Bible Books That Expose Adventism
You mentioned [in the podcast] certain books in the Bible to read to understand the true gospel versus the Adventist message. Galatians and Hebrews are the only two I remember. Any others? Also, the Adventists have their own NKJV or KJV [study] Bibles that have EGW writings or interpretations of the passages printed in them. I have two of those. Is there a Bible version you would recommend? I’m not a “newbie” to Scriptures; I’m just trying to learn the “clean truth”. I have different versions of the Bible, and I’ve recently gravitated to the Amplified Bible for clarification.
Thanks for all you do!
—VIA EMAIL
Response: I would start with Galatians and Hebrews, but Ephesians, Colossians, and Romans also destroy Adventism. The gospel of John also shows the Adventist view of Jesus to be utterly false.
Adventists don’t technically have their own Bible, but their Clear Word Paraphrase IS their own internal “devotional” version of Scripture that has EGWs interpretations written right into the text. As you mentioned, though, they also have study Bibles that include EGW commentary. Also, they do depend upon the KJV to get their unique understanding of Daniel 8:14. Nevertheless, they do not have an official version, and Adventists use many versions.
The New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version are two of the more accurate translations, but the New International Version is also a good translation and is a bit easier to read than is the NASB. (It is a “thought equivalency translation” rather than a word-for-word translation.) The Amplified is not my favorite version because it includes alternate meanings right in the text, and those alternate words are not necessarily accurate in context. It is better to use a good translation (such as those I mentioned above) and to have a Bible dictionary on hand as a resource if you have trouble. But the words, read in context just as they occur in the text using normal rules of grammar and vocabulary, can be understood to mean exactly what they say.
Ultimately, ask the Lord to teach you what is true as you read—and He will do it!
EGW Denies Translation to Meat Eaters
Many years ago I was told by a fringe type of Adventist that if a person eats meat, he can’t be translated; he would have to die first. I was told that this idea came from Ellen G. White. Have you ever heard anything close to this?
I was raised as an Adventist and went through their schools and was never convinced of their belief in EGW. I left the church shortly after graduating from Maplewood Academy in Minnesota. I couldn’t reconcile EGW with the Bible, particularly the state of the dead. Also, I thought Hiram Edson’s vision in the cornfield [revealing that Jesus had supposedly moved from the Holy into the Most Holy Place to begin the investigative judgment in the heavenly sanctuary on October 22, 1844] was just too convenient to be true. Anyhow, I was at the point of not believing in anything or any religion, just like so many other formers, until met my wife and she got me going to the Lutheran Church (LCMS) with her. I’m very happy I did.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Ellen White did indicate that those preparing for heaven can’t be translated and also eat meat. Here is one statement:
I come again to Christians. If all who profess to obey the law of God were free from iniquity, my soul would be relieved; but they are not. Even some who profess to keep all the commandments of God are guilty of the sin of adultery. What can I say to arouse their benumbed sensibilities? Moral principle, strictly carried out, becomes the only safeguard of the soul. If ever there was a time when the diet should be of the most simple kind, it is now. Meat should not be placed before our children. Its influence is to excite and strengthen the lower passions, and has a tendency to deaden the moral powers. Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven. The less feverish the diet, the more easily can the passions be controlled. Gratification of taste should not be consulted irrespective of physical, intellectual, or moral health (2T 63.3).
Praise God that your wife introduced you to Christianity! The Missouri Synod has a reputation for respecting for the Word of God.
Confusion Over Law Proof-Texts
Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year 2022. Here are some thoughts on the subject of law that I am still puzzled about after hearing Pastor Doug Batchelor’s sermon.
- Here is the patiences of the saints who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.
- Do we made void the law? No, God forbid; we established the law.
- The thee angels message in Revelation.
I am very eager and so curious to know and find out the truth about these subject. Can you help?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: First, in Revelation 14:12 where the angel refers to those who “keep the commandment of God and have the faith of Jesus”, he is not referring to the Law. Adventism has insisted that any time the word “commandment” is used in the New Testament, it automatically refers to the Ten Commandments. This assumption is untrue. In all of John’s books, when he refers to the teachings or sayings of Jesus—as in the case where Jesus says He gives a new commandment, that His disciples love one another (Jn. 13)—the Greek word underlying “commandments” is the word “entole”. Whenever John refers to the law, on the other hand, he uses the Greek work “nomos”. In other words, John uses “entole” to refer to the SAYINGS or TEACHINGS of Jesus, and he never means the Law when he uses that Greek word. I refer you here to an article we published previously addressing these very texts: What Commandments Are In Revelation 12 and 14?
Second, in Romans 3:31 where Paul asks, “Do; we then abolish the Law through faith? May it never be! On then contrary we establish the Law,” he is speaking IN a CONTEXT, and the verse does not mean what Adventism says it means. I will copy Romans 3:21–31 below:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Romans 3:21–31).
In context, Paul is explaining that Jesus displayed His own innate righteousness by becoming a propitiation for sin by shedding His own blood for sin. By becoming the payment for sin, He is both just (He has not ignored sin but has fully paid the price of human sin against a Holy God) and He is the justifier of all who believe. By personally shedding human blood for human sin, He is the One who can justify sinners when they trust in Him. The context of Romans 3 is that by shedding His blood and paying for human sin, Jesus fulfilled all the demands of the law’s curse of death for sinners. The law justly demanded human death for human sin. Jesus came and fulfilled that demand. Thus, Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection PROVE that the law was just, and the law was a shadow of the righteousness of Christ that would fully pay for sin.
In other words, establishing the law doesn’t mean it now is the rule of life for believers. On the contrary, Jesus established it as rightly exposing human sin and the need for punishment, and Jesus’ own fulfillment of the law established the law as the shadow of Justice and Mercy and Grace and Redemption. It was from God, and it foreshadowed Jesus. It revealed that Jesus would come, and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfill the law and show that the promise of the Messiah has come! Paul isn’t establishing the law as our rule under the new covenant. He’s establishing it as the THING which accurately spelled out the consequences for sin which Jesus fulfilled.
Finally, READ Revelation 14. The three angels’ messages are taken out of context in Adventism. Ellen White took out the three angels from Revelation 14:6–14 and said their messages call the world to worship on Sabbath, to leave Sunday church which she said are Babylon, and to avoid the mark of the beast by keeping Sabbath and not Sunday. If you read Revelation 14, you will see that these ideas are NOT what the angels are saying. They are calling the world to worship the true God and not a false God. No day of the week is remotely an issue. Furthermore, Revelation 14 has more than three angels. It is strange that she pulled these three angels our of Revelation 14 and identifies them as THE Three Angels of Revelation 14. There are actually several more, and in context, these angels are not saying what Adventism says they are saying. †
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