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February 27, 2011

ASK THE CHAPLAIN


QUESTION:  Are Seventh-day Adventists allowed to surf the Internet from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday?


ANSWER:  Since the Internet is a fairly new innovation or form of media, the SDA hierarchy has not yet forbidden its use from sunset on Fridays to sunset on Saturdays. Seventh-day Adventists are not supposed to watch TV or listen to secular radio on the weekly, festal Sabbath.  As we already know to our dismay, there are far worse things to see on the Internet than a typical family can see on TV or listen to on the radio. Legalism is never consistent. Like in Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism apparently needs an ongoing living voice to address their unique, current issues. 


Fortunately, however, many Seventh-day Adventists are discovering the true Gospel of Jesus Christ for the very first time while surfing the Internet on the Mosaic Sabbath.  Many have found Jesus to be their true Sabbath Rest (Mt. 11:28-30; Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 4:1-10). Truly, Christians steadfastly focus upon the unsurpassing glory of God the Son and not upon the fading shadows of the sun. Moreover, in the truest sense, the information age is a detriment to the growth of Seventh-day Adventism in the industrialized areas of the world. Seventh-day Adventism and other cults thrive largely in areas of the world with limited or no access to the Internet. In other words, overall ignorance provides the ideal environment for cults to gain new followers.


The arrival of online religion is as consequential as when the printing presses brought the written word to medieval Europe. Cyberspace affords us the priesthood of all believers in being an equal playing field. Information technology is a tool that empowers and enriches the lives of even the lowest social class in our society. Consequently, SDA students can readily fact check the claims of religious lectures in their classrooms without anyone else knowing about their quest for biblical truth.


QUESTION:  One of my colleagues, a former Seventh-day Adventist, insists that Paul is teaching the abrogation of the moral law in Romans 10:4. However, it seems to me that his interpretation ignores the overall view of Scripture—including many other Pauline statements. In context, what is Paul actually saying?


ANSWER:  Just because the law is not a way to salvation doesn't mean that it is not a guide to conduct for believers. As former legalists who suffered intense spiritual abuse, former Adventists sometimes find various forms of antinomianism very appealing and attractive. However, such ruinous conclusions are an overreaction to their painful past. 


Although the Greek word translated "end" can mean either "fulfillment" or "termination," this is not a reference to Christ having perfectly fulfilled the law through His teaching (Matt. 5:17,18) or through His sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21). Instead, as the second half of the verse shows, Paul means that belief in Christ as Lord and Savior ends the sinner's futile quest for righteousness through his imperfect attempts to save himself by efforts to obey the law.  In other words, Paul is saying that Christ is the end focus or goal of the law for righteousness.


The Apostle Paul adds:  "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law" (Rom. 3:31 ESV). Moreover, in Romans 7:12, Paul declares that the law is "holy, and just, and good" just like God Himself is.  Truly, the ethical directives in both the Old and New Testaments are a reflection of His divine character and holiness. Obviously, Jesus would not have bothered to further explain or expound upon the moral laws of the Old Covenant if they were abrogated or nullified in any way.  God's divine will for His people is changeless.  Indeed, all exhortations in Scripture are a form of law.


Even without the law, death was universal.  All people from Adam to Moses were subject to death, not because of their sinful acts against the Mosaic Law (which they did not yet have), but because of their own inherited sinful nature. However, the moral law as delivered on Mount Sinai was not something unfamiliar to Adam, Noah, and other patriarchs. Clearly, the Bible reveals that murder, lying,  envy, revenge, wrongful worship, jealousy, and other acts of treason against our holy God were considered sinful long, long before Sinai.


Importantly, the law was never given to save people, but rather to lead them to the One who would. "Christ redeemed us from the CURSE of the law" (Gal. 3:13) and not from our duty to obey His righteous standards. As Charles Spurgeon aptly and rightly declared, "The grace that does not change your life will not save your soul."  Similarly, it is biblical to say that the faith that does not change your life will not save your soul.


QUESTION:  What does the gift of  prophecy, in 1 Cor. 12:10, precisely mean?  Does this indicate that the presence of prophets is still valid among believers  today?


ANSWER:  "Long ago, at many times and in  many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (Heb. 1:1-2 ESV).  The meaning of "prophecy" is simply that of "speaking forth" or "proclaiming publicly" to which the connotation of prediction was added sometime in the Middle Ages.


Since the completion of Scripture, prophecy has not been a means of new revelation, but is limited to proclaiming what has already been revealed in the written Word.  Even the biblical prophets were preachers, proclaimers of God's truth, both by revelation and reiteration.  Old Testament prophets  like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel spent lifetimes proclaiming God's Word.  Only a comparatively small amount of what they preached is recorded in the Bible as God's direct revelation. They must have continually repeated and re-emphasized those truths, as preachers  today repeat, explain, and re-emphasize the Word of God in Scripture.


The best definition for this gift is found in 1 Cor. 14:3 (ESV) as "the one who prophesies speaks to people for  their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation."  Moreover, according to 1 Chronicles 25:1-2,  publicly performing music is a form of  "prophesying" as well. This is a notable example of how the etymologies  of various words  have changed  down through the centuries.


QUESTION:  Where was the "paradise"  located that Jesus promised the penitent dying thief in Luke 23:43?


ANSWER:   The word "paradise" literally denotes a "park" or "garden." The Septuagint uses this word literally in Ecclesiastes 2:5 and Song of Solomon 4:13, although the term also refers to the Garden of Eden (see Gen. 2:8). However, Revelation 2:7 indicates that the location of "paradise" is synonymous with "heaven" where the tree of life is located.


Paradise was also described as the place for righteous spirits in Sheol who awaited the Messiah (Luke 16:19-31). When Jesus spoke to the penitent dying thief on the cross, He assured him that he would that very day reside with Him in paradise (Luke 23:43). Obviously, their reunion occurred within just a few hours or minutes.  Although Bible scholars are divided about the exact location (heaven or Sheol) that Jesus referred to, it is my studied conclusion that this reunion took place in Sheol when Jesus went to bring the good news that the Old Testament  saints  would be relocated to heaven within a very short time.   The context  seems to indicate that the word "paradise" refers to a pleasant abode for the righteous among the dead (one of two compartments in Sheol).    


Interestingly, Jesus precisely promised to be with the penitent dying thief in a place called "paradise" on that very day. Grammar is always an important hermeneutical tool.  If heaven itself was in view that very day, it seems that Jesus would have said so. After all,  Jesus often talked about a literal place called heaven. In Koine Greek, a very precise biblical language, there are separate words for heaven and paradise.   All in all, however, we should not be overly dogmatic when the biblical data is less than clear on a topic. Historically, Christians have believed that Jesus descended into the two-compartment Sheol (i.e., creedal statements designed to validate doctrinal consensus and orthodoxy). However, it is not entirely clear from creedal statements if Jesus' visit was to the righteous or unrighteous sector of Sheol or both.  


On the other hand, some biblical scholars favor Jesus' words to the penitent dying thief as referring to heaven as being the same place as paradise. In a figurative sense, they further view "hell" as the earth itself that Jesus descended into. Therefore, in the careful exegesis of Luke 23:43, there emerges a consensus that the spirits of Jesus and the penitent dying thief were reunited in a far better place called "paradise" on that very day. Truly, we can always trust the words of Jesus.


