The True Church Not an Institution

[CHRIS BADENHORST]

Many Christian denominational creeds or statements of faith describe the nature of the Christian Church in the language of The Nicene Creed (AD 325) as the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” These attributes, which constitute the true church, are biblical concepts. During the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, controversy arose over the identity of the true church. The Papacy contended that the Church of Rome was the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. The Reformers, on the other hand, denied Rome’s claim. But how could one test the claims of divergent religious bodies to be the “true church”? 

The New Testament teaches that the attributes of the true church are soteriological and not institutional. The church is one because the atonement that Christ made on the cross has “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…His purpose was to create in (union with) himself one new man…thus making peace” (Eph. 2:14, 15). So, the barrier which separates fellow believers according to class, race and sex has been removed by Christ’s death on the cross. The risen Lord is therefore the exalted Head of “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) which is His “one body” (Eph. 1:16, 19-23; 2:14). 

The church is holy because by His death on the cross Christ purchased and set apart to be God’s chosen people all those who believe the Gospel. In biblical usage “holiness” or “sanctification” refers to that which is set apart by God for His service—which includes preaching the Gospel of salvation, reconciliation and peace. The community of believers in Christ is the fellowship of “those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy” (1 Cor. 1:2). So, the “saints” are those who have put their trust in Christ as Saviour, who have been born again by the Spirit, who have been reconciled to God and to each other and whom God has separated from the world to be His people (2 Thess. 2:13, 14; 2 Tim. 1:9, 10). 

The church is catholic (i.e. universal) because Christ has made atonement (payment) on the cross for the sins of the whole world and because this good news is now being proclaimed “to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Rev. 14:6). So, the universal church of God consists of all believers in Christ throughout the world. These are they who have received forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ’s name (Acts 10:43) and who have been born again into the family and kingdom of God (John 1:12, 13; 3:1-8). Local congregations are but the local manifestations of the one universal church of Christ.

The church is apostolic because its faith and life are grounded solely on the testimony of the apostles whom Christ sovereignly appointed to witness and proclaim His saving work (Luke 6:13; Acts 1:2, 21, 22; John 14:26; 15:26f; 17:20). The New Testament has preserved for the church the content of the apostles’ teaching concerning Christ, His redemptive work on the cross, His triumphant resurrection from the dead, and His ascension to heaven where He was exalted by the Father to sit at His right hand. The New Testament has preserved as well the implications of all these things for the life of the believing community—that it is one, holy and catholic. 

---

Congregations are to maintain the traditions delivered to them by the apostles. The strongest condemnation rests upon anyone who would corrupt the purity of the apostolic Gospel. The apostles’ interpretation of the Gospel is the final norm of sound teaching.

---

Just as the church was founded upon the apostles’ witness, so it is nourished and grows by continuing in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). Congregations are to maintain the traditions delivered to them by the apostles (1 Cor. 11:2; 15:1-11; 2 Thess. 2:15). The strongest condemnation rests upon anyone who would corrupt the purity of the apostolic Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). The apostles’ interpretation of the Gospel is the final norm of sound teaching (2 Ti. 1:13-14; Tit. 1:3, 9). This is “the faith that was once (for all) entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3), and insofar as the Christian Church upholds the true Gospel as proclaimed by the apostles, it is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). This commitment to the apostolic witness alone will safeguard the unity, holiness and catholicity of the church. 

Roman Catholicism

Rome interprets the attributes of the church in institutional terms. Unity means lockstep conformity and submission to the demands and teachings of the hierarchical Roman structure. Catholicity means the propagation and maintenance of a formal, worldwide organization. Holiness means the strict adherence to ecclesiastical rites. Apostolicity means the uncompromised acceptance of the teaching of a succession of Roman bishops who claim to wear the mantle of Peter.

