ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF SOUND DOCTRINE...A VERY GOOD READ
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Posted:Mar 8, 2009 10:31 am
Last Updated:Mar 9, 2009 6:30 pm 5547 Views
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Absolute Necessity
of Sound Doctrine
By R. K. McGregor Wright, Th.M., Ph.D.
The purpose of this paper is to establish clearly whether the Bible makes correct teaching, sound doctrine, or (to use the historic term) orthodoxy, necessary for the progress of the Christian life. The case will be argued here on the grounds of the teaching of the New Testament alone, only because the vast mass of supporting data in the Old Testament only strengthens the argument and must await another paper.
The case requires both definition and reasoned argument leading to the conclusion, and will be dealt with in two stages. We will ask: (1) how does the New Testament present the doctrine of doctrine?; and (2) what is the relation between doctrine and life?
The Problem
We live today in the most privileged and free civilization in the history of the world. We have total freedom of worship, and of propagating our faith. Never before in Christian history have we had so much of this world’s goods at the disposal of the saints of God. Never before have we been so inundated with material and spiritual blessings and opportunities. We have every imaginable advantage of education, time and resources at our elbows, dozens of libraries, millions of books, including vast collections of reformational texts of theology, Bible exegesis, commentary, and sermons.
Yet, despite more free time than ever to spend how we wish, the average member of our evangelical churches across the nation still cannot explain to a Jehovah’s Witness why he or she believes in the Trinity, the average Calvinist can not explain to an Arminian what mortification of sin is, the average Protestant can not explain to a Catholic how justification is distinct from sanctification.
Many believers spend years in ostensibly orthodox evangelical churches, and never hear one sermon on the relationship between the Trinity and worship, never hear one sermon on the dominion of sin or grace, never one sermon on even such a fundamental commonplace as the security of the believer. As a result of this neglect, there are fewer and fewer people in the pews who even expect to find any connection between correct doctrine and correct practice.
It seems to be more and more assumed that correct practice is so easy to come by that it need not depend on correct doctrine at all, that doctrinal orthodoxy is really just "a head trip." Most of the people attending our churches seem to function as if somehow sincerity will do instead of truth.
This leads us to:
The Head vs. Heart Heresy
It is very common in these days of so great an embarrassment of riches in the matter of books and religious freedom, to hear mention of the mysterious gap supposed to exist between the "head" and the "heart." It is assumed, of course, that the mind, the intellect, is the head, while our faith resides in something called the heart. It is therefore possible to have head knowledge without heart knowledge, and so miss out on the reality of faith.
Likewise, a mysterious gap is thought to exist between theory and practice which we are somehow unable to bridge. People who ask too many questions are accused of being on a "head trip" and admonished to "be practical." Their problems are said to be solvable somehow by having the right kind of experience rather than by getting their questions answered from the Bible in the form of doctrine. Their problems are to be solved through understanding their emotions, by improving relationships, through serendipity, through counseling, through a new commitment, or perhaps even by "getting to know God better." But never can personal problems be solved through doctrine, since mere theory is not thought of as being "practical."
It is even suggested or implied that "there are really no answers" in the final analysis, since the ultimate questions dissolve at last into mysteries. We do not need answers; we need to grow up and learn to accept the paradoxes of life! True Christian maturity is said to be measured by our commitment in the face of final paradox rather than by any kind of knowledge. People who want answers are just immature, that’s all.
It is not the purpose of this exercise to refute these absurdities as completely as they deserve. We shall have to be satisfied just now with the response that against all forms of modern irrationalism, the Christian religion is recognized by specialists in comparative religion as being by far the most intellectual religion of all; that the New Testament puts a heavy priority on the regeneration of the intellect (witness the Pauline emphasis on the intellect in the prayers for the Ephesian and Colossian churches in the first chapters of their respective epistles); that the Bible in both the Old Testament and the New makes it perfectly plain that the term heart means the seat of the intellect, or the mind as our capacity to reason; therefore all the problems we face are to be solved first by allowing the Bible to change our minds about the truth, and then by learning what God’s answer is to our problem, as God defines and explains both problem and answer.
The spiritual breakthrough comes when, in humble dependence on God’s mercy, we accept His account of the matter and obey what He says to do about it. The results are predestined to be successful and to infallibly meet the needs of the believer sooner or later. The Bible itself calls this process "making disciples," and the primary method is said to be by something called teaching. This program was set forth in the last words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, in the Great Commission.
The word teach appearing there, occurs twenty times in the Gospel of Matthew alone, and Jesus is called Teacher there about ten times. If we look at the whole NT, the two nouns for teaching or doctrine occur over fifty times, while the verb to teach occurs over ninety times. The word teacher appears at least fifty-eight times. Half a dozen other related words appear on another twenty occasions.
This makes a total of over 240 references in the NT alone to teachers teaching doctrineS. When we recall that the well-known references to born again and regeneration occur in less than twenty verses we can only conclude that there is an extremely important subject being set forth in Scripture, which we may call the Bible’s doctrine about doctrine. Surely a subject which demands far over two hundred references in Scripture must be one of the most important things in the Bible.
The Doctrine of Doctrine
in the New Testament
For convenience, we will concentrate on the Pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. The two NT words for doctrine may be considered synonymous for our purposes, and occur in these three epistles seventeen times. The verb appears another six times. A term meaning able to teach appears twice, and teacher three times.
There are therefore at least twenty-eight passages in these letters alone which will show us how important Paul thought doctrine to be. They may be classified as those passages (a) commanding or exhorting us to teach and be taught, and we shall refer to these as positive passages; and (b) those verses which warn against false teaching and teachers, which we shall call the negative verses. We shall consider the negative verses first.
(a) Negative:
To begin with, certain verses contain repeated warnings of the damage done by false doctrine. The very first occurrence of the word doctrine in these epistles warns Timothy to resist false doctrine by proper instruction of those involved in teaching it (1 Tim. 1:3).
Anything incompatible with the apostolic deposit was to be actively resisted. According to 1:10-11, this deposit covers moral matters in essential harmony with the ethical content of the OT Law. Everything else is "contrary to sound doctrine." In 4:1, specific teachings are described as "doctrines of demons," including forbidding Christians to get married, and spiritual vegetarianism. Paul traces much false doctrine to demonic influence in other epistles also (See Gen. 3; Eph. 6; 2Cor. 4:4; 1Cor. 10:20; Rom. 1:21-32; Rev. 9:20-21).
In 2 Tim. 4:3, the final apostasy is introduced as being the result of a turning away from sound doctrine to a multiplicity of popular teachers who tell the people what they want to hear and substitute mythology for divine revelation. Myths are exactly what the Bible does not contain, according to Peter (2 Peter 1:16).
Titus likewise warns of those who wreck whole house-churches with false doctrine which generates revenue for them and damnation for their hearers (1:11). Paul says (1:9) that a key responsibility of a Christian leader is to challenge and refute false doctrine from anyone who presents it.
Elders are to be active in opposition to these things and ever vigilant against them. There is no mistaking Paul’s attitude here: by exhortation (by actively challenging error when presenting the biblical alternative) and by reasoned argument (intended to convince opponents) sound doctrine is to prevail. The dreadful alternative is suggested in verses 10-16, that those deceived will be rendered useless for good works.
At this point in the study something needs to be said about the relationship of reasoned argument to evangelism. Unfortunately today, we blithely accept the common but artificial distinction made between preaching the gospel and Apologetics. Evangelism and Apologetics are treated as separate subjects in the Bible College or Seminary curriculum and the division has determined our modern practice.
One would think that because God has given the Church such specialists as Josh McDowell, Francis Schaeffer and Cornelius Van Til, therefore we do not have to give any attention to apologetics personally; besides, isn’t it really for intellectuals only? Isn’t it a subject for seminarians? Besides, everyone knows you can’t argue someone into the kingdom…
Over against this dead weight of evasion, we should place the NT attitude to the defense of the faith, somewhat as follows:
First, we should note that Apologetics is an essential part of the Gospel; all the speeches in the book of Acts contain apologetic arguments based either on the OT prophecies or Jewish history, or recent events such as the coming of Christ. Read Peter’s speech in 2: 14-40 or 3: 12-26 or 4: 8-12 or Stephen’s in 7:2-53 or Paul’s in 17:22-31, to mention only some of the examples of apologetic material in NT preaching.
Second, the task of defending the faith is commanded in 1 Peter 3:15 and Jude 3, and illustrated by almost every NT document; most of Paul’s epistles contain arguments against various errors of his own day. Apologetics is therefore not an optional extra, but an integral part of the apostolic mandate.
Third, we have the methods of the Apostles throughout Acts. Consider the verbs used in 17:2 (reasoned with them), 17:17 (disputed…daily), 18:4 (reasoned and persuaded), 18:11 (teaching), 18:13 (persuaded), 18:19 (reasoned), 18:28 (convincing), 19:9 (disputing daily), 19:26 (persuaded), and 19:33 (defended himself), from a mere three chapters.
Paul links Apologetics consistently with Evangelism in both his writings and his practice. In Phil. 1 , he describes his own work as being "the defense and confirmation" of the gospel. Clearly, Apologetics is for unbelievers a defense of the truth, and for believers a confirming of the apostolic message.
We must conclude from even so brief a survey, that the apostles argued with unbelief as well as preached to it, that they expected their arguments to convince at least some hearers, and that they saw both proclaiming and defending the gospel as two sides of the one coin of evangelism. No disjunction exists here between head and heart, for gospel truth is to be addressed to the mind!
