Satan to consummate what Christ inaugurated in his life, death, and resurrection. Because we don’t subscribe to the immortality of the soul, we also deny their notion of disembodied martyrs reigning in heaven with Christ.

It is interesting that Amillennialists posits the reign of Christ in heaven. With our doctrines on soul-sleep, multi-phase judgments, the “scapegoat,” and eternal punishment (as opposed to unending fires of hell), the heavenly reign of saints with Christ during the millennium are our distinctives in eschatology.

Recognizing the centrality of the Cross of Christ, we should allow it to measure the validity of dispensationalism regardless of endorsements by renowned Bible teachers. No one who genuinely and consistently holds to the doctrine of righteousness by faith can be a dispensationalist for the following reasons:

1. Though dispensationalists deny the charge, it is difficult not to see different plans of salvation in their 7 dispensations of God’s entire program. An example of this different plans of salvation is found in the Scofield Bible (page 1115, note 2), “The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ…”
2. While the Holy Scriptures advocates only one gospel, dispensationalism teaches that there are 4 gospels described on page 1343 of the Scofield Reference Bible.
3. One of the central tenets of dispensationalism is that in the millennium, the Jewish temple will be rebuilt and the entire sacrificial system reinstituted. However, the millennial sacrifices will be a memorial to the sacrificial death of Jesus. This idea stands in direct opposition to the New Testament’s evident assertion that the Old Testament ceremonial system is obsolete.
4. The basic premise of Dispensationalism is two purposes of God expressed in the formation of two people who maintain their distinction throughout eternity. This contradicts the gospel claim that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the Promise” (Gal. 3:28-29).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND ADVENTIST BREAKAWAY GROUPS

Closely aligned to the Great Controversy model is Covenant theology which views God’s dealings with mankind in all of history under the structure of 3 overarching covenants — the covenants of redemption, of works, and of grace. As a framework for biblical interpretation, covenant theology stands in contrast to dispensationalism to the relationship between the Old Covenant with national Israel and the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.

please click the picture to enlarge it

In his book, “The Blessed Hope,” George Eldon Ladd traces the rise of dispensationalism and lists noted Bible scholars who left the dispensational movement after examining it against Scriptural data. Along with Ladd, they hold onto a position closest to Adventist eschatology differing only in the location of Christ’s millennial reign.

With respect to the theological status of modern day Jewish people, covenant theology is often referred to as “replacement theology” by its detractors, due to its teaching that God has abandoned the promises made to the Jews and has replaced the Jews with Christians as his chosen people in the earth.

The Christian church continues to wrestle with the continuity / discontinuity of the Old and New Testaments. The Reformed tradition camp (Covenant theology) and Dispensationalist school (Dispensational theology) have debated the issue for more than a century. A relatively new system entering the melee is New Covenant Theology (NCT) which attempts to strike a balance between Covenant Theology (CT) and Dispensationalism (Disp). Most breakaway Adventists admit that their decision was influenced by their defection to New Covenant Theology (NCT). Their denominational desertion is most pronounced in their new Sabbath view which teaches that Christ has replaced the Sabbath.

When David Newman was pastor of Damascus Grace Fellowship, he wrote:

“If I grow up with the subtle misunderstanding that Sabbath keeping is connected to my salvation, a prerequisite to my entering heaven, and then discover grace, that I am saved ONLY by what Jesus did for me at Calvary, I will suddenly have a very different view of the Sabbath. I will want to DISCARD IT, and I should, as a MEANS OF SALVATION. But the relief of discovering grace can be so overwhelming that it is quite possible to throw out blessings simply because we have previously seen them as HAVE TO’s or MUST’s or SHOULD’s.”

In a way, Adventist breakaway groups have thrown the proverbial baby with the bath water. In steering away from a legalistic Sabbath interpretation they’ve abandoned the Sabbath altogether.

Former Adventists who adhere to NCT make an unwarranted statement that gospel-centered Adventists wrongly interpret the Sabbath because of their “Adventist bias.” Worse, they even imply that Sabbath-keeping is legalism. However, if they avoid using traditional Adventism as a diversion in their arguments they might better perceive the shortcomings of NCT:

1. Exegetically, NCT forces a new law rather than a new placement of the law in their interpretation of the new covenant passages of the Bible.
2. Ethically, NCT inaccurately claims that Christ replaced the Moral Law rather than magnified it.
3. Canonically, NCT drives an artificial wedge between the Old and the New Testaments by espousing a revelational canon — the Old and New Testaments — and an ethical canon limited to the New Testament.
4. Historically, NCT fails to do justice to the Reformed confessional theology that upholds the validity of the Ten Commandments in our day.
5. Evangelically, NCT’s abrogation of the Moral Law compromises the gospel of Justification By Faith and limits the Biblical teaching on the covenants to the contrast between the Mosaic and the New Covenants. The Everlasting Covenant and the Covenant of Works God made with the two Adam’s are bypassed.

Biblical discussions however eloquent and/or keen and noble are no more than high-sounding fluff when devoid of the gospel of Christ. Subjecting New Covenant Theology to careful Biblical scrutiny in comparison with the Adventist Reformed position reveals how much more consistent the Adventist faith is to the gospel of Justification By Faith.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND INSPIRATION

The central theme of the Bible is Christ as emphatically reiterated by Ellen White:

Here’s a diagrammatic comparison of Christ the Living Incarnate Word and the Scriptures as the Living Written Word.

The Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology affirms the “inseparable union of the Divine and Human.” While recognizing “some minor transcriptional errors in Scripture,” it affirms the reliability of the Bible’s history and rejects the liberal attempt to question “the accuracy or veracity of numerous historical details in the biblical record.”

Adventism does not teach the mechanical view of verbal inspiration generally held by fundamentalists. This view of inspiration is neither fundamentalist nor liberal. It stands between the “right” and the “left.” While rejecting the naturalistic presuppositions of the historical-critical method of higher Biblical criticism, the historical-grammatical approach is advocated which incorporates the descriptive aspects of Biblical criticism.

Ellen White was instrumental in guiding Adventism to arrive at this position. She introduced the concept of thought inspiration when she wrote:

At the same time, she tenaciously held to the divine authority of the Bible:

Moreover, she was emphatic on the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures:

Does the Adventist claim that the gift of prophecy was manifested in the ministry of Ellen White negate her very high regard for the Bible? Adventism considers her to belong in the category of New Testament prophets who were given for “strengthening, encouragement, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). Unlike the Old Testament prophets, their utterances were discerned to be true or false based on the apostles’ teachings. Peter sees that the authority of the Old Testament prophets has been passed on to the New Testament apostles (2 Peter 3:2). The apostle Paul who was also a prophet defends his authority based on his apostleship (1 Corinthians 9:1; Galatians 1:11-12).

