Seventh-Day Adventists and MacArthur
For some reason, my dad brought up the issue of Seventh-Day Adventism after church yesterday. I forget why he asked about this, but the question was about why SDAs promote worship on Saturday instead of Sunday, condemning the rest of Protestantism for worshipping on Sunday. I concede, reminding my dad that we worship on the Lord’s Day–Sunday–the Third day in which Christ rose from the dead victoriously defeating sin and death.
This morning, I did a little search on John MacArthur’s ministry site, Grace To You, and found these helpful remarks:
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The issue with the Seventh-Day Adventists is not the Sabbath. The issue is that the Sabbath is reflective of a works system. The idea is that if you want to get into the kingdom, you have to keep the Ten Commandments, and that’s one of them. Dealing with Seventh-Day Adventists is not easy because they’re sort of all over the map. There’s a wide spectrum of what they believe.
But, predominantly, they started out as a cult. They started out as a cult with a woman prophetess who got direct revelation from God, wrote The Desire of the Nations, and other things, in which was espoused salvation by law, salvation by works, a works system, the way all cults do. It has modified and changed through the years, and there have been many people who have moved away from that, I would think, toward true faith in Christ. But, still, that’s in the system. That’s part of the core. And, what you’re seeing in that Sabbath law book is symbolic of a righteousness gained by keeping the law.
Now, there’s two ways to deal with somebody like that. First of all, you can dismantle that idea of Sabbath, which I tend to do in those two tapes, and it can be a tough pill for them to swallow. The other thing you need to do is to get them to understand the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone. Those are the two issues.
http://gty.org/resources.php?section=transcripts&aid=231322
Well, basically, and I don’t want to get into too much on this cause it would take a long time. Ellen G. White, let me approach it another way. Yeah, Ellen G. White was not a true prophet, no question about that.
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Well, some of them do (believe her to be a prophetess). There’s probably going to be a split in the Seventh Day Adventists. I just got a letter about, it was kind of an interesting letter. They asked me to speak at their five-year quintennial with 1,200 of their pastors and their national meeting. They invited me to be the speaker. They said we need to hear your message. About a week later they called up and said we’ve changed our mind. See, but that’s okay. What that showed me was there’s a tremendous tension. Many of them are moving away. Through the years, there has been, in the midst of the Seventh Day Adventists movement, a remnant of real believers and I think those are the ones to whom I would refer. There are some who are still banking on their salvation based on their legalism and they’re lost. But when I use the word “friend,” friends, Roman, countrymen, lend me your ear, you know, that’s a big word.
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I was raised in a Seventh Day Adventists community over in Glendale right at the foot of the hospital. In fact, all my sisters were born at the hospital. Myself, I was born Catholic at St. Vincent’s (laughter). But they were all born…they were all born Seventh Day Adventists, you know. All my kids have been born in that hospital…the Adventists Hospital. And so we’ve talked to the doctors and, you know, I’ve gone through these things many, many times. I believe that in that…in that group, there are many people who really know Christ and they’re moving away and they’re, sort of, debunking some of the past and there’s a movement to come out that’s probably going to precipitate a split.
http://gty.org/resources.php?section=transcripts&aid=231945
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Also, my friend and mentor Rev. Ken Silva (of Apprising Ministries) shared with me this in emails back in August, explaining why we worship on Sundays and what’s wrong with Seventh-Day Adventism:
The reason that the vast majority of Christians worship on Sunday and not the Sabbath (Saturday) is actually quite simple. Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and from the ancient Church this has been known as “the Lord’s Day.” Therefore since Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (a Jewish reference to the Bible) He supersedes (completes) our faith. So since He conquered death and rose on Sunday the Body of Christ worships God on Sunday, aka the Lord’s Day. This was attested in very early Church history by Justin Martyr who observed that the Church met on “Sunday.”