QUESTION:  What was the rationale of the late Harold Camping (founder of Family Radio), to predict Judgment Day to occur on May 21, 2011 and the complete annihilation of this planet five months later?


ANSWER:  CNN recently had a special report on doomsday predictions (scenarios) throughout Christian history. A video clip was shown of the devout followers of Harold Camping excitedly handing out literature in public intersections while still others had signs on their cars predicting judgment day to occur on May 21, 2011.  Like the Millerites in the 1840s, Harold Camping was basing his time-setting upon an arbitrary starting date in history to calculate the supposed exact date. The primary difference in their eisegesis is that William Miller proclaimed a day equals a year principle whereas Harold Camping was using a day equals one thousand years as a principle of prophetic interpretation.


Interestingly, a Seventh-day Adventist friend expressed compassion for Harold Camping and was hoping that he would be right this time. However, based on the SDA prophetic timeline, how could Camping have been right without the National Sunday Law having become a reality?  Moreover, these repeated failed predictions make a mockery of Christianity.  Although these repeated failed time-settings are anti-Gospel, the time-setters have often benefited in a financial way from their deliberate deceptions.


Furthermore, the late Harold Camping and other time-setters seem to have taken their alibis and excuses for their failed prophecies directly from the JW-SDA playbooks—saying that although nothing happened physically on earth, it somehow happened spiritually in heaven instead. This warped strategy apparently removes their need for a public apology, and it somehow lessens their need for heartfelt contrition. After all, alibis for disobedience started immediately after the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Consequently and unfortunately, fallen human beings have become highly-experienced experts in the area of providing alibis.


QUESTION:  What is the meaning of Jesus' statement to Mary Magdalene: "...Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (John 20:17 ESV)?


ANSWER:  Mary was expressing a desire to hold on to His physical presence for fear that she would once again lose Him. Jesus' reference to His ascension signifies that He would only be temporarily with them and though she desperately wanted Him to stay, He could not.  Jesus was with them only for forty more days, and then He ascended.  His ascension was both material and immaterial as "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (I Cor. 15:20 ESV).   His ascension was in contrast to only His spirit ascending to heaven at the point of His physical death on the Cross.


After He went to the Father in both body and spirit, He sent the Holy Spirit ("the Helper") so they would not feel abandoned. Interestingly, this was Jesus' first reference to His disciples as "brothers" instead of friends or servants because of Jesus' work on the Cross in place of the sinner. Consequently, this new relationship to Christ was made possible.


QUESTION:  Please explain Matthew 10:28 when Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."


ANSWER:  God is the one who destroys (Lit. Gk. "delivers up to eternal misery") the ungodly in hell (Luke 12:5).  Persecutors can harm only the body.  The physical body must also be punished in hell due to the fact that the flesh had a significant role in sinning.  Importantly, the words translated "destroy" and "kill" in this passage are not  the same words  in Koine Greek. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon defines the Greek word "apollumi" (commonly translated into English as "destroy" or "ruin") as "to be delivered up to eternal misery."  This scholarship is significant since Joseph Thayer himself, a Unitarian, did not believe in eternal punishment.


"In every instance where the word "apollumi" is found in the New Testament, something other than annihilation is being described...The wicked are "cast" or "destroyed," i.e., delivered up unto eternal misery (Lit. Gk.), in Gehenna in the sense of being delivered up to eternal torment.  The use of "ballw" as the synonym for "apollumi" makes annihilation an impossible interpretation." (Dr. Robert A. Morey; Death and the Afterlife, pp. 90, 153)  


Fortunately, Koine Greek (c. 300 BC to 300 AD) was a very precise language or dialect spoken by the common people on the street. Truly, as the ultimate author of the Bible, God speaks with one voice on any given topic. Therefore, any confusion, misinterpretation, mistranslation, or honest misunderstanding of any biblical text is due to the fallible nature of man. Indeed, the Bible is God's voice speaking to us.


QUESTION:  What did the Apostle Paul mean when he admonished  believers to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" in Philippians 2:12?


ANSWER:  The Greek word rendered "work out" means "to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion (cf. Rom. 3:21-24; Eph. 2:8,9). It refers to the believer's responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification.  The phrase "fear and trembling" denotes the attitude with which Christians are to pursue their sanctification and thus to bring glory to God on a daily basis (cf. Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Isa. 66: 1, 2).  


QUESTION:  On what day of the week did October 22, 1844 occur?


ANSWER:  You can certainly enter heaven without knowing the answer to this trivia question. However, October 22, 1844 was on a Tuesday as verified by Henry Emmons, a Millerite, who wrote: "I waited all Tuesday [October 22] and dear Jesus did not come; I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o'clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain--sick with disappointment." (Quoted in George R. Knight, Millennial Fever and the End of the World, Pacific Press, Boise, ID,1993, pp.163-164)


Indeed, those who ignore the clear warning of Jesus against time-setting (Matt. 24:36,42) will sooner or later experience intense disappointment, immeasurable shame, devastating guilt, and the loss of their credibility. Therefore, it is not surprising  that some ardent Millerites ended up in  the lunatic asylums of that day with clinical cases of so-called "Millerite madness."


QUESTION:  Is it possible to somehow celebrate the Lord's Supper online as cyber-Christians?


ANSWER:  It is entirely feasible to celebrate the Lord's Supper  among believers with HD video conferencing,   with three or more believers creating a conference call with inexpensive webcams, or just between two believers who utilize their webcams.   Many monitors and laptops now come with built-in webcams. Sometimes a remote location and/or laws against Christian assembly in some parts of the world would necessitate an alternative to corporate worship.  The arrival of online religion is as consequential as when the printing presses brought the written word to medieval Europe. 


With religious literacy dramatically on the upswing, cyber-Christians find new appreciation for personal freedom in Christ. Cyberspace affords us the priesthood of all believers--an equal playing field.  While cyberspace is no equal substitute for in-person relationships, it does avail us of meaningful, worldwide Christian fellowship.  I have never had the privilege to meet the vast majority of my online Christian friends in person.  However, through God's saving grace, we are looking forward to meeting in the earth made new.


QUESTION:  After her third funeral, why was Ellen White's interment delayed for 33 days?


ANSWER:  On March 22, 1999,  William Fagal from the White Estate office at Andrews University, sent me an e-mail with the following message:  "Thank you for contacting the Ellen G. White Estate. Her funeral took place on Sabbath, July 24, 1915.  She was not actually interred, however, until Thursday, August 26.  (How's that for funeral trivia?).  Yes, I know what you are wondering, but I don't know why the interment was delayed so long."  


Even after her death, Ellen White continued to be highly controversial. Very few Seventh-day Adventists are aware that their revered prophetess had a mysterious, 33-day delayed burial. There is speculation that SDA leaders feared that Dr. John Harvey Kellogg might exhume her body and perform  a brain autopsy on her if buried immediately after her third and final funeral. Instead, her body (in casket) was stored in a vault, owned by the funeral home, during the 33-day delayed burial. Moreover, Ellen White's body was encased in ice during the long trip by train from California to Michigan. Finally, on August 26, 1915,  at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan, her coffin was once again briefly opened by a few close friends and her youngest son prior to burial.


QUESTION: What does Jesus' phrase "this generation" refer to in Matthew 24:34?