The Reformers

The Reformers denied Rome’s claim that its organization constituted the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church because they had discovered a vital truth in the New Testament—that the attributes of the church are not institutional but soteriological. Therefore, the nature of the church could not be correctly understood apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus did they contend that the church’s real unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity are all rooted in God’s great saving act on Calvary. This Gospel alone would produce the attributes by which the true church can be known. They therefore stated that the true church could be identified by whether or not the faithful preaching of the Gospel and the proper administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (by which the Gospel is portrayed) were present in the community. 

Therefore, according to the New Testament and the Reformers, Christ’s true church is the community of all who have put their trust in Him, and its attributes may be described as “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” The marks by which we may know the true church are: it believes and faithfully proclaims the pure and unadulterated Gospel as recorded in the Scriptures by the Lord’s chosen apostles, and it faithfully administers baptism and the Lord’s Supper (by which the gospel is portrayed). The church’s unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity are therefore grounded upon the Gospel of Christ’s finished work of redemption on the cross.

Sectarian Claims

Certain religious institutions claim to be Christ’s only true church to the exclusion of other Christian groups, which are regarded as apostate Babylon. In attempts to find scriptural support for such self-commending claims, appeal is made to certain proof-texts upon which dubious interpretations are imposed. For example, Roman Catholicism appeals to Matthew 16:18 (“And I tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”) in an effort to establish its supremacy. Some religious groups make the name of their denomination the mark of the true church (e.g. “The Church of Christ”). Some charismatic denominations contend that tongue-speaking is the evidence that they alone have God’s approval.

Sectarianism is contrary to the principles of the Nicene Creed by denying the unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity of the Christian Church as depicted in the New Testament Scriptures. It denies the unity of all who believe in Christ for the forgiveness of sins and that all believers have a common Father in heaven and share a common new life in the Spirit constituting them members of one family. Thus does sectarianism bring division into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:16, 17). 

It denies the holiness of the church because it ignores the fact that the imperfections in belief and practice seen in the different segments of the Christian community are covered by the blood of Christ. It usually claims perfection for the doctrines it promulgates referring to them as “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” According to them all other denominations are steeped in darkness and error. 

It denies the catholicity of the church by its exclusive claim to be the one and only true church—God’s end-time remnant in contradistinction to all the other denominations, which are denounced as apostate Babylon. By this it cuts itself off from open fellowship with the rest of the worldwide Body of Christ. 

It denies the apostolicity of the church by its claims to have light and knowledge in advance of the rest of Christendom and sometimes even of the chosen apostles of Christ to whom were revealed all the truth the church needs to know this side of eternity. This advance light and knowledge is usually based on an extra-biblical authority. 

Seventh-day Adventism

In many respects the Adventist understanding of the church is very much like that of Roman Catholicism. This comes out clearly when it is realized that ecclesiology is but an extension of soteriology. That is to say that any denomination’s doctrine of the church will be determined by its understanding of the Gospel and how God saves people by means of the Gospel. 

The True Church and Remnant

Adventism regards itself not merely as “a church” but as “the church.” It claims that its denomination is the only true church on earth today. All other denominations it denounces as Babylon. Therefore, according to Adventism, it is the only legitimate visible church in the entire world. As stated above, such claims are only made by sectarian cults of which the Roman Catholic denomination is the greatest.

Adventism not only claims to be the only true church on earth today, it also claims to be God’s remnant—His end-time church. The two main proof texts for this claim are Revelation 12:17 and 19:10. Based on these two texts it states that the true end-time church—the remnant—must observe all ten commandments and have a prophet. Accordingly, Adventism claims that it alone qualifies as “the remnant church.”

Adventism’s 1844 Theology

The above claims by Adventism are also based on its unique interpretation of its cardinal text of Scripture—Daniel 8:14. Mrs. E. G. White, Adventism’s end-time prophetess, states: “The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the central pillar of the advent faith was the declaration: ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’ Daniel 8:14” (GC 409). 

In their interpretation of this text, the pioneers stated that the 2300 days (KJV) means 2300 years. This time period, they calculated, would terminate on October 22, 1844. The event referred to as “the cleansing of the sanctuary” was first believed to refer to the second coming of Christ in glory to redeem the righteous and destroy the wicked by cleansing the earth with fire. Thus did they dogmatically set an exact date for the Lord’s return. 