There are at least 3 things Ellen White says about her writings:

It is often said that Seventh-day Adventists, in practice if not in theory, put the writings of Mrs. White on a par with the Bible and even in place of the Bible. It is clear, however, that she did not encourage them to do this (EV 256-257).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE CROSS AND ELLEN G. WHITE

Arthur Patrick puts forth a case to consider Ellen White as an evangelical in Lucas with the following summary statement.

“Was Ellen White Evangelical? If to be Evangelical is to be motivated and restrained by a sense of faith and duty similar to Luther, Wesley and the Evangelical Party in Anglicanism, the answer must be yes. Her doctrine of Scripture, her analysis of the sinful nature of humankind, her idea of righteousness by faith, her methodical attempts to express the implications of the gospel in word and deed-all bear stronger testimony than do any countervailing factors” (Arthur Patrick Lucas n. 12, Dec 1991, page 48).

Without question, Ellen White’s regard for the centrality of Christ and His Cross can never be emphasized enough:

“Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law, and as revealed by the prophets, is the riches of the Old Testament. Christ in His life, His death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament. Our Saviour, the outshining of the Father’s glory, is both the Old and the New” (COL 126).

“The heart of the Advent message is Christ and Him crucified…let the world see and hear and know that the heart burden of Adventism is Christ and His salvation” (QOD 101-102).

“Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world” (GW 156).

“The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary” (GW 315 ).

“Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be given, without pointing the hearers to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Every true doctrine makes Christ the center, every precept receives force from His words” (6T 54).

“One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other, Christ our righteousness” (RH 12/23/1890).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Distinctive Adventist Doctrines] [Top]

THE GOSPEL AND CHRISTIAN COMMON DOCTRINES
(ADVENTISM: Cultic or Christian to the Core – Section 2)

REFORMED FAITH AND EVANGELICALISM

Luther never published a systematic theology because he believed that God and His Word are ultimately beyond human comprehension. The Swiss Reformers led by John Calvin organized and systematized Protestant theology. In the process, theology stemming from their works has been usually identified as “Reformed” while that emanating from Luther is called Lutheran or Evangelical. In common usage, Evangelical simply means Protestant as opposed to Roman Catholic. Reformed theology is normally equated with Calvinism.

Calvinism has summarized its position in the famous acronym TULIP, and this serves as a useful way to compare the Reformed and Lutheran theologies.

In Reformed and Evangelical churches and their many revivalist descendants, a great conflict continues between the Calvinists and Arminians over the tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. The two consistent positions are named after French theologian John Calvin (1509-1564) and the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609). Calvinism emphasizes divine sovereignty while Arminianism focuses on human responsibility.

Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, some Episcopalians, and many Baptists hold to the Calvinist position, while Methodists, Holiness churches (Nazarene, etc.), Assemblies of God, many Episcopalians and many Baptists hold to the Arminian position.

If the cultic branding of Adventists is to be debunked, an effective method would be to start with common ground. This calls for understanding the Scriptural interpretations of both sides. The issue involves the paradox between the Biblical teachings on divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

Calvinists come from the divine sovereignty angle while Arminians stress human responsibility. As in all theological polarities, there are extremes. Extreme Calvinism puts too much emphasis on divine sovereignty to the exclusion of human responsibility. Arminianism in the deep end, advocates human free will and responsibility at the expense of divine sovereignty.

Questions and Doctrine, pp. 405-406, states:

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is neither Calvinist nor totally Arminian in theology. Recognizing the virtues of each, we have endeavored to assimilate that which to us appears to be the clear teaching of the Word of God. While we believe John Calvin was one of the greatest of the Protestant Reformers, we do not share his view that some men “are predestinated to eternal death without any demerit of their own, merely by his sovereign will” (Calvin, Institutes, bk. 3, ch. 23, par. 2). Or that men “are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others” (Ibid, bk. 3, ch. 21, par. 5).

However, QOD stopped short of telling exactly what that Adventist assimilation is. Dr. Walter Martin, a major influence in the writing of QOD, calls himself a CALMINIAN. John Wesley, father of Methodism, was more closely aligned to Arminianism. A host of Adventist theologians, including Ellen White, identifies with the Wesleyan perspectives on salvation. Thus, we are considered Arminians in the Evangelical community. However, as stated above such an impression is not completely true.

To diffuse the heated conflict between the 2 flowers above, another flower(s) has been introduced, i.e. ROSES comprehensively explained in 2 books: “Amazing Grace” by Reformed theologian Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School and executive editor of Christianity Today, calls it a SOFTENED CALVINISM; and “Salvation and Sovereignty” by the staunch spokesperson for the Society of Evangelical Arminians Keneth Keathley, dean of the graduate studies of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, labels it as WESLEYAN-ARMINIAN MOLINISM (taken from the teaching of Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina who introduced middle knowledge during the counter reformation). Here’s the breakdown of the ROSES acronym:

The ROSES acronym avoids extreme positions and both divine sovereignty and human responsibility are kept in proper tension. The Bible teaches that we have been chosen by God since the foundation of the world. It also declares that the Holy Spirit enables us to freely respond to His grace. It’s amazing how much commonalities the 2 above authors, one a Calvinist and the other an Arminian, arrived at in their respective books. Surrendering reason in faith to this profound Biblical paradox will lead to better dialog among Christians and a more awesome picture of God’s grace.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

COMMON AND DISTINCTIVE CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS

The word doctrine comes from the Greek word didache: “teaching.” A doctrine is a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative. It is the “content of teaching intended to be accepted as truth.”

In most religions, certain doctrines are considered essential to the belief system. These central, or key doctrines form the primary basis of the belief system. Denial of one or more of these essential doctrines would compromise the religion. Someone who denies one or more central doctrines would therefore not be accepted as a genuine follower of that faith.

In Christianity, the term orthodoxy refers to “The body of essential biblical teachings. Those who embrace them are considered Christians.” The opposite of orthodoxy is heresy, “doctrine which is abberant in such a way that Christians must sever themselves from all who teach or advocate it.” Individuals who claim to be Christians but reject one of more central doctrines of the Christian faith are considered heretics. Religious Groups which reject one or more essential doctrines while claiming to represent Christianity, are considered to be cults.

However, faith and love must always be kept in proper tension. No one has put it better than Richard Baxter:

“In essentials unity;
in non-essentials liberty;
in all things charity.”

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) graphically presents the essential Christian doctrines as follows:

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

VIEWS OF SANCTIFICATION

Though Evangelicals have unanimity when it comes to Justification By Faith, they have four varying views of sanctification:

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS

Worldwide, Christians are divided, into separate churches and traditions. Over half of Christians in the world are Catholics. Protestants make up 40% of the Christian population. Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, and other denominations compose Western Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy, largely Greek and Russian, and the much smaller Oriental Orthodoxy, along with the Mar Toma churches and the Assyrian Church of the East are considered Eastern Christianity. Anglicanism was generally classified as Protestant, but since the “Tractarian” or Oxford Movement of the 19th century, led by John Henry Newman, Anglican writers emphasize a more catholic understanding of the church and characterize it as more properly understood as its own tradition — a via media (“middle way”), both Protestant and Catholic.

