A SECOND LOOK AT
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM
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IS THE SABBATH A MEMORIAL OF CREATION ?
It is true that Genesis 23 says God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, but there was no command to memorialize it in remembrance of creation. The command to keep the sabbath day went only to those who were slaves in Egypt. There is no biblical record of the sabbath being kept in the interim between creation and the days of Moses. Why? Obviously because it was not commanded to be kept.
I have carefully looked up every scripture reference given by the SDA's regarding sabbath-keeping. (Gen. 21-2; Ex. 20:8-11; Luke 4:16; Isa. 56:5,6; 581:3,14; Matt. 12:1-12; Ex. 31:13-17; Eze.4:16 Eze. 20:12,20; Deut. 5:12-15; Heb. 4:1-11; Lev. 23:32; Mark 1:32). All commands to keep the Sabbath are Old Testament ones to the sons of Israel. The scripture from Isaiah 56:5,6, has no reference to the sabbath at all, but refers to a "memorial NAME", not a DAY. The New Testament references are not commands to keep the sabbath.
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IS THE SABBATH "CEREMONIAL" ?
Seventh-Day Adventists in particular get out of keeping all the points of the Law by claiming some are "ceremonial" and don't require strict observance, but in their understanding the Sabbath does require strict observance. Leviticus, chapter 23 lists several "Holy Convocations". The first-mentioned one is the seventh-day sabbath. The chapter goes on to list other "holy convocations", namely the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened bread, the Wave offering, the Feast of Booths, etc. All are identified as "holy convocations". Why then claim that the first one mentioned, namely the seventh-day sabbath, is NOT "ceremonial", but ALL OTHERS listed are! Let's interpret the Bible honestly, and in context!
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ARE CHRISTIANS UNDER THE SABBATH LAW ?
Seventh-Day Adventists judge Christians very harshly for not keeping "Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday." Christians, on the other hand, don't condemn others for worshiping on Saturday if that is their preference. Christians recognize that we are under grace, and not under the Law.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians, "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or A SABBATH DAY--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16,17).
No one calling himself a Christian should judge another respecting the Sabbath, and yet the SDA church would have Christians receive the "mark of the beast" for not keeping the Saturday sabbath. They have therefore made salvation dependent on which day of the week one keeps!
Hebrews, chapter four, shows that the fulfillment of the Jewish Sabbath was not the keeping of the same day by Christians, but the entering of Christians into God's rest. The early Christians preached on the Jewish Sabbath because the Jews were gathered in the synagogue on that day. (See Acts 17:2-4). Their fellowship together was always the "first day" of the week, Sunday, the day of Christ's resurrection. (See Acts 20:7)
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CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE SABBATH
There is NO scripture commanding Christians to keep the Saturday sabbath. Surely there would be a command if it was of such importance as to affect our salvation! Christians have always met for fellowship and the breaking of bread on the first day of the week, Sunday, and continue to do so until this day. They do not claim Sunday is the "sabbath" but rather , the "Lord's Day". Sunday worship was not introduced by the Roman Catholic Church, although they like to take credit for it. Catholics merely carried on where the Apostles left off. The claim by SDA's that Christians are worshiping the sun by meeting on Sunday, is just as ridiculous as us accusing the SDA's of worshiping Saturn, because they meet on Saturday!
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WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW!
The Law was our tutor, or teacher leading us to Christ. Galations 3:25 concludes "we are no longer under a tutor". The Law divided Jews from Gentiles, so Christ abolished it. (Ephesians 2:14-16).
Even the Jews knew the old Law Covenant would pass away Jeremiah 31:31 says, "Behold the days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah". God would write His new law on people's hearts (vs. 33). Jesus Christ Himself instituted the new covenant. (See 1 Corinthians 11:25), fulfilling and abolishing the old Law covenant. Yes, the old Law Covenant, including the seventh-day sabbath observance is now over. The letter of the Law is finished. Christ Himself is described as the end (Greek, "telos" or "terminator") of the Law. (Romans 10:4).
We will close this subject by quoting Romans 8:2-4, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
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THE 1844 INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT DOCTRINE
The investigative judgment doctrine teaches that in fulfillment of Old Testament sanctuary typology, Christ entered into the second apartment of the sanctuary in heaven in 1844 in order to begin a work of "investigative judgment" to see who was worthy of eternal life, both of those still living and those dead.
A brief background for this teaching is called for. Ellen G. White, under the influence of William Miller, an early Adventist, agreed with his date for the visible return of Christ. October of 1844 was set for the second coming of Christ. Christ obviously did not return on that date, so in order to "save face" over a false prophecy, "investigative judgment" was born. 1844 came to be the date when a work of final atonement, which would blot out a believer's sin would begin.
This teaching is the opposite of the full atonement taught by the Christian church, and also mocks at the words of our Savior from the Cross, "It is finished." (John 19:30). Hebrews 10:12 also states "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God." Christ paid fully for our sins, atoning for them fully. No scripture teaches otherwise.
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