Chris Lee Got It Right
Although many Adventists may view the resurrection in a more positive light, I believe that with respect to traditional Adventists, Chris Lee hits the nail on the head when he wrote,
“In Adventist belief, the resurrected Jesus did not return to the place of greatest honor, glory, and holiness, nor was His work finished. The bottom line is that the Jesus of Adventism is not the Resurrection and the Life, but the judge who examines our works to see who is accounted worthy of eternal life.”
—DENNIS PALMER, VIA EMAIL
Adventist Confusion Resolving
I am not a regular listener to the Cultish podcast but have recently decided it is time to investigate my Adventist ancestry, and you two have given me so much to build on and to dive further into.
I am not a current or former Adventist, but my father and family go back to Ellen White’s time almost—I think all the generations have been Adventist. This is going to sound even crazier, but my mother is actually a Catholic, and that is the church I was reared in, so you can imagine the Romeo and Juliet warfare that I have only heard about in reference to my parents’ getting together.
Big surprise—my parents didn’t stay together, so when we would visit my father, we would often go to church on Saturday with him and our Adventist step-mother. I count myself lucky that I avoided many of the stronger indoctrinations that you spoke of which often occur for children growing up Adventist, but there were definitely a couple memories that have stuck with me.
One time we visited my father on Easter weekend, and I’m pretty sure that even though we were visiting my father, we had still gone to do stations of the cross on Good Friday with my mom before we left her. Then we went to the Adventist church on Saturday, and I was just floored at the time that there was not a single mention of Jesus Christ during the whole service. I just didn’t understand how that could be.
Growing up it made more sense to ascribe things I didn’t understand about Adventism to the Old Testament, as “Jewish-Christian” was a moniker sometimes applied in jest to them, but thankfully now, after your podcast, I understand that the confusion goes well beyond the Old Testament or Scripture of any kind.
I’m excited to go through the back catalog of your podcast and learn more about what Adventists believe. Luckily, the Adventists in my life are open to criticism (at least from me), and I’m very excited to now be able to ask them about things like the investigative judgement almost as a litmus test as to where they stand.
I also wanted to thank you both for your candor when you spoke about what it was in particular that convinced you to leave Adventism. Your words hit home with me in particular as I consider everyday how is it I want to educate my children about Christ…
God bless you both.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: thank you for writing! I understand so well the growing realization that we have to investigate our ancestry. Adventism certainly has shaped it for us all, whether we were really raised Adventist or not. If it was in our parents’ backgrounds, it shaped us without our knowledge.
Your memory of that Easter “Sabbath” is telling. That lack of Jesus really is the heart and core of Adventism, even though they claim to teach him. They just do not have the real Jesus. I’m giving you some links that I think will be helpful to you.
Although we are not currently publishing a printed version of Proclamation! magazine, all our back issues are online here: http://www.lifeassuranceministries.org.
We have also added your name to our weekly Proclamation! email updates. You may need to add the email address LifeAssuranceMinistries@gmail.com to your contacts in order for the email not to be directed toward your Spam folder. These emails will arrive every Friday. Archived articles are available at ProclamationMagazine.com.
You might also enjoy our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FormerAdventist/featured
Also, you might like to subscribe to our podcasts here; many say these help them unpack the Adventism hidden in the recesses of their minds: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/former-adventist/id1482887969
Sin Cannot Be Paid For
I do not believe that our death is imposed on us without reason or consequence of sin, for death is “the wages of sin”. We cannot “pay for” sin so as to avoid death. We die because sin cannot be paid for!
I do not believe that we can be saved from the “second death” at all because those guilty of rejecting life are consumed by the final fire.
I do not believe that anyone can “pay for” our life by suffering our death, because life is not for sale—it is a GIFT of God who gives it by raising the dead.
I do not believe that anything we do changes God’s relationship with us in any way—He resurrects everyone—for various destinations, according to Jesus.
Our commitments or alignments with God affect OUR experience of being reconciled to him. This can be described as a spiritual experience or a new start or new birth by the gift of the Spirit, but we still die and “wait for the redemption of the body” while enjoying the taste of eternal life by faith in hope and love as long as we live.
I do not believe we are two entities of body and spirit.
—FROM FACEBOOK
Response: First, both our physical and spiritual death are the “wages of sin”. It occurs in two phases, as it did with Adam and Eve. Their spirits died the day they ate the fruit (see Genesis 2:17 and 3), but their bodies died much later. We are born again spiritually when we believe, and our bodies are resurrected later when Jesus comes again.
Second, Jesus did not pay for our “life”. He paid for our sin. Romans 3:20–31 explains succinctly what He did by dying. He paid the price God demanded for sin: death. This was not a payment for our “life”. His death was a propitiation and a ransom. We do not cause God to reconcile us to Him so that we can have life. It IS a gift, but it is a gift that only goes to those who trust and believe in His finished atonement. We cannot pay for sin—only our Creator could pay for His creatures’ sin, and He had to do so by shedding human blood for human sin.
Third, Scripture teaches the opposite of what you articulated above. However, if you do not believe that Scripture is the revelation of God’s own will and purpose, that it means exactly what it says, then referring you to Scripture will likely only perpetuate argument. Yet Scripture is what I offer to you. I would like to suggest that you read Romans 1 through 8 in one sitting, and that you read Galatians in one sitting, asking God to show you what He wants you to understand.
I also suggest you read 2 Corinthians 5:1–9. Sin separates us from God. Without a way to remove the wall of sin separating us naturally from God, we would all be doomed to eternal death. Jesus removed that separation by dying to fulfill God’s curse of death for sin. He rose because His death was sufficient to pay for all, and we who believe receive the life He has restored to us in Him. I pray the glory of what Jesus has actually done for us will transform reality for you!
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