Diagram showing derivation of major branches of Christianity:

• Eastern Christianity
  • Eastern Orthodox Church
  • Oriental Orthodoxy
  • Assyrian Church of the East
• Catholic Christianity
  • Latin Rite (Western Rite or Roman Catholic)
  • Eastern Catholic Churches
• Western Christianity
  • Protestantism
  • Anglicanism
  • Restorationism (note that Restorationist groups are quite diverse, and share little in common other than a belief in the inauthenticity of other traditions)

Both the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to faithfully represent the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Protestants separated from the Catholic Church theologies and practices that they considered not based on Scriptural Christian doctrine. Members of the various denominations in Protestantism acknowledge each other as Christians to the extent that they share historically orthodox views. Since the Vatican II reforms, the Catholic Church has referred to Protestant communities as denominations, while reserving the term “church” for apostolic churches, including the Eastern Orthodox.

Unlike the other branches (Roman Catholicism, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, the Assyrians, and Anglicans), Protestantism is a general movement that has no internal governing structure. As such, diverse groups such as Adventists, Anabaptists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Reformed, Pentecostals, and Restorationists (depending on one’s classification scheme) are all a part of the same family, and with further doctrinal variations within each group. The largest number of new churches and denominations have come from Protestantism in its first four hundred years, compared to the millennium and a half prior in all of Christendom.

Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism are the three major divisions of Christianity in the Western world. However, Catholics do not describe themselves as a denomination but rather as the original Holy and Universal Church; which all others branched off from, as do some Anglicans. The Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran churches are generally considered to be Protestant denominations, although strictly speaking, of these three, the Lutheran denomination, is the only one of these founded as a “protest” against Roman Catholicism.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Evangelicals find unity in the common faith but not in eschatology, the study of the last things. Since the major thrust of eschatology deal with the future, various prophetic camps pervade contemporary Christendom. Key to the study of the last things is an understanding of the “millennium,” the 1,000 years of Revelation 20.

There are 3 general views of the millennium among Christians:

1. Amillennialism - denies a literal millennium and treats the thousand-year period in Revelation 20 as the present reign of dead believers with Christ in heaven.
2. POSTmillennialism – puts the second advent after a millennium of peace where evil is reduced to a minimum due to a heightened moral influence of Christians on society.
   Reformed and Lutheran Christians are generally amillennialists or postmillennialists.
3. PREmillennialism – subscribes to Christ’s return which will occur before the millennium. This view has two major streams: the DISPENSATIONAL most popular among Evangelicals and the HISTORIC held predominantly by Seventh-day Adventists.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Gospel and Christian Common Doctrines] [Top]

THE CENTRALITY OF THE GOSPEL
(ADVENTISM: Cultic or Christian to the Core – Section 1)

OVERVIEW OF RELIGIONS

We can summarize the characteristics of religions in terms of its subscription to ultimate authority and its stance on salvation or eternal life. Here’s a diagram of all religions with respect to those two tenets:

Non-Christian religions were founded by spiritual guru(s) and / or philosopher(s) and they are sustained and practiced by the philosophies of their founder(s). For example, Buddhists are atheistic but they follow the Eightfold Path of Gautama Buddha that leads to Nirvana. At the heart of every pagan religion is the belief that salvation or eternity can be gained through human effort be it ascetic rituals or a series of reincarnations or purifications.

The line of demarcation between Catholicism and Protestantism was drawn by the Scriptural proclamations of the Reformation. Church traditions continue to be the basis of Catholic authority and Catholics persistently believe that they can earn salvation through the sacraments.

Protestantism can roughly be classified into 3 categories: Evangelical, Liberal and Cultic. The Evangelical wing has preserved the war cries of the Reformers, remaining true to Scriptural authority and Justification By Faith. The religious freedom made available by the Reformation reared two other branches of Protestantism. One is the Liberal school where human reason displaces the primacy of Biblical mandate and salvation is reduced to the betterment of society.
The second is the cultic segment which is driven by the teachings and Scriptural interpretations of founder(s) and salvation is assured by religious affiliation(s).

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

PERCEPTIONS OF ADVENTISM

Where does Adventism belong in the grid? We are definitely under the Protestant umbrella but are we evangelical, liberal, or cultic?

The Wikipedia states:

“Adventism is a Christian movement… started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites. Today, the largest church within the movement is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Adventist family of churches are regarded today as conservative Protestants” (Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 12th edition. Nashville: Abingdon Press).

The Christian Research Institute (CRI), Evangelical watchdog of cults, the comments of its late founder Walter Martin:

“It is our position that the evaluation given by Barnhouse and Martin still stands for that segment of Adventism which holds to the position stated in Questions On Doctrine…Though some within this group hold to doctrines which are not part of the evangelical mainstream, they do affirm the foundational doctrines of historic Christianity, particularly the Pauline or Reformation understanding of justification by grace through faith alone (Rom. 3-4). To this group, however many still remain, we extend a hand of fellowship and encouragement…”

Even so, these sympathetic descriptions are few. Instead, a number of Christian organizations flatly label Seventh-day Adventism as a cult. For example, here’s the answer of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) to the question,

“Does CARM recommend the Seventh-day Adventist Church?”

“No, CARM does not recommend attending the Seventh-day Adventist church. There are too many problems within Seventh-day
Adventism to recommend it as a safe church. Though there are Seventh-day Adventist groups that are within orthodoxy, there are too many of them that are not.”

In the same vein, publishers of Apologetics Index asserts:

“Seventh-day Adventism’s doctrines span the range from orthodox through aberrant, heterodox, sub-orthodox and heretical. For this reason, the publishers of Apologetics Index advise Christians not to get involved in Seventh-day Adventism, and urges those who are already part of the SDA church to instead seek out a church that teaches sound, biblical theology.”

Dan Day, in his insightful book “A Guide to Marketing Adventism,” points out three contrasting perceptions of Adventism:

1. SABBATH AS CORE. Everything else in the church is subsidiary to the Sabbath. It is the focus of our beliefs and practices. Everything else, in this view, is peripheral to the Sabbath, including the gospel of Jesus Christ. The core of Adventism is the Sabbath.

2. A CLUSTER OF BELIEFS AS CORE. The Sabbath is one of a cluster of beliefs that lie at the core of Adventism. The other members of Adventism’s “Big Five”—the second coming of Christ, the sanctuary teaching, the state of the dead, and spiritual gifts—are also given equal billing with the Sabbath, along with the gospel and church standards. Outside this central cluster are other beliefs of less standing, such as baptism, tithing, and creationism.