But nothing can justify this date-setting, nothing at all. It is against the explicit command of Holy Scripture and the lessons of history. When the Lord did not come as they predicted, the pioneers experienced what is referred to in Adventist history as the Great Disappointment. But instead of coming to their senses and repenting for their apocalyptic foolishness, the pioneers re-interpreted Daniel 8:14 by linking it to “the cleansing of the sanctuary” on the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel. Based on this linkage they projected the entire Old Covenant sanctuary ritual into heaven, making the heavenly ministration of Christ run parallel to that of the earthly. 

They now concluded that on October 22, 1844, instead of Christ coming to earth, He went into the Most Holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary to make the “final” or saving atonement for its cleansing by which the record of believers’ sins would be blotted out. Up to this time He was in the first apartment making a “preliminary” atonement for believers by which their confessed sins were transferred onto Him as sin-bearer. But now, by means of the “final” atonement, He would transfer these sins onto Satan, the anti-typical scapegoat, who must pay (atone) for them in the end! 

The implication of this teaching was clearly stated by the pioneer O. R. L. Crosier in his pathfinding treatise on the sanctuary in The Day-Star Extra of February 7, 1846. He explicitly declared that Christ makes the atonement in heaven. He therefore concluded that Christ did not even begin His work of atonement on the cross! In 1877, Uriah Smith—a prominent Adventist scholar—was just as bold when he declared: “Christ did not make the atonement upon the cross. Let this fact be fixed forever in the mind.” (The Sanctuary and the Twenty-Three Hundred Days of Daniel V111, 14. p. 276). In other words, according to the pioneers of Adventism, Christ did not make the saving atonement on the cross; He makes it in heaven from 1844 onwards. By this atonement the believer’s record of sins is blotted out, he receives justification “full and complete”, the irrevocable seal of God, and the latter rain.

This face-saving explanation of a two-apartment sanctuary in heaven and of the assumption that on October 22, 1844, Christ went from the first apartment to the second to commence His redemptive final atonement ministration became the foundation and central pillar of Adventism’s theology—the only original contribution it has made to Christian theology and the only legitimate reason for its existence as a religious body.

So, the date 1844 and the teaching on the two-phased ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary are the nerve center of Adventism. From this interpretation of Daniel 8:14 comes a plethora of unique Adventist teachings such as the two apartments and their respective ministrations of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, the investigative judgment, the blotting out of the record of sins, the transfer of sin onto Satan, the special sealing, the latter rain, the close of probation, the time of the end, the remnant, and the Spirit of Prophecy. 

An Evaluation:

1. Adventism’s 1844 theology

What can be said of Adventism’s 1844 theology? Just as Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection event (1 Cor. 15:1-4), so Adventism stands or falls on the “1844 event.” If there were no resurrection, there would be nothing salvageable in Christianity. If no event of redemptive significance occurred in heaven on October 22, 1844, there is nothing salvageable in Adventism. 

But the pioneers, Mrs. White, and Adventism have staked everything on the veracity of this interpretation of Daniel 8:14. Adventism is adamant that God had revealed the true meaning of Daniel 8:14 to its pioneers and Mrs. White and that He has entrusted it to the Adventist denomination as His end-time message to Christendom and the world. This is the basis of Adventism’s triumphant self-image: “a special people with a special message for a special time” (to quote a popular Adventist slogan). 

Not only, however, is there no biblical data—a clear ‘Thus saith the Lord’—to support the 1844 date and Adventism’s explanation for the Great Disappointment debacle, the 1844 theology is contrary to the New Testament Gospel. Christ’s finished work of atonement (redemption) on the cross and His once-and-for-all entrance into the Most Holy Place (heaven itself—Heb. 9:24) to sit down at the Father’s right hand exclude a redemptive event beginning on October 22, 1844 (the ‘final’ atonement, the blotting out of sins, the transfer of sin onto Satan, justification ‘full and complete’, the latter rain, the final seal of God, etc.).

