Bible Passage Adventism Really Doesn’t Like

RICHARD FOSTER | Contributor

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 

So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

“Then he cried and said, ’Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 

“Then he said, ’I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ’They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ’No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ’If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”—Luke 16:19–31 NKJV

In Luke 16:19-31 we find the story of the rich man and Lazarus. If you are like I am, then as an Adventist you didn’t give this passage much thought—nor did you really want to. After all, there are things going on in the story that flat-out contradict key Adventist doctrines such as the state of the dead and the nature of hell. Because of issues such as these, as an Adventist I didn’t view this passage as something to dig into deeply to learn as much as I could, but as something to be explained away quickly and then to move on from it, so as not to let it undermine Adventist doctrine. 

We were taught as Adventists that the teaching of the deceased continuing to consciously exist as souls was not only wrong, but pagan, and even demonic. Yet here Jesus is using this very idea to teach spiritual lessons, and He is not even clarifying that the state of the dead view in the story is myth. 

While I didn’t vocalize it as an Adventist, I kind of thought to myself, “Yikes!” 

We were also taught that the concept of hell or hades presented here was just Greek mythology, and that it undermined the character of God in the great controversy. After all, how would humans and unfallen angels know that God is good if He punished sinners indefinitely or forever in such a horrifying place? 

Problems with the Adventist Interpretation

The Adventist explanation of this passage has typically been that Jesus is using a mythological story that was floating around in first century Israel to simply teach a point about hearing Jesus as one would hear Moses. Adventists argue vehemently that this is nothing more than a parable, and therefore it cannot be understood literally. 

The first problem with this reasoning is this: nowhere does Jesus clarify that certain aspects of the parable are mere myth and should not be understood literally. Adventists would argue this wasn’t necessary, because the first century Jewish listeners would have already known such to be the case. Historical evidence about first century Jewish beliefs, though, suggests otherwise. To the first century Jew, going to be with father Abraham after death would have been a very high experience—so much so, in fact, that Abraham’s bosom has been used as a figure to represent heaven. 

In addition to this fact, the evidence indicates that first century Judaism also did believe that the lost dead immediately went to a place of punishment. Below is just one historical quote of numerous ones that could be used to demonstrate this reality:

“They [the Pharisees] believe that souls have power to survive death… and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life.—Josephus, Wars of the Jews 2.8.14 (on the Pharisees. Written around 75–79 AD).

So it becomes clear that the first century audience of Jesus would not have necessarily understood these concepts as mythical, making it problematic, therefore, that Jesus wouldn’t clarify that that these ideas were myths if they actually were.

An even bigger problem, though, is the implication that Jesus used spiritual myth or falsehood to teach spiritual truth. As an Adventist I frequently appealed to Paul’s statement that God is not the author of confusion, but certainly if the Adventist doctrines of the state of the dead and hell are correct, then God is being an author of confusion, both in regards to this passage as well as others. The fact of the matter is that in none of His other parables do we see Jesus using myth or falsehood to teach truth. He always appeals to things that are rooted in first century Jewish reality (such as agriculture) and then uses those realities understood by His first century audience to illustrate spiritual truth. Quite frankly, the idea that Jesus used myth to teach truth is an absurdity! 

The third problem is the argument Adventists make about this being a parable, implying it should not be understood literally. There has been dispute over the centuries among Christian scholars as to whether this is a parable or an actual story that happened. And while such debate is intriguing, it makes no difference to the truth of what Jesus is teaching in the passage. For the sake of argument I can go with the Adventist claim that it is merely a parable, as a lot of Christian scholars agree with this understanding. But if we consider it a parable, then it would have to be consistent with the other parables of Jesus. 

Once again it must be pointed out that the other parables of Jesus all use REAL CONCEPTS to teach truth. The wheat and tares, for example, really do grow together in a real wheat field, and they must really be separated at harvest time. In the Good Samaritan parable it really was an issue that travelers could be assaulted on the road and left for dead. It is also reality that the people passing by the man for the reasons they did would have really happened, while a Samaritan not having those same reservations would have been more likely to help. 

In regards to the prodigal son there really are sons that leave their father’s house and squander it in riotous living, only to realize their folly later and make amends. All of the parables of Christ could be examined, and the pattern would be the same. It would be seen that reality is used to teach spiritual truth, and myth or falsehoods are not used! 

So having pointed out some problems with Adventist thinking regarding this passage of Scripture, as Bible believing Christians what can it teach us? 

1. Conscience Existence After Death

The first thing we can learn from the parable or story is the state of people in death. Jesus paints it so vividly we cannot possibly miss it! The words of Jesus are so frank and clear that it’s as if we are seeing it on HDTV! 

