Legalism and the SDA

By Mark Swarbrick

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By Mark Swarbrick

The New Covenant of Grace

In Matthew 26:28, when our Lord instituted communion, he said, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” Unfortunately, there are a number of sects that claim to be Christian who act as though we are still living under the old covenant. They seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is one of these that misunderstands the relationship between the old and new covenants, particularly in regard to law and grace.

The SDA Prophetess

The SDA follows the teachings of its founding prophetess, Ellen G White, whose writings the church maintains are inspired by God, in the same way the Bible is inspired. While the SDA are sticklers for obeying Scripture, for some reason they ignore the Apostle Paul’s words:

“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” (1 Timothy 2:11-12)

In disobedience to God’s word, the SDA has formulated all of their distinctive doctrines upon this woman’s visions. All manner of excuses are made for Paul’s order against women authoritatively teaching doctine, saying it was only said for this or that societal reason, so the rule does not apply now. But they ignore the context, wherein, with the very next verse, Paul gives the reason for his command:

“For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”  (1 Timothy 2:11-14)

In other words, Paul says that allowing a woman to teach and exercise authority over men will lead to false teaching. He bases this upon the fall in Genesis, not upon any cultural reasons present in Ephesus (where Timothy pastored) in the 1^st century. Thus, the command stands as applicable for all time. It is disobedience to this command that has caused the SDA to abandon Scripture and forsake the teaching of all of Christendom in order to follow the peculiar visions of one woman. This is what led the SDA into doctrinal error.

The Error of Legalism

Scripture warned against the error of legalism and those who spread it:

Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment. (Acts 15:24)

Note the two errors:

1. Requiring circumcision
2. Keeping the Old Testament law

Scripture makes it clear that regarding these two demands, the apostles “gave no such commandment.”

Sabbatarianism

One of Ellen G White’s false teachings is Sabbatarianism, the teaching that one must worship God on Saturday and that to worship the Lord on Sunday is a grave sin that will doom you for eternity. She claims that worshipping Jesus on Sunday is taking the mark of the beast.

To justify this teaching, she claims that the Old Testament laws are binding upon Christians. Since the Jews were commanded to rest on the Sabbath day, and since the Jewish day of rest was on a Saturday, she believes that all Christians today must do the same. Ellen White taught that Saturday observance was necessary for salvation.

The Truth

The Bible is clear that such things do not matter one way or another and that making an issue out of such irrelevant matters shows a serious lack of understanding of the new covenant. To wit,

Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:14-17)

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord…Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? (Romans 14:5,10

You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (Galatians 4:10)

The Law is Abolished

Numerous scriptures declare that for the Christian, the law is abolished. For example:

“For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6)

“Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.” (Romans 3:19)

“You are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

“But now we have been released from the law.” (Romans 7:6)

“Therefore the law has become our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” (Galatians 3:24)

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)

“By abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” (Ephesians 2:15)

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” (Hebrews 10:1)

“The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane.” (1 Timothy 1:9)

“Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14)

“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14)

“Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’—to whom we gave no such commandment.” (Acts 15:24)

“He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)

How Christians Fulfill the Law

The New Testament teaches that Christians keep the spirit of the Old Testament law, but are no longer under the letter of the law. The real intent of the law is written into the hearts of believers so that as they are led by the Spirit of God in love for others, they fulfill the law.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts.” (Hebrews 8:10)

Romans 7:6 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)

Here is an example of how that works: In regard to the Old Testament command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, Christians discern that spending one day in seven for rest and spiritual refreshment is beneficial to man’s wellbeing. Whether it be Saturday or Sunday does not matter. Demanding it be a specific day is following the letter of the law. We are released from that.  Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, on whatever day, is the spirit or principle of the law. We serve in “newness of the spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”

Adventists want to keep the letter of the law and observe the sabbath at exactly the same time as the Jews in Israel did, a feat which is impossible anyway, since Israel is on the other side of the world and on the other side of the dateline.

The Apostle Paul writes: “And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)

This is what the SDA is misled on. They are trying to keep the law as it was under the old covenant and they do not recognize the change that has come under the new covenant.

Again Paul says:

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

“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘you shall love you neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14)

A Contradiction?

Here is one of the Adventist’s favorite verses:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

From this verse the Adventist would bring all of us back into bondage to the Old Testament law of Moses. I point the reader to Ephesians 2:15, which says:

“By abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.”

So, Christ did abolish the law. How can this be? The first passage seems to say that Jesus did not abolish the law, the second one says He did abolish it. What is the answer to this dilemma? The answer is that many Bible versions incorrectly translated the first passage. Looking at it in the Greek, one can see that Jesus did not use the word that means abolish, he used the word that means destroy. Jesus said he did not come to katargeo (destroy) the law. Katargeo means: to destroy, disintegrate, demolish, tear down, dissolve, come to naught, to totally trample underfoot as worthless.

