This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.
Lesson 5: “The Good News of Judgment”
COLLEEN TINKER
Problems with this lesson:
- The lesson assumes that “God’s Judgment” is the investigative judgment.
- The author relies on EGWs characterization of “God’s people” purifying themselves by increased obedience to the law.
- The lesson twists Daniel and Revelation and uses them out of context to support their extra-biblical doctrine of judgment.
This lesson is based entirely on a straw-man foundation: the assumption that the investigative judgment is real and that it is supported by Scripture. Using these assumptions as unexplained foundational teaching, the entire lesson is a structure built on sand. It is entirely untrue because it is based on an untrue assumption.
This quote is found in Sunday’s lesson:
During this judgment, the unfallen worlds will see that God has done everything He can to save every human being. This judgment reveals God’s justice and mercy. It says something about His love and law. It speaks of His grace to save and His power to deliver.
And on Monday we read this:
“The fact that the acknowledged people of God are represented as standing before the Lord in filthy garments should lead to humility and deep searching of heart on the part of all who profess His name. Those who are indeed purifying their souls by obeying the truth will have a most humble opinion of themselves. The more closely they view the spotless character of Christ, the stronger will be their desire to be conformed to His image, and the less will they see of purity or holiness in themselves. But while we should realize our sinful condition, we are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. We cannot answer the charges of Satan against us. Christ alone can make an effectual plea in our behalf. He is able to silence the accuser with arguments founded not upon our merits, but on His own.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 471, 472.
The gospel has nothing to do with the law, and the investigative judgment is simply a fiction. The gospel is this: we are all born dead in sin, “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:1–3). We cannot seek for, please, or obey God because we cannot rise above our dead-in-sin natures (Rom. 3:9–18).
God sent His Son, Jesus, to be a propitiation for our sins. He sent Him to earth as a human baby but without sin. He was conceived spiritually alive, and He was never “by nature” a child of wrath.
He lived a sinless life and died as the perfect sacrifice for human sin, shedding human blood for human sin because human sin could be paid for only by human blood (Hebrews 2).
Because His death completely satisfied God’s demands against sin, the grave could not hold Him. He rose to life on the third day because the Father had been satisfied with Jesus’ shed blood. It was sufficient for the sin of the entire human race. (See Romans 5.)
The saved are those who BELIEVE in Jesus and trust Him completely for their forgiveness and salvation. When they believe they pass from death to life (John 5:24) and do not come into judgment. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, and eternity is theirs. (Ephesians 1:13,14).
Sin was judged completely at the cross. Jesus made a complete atonement at the cross—not in heaven. All the work was done at the cross. Because Jesus judged sin and paid for it on the cross, He fulfilled the entire purpose of the law. He even fulfilled the curse of death, and every shadow of the law was fulfilled in Him.
We are born condemned with the wrath of god resting on us (Jn. 3:18, 36). When we believe and trust Jesus alone, we pass OUT of judgment. Jesus bears our judgment, and our sin is judged and paid for by Him on the cross. We pass into eternal life at that moment.
The judgment of the world will occur at the end of days as described in Revelation 20. Jesus will return to judge the earth. Those who have not trusted in Jesus will be judged and sentenced to the lake of fire, and the earth and heavens will be destroyed.
There is NO investigative judgment!
I recommend the Former Adventist Podcasts that deal with Daniel 7 and 8. Those chapters do NOT describe nor identify any investigative judgment. Here are the podcasts:
- No Adventist Investigation Here
- Millennial Kingdom Coming to Earth
- Lead-Up to the Adventist Crown Jewel
- The Adventist Crown Jewel Is Fake
- Should We Leave the “Isms”? - May 9, 2024
- May 11–17 - May 9, 2024
- We Got Mail - May 9, 2024