ANSWER:  This cannot refer to the generation living at the time of Christ, since "all these things" such as the abominaton of desolation (v. 15), the persecutions and judgments (vv.17-22), the false Christs and prophets (vv.23-26), the signs in the heavens (vv.27-29), Christ's return (v. 30), and the gathering of the elect (v.31) did not take place in their lifetime.  Moreover, this view would fit with the lesson of the fig tree (v.32), which emphasizes the short span of time in which these things will occur.


QUESTION:  Muslims, atheists, and others  like to cite the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:34 that He did not come to bring peace but a sword.  They thereby insinuate that Jesus' words are no better than Muhammad's in regard to teaching violence.  What was Jesus referring to in this passage?


ANSWER:  Though the ultimate end of the Gospel is peace with God, its immediate result is frequently in conflict.  Conversion to Christ can result in strained family relationships, persecution, and even martyrdom.  Following Christ presupposes a willingness to endure such hardships. 


Though He is called the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), Christ will have no one deluded into thinking that He calls believers to a life free from conflict, torture, harassment, imprisonment, etc.  All in all, Jesus is certainly not teaching any violence  in this passage, but instead He is   referring to the violence often perpetrated against His followers.


QUESTION:  Did Noah engage in evangelism on behalf of the antediluvian world?


ANSWER:  According to the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 2:5, Noah is identified as a "preacher" or "herald" of righteousness.  Thus, this description clearly denotes a public influence and/or outreach on the part of Noah.  It is impossible to be a believer without sharing one's faith. Ultimately, only  Noah and his family were saved, but there may have been others who  believed and  died before the universal Flood occurred.  Interestingly,  in both  Old and New Testament biographical accounts, our sovereign God repeatedly saved entire families or households of faith.  This encouraging fact certainly depicts the special regard that God has for the family unit.


QUESTION:  Who is the angel of the Lord?


ANSWER:   Numerous passages, especially  in the  Old Testament, speak of the "angel  of the  Lord" in a way that suggests that he is God Himself (a theophany and/or Christophany) taking on either an auditory or visible manifestation to appear briefly with various people.  For example, the experiences of Hagar, Sarah, Abraham, Jacob, and  Moses distinctly reveal instances where God took on an angelic  or human form for a short time in order to communicate directly to various human beings.  


These Christophanies further reveal that the pre-incarnate Christ was truly an active, central figure in Old Testament times.     Moreover, these  bold appearances make Christ the indisputable central focus of the entire Bible. Indeed, these unique appearances  served as a precursor of the Incarnate Christ that were typically temporary in nature.  A permanent manifestation like the incarnation of Christ made theophanies less necessary and accounts for their diminished importance in the New Testament.


Passages that mention "an angel of the  Lord" (e.g., Luke 1:11) usually refer to an angel sent by God.  The existence of angels constantly remind us that there is an unseen world that is very real (i.e., 2 Kings 6:17 depicting a great angelic army to protect Elisha from the Syrians). Furthermore, when we come before God in corporate worship, we are joining not only with the great company of believers who have died and come into God's presence in heaven, "the spirits of just men made perfect," but also meet with a great throng of angels, "innumerable angels in festal gathering" (Heb. 12:22-23) whom we do not see, but whose presence should fill us with both awe and joy.  


Though we do not ordinarily see or hear evidence of this heavenly worship, it  certainly enriches our sense of reverence and joy in God's presence if we appreciate the fact that angels join us in the worship of God.  While unfallen angels rejoice over even one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10), they will never be able to share the same testimony as human beings who have been brought from death to life through miraculous conversion or regeneration. Just like we cannot give birth to ourselves physically, we cannot give birth to ourselves spiritually.  Both are done  for us--a gift from God alone.  It's all about Him!  Soli Deo gloria!


QUESTION: My Seventh-day Adventist friends insist that the word "hastening" in 2 Peter 3:12 indicates that God's people can actually "hasten" our Lord's return (making it happen before its sovereignly-appointed time). What is the actual etymological meaning  of the word translated as "hastening"?


ANSWER:  As a respected theologian and Koine Greek scholar, Dr. John MacArthur gives the following answer:  "One of  the motives for holy conduct and godliness is expectation. Hastening means "eagerly desiring" that something will happen. Christians are not to fear the future day of God, but eagerly hope for it (cf. 1 Cor. 1:7; 16:22; 1 John 2:28; 3:3)." (MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1942)


The  SDA  interpretation of "hastening" is that believers can accelerate the day of the Lord by their diligence, perfection, and witnessing (human effort). Ellen White,  the Seventh-day Adventist prophetess , stated that "Christ is waiting with a longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church, and when the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." (COL, page 69)  


In other words,  she inaccurately implied that since the spiral toward acquiring perfection and sinlessness in this life is impossible by any human  effort or merit, Jesus will therefore NEVER return.  Obviously, the first perfect or sinless Adventist has not  been identified. Indeed, it is a bogus, guilt-producing, works-oriented, unbiblical claim for fallen mankind to be able to accelerate or delay the second coming  of Christ. Salvation comes from the Lord alone (Jonah 2:9), and it is a rescue operation  from  start to finish. Thankfully, God never goes on a rescue mission that fails. 


Only by the divine imputation of the merits of Christ can sinful humans be declared to be holy, righteous, and perfect.  Truly, fallen  humanity does not have the authority nor the ability to manipulate God's sovereign plans in any manner.  Moreover, we cannot give birth to ourselves. We are totally—not merely mostly or partially—dependent upon God's mercy for our salvation (Rom. 9:16,18). We can only appreciate God's saving  grace to the  extent that we understand the depth of His divine wrath. It's all about Him!


QUESTION:   Does Titus 2:11 tell us that everyone will be saved?


ANSWER:  The Apostle Paul declared that "the  grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people" (Titus 2:11 ESV). This Pauline passage does not teach universal salvation.  Mankind is translated as "man" in Titus 3:4 to refer to humanity in general, as a category, not to every individual.  Jesus Christ made a sufficient sacrifice to cover every sin of every one who believes or is given the gift of faith.  Paul makes it clear in the opening words of this letter to Titus that salvation becomes effective only through "the faith of God's elect" (1:1).  Out of humanity, only those who believe will be saved (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24,38,40; Rom.10:9-17).


Moreover, in theological parlance, the grace that appears to all men is referred to as the "common grace" that accompanies the proclamation of the  gospel.  In this life, the ungodly commonly receive the same amenities and/or blessings as the godly (i.e., sunshine, rain, cars, homes, jobs, money, etc.).  Our awesome, sovereign God makes friends (saints) out of His enemies by providing "saving grace" according to His divine mercy (Romans 9:16,18). Paul adds:  "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of  the  same lump  one vessel for honorable use and another for  dishonorable use?" (v. 21). 


QUESTION: My Seventh-day Adventist friends interpret the Pauline passages of 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 as referring to our physical bodies. How should we understand these passages?


ANSWER: The key to interpreting these two passages correctly lies in its grammatical structure.  Here is a severe warning to any who would try to interfere with or destroy the building of the church on the foundation of Christ. Importantly, the Koine Greek for "you" is plural in verses 16 and 17.  Since Seventh-day Adventism is a very physical religion, it does not surprise me that they would prefer to interpret these passages as relating strictly to the physical human body.  Indeed, these passages do not teach the so-called "health message" embraced by Adventism. Moreover, Jesus said, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man" (Matt. 15:11 NASB).


