Errors of Seventh-day Adventism

by Keith Piper

edited by Rolaant L. McKenzie

Many SDAs are trying to gain acceptance as part of the orthodox Bible based Christian community. However, the following points show them not to hold the "faith once delivered to the saints". Jude 3.

These false doctrines of Seventh-day Adventism warn people to not join up with SDAs, or to leave SDA if they are already involved.

1. THE SABBATH

SDAs insist that we must keep the Sabbath as a day of worship. This is wrong because:

a) The New Testament never commands Christians to worship or meet on the Saturday Sabbath. Instead, Christians are recorded as meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, in the following Bible passages:

1. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 -- to put money in the collection.

2. Acts 20:7 -- Paul preached to Christians at Troas whose habit was to meet to break bread on the first day of the week.

3. John 20:19, 26 -- Jesus, after His resurrection met with the disciples on the first day of the week.

4. Romans 14:5-6 -- Paul, when discussing which day to meet, did not say that you must meet on the Saturday Sabbath, (as SDAs say), but he said "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."

5. Colossians 2:16-17 -- "Let no man judge you in ... holy days or Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come."

SDAs judge Christians wrong who keep Sunday as a holyday. Paul says that SDAs are wrong to judge Christians for not keeping Saturday as a holy day.

b) SDAs claim that the Roman Catholic church after Constantine in 320 AD changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. This is completely false, because we have at least ten quotes from major church writers from 90 -- 300 AD who all say that the practice of Christians everywhere was to meet on Sunday, not the Jewish Saturday Sabbath. SDAs have no early quotes to show that early Christians met on Saturday.

2. SOUL SLEEP

SDAs deny that believers on death go to heaven. They say that believers go to soul sleep in the grave until Christ's return. JW's, Christadelphians and other false groups believe this error.

The main verses disproving the soul sleep error are:

1. Philippians 1:23 -- "I am in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and TO BE WITH CHRIST; which is far better."

2. 2 Corinthians 5:8 -- "To be absent from the body (death), and to be PRESENT WITH THE LORD." (in heaven)

3. Hebrews 12:1 -- "We are surrounded by so great a cloud of WITNESSES". (The departed believers discussed in Hebrews 11)

4. Hebrews 12:23-24 -- "The heavenly Jerusalem ... the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to the SPIRITS of just men made perfect".

5. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 -- "Them also which sleep in Jesus will God BRING WITH HIM". This means that when Christ returns to resurrect believers bodies at the second coming, He brings our spirits and souls with Him from heaven

6. Revelation 6:9-10 -- "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God ... they cried with a loud voice saying..."

7. Isaiah 14:9-10 -- "Hell from beneath ... stirs up the dead for thee. All they shall speak and say to thee."

8. Ezekiel 32:21 -- "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell ..."

9. Ezekiel 32:30-31 -- "The Zidonians which are gone down with the slain ... Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword."

10. Luke 16:19-31 -- the rich man and Lazarus who had died spoke to each other.

These 9 scriptures show soul sleep of SDAs to be false.

3. CHRIST

Mrs. White said: "Christ took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature. Christ took our nature and it's deteriorating condition." (Q.D. p.654-656).

According to White and SDAs, Christ acquired a sinful nature. This is false. Christ had a sinless human nature. Christ took our sin punishment, not our sin nature.

4. LOSS OF SALVATION

"Now while our Great High Priest is making atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ." (The Great Controversy, E.G. White, 1911, p. 623).

SDAs teach that though saved by grace, we are kept saved by keeping the Law. This is partial atonement. Therefore, to stay saved according to SDAs, we must continue to keep the Sabbath, the 10 Commandments and pay the tithe.

5. INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT

Investigative judgment means no assurance of salvation. According to SDAs, beginning on October 22, 1844, Christ entered upon the "judgment phase" of His ministry, whereby He blots out sin. The SDA "Investigative Judgment" doctrine rests on Ellen White's claimed revelation that Christ entered the Holy of Holies not at His ascension, but in 1844 (The Great Controversy, p.362-373).

Hebrews 9:12 contradicts White's theory: "by His own blood he entered (past tense) in once (not in 1844) into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.' Hebrews 9:12, 25.

"... now once in the end of the world hath (past) he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (v.26).

SDAs teach that Christ transferred the record of believers sins to the heavenly sanctuary, which will be finally cleansed at the conclusion of the Investigative Judgment, their day of atonement.

Mrs. White says in "Patriarchs and Prophets", p. 357, this heresy: "The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin. It would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement."

Hence SDAs sins are not cancelled or forgiven yet. What a worry. No wonder they have no assurance of salvation until the imaginary Investigative Judgment is finished.

Q: If Christ can create the universe in 6 days, why does he take from 1844 until now to investigate the books? Is Christ a slow reader?

These verses show the Investigative Judgment to be false:

"The Lord knoweth them that are His." (2 Timothy 2:19)

"I know my sheep." (John 10:14)

"cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"he had by himself purged our sins." (Hebrews 1:3)

"yet now hath he reconciled ..." (Colossians 1:21)

"having forgiven you all trespasses." (Colossians 2:13)

Christ's judgments are AFTER he returns, not BEFORE He returns: "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory ... then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations." (Matthew 25:31-32)

Hebrews 4:13 exposes the SDA limitation on Christ's omniscience: "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

Since Jesus knows all cases already, why must He investigate?

6. SATAN AS THE SCAPEGOAT FOR OUR SINS

White says in TGC page 422: "When Christ, by virtue of His own blood, removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministration, He will place them upon satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, must bear the final penalty."

Satan, according to SDA's, becomes the scapegoat of Leviticus 16. This lack of clear distinction between the forgiveness of sins at salvation, and the blotting out of sins at some time in the future, makes it impossible for anyone to know, even at death, whether he is saved or not.

SDAs are not allowed to experience assurance of salvation, because there would be no pressure for them to keep the Old Testament law and Sabbath as interpreted by Ellen White.

Having the sins of all men laid on satan, assigns to satan an indispensable role in the blotting out of sins. This nullifies the all-sufficiency of the finished work of Christ.

7. ANOTHER GOSPEL

The Investigative Judgment and Scapegoat theories are "another Gospel" that Paul warns us about in Galatians 1:8-9. Paul places a curse on those preaching a false gospel such as SDAs.

8. THE MARK OF THE BEAST

SDAs believe that Sunday keeping will be the mark of the Beast of Revelation 13:16-18.

White says in TGC, page 449: "But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshipping the beast and his image. As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome--'the mark of the beast.' And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive 'the mark of the beast.'"

This is not rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). This shows SDAs careless, deceitful handling of Scripture.

9. SDA'S ARE VERY CONFUSED ON PROPHECY SUBJECTS

SDAs think that God has finished with Israel. Romans 11:2 and 25 contradict this idea. To SDAs, much of Revelation had been fulfilled by 500 AD. They don't understand Daniel's 70 week prophecy. (Daniel 9:24-27)

Conclusion: Leave the SDA movement today.

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