(b) Positive:
The Apostle Paul identifies himself as "a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth" (1 Tim. 2) and indicates that at that time he was not allowing women to teach or to arrogate teaching positions to themselves over the existing (male) leaders. Apparently in such a male-dominated society as we know the ancient world to have been, Christian women were bypassing the orderly procedures of church administration by rejecting the then all-but-universal male leadership which had probably been too slow in making practical Paul’s injunction about "neither male nor female in Christ" (Gal. 3:2 . He warns that these women must learn the same way the men did, "in quietness and submission" and not "usurp authority over the men" in teaching positions.
The warning example of Eve transgressing because of false doctrine deceiving her is to be noted. A woman cannot teach anyone unless she is "capable of teaching" (3:2), and she cannot teach without first learning. Therefore, "let the woman learn" is a mandate roughly equivalent to "educate your women too," and is in harmony with Jesus’ radical answer to the Jewish refusal to teach their women the Law, when he accepted Mary as a student disciple "at his feet" and warned Martha that her sister had chosen "the better part" which would never be taken away from her (Luke 10:38-42). Paul agreed with Jesus’ attitude, apparently.
In chapter 4, verses 6, 11, 13, and 16 are an interesting group of verses. In order to be a good minister, Timothy is to be "nourished up" on good doctrine in harmony with the apostolic deposit. The alternative again is "fables" or myths. Verse 10 rebukes idolatry, since we serve the "living God," the final preserver of all people, and especially the Savior of believers. This he says, we must teach. In verse 13, the (public) reading of the Scriptures aloud was vital for the life of churches in which so many were illiterate. Exhortation then, involves presenting the challenge of the truth and "the doctrine." Only by taking heed to the doctrine (v. 16) can both the teacher and the learners (i.e. disciples) be kept safe.
Elders may spend most of their time "teaching the word" (5:17) and are therefore to be paid "double honor." The epistle closes with three verses (6:1, 2 and 3) in which it seems that "the doctrine" can be blasphemed as well as "the name of God," as a result of unworthy lives. These things, he says, we must "teach and exhort." Paul sees teaching and challenging the faithful as two sides of the one coin of properly communicated truth.
In verse 3, Paul equates his own teaching with "the words of our Lord Jesus Christ" as "the doctrine according with godliness." Those who "teach otherwise" are motivated by pride and other sins which, he warned, will eventually "drown them in destruction and ruin" (vs. 4-9).
Second Timothy is, if anything, even stronger. Again, he opens the subject (1:11) by identifying himself as an apostle sent to announce the gospel as a teacher of the nations. In 2:2 the word anthropois means people, human beings in general, and cannot be restricted to males. It links up with the mandate to educate women in 1 Tim. 2:11 and is a collective mandate to educate both male and female Christian leadership in doctrine, thus preparing them to teach.
There is more of this kind of thing in 2 Timothy. In 2:24 God’s servants are warned not to be "macho" (yes, that’s the Greek word! Cf. Titus 3:2 also) but to be gentle, patient, "apt to teach." The word for this is didaktikos and means having a didactic or doctrinal emphasis.
In verse 3:10, Paul notes that the consistency of his doctrine and his life is part of his exemplary Christian leadership. This is what it means to "live godly in Christ Jesus" and he adds that we can expect it to bring persecution. The inconsistent and hypocritical believer is no challenge to heathenism! A godly consistency in which life is controlled by truth is a terrible affront to the false autonomism of the unbeliever and he cannot leave it alone. A "form of godliness" is fine, but "the power thereof" is an irritant to unbelief (3:3-7).
The classical spot for the doctrine of doctrine is 2 Tim. 3:16. "All Scripture is God-breathed" says Paul, and as a result is profitable for doctrine. This term is then expanded by the rest of the verse into reproof (telling us when we are wrong), correction (telling us the right alternative), instruction in righteousness (or ongoing discipleship training, paideia or education). The purpose is then described as being "in order that the anthropos of God may be properly equipped, totally and completely equipped or furnished with a view to every good work."
No more comprehensive statement could be made of the perfect sufficiency of Scripture. When it comes to the place of doctrine in the life of the believer, it’s sola scriptura all the way. The alternative is the disaster outlined in 4:3-4, in which sound doctrine is replaced by a relativistic mythology, as in modern liberal theology, and the popular recent New Age mysticism.
Paul sums up Timothy’s task in 4:2, as "Proclaim the Word, be on the spot every chance you get, since all seasons are in season. Reprove sin, admonish the sinner, challenge to godliness. The method is by patient and persistent doctrinal teaching; and nothing less will do" (my paraphrase).
In the letter to Titus, Paul expands on the need for doctrinal leaders. In 1:5-7, he notes that he ordained elders in every city to be overseers (episkopoi). They are to hold fast to the faithful word of doctrine (v. 9) in order to challenge and convince contradictors through sound doctrine. In 2:1 "sound doctrine" is the foundation of life for elders. The principle subject of this letter is the responsibility of Christian leadership. The chapter break at 2:1 gives the false impression that the subject has been changed from leaders to those being led. There seems to be no adequate ground for assuming this.
Paul began in 1:5-7 to explain the basic qualifications for generic leadership. The leaders are then related by their overseer status to the younger women and younger men to whom they minister. It is particularly mentioned that teaching is part of an older woman’s ministry (2:3-4).
In 2:6-7, the younger men are warned to be uncorrupt in their doctrine. In 2:9, slaves are to decorate the Christian doctrine by their godly lives, in view of the blessed hope of Christ’s coming, towards which we are all moving (12-13). In verse 13, God is said to be the ultimate teacher of his , educating them (paideuo) toward consistent holiness.
And all this is in the pastoral epistles alone!
Necessity of Sound Doctrine
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the agent of God’s regenerating of the human soul, effecting the change by the instrumentality of the Word of God (John 1:12-13, 3:5-8, Titus 3:5, James 1:17-18, 1 Pet. 1:21-25, etc.). This process of renewing the soul into the image of Christ continues all through the believer’s life until its consummation in the very presence of Jesus himself (John 15:3, 17:17, Rom. 12:1-2, 1Cor. 2:9-16, 2Cor. 3:17-18, 4:4, etc. concluding with 1 John 3:2).
The Bible uniformly presents itself as an instrument by which the eternal God reaches down into time by His sovereignty to effect those results which are to manifest His eternal plan or word. His Law-word for creation (Gen. 1) and His Law-word for redemption (James 1:1 work the same way: God speaks and the desired result is effected (Isa. 55:8-11). Sometimes the effect is by a direct action, and sometimes it is accomplished by a long chain of causal law-structures. In either case, the result is sure and manifests the divine will with irresistible certainty.
It follows, also irresistibly, that one of the links in that chain is such a human activity as preaching the word and teaching. Holiness being conformity to God’s word, sound doctrine is a necessary and indispensable step in the process, and false doctrine has a similar power and effect in the other direction.
The human mind is a flexible, dynamic function of our created humanness which at any instant is either reacting to true or false elements of doctrine. At every point where our consciousness touches and interprets the outside world, it does so in terms of presuppositions, axioms, or assumptions. Only then does it proceed by those necessary and unavoidable thought processes which unify and interpret our ongoing experience.
This process of intellectual interaction with the creation is the interpretive function which is our exercise of human prophethood under God as the original interpreter of His own Creation. It even continues while we sleep, in the subconscious realm, from which dreams sometimes rise to consciousness. We never stop interpreting reality.
When Adam and Eve fell, they lost the ability (but not the responsibility!) to act as God’s vice-regents over Creation. God created them in His image to function as prophets, priests and kings.
As prophet, Adam was to hear God’s word of interpretation and, assuming it to be true, extend that interpretation to all of creation as he encountered it. He was to reinterpret reality in terms of God’s prior exhaustive interpretation, part of which was revealed in the direct words of special revelation. This task of reinterpretation in terms of God’s revealed interpretation is called the task of the prophet. The realm of the prophet is truth, knowledge, exhortation and proclamation.
In other words, a truly creational Epistemology presupposes God’s exhaustive knowledge, and in faith responds accordingly. When Adam and Eve made themselves their ultimate reference-point and began with their own autonomist presuppositions, they had thereby automatically failed as God’s viceregents in the realm of interpretation; they had failed as prophets.
Likewise, our first parents failed as priests. They should have represented God to each other and each other to God as pre-redemptive mediators in the realm of Ethics. When Adam saw that his wife was encountering false doctrine he should have acted as her prophet and challenged the heresy Satan was offering.
So should Eve have prophetically challenged Satan’s word as being inconsistent with God’s prior interpretation. Neither of them did this. Nor did Adam go to God to intercede for Eve, as priest in the realm of ethics, thereby obediently responding to God in righteousness. They both rejected responsibility for each other. We might note incidentally here, that the presupposition of autonomy or freewill did not lead to a sense of responsibility, but rather undermined it.
Likewise, they fell in the realm of Ontology, or Being, not presupposing the Creator-Creature distinction that underlies holiness of one’s being. In making themselves–rather than their Creator–the reference point for meaning, they lost both the ability and the authority to act rightly as vice-regents or kings under God over the Creation, for they were now servants of another (Rom. 1:25 and 6:16). As in a game of chess, the rules control what is possible in the game. In the process of thinking, the rules are the axioms or presuppositions we start with. And nobody escapes presuppositions. Presuppositions determine everything.
The offices of prophet, priest, and king were recovered for the believer in the person of Christ, just as they were lost in the person of Adam. The functional elements of the image of God lost in Adam are available to us in Christ, Himself the Image of God (2Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3), as we are being renewed by the process of redemptive regeneration (Eph. 4:24 and Col. 3:10, 2Cor. 3:8 and 4:4, and Rom. 8:29 with 12:1-2).