Both Lazarus and the rich man are conscious in death. They can see, hear, communicate, feel, and have emotion. It shouldn’t surprise us that the human spirit can do these things. After all, God is described by Jesus as being Spirit, and God can do all these things and more. Part of humans being made in the image of God is having a conscious spirit like God does. Angels are also spirit beings (described as ministering spirits in Hebrews) that have these abilities too. So it shouldn’t trip us up one bit to think that we have a spirit, and that it will have conscious abilities after being separated from the body at death. 

At death the souls of the righteous will immediately go into a place of comfort with other saints who have died. Jesus’ teaching here aligns with Paul’s affirmation that to be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) and with his desire “to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). 

What we see in the rich man and Lazarus, as well as the other texts referenced, is completely contrary to the Adventist state of the dead doctrine where people just cease to exist until the resurrection day. To be certain, the Bible does teach that when Christ returns there will be a resurrection of the dead, and the righteous will rise to the resurrection of life, while the lost will rise to the resurrection of damnation. But between death and that time, all people shall exist in what theologians have referred to as the status intermedius, or intermediate state. 

2. Eternal Destiny Fixed at Death

The rich man, in anguish, pleads for mercy, but Abraham responds, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able” (v. 26).

Immediately upon death it is determined who is saved and who is lost. There is no sleeping unconsciously in the grave, awaiting an “investigative judgment” just prior to the return of Christ and bodily resurrection. Immediately at death eternal destiny is fixed.

The mold has been made, the die has been cast when we get to the end of this life. This is why the Bible teaches us that “today” is the day of salvation. Today might be the last day we have to get reconciled to God. The good news is, though, that once we are reconciled to God, God doesn’t renege on it or revoke it. Instead He seals us with His Holy Spirit until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). 

These Biblical teachings are contrary to the Adventist doctrinal edifice. It can be deduced by good and necessary consequence from the rich man and Lazarus (as well as many other passages) that the investigative judgment is an absurd and unbiblical innovation. God who is omniscient knows our eternal status at all times. And even before death we can know whether or not we have been reconciled to God. God has spelled it out plainly in His word, so we need not stress or guess. If we have repented by turning to Christ as our Savior, recognizing our sinful need of Him, and trusting in Him alone to save us, then we may know we have eternal life. 

3. The Reality of Hell

While not explicitly stating in the story of the rich man and Lazarus that the torments of the rich man will be eternal, neither does it say that the comfort of Lazarus will be eternal. However, eternality may rightly be inferred from the story, as well as explicitly confirmed by other texts in Scripture, most notably Matthew 25:46: 

“And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

It should be pointed out that while the Adventist doctrine of a future temporary annihilation of the wicked on resurrection day can seem quite comforting in comparison to eternal punishment, we must understand that God will never give lost sinners an ounce more of punishment than what perfect justice deems necessary. I have heard Doug Batchelor suggest before that if eternal punishment is true, then God is a sadist. 

But no Doug, God is not sadistic. And the fact that you think eternal punishment would be sadistic of God shows that you are not realizing the infinite holiness and righteousness of God, and in turn the egregiousness of impenitent sin against God’s infinite majesty, particularly in the face of Christ’s perfect atonement for sin. 

Contrary to human reason, even “small” sins are a big deal. And, in fact, in God’s righteous sight the worst sin is not something like murder, as terrible as it is. Rather the worst sin is a refusal to turn to God and be saved by the finished work of Christ. That sin represents nothing less than the crime of the ages. Everyone who rejects the true Jesus is in effect saying, “No, God, I don’t want you. You can get lost from my life. I sure love everything I have, and the good stuff I can get in this life (all blessings from God), but since I have these things, I don’t want to hear from you anymore. I am happy with your gifts God, now please leave me be.” 

In light of this reality we can see the “cosmic treason” to quote R.C. Sproul, or the “infinite outrage” to quote John Piper. No, God is not unjust to require an eternal punishment for sin. Rather, humans are demonstrating what is unjust every time we think God is unjust and reject Him.

4. Earthly Status Proves Nothing About Eternal Destiny

The rich man was blessed in the world beyond what most of us can comprehend. On the other hand, Lazarus was destitute in the world beyond what most of us can even comprehend. Yet Jesus teaches us here that the spiritual reality is entirely distinct from the earthly reality. The afterlife proved Lazarus to be immensely rich towards God, while it proved the rich man to be entirely destitute towards God. What Jesus is not teaching here is that to be poor in the world means you are right with God, or that to be rich in the world means you are at odds with God. This understanding would be contrary to Scripture in general, where we see cases of wealthy people who are saved, as well as of poor people who are lost. 

