WWUTT 120 Q&A Seventh-Day Adventists and the Gospel

Can a person attending a Seventh -day Adventist church remain in that church, or should they leave it for another?

Is it possible for an SDA church to become a gospel -centered church? That's the question we'll answer today when we

Understand the Text. Many of the

Bible stories and verses we think we know we don't. When we Understand the Text promotes sound doctrine while exposing the faulty.

Here's your host, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. When we Understand the Text at gmail .com is our email if you would like to send us a question.

Our question today actually comes from the video that we did on Jehovah's Witnesses, even though our question today doesn't have to do with the

Jehovah's Witnesses. I'll explain here in a moment, but first here's that video. From the same movement that brought about the

Seventh -day Adventists come the Jehovah's Witnesses. But while it's possible for an Adventist to be a

Christian, the Witnesses are not. Charles Taze Russell founded the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1870, then established the

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in 1881. It is through the Watchtower Society that the Bible is interpreted and understood, even printing their own

Bible, called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Since the Witnesses believe that the Bible has been corrupted over the centuries, that pretty much gives them the liberty to make it mean whatever they want.

For example, they teach that Jesus is actually the Archangel Michael, though a sound reading of Hebrews 1 easily negates that view.

And they believe Jesus was a mere man until his baptism and only then did he become the Son of God, but John 1 blows that concept out of the water.

They believe that salvation is by works, which contradicts Ephesians 2 .8 .9 and Titus 3 .5. They deny the

Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the Atonement, and claim that only their beliefs represent true Christianity. Anyone who believes anything else,

God will destroy. They also have a reputation for making up their own prophecies, with a failure rate of 100%.

Like the Mormons, the Witnesses claim Christ has returned to earth since his ascension, yet Jesus very specifically said his return would be seen by the whole world.

He also said not to believe anyone who claims that he has come back in secret or to a select group of people. Following the false teachings of the

Watchtower Society will not lead to salvation. If possible, try to lead a Jehovah's Witness in a spirit of gentleness to the truth of God's clear and consistent

Holy Word when we understand the text. Our question today comes from Josh in Tampa, Florida.

He says, Dear Pastor Gabe, Thank you for when we understand the text and all your videos. I noticed in your video on the

Jehovah's Witnesses that you mentioned Seventh -day Adventism. And you say that an Adventist can be a

Christian, but in the fine print you say you wouldn't advise attending a Seventh -day Adventist church.

I grew up SDA, and then when I got to college, I started attending a Reformed Baptist church. It was there that I met my wife, and she happens to have an

SDA background as well. Recently we've been talking about it and wondering if the SDA church might be a mission field for us.

Here's the question that I have. Do you think that the Seventh -day Adventist church can be Reformed, or do you think that a person should leave

Seventh -day Adventism altogether? Thank you again for all that you do, Josh.

And Josh, thank you for your email. We don't have a what video on Seventh -day Adventism, although that's something that I've been meaning to do.

The short answer to your question is this. No, I do not think the SDA church can be

Reformed. Even though I have met some who I believe to be some genuine

Christians in the Seventh -day Adventist movement. If you were to come in with gospel -centered and doctrinally sound teaching, that church would change so drastically it would not look at all like the

Seventh -day Adventist church looks now. Consider alone the church's namesake, Seventh -day

Adventist. One of their fundamental teachings is Sabbath worship. Now, that sounds harmless enough.

What's the big deal if a church wants to worship on Saturday? Romans 14, 5 -6 says one person esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike.

Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor to the

Lord. So isn't the Adventist just choosing to worship on Saturday because he's fully convinced that's the day he should worship?

It actually gets quite a bit deeper than that. Infused in the Seventh -day Adventist movement is this entire hermeneutic related to the

Sabbath day. When you go to the SDA church's website, there's over 6 ,000 words committed to proper

Sabbath observance. A person's keeping of the Sabbath day serves as kind of a test as to whether or not that person is genuine in their faith and worship of God.

This is from their website. Meaningful Sabbath observance indicates that acceptance of God as creator and owner and acknowledges his authority over all creation, including oneself.

