Why not worship with Adventists?
Do former Adventists belong to any local church other than the Adventist church, or are they non-denominational? According to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:17, anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person, new in the sense that he has been regenerated. Since the spirit of the regenerate is the organ they use to contact God and receive His revelations, what’s the need of quitting your denomination/local church? Aren’t believers supposed to apply the “body principles” of 1 Corinthians 12 encouraging, teaching, and building one another up in the knowledge and grace of the Lord?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: We at Life Assurance Ministries belong to various evangelical churches, but we are not Adventists. The reason we cannot continue to worship at Adventist churches is that Adventism does not teach Scriptural truth. It teaches another gospel (as per Galatians 1:1–6) and it has a different Jesus. The Adventist Jesus could have failed, could have sinned, and remains divested of at least one of God’s attributes: omnipresence. We cannot worship God in spirit and truth at a service where truth is not believed nor taught.
We are born again through hearing and believing the true gospel of our salvation: that Jesus died for our sins according to Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3,4). These things are THE GOSPEL, and this truth literally brings us life when we trust our entire future to Jesus’ finished work. Adventism does not teach this pure, simple gospel, and it adds to the gospel by expecting Sabbath-keeping, the health message (the right arm of the gospel), and by retaining the unbiblical doctrine of the investigative judgment, however redefined it may be.
Adventism, by definition, is not part of the body of Christ. This article explains Adventism’s position in the stream of Christian history: The Tree: Are You Connected?
Fearful for Adventist friend
I am listening to your podcasts and am on podcast 23. The last two were about salvation. I don’t know anything about the investigative judgement, but it seems to play a huge part in the Adventist belief system. I know my Adventist friend has said to me that she isn’t sure if she will make it to heaven. It saddens me. I am not sure how to approach her regarding her beliefs.
No one wants to hear that what they believe is false or even worse, a cult! Oh my! I am so afraid to say that to her. But I also feel moved to say something to her. I have thought to send her the podcasts on salvation, but I am not sure that is the right approach. But you have the background and explain things so well. What do I do? What is the right approach?
I also mentioned something about a friend’s husband who is dying of cancer, and she said, why could it not be her as she feels like she is not strong enough to live through the end times. It also hurts me to think that she might think that I might be trying to kill her in the end times! I don’t plan on being here! What a horrible thing to think! How can I approach her and be understanding and kind? I need your help! Time is short!
—VIA EMAIL
Response: You know, the best way to help an Adventist begin to understand the gospel and to see the differences between it and Adventism is to study the Bible with them. Would your friend be willing to read through the book of Galatians with you, one chapter at a time? Even if you can’t physically meet (which would be wonderful), if she read through the book slowly, in context, and discussed each chapter with you as she read, she would begin hearing the gospel in context.
Adventists are not taught to read Scripture contextually, and it exposes and shatters Adventism if people are willing to believe what the words say. I’m sure your friend does not know the true gospel: 1 Cor. 15:1–4, that Jesus died for our sins according to Scripture, that He was buried, and that He rose from the dead on the third day according to Scripture. This gospel is never taught to Adventists. Rather, they are taught that the “three angels messages” of Revelation 14 is the gospel, or that the health message is the “right arm of the gospel”, or that the gospel is Jesus died for our sins and now we obey Him and keep the Sabbath. You might ask your friend what the gospel IS, and she what she says.
I suggest reading Galatians with her, and then Hebrews. If she is responding and questioning, you might eventually refer her to the podcasts.
Also, this article may help you understand her worldview and where she is coming from—and eventually it could help her as well: What Is Seventh-day Adventism?
Also, understanding the covenants is crucial for an Adventist who is trying to figure out what to do with the Sabbath. The covenants are the key to understanding Sabbath. Here is an excellent article on the covenants that you might also share with her—especially after she has read Galatians! The Covenants
Different kinds of Adventism?
I continue to be blessed and have eyes opened through your podcasts.