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The SDA church is on the borderline of cult status but since their core doctrines are orthodox re. God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. they are not classified as such. However, they are quite legalistic and like that website they are caught up in the religious/controlling type of spirit which is why we should avoid it. Here is the link to C.A.R.M. which is a trustworthy source for information on the SDA: http://www.carm.org/sda.htm
C Luk
I completely agree with the notion that Ellen G. White not a true prophet. Technically, the Gift of Prophecy endowed on Ellen G. White is one of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of an Adventist too .
Feb 19, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
C Luk
hmm .. the link didn’t show up: http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html
Feb 19, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Alex Leung
Thanks for your response, Chris, and sharing your Fundamental Beliefs.
I think I have read this in the past, but I just went through it briefly again and found some areas of concern.
8. Great Controversy.
??? I understand this to be a biproduct of the SDA; whereas such a term is not known to be used by Prostestants.
20. Sabbath.
This is where there is a split between the SDA and (from as far as I know) the rest of evangelicalism: obedience to the 4th law does not equate to strictly the seventh day, nor is it seen as the perpetual sign of God’s covenant with His people. Legalistically requiring this to be the symbol of our redemption is apostasy nearing heresy.
I would believe that the propitiating & expiating blood of Christ is the ‘perpetual sign of God’s covenant’ with us; or rather, “the new covenant”.
25. Second Coming of Christ.
Indeed, the unrighteous will die. But the SDA’s F.B. does not affirm that the unsaved will be consigned to HELL for eternal punishment.
In 10. Experience of Salvation, I find no mention of Divine election or predestination.
27. Millennium and the End of Sin
“The unrighteous dead will then be resurrected… but fire from God will consume them and cleanse the earth.” *Again, such implies annihilation of the unrighteous, instead of eternal punishment (of the soul) in Hell.
And of course, nothing is mentioned about the Lord’s Day.
Again, such issues are no longer about the SDA are no longer disputed and hence there seems to be agreement by evangelicalism about the status of the SDA “church.” Nevertheless, insofar as I can tell, Chris, you bear the fruit of redemption and I consider you a brother in Christ.
Feb 19, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
RayJr
If I may play devil’s advocate: You are saying the reason we Christians worship on Sundays rather than Saturdays is because the early church did it and because Christ rose from the dead on Sunday morning. Isn’t this a case of superceding the clear teaching of Scripture with the teaching of men? Remember, Christ also came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Usually, that first part is left out.
Also, Walter Martin said SDAs weren’t a cult, so that’s good enough for me. I’m sure it’s good enough for Ken Silva.
Feb 20, 2007 @ 12:01 pm
Alex Leung
Thanks for your insights, RayJr. I think we need to differentiate between the observance of the Sabbath & the day on which we worship corporately. Sunday/the Lord’s Day does not replace Saturday as Sabbath. A study of Matthew 12:1-8 should remind us that, indeed, Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and is lord of the Sabbath.
In large part, our obedience of the Law is not hinged on legalistically taking Sabbath on Saturday (the seventh day), but in obedience and worship to the person of Christ. (Kind of like, obedience to the heart of the Law fufilling the letter of it.) Yes, take your Sabbath willingly, and yes, make glorifying God your joy:)
Hence, we find corporate worship celebrations & Sabbath often taken together, on the same day - though not necessary. Let us take our Sabbath on the day we ought to according to the Spirit’s personal conviction in our hearts, and worship everyday of our lives.
Feb 20, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
C Luk
8. Yea, I’ve always found all this talk about the Great Controversy to be really odd, but the understanding I get from it is that there’s a battle between good and evil (the Lord and Satan, respectively). I guess it’s just fancy speak for ‘the battle between good and evil exists’.
10. I have no clue what the official agreement of the SDA church is on predestination.
20. My take on Sabbath is that Sabbath = Saturday; the Lord’s Day = Sunday. Yaweh has given us a day of rest set aside on Saturday and Sunday ends up being the Lord’s day when everyone goes to church. Meh … either way, it doesn’t condemn you.