Sabbath observance is based on the authority of God's word. There is no other logical reason for it.

Unquote. Sabbath observance also has eschatological implications. In other words, it even plays into their beliefs and teachings about the end times.

Again, this is from their website. Meaningful Sabbath observance testifies to the fact that we have chosen to obey

God's commandment. We thus recognize that our life is now lived in obedience to God's word.

The Sabbath will be a special test in the end time. The believer will have to make a choice either to give allegiance to God's word or to human authority.

So even though these bylaws don't teach that if you break the Sabbath, you'll go to hell, they do seem to imply that if you are not a regular observer of the

Sabbath, you are not truly a worshiper of God. And in the end, you'll be excluded from his kingdom.

Contrast this with Colossians 1 16 through 17, which says, therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a

Sabbath. These are a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

To bring in Christ centered teaching such as this with an understanding of certain

Old Testament laws, being types and shadows that point to Christ Jesus. It would undo a fundamental seventh day

Adventist teaching on the Sabbath. They would essentially be losing the very thing their name is predicated upon.

So again, gospel teaching would change the SDA church so much it wouldn't even resemble an

SDA church anymore. It can't be reformed. I understand why someone would think it could be

Adventists uphold the infallibility of scripture, substitutionary atonement, resurrection of the dead justification by faith alone.

And overall, their doctrine resembles Trinitarian Protestant theology, but with an

Armenian emphasis. This is why I believe a person can become a Christian in the SDA church.

But if that person is growing in their understanding of the scriptures and if they really know what their movement is teaching, they should not remain an

Adventist. Another common doctrine in the SDA is annihilationism. The wicked will not suffer eternal torment in hell, but instead will be permanently destroyed.

And this is simply unbiblical. Matthew 25, 46 says the wicked will go away into eternal punishment.

Revelation 14, 11 says that those who worship the beast will be tormented day and night and they will have no rest.

Now, not every SDA church is the same. Like most Baptist churches, each congregation is autonomous.

And there are some that don't teach some of the more controversial secondary matters. But the church overall is still founded on false teaching.

Ellen G. White, one of the principal founders of the movement, made a bunch of wonky predictions influenced by notorious false teacher

William Miller. White backed Miller's prophecy that the end of the world would come in 1844, when, of course, that didn't happen.

She used Miller's same method to predict the end of the world and it would come in 1851.

She blamed her failed prophecies on the Seventh -day Adventist congregants, saying that if they had been united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history.

And despite her failed predictions, the Adventist church still holds her writings as an authoritative source of truth.

This is from their 28 fundamental beliefs. Quote, The scriptures testify that one of the gifts of the

Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church, and we believe it was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G.

White. Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction and correction to the church.

They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested, unquote, which is good.

But apparently the Bible's declaration of it being authoritative wasn't enough and we needed

Ellen G. White to tell us that. So anyway, I digress from that point. There are a number of tertiary and secondary issues that Adventists elevate to the level of fundamental, and this divides

Christians. It does not unify them. Dr. Al Moeller explains the misjudgment of true fundamentalism is the belief that all disagreements concern first order doctrines.

Thus, third order issues are raised to a first order importance and Christians are wrongly and harmfully divided.

And so this is yet another reason why the Seventh -day Adventist church simply cannot be reformed.

The church is divided and cannot be unified. My recommendation to a practicing

Seventh -day Adventist is that they leave the church and attend a sound gospel teaching church.

Now, note that I say attend another church, not start another church. I think if someone leaves the

SDA and goes right to starting another church, there's some potential dangers there. I won't go into my whole opinion of it, but let's just reference first Timothy three, six, where it says that an elder or an overseer must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

It's simply too soon to come out of a false teaching church and start your own. Look for a good gospel centered, doctrinally sound church and get fed.

Grow under the teaching of someone who is submissive to and passionate about the word of God. Perhaps your ministry,

Josh, will be pointing others toward a church that presents good teaching and away from the bad teaching of the

Seventh -day Adventist. Thank you again for your email. If you would like to submit a question, the email address is when we understand the text at gmail .com.

Join me again on Monday as we will continue our study of the book of Romans. This is a protection of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.

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