Headlining the latest edition of the Adventist Review Online is an article entitled “My Sunday to Sabbath Experience.” While the title is eye-catching, even more noticeable is the subheading on the front page: “When forced to choose, Cecilia Luck chose Jesus.” This article is the personal testimony of Cecilia Luck, a young Adventist woman from Tennessee.  The story starts with a description of her upbringing in the Pentecostal and Nazarene churches.  Everything changed one day when the family received an invitation by mail to attend an Amazing Facts evangelistic series.  When confronted with the Sabbath, Cecilia’s parents made a quick move to Adventism, bringing their children with them.

Given the subtitle of this article, one would expect a discourse on how attending church on Saturday constitutes “following Jesus.” Unfortunately, the name of Jesus never once appears in the article.  Instead, the various obstacles of joining the Adventist church are enumerated, including identifying the beginning and end of the Sabbath, the adoption of a vegetarian lifestyle, and giving up jewelry.  By the end of the article, one is left with the impression that overcoming these obstacles, while initially painful, is ultimately rewarding because it leads to a fulfilled life in the Adventist church.

Membership in a particular denomination is not synonymous with being a Christian, and following Jesus is not about giving up meat, personal adornment or attending church on a particular day. How deeply troubling that the Adventist Review continues to promote such confusion.  May we know the real Jesus who is revealed in the Bible, the one who said it is not what enters our mouths that defiles us, but what comes out (Mark 7:15-20), the Lamb who was slain for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God, not to make us members of a religious club.

Greg,

I would be interested in how Guibox would answer these concerns. He is on vacation right now, but I hope he will give us his take on this. But an article like this just plays into the hands of those who do rightly accuse Adventism of majoring on the minors. There is no gospel there.

In the current “Adventist World” which has replaced the Adventist Review, there is an article clearly equating the Testimony of Jesus to the Spirit of Prophecy, and it laments those who have given up their beliefs in Ellen White to abandoning the Testimony of Jesus. To equate Revelation’s statement “The testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy and to say this is Ellen White is the closest thing to bordering on blasphemy that there is.

Stan

Greg,

I read this story a few days ago when it arrived in my mailbox and had much the same reaction as yourself, as did my wife.

I too found it troubling that Christ took a back seat to the trappings of the church in the article and the author and her family’s “embrace of Adventism”.  This apparently has a lot to do with a checklist of sorts as you mentioned in your post, i.e. forsaking meat and jewelry, embracing the Sabbath, and other unique parts of the “truth” as well as the attraction of being a part of things like GC sessions and just being a part of the club in general.

She was just a kid when her family left Pentacostalism but I can see how folks steeped in a religion that emphasizes a nebulous “experiencing” of the Holy Spirit would be attracted to a religion with a more quantifiable, concrete set of rules that will make you more acceptable to God (not that that’s necessarily what occured in her family’s case).  Just a thought.

Aaron

Aaron,

Thanks for your observations.  You’re right, a quantifiable set of behaviors that will make us more acceptable to God is very appealing.  Who wouldn’t want to raise their stock with God?  When presented with an opportunity to “keep” a previously ignored commandment, some people find the deal too hard to pass up.  Subconciously I think many of us believe that God grades on the curve and will reward those who have managed to gain more of his favor.  Nobody will admit to being a legalist, but on some level, all of us would like to think we’re doing the things God wants us to.  How appealing is it, then, to not only “keep” a law that has been overlooked by the Christian church, but to obey God’s will on such diverse issues as diet, dress, and jewelry?

The whole exercise begins with the best of intentions, but what’s missing is an appreciation of God’s holiness and our utter incapacity to measure up to his perfect righteousness.

Greg

Posted anonymously by: ken davis

Greg,

Where did you get “our utter incapacity to measure up to his perfect righteousness” from the Bible?  Please, just one text please.

Ever heard this one?

Hbr 13:20,21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

and

Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Why would you folks be going around quoting those texts all the time and then in a sweeping statement deny them?

Maybe the flesh and the world still hasn’t yet been totally crucified?  If it was you would be so tapped into Christ’s power that you “...are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5).

Certainly, we wouldn’t claim to be without sin, but we will be victorious over all sin captivity and must be if we will meet Jesus in peace at His coming.  By the way that’s what the investigative judgment is all about.  God is asking you and me: “Are you for real?”

Ken Davis

[quote author="Ken Davis"]Why would you folks be going around quoting those texts all the time and then in a sweeping statement deny them?