THE GOSPEL AS CORE. The gospel of Jesus Christ is shown at the center, with various doctrinal issues circling around it, at equidistant orbits, suggesting no judgment as to
priority between them. This is clearly a gospel-oriented model.

Dan Day further comments:

“In my opinion (perception) 1 represents an extremely cultic proposition … one from which we must distance ourselves if we’re to be perceived as legitimate members of the Christian family…

The problem with “Jesus and …” (perception 2) perspectives is that
they confuse us. Our focus becomes foggy. And after a while, our
commitment begins to waver, and the clarity of our faith begins to be
distorted…

I’m convinced many contemporary Adventists generally hold this view
(perception 3). In many ways, it parallels my own. However, it is not
the way we are typically perceived.”

Before outlining the above perceptions, Day qualifies, “Now, it would be easy to miss the point here. I am writing about perception, not reality — how we appear to be, not how we feel in our hearts we actually are.”

The question remains: “Is Adventism cultic or Christian to the core?” Some related queries are: “Is there a difference between Adventists and Adventism?” As Adventists, do we have a right understanding of Adventism? How much does this understanding influence our cultic perception by some Christians? Is that cultic perception only apparent but not real?

These series of learning sessions will attempt to answer these questions. In the process, it will seek to prove that Adventism is not cultic but Christian to the core. With much prayer, we hope that participants will leave with the passion to proclaim the Adventist distinctive beliefs in the light of the Cross of Christ. With such commitment, we hope we all can play a part in flooding the world with the glorious grace of God in the gospel of Christ. Then, He can come back and take us home where we can worship Him forever.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

CHRIST AT THE CENTER

A Hindu once asked Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India, “What has Christianity to offer that our religion has not?” He replied, “Jesus Christ.”

Christ made astounding claims about Himself, claims that just weren’t those of a mere human teacher. No other religious teacher made such claims. Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.), founder of Buddhism, a religion which has influenced perhaps half of the human race, believed that he had remarkable teachings to offer men, but he never instructed anyone to worship him.

Confucius (551-479 B.C.), the first and greatest Chinese philosopher, with charming humility declared: “How dare I lay claim to holiness or love? A man of endless craving, who never tires teaching, I might be called, but nothing more.”

Mohammed (A.D. 570-632), the Arabian prophet and founder of Islam, laid claim to no special significance for himself. He said he was just a man like other men. An old tradition has him say: “Praise me not as Jesus the Son of Mary is praised.”

Indeed, the most important thing about Buddhism is not Gautama the Buddha, but his teachings. Muslims reject the title Mohammedanism,” for Mohammed is thought to be only a carrier of the truth and not divine in any way. The same can be said of Confucianism, Hinduism, Shinto, and other non-Christian religions. The significant feature about the Christian faith, however, is not the Sermon on the Mount—as great as it may be—but the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity (Christendom, the Christian faith) is because Christ is.

Christ not only proclaimed truth, He claimed He is the Truth. Christ not only showed the way to God, He claimed He is the only Way to the Father. Christ not only promised life to His followers, He claimed that He is Life. In his thought-provoking book “Christ Among Other Gods,” Dr. Erwin Lutzer elaborates these points as follows:

During the Russian revolution, Lenin promised that if Communism were implemented there would be bread for every household, yet he did not have the nerve to say, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall never  hunger…” Hitler claimed he would produce a powerful super human race, a reich that will last a thousand years, yet he never said, “Without me you can do nothing.”

Buddha taught enlightenment yet he died seeking more light. He could not say, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Mohammed claimed that he and his tribes were descendants of Abraham but he did not say, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Sigmund Freud believed that psychotherapy would heal people’s emotional and spiritual pains. But he could not say, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful…for I have overcome the world.”

New Age gurus say that all of us will be reincarnated, yet not one of them can claim, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

Take a superficial look at Christ and other gods and you might think there are similarities. Take a closer look and you will discover that they are separated by an unbridgeable chasm. Christ has little in common with other teachers, prophets, Swamis, and gurus. It is not just that He is greater than others; in His presence they all disappear into insignificance!

The classic literary piece “The Incomparable Christ” ends with:

“The names of the past, proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone. But the name of this Man multiplies more and more. Though time has spread two thousand years between the people of this generation and the mockers at His crucifixion, He still lives. His enemies could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him. He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the risen, personal Christ, our Lord and Savior.”

Apostle Paul’s timeless declaration confirms the above:

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. (Ephesians 1:20-21 NRSV)

Our space-time continuum converges in Christ—in the cultures of both geological hemispheres and the chronological divide of human history. Even with the secular measures to replace the time reckoning B.C. – A.D. (Before Christ and Anno Domini) with B.C.E. – C.E. (Before Common Era and Common Era), the question remains, “What demarcates the two eras?” In the midst of polytheistic religious tolerance, the inescapable answer is Christ.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

ONE SOLITARY LIFE

This is poem about the life of Christ is attributed to James Allen Francis.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant.
He grew up in another village, where he worked in a
carpenter’s shop until he was 30.
Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a home.
He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city.
He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him.
His friends ran away. One of them denied him.
He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments,
the only property he had on earth.
When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone,
and today he is the central figure of the human race.
I am well within the mark when I say that
all the armies that ever marched,
all the navies that ever sailed,
all the parliaments that ever sat,
all the kings that ever reigned—put together
–have not affected the life of man on this earth
as much as that ONE, SOLITARY LIFE.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

THE CHRIST EVENT

New Testament stalwart J. Gresham Machen described the uniqueness of Christianity in the following words:

“All the ideas of Christianity might be discovered in some other religion, yet there should be in that other religion no Christianity. For Christianity depends, not upon a complex of ideas, but upon the narration of an event.”

This event, Apostle Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you…For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to Scriptures…” (1 Cor. 15:2-4)

The Christ Event is the gospel, the central testimony of the Scriptures.

“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”  (John 5:39, 40)

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
(Rom. 3:21, 22)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the Salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16, 17)

Let’s outline the progression of thoughts in the preceding Biblical texts:

1. All the Scriptures point to Christ.  (Luke 24:27)
2. The Scriptures testify about Christ that we can come to Him and have life.  (John 5:39, 40)
3. The Christ-centered Scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) testify to the righteousness of God that comes through faith to all who believe.  (Romans 3:21, 22)
4. The gospel of Justification By Faith is the Christ Event: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Following is a diagrammatic form of Christ-centeredness according to the testimony of the Scriptures:

CHRIST-CENTERED
means
GOSPEL-CENTERED
means
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH-CENTERED

The Christ Event is His sinless life and vicarious death. His sinless life provides a perfect righteousness to those who put their faith in Him and gives them right standing before God. His vicarious death paid the infinite penalty of sin and provides forgiveness to all who will accept Him as Savior.

The gospel is at the very core of Christian confession and conduct.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

THE HEART OF ADVENTISM

In like manner, at the very heart of Adventism is the Christ Event:

“The heart of the Advent message is Christ and Him crucified…let the world see and hear and know that the heart burden of Adventism is Christ and His salvation.” (QOD 101-102)

“Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world…The great center of attraction, Christ Jesus, must not be left out. It is at the cross of Christ that mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other.—” (GW 156)

“Lift up Jesus, you that teach the people, lift Him up in sermon, in song, in prayer. Let all your powers be directed to pointing souls, confused, bewildered, lost, to “the Lamb of God”…Let the science of salvation be the burden of every sermon, the theme of every song. Let it be poured forth in every supplication. Bring nothing into your preaching to supplement Christ, the wisdom and power of God.” (GW 156)

“The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ.” (TM 92)

Christ and His righteousness–let this be our platform, the very life of our faith. (RH 08/31/1905) “Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended high, is the science of salvation that we are to learn and to teach.” (8T 287)

“The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary.” (GW 315 )

“Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be given, without pointing the hearers to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Every true doctrine makes Christ the center, every precept receives force from His words.” (6T 54)

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

The doctrine of Justification By Faith is so pivotal to the Christian faith that the apostle Paul proclaimed a curse on anyone who would pervert it in his epistle to the Galatians:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1:6-9)

Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, called Justification By Faith “the article upon which the church stands or falls” and wrote:

“This doctrine [Justification By Faith] is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour…. For no one who does not hold this article – or, to use Paul’s expression, this ‘sound doctrine’ (Titus 2:1) – is able to teach aright in the church or successfully to resist any adversary . . . this is the heel of the Seed that opposes the old serpent and crushes its head. That is why Satan, in turn, cannot but persecute it.”

Luther further points out the centrality of Justification By Faith:

“This doctrine can never be urged and taught enough. If this doctrine is overthrown or disappears, then all knowledge of the truth is lost at the same time. If this doctrine flourishes, then all good things flourish, religion, true worship, the glory of God, and the right knowledge of all conditions of life and of all things?”

Ellen White herself was most emphatic on the same centrality:

“One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other, Christ our righteousness.” (RH 12/23/1890)

“Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of Justification By Faith is the third angel’s message, and I have answered, “It is the third angel’s message in verity.” (Ev 190)

The most comprehensive New Testament passage on Justification By Faith is Romans 5:12-21 which contrasts the two Adams in the Bible:

“12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned– 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In order for a sinner to be accepted by a Holy God, it is necessary for him to fulfill the law perfectly, both as penalty and precept. Two problems must then be resolved:

• First, the penalty due for sin must be paid in full. God’s nature and law requires satisfaction for all disobedience.
• Second, God requires of all men a perfect obedience.

Justification of the sinner comprises not only pardon, but also a title to perfection. The former is related to Christ’s passive righteousness, the latter to his active. Christ’s substitutionary death saves the believing sinner from the punishment which the law exacts, and Christ’s perfect obedience establishes for him a right to the reward which the law promises.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

TWO ASPECTS OF SALVATION

The gospel is the good news that Jesus did what we cannot do for ourselves. This makes the gospel very different from other religions. As someone has said:

Religion says, “Attain”, the gospel says “Obtain.”
Religion says, “Attempt”, the gospel says, “Accept.”
Religion says, “Try”; the gospel says, “Trust.”
Religion says “Do this;” the gospel says, “It is done.”

Therefore, Justification By Faith is God’s act of salvation in Christ and has nothing to do with man’s act. However, there are 2 aspects of salvation:

In the chart of the stories of Creation and Sin are blocks for “BASIS” (position or cause) and “OUTCOME” (experience or result). The gospel is the “BASIS” quadrant while our response to the gospel is the “OUTCOME.” Note that in the Christ Event, both aspects of salvation merge.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

ARE YOU CATHOLIC OR PROTESTANT?

Do you have a Catholic or Protestant view of salvation? Test yourself and see. Evaluate each of the following ten paired statements and mark the one that you think best states a Protestant doctrinal position.

(1a) God gives a man right standing with Himself by mercifully accounting him innocent and virtuous.
(1b) God gives a man right standing with Himself by actually making him into an innocent and virtuous person.

(2a) God gives a man right standing with Himself by placing Christ’s goodness and virtue to his credit.
(2b) God gives a man right standing with Himself by putting Christ’s goodness and virtue into his heart.

(3a) God accepts the believer because of the moral excellence found in Jesus Christ.
(3b) God makes the believer acceptable by infusing Christ’s moral excellence into his life.

(4a) If a sinner becomes “born-again” (the regenerating, transforming process of character), he will achieve right standing with God.
(4b) If the sinner is granted right standing with God through faith (“born-again”), he will then experience transformation of character.

(5a) We receive right standing with God by faith alone.
(5b) We receive right standing with God by faith which has become active by love.

(6a) We achieve right standing with God by having Christ live out His life of obedience in us.
(6b) We achieve right standing with God by accepting the fact that He obeyed the law perfectly for us.

(7a) We achieve right standing with God by following Christ’s example by the help of His enabling grace.
(7b) We follow Christ’s example because His life has given us right standing with God.

(8a) God first pronounces that we are good in His sight, then gives us His Spirit to make us good.
(8b) God sends His Spirit to make us good, and then He will pronounce that we are good.

(9a) Christ’s finished work on the cross and intercession at God’s right hand gives us favor in the sight of God.
(9b) It is the indwelling Christ that gives us favor in God’s sight.

(10a) Only by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness through faith can we fully satisfy the claims of the Ten Commandments.
(10b) By the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can fully satisfy the claims of the Ten Commandments.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

DECIPHERING THE DISTINCTION

Historically, Roman Catholicism has always taught that we are saved by grace, and grace alone. They emphasize that very strongly. The 16th century Council of Trent makes this point very clear (The Council of Trent was a general council of the Roman Catholic Church. Its sixth session, January, 1547, met to define the Catholic doctrine of justification. The council issued a series of thirty canons on justification. Following are three of them).

Canon 1. If anyone says that man can be justified before God by his own works, whether done by his own natural powers or through the teaching of the law, without divine grace through Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.

Canon 3. If anyone says that without the predisposing inspiration of the Holy Ghost and without His help, man can believe, hope, love or be repentant as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be bestowed upon him, let him be anathema.

Canon 11. If anyone says that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and remains in them, or also that the grace by which we are justified is only the good will of God, let him be anathema

The council also decreed that Christ merited our justification by His death on the cross, and also that “none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. For, if by grace, it is not now by works, otherwise, as the Apostle says, grace is no more grace.”

The two basic impressions of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines are:

1. The Biblical aberrations and religious rituals she espouses that stems from her blending of pagan and Christian traditions, and
2. The doctrine of salvation by works she mandates. This second notion is more pronounced as it is physically displayed by Catholic flagellates during the Lent season every year. It seems that the fundamental difference between a Catholic and a Protestant is that a Catholic penitently works to be saved and a Protestant kept the commandments of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to be assured of salvation.