25 and 27. My understanding is that most SDA’s do not believe in eternal punishment. Rather, that the dead (unbelievers and Satan), will be consumed in fire and be non-existent. (Just like that you stated above). So yes, another view that deviates from the rest of the Evangelical churches.
Meh. I’ve been looking for another church for a long time now anyways and TJCAC is way too far lol :p
Feb 20, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
Alex Leung
Good to hear where you stand in relation to the SDA & its beliefs:)
However, as much as I love my church & the family of brothers & sisters in Christ, I must say that I have not been able to embrace the C&MA’s wishy-washy, leave-it-up-to-individual-church to decide where to stand on the secondary issues. Have a look at the C&MA statement of faith (http://cmalliance.ca/statementoffaithp86.php), and notice its brevity.
Compare the SDA’s to that, and also the team I’m looking to jump-ship to, the SBC’s (Faith & Message, Positional Statements)
Feb 20, 2007 @ 6:54 pm
Pastor Bob
I have read the posts here with some interest. I am always curious what kinds of comments will be made about Seventh-day Adventists.
One thing I am always sure of is that our understanding of the Sabbath will be misrepresented.
I have one request: give SCRIPTURAL evidence that the day of worship EVER changed from Sabbath to Sunday. I couldn’t care less what Justin Martyr or anyone else says about it unless they are Bible writers.
I am trusting you to be good BIBLE-BELIEVING Christians and able to support your position from the Bible only.
Once I have seen your Scriptural arguments for Sunday keeping I will give my evidence FOR Sabbath STILL being the Biblical day of worship for Christians, fair enough?
I am looking forward to dialoguing with you all.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 21, 2007 @ 2:52 am
dalton
There is no proof that Christ rose on (the day of the SUNgod) The women just FOUND Him on Sunday. He could have rose late on the Sabboth. With THAT in mind, how could anyone even think that christ would change his holy sabboth to the day of the sun god.
Feb 21, 2007 @ 3:05 am
Izidor
I prefer to all of you the book “The Sabbath Under Crossfire: A Biblical analysis of Recent Sabbath/Sunday Developments.” You can order the book or read some online chapters here:
http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/sabbath_under_xfire/
God bless!
Izidor
Feb 21, 2007 @ 7:22 am
Pastor Bob
In response to one of the questions posed in an earlier post the Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in God’s complete foreknowledge, He knows the end from the beginning, but not in predestination. We are Wesleyan rather than Calvinist in this regard.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 21, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
Alex Leung
Wow, thanks for the heads-up, Pastor Bob. It is good to hear from a SDA himself. Would you care to share with us about yourself and the church you pastor/attend?
Feb 21, 2007 @ 1:32 pm
Pastor Bob
Hi Alex,
I serve three churches in rural Alberta, Canada. I am originally from the Okanagan valley in south central British Columbia but have been in Alberta pretty much since coming out for university in 1999.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord in 1995 at the age of 32 and after taking part in an evangelistic trip to the Philippines in 1996 I felt very strongly God’s call to ministry.
After several miraculous answers to prayer in terms of job opportunities and finances I went to school and received my BA in Religious Studies on my 40th birthday in 2003, graduating without any debt. I have been pastoring here since June 1 of that year.
Thanks for your interest.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 21, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
Pastor Bob
Still waiting patiently for some Scriptural support regarding Sunday worship for Christians.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 22, 2007 @ 1:38 am
Pastor Bob
Alex,
I noticed that your link for the Missionary Alliance Church was a Canadian one. May I ask where you are?
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 23, 2007 @ 1:27 am
Alex Leung
Pastor Bob,
I’ve been at this church since basically its conception, in 1988, tho I don’t remember much of it early on since I was a wee lil child!
I’m in Toronto - Toronto Jaffray Chinese Alliance Church: http://www.tjcac.org
And about Scriptural support regarding Sunday worship for Christians, it seems that you missed my post here on Feb20. Feel free to comment there about the passages mentioned.
Feb 23, 2007 @ 8:33 am
Pastor Bob
Hello Alex,
Since there is so much material in your post I will deal with the different points individually.