QUESTION:  Is there a biblical mandate that only a minister can baptize people?


ANSWER:  The Bible nowhere teaches that only a minister can baptize. Any male, born-again Christian is qualified to baptize (i.e., friend, uncle, father, pastor, teacher, etc.).  The idea that only ministers are authorized to conduct baptisms reflects their intent of self-importance and to create dependence upon clergymen for all religious rites and services. Under the New Covenant, however, there is a priesthood of all believers. With the indwelling Spirit and a closed canon of Scripture, believers no longer need prophets and priests to dispense truth to them.  


Biblically, it is God's design for men to be the spiritual leaders of their home and church. Since all human beings are created equal, this is only about gender role and not an equality issue.  For example, God did not have women serve as priests and rabbis under the Mosaic Covenant, and the disciples and apostles were all men.  The Apostle Paul also indicated that men should be the key leaders in the church after some women were causing problems at the church in Corinth.


Moreover, studies have revealed that those churches who have women pastors and elders are usually liberal theologically (i.e., Seventh-day Adventism in America that ordains women as local elders and has licensed women pastors is largely pro-abortion, teaches that a place called "hell" does not exist,  no separate spirit entity in human beings, humans die just like animals and birds and become nonexistent as secular evolutionists and atheists believe as well, some are now even advocating a painless annihilation for the ungodly, etc.).  


I am grateful that my church requires men to teach Sunday School classes to those above the age of about 10.  With many women struggling to raise their children by themselves, it is essential for these young people to have spiritual influence and guidance from both men and women. Truly, a nation is only as strong as its family units are.

QUESTION:  What does I Timothy 2:4 mean when it says that God "desires all men to be saved"? Is this Pauline passage teaching universalism?

ANSWER:  The Greek word for "desires" is not that which normally expresses God's will of decree (His eternal  purpose), but God's will of desire.  There is a distinction between God's desire and His eternal saving purpose, which must transcend His desires.  God does not want people to sin.  He hates sin with all His being (Ps.5:4;45:7); thus, He hates its consequences—eternal wickedness in hell.  God does not want people to remain wicked forever in eternal remorse and hatred of  Himself.  Yet, God, for His own glory, and to manifest that glory in wrath, chose to endure "vessels...prepared for destruction" for the supreme fulfillment of His will (Rom. 9:22).  

In His eternal purpose, He  chose only the elect out of the world (John 17:6) and passed over the rest, leaving them to the consequences of their sin, unbelief, and  rejection of Christ (cf. Rom. 1:18-32). Ultimately, God's choices are determined by His sovereign, eternal purpose, not  His desires. Moreover, in Matthew 20:28, Christ's own statement tells us of "a ransom for many."  Clearly, the Bible teaches that not all will be ransomed.  The all is qualified by the many. Jesus did not pay a ransom only; He became the subject of God's just wrath in the believer's place.  He died his death and bore his sin. 

Christ's death was fully sufficient (efficacious) to cover the sins of all people. Yet, the substitutionary aspect of His death is applied to the elect alone.  Christ's death is therefore unlimited in its sufficiency, but limited in its application. Because Christ's expiation of sin is indivisible, inexhaustible, and sufficient to cover the guilt of all the sins that will ever be committed, God can clearly offer it to all.  Yet, only the elect will respond and be saved, according to His eternal purpose.

QUESTION:  I have noticed that prominent Seventh-day Adventists are increasingly saying that the Muslim god "Allah" is the same as God the Father. Are they really the same God or are they entirely different from each other?

ANSWER: The Adventist Jesus,  being less than equally God from his supposed created beginning, is a distinct Being from the Father and from the Holy Spirit. Seventh-day Adventism teaches that Jesus was actually "derived" from the Father. In other words, Jesus has not been fully God in His own right from eternity. Furthermore, according to SDA dogma, the three persons of the Trinity are one only in the sense that they work together in agreement and have a common purpose (this so-called "heavenly trio" get along well together). However, official Adventism notably omits the fact that the three persons of the Godhead are the same in having a co-eternal, indivisible Divine essence or substance. The God of Christianity and of the Bible is One Being yet three distinct persons (each person being fully God). Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9 ESV).

Seventh-day Adventists have been indoctrinated from an early age to insist that the Trinity isn't that important and that no one can fully understand God so we shouldn't be too concerned about the details. Sadly, such soothing indoctrination is part of their strategy of keeping inquiring members from leaving the fold.  Ellen White, the revered SDA prophetess,  was all-over-the-road on this topic. Consequently, without clear guidance from their infallible interpreter of Scripture, official Adventism still has not reached a consensus on the nature of God. Being strikingly blasphemous and heretical, they further believe that Jesus inherited the post-Fall, sinful  nature of Mary instead of Adam's pre-Fall nature. 

The biblical truth is that Jesus was born spiritually alive unlike fallen humanity. Consequently, Jesus did not need regeneration or to be born again as fallen man does. Their flawed views about the nature of God is why so many prominent Adventists can say that the Muslim Allah and God the Father are the same God. Etymologically, "Allah"  is  the only Arabic word for God. This fact confuses many people into thinking that the Muslim Allah is the same as God the Father. If God is three distinct Beings (a tritheism), you could worship and follow one apart from the others. But if God is One Being, as Christians believe, you can't worship the Father and deny Jesus as Lord and Savior.  

Importantly, the Christian Jesus died on a cross, but the Muslim Jesus did not.  When you deny the divinity of Jesus Christ (the God/man), you have also denied the one and only Triune God. Indeed, theology matters when it comes to who precisely is our Savior and Substitute! The Islamic religion does not allow their "Allah" to be even remotely considered as a Savior and Substitute (meaning "stand in"). Islam regards Jesus as merely one of many prophets. The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ is  non-negotiable in biblical Christianity. Serious Bible students should log unto www.cultorchristian.com for in-depth, factual details on this salvific topic.

QUESTION:  Will my pet be in heaven?

ANSWER:  Is there an afterlife for pets? The Bible doesn't really teach that, but it also doesn't teach against it. There will be many happy surprises in heaven for the saints of all ages. However, I don't really know, but you will definitely not see your pet in heaven if you don't go there yourself.

QUESTION:  Of all the religious groups in the world, why do you primarily scrutinize Seventh-day Adventism?  

ANSWER:  The answer is simple. Collectively, my wife and I have more than 100 years of active experience in Seventh-day Adventism (both here and overseas).  I was never an employed minister of any other church, and I have never had the extensive experience in any other religious group than I have had with official Adventism.  

My scrutiny of Seventh-day Adventism is based solely on first-hand experience and biblical research.  Both my wife and I grew up as Adventists, and we are products of their educational system. Although I know a lot about many different religious organizations, I know a lot more about Seventh-day Adventism.  Teaching sound doctrine is a biblical commandment (Galatians 1:8-10; Titus 1 & 2).

QUESTION:  As a former Adventist for many years, I have been told by my pastor's wife that I must eat meat now to somehow "prove" that I am a Christian. Is this biblical?