Dear Ken Davis, welcome to 4TG. I have a lot of appreciation for those who want to be true to their church’s heritage. Regarding the texts mentioned, I believe we are not denying those texts, we have just a different interpretation of them. Since you brought to our attention a crucial subject for every true historic adventist, as a former historic adventist I’ll share a bit of my experience with perfection and perfectionism.

As you I believed that those texts which speak about perfection in the Bible speak about a sinless perfection, a “perfect” perfection. However, after studying 1 John from start to finish, I came with a different view.

I believed also that we will not claim to be perfect, since 1 John 1:8 forbids us to claim to be perfect, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 ESV). We cannot say that we have no sin, that we live perfect lives. What I missed was the reason for being forbidden to claim perfection: “we deceive ourselves,” believing that we are perfect is not a true self-evaluation ("the truth is not in us").

That should be clear: we cannot claim sinlessness because we don’t have it, it will be a lie. We are not in the situation to be really perfect without believing that we are, or claiming that we are. Simply stated, our confession matches reality: we sin, we are not perfect, and we will never be this side of heaven.

Beside this, the apostle John already claims to be perfect, together with his brethren, a present perfection in love

“if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
“By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment” (1 John 4:12, 17 ESV)

Obviously, this present perfection evidenced by the tense of the verb “is”, does not mean sinless perfection, otherwise we will have a contradiction between chapter 4 and 1. The Bible through the Apostle John gives a different definition of perfection than sinlessness.

A better translation of Hebrews 10:20,21 sounds “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” ESV It’s harder to teach sinless perfection when the text is looked through this improved translation.

[quote author="Ken Davis"]Where did you get “our utter incapacity to measure up to his perfect righteousness” from the Bible? Please, just one text please.

We attribute to original sin, to our corrupt human nature, to our flesh our utter incapacity of living lives without sin.

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Gal. 5:17 ESV)

This text is preceded by an admonition “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (verse 16This indicative, “do this” arises from the fact that the flesh is in constant battle with the Spirit, and often the flesh keep us from doing the good things we want to do.

As a parenthesis, Paul speaks here about the desires to do good, he’s talking with born again Christians, who want to do what is good, but encounter strong opposition from the flesh. This links Galatians 5:16, 17 with Romans 7 and Romans 8. The battle with the flesh and the frustration, albeit desperation, which comes from the flesh keeping the Christian from fulfilling his desires to do good is described in Romans 7. The next chapter contains the admonitions to walk by the spirit. Romans 7 and 8 parallels Galatians 5:16-18

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  (Gal. 5:18 ESV)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Gal. 5:17 ESV)
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing....I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (Rom. 7:14,19,23 ESV)

I have no time to enter in details, what is important is that Gal 5 which speaks about Christian experience offers a good reason to believe that also Romans 7 refers to Christian experience, and not a pre-conversion state. Also this description of a combination of victory and defeat marks the life of true Christians. It is true that sin has no longer dominion over us, we are not living totally under it’s power, still his presence in us, in our members frustrates us in having the freedom we would like to have here on earth.

Clearly Paul speaks here about sin a state, not only as an act or attitude. “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom. 7:17 ESV); “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Rom. 7:20 ESV) Sin is something that dwells, that remains, that is in the body members, it is a law. We will be free from it only when our body will be changed. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? “ (Romans 7:23 ESV) The same groan is present later in chapter 8 when we are told when it will end “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23 ESV)

Here we have only the firstfruits of the Spirit, the fullness of spiritual fruits will come when we will have a new body. Until that time we will live having our desires to do good frustrated by our flesh, but, praise God, we are victorious because we are no longer live under the condemnation of the law. To be sure, the law still condemns our sins, still pronounces us guilty before God and our consciences, but Jesus Christ is our perfect righteousness, interceding continually for us before God. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25 ESV). Because of his finished work on Calvary, “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14ESV)

We stand already perfect before God, and this perfection is not only for the present, is “for all time”. The text does not fail to mention that at the same time, we are being sanctified, we are in a process, but this process stands in contrast with our perfection realized by Jesus’ “single offering”, once for all sacrifice on the cross. Here we have no process, our standing before God is settled, is forever. We are perfect not because we are in ourselves perfect (we are in a process of sanctification), but because our Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect life which satisfied the righteous demands of the law, and died in our place satisfying the just requirements of the law which demanded death for our sins; His perfect life and sacrifice is imputed to us, to our account. We are perfect by imputation, if God would ask us to become perfect in ourselves, by a perfect sanctification, this will make our perfect standing before God by imputation useless. What would profit us the perfection we already possess by imputation, if God requires us to be perfect in ourselves in order to enter into heaven? Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, His life and death, will make no difference for us at the judgment bar. “If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Gal. 2:21 ESV)

Gabriel