I don’t mean to offend when I say this but in reading your post I really get the feeling that it was simply referring to the opinions of others rather than personal study of Scripture that prompted the points you made.
• 1. “There is no evidence in the Bible of anyone keeping the Sabbath before the time of Moses, nor are there any commands in the Bible to keep the Sabbath before the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai.”
This is simply not borne out by the Scriptural evidence. In Genesis chapter 1 God clearly set the Sabbath apart as THE specific day of worship and communion with Him.
Genesis 2:2-3, “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (NASB).
God rested on that day Himself as an example for us. God certainly didn’t need to “rest” because He was tired, it was for the express purpose of making sure that we kept that day to enjoy fellowship with Him. God also blessed and sanctified it. To sanctify means to “set apart as holy”.
In a careful reading of the creation account we see that although the creation of man is the crowning achievement of the creation account, the instituting of the Sabbath was the culmination of it.
Why?
Because God desires us to have a close personal relationship with Him and He knew in His infinite wisdom that if He didn’t set a day aside we would work seven days a week and neglect the time He wants to have with us in communion with Him.
It is also interesting to note that there are only three verses in the entire creation account that are poetry: the creation of man; the creation and institution of the Sabbath; and Adam’s response when he sees Eve for the first time.
The Ten Commandments must have been in place at Eden or how else would Cain have known he sinned when he killed his brother, Abel? Paul tells us that where there is no law there is no sin.
Also, the Ten Commandments were handed down in Exodus chapter 20. At least a month before this, in Exodus chapter 16, we read these words:
Exodus 16:22-23, “Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23 then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD” (NASB).
And a few verses later we read these words:
Exodus 16:28-30, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘ How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
29 ‘See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’
30 So the people rested on the seventh day” (NASB).
Those texts are absolutely, irrefutable proof that the Sabbath was kept before Sinai.
To suggest that the commandments that God is referring to here are not the Ten Commandments, which He has yet to write in stone and give to Moses, is simply not theologically tenable.
Alex, please read those last texts over very carefully and, again, keep in mind that this is before the Ten Commandments have been written in stone. It says, “See, the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
I don’t know how much more clearly it can be stated. The only reasonable conclusion that we can come to based on what God’s Holy Word unquestionably states is that the Sabbath is already in effect. This is the exact same language used in Genesis regarding “working” or “going out” six days but resting on the seventh.
I’m sorry Alex, perhaps the websites and books you consulted made the claim that there is no evidence of Sabbath keeping before Mount Sinai but the Bible says something entirely different. The question you should really be asking yourself is how could anyone who claims to be a Bible scholar have missed texts that are this clear and obvious?
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 23, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
Pastor Bob
• The Sabbath was the sign to Israel of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:16-17; Ezekiel 20:12; Nehemiah 9:14). Since we are now under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8), we are no longer required to observe the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.
Alex, did you read these texts before you posted this? They actually prove that the Sabbath is part of God’s perpetual Ten Commandment Law and was, in fact, instituted at creation! And I ask you this, does not Paul teach in the New Testament that the Christian Church is spiritual Israel (Romans 9:6-8)?
Far from associating the Sabbath with the Mosaic covenant, Moses is actually associating it with the Ten Commandments! Keep that thought in mind, it will be coming up again.
There is a very big difference between the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandment Law. The Mosaic Law was indeed done away with, nailed to the cross, but the seventh-day Sabbath is NOT part of that which was done away with, it is part of the Ten Commandments which have been “written on our hearts” in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:34; Romans 2:15).
Exodus 31:17-18, ” It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God” (NASB).
The most important point to keep in mind is that the Mosaic Covenant POINTED FORWARD to Christ and was fulfilled in Christ. The Sabbath POINTS BACKWARD to creation.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 23, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Pastor Bob
I’ll post future responses at “Are the Sabbath laws binding on Christians today?”