In proclaiming such an event and exhorting people to place their faith in it, Adventists are preaching “another gospel” (Gal. 1:6-8)—a gospel with features not found in the writings of the New Testament apostles. At best, Adventism’s 1844 theology can only rest on an extra-biblical authority—that of its prophetess, Mrs. White. Raymond F. Cottrell, one of Adventism’s leading scholars, frankly admitted this. (See his paper submitted to the Glacier View Sanctuary Review Committee, August 10-15, 1980, entitled, A Hermeneutic for Predictive Prophecy, esp. pp. 28-30). So, in promulgating their 1844 theology, Adventists go beyond the apostolic witness as recorded in the New Testament. It cannot therefore claim to be a church based on the apostolic teaching of the Gospel. 

2. Adventism’s True Church and Remnant Claim

As stated above, Adventism claims to be the remnant which has survived the great Babylonian captivity (papal apostasy), which has come out of Babylon, and which is rebuilding the ruins by calling Christendom out of Babylon (denominationalism) to become part of God’s true church and end-time remnant—the Adventist denomination (see Joel 2:32; Rev. 12:17; 14:12). 

The remnant motif first appears in the Old Testament in reference to the minority in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). It later came to refer to those Jews who would survive the disaster of the Babylonian captivity. These survivors of Israel would be the faithful few (the remnant) who would return to rebuild the ruins of Jerusalem (Isa. 1:9; 7:3; 10:20, 21; Amos 5:15). 

---

Just as Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection event (1 Cor. 15:1-4), so Adventism stands or falls on the “1844 event.” If there were no resurrection, there would be nothing salvageable in Christianity. If no event of redemptive significance occurred in heaven on October 22, 1844, there is nothing salvageable in Adventism. 

---

But the New Testament apostles employed the remnant motif to describe the New Testament community. (Acts 15:14-18; Rom. 9:27-29; 11:1-5). Thus did first-century Christians see themselves as the eschatological remnant by virtue of their faith-union with Christ. Dr. F. F. Bruce states it as follows: “When the crucial test came, the faithful remnant was reduced to one person, the Son of Man who entered death single-handed and rose again as his people’s representative. With him the people of God died and rose again” (The New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes, p. 49). Surely then, to suggest that one could be “in Christ” through faith and not be part of the elect or remnant is nonsense! Therefore, in the light of the New Testament, the Christian Church or Body of Christ IS the remnant since its inception on the day of Pentecost and will remain so until the last day when Christ will come again. 

3. The Time of the End

The pioneers of Adventism developed their 1844 and end-time-remnant doctrines on the assumption that the last days did not arrive until 1798 (1844 era). James White, a prominent pioneer, said that the remnant of Joel 2:32 (meaning the Adventist Church) did not appear until 1844. This led them to think that, as God’s remnant, they had to have a new message corresponding to the new era they had entered. Thus did they believe that their unique 1844 sanctuary doctrine was God’s end-time message entrusted to them as His remnant for Christendom and the world to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. 

But the apostles declared that they were already living in the time of the end and that the Gospel they were preaching was God’s end-time message for the world (Acts 2:17; Heb. 1:1, 2; 9:26; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 1:1). “The proclamation of the Gospel is an eschatological event” (Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, tr. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 2:729). This is clearly shown in the New Testament as follows:

1. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Christ “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26). Calvary is therefore an end-time event. Dr. F. F. Bruce states it thus: “It is not that the consummation of the ages was the time when, in fact, He [Christ] appeared; it is rather that His coming and achievement made that particular time the consummation of the ages” (Defence of the Gospel, p. 89). 
   
2. The outpouring of the Spirit to proclaim the Gospel took place on the Day of Pentecost. Peter announced that it was the fulfilment of what Joel had prophesied would take place in the last days (Acts 2:16, 17). The preaching of “the gospel…by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven” (1 Peter 1:24) is therefore an eschatological (end-time) ministry. 
   
