COLLEEN TINKER | Editor, Proclamation! Magazine
The voice on the phone was intense and agitated; the young woman speaking to me was bright and articulate—but confused. She considered herself a former Adventist and had been attending church with her never-been-Adventist husband for several months, but her growing discomfort had climaxed in a spiritual crisis that morning after her weekly women’s Bible study.
Her study group had met one morning a couple of weeks before and had shared their stories of coming to know Jesus, but Beth* had dissolved in tears when she realized she didn’t have a story. She believed she was a Christian, but she could not tell about coming to know Jesus personally. “I have a lot of issues,” was all she could say.
And now one of her class members had cornered her after their study and had asked her if she had thought any more about knowing Jesus personally. Feeling frustrated and trapped, Beth had called me, hoping I could help her sort out her ambivalence.
Praying, I began to ask questions. She understood that the law had been a shadow of Jesus, that He had fulfilled it and had initiated the new covenant by completing all that was necessary for our salvation, writing His law on our hearts. Further, she believed that the Bible is God’s inerrant word and is all we need for knowing God’s will for us without the help of extra-biblical sources.
She admitted, though, that she believed Christianity was the best religion because it is based entirely upon grace instead of works, but she couldn’t accept that “Jesus is the only way”. She felt her Buddhist acquaintances, for example, would be better off if they were Christians, but she couldn’t believe that they needed to know Jesus in order to be saved as long as they were sincere in their own understanding and practice. She also acknowledged that she didn’t understand what Paul meant when he said we are all “by nature objects of wrath”(Ephesians 2:3). This confusion kept her from understanding that apart from being alive in Christ, the only other possible condition is to be bound in the “domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13). It seemed harsh and unfair to say there is no “neutral” place in the universe—that either one is in the “kingdom of [God’s] beloved Son” or in the “domain of darkness” (Col 1:13).
Spiritual understanding
Together we began to look up texts in our Bibles, and she read them to me over the phone. After reading Ephesians 2:1-4, I asked her if she understood what was actually dead in us, and she admitted she did not. I asked for her understanding of the human “spirit”. She was unclear about the nature of the spirit or its significance. Similarly, she did not understand the new birth that Jesus told Nicodemus was necessary in order to see the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5-6).
In order to help her understand that the spirit in a person is more than breath and is different from our personalities, we read John 4:24, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, and Philippians 1:22-23. We saw that “God is spirit” and we are to worship Him “in spirit and in truth”. We learned that this spirit that can worship God is the same part of us that leaves the body and goes to be with Christ when we die. We also saw that Paul said that he would prefer to be away from his body and present with the Lord, that such a condition is much better than staying in the body on earth.
Further, we read together from 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 where Paul explains that just as a man’s spirit is the only entity that can know the thoughts of that man, so the Holy Spirit is the only One Who can know the thoughts of God. When we have the Spirit, we know God’s thoughts, and “we have the mind of Christ.”
Still praying, I clarified that we have responsive spirits that can know God, that survive the deaths of our bodies, that can literally worship God—and this fact is necessary to understand the new birth Jesus explained to Nicodemus. “Flesh gives birth to flesh,” Jesus said to him, “but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6).
Without understanding that we have spirits, the term “new birth” is nebulous. With the understanding that we have spirits, however, the “new birth” is no longer a metaphor. It is a distinct reality that occurs when God awakens our hearts to the truth about Jesus, and we place our trust in Him and His sacrifice for our personal sin.
Without understanding that we have spirits, the term “new birth” is nebulous. With the understanding that we have spirits, however, the “new birth” is no longer a metaphor. It is a distinct reality that occurs when God awakens our hearts to the truth about Jesus, and we place our trust in Him and His sacrifice for our personal sin. When we submit to the truth that we are by nature objects of wrath and embrace the eternal gift of Jesus’ blood shed on our behalf, a miracle happens. God seals us and marks us as His by placing His Holy Spirit in us (Ephesians 1:13-14), and our once-dead spirits come to life by Jesus’ resurrection power (Ephesians 2:4-7, Romans 8:10).
