by Mark Swarbrick

There are a few verses that Adventists cherry-pick out of context and use to justify their legalism. Here is one:

“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.” (1 Corinthians 7:19)

They extrapolate from that, claiming because the word “commandments” is used, it must refer to the Ten Commandments or to the Old Testament law. That is a bridge too far, for the context says that one of the most important of all Old Testament laws, circumcision, is of no consequence under the New Covenant. So, this passage cannot be speaking of the Old Testament laws.

In John 14:15 there is a statement by Jesus that Adventists believe is powerful ammunition for their cause. It is this:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

When an Adventist reads that verse, the massive amount of indoctrination they have received somehow short-circuits their thinking. They don’t see what it says. Instead, they see: “If you want to be saved, keep the law; observe the Sabbath.”

Of course, that is not at all what it says. But Adventists will argue that Jesus is God (true) and that the laws given by God in the Old Testament were therefore given by Jesus, so (leap of logic) the Sabbath is binding today.

If that were true, then we had all better make sure we:

• Don’t plant two different kinds of seed in our fields (Leviticus19:19).
• Don’t wear clothing made from two different types of fabric (Leviticus 19:19).
• Don’t trim our beards (Leviticus 19:27).
• Be sure to make tassels on the corners of our garments with a blue cord on each tassel. (Numbers 15:38)

After all, God commanded these things, didn’t He? They were given as the law of God. Adventists are telling us that what was commanded in the Old Testament are the commandments of Jesus and if that is so, then all these laws apply to us today, right?

But of course, they themselves don’t follow the rules above, and if you ask them why, they will give you a lecture on the “ceremonial law” versus the “moral law.” They will tell you that God nullified the ceremonial laws but not the moral laws, such as keeping the Sabbath, which they have arbitrarily labelled as moral, not ceremonial. They claim this as though this were common knowledge which any Bible student should know.

But the fact is the Bible knows no such distinction. The idea that God abolished ceremonial laws but not moral laws is a concept nowhere found in Scripture. There is no delineation between various laws, labelling some as moral and others as ceremonial. If God commanded it, it was immoral to disobey it, thus all of God’s laws are moral laws.

The concept is manufactured, and then the decision of which laws are moral and which are ceremonial is determined by, not the Bible, but by Adventist doctrine. It is another fabrication that sprang from the visions of Ellen White’s mind. The phrase “ceremonial law” does not even appear in the Bible.

The Law is a Unit

The Bible sees the law as a unit. It was simply called “the law” or “the law of the Lord” or “the law of Moses” and these terms were used interchangeably. It was all the same thing. Anything God commanded in the Old Testament was considered “the law.” If God commanded to do it, then it was considered immoral not to do it. It was all “moral law” to the Jews.

The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that when someone comes to Christ, the demands of the law are fulfilled in them as they put on the righteousness of Christ. The writer of Hebrews quotes a prophecy predicting the coming of the New Covenant:

“This is the covenant…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts…No longer will they teach their neighbor… By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete;” (Hebrews 8:10-13)

Under the new covenant of grace, Christians don’t need to carefully instruct one another in the details of the law of Moses. Following the letter of the law is “obsolete” under the New Covenant. Christians have the Holy Spirit within them, awakening their conscience, so that God’s will is written on the heart of the believer.

Oldness of the Letter

So then, how does a New Testament believer interact with the Old Testament? In Romans 7:6 Paul spells it out plainly how the believer observes the law:

“But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6)

Every law in the Old Testament has a spiritual principle behind it that it is beneficial for us to know. But we must realize that we are not bound to follow the letter of the law, but the principle only, which the Spirit of God reveals to those who are born again.

Concerning the Sabbath, the letter of the law demands a mechanical observance of a specific day – Saturday. The spirit or principle of the law instructs a believer that rest one day in seven is physically beneficial and that gathering with other believers for worship one day in seven is spiritually helpful. The specific day is the letter of the law, which we are not required to follow. Thus Paul writes:

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you…with regard to…a Sabbath day.” (Colossians 2:16)

So, instead of commanding Sabbath keeping (something no apostle ever commanded), Paul merely says:

“Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit…” (Hebrews 10:25)

What a great opportunity there was, in that passage, for the writer of Hebrews to command not forsaking the Jewish Sabbath. But he does not. None of the apostles, not even once, gave a command to observe the Sabbath. Why? Because, as Paul states in Romans: “We have been released from the law.”

The Commandments of Jesus

Paul wrote:

“The one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.” (Romans 13:8)

For believers, those ten words dismiss the ten commandments and all of the letter of the law, declaring all legalism and commandment-keeping as false and unnecessary. We can feel confident that obeying the commandments of Jesus is not the same thing as following the letter of the law of Moses as recorded in the Old Testament.

So let us move on to examining what the commandments of Jesus actually are. The commandments of Jesus are found in the New Testament, not in the Old. Here they are in a nutshell.

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” (1 John 3:23)

“You must be born again.” (John 3:7)

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets,” (Matthew 7:12).

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments,” (Matthew 22:36-40).

Adventists would be shocked to learn that the two greatest commandments are not found in the Ten Commandments. But instead of turning to the Gospels for the commandments of Jesus, they run to the Old Covenant, to the law of Moses in the Old Testament.

I have often wondered why cults such as Mormonism and Adventism run to the Old Testament for so much of their doctrine. I believe it is because it is there that they find justification for one-prophet-rule over the people, and the strictness that will instill fear into followers sufficient to deprive them of their money and freedom.

 

If you enjoyed this article you would like the author’s comprehensive book on Adventism. Available in Kindle eBook, Paperback, and Audiobook. Only $2.99 on Amazon. Click HERE to purchase. 175 pages of documented facts. Learn about:

• False predictions of Ellen White
• The Investigative Judgment
• Soul Sleep
• Sabbatarianism

 

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