I’m beginning to see that there are probably two or more schools of Adventists. I spoke to my husband about some of these things, especially regarding EGW. He started out very defensive but then began to question a few things. He quickly downloaded an EGW app to his phone with all of her writings. I hope he is not turning there for answers but to the Bible. I told him so. I pray for that.
When we spoke of EGW not being a true prophet he told me she is not a prophet but a messenger from God to help us understand the Scriptures, kind of like Max Lucado or Billy Graham (although they are not always accurate and have both admitted this). I asked him about all of the many Adventist do’s and don’ts. He had never heard of many of them. Perhaps that is why he downloaded the EGW app. He has many views different from many of the Adventist churches I’ve been reading about, but his view of salvation is still unclear to me.
In your view and studies, have you seen different types of Adventists? He and his sisters are European and were raised in an Adventist church, first in China where they were born, and then in Russian Adventist churches in Brazil as they fled communist China in 1953, and then in a Russian Adventist church in California. Perhaps the Russian churches were different?
It just confuses me so much that his Adventism is so different. I thank you in advance for any light you can share.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: You ask a very good question. There are different “flavors” of Adventism, and they speak differently about EGW and her role, differently about the Trinity, and differently about salvation—although none of them have an orthodox view of salvation or of EGW or of Jesus.
What all Adventists have, though, is the worldview that says humans are merely physical, that they do not have an immaterial spirit that survives the body at death. There physicalism affects every single doctrine of the organization. It affects their doctrine of Christ and His nature: it affects the doctrine of sin and of salvation. It causes them to have no understanding of the new birth, and they have no understanding of being born dead in sin or that “conversion” is not just about deciding to believe new things but to literally be made alive through trusting Jesus.
Further, they all believe that the Sabbath is of eternal importance, that God Himself honors the Sabbath and will keep it with us in eternity. Even further, their holding onto EGW, even if they say she is “not a prophet” or merely a “devotional writer” and insist that she didn’t call herself a prophet, is disingenuous. She is a FALSE prophet—but she is a prophet, and she got her visions from demonic sources. She taught unbiblical things about the law, about salvation, about Jesus and His nature and our relationship to Him.
When people have a FALSE prophet, they must renounce that person, not just “bargain” and figure out how to honor her and keep her on the sidelines—as Adventism as done with EGW. No, they have to renounce her. It is very different to say she is NOT a PROPHET than it is to say yes, she is a prophet, but a False Prophet. A “not a prophet” can still contribute devotional material that influences people. But a FALSE prophet has to be renounced and rejected. It is a demonic source of authority, and we have to let her go completely.
Have you read the article What Is Seventh-day Adventism? If not, I recommend that you read it. It describes the Adventist worldview which is shared by all Adventists even if they say different things about Adventism.
I am not surprised your husband’s view of salvation is different. Adventism absolutely insists—all Adventism—that one must embrace the Ten Commandments as the revelation of the character of God, and in keeping the Ten, a person gets to know God. That understanding is exactly OPPOSITE of the biblical gospel!
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I just read “Trusting God with your loved ones”. I have been praying fervently for God to show me what to do about my sister and brother-in-law’s conversion to Adventism. The three of us came to Christ together in our 20’s. We are now in our 60’s. They turned away from the Lord for a time and then my brother-in-law became an Adventist and in time convinced my sister to also believe in this false doctrine. My heart has been breaking for them. I am obsessed with finding all I can about this doctrine and am so thankful for this magazine. I have been praying recently to find a way to give this over to God because I realize I need to leave it in His hands. It is so hard when you see those you love being deceived. This article was such an answer to prayer, I just had to write. Just last week I started asking God to please let me know how to deal with this. I have had several conversations with them and am trying to keep my mouth shut at this time because they know how I feel. I cried through this entire article. First, I knew from the beginning that it was the answer to my prayer. Nicole Stevenson expressed exactly how I feel and her advise is so appropriate and what I needed to hear. Thank you! And praise God! Please know how important a service you are providing with the truth of the Adventist belief.
Thank you, Pat Fantasie