These verses show how the qualities of holiness (of our being, or ontology,) righteousness (of our action, or ethics), and truth (of our interpretation, or epistemology) are being daily renewed in the believer through the redemptive activity of the Word, thus restoring us as kings, priests, and prophets in these three realms, respectively. Holiness, righteousness, and truth are thus the attributes of God’s image which we lost in the Fall and recover through regeneration.
How vital, then, that our conscious mind be filled with God’s redemptive interpretation of reality! We must deliberately seek to know and accept what God says about everything in order to understand reality aright, in order to interact with His Creation correctly. Only on the basis of God’s revealed presuppositions, and of God’s ultimate rationality, of God’s revealed interpretations of reality in Scripture, can we know truth at all, since we are supported ultimately by God’s exhaustive consciousness of Himself and of His creation, and of us in particular as His beloved .
It is this view of reality which Scripture variously calls the truth, or sound doctrine, and even "the faith of God’s elect" (Tit. 1:1)
Because God cannot lie (Heb. 6:1, He cannot contradict Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). It follows that sound doctrine has the necessary attribute of being wholly consistent with itself, granting, of course, its base in revelation as the starting-point and God as its ever-present integration-point. This does not mean, of course, that all the results of the human task of theology will be always perfectly consistent, but it does mean that the believer has the hope of consistency always before him, and God’s promise of sanctification supports our growth in this as in other areas.
Theory and Practice, Doctrine and Life
We said at the outset that attention would be given to the relation between doctrine and life. Something has already been said about how doctrine fits us for the tasks of prophethood, priesthood, and kingship. These offices are the formal structures or models for our obedience towards God by which we create and influence culture, i.e., contribute to the Kingdom of God as we pray for it in the Lord’s Prayer that "Thy will be done, thy kingdom come," etc.
God’s redemptive reign is therefore manifested on earth to the extent that believers develop a redemptive culture or civilization. The Christian Church is the pilot plant for the Kingdom. Here the seeds of redemptive cultural influence are cultivated, and the institutions of a redemptive civilization are structured, the principles of the Kingdom formulated for practice in the world at large outside the Church.
The Church is to the world redemptively what the Garden of Eden was supposed to be to the rest of the earth before the Fall. As Adam and Eve were to be obedient in fulfilling the cultural mandate as prophets, priests, and kings over the earth, so expanding their governance over the whole earth to subdue it and rule it, so the believer is to bring all of life on earth under the Lordship of Christ. All culture, whether economics, politics, arts, or the sciences, every thought must be made captive to the Lord Jesus (2Cor. 10:5).
The above is just as true for the premillennialist as it is for postmillennialist. For the amillennialist too, the climactic redeemed culture of the coming Kingdom will be in the New Heavens and the New Earth, transmitted there through the General Judgment in the hearts of believers and fulfilled in the rewards reaped by the elect. For the postmillennialist, the Kingdom grows in history by a slow but inexorable growth until the Millennial Kingdom is progressively established on earth.
Again the principles and fruits of the redemptive civilization are communicated from year to year in the hearts of believers and manifested in progressive historical victory over the Curse. For the premillennialist, the preservation of the fruits of cultural obedience again has its continuity into the Kingdom after the Second Coming in the now glorified hearts of believers who are resurrected, judged, and rewarded with tasks and positions in the Millennial Kingdom. In all three eschatologies, cultural continuity from pilot plant to manifested Kingdom is mediated and preserved from age to age by the renewing of elect minds (as per Rom. 12:1-2 etc.).
We have noted already (first two paragraphs of section V, above) that God’s Law-word for Redemption is as sovereignly efficacious as it was for Creation. The Word of God comes to us in special revelation as a direct, inscripturated, propositional communication, providentially preserved in history as the Canon of Scripture. It is this word that Paul exhorts Timothy to "preach" (2 Tim. 4:2).
Its collective content is "the doctrine" (2 Tim. 3:16), and by giving constant attention to it, Timothy was told that he would save both himself and his hearers (1 Tim. 4:15-16). For the Apostle Paul, the question was not whether one would communicate doctrine or not, for it was impossible to function without doing so; the question was whether it would be sound doctrine or not.
Conclusion
It seems then, that in the Christian vision of reality, theory and practice form an indissoluble unity; all theory has an effect in practice and all practice, whether true or false, is the practice of true or false theory. It follows of necessity then, that it is impossible to function as a believer at all without sound doctrine. At least in the Pastoral Epistles, as we have seen, sound doctrine is an essential part of the apostolic mandate and is the principle pastoral tool.
It is appropriate therefore, for us to insist on the absolute necessity of sound doctrine.
Author: Dr. Bob Wright - has taught at the high school, college and graduate level, studied in Australia and England, and has a Ph.D. from Iliff Seminary in Denver.
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DOCTRINAL REASONS WHY SDA ARE A CULT
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Posted:Mar 7, 2009 11:39 am
Last Updated:Mar 8, 2009 10:01 am 5073 Views
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Biblical scholar Dr. John Whitcomb, Jr., of Grace Theological Seminary reasoning for his classification of SDA as a [anti-assurance, Sabbath-keeping, Law-enslaving] cult ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Source of Authority. Ellen G. White claimed to be, "a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light." The official SDA Questions on Doctrine states that, "the Holy Spirit opened to her mind important events and called her to give certain instructions for these last days, and inasmuch as these instructions, in our understanding, are in harmony with the Word of God, which Word alone is able to make us wise unto salvation, we as a denomination accept them as inspired counsels from the Lord" (Q.D. p. 93)
Mrs. White claimed to have received more than 3,000 "inspired counsels from the Lord" (i.e., visions) between 1844 and 1868. (From these "visions," she produced over 100,000 handwritten manuscript pages from which were published 54 books!) Therefore, SDAs have a new source of authority in their lives, according to SDA's dogma, if an SDA does not accept Mrs. White as infallible, they have no salvation!
2. Mankind. Seventh-Day Adventists do not believe that the whole man or any part of him is inherently "immortal" (Q.D. p. 51 SDAs believe in "soul sleep" for the saved ( no conscious existence from the time of death until the resurrection), and annihilation for the wicked ( the body and soul are destroyed at death rather than experiencing everlasting torment). How, then, can one get to heaven?
SDAs believe that one can have immortality only on the condition that he comes to Christ through Ellen G. White, a works program, following salvation by grace with light of revelation through Ellen G. White as the infallible guide to Holy Scripture, apart from which one cannot have immortality.
3 Then, at resurrection day, the body will be re-created (necessary because of soul sleep) for all those who believe in White's guidance and teachings (while non-SDAs will remain in "soul sleep" forever; i.e. will cease to exist [annihilated] and will not suffer everlasting torment).
3. Jesus Christ according to Mrs. White "Christ took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature ... Christ took human nature and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He took our nature and its deteriorating condition" (Q.D. pp. 654-656) According to SDA, then, Christ acquired a sinful nature! Of course, if this could have been so, there could have been no sinless sacrifice, no hope for sinners, and no Savior.
4. Atonement. "Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ" (E.G. White, The Great Controversy , 1911, p. 623; TGC has since been retitled and published as America in Prophecy, 198.
SDA teaches that, though saved by grace, we are kept by the Law a "partial atonement" Therefore, one must keep Old Testament dietary and ceremonial laws, paying particular attention to keep the Saturday Sabbath and the Ten Commandments, and most importantly, making sure to faithfully pay the tithe.
Even when speaking of being saved by the righteousness of Christ, Adventist writers refer to imparted righteousness, seldom to the Biblical concept of imputed righteousness. Calling it "Christ's righteousness," while insisting on the believer's perfection of character as a prerequisite to salvation, is at worst a thinly veiled works salvation, or at best an attempt to mix grace and works, something the Bible says is impossible to do according toRom. 11:6
Mrs. White's words are crystal clear one will not be forgiven until all sins are eradicated from one's life and one's character is perfected. Precisely the same heresy is found (besides many others) in Mormonism. It is not the salvation by grace alone through faith alone offered in the Bible.
5. Baptism. " Christ made it clear that He required baptism of those who wished to become part of His church, His spiritual kingdom" "In baptism believers enter into the passion experience of our Lord"; "Baptism also marks [a] person's entrance into Christ's spiritual kingdom. It unites the new believer to Christ.… Through baptism the Lord adds the new disciples to the body of believers -- His body, the church.… Then they are members of God's family" (SDAs Believe …, pp. 182, 184, 187).( According to SDA baptism is required for salvation. What about the theif who died on the cross beside Jesus? )
6. The Investigative Judgment. According to SDA theology, beginning on October 22, 1844, Christ entered upon the "judgment phase" of His ministry, whereby He blots out sin: [The SDA doctrine of the "Investigative Judgment" rests on Ellen G. White's claimed revelation that Christ entered the heavenly Holy of Holies, not at His ascension, but in 1844, wherein He then began to investigate the records of human works (TGC, pp. 362-373) Contray to the book of Hewbrews chapter 9. He entered the holy of holies once for all!
"When Christ, by virtue of His own blood, removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministration, He will place them upon Satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, must bear the final penalty" (TGC, p. 422). Satan, thereby, becomes the scapegoat of Leviticus 16. This lack of clear distinction between the forgiveness of sins and the blotting out of sins, makes it impossible for anyone to know, even in the hour of his death, whether he is saved or not. (SDAs are not "allowed" to experience assurance of salvation, because then there would be no pressure on them to keep the Old Testament law, as interpreted by Ellen G. White, and especially no pressure to pay the tithe.)