This new birth results in a complete change in us. Instead of being “in Adam” and spiritually dead (1 Corinthians 15:22, Ephesians 2:1-4), we are made alive. We are indwelt by God Himself, and our now-living spirits which previously were in bondage to sin and the domain of darkness (Ephesians 2:1-2, Colossians 1:13) have the power to resist the sins of the flesh by the power of the Spirit (Romans 8:13). Further, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of sonship”, and “the Spirit himself testifies with our spirits that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16).
Before Jesus died and rose again, the Holy Spirit was in the world and inspired and taught people—but He did not permanently indwell people and give them new hearts. Only when the new, living way to the Father was opened by Jesus’ blood was it possible for mankind to be intimately reunited with God. This reuniting is what Paul calls the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
Jesus—spiritually alive
We must understand this fact of being born with dead spirits in order to realize that we need a Savior. It is this unavoidable, intractable sin which makes it utterly impossible for any person to be able to please God. It is this foundational sin which causes us to commit “sins”. This sin is not only genetic. It is spiritual, and every human ever born on earth—except the Lord Jesus—is born spiritually dead.
The Lord Jesus was born spiritually alive; He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and did not need to be born again. He was God, and His spirit was alive in God from the moment of conception. His innate spiritual life is what made Him sinless. To be sure, He never committed “sins”, but His living spirit—his never being spiritually dead as is everyone else—this life qualified Him to be our perfect Sacrifice.
Because we as humans naturally have dead spirits which are in bondage to “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:2), we can never emulate Jesus. He could never be our “example” of how to become perfect. He can only be our substitute.
Many of us were also taught that Jesus had no advantage we don’t have. Of course He had an advantage! He was God—He was born with a living spirit; He had no trace of a fallen or a sinful nature. That advantage is what qualified Him to be our perfect Substitute and Sacrifice.
Just and Justifier
“If Adam and Eve died spiritually when they sinned,” Beth asked me, “how did they become spiritually alive since they lived before the cross?”
“That’s a great questions,” I responded; “turn to Romans 3:21-26.” As I looked for the passage in my Bible, I realized that it did not exactly answer Beth’s question. “Well, “ I thought, “We’ll read it and then I’ll take her to Romans 4 where Paul discusses God crediting Abraham with righteousness because he believed God.”
But God knew why He had me take Beth to Romans 3. That was the passage He used to awaken Beth to the essence of what Jesus did. She read, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (verses 25-26).
Many of us were also taught that Jesus had no advantage we don’t have. Of course He had an advantage! He was God—He was born with a living spirit; He had no trace of a fallen or a sinful nature.
“God did not punish anyone for their sins before the cross,” I explained, “because He was going to send Jesus. He saved people, like He saved Abraham, when they believed God’s promises of a Savior. Jesus came to take the curse of sin and to take the punishment for the sin of the entire world. He required justice, and paid His own price for justice…”
“Oh, I see it! I get it! Oh, my!” Beth interrupted. Even over the phone her emotion was intense. I could tell she was tearful, and so was I.
From that moment our conversation changed. Beth no longer seemed puzzled; everything we discussed seemed to fit together in her mind. At last the two realities made sense to her: either people are spiritually dead and lost in Satan’s domain, or they are spiritually alive and hidden in Christ.
“Adventism has twisted the details of every doctrine, “ she said to me.
“When we read that passage from Romans 3,” Beth later confided, “I realized for the first time that Jesus’ death was actually a sacrifice. I am experiencing the security of my salvation for the first time!”
Beth’s experience, I believe, is amazingly consistent with that of almost all Adventists. Whether one is a true-blue historic Adventist, a liberal, or an evangelical Adventist, the core of one’s convictions and the foundation of one’s loyalty is the same. Perhaps most Adventists say today that they are saved entirely by grace, not by works. Many even state the Sabbath is not related to their salvation, that it is merely something they observe to demonstrate their loyalty to God. Some even say Ellen White was not perfect and should never have been presented as being infallible. Yet underneath these nearly-orthodox confessions lies a deep misunderstanding of the heart of the gospel.
The simple truth is this: each person is born “in Adam” and spiritually dead, cut off from the life of God. We are intrinsically depraved, doomed to eternal destruction. Our sin is not primarily genetic; we are intractably sinful because our spirits are dead.
