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February 15, 2011

SATAN THE SIN-BEARER?

"...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.  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." (Great Controversy, page 422).


"The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord.  Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated...so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan...so Satan bearing the guilt..." (Great Controversy, page 485)

"Satan...held a council with his angels...They must prevent all whom they could from receiving the salvation purchased for them by Jesus.  By so doing Satan could still work against the government of God.  Also it would be for his interest to keep from Jesus as many as possible.  For the sins of those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ will at last be rolled back upon the originator of sin, and he must bear their punishment, while those who do not accept salvation through Jesus will suffer the penalty of their own sins."  (Early Writings, page 178)


"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 [the redeemed saint] forever...When the conflict of life is ended, when the armor is laid off at the feet of Jesus, when the saints of God are glorified, then and then only will it be safe to claim that we are saved, and sinless."  (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, page 355, paragraph 5)


"Much love to your dear father and to your sisters and brother.  Tell them to be faithful to serve God...I have often prayed for them.  Tell them to pray much that their sins may be confessed upon the head of the scapegoat and borne away into the land of forgetfulness.  A little longer and Jesus' work will be finished in the sanctuary."  (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 19, page 131, paragraph 3)


Thus, Satan gets favorably rewarded for his busy deviltry—the more people he can keep from becoming Christians the less suffering he will have to endure for the confessed sins of the righteous that were only conditionally-forgiven. The biblical, Christian definition of Jesus' atonement for our sins is the "putting away" of sin (Heb. 9:26), the actual "blotting out" of sins (Acts 3:19), the taking away of sin (John 1:29), and the getting rid of our sins.  Does a false gospel ever get any worse than the previous paragraphs describe?  In stark contrast to the statements quoted above from Ellen White, here is what the Bible further says on this important, salvific topic:


"As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us" (Ps. 103:12 ESV).


"Do not remember against us our former iniquities, let  your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!" (Ps. 79:8,9 ESV).


"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more" (Heb. 10:17 ESV).


"...your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for" (Isaiah 6:7 ESV).


"...For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34 ESV).


Dear friend, who is your scapegoat?


Dennis Fischer
Web Chaplain








courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES
Worldwide Chaplaincy Services
E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

THREE KINDS OF DEATH

(1)   Spiritual death or separation from God (as experienced by Adam and Eve and their posterity). As a result of the Fall, all human beings are born as rebels against God. With such radical or total depravity, we are born with a "dead" spirit that only our sovereign God can bring from death to life.


(2)  Physical death (bodily death).


(3)  Eternal death (also called the "second death"). The death that never dies (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:10). Due to the unconfessed and unforgiven sins of the ungodly, their sins are forever before the Father as cosmic treason and a crime against His holiness. Moreover, the punishment of the wicked is infinite in duration because they committed sins against an infinite God. Hell is also eternal because of the perpetual sinning of those confined there. 

Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), the greatest philosopher and theologian of the medieval church, well stated that "The duration of a punishment does not match the duration of the act of  sin but its stain; as long as this lasts a debt of punishment remains.  The severity of the punishment matches the seriousness of the sin...God is of infinite greatness. Therefore, an infinite punishment is deserved for a sin committed against Him."



courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES
Worldwide Chaplaincy Services
E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

Thoughts on the SDA View of Death

Since Seventh-day Adventists believe in the liberal, unbiblical concept of annihilationism, it should not surprise us that they further believe that Satan, the fallen angel, has an actual physical body of flesh like we humans do. However, the problem is not solved because after Satan is forced to join "the beast and the false prophet" in "the lake of fire," after one thousand  years, the Apostle John declares, "...and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev. 20:10 ESV).  This passage certainly is not teaching the quick-fix of annihilationism. Obviously, one must be alive to be tormented.


Adventists are usually very reluctant to take an in-depth look at their esoteric teachings to discover where they  ultimately  lead them to. After all, they have been repeatedly told that they corporately hold the exclusive franchise of heaven.  Official Adventism is only one step away from embracing the notion that all punishment is inconsistent with the kind and loving nature of God.  Due to their humanistic, sentimental reasons for teaching a temporary punishment, one can thereby easily extrapolate the theory that all punishment is against the loving nature of God. Consequently, it is not surprising to discover that some Adventists already believe in a painless annihilation. All in all, they greatly minimize the stain of sin.