Moreover, the concept that the sins of all men are to be laid on Satan, assigns to Satan an indispensable role in the blotting out of sin, thus nullifying the all-sufficiency of the finished work of Christ. [When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished," he was saying completed, paid in full, it cannot be that there is yet another salvation event more than 1,800 years later, just as essential to salvation as Christ's death on the cross, in which one must believe in order to be saved. This is clearly "another gospel" (Gal. 1:6‒9).]
4 The "Investigative Judgment" and the "Scapegoat Theory of the Atonement" are, by themselves, so non-Biblical as to contradict Galatians 1:8-9. It is "another gospel," about which the Apostle Paul wrote, "let such be anathema" (i.e., cursed/condemned).
Yet according to Ellen White, one must believe this doctrine to be saved [/B
"Those who would share the benefits of the Savior's mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God … The subject of the sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position [in the Holy of Holies] and work [Investigative Judgment] of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs for them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God … All who have received the light on these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ's work in behalf of men … It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects … The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon a cross. By His death He began that work which after his resurrection He ascended to complete in Heaven" (TGC, pp. 488‒89; emphasis added).
7. The Sabbath. "In the last days, the Sabbath test will be made plain. When this time comes, anyone who does not keep the Sabbath will receive the mark of the beast and will be kept from heaven" (TGC, p. 449); "… The divine institution of the Sabbath is to be restored … The delivering of this message will precipitate a conflict that will involve the whole world. The central issue will be obedience to God's law and the observance of the Sabbath. … Those who reject it will eventually receive the mark of the beast" (TGC, pp. 262‒63).
In one of her most revered works, Ellen White wrote that Sabbath observance would be the "line of distinction" in the "final test" that will separate God's end-time people who "receive the seal of God" and are saved, from those who "receive the mark of the beast" (The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, p. 605). Describing a supposed vision direct from God, Ellen White wrote, "I saw that the Holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers" (Early Writings, p. 33; emphasis added). She also wrote of some Adventists failing to understand that "Sabbath … observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers" (Ibid., p. 85).
SDAs have, thereby, made Sabbath-keeping a criterion for a personal relationship with the Lord even to the extent of one's salvation! Why? Because, according to SDAs, we are all to be under strict adherence to Old Testament Law, including the Ten Commandments, of which the fourth one says, "keep the Sabbath." (This Sabbath-keeping requirement was supposedly confirmed in a vision received by Ellen G. White, rather than by study of the Bible.) SDAs believe that "Sunday-keeping" will be the mark of the beast in the future.
8. Ellen G. White, the FALSE Prophet. Many rank-and-file SDA members deny that their organization any longer decrees Ellen G. White a God-inspired prophet. Yet in SDA official publications, the SDA church continues to defend Ellen White legends, and maintain there was no difference in the degree of inspiration she received from that received by Bible writers (Review & Herald, 4 October 1928, p. 11 "Source of Final Appeal," Adventist Review, 3 June 1971, pp. 4‒6; G. A. Irwin, Mark of the Beast, p. 1 "The Inspiration and Authority of the Ellen G. White Writings," Adventist Review, 15 July 1982, p. 3; Ministry, October 1981, p. 8 (5) see also, Judged by the Gospel, pp. 125‒130) And in the SDA June 2000, General Conference, the church voted to more aggressively affirm and support the "Spirit of Prophecy through the ministry of Ellen White" Adventist Today, [ July 2000])
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THE SPIRIT BEHIND THE SDA CHURCH DOCUMENTARY
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Posted:Mar 7, 2009 10:50 am
Last Updated:Mar 7, 2009 5:50 pm 4582 Views
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The Spirit Behind The Church IS A Video.
For those who may agree or for those who strongly disagree, viewers of this documentary will find it a most fascinating exploration into the cultic aspects of the teachings of Ellen G. White. Recommended for Christians who seek genuine answers based on the best scholarship and firm adherence to the truths of God's word.
Dr. James Kennedy, Ph.D., quoted at The Spirit Behind The Church
This video shows beyond all doubt that Ellen G. White meets all the qualifications of a false prophet. This is done with historical accuracy and heavy primary documentation. What is shown as well from the writings of the Adventist Church, is that the authoritative teachings cannot be changed and challenged. This included law keeping for salvation (conditional salvation).
Also documented is the Adventist propensity for altering and changing Scripture itself. This is a video that needs to be seen not only by individuals but needs to be shown in churches as well.
G.R.Fisher (Personal Freedom Outreach), quoted at The Spirit Behind The Church
YOU CAN WATCH THIS SERIES ON YOU KNOW WHAT TUBE.
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The Seventh-day Adventist church tries to cover up the truth about Ellen G. White's plagairism!
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Posted:Mar 7, 2009 10:44 am
Last Updated:Mar 7, 2009 2:22 pm 4532 Views
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The Robert Olson Letter
Dear Brethren,
Since our meeting yesterday morning when we discussed the name of Jim Cox in connection with research involving the Desire of Ages, two of you have requested that we get something down in writing which might help us a little in our thinking as we anticipate a further discussion of this subject next Tuesday, December 5.
As you all know, there are different individuals over the years who have interested themselves in comparing Mrs. White's writings with the works of other authors, and I suppose that this will continue until the end of time. One of the latest to give his attention to this type of research is Elder Walter Rea, a pastor in the Southern California Conference.
About eight or ten months ago Elder Rea sent me a copy of some of his research which in his opinion showed that Ellen White was highly dependent upon Edersheim for some of the things she had written in Desire of Ages, as well as for the very organization of the book itself, and the use of many chapter titles.
I wrote to Elder Rea at the time and asked him not to move forward with any plans for publishing his findings until I had a chance to talk to him personally at the Southern California Conference Camp Meeting to be held late in July, 1978. To this suggestion Elder Rea readily agreed. When I attended the camp meeting near Palmdale, California, last July, I spent several hours talking with Elder Rea and obtained his consent to withhold the advertising of his work on any kind of broad scale until we had had the opportunity ourselves to look at it first.
I told him that if no one at the White Estate had time to make a personal investigation of his work, we would try to kind a qualified scholar somewhere in our ranks who would be able to do this for us. I felt it was in his interests as well as In our own interests that this should be done. Scholars should always be open to the reception of criticisms of their work, and this should be done before publication. Elder Rea has agreed to give us whatever time we need before he Takes any further steps on his own.
I have sent a Xerox copy of Elder Rea's work to Elder Kenneth Davis of Southern Missionary College. Elder Davis has indicated his willingness to assist us In this research project. Elder Davis teaches a course in "Life of Christ" at SMC, and for many years has used Edersheim's book on "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah" in connection with his teaching of the class.
He should be able to give us some report in the summer of 1979. Elder Davis' work will cost the White Estate nothing.
Through Jim Nix at Loma Linda and Ed Turner at Andrews University, I have learned of someone in the Loma Linda area who is makina comparisons between the Desire of Ages and Hanna's book on "The Life of Christ." Jim Nix told me that he saw Hanna's book and that it is heavily underlined in both red and blue and that this is supposed to be the very copy of the book which was used In the White Estate office when Mrs. White was preparing her book The Desire of Ages.
Jim Nix has Xeroxed a copy of this book and sent it to us so we eve it here In our office. I don't know how much talk is going on around Loma Linda based on this particular report, but according to Jim Nix there are different ones who are talking about it. Ed Turner gave me essentially the same report four weeks ago when I talked to him at Andrews University. I asked Ed if he could possibly tell me who this individual was and he responded that he could not give this information to me. He said "If you knew who this man was you would understand why I can't give you his name."
I asked Ed if he was a loyal Seventhday Adventist or not. His response was that I would probably consider him to be someone more or less on the fringes. Apparently this unknown individual who owns Hanna's "Life of Christ," is a rather intellectual type of person who has quite strong feelings against the White Estate. At least I have come to this conclusion, after talking with Ed Turner.
Ed also told me about a professional man, a dentist as I recall, who lived in the Victorville area, north of Loma Linda, who from his own personal study over the years, had become very familiar with Desire of Ages. This professional man recently had access to Hanna's "Life of Christ," and after reading it, told Ed that it practically "blew his mind" to see the close resemblance that he discovered between Hanna and Ellen White.
When I was at Andrews four weeks ago and met with the ThD students, as well as the faculty, on Thursday, October 26, from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m., I found that I had to field all kinds of questions, including some relating to Desire of Ages and Mrs. White's possible dependence upon other authors for what she had written In that work. The only thing I could say to the students and faculty was that we were aware of assertions that were being made and that we were as anxious as anyone else to know what the facts were, and that we would encourage any research that would be done that would lead us to a fuller understanding of the situation. I told them that Elder Walter Rea had done some work in this area and that I personally felt that his research was not adequate to give us any final conclusions. I said that we at the White Estate simply did not have the personnel necessary to do this kind of work in addition to all of our other responsibilities.
And I told them that we were hopeful that we could find help from within the Seminary faculty itself, to give us assistance in this area. I looked directly at Jim Cox, who was sitting about 15 feet In front of me, and I said, "Jim, I hope that you and those in your department will be able to help us in this research so we can acknowledge whatever the facts may be and put the unfounded rumors to rest."
I had not said a word to Jim previous to that moment about the matter, and I think I rather stunned him by my comment. I was aware, of course, of the fact that he had approached Ron Graybill earlier and expressed his interest In pursuing this particular kind of work.