But this does prove beyond any question that hard times befalling us in this life do not mean God is upset with us. And coming from Adventism I did not understand this fact. In fact only in recent months has God showed me just how prevalent this was in my thinking. 

I have heard Adventists suggest things such as a person’s being poor and homeless was because they didn’t pay tithe. Or, they might say, someone receiving an injury was because they were doing something on Sabbath they shouldn’t have. In fact, I have observed others wondering why they were still struggling when they had given tithe to Adventism for years. 

The reality is that our job could be lost, our 401-K wiped out, our house foreclosed, our car repoed, and we could be befallen with cancer, heart disease, and any other manner of terrible worldly calamities, and it would say nothing about weather God is unhappy with us. We could be like Lazarus, homeless, hungry, penniless, crippled, and yet still be rich with God and heaven-bound. 

There are those of us who have experienced some sort of hardship after leaving Adventism, only to hear Adventists suggest that it’s because we aren’t following Adventism, or at least we were ignoring something that Adventism teaches.

 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.— Philippians 1:29

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.—I Peter 4:12-13

As we can see from Scripture, suffering is not a judgment or a punishment from God. In fact ,it is something God uses in His perfect plan for our lives. And even if we endure the worst suffering the world can produce, it will all be gone in an instant when we depart to be with Christ. 

5. The Sufficiency of Scripture

When the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, Abraham replies, 

“‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”—Luke 16:29-31

Here we learn that Scripture is enough for salvation. Even a miracle such as resurrection from the dead won’t cut it to convert someone if Scripture doesn’t. And relating to Adventism we don’t need an extra-Biblical source like Ellen White either. 

Not only do modern people have Moses and the Prophets, which Jesus said was enough, but we also have the words of Jesus Himself, as well as the words of the apostles recorded in the New Testament. In the 66 books of Holy Scripture there is an overwhelming wealth of teaching and knowledge about God and salvation. The sad thing is, though, that additions such as Ellen White’s “prophetic authority” tend to take away from God’s word, for there is an extra body of “inspiration” that you now must know. It is no longer enough to read and understand Scripture. It is no longer enough for teachers in the church to exegete, understand, and preach Scripture. Ellen White must also be understood. The effect is that time is taken away from Scripture. 

I know this was true for myself, and I have seen it in other Adventists. And worse than this even, the teachings of Ellen White end up superceeding what Scripture teaches. This is particularly evident in Adventism concerning a subject like food and diet. In the Noahic Covenant , for example, God explicitly gives meat for food. We see the Jews being commanded to eat lamb in the ceremonies of the law. Jesus Himself eats fish, even in His resurrection body! 

Throughout the New Testament are passages which affirm meat-eating for Christians and even stress that what we eat or don’t eat is not a gospel issue. Yet Ellen White comes along with “present truth” about diet and vegetarianism, and for all intents and practical purposes, the Biblical teaching about diet is set aside in place of Ellen White’s teaching. 

If this were not the case we could expect to see some meat at Adventist potlucks every week. We could also expect the number of vegetarian Adventists to be about equivalent to the number of vegetarians in the general populace. If the Biblical teaching held sway in Adventism there would never be a conflict over what food should or should not be served at Adventist events. Yet instead Adventists insist that not eating meat and making diet a spiritual issue is “present truth” because Ellen White said so. 

To put it bluntly, that dog won’t hunt in light of Scripture. And numerous other examples could be given besides diet. 

6. The Gospel Is What Really Matters

The rich man was desperate for someone to warn his family to repent and avoid his terrible eternal fate. In death we will all understand what really matters, weather saved or lost. And what really matters is to be saved. Heaven is not a club for Sabbath-keeping vegetarian types who think it would be pleasant to live forever. Hell is not a short chastisement followed by ceasing to exist for those that don’t wish to be in the club. Eternal reality is far more serious than this! Incomprehensibly more serious! 

Eternal life is to know Jesus Christ (John 17:3). What does it mean to know Him? 

Knowing Jesus has two components. We must know who He really is, what He is really like, and how He relates to us as humans. Second, we must know Him in a relationship that is built upon genuine saving faith. This means rejecting teachings that twist and even attack who He really is, as Adventism has often done. 

The God whom orthodox Christians believe in and regard as an infinitely holy and righteous God, Adventism claims is of an evil character. I remember years ago listening to a short video by Ty Gibson called, “I Am an Atheist, Too”. The premise was that he had a conversation with a man on an airplane who was rejecting God because he didn’t like the God of Christianity. Ty responded by saying that “when it comes that God, I am an atheist too.” He then claimed to have presented the Adventist god and said that the man was much more happy with his god. 