ANSWER:

No! Having been indoctrinated in the legalistic stance of avoiding the consumption of all flesh foods while a Seventh-day Adventist, you certainly do not have any need for additional legalism to prove to anyone, by your diet, that you are now a Christian. With the exception of being a drunkard or glutton, Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19) and to be enjoyed to the glory of God. Jesus further stated, in the same chapter, that only the sinful deeds of the flesh defile us, not the food we eat. There is nothing wrong with being a vegan or vegetarian if not done in an attempt to reach a point of spiritual perfection.

Furthermore, with the holiday season upon us, many former Adventists are entertaining SDA friends and relatives at their dinner table. It is merely common sense hospitality to not be an insensitive and impolite host or hostess to your Adventist guests by blatantly indulging in eating pork, etc. in their presence. Moreover, if your guests are your SDA parents, you would actually dishonor them and thereby violate a moral directive by your thoughtlessness as they see you eating something totally taboo to them. Why not instead make your menu a pleasant experience for all who sit around your table and make Jesus the unseen guest?

QUESTION: Since Ellen White authored many embarrassing, false, foolish, harmful, inaccurate, unbiblical, and unscientific statements, what is your personal choice of her most bizarre theory? 

ANSWER:  Wow, you really know how to ask a difficult question. There are literally dozens of "bizarre" statements that supposedly came directly from the throne of God. Although official Adventism teaches merely thought inspiration in regard to the Bible, their apologists teach verbal inspiration in regard to the writings attributed to Ellen White, their revered prophetess, messenger, and infallible interpreter of Scripture. "When writing these precious books, if I hesitated, the very word I wanted to express the idea was given to me" (Selected Messages, vol. 3, pp. 51-52). The preceding statement certainly implies verbal inspiration. Moreover, in regard to her "precious" books, she added that "The instruction they contain is not of human production" (EGW letter 339, 1904). Clearly, Seventh-day Adventists claim a higher standard of inspiration for the writings attributed to Ellen White than for the Bible.

Most of Ellen White's top embarrassing statements are published elsewhere, but the following quote is less known. Referring to those who masturbate, she unashamedly stated that "Such are just as surely self-murderers as though they pointed a pistol to their own breast, and destroyed their life instantly" (An Appeal to Mothers, 1864). Thus, according to EGW, masturbation is equivalent to committing suicide. "I have since thought that many inmates of insane asylums were brought there by experiences similar to my own" (Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, p. 454). How can we believe in a person who admits such a thing?

QUESTION:  What is worse than a wolf in sheep's clothing?

ANSWER:   A fierce wolf in shepherd's clothing (Acts 20:29-30).

QUESTION: I have often noticed that Seventh-day Adventist congregations enjoy singing the well-known gospel song entitled "It is well with my soul." How can they honestly sing an inspiring hymn like this when they don't even believe in having a soul (human spirit entity) to save nor a literal hell to shun?

ANSWER:  The real truth is that Adventists cannot honestly sing popular hymns like "It is well with my soul" and "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" and be even remotely consistent with their aberrant belief system that vigorously opposes such thoughts. This is another example of their ingrained cognitive dissonance (having the unique ability to believe in two opposing views simultaneously). 

Without their defensive cognitive dissonance, Seventh-day Adventists would likely suffer a mental breakdown and experience utter spiritual despair. Sadly and unfortunately, it is not inconsistent with their usual stance of deceiving others by talking out of both sides of their mouth. After all, their revered prophetess and co-founder, Ellen White, did that routinely by spoken word and pen. It would actually be sacrilegious for Seventh-day Adventists to sing "It is well with my breath" in order to accurately uphold their cultic dogma. Many people prefer to believe what they prefer to be true—even when inherently nonsensical and contrary to biblical teaching.

QUESTION:  What does the word "sabaoth" refer to in Scripture?

ANSWER:  The plural noun "sabaoth" means "armies" or "hosts" (the Greek term for the Hebrew "tsebaoth"). Thus, we find OT English Bible versions commonly using the phrase "the Lord of  hosts").  However, the etymology of the word "sabaoth" is not related to the weekly, Mosaic Sabbath.  The word "sabaoth" also appears occasionally in our hymnody.

QUESTION:  In just a few words, what is at least one reliable indicator of a religious cult?

ANSWER:  One significant red flag is any religious group teaching that there is no literal hell to shun and no soul entity to save (i.e., Armstrongites, Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists). Indeed, getting the Gospel right should be our highest priority.

QUESTION: 1 Timothy 6:16 tells us that God alone has immortality. Does this somehow infer that God does not share His absolute immortality with His created beings?

ANSWER:  This Pauline passage must be taken to mean that God alone is immortal absolutely. Angels and human beings participate in the immortality that God alone possesses in a strict sense. Unlike angels and men, God has no beginning nor end. However, angels and human beings have a beginning by virtue of their creation. As "ministering spirits," angels do not have physical bodies like human beings have.  In contrast, human beings were fashioned into a two-part dichotomy consisting of body and soul. The human soul or spirit has no ending. Soli Deo Gloria!

QUESTION: In regard to the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation, if sola means "alone" why are there five of them?

ANSWER: We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.


February 25, 2011

WISDOM FROM HERE AND THERE


"Free will carried many a soul to hell, but never a soul to heaven."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers

Wisdom from Father to Son:  The quality of your relationship with God will be transparently revealed by how you treat your wife. Indeed, the best gift that you can give to your children is to love their mother.


The theme song in hell:   "We did it our way."

Salvation is not the reward of a holy life but the gift of God to a sinner deserving judgment.


There are no atheists in hell, only believers.

"If the Scripture has more than one meaning it has no meaning at all."  - John Owens

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Ps. 116:15 ESV).

"Our lives begin  to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  - Dr. Martin Luther King


Heaven has a party whenever Jesus is born in a new heart.


If we have evolved, then a Savior who redeems us from our fallen status is nonsense.


Amazing Heresy:  "He not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss."  - Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, page 131


Those who are intent upon accurate answers will no longer remain  in a toxic-faith system.


Calvinist Humor:  What do you call a four-point Calvinist?  An Arminian in denial!


"Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight; the clouds rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul."  (from It is Well With My Soul)


"...weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Ps. 30:5 ESV).


The words of the Bible are the very words of God.


If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.


Heaven never gets worse, only better; hell never gets better, only worse.


"I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me."  - Dwight L. Moody


For believers, the Lord's day is a weekly Easter.

"Reformed theology isn't a sledgehammer with which to hit people, it's a pillow on which they can lay their weary heads." - Burk Parsons, editor of Tabletalk magazine


"All biblical exhortations are a form of  law."  - Dr. Michael S. Horton


"Sin is cosmic treason—an expression of enmity, and a crime."  - Dr. R. C. Sproul


"Some SDA minds are like concrete--permanently set, and all mixed up." 
- Dr. Desmond Ford


More people are troubled by what is plain in Scripture than by what is obscure.


"Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true."  - Francis Bacon


Few people come to church to see Christ;  they come to church to see Christians.


We are not earthly people having a heavenly experience.  We are heavenly people having an earthly experience, a short one at that.


"Hell's worst feature is its duration."  - Robert Peterson


The resurrection is the turning point in all redemptive history.


"As long as grace is operative, human failure is never final."  - John MacArthur, Jr.


"Nobody fills my heart like Jesus."  - Singer Dennis Jernigan


"If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright."  - Martin Luther


Knowing the signs is no substitute for knowing the Savior.