I felt that from a psychological standpoint it would be a good thing for us not to be dragged into this kind of a research program, but to help to foster it. Adventist scholars often feel that those of us here at the White Estate are really not interested in serious research along these lines. They have the feeling we probably are afraid of what might be found. I would like to dispel this notion In the minds of our Adventist Bible teachers if we possibly can.
Whatever attitude we assume at this time, I do not believe we will stop this kind of investigation from going on. We might wish that all such investigations would cease, but our wishing will not bring about any such results I am confident. It seems to me that we have only two alternatives. One IS that we shall be involved in the research in one way or another. The second alternative IS that we shall withdraw from it altogether and simply react to the work of others after they have completed their research. If we accept the latter alternative, I fear that it will affect our credibility rating in the eyes of our Bible teachers.
Incidentally, Ron Graybill mentioned to me that in connection with the request which has come for him to visit the Green Lake Church in Seattle, Washington, for a Spirit of Prophecy weekend, he has already been notified that several members of the church there have questions relating to the use of sources !n the book Desire of Ages. It seems that whether we like it or not, this question IS being discussed more and more widely. I personally feel that it IS In our interest here at the White Estate to help to foster some kind of serious research which will lead to definitive answers to the questions which are being raised At the present time we don't know how to answer the many questions which are coming to us on this point, and I don't want to give the Impression that we are afraid of the facts. I feel that truth has nothing to lose by investigation.
Later in the afternoon of Thursday, October 26, I spent about an hour with Jim Cox in his office in the Seminary building, going over some of the details of the line of research which he would follow if he were to engage In this project for us. I explained to him that we would be interested in knowing just which books Ellen White used as helps while she wrote Desire of Ages, and to what extent these books were used. In other words, what types of material did she draw from the books? What it chronological? Geographical? Cultural? Historical? Most important, of course, we would want to know where Mrs. White differs from her contemporaries. Were these differences In the overall approach and tone? I asked him in particular to look for theological contributions and spiritual lessons found in the Desire of Ages which were not found elsewhere.
If Jim is to do a thorough work in this area for the White Estate, it will be necessary for us to cooperate with him by providing information from our vault which is not now available to him. I refer to correspondence of the 1890's which would give us clues as to who Ellen White's literary assistants were when she was working on Desire of Ages, and something of the nature of their work. It would also be helpful to have any comments made by these workers, especially Marian Davis. It would also be helpful to provide Jim with statements by W C. White, H. Camden Lacey, Dores Robinson, and possibly others, which might cast light on when and how the work on the Desire of Ages was done. There might also be information gleaned from Ellen White's diaries and letters which would provide additional informative details.
Jim told me that he would need at least six months to do the work which he felt would be required, and that he only had a three month sabbatical coming, in the autumn quarter of 1979. He said that he was very keenly interested in this particular assignment and he would be happy to take his three month sabbatical to work on it, but that he could not do it unless the Andrews University administration would give him an additional three months without any teaching responsibilities, so that he could spend a six month stretch in working on this project.
Later that same day I talked with Tom Blincoe, as well as with Grady Smoot, about the matter. Both of them seemed favorable at the time, but of course would not make a commitment involving three months of Jim Cox's time. I did not talk with Dick Schwartz when I was there, since he was in the hospital. However, about two weeks ago, Doctors Smoot, Schwartz and Blincoe met and discussed our request. After their committee, Dick telephoned me and told me that they were willing to go along with this project and give Jim Cox the three months' extra time which would be necessary. Dick reminded me that Jim has not always enjoyed the most favorable reputation. I told Dick that I recognized that this was the case, but that I felt that if he was a good enough man to be the chairman of the New Testament Department in our one and only Seventhday Adventist Theological Seminary, he was good enough to do this research work for us.
I explained to him that I had talked with Jim on two separate occasions while I was there, totaling about twoandonehalf hours and that I felt I could have confidence in his attitude. Dick assured me that we could count on the cooperation of the Andrews University administration. So everything is moving forward in this direction now, unless something is done to stop it. At the next Board meeting at Andrews University, Dr. Smoot will ask the Board to authorize Jim to use the months of January, February and March 1980, In engaging in this particular project. In the winter quarter of 1980 he would have no teaching responsibilities.
I am enclosing copies of the letters which I have written to Dr. Smoot, Dr. Blincoe and Dr. Cox, as well as a letter received from Dr. Smoot in which he mentions his matter. His letter was written just a few days before Dick Schwartz telephoned me giving their approval.
Now, it may be that I made a mistake when I looked directly at Jim Cox in the Thursday afternoon meeting and openly called for his help. Only the Lord knows whether that was the right thing to do or not. The question before us now is, Where do we go from here? We have the following alternatives, as I see it.
1. We could decide that we would have nothing to do with any research program along this line and so inform our brethren at Andrews. This would mean that anything Jim Cox would wish to do would have to be done on his own, and I rather think that he would engage in some research along this line on his own anyway, because of his interest in the subject and the fact that he is teaching in the field of the Gospels constantly.
2. We could inform the authorities at Andrews that we have decided to do this research ourselves here at the White Estate in Washington and so will not need any assistance from their faculty after all. I do not believe that anyone at Andrews would criticize us if we should decide to follow this procedure.
3. We could inform Dr. Smoot and his associates that we would like to have help from his New Testament faculty at Andrews, but we do not believe the research should be done by the chairman of that department. We could tell them that we have misgivings about Jim and In spite of the fact that arrangements had been made, we feel that we must look to one of his associates to do the research rather than trusting it to Jim himself.
4. We could endorse the plan which has already be agreed upon by our colleagues at Andrews, as well as Ron Graybill and myself. We could erect whatever safeguards we feel are needed to protect the interests of the White Estate. I think it was Elder White who mentioned that we might appoint a committee who would work with Jim as closely as possible in order to guarantee that the White Estate interests would be protected at all times.
I personally do not see light in any of the first three proposals. Ideally, possibly we should do the research here in our own office. But we simply are not able to do this because of lack of adequate personnel We simply have no one in the office who could drop what he is now doing for six months In order to meet the demand which has really been thrust upon us without our invitation.
The only alternative which seems sensible to me is the last one. It will cost the White Estate nothing for Jim's time, and I do believe that we can stay close enough to him so that the conclusions he arrives at would be essentially the same as the conclusions we would come to were we doing the work ourse ves. eke a re ort ever two or three weeks to a commttee. We could ask Jim to make a comitee composed of people like Tom Blincoe, Roy Graham, Dr Murdoch, Dick Schwartz, and Raoul Dederen. Possibly Dick Schwartz could be the chairman of such a committee.
After we have discussed this matter at our staff meeting on December 5, possibly we will be in a position to frame a recommendation to the Board when it meets on December 7.
With my very best wishes, I am
Sincerely, [signed Bob]
Robert W. Olson, Secretary
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The Church of Liberal Borrowings SDA Plagiarism and fraud charges
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Posted:Mar 7, 2009 10:18 am
Last Updated:Mar 7, 2009 5:51 pm 4588 Views
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WALTER T REA PH.D was the first to document such large scales of borrowing, citing 75 books White depended on. He was one of the key figures who introduced new views of White to the SDA church.
The Church of Liberal Borrowings
TIME MAGAZINE
Plagiarism and fraud charges rock the Seventh-day Adventists
The 3.8 million-member Seventh-day Adventist Church is normally the most doctrinally placid and prosperous of faiths. Lately, however, it has fallen into unaccustomed uproar. For starters, church members are suing Adventist officials in an Oregon court for fraud and breach of fiduciary trust, stemming from the 1981 bankruptcy of fellow Adventist Donald Davenport, a Los Angeles developer. The suit charges that without adequately checking Davenport out, Adventist clergy blithely invested church trust funds with him and urged church members to make their own investments.
As his empire collapsed, Davenport supposedly used newly raised moneys to cover payments due to previous investors. In the end, church agencies dropped a cool $21 million, and individual Adventists may be out as much as $20 million in the debacle. On top of this, the church has been hit by a second scandal, the charge that the theological writings of its most important figure, which rank second only to the Bible, may have been plagiarized from other authors.
Of the two scandals, the second could prove the costlier, as it calls into question the integrity of the church's teachings. Prophet Ellen G. White (1827-1915) rallied the group that became known as the Adventists following the "Great Disappointment" of Oct. 22, 1844, the date when thousands of Protestants expected the Second Coming (or Advent) of Jesus Christ to occur. When it did not, White, a "messenger" of God and interpreter of the Bible, said she received a vision explaining that on Oct. 22 Christ had entered a new "sanctuary" in heaven to begin "in vestigative judgment" of the lives and works of believers. Then White reported a second vision that confirmed the necessity of Saturday worship (hence the name Seventh-day Adventists). Followers came to regard White's numerous visions and books as divinely inspired interpretations of the Bible, as well as a guide to proper views on everything from vegetarianism (pro) to Darwinism (con)
Now a growing number of Adventists are having their doubts about White's teachings. In the late 1970s, Desmond Ford, a prominent Australian theologian who was teaching at the church-run Pacific Union College in California, made the case that White's "sanctuary" explication of 1844 no longer stood up in the light of the Bible, and that "investigative judgment" undercut the whole basis of Protestantism. belief in salvation by God's grace apart from good works. This prompted the founding of a dissident bimonthly, Evangelica, based in Napa, Calif. Before long, the church forced the resignation or expulsion, by one count, of 120 Adventist clergy and teachers. Ford was defrocked in 1980.
