Info Needed About the “Adventist” Holy Spirit
Can you please provide some quotes that show the early Adventists did not believe in the Holy Spirit?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: The early Adventists claimed to believe in the Holy Spirit, but they conceived of Him as the force or life or presence of the Father and Jesus. Since the founding Adventists were antitrinitarian and Arian in their beliefs, the Holy Spirit was understood wrong as well.
Here is a link to James White’s infamous article, “The Personality of God” in which he claimed that God has a material body, and within this framework the function of the Holy Spirit is to be the presence of God. Here is the link: https://www.bdsda.com/personality-of-god-by-james-white/
The way the Holy Spirit is mentioned in this piece would likely not seem “off” to your wife. The problem is that we have to see how they talk about Him within their framework of God having a physical body. If the Father and the Son are wrong, so is the Holy Spirit.
For decades Adventists wrote about the Holy Spirit as “It”, not “He”. The reason for this is that Adventists understood the Holy Spirit to be a force or power or activating force sent out from God because God Himself was limited by His physicalism. The perception of the Holy Spirit as an IT has persisted. Adventists today do refer to Him as “HIM”, but they still deny that the Trinity shares SUBSTANCE. Ellen White never deviated from her perception that God is a “heavenly trio”, the “three worthies of heaven” who come to help people. They do not affirm that all the attributes, all the substance of God is equally in all three Persons. Their official website actually uses the metaphor of comparing their “godhead” to “a winning team”.
Ellen White wrote Manuscript 41, 1897, and it is quoted in the SDA Bible Commentary Vol 6 p. 1112: “The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not see Christ and speak to Him, but His Holy Spirit is just as near us in one place as in another. It works in and through every one who receives Christ. Those who know the indwelling of then Spirit reveal the fruits of the Spirit…”
This quote may seem almost normal at face value, but one must understand that this paragraph identifies Jesus as NOT omnipresent—a belief that renders Him NOT GOD. Jesus has omnipresence just as the Father and the Spirit do. The Spirit is not a force or energy from a fixed-position Jesus. He is a Person of the Trinity.
This article contains many citations that will help you see who the Adventist Jesus is, and by implication, the fact that Adventists do not believe in the classic Christian Trinity: Discovering the Adventist Jesus
Nursing Home Resident Proselytizing
I minister at a nursing home and one of the residents is a retired Adventist pastor.
We hold services on Sunday afternoons, but in spite of explaining we are not holding church services but rather singing praises to God and preaching a sermon, he has hindered a former attendee from coming and they now believe it is wrong to meet on Sunday.
The issue seems to be holding to Exodus 20 but failing to understand there is a new covenant.
I am wondering if you have any resources that might help with addressing this issue?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: You are right about that Adventist pastor not understanding the new covenant!
Adventism is based on a worldview that borrows Christian words but which redefines those words and creates a unique view of reality. They have an eschatological religion which holds, based on the teaching of their false prophet Ellen White, that the seventh-day Sabbath will be the seal of the Holy Spirit which will mark those who are saved when Jesus returns, and going to church (or worshiping) on Sunday will be the mark of the beast.
Adventists do not know the true gospel. In fact, the very best way to begin to “crack” the Adventist code is to study the Bible with them, reading whole books in context using no outside commentaries. You will begin to understand their interpretations and roadblocks. If you ever do have the opportunity to study with this man, beginning with Galatians would be a great place to start.
Meanwhile, here is a link that will help you understand the Adventist worldview more clearly: What Is Seventh-day Adventism?” I also recommend listening to our Former Adventist Podcast series on the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists. We discuss how we understood these doctrines and how they contradict Scripture; I think you would find them very helpful. Here is a links to this series: https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2021/10/04/inspecting-adventisms-fundamental-beliefs/
Adventism is an intricate deception that hides behind proof texts and an “invisible” foundation that denies humans have an immaterial spirit (thus negating the reality of the new birth). This physicalism redefines the nature of man, the nature of Christ, the nature of sin, and the nature of salvation.
I hope these resources help. You might also find our YouTube channel to be a rich resource: https://www.youtube.com/user/FormerAdventist/featured
Is It Finished Or Not?
I have one question in my mind after attending a Sabbath service with a friend regarding the wording, “It is finished.”
They say that Christ’s work is still not finish yet. That is the outer court only. Please help.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Your friend is trying to get you to believe Adventism’s investigative judgment. The Bible does not teach such a thing anywhere. In fact, this doctrine denies that Jesus completed the atonement at the cross. Jesus entered heaven itself and sat down—His work being finished—at the right hand of God. Adventism’s Jesus is standing in the supposed “holy place” going through records of our sins and applying His blood to those which have been confessed individually and specifically.
Chris, get a notebook and begin copying the book of Hebrews into it. Hebrews explains what Jesus did, how He fulfilled the law, how His work was 100% completed on the cross and when He broke the curse of death. Just take the time to copy a few verses a day, asking God to teach you what He knows He wants you to understand from the book.
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