The Gospel does not include making legalistic "principles" out of Old Covenant rituals.


"Earthly prayers activate heavenly plans."  - Max Lucado


Live your life so well that even the undertaker will hate to see you go.


Selective Revelation:  The White Estate determines what is to be revealed.


The Doctrine of  Divine Election:  "God intentionally designed salvation so that no man can boast of it.  He didn't merely arrange it so that boasting would be discouraged or kept to a minimum--He planned it so that boasting would be absolutely excluded.  Election does precisely that."  - Mark Webb


"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half-shut afterwards."  - Benjamin Franklin


If you grew up Adventist, you couldn't dance at school parties, but passing an orange under the chin was a non-sensual activity. Indeed, legalism is never consistent.


"I feel most ministers who claim they've heard God's voice are eating too much pizza before they go to bed at night, and it's really an intestinal disorder, not a revelation."  - Jerry Falwell


"The SDA Church cannot change any of its doctrines because they have been authenticated by Ellen White.  They are in a mental-lock-down and only pretend to be scholars."  - Dr. Russell Kelly

The cross of Christ is the center of history.


If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world.


"Faith is never identical with piety."  - Karl Barth


"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden."  - Corrie Ten Boom


Fight truth decay, study the Bible.


If your day is hemmed with prayer, it is less likely to unravel.


"Each day comes bearing its gifts.  Untie the ribbons."  - Ann Ruth Shabacker


A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.


Worry is like a rocking chair...it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere.


God does not promise a comfortable journey, only a safe landing.


A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another.


"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."  - Mother Theresa


A mind is like a parachute.  It works best when it is open.


A text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext.


"The real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money."  - J. H. Jowett


Q:  Did you hear about the agnostic, dyslexic insomniac?
A:  He lies awake at night wondering if there's a dog.


Q:  What time of day was it when Adam was created?
A:  Just before Eve.


Church Bulletin Blooper:  For those who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.


Q:  Who in the Bible besides Adam and Eve had no parents?
A:  Joshua son of Nun


To dwell above with saints we love--oh, that will be glory!  To dwell below with saints we know--oh, that's another story!


One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.


The unexamined faith is not worth believing.  The unexamined faith is not worth living.  Belief usually does not stand still.  It grows and develops, regresses, stagnates, and changes.


QUOTE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN SDA CIRCLES:  "In her writings, Ellen White used sources more extensively than we have heretofore been aware of or recognized."  - The late Neal C. Wilson (March 20, 1980); former president, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists


While sin remains in the believer's life, it does not REIGN.


Once you believe God loves you, you are in God's family.


There is none so blind as those who refuse to see.


"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of our own ignorance."  - Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers


Prayer is the Godward reach of the human spirit.


It takes a lot of faith to step out from under the rules and regulations that do not exist into an Absolute Love that does not depend on the position of the sun.


All four Gospel writers spent over 50 percent of their accounts recording events of this one week--Passion Week.


Salvation is like being born (actually, it IS being reborn) once you are born you can never be un-born.  You will always be your parent's child.  You will always be God's child.  You can never be UN-reborn.


All that glitters is not gold.  All that sounds pious and holy is not Gospel.


"We don't have to be good to be saved, but we have to be saved to be good."  - Desmond Ford


"There are only two types of Adventists—the deceived and the dishonest."  - Dale Ratzlaff


The Christian Church was born on Pentecost Sunday as foreshadowed in the Mosaic Covenant.

Jesus doesn't come to visit us at a certain place on a certain day each week—He dwells in us!


My salvation is not based on how much I know, but who I know.


We are not saved by a sunset calendar.


Salvation occurs at the beginning of the journey, not at the end.


"The Gospel is not a presentation of data;  it's a proposal of marriage!"  - Mark Driscoll


Some doctrines are not just heterodoxical—they're heretical.


The past is history and tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift and that is why we call it a Present!


The creeds do not masquerade as Scripture.


Christians no longer gaze intently upon the fading shadows of the sun for two days out of every week, but rather they focus  upon the unsurpassing glory of God the Son.


If God did not "work in"  His great salvation, we'd have nothing to "work out." The "working out" is the fruit of the "working in."


There are three basic views about  the weekly, festal Sabbath; specifically, continuance, transference, and fulfillment.


If the cross is in you, you carry heaven with you like an aura wherever you go.


Every time the Israelites observed the Sabbath, they knew that someday they would have the perfect rest that remains for the people of God.


Jesus Christ is the Lord of all time and space.


If your faith hasn't changed you, it hasn't saved you.


Christ-followers journey from victory, not to victory.


The Gospel breeds generosity wherever it takes root.


"It is the cry of my heart to follow you.  It is the cry of my heart to be close to You all the days of my life."  - Lyrics of a contemporary Christian song


"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living--even if they are asleep."


Seventh-day Adventism is a microcosm of just about everything it condemns in Catholicism.


A wise man changes his mind seldom, but a fool never.


Sabbath knowing is not Sabbath keeping.


Contemporary tithing is best described as circumcision  of the  wallet.


Grace makes us adopted children.  A works mindset makes us foster children—never quite sure if the Father will turn his back and reject us.


Some Adventists think of Revelation as a three-ring circus and sometimes remember to put Christ in the center ring.


If you could give me only a single description of what you believe, what would it be?


Ellen White is the kingpin of Adventism and the apple of the Adventist eye.


It is indeed a good day to love God!


The New Testament must be allowed to augment, explain, and transform Old Testament statements in a Christ-centered way as progressive revelation.


"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it  I see everything else."  - C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory


Generations of dead Adventists kept their weary eyes on the Papacy and not upon Muslim jihadists.


God's morality does not change with the rotation of the earth.


It is just as offensive to be around a man who never changes his mind as one who never changes his clothes.


If you deny Christ living in your heart, you will eventually deny Him dying on the historical cross as well.


War is an extension of the authority God gives the State to restrain evil.


"There are so many throw-away marriages in the world today.  People get married in the ideal and when it becomes an ordeal, they look around for a new deal."  - Adrian Rogers


A husband asked his wife, "Will you love me when I'm old and unattractive?"  She said, "I do."


We, as Christians,  should not appear as though we were baptized in lemon juice.


In Adventism, being re-baptized means being re-Ellenized.


Ellen White cannot survive the demise of the investigative judgment.


"If you're good—God will love you (that's heathenism)."  - Desmond Ford


Christian growth is not my getting better and better, but my understanding and trusting Jesus getting better and better all the time.


Sadly, most Adventist kids who leave their church do not become Christians.  They fall away into nothing.


Salvation is a gift to be received, not a goal to be achieved.


Annihilationists:  The idea of annihilation makes their uncertainty less terrifying.


Life is a temporary assignment.


It is not the plan of the New Testament to turn people into Jews before they become Christians.


E-vangelism (sharing the Gospel in cyberspace)


G+0=P  (grace plus nothing equals peace)


There needs to be an objective distance from Adventism to tell the story accurately.


"There is no greater or worse death than when death never dies."  -  St. Augustine


Only Christianity teaches that wasting time is a sin.


"The "repeatable" sign of the New Covenant is the Lord's supper.


Religion preoccupied with being right rather than loving deeply has inflicted history's deepest scars.


Truth has nothing to fear.


Americans eat 75 acres of pizza daily.