Ford's challenge was mild, however, compared with the bombshell dropped by Walter T. Rea of Patterson, Calif. A veteran pastor, Rea, in the course of Ph.D. research, stumbled across some long-buried writings by forgotten divines that matched huge swatches of Prophet White's books. Accusations of this general nature had arisen before but had been argued away by Adventist but had been argued away by Adventist officials. Rea was the first to document the vast scale of such borrowing (from 75 assorted books on history, doctrine and the Bible)
Last April, Rea issued his full findings in a bitter book titled The White Lie. In it he concludes that the "plagiarism" undermines belief not only in the prophet's divine inspiration but also in her basic honesty. One Adventist, Delbert Hodder, a pediatrician and teacher at the University of Connecticut, has offered an altogether different explanation. When White was nine years old she was hit in the head by a rock and seriously injured. Hodder speculates that her visions were the result of "partial-complex seizure," a malady related to epilepsy.
Prodded by Rea, the church has been forced to give ground. Last month, Ministry, its magazine for clergy, conceded that White's use of "outside sources" was "much more extensive" than Adventists have realized. Admitted Ministry, "Sometimes she used material nearly word for word without giving credit." Most shocking of all, "She utilized the words of prior authors in describing words she heard spoken while in vision. In a few instances, she uses the writings of a 19th century source in quoting the words of Christ or of an angelic guide."
Despite these admissions, Church President Neal Wilson holds to the position that a prophet's thoughts can be divinely inspired even though they are not original. And loyal Adventists have taken to defending White's plagiarism as acceptable practice, arguing that parts of the Bible too were compiled from pre-existing sources. The church's last General Conference, in 1980, confirmed White as a latter-day prophet whose "writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth." and authoritative source of truth."
A full report on the church's investigation of White's sources is due next year. Meanwhile, in the second edition of his book Rea plans to charge that White's last and most important works were actually fabricated by Adventist pioneers when she was senile. Whatever the outcome, Georgetown University Ethicist Roy Branson, editor of Spectrum, an independent journal for church liberals, says flatly that Adventists will no longer be able to appeal to White as "the final authority on a whole range of issues, including biblical and theological interpretation and life-style." If so, the Seventh-day Adventists would seem to have lost a resource more precious than the millions that went down the drain. –By Richard N. Ostling. Reported by Jim Castelli/Washington and Dick Thompson/San Francisco
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EX SDA ELDER WALTER T. RAE PH. D EXPOSES THE WHITE LIE
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Posted:Mar 7, 2009 10:02 am
Last Updated:Mar 7, 2009 10:52 am 4346 Views
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EX SDA Elder Walter T. Rea, Ph.D.
Almost from the first time I heard of her, early in my teens, I became a devotee of Ellen G. White and her writings. I learned to type by copying from her book Messages to Young People. In high school and college, I often went from room to room in the dormitory, gathering Ellen White quotations from others to use in my preparations for becoming a minister in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was during those days that I conceived the idea of preparing an Adventist commentary by compiling from the writings of Ellen White all the statements pertaining to each book of the Bible, each doctrine, and each Bible character.
Early in my ministerial life, which began in central California in the latter 1940s, I compiled two volumes of Old and New Testament Bible biographies, incorporating with each entry the pertinent quotations found in Ellen White’s works. …and a third volume on Daniel and the Revelation, all based on Ellen White’s works, and soon these books were sold in most Adventist Book and Bible houses and used in many Adventist schools and colleges in North America.
While working on my projected volume four (Ellen White’s quotations on Bible doctrines) I happened across something interesting at Orlando, Florida, where I was pastor of the Kress Memorial Church, named for doctors Daniel and Lauretta Kress, noted pioneers in the Adventist medical work. The Kress family gave me an old book by Ellen White, Sketches from the Life of Paul, published in 1883 but never reprinted. When I showed this book to a church member one day, I was told that the problem of the book was that it was too much like another book that had not been written by Ellen White, and that it had never been reprinted because of the close similarities. Being of an inquiring mind, I did a comparison study and discovered that some of the criticism seemed to be true.
Later, after I transferred to California, the Wellesley P. Magan family, also from established pioneer Adventists, were members of my congregation. At the death of Wellesley’s father’s widow, Lillian Magan, I was given a book from the Magan family library–Elisha the Prophet by Alfred Edersheim. On the flyleaf was Ellen White’s signature. By now, because of my constant use of Ellen White’s books, I had become so familiar with them that I readily recognized similarities of wording and thought as I examined Edersheim’s book.
Still later on, while studying at the University of Southern California toward a Ph.D. degree, I was shocked to come across a seven-volume work on Old Testament history by the same Edersheim. This time I found, in volumes one to four, that Edersheim’s chapter titles, subtitles, and page headings paralleled and were many times almost identical with the chapter titles of Ellen White’s Patriarchs and Prophets (1890). Time and study made it obvious that Mrs. White had obtained liberal help from these additional Edersheim works. Further investigation would reveal that Edersheim had written also a New Testament history on the life of Christ, and in this too there were additional similarities with Mrs. White’s Desire of Ages.
Although disturbing, these findings were not too upsetting to me at that time because the White Estate in Washington always seemed to have excuses for Ellen’s “borrowing.”
Not until Bruce Weaver, a young seminary student at the Adventist Andrews University in Michigan, discovered an unmarked file of my work and comparisons in the White Estate duplicate material housed in the library there, did things begin to take on the air of a mystery tale. The White Estate accused Bruce of stealing the material from the library, although he only copied and returned it. In the end, Bruce was dismissed from the seminary and from the ministry–but not before he had taken a significant part in the drama.
What he had found in the file was not just my material and the critique of it, but copies of some White Estate in-house letters by Robert W. Olson and Arthur L. White revealing the concern these men at the office in Washington showed about Bruce’s discovery of the material I had been sending to them as evidence of Ellen White’s copying. Both had recorded their suggestions for dealing with the Rea problem. Subsequent years revealed that they had adopted Arthur White’s method–which was, in essence, to stonewall the matter and use as much pressure and double-talk as possible.
Olson took to the stump in an all-out effort to blunt the impact that my findings were beginning to have, for by now people in various regions of North America were asking for evidence found in my research. At an afternoon presentation by Olson in January 1979, at Loma Linda University in California, someone in the audience asked about Mrs. White’s borrowing from published sources. Olson’s reply was to the effect that there was nothing to it, that all of her writings were her own. He then volunteered that there was some minister in Southern California making waves with allegations about borrowed material from her key book, Desire of Ages, but that there was nothing to these rumors.
To say that I was in a state of shock after the meeting is to put it mildly. My file at that time already held several letters from that same Olson encouraging me to keep sending him my comparisons of Ellen with her contemporaries. Furthermore, he had personally talked with me when he was in California only a short time before and had sought my promise that I would not publish any report on my work until he and the White Estate staff had been given additional time to survey the material. I had agreed to his request, and the fact of the agreement and been recorded in the in-house memo that he wrote afterward and that I held in my files.
So now I knew that Robert Olson either had a very short memory or was telling a white lie. In any case, it was obvious that the White Estate people knew much more than they were telling.
The files of the White Estate had referred to a book by William Hanna called The Life of Christ. Within 24 hours after the Loma Linda meeting, I obtained Hanna’s book. From that time on, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know.
In January 1980 a committee meeting was held in Glendale, California. This meeting was called by General Conference president Neal C. Wilson at my urging that consideration be given to the scope of the findings of Ellen White’s literary indebtedness. Eighteen of the church’s appointed representatives went on record that what my research showed was alarming in its proportions but that the study should continue–with additional help.
Spectrum magazine later reported my dismissal by the church after 36 years of service
Walter Rea, The White Lie, Prologue, pp. 19-22.
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EG WHITE WAS A FALSE PROPHET...CHECK OUT HER TEACHINGS CONTRAY TO THE BIBLE.
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Posted:Mar 6, 2009 11:04 am
Last Updated:Mar 6, 2009 8:55 pm 5401 Views
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In 1905 Mrs. White said, "THERE IS ONE STRAIGHT CHAIN OF TRUTH WITHOUT ONE HERETICAL SENTENCE IN THAT WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN".
Selected Messages, bk. 3, p. 52 "God never contradicts himself..." Letter 329, 1905. Letter to Elder Burden.
THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS BUILT BEFORE THE FLOOD
"The Lord first established the system of sacrificial offerings with Adam after his fall, which he taught to his descendants. This system was corrupted before the flood by those who separated themselves from the faithful followers of God, and engaged in the building of the Tower of Babel."
Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 301, 1864 edition
This mistake was later expunged for the 1870 edition of "Spirit of Prophecy", vol. 1, p. 266.
GOD SENT AN ANGEL TO CONVERSE WITH CAIN
"God condescends to send AN ANGEL to Cain to converse with him. The angel inquires of him the reason of his anger, and informs him that if he does well, and follows the directions God has given, he will accept him and respect his offering....The angel tells Cain that it was no injustice on the part of God, or partiality shown to Abel;.... and if he would do well he would be accepted of God...."
Spiritual Gifts, vol.3, pp. 48-49 (emphasis added)
THE BIBLE SAYS that it was the Lord who spoke to Cain.
"And THE LORD SAID UNTO CAIN, why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."
Genesis 4:6,7 (emphasis added)
WE SHOULD NEVER SAY WE ARE SAVEDIn Christ's Object Lessons, p. 155, Mrs. White says:
"Never can we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation. THOSE WHO ACCEPT THE SAVIOUR, HOWEVER SINCERE THEIR CONVERSION, SHOULD NEVER BE TAUGHT TO SAY OR TO FEEL THAT THEY ARE SAVED. This is misleading. Everyone should be taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of temptation....Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, "I am saved," are in danger of trusting to themselves....We are admonished, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.'