3. The New Testament repeatedly declares that the last days have arrived (Acts 2:16, 17; Heb. 1:1, 2; 9:26; 1 Pet. 1:20). All the blessings which come to the believer in Christ are gifts which belong to the end of the world—that is, justification is the liberating verdict of the final judgment (Rom. 2:13, 16), eternal life is the life of the age to come (John 5:24), the gift of the Spirit is the down payment of glorification (Eph. 1:13, 14), and salvation is deliverance from God’s end-time wrath (Rom. 5:9). 

Therefore, Adventism’s claim that the last days arrived when it arrived on the scene in 1844 is way off the mark by about 1800 years! No, the last days arrived when Jesus arrived on the public scene 2000 years ago. This is the witness of His apostles. To now go beyond what the apostles preached and wrote is cultic. Adventism has officially denied what the New Testament says in this regard in order to maintain its unique 1844 theology and all that goes with it.

Adventist Confusion

Up to the 1950’s traditional (historic) Adventism, based on the original charter formulated by the pioneers as based on their unique interpretation of Daniel 8:14, constituted the only authentic form of Adventism. But during the 1950’s two new strands appeared on the Adventist scene, namely ‘Evangelical’ Adventism and ‘Liberal’ Adventism. Each of these had its own interpretation of what constitutes authentic Adventism, and each based its claim on statements by Mrs. White. 

‘Evangelical’ Adventism was a religious movement based on a compromised synthesis between Evangelical theology and traditional Adventism. During the 1950’s it was spearheaded by evangelically minded leaders in Adventism’s headquarters, Washington, D.C. In 1957 it made its official debut with the publishing of the book Questions on Doctrine in which the ‘special’ doctrines unique to traditional Adventism were radically changed so that Adventism could appear ‘evangelical’ to the Evangelicals—Drs. Walter Martin and Donald Barnhouse. These two Evangelical scholars investigated Adventism and threatened to brand it a cult unless its ‘special and unique’ doctrines were discarded so as to come into line with Evangelical Christianity. 

‘Liberal’ Adventism also came onto the scene prominently during the 1950’s when many Adventist students started attending non-Adventist universities and receiving graduate degrees from them. In many cases, these universities were known for their theological liberalism. Thus were these Adventist students exposed to modern biblical criticism and liberal theology. The influence this exposure had on them could be seen in many aspects of their theology. The traditional teaching of Adventism and that of Evangelical Christianity were regarded as outdated and inadequate for communicating the true character of God to modern man. They therefore replaced them with the ‘Moral Influence Theory’ of the death of Christ. Liberal Adventism was also comfortable with pluralism of thought.

By 1980 all three strands—Traditional Adventism, Evangelical Adventism and Liberal Adventism—were featuring prominently in the church. This resulted in total confusion amongst both clergy and laity as to what constitutes authentic Adventism—that which makes them different from all other Christians; that which gives them their true identity and that which makes them special in God’s sight—His one and only Remnant Church! The liberal Adventists regarded this confusion as a healthy diversity in pluralism. 

Conclusion

In view of the above, what arrogance is manifested in Adventism’s claim to be the remnant church while not possessing that which alone makes a person part of God’s remnant—the true Gospel of Christ as promulgated by the New Testament apostles. Faith alone in this Gospel made the Gentiles part of the end-time remnant. The Jews had the Ten Commandments, observed the Sabbath and boasted the possession of more than one prophet (outdoing Adventism on this point). Yet they were excluded as a nation from the remnant because they rejected the Gospel concerning Christ and His saving work. Therefore, when weighed in the balances of the apostolic witness of the Gospel as recorded in the New Testament, Adventism is found wanting. Not only does it not have the true Gospel, the three divergent theological strands within Adventism constitute nothing less than Babylonian confusion. And then it has the audacity to label all other Christian denominations Babylon! Adventism does not therefore qualify as the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church” as per the attributes stated in the Nicene Creed. †

---