The first perception can prove valid but the second is inaccurate.

A Doctrinal Catechism by Stephen Keenan

Q. What is justification?
A. It is a grace which makes us friends of God.

Q. Can a sinner merit this justifying grace?
A. No, he cannot; because all the good works which the sinner performs whilst he is in a state of mortal sin, are dead works, which have no merit sufficient to justify.

Q. Is it an article of the Catholic faith, that the sinner, in mortal sin, cannot merit the grace of justification?
A. Yes; it is decreed in the seventh chapter of the sixth session of the Council of Trent, that neither faith, nor good works, preceding justification, can merit the grace of justification.

Q. How then is the sinner justified?
A. He is justified gratuitously by the pure mercy of God, not on account of his own or any human merit, but purely through the merits of Jesus Christ; for Jesus Christ is our only mediator of redemption, who alone, by his passion and death, has reconciled us to his Father.

Q. Why then do Protestants charge us with believing, that the sinner can merit the remission of his sins?
A. Their ignorance of the Catholic doctrine is the cause of this, as well as many other false charges. -pp.138, 139.

Catholicism in no way subscribes to salvation by sheer works. Her tenet of being justified depends on man cooperating with God while empowered by the Holy Spirit, to merit eternal life through “infused grace” in the sacraments. The focus is God’s work IN US and not God’s work OUTSIDE OF US in Christ.

Lutheran Bible commentator Todd Wilken succinctly stated: “If my Justification depends on my moral improvement throughout life, if grace is a power God gives me to cooperate in my salvation, if faith includes my works, then the work of Jesus Christ is insufficient to save me. It’s this simple: if you get Justification wrong, you get the Gospel wrong. And a wrong Gospel can’t save sinners. This was the whole reason for the Reformation.”

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

LAW AND GOSPEL

The reformers used a Biblical motif to ensure Justification By Faith occupied its central position, i.e. the proper distinction between the Law and the Gospel. In his sermon of Galatians, Martin Luther asserted:

“This difference between the Law and the Gospel is the height of knowledge in Christendom. Every person and all persons who assume or glory in the name of Christian should know and be able to state this difference. If this ability is lacking, one cannot tell a Christian from a heathen or a Jew; of such supreme importance is this differentiation. This is why St. Paul so strongly insists on a clean-cut and proper differentiating of these two doctrines.”

By the proper distinction between the Law and the Gospel the centrality of Justification By Faith is maintained. Any other emphasis leads only to bitter controversy and tragic confusion. Luther adds, “Hence, whoever knows well this art of distinguishing between Law and Gospel, him place at the head and call him a doctor of Holy Scripture.” This principle is foundational to sound Biblical interpretation.

To use an analogy: If we compare doctrine to a wheel in which all of the doctrines are spokes radiating from the central doctrine of justification, then the distinction between Law and Gospel may be described as the rim which holds each spoke in place and keeps it oriented to the center.

Most if not all deviations from Biblical truth, comes from a faulty view of the relationship between law and gospel. Church history may be seen as a struggle to keep law and gospel in proper tension. When the law is emphasized so as to eclipse the glory of the gospel, the church falls under the bondage of legalism. When the gospel is preached so as to undermine the authority of the law, the church falls into the heresy of antinomianism.

The LAW is not legalism. Legalism is the wrong use of the LAW, The GOSPEL is not cheap grace. Cheap Grace is the incorrect application of the GOSPEL. Simply put, legalism is a GOSPEL-less law while antinomianism (cheap grace) is a LAW-less gospel. The following flow describes the distinction between the LAW and the GOSPEL (CHRIST).

Only in the central truth of Justification By Faith do we find law and gospel preserved in proper tension. We may liken the truth of Justification By Faith to the straight and narrow path, high and lifted up above the dark valleys of error. There are two ways to fall off the path. On one side is the precipice of legalism; on the other side is the chasm of antinomianism.

Moreover, the Reformers saw three uses of the LAW in the Scriptures:

1. PRESERVING (Political) – restrains outward expression of sin to preserve life (Romans 2:14, 15)
2. TEACHING (Pedagogical) – exposes sin and the need of a Savior (Romans 7:7; Galatians 3:24)
3. GUIDING (Normative) – provides an infallible rule of practice (Romans 7:10, 22)

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

REFORMATION SLOGANS

The Protestant Reformation was epitomized by five slogans, five Latin phrases that embodied the principles and convictions for which it stood: The Latin word sola or solus or soli means “alone” or “only” and emphasized the singularity of each component of the Reformation’s essential principles.

Sola scriptura is the teaching that the Bible alone is our only authority for faith (what we believe) and conduct (how we live). “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness: so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Solus Christus is the teaching that it is in Christ’s perfect life and substitutionary death alone that we have salvation. Through Him and Him alone, we have the forgiveness of our sins and are declared righteous before God. “For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Sola Gratia is the teaching that salvation is a gift from God and is all of grace and grace alone. “(He) who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Sola Fide is the teaching that faith alone is the instrument of our salvation. Salvation is not by works; it is by faith, that is, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even saving faith is a gift of God’s grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Soli Deo Gloria is the teaching that all glory is to be due to God alone, since salvation is accomplished solely through His will and action. All of life is to be lived to the glory of God in contrast to the monastic division of life into sacred versus secular. “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

NOTHING BUT THE GOSPEL

The cry of the Reformation was not simply FAITH!, GRACE!, CHRIST!, THE SCRIPTURE!, or THE GLORY OF GOD! Instead, the cry was FAITH ALONE!, GRACE ALONE!, CHRIST ALONE!, SCRIPTURE ALONE!, THE GLORY OF GOD ALONE! These were exclusive claims that affected how they viewed the Gospel:

1. One can ACCEPT but NOT EARN the gospel. The gospel is the gift of God’s grace in Christ. We can accept it but we can never earn it; otherwise, it ceases to be a gift.
2. One can BELIEVE but NOT EXPERIENCE the gospel. The gospel is the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We can believe in His righteousness and sacrifice but we cannot experience it since it is the experience of Christ and not ours.
3. One can CENTRALIZE but NOT EXTEND the gospel. The gospel is the hub of the Bible. We can centralize it but we cannot extend it to mean other doctrines. The Sabbath is not the gospel. Neither is the state of the dead, the second coming, nor the new birth. We can, however, understand and teach the preceding tenets as they are connected or related to the gospel.
4. One can DECLARE but NOT EXHORT the gospel. The gospel is the “good news” of salvation in Christ. We can declare it but we cannot exhort it. The Bible contains an abundance of exhortations but they are not the gospel. The only valid impetus for heeding them is the gospel but again, they are not the gospel.