1 Cor. 10:12
"No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words ["I am saved"] till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God....As long as man is full of weakness--for of himself he cannot save his soul--he should never dare to say, "I am saved"."
Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 314
THE BIBLE SAYS
1 John 5:11-13
And this is the record, that GOD HATH GIVEN TO US ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in his . He that hath the HATH LIFE; and he that hath not the of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the of God; THAT YE MAY KNOW THAT YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that ye may believe on the name of the of God.
Acts 16:31
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and THOU SHALT BE SAVED, and thy house.
(See also John 6:37-47; Ephesians 2:1-7; I Corinthians 1:4-9; and Philippians 1:6)
THE SEAL OF GOD IS THE SABBATH
"The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord's memorial of creation"
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 117
"...Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God"
The Great Controversy, p. 640
THE BIBLE SAYS
Ephesians 1:13,14
"And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, YOU WERE MARKED in him WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession, to the praise of his glory"
II Corinthians 1:21, 22
"Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is GOD, who also SEALED US and GAVE US THE SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS as a pledge"
Ephesians 4:30
"And grieve not THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED unto the day of redemption."
THE ATONEMENT WAS NOT FINISHED AT THE CROSS
"Now while our great High Priest IS MAKING THE ATONEMENT for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ"
The Great Controversy, p. 623
"...instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement preparatory to His coming."
The Great Controversy, p. 422
"Instead of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 referring to the purifying of the earth, it was now plain that it pointed to the closing work of our High Priest in heaven, THE FINISHING OF THE ATONEMENT..."
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 58 (emphasis added)
THE BIBLE SAYS
Hebrews 9:26
"Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now ONCE AT THE CONSUMMATION of the ages He has been MANIFESTED TO PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF"
John 19:30
"When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "IT IS FINISHED!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit"
Hebrews 10:12
"...but He, HAVING OFFERED ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOR ALL TIME, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD"
SATAN BEARS OUR SINS
"It was seen, also, that while the sin offering pointed to Christ as a sacrifice, and the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, the scapegoat typified SATAN, the author of sin, UPON WHOM THE SINS OF THE TRULY PENITENT WILL FINALLY BE PLACED".
The Great Controversy, p. 422 (emphasis added)
"As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so CHRIST WILL PLACE ALL THESE SINS UPON SATAN, the originator and instigator of sin".
The Great Controversy, p. 485 (emphasis added)
Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin".
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 475
THE BIBLE SAYS
I Peter 2:24
"...and HE HIMSELF BORE OUR SINS in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed"
John 1:29
"The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the lamb of God WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!"
WE CAN BE SINLESS
"Those only who through faith in Christ obey all of God's commandments WILL REACH THE CONDITION OF SINLESSNESS in which Adam lived before his transgression".
Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.6, p. 1118
"In order to let Jesus into our hearts, WE MUST STOP SINNING".
Signs of the Times, March 3, 1898 (emphasis added)
"To be redeemed means to CEASE FROM SIN".
Review & Herald, September 25, 1900 (emphasis added)
THE BIBLE SAYS
1 John 1:8,10
"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US....IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NOT SINNED, WE MAKE HIM A LIAR, and His word is not in us".
THE SINS OF A CHRISTIAN ARE NOT YET FORGIVEN, THEY ARE STILL ON RECORD BEFORE GOD
This doctrine is known as the Investigative Judgment. Mrs. White teaches that a believer's sins are not yet blotted out or forgiven: they are merely pardoned. She teaches that one's eternal destiny will be ultimately determined by a weighing of a believer's good works and bad works when their name comes up in the Investigative Judgment.
"All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had PARDON ENTERED AGAINST THEIR NAMES in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins WILL BE BLOTTED OUT, and they themselves will be ACCOUNTED WORTHY of eternal life".
The Great Controversy, p. 483 (emphasis added)
"Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken WILL NOT BE PARDONED AND BLOTTED OUT of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God".
The Great Controversy, p. 486 (emphasis added)
"The work of the investigative judgment and THE BLOTTING OUT OF SIN IS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED before the second advent of our Lord".
The Great Controversy, p. 485 (emphasis added)
Mrs. White states that no sin was ever blotted out before October 22, 1844. "At the time appointed for the judgment - the close of the 2300 days in 1844 - BEGAN THE WORK OF investigation and BLOTTING OUT OF SINS"
Christ in His Sanctuary, p. 122 (emphasis added)
"The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins IS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED before the second advent of the lord....IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT THE SINS OF MEN SHOULD BE BLOTTED OUT UNTIL AFTER THE JUDGMENT at which their cases are to be investigated....When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come....".
The Great Controversy, p. 485 (emphasis added)
"When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, THEN THE SINS OF THE REPENTANT SOUL who has received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE RECORDS OF HEAVEN, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and be remembered no more against him forever".
Selected Messages, bk. 3, pp. 355-356
THE BIBLE SAYS
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
Hebrews 1:3b
"...When He had made purification of sins, HE SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH:"
1 John 2:12
"I am writing to you, little , because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake".
Acts 13:38,39
"Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him FORGIVENESS OF SINS IS PROCLAIMED TO YOU, and through Him EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IS FREED FROM ALL THINGS, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses."
Isaiah 44:22
"I, even I, am he who BLOTTETH OF THY TRANSGRESSIONS, and, like a cloud, thy sins; return to me for I have redeemed thee".
Hebrews 9:26
"...but now once at the consummation of the ages HE HAS BEEN MANIFESTED TO PUT AWAY SIN by the sacrifice of Himself"
THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT is a doctrine that has never been taught by anyone else in the history of the Church. It has no support in the Bible as has been shown by previous Scriptures. This clearly indicates that believers do not enter into judgment concerning their salvation.
But noted Adventist historian and theologian, LeRoy E. Froom states that this doctrine, not found in the Bible, is the Seventh-day Adventist church's only reason for existence:
"Indeed, if there is no actual Sanctuary in heaven, and no ministering Great High Priest serving therein; and IF THERE IS NO JUDGMENT HOUR MESSAGE to herald from God to mankind at this time, THEN WE HAVE NO JUSTIFIABLE PLACE IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD, no distinctive denominational mission and message, NO EXCUSE FOR FUNCTIONING as a separate church entity today".Movement of Destiny, p. 542 (
Froom goes on to state that any deviation from this doctrine of the Investigative Judgment strikes at Adventism's very integrity.
"Consequently any weakening or denial or submerging of the Sanctuary truth is not only a serious but a crucial matter. Any deviation or dereliction therefrom strikes at the heart of Adventism, and challenges its very integrity".
Movement of Destiny, p. 542
The writings of Mrs. White also teach that JESUS DOES NOT INTERCEDE FOR NON-ADVENTISTS.
"I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so THE NOMINAL CHURCHES had crucified these messages [of the Investigative Judgment], and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited [sic] by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, THEY OFFER UP THEIR USELESS PRAYERS to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself...".
Early Writings, p. 261
THE BIBLE SAYS
John 17:20
"I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word"
1 John 5:1
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the born of Him"
1 John 4
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God"
John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are My Disciples, if you have love for one another"
Ellen G. White's Teachings Compared with the Bible
by Janet Brown
Calvary Community Church,
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THERE IS NO LAW IN GRACE.....THE LETTER OF THE LAW KILLS BUT GODS SPIRIT GIVES LIFE
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Posted:Mar 6, 2009 10:58 am
Last Updated:Mar 6, 2009 8:49 pm 4540 Views
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The relationship between Law and Gospel continues to be entirely misunderstood by almost all Christians. The failure of Christians to understand the role of Law in this age
of Grace has caused congregations to become thoroughly legalistic, and has degenerated the Gospel proclamation of the pulpit into a guide for human conduct.
If Christians are to preach the Good News of Christ to the entire world, then they must understand this
precarious relationship between Law and Gospel to ensure that God’s Grace is neversubstituted with human effort.
Perhaps the most articulate expression of the relationship between Law and Gospel isfound in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. Further, Paul’s affirmations in this letter are
restated with increased force by the vivid imagery and colourful language in Martin Luther’s “Commentary on Galatians”.
The relationship between Law and Gospel becomes fully exposed in these two theological masterpieces.
The Law is Oppressive
The Law of God is indeed holy, but is at the same time weak. The Law is not weak in itself, for it is the perfect exposition of God’s will; but when applied to humans, it can
never be obeyed, no matter how earnestly we try. Our total depravity, corrupt nature, and
weakness of the flesh render the Law useless. For the Law does not demand only external obedience, but the internal obedience of our hearts, minds, and souls that man is altogether incapable of.
Not only is the Law of God unable to enforce obedience in humans, but it is an oppressive device which tortures the souls of those confronted by it. For “all who rely on
observing the Law are under a curse.” (Galatians 3:10) Indeed “the Law is most excellent: yet it is not able to quiet a troubled conscience, but increaseth terrors, and
driveth it to desperation.” (Commentary on Galatians)
When confronted with the strict and holy demands of the Law, man is driven to despair and hopelessness. For by his own
efforts, he fulfills none of the Law’s righteous demands; rather, the Law oppresses him, and causing him not to love God, but to hate him instead. Striving to keep the Law
actually alienates one from God, since “to live to the Law is to die to God.” (Commentary on Galatians)
To seek salvation by adherence to the Law is to seek salvation in vain “because by observing the Law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) The Law does not work for us in seeking salvation, but against us. “He that liveth to the Law … is dead and condemned. For the Law cannot justify and save him, but accuseth, terrifieth, and killeth
him.” (Commentary on Galatians)
It is “so intolerable a tyrant and cruel tormentor” such
that “the devil is wont by the Law to make us afraid.” (Commentary on Galatians) We conclude that the Law is our enemy, our oppressor, and our tormentor. Salvation must lie
beyond the scope of Law.