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 23, 2007 @ 9:07 pm
Pastor Bob
Reverend Ken Silva was quoted:
“Here is the link to C.A.R.M. which is a trustworthy source for information on the SDA: http://www.carm.org/sda.htm.”
I will respond to the claims one by one beginning with the “denials” section since the affirmations don’t require any comment.
I have removed the “aberrant” section as I will deal with those in a separate post as this one will be very lengthy as it is.
Here is some of the information on the CARM website (by the way, it is Seventh-day Adventist. Upper case “S” in “Seventh”, hyphenated with lower case “d” in “day”. I would like to think that anyone who has really done their homework would know this):
What does Seventh Day Adventism Teach?
Affirmations
1. The Bible is inspired and the word of God.
2. Trinitarian: The Father, Son, Holy Spirit are all one God in three persons.
3. Jesus is God and has always existed with the Father.
4. The Holy Spirit is a person.
5. Jesus’ sacrifice was vicarious.
6. Salvation is by grace, not works.
7. Jesus rose from the dead physically in his glorified body.
8. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven.
9. Baptism is by immersion
10. The literal, visible return of Jesus.
11. Jesus will return to set up a millennial kingdom. They are Premillennial.
12. Literal six day creation, not long periods.
Denials
1. Denies the doctrine of predestination
2. Denies baptism by sprinkling
3. Denies infant baptism.
4. Denies the immortality of the soul.
5. Denies the eternality of hell fire.
6. Denies any use of alcohol (as a drink) or tobacco.
Let me make a few comments about what is written here under “denials”:
1. Denies the doctrine of predestination
Yes we do. Many Christians deny the doctrine of predestination. It is a Calvinist teaching and we are, by and large, Wesleyan in our theology. I am quite surprised that this would even be here.
2. Denies baptism by sprinkling.
Again, yes we do just as many other denominations do. The Bible says “One Lord, one faith, ONE baptism” (Eph 4:5). Every single incidence of baptism in the Bible is by immersion, including our Saviour and our Example, Jesus Christ. I believe that my Baptist brothers and sisters along with many other evangelical denominations would concur so, again, I am unsure why this would even be an issue.
3. Denies infant baptism.
Yes. Baptism is an acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Obviously an infant is utterly incapable of making that decision. And again, the ONLY examples of baptism we find in God’s Word are the baptisms of adults who have received Biblical instruction. Not one single example of a baby being baptized.
4. Denies the immortality of the soul.
Not exactly. We DO deny UNCONDITIONAL immortality. So does the Bible.
1 Timothy 6:15, 16, “which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 WHO ALONE HAS IMMORTALITY, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen” (NKJV).
We can RECEIVE immortality but God alone HAS immortality. That is the clear reading of Scripture. I would like someone to show me ANYWHERE in Scripture where it says we have unconditional immortality. That was brought into the early church from Greek pagan philosophy that taught that the soul was perfect and pure but that matter, including the physical body, was evil and defiled. Thus escape from the body was a good thing. This is why when Socrates was put to death by drinking hemlock he lifted the glass to his lips without hesitation. To him it was going to release him from his defiled body.
I’ll elaborate why we deny unconditional immortality under #5.
5. Denies the eternality of hell fire.
Yes. The Bible says repeatedly that the wicked will perish. The most well-known verse in the Bible is John 3:16. In this verse Jesus contrasts ETERNAL LIFE with PERISHING. Living forever in hell-fire is still eternal life. Jesus doesn’t say eternal life and eternal suffering in hell-fire, He says eternal life or perishing. He is making a clear distinction here. To say that we burn forever would mean that I translate this text, “should not have everlasting life but have everlasting life.” Does that make any sense? We either have everlasting LIFE or we PERISH.
Jude 6-7, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (NKJV).
Last time I checked Sodom and Gomorrah aren’t still burning over in the Holy Land. No, they suffered “the vengeance of eternal fire” and were consumed.
Malachi 4:1, “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch.’”
Be stubble? Burn them up? Leave neither root nor branch? Sorry, but this sounds like annihilation to me. It is probably relevant to note that there are many Christians who are coming to this conclusion, most notably one of the most respected theologians of the last 100 years, John R W Stott.