"Truth invites examination."  - Aristotle


We judge God at our own peril.


The Seventh-day Adventist school system is a place for members to reassure themselves that they are producing "non-thinking" clones of themselves.


Christianity is not a religion, but a faith from the spirit.


Tithing is nothing more than circumcision of the wallet.


One in four US Internet users seek spiritual information online.


"In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things love."  - Moravian motto


"There's so much bad in the best of us, and so much good in the worst of us, that it scarcely behooves any of us, to pick any fault with the rest of us!"  - Adrian Rogers


"We must not be merely "hope-so" Christians, but rather we should be "know-so" Christians."  - Adrian Rogers


Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.


"The Gospel is the sweetest melody from human lips."  - Desmond Ford


Self-esteem is a lie from the pit of hell.  There is NO self-esteem outside of Christ.


"When Christians get into their cars to go to church on Sunday, they are bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ."  - Dr. D. James Kennedy


The true Gospel is about eternal life, not a longer earthly life.


When a person who is honestly mistaken learns the truth, he will either quit being mistaken, or quit being honest.


"It is altogether doubtful whether any man can be saved who comes to Christ for His help with no intentions to obey Him."  - A. W. Tozer


"I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.  But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith."  - Martin Luther


"No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good."  - C. S. Lewis


"George Whitefield said, 'We are all born Arminians!  It is grace that turns us into Calvinists.'"  - Charles Haddon Spurgeon


THE THREEFOLD PURPOSE OF GOD'S MORAL LAWS:


(1)  To restrain sin in society
(2)  To terrorize people in order to drive them to Christ
(3)  Ethical  guide for believers


Salvation is by grace alone; through faith alone; in Jesus Christ's finished work alone—plus NOTHING.


Some insist that preaching is an act of violence toward the will of the people who have to sit and take it.


"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross of Jesus Christ of none effect."  --John Owens


AM:  Ante meridiem
PM:  Post meridiem


BC:  Before Christ
AD:  Anno Domini (the year of our Lord)


False religions always come short in the three S's: sin, salvation, and the Savior.


THE FIVE SOLAS (the battle cries of the Protesant Reformation)


Sola Gratia
Sola Fide
Solus Christus
Sola Scriptura
Soli Deo Gloria


Adventism:  A religion of self-improvement


If we don't have much faith on the inside, we create religion on the outside.


The regenerate person loves the law, not as a savior, but because it perfectly reflects the heart of the Savior.  "Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day" (Ps.  119:97).


KEY PERSONS IN THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION:


John Wycliffe (c.1328-1384)  First translator of the Bible into English
Jan Hus (1374-1415) "The Morning Star of the Reformation" (burned at the stake at age 41)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)  Died at age 63; first translator of the Bible into German
Ulrich Zwingle (1484-1531) Swiss reformer later in life; Died at age 47
William Tyndale (c.1484-1536) Notable Bible translator  (i.e., Coverdale-Tyndale Bible upon which the KJV   was later largely based).
Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536)  Died at age 67 (tried unsuccessfully to reform Catholicism from within)
Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560) Born as Philipp Schwartzerdt and died at age 63;  Luther's collaborator and closest friend; first systematic theologian among the Reformers.
John Calvin (1509-1564)  Died at age 55 (buried in an unmarked grave at his own request)
John Knox (1505-1572)   Died at age 67; brought Presbyterianism to Scotland.




Biblical Covenants:


Adamic
Noahic
Abrahamic
Mosaic (Old Covenant)
Davidic
New Covenant


THEOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY:


Hamartiology--Study of sin
Soteriology--Study of salvation
Ecclesiology--Study of the Church
Eschatology--Study of the End Times (prophecy)
Bibliology--Study of the Bible
Theology--Study of God
Christology--Study of Christ
Pneumatology--Study of the Holy Spirit
Angelology--Study of angels
Nomology--Study of the Law
Anthropology--Study of man


BCE:  Before Common Era
CE:     Common Era
Note: Avid secularists heartily applaud this new terminology because it attempts to bypass and/or downplay the central importance of Jesus Christ in the annals of human history. Moreover, the BCE and CE designations literally remove the name of Jesus to quiet the unbeliever's conscience while doing historical research.  They have found a way to no longer need to even say His name.


The law of God is "holy, just, and good" just like God Himself is also.


If you own just one Bible, you are abundantly blessed, one-third of the world does not have access to even one.


THINGS YOU'LL NEVER HEAR IN CHURCH:


  • Hey, it's my turn to sit in the front pew.
  • I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time.
  • Personally, I feel witnessing is much more enjoyable than golf.
  • I've decided to give our church the $500.00 a month I used to send to TV evangelists.
  • I volunteer to be a permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class.
  • Forget the denominational salary scales, let's pay our pastor so he can live like we do.
  • I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!
  • Since we're all here, let's start the service early.
  • Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible Seminar in the Bahamas.
  • Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!


The place to start curbing crime is not in the electric chair, but rather in the high chair.


Jesus is our Jubilee, our atonement, and our Sabbath of Sabbaths.


The Shekinah Presence was the only part of the sanctuary that was not symbolic.


There is no sorrow too deep that God cannot soothe it, and there is no sorrow on earth that He cannot heal.


We are chosen by the Father, purchased by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit—O blessed God, Three in One!


If you can read these gems, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.


We need to stop "Judaizing" Christianity and start "Christianizing" the  world. 

We need to make it clear that Jesus came first not to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.

We need to hear the gospel every day, not because we forget the facts of the gospel, but because we disbelieve the truth of the gospel.

"Arminianism weakens the godness of God and exalts the humanity of man, while Reformed theology emphasizes over and over that God is God and man is man."  - Philip Ryken

A performance-oriented life leads to pride when we succeed and to despair when we fail, but ultimately it leads to slavery.

The Dearth of Expository Preaching
"This is the age of the sermonette, and sermonettes make Christianettes."   - Michael Green

"Humans are not sinners because they sin, but rather they sin because they are sinners."  - John MacArthur (www.gty.org)


THE FIVE SOLAS OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION: Salvation is by grace alone, through  faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, and for God's glory alone.


We don't give birth to ourselves.  Our adoption is a merciful, sovereign act of God.  Both our physical and  spiritual births are done for us as a gift from God (John 6:37,65; Romans 9:14,16,18,21).  It's all about Him!  Soli Deo Gloria!

"As soon as you think God is somehow obligated to save you then your salvation is no longer of mercy."  - John Hendryx

We must grow spiritually until our eschatology is no longer panic theology.

"Most people, sometime in the lives, stumble across truth. Most jump up, brush themselves off, and hurry on about their business as if nothing had happened."  - Winston Churchill

"When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest." - Richard Humpal

"Money cannot buy happiness but it's more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle."  

"Men want God as a thief wants a policeman."
- Dr. Michael Horton (an excerpt from his commentary on Romans 3:10-12)

It's not your grip on God that keeps you safe, but rather it's God's grip on you (John 10:27-29).

"If your heart doesn't ache for people who don't know Christ, you may not know Christ yourself."  - Burk Parsons, editor of Tabletalk magazine

There is no pit so deep, no night so dark, no sin so enslaving, no shame so stark that His grace cannot redeem.

A contemporary message on a church sign: "Tweet others as you want to be tweeted."

