Seventh-day Adventism continued Mrs. White speaks of this: "Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, 'I am saved,’ are in-danger of trusting to themselves. Those who accept the Saviour, how ever sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or feel that they have been saved. This is misleading’ ( Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 155, 1900 ed.; ital. are mine). T he Adventist says: The work of Christ plus the law, plus sabbath keeping, saves. The Bible de clares: "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” ; ". . . He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 1:12; John 5:24 ). Sal vation is in the present tense. We may know we are saved when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8 :16 ). What else does investigation under the lens of Holy Writ reveal of the Adventist conception of salvation? Not only are they putting themselves back under the old covenant, the laws of Moses, the Ten Commandments, the ceremon ial law, but they even observe dietary laws o f the Jews not as means of health but as part of their "obedience.” In Testimonies to the Church (Vol. 2, pp. 61, 67, 70; Vol. 3, p. 21) Mrs. White announced: "The fat of ani mals which God in His Word expressly forbids . . . It is just as much a sin to violate the laws o f our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments.” Not only does she forbid eggs and cheese and pork, but "all flesh meats, butter, spices, rich cake, mince pies, a large amount of sugar and all sweet substances used as food.” Then she states that this diet must be used: "A plain simple diet composed of un bolted wheat flour, vegetables, victuals prepared without spices or grease.” Imagine missionaries having to conform to a diet like that. Paul took care of this matter in First Corinthians 10:25: "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, ask ing no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” And Jesus gave directions to His disciples: "And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you” (Luke 10:8). Their efforts at self-saving go beyond keeping the law: "Those who are willing to make any sacrifice for eternal life, will have it; and it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self for” ( Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1, P - 1 2 6 ) - Does not this remind one of Mrs. Eddy’s "self-immola tion?” Not only do Adventists believe that the offering of Christ on Calvary was insufficient, and that one must keep the law to be saved, but they also believe in probation. "Jesus has purchased redemption for us. It is ours; but we are placed here on probation to see if we will prove worthy of eternal life” (T estimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 199). This is an extremely contradictory statement. If Christ purchased salvation for us, then it is a free gift according to Romans 6:23.
But the Adventist does not believe that Jesus completed the atonement upon the cross. We quote from Uriah Smith, in Looking Unto Jesus, p. 237: "Christ did not make the atonement when He shed His blood upon the cross.” And from a former president of the Adventist General Conference, C. H. Watson, in The Atoning Work of Christ, pp. 95, 113, we read: "It is impossible to conclude that a complete work of atoning for sin was wrought upon the cross . . . The work of the atonement must continue as long as probationary time shall last.” A nyone reading this article who still believes that Adventists hold the evangelical position on the atonement, the plan of salvation, the deity of Christ or the coming of the Lord had better begin all over again, and read all o f these quotations from the authorities of the Adventist denomination, as well as the Scripture verses which show them to be in error. This teaching of probation is one of their weirdest doc trines. It is completely man-made, or woman-made, with not one line of Scripture upon which to base it. They teach that while a substitute was accepted in the sinner’s stead, their sins were not then blotted out by the death of the victim. By the offering of blood, the sinner simply admitted the authority of the law and asked for pardon. Then when Christ ascended, He began pleading His blood before the Father in the behalf of sinners, but their sins remained on the record until 1844, which they now claim was the end of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14. This was when they made their switch from earth to heaven— a slight mistake in locality—-in order to try to explain away William Miller’s mistakes in predictions. Then they say Jesus entered the sanctuary to begin the work of investigation of sin. This is what is known as "the investigative judgment of sin.” Mrs. White wrote: "The work of the investigative judg ment and the blotting out o f sins is to be accomplished be fore the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impos sible that the sins o f men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated” {The Great Controversy, pp. 485, 486). In other words, Christ is now examining our sins, to try to prevail upon the Father to blot them out. Evidently they do not believe John 3:16 at all, that the Father loved us enough to give His Son, that He had part in our salvation. This teaching makes the death of Christ on Calvary of none effect, and puts Him to open shame, trampling under foot the efficacy of His shed blood. Do not be deceived by the "nice things” they say about Christ. They will not look into God’s Word and get set straight on this whole matter of eternal life. We do not have to wait for a long examination to be over before we know we have eternal life. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3 :36 ). "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6 :29). Seventh-day Adventism and the Sanctuary Theory T his is the naive explanation o f the Adventists for their formation o f this fantastic teaching from Belief and Work o f Seventh-day Adventists, by Alonzo L. Baker, published by the Pacific Press Association in 1942, p. 13:
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