The word used in the second passage, the one in Ephesians, is a different word. It is Kataluma, which does not mean destroy, but means, “to abolish, to render without effect, to make not binding.”

Therefore, when Jesus says He came not to destroy (kataluma) the Law and the Prophets, He meant something totally different than abolish. All that Jesus was saying was that He did not come to defy and discount the law, the prophets, and all that they stood for. Rather, he came in fulfillment of prophecy, and to clarify the law, not to cast it down as something totally worthless, as if it never had a valid purpose. The Law was not to be entirely done away with, for it still stands in condemnation of those without Christ. But for those who have come to Christ, the law is abolished.

The Law Still in Effect for Unbelievers

One of the most important words in scripture is the little word “if.” Notice that word’s importance in Galatians 5:18: “If you are led by the spirit you are not under the law.”

What if we are not led by the spirit? What if we are not even Christians? In that case the law still stands for that person. For those that aren’t saved through Christ, the letter of the law condemns.

As the Scripture says: “Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.” (Romans 2:12). Who is under the law? Unbelievers, not born-again Christians. The Law of Moses abides forever and stands forever formidable to those who will not accept Christ.

Therefore it is written, “None are righteous, no not one.” The only purpose the letter of the Law serves today is to convict and condemn the unrighteous. Only the spirit of the Law applies to Christians, but the unbeliever is under both the letter and spirit of the Law. That is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:18, “till heaven and earth. pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.” Once the New Covenant is fulfilled in a person through repentance and faith in Christ, then for them, all is fulfilled and they are no longer under the law but under grace. As it is written in Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

The letter of the law is also in effect who want to be justified by their own law keeping:

“Whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

Obfuscating the Obvious

Ellen G White has fabricated an elaborate scheme to obfuscate and evade this plain teaching of Scripture. She claims that wherever the Bible speaks of the law being abolished that it is only speaking of what she calls “the ceremonial law.” She contends that the Old Testament law is broken up into various components and some of it was ceremonial and some was moral. She says only the ceremonial aspects were abolished but the moral laws were kept. Then she, by virtue of being a self-proclaimed prophetess, tells her followers what is ceremonial and what is not. She also maintains there is a difference between the law of God and the law of Moses.

The truth of the matter is that when the Bible speaks of “the law” it is referring to any command that God gave. The term “the law” in the Bible does not arbitrarily refer to one of the four aspects of the Law, such as moral, civil, dietary, or ceremonial, etc. Although these various aspects do exist, the New Testament makes no such distinction whenever it speaks of the law. The term “the law” means just what it says: the law, the whole law, in all its aspects. In other words, the entire Law of Moses, which includes the Ten Commandments and a whole lot more, is all “the law.”

To prove this, let us turn to the Scripture:

“Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!’ And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.” (Exodus 24:3-4)

The sentence, “and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord” is very significant. It shows that the ten commandments that were written on stone were also written down by Moses.

“All the words,” including the ten commandments, were written down by Moses, and the people promised to obey all of them: “All the words which the lord has spoken we will do.”.

Therefore, from the very beginning when the law was given, “all the words” were “the law,” not just the ten commandments, as Ellen White maintained. Hence the theory that the ten commandments alone are the moral law of God and the rest is the law of Moses is erroneous.

The passage below shows that the law of God and the law of Moses are one and the same:

“So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given…For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:6-10)

As you can see, the law of the Lord and the law of Moses were used interchangeably and are synonymous.

Quarrels About the Law

Anyone who has run into an Adventist knows that they love to quarrel about the law. Like all cultists, they pride themselves on being the “one true church” and that they alone have the truth. They don’t think anyone else knows anything worth listening to. They have it all, for Ellen White has assured them they have a trademark on truth. But note that Paul says their arguments on the law are “worthless.”

“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.” (Titus 3:9)

Followers of Ellen White have been carefully trained in twisting the scriptures and they confidently ascert that only the ceremonial law has been abolished, even though scripture knows nothing of “ceremonial law.” Indeed, the phrase “ceremonial law” is nowhere found in the Bible. Ellen White simply made it up out of whole cloth.

They do not realize that “their zeal for God is not in accordance with knowledge.” (Romans 10:2-4) Neither do they know that their attempt to be justified by the law can cost them their salvation:

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

They do not believe that Christ alone can save, for their prophetess Ellen White, through her new Bible, declares that all who worship Jesus on Sunday will one day be eternally lost because of their Sunday worship of the Lord, which she says is the mark of the beast. Thus, their faith is not in Christ alone, nor is it in the Bible alone. Their faith is in the false prophetess Ellen White and in their own religious legalistic efforts of meeting on Saturday. I have met many an Adventist whose life was marked with sin, yet they considered themselves saved because they think they are part of the one true church that meets on Saturday. What delusion!

This passage in Timothy perfectly sums up the Adventists:

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.” (1 Timothy 1:5-7)

 

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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