[back to the Table Of Contents - The Centrality of the Gospel] [Top]

Central Luzon Conference & LL7 Sola Scriptura Ministries

Presents

A Cross-Centered Boot Camp for Adventist Evangelists

SYLLABUS

“Present the truth as it is in Jesus, making plain the requirements of the law and the gospel. Present Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, and tell of His power to save all who come to Him.” (GW 154)

“The heart of the Advent message is Christ and Him crucified…let the world see and hear and know that the heart burden of Adventism is Christ and His salvation.” (QOD 101-102)

“Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world” (GW 156)

“The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ.” (TM 92)

“The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary.” (GW 315 )

“Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be given, without pointing the hearers to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Every true doctrine makes Christ the center, every precept receives force from His words.” (6T 54)

“One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other, Christ our righteousness.”
(RH 12/23/1890)

“Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of Justification By Faith is the third angel’s message, and I have answered, “It is the third angel’s message in verity.” (Ev 190)

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

THE CENTRALITY OF THE GOSPEL

• Overview of Religions
• Perceptions of Adventism
• Christ at the Center
• One Solitary Life
• The Christ Event
• The Heart of Adventism
• Justification By Faith
• The Story of Creation, Sin and Death, and Salvation
• Two Aspects of Salvation
• Are You Catholic or Protestant?
• Deciphering the Distinction
• Seven Roman Catholic Sacraments
• Law and Gospel
• Reformation Slogans
• Nothing but the Gospel

THE GOSPEL AND CHRISTIAN COMMON DOCTRINES

• Reformed Faith and Evangelicalism
• Common and Distinctive Christian Teachings
• Essential Christian Doctrines
• Views of Sanctification
• Christian Denominations
• Millennial Views

THE GOSPEL AND DISTINCTIVE ADVENTIST DOCTRINES

• Adventist Fundamental Beliefs
• The Cross and The Great Controversy Theme
• The Cross and The Identity of Michael The Archangel
• The Cross and The Holistic View of Man
• The Cross and Annihilationism
• The Cross and The Judgment
• The Cross and The Sabbath
• The Cross and The End Times
• The Cross and Adventist Breakaway Groups
• The Cross and Inspiration
• The Cross and Ellen G White

Then suddenly, the entire country erupted into victorious jubilation.  Manny Pacquiao, their “national fist,” earned an unprecedented 8^th world boxing title in 8 weight classes. He entered the boxing ring bringing the Philippines into a standstill and once more, he did not fail to deliver. He is now considered globally as the greatest fighter of this generation, if not of all time, in boxing history.

Yet, what strikes me most about Pacquiao’s global impact is the spiritual image he exudes.  This was evident in the ad Nike used in launching a media blitz before Pacquiao squared off with Oscar De La Hoya, the world’s most popular boxer before he suffered defeat in the hands of Pacquiao. In contrast with an action-packed, high-energy motif, Pacquiao is pictured kneeling at the corner of a boxing ring with the caption GIVE US THIS DAY.

What an image!  The leading international sports corporation just portrayed one of the world’s toughest and most intense athletes solemnly praying in a marketing poster.  Nike wrapped its battle cry slogan with the deep religiosity of the boxing king.  In effect, Nike was sounding a clarion call, “BEND YOUR KNEES TO GOD!  JUST DO IT!”

Indeed, man’s highest triumphs however spectacular, is only temporal but God is eternal!  This reality must have been in the back of Pacquiao’s mind when he expressed his desire to continue his college studies and graduate, “Boxing is different, it’s not for life.”  The Goliath-slayer David, with whom Pacquiao has been identified, declared: “All who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.” (Psalms 22:29 NIV)  “All nations — and you made each one — will come and bow before you, Lord;…You alone are God.” (Psalms 86:9-10 NLT)

For a moment, imagine that we are all in a huge hall.  The door opens and Oprah Winfrey enters.  We all applaud in recognition of a celebrity.  Then, President Obama enters.  We all stand in deference to a dignitary.  Shortly thereafter, “Pacquiao” Manny enters.  We all pump our fists in the air and shout deafening “Woofs!” in adulating cheers to a sports superstar.  Finally, Jesus enters.  We all reverently kneel in worship.  Why?  Only the Lord God is worthy of worship—not a celebrity or a dignitary, not even “Pacquiao” (by his own admission).

The far-reaching impact of “Pacquiao” has not escaped my personal experience.  I freeze in suspense whenever he steps into the ring.  I jump in exuberance when he scores a win and with him and all Filipinos, my spirit basks in national honor.  Yet, I’m convinced that the biggest impact of “Pacquiao” in our world is his unashamed and emphatic testimony that “the chief end of man is to worship God.”

INTRODUCTION

Attention Gainer

Creation of Need (Fallen Condition Focus)
Touch is crucial to spiritual life as well. Matthew 16:37-39 pictures Jesus’ disciples sinking in hopelessness on the night of His resurrection when He showed Himself to them saying,

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see.”

This encounter revived the dying spirits of Jesus’ disciples sending them all over the world to offer that life-giving touch of Jesus to all who will believe. Even His doubting disciple Thomas exclaimed:

“My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:28-29)

PROPOSITIONAL TRANSITION
The disciples were quickened from their spiritual despondency to an attitude of worship by recognizing the lordship and divinity of Jesus! What exactly did they recognize in Jesus that recharged their lives?

Matthew 16:13-17 outlines 3 answers. This Biblical passage narrates how Jesus gives a final examination to His disciples consisting of but one question, the ultimate question all of us must face: Who is Jesus Christ? Our answer is of the most colossal importance, because on it hinges life’s purpose, meaning and eternal destiny.

I.  A WORLDLY ANSWER (Matthew 16:13)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

EXPLAIN
The city of Caesarea Philippi was on the southwestern slope of Mount Hermon and the northernmost extent of Jesus’ ministry. Here, about 25 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus could be alone with His disciples — outside the domain of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, and within the area of Philip the Tetrarch. The population was not Jewish, so Jesus could teach the twelve in peace. (The Jews wanted to kill Him because of His blasphemous claims) Here, on a road outside of the city, Jesus asked one of the most profound questions that could ever be posed, “Who do men say that I am?”

Jesus and His disciples were in the outskirts of an affluent city that glorified human power and authority.

VALIDATE
In Caesarea Philippi there was a great temple of white marble built to the godhead of Caesar — it had been built by Herod the Great. Years later, when the Romans conquered the territory, in 2 B.C. Herod the Great’s son, Philip, named it Caesarea in honor of Augustus. Philip also named the city after himself. Later, Herod Agrippa would call the place Neroneas in honor of the Emperor Nero.

The grandeur that was Rome…in conquest and splendor (“I came, I saw, I conquered” — Julius [divine] Caesar)

APPLY
To the citizens of Caesaria Philippi, Jesus did not exist.  After all, He was just a penniless Galilean carpenter hailing from the poor village of Nazareth.  Against this backdrop, Jesus asks, “Who do men say that I am?”