"Show respect even to people who don't deserve it, not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours."
- Dave Willis

"The Christian is not a good man. He is a vile wretch who has been saved by the grace of God."  - Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

"God does not accept me just as I am; He loves me despite how I am."
- David Powlison

"A  dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
- John Calvin

"Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my  address. I will have gone into the presence of God." - Billy Graham

"The first 50 years of marriage are the hardest."

"The man whose Bible is falling apart is not."

In Adventism, being re-baptized means being re-Ellenized.

If your faith hasn't changed you, it hasn't saved you.

"A lie repeated a thousand times does not become true by the telling."  - Richard Bennett, former Roman Catholic priest(www.bereanbeacon.org)

"If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be." - Charles Spurgeon

"Those who are passed over by God will never complain that God is being unfair. Left to themselves, they have no desire to be chosen." - Iain M. Duguid







courtesy of

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

February 24, 2011

More Thoughts on the SDA View of Death



Ever wonder why Seventh-day Adventists actually prefer to be extinct (nonexistent) during the immediate state?  Apparently, this preference is largely related to their not having eternal security in Christ.  Being that the so-called "investigative judgment" may not have cleared their names before physical death, this in effect buys them more time. This is a way of putting off the inevitable—their eternal consequences for a holy or profane life. If one is not certain about the gift of salvation here and now, then putting off knowing what fate awaits you would be somewhat comforting and less scary.  Truly, the "investigative judgment" alibi translates into a form of purgatory akin to what our Catholic friends embrace.


It has been said that false religions are wrong about the three essential S's: sin, salvation, and the Savior. Any way you look at it, the Adventist belief in the spirit being breath and the resulting doctrine of "soul sleep" (more accurately known as their extinction/re-creation view in theological parlance) clearly places Adventism outside the pale of biblical Christianity. The doctrine's hold on people, I believe, is a spiritual hold.  The Adventist spirit of deception has imprisoned its members by a deep unbelief in the truth about Jesus and His amazing work of grace.

Being the bedrock heresy of Adventism, soul sleep being the belief that the human spirit is merely one's "breath," has skewed their teaching of the nature of sin, the nature of salvation, the nature of God's justice, and the nature of Christ.  If spirit is merely "breath," then Adam and Eve's sin was more physical than spiritual.  What is "spiritual" if the human spirit is merely breath?  If the human spirit is merely "breath," then what exactly is the original sin we all inherit from Adam?  It must be physical. It must be sin-damaged genes that set us up to commit our own sins.  If "spirit" is something that knows God, on the other hand, the sin we inherit is a dead spirit—a literal spirit disconnected from God that results in spiritual death (dead men walking).


If spirit is merely "breath," then did Jesus inherit Mary's sinful flesh or not?  If He did, then how could He be said to be without sin?  If He did not, then how could He be said to be our example?  He would have had an "advantage" over us—and Ellen White (and my Adventist Bible teachers) clearly taught me that Jesus had no advantage over me.   He was human just like I am—and therefore His example means I, too, can become perfect.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has never settled the argument over Jesus' nature.  Ellen White spoke out of both sides of her mouth on this issue, and the SDA Church does not have an official stance on whether or not Jesus had sinful flesh.  If, on the other hand, spirit is something volitional that knows God, then whether or not Jesus inherited Mary's genes is a moot point regarding His sinfulness.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He was born without original sin; His spirit was connected to God from conception on.  All of us must be born again because we were born spiritually dead, but Jesus was born spiritually alive. Both our physical and spiritual birth is done for us.  It's all about Him!

If spirit is "breath," then salvation is a physical phenomenon.  Sin is in my genes, and sin is about my flesh causing me to commit sins. Salvation, then, must be more about correcting or overcoming my sinful flesh.  If sin is physical, then I must be able to do things to improve my condition.  Just as I can build muscle by a workout, so I could improve my behavior by careful discipline and observation of some humanistic guidelines.

If, on the other hand, sin is ultimately spiritual, then there's nothing I can do to fix the problem.  God who is spirit must fix  my spirit. The only One who was spiritually alive could bring my dead spirit to life. Jesus was without sin, even though He is genetically Mary's son. The incarnation  was a mystery that God does not reveal.  But I know that sin is not primarily physical.  Our physical selves are affected by it—no question!  But the true nature of sin is a dead spirit disconnected from God.  And, interestingly, even Jesus' body went to the grave, as ours do—while He surrendered His spirit to God.  When He arose again He had a resurrection body different from His human one—just as we will also.

Even though most Adventists don't understand why the doctrine of soul sleep has such a powerful hold on them, I believe that, like the Sabbath, it is binding because it perpetuates heresy—the heresy that sin is physical and we have nothing more to us than bodies and breath; the heresy that salvation is about getting our physical impulses under control and not ultimately about a restored relationship with God; and the heresy that Jesus either inherited Mary's sin and therefore His sinlessness was about not sinning by means  of His great will power and determination and obedience—or that He set  aside His advantage and made Himself like us so we could never excuse our sins by saying Jesus wasn't exactly like us.

Furthermore, when annihilationists and universalists give an elaborate and esoteric interpretation of those biblical texts that relate to endless punishment, they go to great lengths to demonstrate that "everlasting" does not mean everlasting and "torment" does not mean torment!  It never seems to occur to them that if the biblical authors wanted to express clearly the idea of the extinction or ultimate salvation of the wicked, there were words available to them in the Hebrew and Greek languages which could have been used.  But the biblical authors did not use those words.

On the other hand, if the biblical authors wished to express clearly to their readers the idea of unending, conscious torment, there were words in the Greek and Hebrew language which would express that idea. Indeed, the biblical authors used those words which were the only ones available to them which would indicate endless punishment to the average person of their day.  To think that they would use the precise Greek and Hebrew words which would mean endless punishment to the common reader in order to teach annihilation or universalism is to label them either deceptive or ignorant.

When the New Testament writers sought to explain what they believed about the nature of man, they consistently spoke of man as having a dual nature. Thus, man cannot be reduced to being just a physical or spiritual being but is a combination of both (body and spirit). Furthermore, the authors of the New Testament used those Koine Greek words found in the common language of their day. They used the Greek terms utilized in the Septuagint. They deliberately chose these terms because they refer to the immortal and invisible soul of man which survives the death of the body. The mere presence of such terms in the New Testament reveals the error of the secular and religious materialists who deny that the New Testament teaches that man has a dual nature—material and immaterial.

The late Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones aptly stated: "We do not give birth to ourselves—neither physically nor spiritually.  We are not born because we believe. We believe because we are reborn."  Just as we had nothing to do with our physical birth,  we likewise have absolutely nothing to do with our spiritual birth as well.   Both are done for us.   It's all about Him!   Let us declare with Jonah, the reluctant prophet: "For my salvation comes from the Lord alone"  (Jonah 2:9 NLT).  Soli Deo Gloria!


NOTE: For an in-depth, biblical study on this important topic, you may want to order the 315-page book entitled "Death and the Afterlife" by Dr. Robert A. Morey. The late Dr. Walter Martin said of this book: "The most comprehensive biblical study of the subject in the last half century!" Simply order it through your favorite bookstore. I heartily recommend this classic book for your personal and/or church library. Teaching sound doctrine is a biblical mandate (see Titus 1 & 2).

Dennis Fischer
Web Chaplain




courtesy of

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