When I used to fight forest fires I would sometimes be part of a clean-up crew that would go in after the main fire was out and extinguish the “hot spots”. I often experienced going into areas where the fire had been so intense that literally everything was burnt up. There would be nothing left but ash and rocks. Most amazingly to me was that you could see where the roots of the trees used to be branching out from where the trunk used to be. The ground would be depressed because the roots had been completely burned. If you stepped on the spot your foot would break through to the hollow where the root used to be. It gave me a very vivid understanding of “leaving neither root nor branch”.
The confusion on this issue comes from the usage of the terms “forever” and “forever and ever” in biblical times. They simply weren’t used the same as we understand them today. When the Bible writers used these terms they meant “until it is finished” or “until it is complete”. That understanding helps the verses in Jude make sense.
For another Biblical example, this time from the OT, Exodus 21:5-6, “But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.”
Is anyone really going to argue that the servant will serve the master FOREVER in the eternal sense of the word? Come on. It simply means that the servant will serve until either they or their master dies, it doesn’t mean “forever” as we understand it. We can’t take modern understandings of English words and impose them on the Biblical text, that is eisegesis, we have to allow the Bible to interpret Itself, exegesis. “Tradition” can’t be relied upon to be trusted in every case or we would still be going to the priest to confess our sins.
I wish I could continue but I will share more later including addressing the “aberrant” claim about SDA beliefs.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob
Feb 23, 2007 @ 11:35 pm
TruNow
I find it unfortunate that you publish such untruths and at best half truths about the SDA church. If the keeping of the commandments is legalism why are we repeatedly instructed to keep them? Obedience to God is not legalism and the truth is that by trying to make Sunday a Holy Day when there is no scriptural evidence for this is to create a completely false doctrine. I challenge anyone who wants to kknow about Ellen White to read the “Desire of Ages” (not nations) and/or “Steps to Christ”. The first being a book on the life of Christ and the second a book on repentance and Christian growth. If your read for yourself you might be suprised that no modern author has better described rightousness by Faith than Ellen White!
Mar 10, 2007 @ 9:26 am
Janel
Ps. Bob, I’m so glad you were able to come on here and provide such excellent knowledge and research. I’m so happy that I can experience the FREEDOM of being a Seventh-day Adventist. I notice there were no responses from the webhost after you provided the truth to them. There is no disputing the truth.
Jun 12, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
Alex Leung
Thanks for commenting, Janel.
Unfortunately, there is no disputing of truth here. We have a severe difference biblical interpretation, in hermeneutics and exegesis — between the SDA, and shall I say, the rest of Protestantism. When we consider where Christ’s church has stood on corporate worship on the sabbath since He returned to heaven, I reckon there be a long line of godly men who have upheld the doctrine of sabbath and yet worship on the Lord’s Day. Historic orthodox Christianity would testify to that.
However, I am very much offended by another Christian here, let alone a Pastor come onto my personal website and try to convert me to Seventh-Day Adventism. Moreover, I was and am hurt by such disrespect to us evangelicals who hold to the church’s biblical tradition of worshiping on Sunday. The research that was posted on my website was basically longer than my original post; something that should have been excerpted in the comment and linked back to Pastor Bob’s own blog/website. Quite simply, it was bad blogging etiquette… and unwelcome here.
Since this discussion began as a conversation with my friend Chris, who is a SDA, I have the utmost respect for such Christians - even though we differ on this position. I am deeply saddened that there seems to be a need to be more right than loving, seeking to persuade me and the other Protestants here to do and believe in something that is outside of our exegetical understanding of what God has made clear to us:
Even while I believe a legalistic keeping of the sabbath is a form of works righteousness, I respect you who observe it — as I do too, in my heart and spirit. I hope you can honor us all in our opposition to your belief.
Grace to you,
Alex S. Leung
Jun 12, 2007 @ 6:57 pm