The Hidden Gospel

Is the gospel hidden from view in the Adventist church?  This blog report describing an Adventist evangelistic crusade in Chattanooga, implies that it is. “We recently attended a big crusade in Chattanooga. It’s like watching the world series and it’s our team against everyone else. [You] should’ve heard the AMENS when the speaker shared truths that are peculiar to our denomination. However, on the one night that we heard the speaker focus on the gospel, the amens were few and far between.  Something’s WRONG with the picture when we are more excited about 29 doctrines than about Jesus Christ!”

The blog author makes a very good observation about the current state of affairs in a large part of the Adventist church. Preaching the gospel has taken a back seat to the special truths of Adventist eschatology and prophecy. The loudest amens are reserved for any teaching that affirms Adventism as the remnant church, while the gospel which has the power to save souls remains obscured from view.

A major reason for this may be that many Adventists perceive the gospel as something every Christian church has access to and has been preaching since the time of Christ.  As such, this message has become so familiar as to be almost boring. Built into this mindset is a belief that if Adventists can’t point to their unique doctrines, the church won’t look any different than the other Christian churches that have historically been referred to as “Babylon.”

The apostle Paul knew nothing of these denominational distinctives and his inspired testimony is just as applicable to today’s church as it was when he penned it to the Romans:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV)

As long as denominational distinctives are placed at the forefront, the gospel will remain hidden and the “power of God for salvation” will be in short supply. 

The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment - Introduction

“Various ‘Adventist’ teachings from the seventh-day Sabbath to the eternal destruction (as opposed to eternal torment) and the nature of the millennium all can be found scattered throughout Christendom.

Except one: the 1844 pre-Advent judgment. This is ours, indeed, alone.”

This opens the introduction to the Adventist Sabbath School quarterly entitled “The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment,” which will examine the biblical basis of this doctrine from the perspective of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As stated above, this doctrine is arguably the only uniquely Adventist doctrine, yet further in the introduction, we find this: “For the bulk of the quarter, we’ll establish the biblical basis for the 1844 judgment, seeing for ourselves just what a solid basis we have for this teaching, which is rooted in the Cross itself.”

If truly biblical, it is somewhat surprising that two millenia of biblical scholarship has not yielded independent confirmation of this doctrine. Indeed, Adventists are unique in holding this doctrine, about which noted biblical scholar Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse said, “The [sanctuary] doctrine is, to me, the most colossal, psychological, face-saving phenomenon in religious history. … We personally do not believe that there is even a suspicion of a verse in Scripture to sustain such a peculiar position, and we further believe that any effort to establish it is stale, flat, and unprofitable. … [It is] unimportant and almost naive” Eternity, 7:67, September 1956, pp. 6-7, 43-45.

In a question and answer session at a San Diego Association of Adventist Forums meeting, the well-respected Adventist biblical scholar Raymond Cottrell introduced these doctrines as follows:

“The traditional interpretation of Daniel 8:14 with its sanctuary and investigative judgment, which gave birth to Seventh-day Adventism and accounts for its existence as a distinct entity within Christendom, has been the object of more criticism and debate, by both Adventists and non-Adventists, than all other facets of its belief system combined. The same is true with respect to church discipline on doctrinal grounds, defections from the church, and the diversion of time, attention, and resources from Adventism’s perceived mission to the world.

It has been repeatedly and consistently demonstrated that an ordained minister may believe that Christ was a created being (and not God in the full sense of the word), or that a person can earn salvation by faithfully observing the Ten Commandments, or that Genesis 1 is not a literal account of creation a mere six thousand years ago---without being disciplined and forfeiting his ministerial credentials. But it has also been repeatedly and consistently demonstrated that an ordained minister may not conscientiously question the authenticity of the traditional interpretation of Daniel 8:14, even in his thoughts, without his ministerial credentials being revoked. As noted below, in several instances as much as half a century of otherwise faithful service to the church has not been sufficient to mitigate this result” The “Sanctuary Doctrine” - Asset or Liability?

And of Ellen White’s role in establishing this doctrine, Cottrell stated, “It was the sanctuary doctrine based on Daniel 8:14 that made us Seventh-day Adventists and that remains, today, the keystone of our distinctive belief system and our mission to the world. Of it, Ellen White wrote: ‘The Scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and central pillar of our faith was the declaration, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” and “The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is the foundation of our faith.”’ ‘Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith’” The “Sanctuary Doctrine” - Asset or Liability?

The stage is set for an interesting quarter. It is our hope and prayer that Adventists will study this doctrine seriously by testing it in the light of Scripture. May the Holy Spirit give us discernment and lead us into all truth (John 16:13).