Much like our world today who would not give Christ the time of day.  Other than using His name as a swear word, they know nothing about Christ other than their drive for possessions and pleasure.  After all, a dose of Christianity might just bog down our rapid pace towards achieving the American dream.

ILLUSTRATION:
A 26-year old Soviet cosmonaut named Gherman Titov became the second Soviet to orbit the earth and return safely. Sometime later he recounted his experience while speaking at the World’s Fair. In triumphalistic tones Titov declared that on his excursion into space, he looked for God but didn’t find him. Someone humorously quipped, “Had he stepped out of his spacecraft, he certainly would have.”

God created us in His own image and our world has returned the favor.  Thus, the world became out of touch with God and with itself.

II.  A WEIGHTED ANSWER (Matthew 16:14-16a)

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,…”

EXPLAIN
It is interesting to see where Jesus chose to ask this question, for there are few areas in all of the then known world with more religious associations than Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was littered with the temples of ancient Syrian Baal worship. Historians have listed at least fourteen such temples — it was a place beneath the shadow of ancient gods. It was also the religious center for worship of the Greek god, Pan. The Greeks named the city Panias in his honor. In the cliff that stood above the city, local people built shrines and temples to Pan.

It is as if Jesus deliberately set Himself against the background of the world’s religions in all their splendor and glory and demanded to be compared with them.

VALIDATE
Public opinion thought of Jesus as a prophet from whose miracles they could benefit. Even His disciples viewed Jesus as the Messiah who would restore their sovereignty by destroying the oppressive Romans who colonized the land of the Jews. Their weighted and calculating answer treated Jesus as Someone to be exploited for personal gain and benefit.

APPLY
Soaked in Postmodernism, our society is littered with all kinds of gods including ourselves. To many, Christ is only one of those gods. To claim that Christ is the only Way to God is to be branded as dangerously intolerant. Therefore,  the supremacy of Christ and Hi exclusive claims have been severely undermined.

ILLUSTRATION:
During the Russian revolution, Lenin promised that if Communism were implemented there would be bread for every household, yet he did not have the nerve to say, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger…”

Hitler claimed he would produce a powerful super human race yet he never said, “Without me you can do nothing.”

Buddha taught enlightenment yet he died seeking more light.  He could not say, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Mohammed claimed that he and his tribes were descendants of Abraham through Israel but he did not say, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Sigmund Freud believed that psychotherapy would heal people’s emotional and spiritual pains. But he could not say, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful…for I have overcome the world.”

New Age gurus say that all of us will be reincarnated, yet not one of them can claim, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

Yes, hundreds of great prophets attempted to teach men the way to GOD but Christ alone claimed He is the only way to the Father.

Contemporary culture has dethroned God from the nucleus of life and has placed man at the center. No wonder that purpose, meaning and happiness have been reduced into an illusion in society.

III.  A WORSHIPFUL ANSWER (Matthew 16:16b-17)

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

EXPLAIN
Jesus continued, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it?

Standing near the pagan temples of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “You are the Son of the living God.” The disciples were probably stirred by the contrast between Jesus, the true and living God, and the false hopes of the pagans who trusted in ‘dead’ gods.

The term “living” was given to the true God to distinguish him from idols, that are dead, or lifeless blocks and stones. Jesus is no less than God! All of life is meant to glorify and worship Him. When we take the focus away from ourselves and humbly acknowledge the   sovereignty of God, we will know the glorious touch of Jesus.

VALIDATE
Caesarea Philippi’s location was especially unique because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed. At one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff.  The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.

To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats. When Jesus brought his disciples to the area, they must have been shocked. Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in their world and devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there.

It was a city of people eagerly knocking on the doors of hell.

Though Christian traditions debate the theological meaning of those words, it seems clear that Jesus’ words also had symbolic meaning. His church would be built on the ‘rock’ of Caesarea Philippi—a rock literally filled with shrines and temples for pagan idols, where ungodly values dominated. Gates were defensive structures in the ancient world. By saying that the gates of hell would not overcome, Jesus suggested that those gates were going to be attacked.

Standing as they were at a literal “gate of Hades,” the disciples may have been overwhelmed by Jesus’ challenge. They had studied under their rabbi for several years, and now he was commissioning them to a huge task: to attack evil, and to build the church on the very places that were most filled with moral corruption. Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi: He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell.

APPLY
The apostle Paul emphatically wrote: “All things were made through Him and for Him.”

Please note the two prepositions:  through Him because Christ was the Instrument of creation and for Him because Christ is the Purpose of all God’s creation!

ILLUSTRATION:
Christ has created and formed us for Him.  Thus, our main purpose in life is to worship Him for reasons eloquently expressed in the last words of the classic literary piece “The Incomparable Christ.”

The names of the past, proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone. But the name of this Man multiplies more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the mockers at His crucifixion, He still lives. His enemies could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him…He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the risen, incomparable Christ, our Lord and Savior!

CONCLUSION

In the end of C.S Lewis’ classic, “Mere Christianity,” he wrote, “Look for yourself and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, and decay.  But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

In the face of a celebrity, we will applaud. In the presence of a dignitary, we will stand. In the presence of a superstar athlete, we will cheer.  However, in the presence of Christ, we will kneel and bow down for we were made to worship Him by finding our utmost joy in Him forever.

Napansin nung unang bingi na yung ikalawang bingi ay may dalang bayong.

Bati nung unang bingi – “Mamalengke ka?”

Sagot nung ikalawang bingi – “Hindi, mamamalengke ako…”

Sabi nung unang bingi – “Ah… akala ko, mamalengke ka…”

“Tell me, Green, what makes you so smart?”

“I wouldn’t share my secret with just anyone,” Morris replies, lowering his voice so the other shoppers won’t hear. “But since you’re a good and faithful customer, I’ll let you in on it. Fish heads. You eat enough of them, you’ll be positively brilliant.”

“You sell them here?” the customer asks.

“Only $4 apiece,” says Morris.

The customer buys three. A week later, he’s back in the store complaining that the fish heads were disgusting and he isn’t any smarter.

“You didn’t eat enough, ” says Morris. The customer goes home with 20 more fish heads. Two weeks later, he’s back and this time he’s really angry.

“Hey, Morris,” he says, “You’re selling me fish heads for $4 apiece when I just found out I can buy the whole fish for $2. …You’re ripping me off!”

“You see?” says Morris. “You’re smarter already.”

I was so astonished because these judges, comprised of secular scholars, scientists and media consultants, had selected a man of God. I missed who was chosen for the number two spot. However, to my sheer amazement, Johann Gutenburg was their choice for Person of the Millennium. Can you believe it? They talked about how Gutenburg’s first major undertaking after inventing the printing press and moveable type was to print 200 Bibles. They also shared how his genius had put the Word of God into the hands of so many people that it literally changed the face of Western civilization.