A story like this may be a feel-good scenario, but God is who He is. And changing that to fit our desires doesn’t do anything to God; it simply means we have created an idol according to our own liking to worship.  

By contrast, the Jesus of Holy Scripture is the Jesus who was crushed by God under the weight of our sin (Isaiah 53). The Jesus of Scripture is the Jesus who spoke more about hell than about heaven, and He spoke far more about hell than anyone else in Scripture. R.C. Sproul has posited that the reason for this may be that if anyone had said it but Jesus, we wouldn’t believe it. Yet Sproul also rightfully pointed out that even with Jesus saying it, we scarcely believe it. 

Unfortunately Adventism is a religion of unbelief when it comes to the specific attributes of God and to the teachings of Scripture that repel, anger, and offend us as sinners. Ironically, this repellence applies not only to something like God’s wrath and justice, but to His mercy and grace as well. The sinner is just as offended by the idea that he has absolutely no contribution in his salvation as he is by the idea that he will abide under the eternal wrath of God for his sin. 

Adventism carefully plays to this issue, trying to craft a balance of saying it’s a religion of grace, but then redefining grace as something that enables us to make our contribution, rather than something that saves us solely by Christ’s contributions alone. 

We must know Christ as He truly is in Scripture. And we must trust in Him and His finished work alone to save us. As we do this we will see the true righteousness and justice of God. We accept Him as He truly is, and as we grow in our Christian walk we see His perfections of character more and more. We don’t need Him to change to fit our preferences, our preferences need to be changed to love Him as He is. We must remember He is good and we are not. He is righteous and we are not. He is loving and we are not. He is gracious and we are not. To then think God must conform to our natural understanding of these things is outrageous. 

There is an eternity ahead for everyone. To have eternal life is not merely to exist forever, but to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent! To perish eternally in the second death is not to be snuffed out of existence, but to be separated from the good blessings of God in eternity. We see this strikingly in the rich man and Lazarus account. Christ has already accomplished salvation for believers, and God has spelled out in His word how to obtain it. Do we know Him as He is in Scripture and reality? Do we trust Him to save us completely? Have we turned from idols to serve and worship the true and loving God? If so, we may know Him and His eternal salvation. This is what really matters. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can learn from Christ’s teaching in the rich man and Lazarus that death is not unconscious sleep. Further, Adventism’s attempt to relegate this account to myth makes Jesus into a teacher who mingles myth with truth, without clearly distinguishing between the two. May it never be! 

We also learn that eternal destiny is fixed at the moment of death, not in an investigative judgment to see who is safe to save and who isn’t. God already knows, and He is not obligated to prove why to creatures. The truth is, if eternal destiny is fixed at death, and if that eternal destiny begins at death, than the investigative judgment is a doctrine of nonsense that is utterly incompatible with Scripture, besides the obvious fact that it destroys Christ’s finished work. 

We learn that the doctrine known as hell is real, and that lost people go there at death. While it can be a happy day when a Christian passes to be with the Lord, it is truly a sad day when an unbeliever passes away. However, we must always remember that God does no one any wrong. There’s no injustice with God. And Adventism’s doctrine of ceasing to exist for those that are lost is a false hope. The only hope is believing the gospel. 

We learn that Scripture is adequate. Miracles are unnecessary for a person’s salvation when Scripture is available. And we have even more Scripture now than when Jesus was speaking, seeing as how we have God’s completed revelation with the writing of the New Testament. We need to avoid extra-Biblical revelations that in practical life actually distract its proponents from Scripture. Seeing how so many Adventists act, there is no question this is what Ellen White’s writings do. 

Lastly, we learn that salvation through the Biblical gospel and Biblical Jesus is the most important things. Diets cannot save us; keeping a day cannot save us; prophetic schemes cannot save us; extra-Biblical revelations cannot save us, and a remnant church cannot save us. Unfortunately; Adventists have spent countless hours on these things, while completely missing the Biblical gospel and the Biblical Jesus. It is a tragedy that we should pray to be rectified. May God give you strength and courage as you seek to bring His gospel to light for the Adventists you know. †

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Richard Foster

Richard Foster is blessed to reside in beautiful San Juan Island, Washington, with wife Virlinda, and children Enoch and Taylianna. As an excavation contractor and septic system installer, he helps island homes to properly make wastewater go away, as well as digging holes and filling them in whenever needed. Formerly an Adventist for 13 years, the Lord providentially led him on a journey of deeper Bible study, and a realization of the true biblical gospel through learning what the real issues were in the Protestant Reformation. He continues to enjoy studying biblical theology in his spare time. He and his family happily attend and help with ministry in a local community church, where the preaching is expository, and the central focus is the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.

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