The Law leads us to the Gospel
What then, was the purpose of God’s Law? Did God bring to us his Law in order to prepare us for destruction? By no means! Instead, the Law’s purpose is meaningful,
since its oppressive nature curiously leads us to the Gospel promise. Paul states this clearly in his epistle: “What, then was the purpose of the Law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” (Galatians 3:19)
By increasing transgressions of humans, the Law makes our depraved nature and utter imperfections clear to us as we fail to execute God’s will for us. Only by recognizing
that we are shameful sinners who are unable to face the presence of a holy God, will we cry out for help in desperation. Without the Law, we have a high view of ourselves, and we convince ourselves that our human efforts, works, and deeds are substantial and procure justification. But the Law makes it abundantly clear that the opposite is true.
When confronted with the Law, we then understand how hopeless we are, and that our works and deeds amount to nothing.
Thus in despair and desperation, we cry out to the promise of God. We cry out for Grace and mercy from our loving Saviour. “When a man is humbled by the Law, and brought to the knowledge of himself, then followeth true penitence.” (Commentary on Galatians)
Being convinced of our own unworthiness, we look no longer to our own strivings, but to God’s Gospel of Grace, given freely for sinners. Man, “being terrified with the Law,
utterly despaireth of his own strength: he looketh about, and sigheth for the help of a mediator and Saviour. Here then cometh in good time the healthful word of the Gospel.”
(Commentary on Galatians) Thus we conclude that the Law leads us to the Gospel. “The Law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians
3:24)
The Gospel brings Salvation
Gospel, not Law, gives us the way, the life, and the resurrection. If the Law drives us to the Gospel, then the Gospel provides us salvation. The Gospel is summarized by the
following: God’s Grace is given to us freely on the grounds of Christ’s death, and those that receive this Grace through faith are justified as righteous before God. Paul declares
that “we have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ.”
(Galatians 2:16)
“By faith only in Christ we are pronounced righteous, and not by the works of the law or charity.” (Commentary on Galatians) God has promised us his Grace, so that all who receive it by faith in Christ will be saved.
Further, this Gospel of Grace requires no human effort, works, or deeds to effect salvation. Rather, the mere apprehension of this promise of Grace through faith ensures a righteous standing before God. Thus the righteousness that we attain by grace through faith is entirely passive, and God’s Grace extends to us no matter how repugnant our
deeds are. Indeed, “the afflicted and troubled conscience hath no remedy against
desperation and eternal death, unless it take hold of the promise of Grace freely offered in Christ, that is to say, this passive righteousness through faith.” (Commentary on
Galatians)
It is only this passive righteousness of God’s forgiving Grace that justifies us. There is no dependence on human effort, but rather, salvation is attributed to God alone.
He is from first to last the author of our salvation. Our hope lies not in our capacity to do good works, but in God’s loving initiative manifested in his death on the Cross. In him our hope lies, and thus our salvation is assured, since it does not depend on our own fickle abilities, but God’s steadfast resolve to reconcile his people. For “there is no comfort of conscience [that is] so firm and so sure, as this passive righteousness is.” (Commentary
on Galatians)
There is no Law in Grace
Grace, by definition, comes with no strings attached and does not require any prior condition for its procurement. Law, on the other hand, consists solely of demands upon
the human conscience. There is no harmony between the two, and there is no Law for those who have received the Grace of God.
Martin Luther draws this antithesis between Law and Grace with impressive determination. We should “teach Christians to be ignorant of the Law” since “a Christian man is free from all laws.” (Commentary on Galatians)
Christians are “ of Grace
which are under no Law,” and “must have nothing to do with [the Law].” (Commentary
on Galatians)
There is no compatibility between Law and Gospel since “between the righteousness of the Law and the righteousness of Christ, there is no mean.” (Commentary on Galatians)
Paul confirms Luther’s statements by exclaiming, “if
righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing.” (Galatians 2:21)
For “now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law.”(Galatians 3:25)
For the Christian, the Law “is utterly abrogate.” (Commentary on
Galatians)
Not only are Law and Grace held at an antithesis, but Grace itself has defeated the Law and has set us free from the Law’s oppression. The Gospel abolishes the Law, and is our
victory over this cruel tyrant. “Wherefore the Law has no right to accuse me, or to hold me any longer, for I am risen again.” (Commentary on Galatians)
“The Law is void, and I am escaped out of my prison and grave.” (Commentary on Galatians) “By Christ [we are] utterly freed from the Law” since “the Father [has] abolished the Law, sin, and death.” (Commentary on Galatians)
The Law which had previously kept us in bondage is now entirely nullified since the Gospel has won a victory over the Law. “Before faith came, we were held prisoners by the Law, locked up until faith should be revealed.”(Galatians 3:23)
Thus Christians who possess the Gospel promise of Grace shall be no longer under the Law, but set free from it, having nothing to do with it. Christians no longer need the Law as a guide, but will respond to the Gospel of Grace so gratefully, that good works automatically flow. Christians will declare their absolute loyalty to Christ and will do everything in their power to ensure that his will is done.
For true Christians, God “will put his Law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33) and thus the “the entire Law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14)
Conclusions
The righteous Law of God, by its strict demands, tortures the human soul by demanding what cannot be given. Man despairs of his standing before a righteous, holy God. But convinced of his utter helplessness, the Law leads man to cry out in desperation for the unconditional Grace of God. This Grace, this Gospel, does not fail when received through faith, but ensures salvation. Thus the Gospel has triumphed over the Law, and has gained a glorious victory for all Christians. May God bless us evermore with his Gospel of Grace. Amen.
Thegospelofgrace
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OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW OF GOD WILL NOT SAVE YOU.
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Posted:Mar 5, 2009 8:28 pm
Last Updated:Mar 6, 2009 11:32 am 5110 Views
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God's purpose in giving the law, was to bring to guilty sinful man the knowledge of his sin first, and then of his complete helplessness in view of God's just requirements. It is purely and only a ministration of condemnation and death. The law only brings condemnation and death but Jesus came to bring life more abundantly. Where sin abounded grace much more abounded! THE LAW WILL NOT SAVE YOU! ONLY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST SHED AT CALVARY WILL SAVE YOU AND KEEP YOU SAVED.
Faith is a gift from God and so is repentance. THEY ARE NOT WORKS ACCOMPLISHD BY MAN!
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Matt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen
Acts 11:18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
2 Tim. 2:25 If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
God calls people to repent through the hearing of the Gospel.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
One cannot show true change in his life before he himself has changed [repented] to bring about manifestations of that change/repentance. One needs to be born of Gods Holy Spirit.
KEEPING THE LAW OF MOSES WILL NOT SAVE YOU. YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS IF YOU TRUST IN THE LAW. NO ONE BUT GOD CAN KEEP THE COMMANDMNETS. IF YOU BREAK JUST ONE NO MATTER HOW SMALL GOD SAYS THAT YOU BROKE ALL OF THEM. IT IS ONLY THE BLOOD OF JESUS THAT SAVES!!!!
GOD GIVES A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT TO WALK IN HIS WAYS.....NO LAW KEEPING! JUST LIFE IN THE SPIRIT!
Ezek 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day
John 6:44-45 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man (the elect) therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:65-66 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
John 6 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
John 12:39-40 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go forth and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is God's power unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Gal 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law
Galatians 2:19-21
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I do not frustrate (nullify) the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
LET NO MAN OR WOMAN DECIEVE YOU. IF YOU PLACE YOURSELF UNDER LAW YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY THE LAW AND THE GIFT OF GRACE IS FRUSTRATED.(A LEGAL TERM FOR NULLIFIED...MADE VOID)
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BEWARE THE SNARES OF FALSE PROPHETS
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Posted:Mar 4, 2009 11:06 am
Last Updated:Mar 7, 2009 7:22 pm 5134 Views
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Deuteronomy 18:22
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him"
Gods sheep have been given the Holy Spirit to teach them the very Scripture of Truth, that truth is the BIBLE which is a "Light unto our path" to guide us away from the snares of false prophets. Psalm 119:105
1John 2:27
"But the Anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is Truth, and is no lie, and even as It hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him"
Lack of discernment to identify a false prophet from a true prophet, will open the way for the deception of the False Prophet, the beast "out of the Earth," who is the false prophet who works along side of the Antichrist.Revelation 13:11
Hebrews 5:13-14
All the marks of a false prophet should be understood by the Body of Christ. " For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the Word of Righteousness: for he is a babe. But Strong Meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil"
The LORD did not excuse the religious leaders of his day for their lack of discerning the "signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3). Nor will He excuse the world for allowing the False Prophet to deceive them into worshipping the Antichrist.
Revelation 13:12
"And he [the False Prophet] exerciseth all the power of the first beast [the Antichrist] before him, and causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed"
The LORD will not allow his sheep to be ignorant of the false prophets, who are currently deceiving the church goers today. Test carefully the spirits! Apostates are false christians who come in Christs name to decieve! You will know them by their fruits......the fruit of deception is twisting, adding, omiting, the word of God for their own profit! Any thing contrary to the bible within its whole context is a lie!
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
1Peter 5:2
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
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