With merely a "painless" or "momentary" annihilation at worst after living a profane life, why wouldn't Adventists increasingly just opt for a hedonistic lifestyle? In other words, they do not believe  that the unconfessed and unforgiven sins of the ungodly are forever before the Father from this life, the duration of hell is also eternal due to the endless sinning of the ungodly in hell, and that the remaining stain of sin is a huge affront to God. Their lack of understanding the holiness of God results in a  low view of sin whereby the ungodly do not really deserve more than a transitory fate.   Moreover, their view attacks God's divine justice by insisting that God doesn't have the moral right to inflict unending punishment on the wicked. They feel compelled to arbitrarily adjust God's divine love and justice to accommodate their unique suppositions.

Jesus said that our "spirit" or "soul" cannot be literally killed (see Matthew 10:28).  Importantly, in the original Koine Greek,  the word for "destroy" (meaning "ruin") in this passage is not the same word form as "kill." Moreover, this passage very clearly teaches the dualistic nature of man; namely, body and soul.  The Bible nowhere teaches the resurrection of the soul—only the resurrection of the body. Interestingly, even though our Adventist friends believe that the body and soul are one complete, inseparable unit, they NEVER ever talk about the resurrection of the soul.

To add additional confusion to this topic, they also believe the human spirit is merely one's breath. Thus, according to their understanding, something actually does return from heaven (i.e., their spirit, life principle, or spark of life) to reunite with the body to make a complete whole again in the resurrection. Therefore, in a strange way, they also believe that the body without the soul is dead.  Matthew Henry's Commentary adds, "The soul is killed when separated from God and his love.  Hell is the destruction of both body and soul in hell...The ruin of the whole man:  if the soul is lost, the body is lost too.  They sinned together; the body was the soul's tempter to sin, and its  tool in sin, and they must eternally suffer together."

In summary, here is a quotation from Ellen White about Satan having an actual physical body unlike the other angels: "I was shown Satan as he was, a happy, exalted angel.  Then I was shown him as he now is. He still bears a kingly form.  His features are still noble, for he is angel fallen.  But the expression of his countenance is full of anxiety, care, unhappiness, malice, hate, mischief, deceit, and every evil.  That brow which was once so noble, I particularly noticed. His forehead commenced from his eyes to recede backward.  I saw that he had demeaned himself so long, that every good quality was debased, and every evil trait was developed. His eyes were cunning, sly, and showed great penetration.  His frame was large, but the flesh hung loosely about his hands and face. As I beheld him, his chin was resting upon his left hand.  He appeared to be deep in thought.  A smile was upon his countenance, which made me tremble, it was so full of evil, and Satanic slyness." (Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 27)

Adventist dogma requires Satan having a physical body to suffer for their sins in annihilation and to thereby finally blot out their confessed sins that were only conditionally forgiven.  Shockingly, as their scapegoat, they believe Satan bears their sins by suffering in the quick-fix of annihilation. (see Great Controversy, pages 422 & 475; Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 475; Manuscript Releases, Vol. 19, page 131, paragraph 3).  


Sadly, without Satan finally atoning for their sins in annihilation, our Adventist friends claim to have absolutely no hope of ever entering eternal bliss. After all, those who become citizens of heaven had their sins completely blotted out.  Amazingly, Satan has yet a powerful, salvific role to perform, according to the twisted soteriological views of Seventh-day Adventism, by his meritorious annihilation in their behalf. Thus, official Adventism claims to have two sin-bearers; namely, Christ and Satan (Satan being their final sin-bearer).  Frankly, does heresy ever get any worse than this?


Dennis Fischer
Web Chaplain 


NOTE: For more thoughts on the SDA view of death, simply click here.




courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES
Worldwide Chaplaincy Services
E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE: The Acrostic TULIP





Total (radical) Depravity


Unconditional Election


Limited (particular) Atonement


Irresistible Grace


Perseverance of the Saints


(These doctrines comprise the Five Points of Calvinism)


NOTE: The Five Points of Calvinism all depend on each other. If T is true, then U is true, and so are L, I, and P.  They all hang or fall together.  We cannot select them like apples from a cart. Soteriologically, they all belong together.  The Calvinist says that if man does anything good, God gets all the glory.

THE FIVE SOLAS: Battle Cries of the Protestant Reformation



Sola Scriptura: ("by Scripture alone")


Sola Gratia ("by grace alone")


Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")


Sola Fide ("by faith alone")


Soli Deo Gloria ("glory to God alone")


*These Latin phrases articulated the fundamental teachings of the 
Protestant Reformation





courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES
Worldwide Chaplaincy Services
E-mail: dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries