13. Living in the Judgment: An Experiential Evaluation

Cultic Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventism, Dale Ratzlaff, Feature, Investigative Judgment

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life

In this chapter we turn to a practical evaluation of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment. How does the theology of this doctrine, which we looked at in the last chapter, work its way out in the experience of those who believe in it?

No assurance of salvation

Because one is expected to reach a state of personal holiness which would allow for living in that “fearful time” without an intercessor,” there is little real assurance of salvation in Historic Adventism. Ellen White taught in several places that one should never say he was “saved.” Why? Because there was no way to be sure if all sins were confessed and forsaken. We must remember that EGW taught that unconfessed sins, even sins which had been forgotten, would stand against one in the investigative judgment.1 Notice carefully what she says in the following quotations.

Those who are teaching this doctrine (grace) today have much to say in regard to faith and the righteousness of Christ; but they pervert the truth, and make it serve the cause of error. They declare that we have only to beIieve on Jesus Christ , and that faith is an suffIcient: that the righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner’s credentials; that this imputed righteousness fulfills the law for us, and that we are under no obligation to obey the law of God, This class claim that Christ came to save sinners, and that He has saved them. “I am saved,” they will repeat over and over again. But are they saved while transgressing the law of Jehovah?—No; for the garments of Christ’s righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity. Such reaching is a gross deception, and Christ becomes to these persons a stumbling block as He did to the Jews,–to the Jews, because they would not receive Him as their personal Saviour, to these professed believers in Christ, because they separate Christ and the law, and regard faith as a substitute for obedience. They separate the Father and the Son, the Saviour of the world. Virtually they teach, both by precept and example, that Christ, by His death, saves men in their transgressions.2

We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advancement, saying, “I am saved.” When this idea is entertained, the motives for watchfulness, for prayer, for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher attainments, cease to exist. No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God. Then, with the utmost propriety, we may give glory to God and to the Lamb for eternal deliverance. As long as man is full of weakness, —for of himself he cannot save his soul, —he should never dare to say, “I am saved.” It is not he that putteth on the armor that can boast of the victory; for he has the battle to fight and the victory to win. It is he that endureth unto the end that shall be saved. The Lord says, “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” If we do not go forward from victory to victory, the soul will draw back to perdition. We should raise no human standard whereby to measure character. We have seen enough of what men call perfection here below. God’s holy law is the only thing by which we can determine whether we are keeping his way or not. If we are disobedient, our characters are out of harmony with God’s moral rule of government, and it is stating a falsehood to say, “I am saved.” No one is saved who is a transgressor of the law of God, which is the foundation of his government in heaven and in earth.3

No man can say, I am saved, until he has endured test and trial, until he has shown that he can overcome temptation. Those who fail to do the work which God has said should be done soon lose the right perception of spiritual things, and become blinded as to the character of the truth. They are unfitted to do the work which would make them complete in Christ.4

As stated above, there is little real assurance of salvation in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment theology.

How do the EGW statements cited above5 add up with the new covenant gospel of grace?

EGW statements on salvation contrasted with Bible teaching

EGW says the imputed righteousness of Christ is not enough to save sinners.6 The Bible, however, says:

For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5:10).

EGW says that the garments of Christ’s righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity. She teaches that Christ cannot save people “in their transgression.”7 The Bible says:

[God]…even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Eph. 2:5).

EGW calls the teaching that one can say “I am saved” a “gross deception.”8 The Bible says:

…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom. 10:9).

EGW said it was the false teachers who claim that “Christ came to save sinners.”9 The Bible says:

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all (1 Tim. 1:15). 

EGW said as long as a man is full of weakness he cannot ever say, “I am saved.”10 The Bible says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6).

EGW teaches that we cannot say, “I am saved,” as long as our characters are out of harmony with the law11 The Bible says:

[God], who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity (2 Tim. 1:8, 9).

EGW teaches that no sanctified tongue will ever say, “I am saved,” before the second coming of Christ.12 The Bible says:

…and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:30, 31).

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life (1 Jn. 5:13).

EGW teaches that no man can say, “I am saved,” until he has endured test and trial, until he has shown that he can overcome temptation.13 The Bible says:

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Ti. 3:5). 

I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 5:5). If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15)14

EGW teaches that when one claims to be saved the motives for watchfulness, for prayer, and for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher attainments, cease to exist.15 The Bible says:

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died (2 Cor. 5:14). 

See also Paul’s beautiful statement on the motivation of grace in Phillippians 3:8-16.16

Evaluation

We again see a pattern that has been manifest over and over again in our study. What Ellen White says is “truth” is error. What she says is a “distortion of the truth” is the clear teaching of the New Testament. That she is perverting the gospel of grace in these statements is evident. In her earlier writings, especially those in connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment, there is often a complete misunderstanding of the gospel. 

Pervasive sin

That sin is pervasive in the human heart is no distortion of truth. The new covenant has a higher standard of morality than the old covenant.17 This fact would be bad news if it were not also true that Christ is our righteousness and, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”18 

We are saved by His life19 not our works,20 not even works done in righteousness.21 In the writings of EGW, however, her testimony against sin is often found in the context of personal performance in order to be found worthy in the day of judgment. The following are only sprinklings of what could be listed.

The time that you spend standing before the glass preparing the hair to please the eye, should be devoted to prayer and searching of heart. There will be no place for outward adornment in the sanctified heart; but there will be an earnest, anxious seeking for the inward adorning, the Christian graces-the fruits of the Spirit of God.22

Every hour’s work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. The record of wasted moments and unimproved opportunities must be met when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened and everyone shall be judged according to the things written in the books.23

Ellen White said making, exchanging, or displaying photographs of family pictures was “a species of idolatry.” 

This making and exchanging photographs is a species of idolatry.24

In many families the mantel-shelves, stands, and tables are filled with ornaments and pictures. Albums, filled with photographs of the family and the photographs of their friends, are placed where they will attract the attention of visitors. Thus the thoughts, which should be upon God and heavenly interests are brought down to common things. Is not this a species of idolatry? Should not the money thus spent have been used to bless humanity, to relieve the suffering, to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry? Should it not have been placed in the Lord’s treasury to advance His cause and build up His kingdom in the earth?25

It is a sin to forget, a sin to be negligent. If you form a habit of negligence, you may neglect your own soul’s salvation and at last find that you are unready for the kingdom of God.26

It is a sin to be sick; for all sickness is the result of transgression.27

Believers are not to colonize in any place.It is a sin in the sight of God for those who know the truth to settle down as has been done in Battle Creek, and then refuse to see that the time has come to change the base of operations, because there are other parts of the vineyard in need of help.28 

It is a sin to place poorly prepared food on the table, because the matter of eating concerns the well-being of the entire system.29

Never should a morsel of food pass the lips between meals.30

..swine’s flesh is unfit for food.31

Cheese is still more objectionable; [than butter] it is wholly unfit for food.32,33

The exhibitions in the bicycle craze are an offense to God; His wrath is kindled against those who do such things.34

Parents, above every thing, take care of your children upon the Sabbath. Do not suffer them to violate God’s holy day by playing in the house or out of doors. You may just as well break the Sabbath yourselves as to let your children do it, and when you suffer your children to wander about, and suffer them to play upon the Sabbath, God looks upon you as Sabbath-breakers.35

The requirement of God concerning those that shall enter the pearly gates, is that they be like Jesus, that they bear his image, and have his mind. They are to imitate his example, and live his life.36

Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the light which God has been pleased to give us.37

Without perfection of character no one can enter the pearly gates of the city of God, for if, with all our imperfections, we were permitted to enter that city, there would soon be in heaven a second rebellion. We must first be tried and chosen, and found faithful and true. Upon the purification of our character rests our only hope of eternal life.38

Personal Experience

My wife, Carolyn, and I were both multi-generational SDAs. Carolyn had her first twelve grades in SDA schools, and 1 attended SDA schools from first grade through seminary. I served as a SDA pastor and teacher and have read nearly all of Ellen White’s books.39 I accepted her writings on an equal authority with the Bible for many years of my life. Carolyn and I know first hand what it means to live in the investigative judgment. I also know the weight of guilt that investigative-judgment theology has imposed upon others whom I have ministered to through the years.

Ellen White teaches that when one’s name comes up in judgment, his destiny will be determined by his character development at that moment. Following are a few of her statements, with my comments, from the chapter entitled, “The Investigative Judgment,” in The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, pp. 307-315.

Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn. They go before us to the Judgment.40

Who could meet this test? Whose motives are one hundred percent right all the time? How does one remember sins which have been forgotten? This is not the gospel, it is condemnation.

The use made of every talent will be scrutinized. Have we improved the capital intrusted us of God? Will the Lord at his coming receive his own with usury? No value is attached to the mere profession of faith in Christ; nothing is counted as genuine but that love which is shown by works.41

The fatal flaw in trusting one’s works is that one never knows when he has done enough. Who can stand when God makes a scrutiny of the use of every talent?

Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The hours heretofore given to pleasure, to display, or to gain-seeking, should now be devoted to an earnest, prayerful study of the word of truth. The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative Judgment should beclearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill.42

A careful reading of the above quotation will fill the best saint with guilt. In essence, those who give time to pleasure, display or are involved in “gain-seeking” should now take that time and devote it to prayer. Most people find “gain-seeking” to be part of good Christian stewardship. It is not earning money or having money that is wrong. Money becomes a snare when it becomes the driving force in the life, to the detriment of other Christian virtues.

EGW says that the people of God must “clearly understand the investigative judgment or it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith essential for this time. In all my years, in and out of Adventism, I have yet to find anyone who “clearly” understands the investigative judgment and who can support it from Scripture.

The Judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. Forty years has this work been in progress. Soon none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour’s admonition, “Watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is.” “Watch ye therefore,..lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.”43

While the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure-lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments,— it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”44

Every soul that has named the name of Christ has a case pending at the heavenly tribunal. It is court week with us, and the decision passed upon each case will be final.45

When I was a SDA, I remember reading this chapter and feeling the weight of guilt. What if my name would come up when I was having fun playing volleyball? What if my name would come up when I was purchasing new clothes? What if my name would come up when I was focused on earning a livelihood? What if my name would come up in judgment when I had an impure thought? Or, worse yet, had my name already come up? Perhaps my doom was already sealed?

In the 12th grade we studied the investigative judgment in Bible class. Carolyn and I both remember the three types of reactions the students had to this teaching. One group completely gave up hope and figured they could never develop the perfection of character required. They became careless in their Christian life. Another group—the one I opted for—kept trying, hoping, but living in guilt. A third group believed they had arrived and were perfect and looked down on everyone else.

Over the years I have counseled a number of people who have come from conservative, SDA backgrounds. Most are filled with guilt and fear. I have found that it often takes a long period of time—sometimes years—to help them get rid of false guilt and accept the new covenant gospel of grace. I thank God that the gospel is now being taught in some SDA churches. However, the investigative judgment continues to be taught, even at official levels,46 and the two do not mix.

The experience of continually living with the pending event of one’s name suddenly, without warning, coming up in review before God and having one’s destiny determined by his character development at that point in time is indeed a fearful thing. What a contrast there is between living under the investigative judgment and living under the joyous good news of acquittal in Christ proclaimed in the Epistles of the New Testament! 

The investigative judgment takes away the assurance and the joy of the Christian life. How good it is to know that there is no such thing as the investigative judgment!47

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Eph. 2:8, 9).

Chapter Summary

Living under the EGW/SDA investigative judgment creates a guilt trip. There is no assurance of salvation. One can never know or say he is saved. There are impossible standards to meet. It is a sin to eat between meals, get sick, or forget. It is wrong for one to spend time fixing one’s hair, having fun, or pursuing financial gain. Taking, exchanging or displaying photographs is a species of idolatry. If you plan on being translated48 at the second coming, then you must be a vegetarian. And don’t forget, cheese is wholly unfit for food. This list of Ellen White’s requirements could be greatly expanded. Living in the investigative judgment produces a latent anxiety which is very much evident in the early writings of EGW. She uses the term “solemn warning” nearly one hundred times. One never knows if he is good enough to pass the searching investigation of God. EGW says: “upon the purification of our character rests our only hope of eternal life.”49

The SDA teaching of the investigative judgment is a serious theological error, a blatant perversion of the gospel. It has also done untold damage to thousands of lives who have tried to live under the impossible requirements of its gloom and doom.

From an experiential viewpoint, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment—Adventism’s unique “contribution” to Christian theology—is again “weighed in the balances and found wanting.”

Endnotes 

  1. “Great and small, high and low, rich and poor, are to be judged ‘out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.’ Day after day, passing into eternity, bears its burden of records for the books of Heaven. Words once spoken, deeds once done, can never be recalled. Angels of God have registered both the good and the evil. The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot call back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn. They go before us to the Judgment.” Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 311.
  2. Ellen G. White, Bible Echo, 1897-02-08.
  3. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1890-06-17.
  4. Ellen G. White, The Kress Collection, p. 120. 
  5. Please note that I am not saying all of EGW statements teach a false gospel, but those springing from the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment often do.
  6. Ellen G. White, Bible Echo, 1897-02-08.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Ibid.
  9. Ibid. 
  10. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1890-06-17.
  11. Ibid.
  12. Ibid.
  13. Ellen G. White, The Kress Collection, p. 120. 
  14. In addition to the preceding Bible verses, the following biblical statements teach beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can and should say we are saved, and the basis of that assurance is not in our works, but solely in the grace of God. “But the witness which I receive is not from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.” (Jn. 5:34). “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (Jn. 10:9). “AND IT SHALL BE, THAT EVERY ONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.”(Acts 2:21). “..praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47). “…and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” (Acts 11:14). “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (Acts 15:11). “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?” (Rom. 8:24). “…for WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Rom. 10:13). “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor: 1:18). “…by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:2). “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved.” (2 Cor. 2:15).
  15. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1890-06-17. 16 
  16. “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.” (Phil. 3:8-16).
  17. See Ratzlaff, Sabbath in Christ, pp. 293-300.
  18. See Rom. 5:20.
  19. See Rom. 5:10.
  20. See Rom. 3:28.
  21. Ti. 3:5.
  22. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 162.
  23. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 453.
  24. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1907-06-13. 
  25. Ellen G. White, Bible Echo, 1901-01-14. See also, Review and Herald, 1901-05-14. “’s I visited the homes of our people and our schools, I see that all the available space on tables, what-nots, and mantelpieces is filled up with photographs. On the right hand and on the left are seen the pictures of human faces. God desires this order of things to be changed. Were Christ on earth, He would say, ‘Take these things hence.’ I have been instructed that these pictures are as so many idols, taking up the time and thought which should be sacredly devoted to God” Review and Herald. 1901-09-10. “The many, many photographs in your houses are a dishonor to God. They bear silent witness that you have backslidden from righteousness. I look to heaven and cry, ‘Lord, how long shall this evil divert means from thy treasury?’” Review and Herald, 1901-11-26.
  26. Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 358.
  27. Ellen G. White, Health Reformer, 1866-08-01.
  28. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1903-08-20.
  29. Ellen G. White, Southern Watchman, 1901-10-30.
  30. Ellen G. White, Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 50. See also, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, p. 373.
  31. Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 313.
  32. Ibid., p. 302.
  33. Two days before I revised this chapter I received a phone call from a SDA who had just read, Sabbath in Crisis. He was a strong believer in EGW and shared with me the terrible guilt he had when he went out to eat with others where macaroni and cheese were served. He felt he was sinning by eating cheese. He is now in counseling with one who specializes in working with cult victims.
  34. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, p. 66.
  35. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1854-09-19.
  36. Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, 07-09-94.
  37. Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, p. 383.
  38. Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, Vol. 15, p. 36 “The Sabbath a Sign; The Importance of Attention to Little Things.” Sermons and Talks, Vol. 2, p. 294.
  39. I say “nearly all” as I have not read the ones published after I left the SDA ministry in 1981. The SDA church has recently released 21 volumes of previously unpublished materials. 
  40. The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 311.
  41. Ibid.
  42. Ibid., pp. 312, 313. I
  43. Ibid., p. 315.
  44. Ibid.
  45. Ibid. 
  46. See the Adult Sabbath School lessons, Three Angeles’ Messages.
  47. See chapter, “I’ve Been Acquitted—The Good News of Judgment.” 
  48. A term used by SDAs for the rapture. However, the way SDAs use the term, it is not identical to the rapture.
  49. Ellen G. White, “The Sabbath a Sign; The Importance of Attention to Little Things.” Sermons and Talks, Vol. 2, p. 294, Manuscript Releases, Vol. 15, p. 36,

 

Dale Ratzlaff
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