While we were sinners, however, God sent His Son Jesus to be a sin offering for us. He—the Living Word—nailed the law to the cross in His flesh. He—the reality behind the shadows, became our true Sabbath rest (Col. 2:15-17). His blood and broken body opened a new, living way for us to be reunited with the Father (Heb. 10:20).
Forty days after His resurrection, He ascended to His Father, promising to send His disciples the Holy Spirit.
On the Feast of Pentecost, God fulfilled the shadow of that Jewish holiday by pouring out His Spirit on all who believed in Jesus and His sacrificial death and resurrection. He brings each believer to life by the resurrection power of His Spirit.
When Jesus hung on that cross, He literally became our sin (2Cor. 5:21) and experienced the infinite punishment that is rightfully ours. In order to offer us grace, He took into Himself the penalty His own justice demanded for our sin. We cannot live in saving grace if we do not acknowledge our own incurable sin and accept the unpayable debt of Jesus’ death on our behalf.
When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, we also release to Him the weight of all our debts. When we kneel at the foot of the cross and see our own sin and judgment in Jesus, when we accept that suffering on our account, we are released from all the burdens of guilt that we carry as well as from all the wounds inflicted on us. Jesus Himself now carries them. His grace and sacrifice are sufficient for the payment of all of them, and He will deal justly with all those who have transgressed against us.
Would you want to know?
Many things conspire to keep those immersed in Adventism from experiencing the complete joy, peace, and freedom that are available in Jesus. As Beth said to me, Adventism has twisted the details of every doctrine. Because Adventism still honors Ellen White as a continuing and authoritative source of truth; because it still sees Sabbath sacredness as part of the life of a person who will be saved; because the church still endorses the investigative judgment and its unbiblical teachings of an incomplete atonement at the cross, of Jesus beginning his intercessory work in 1844, of Satan being the scapegoat who will carry the sins of the saved into the lake of fire, and of humanity helping to vindicate God’s reputation against Satan’s accusations against Him thus proving God to be fair; because Adventism holds to an unbiblical understanding of the human spirit and thus clouds the truth about sin, about the nature of Jesus, and about our own means of salvation—because of all these things, most Adventists do not really know the Biblical gospel nor experience the assurance of salvation. They do not live in the freedom and intimacy of literally knowing Jesus.
Although the words Adventists use to describe salvation sound much like the words the rest of Christianity uses, they do not mean the same things. Yet, like Beth who could not discern the nature of her confusion and anxiety, many (if not most) Adventists cannot explain why their experiences seem so different from that of non-Adventist Christians.
The veil that clouds their vision is the “Adventist truth”. The question God brings to each of us is this: if what you believe is not Biblical, would you want to know?
Call to integrity
Adventists today often say the church is like a big tent, a smorgasbord or a salad-bar; any number of variant beliefs are acceptable within its boundaries—as long as one stays a member. Such rationalizing, however, is disingenuous; Adventism has a clear definition. Its beliefs were established by the founders, and although the words and explanations of those beliefs have changed, the core has not.
God is calling each of us to integrity. He is asking us to be honest in our recognition of the church’s true foundational doctrines. He is calling us to stop deceiving ourselves into thinking we can both endorse the church by our loyalty to it and reject its core tenets. When one claims to be an Adventist but rejects its doctrines by hiding behind phrases such as “healthy pluralism” or by claiming the 28 Fundamental Beliefs do not require one to adhere to Ellen White’s clear instructions (although she is considered a continuing source of authority), one deceives oneself.
If we do not believe in both the explicit and implicit teachings of Adventism yet support them by our loyalty to the denomination, we are not acting with integrity. In fact, we are deceiving others, implying that Adventism is truth when in fact we do not believe such to be the case
God is asking each of us to be willing to examine our beliefs according to the Bible alone, praying for the Holy Spirit to teach us truth from His word. God is asking us to risk trusting Him with our friends, our social circles, our families, even our incomes and careers. He is asking us to be willing to know if what we believe is Biblical or not. He is asking us to be willing to give up everything for the sake of being true to Him, to embrace truth even if it means losing everything we love.
God is faithful. He promised that when we seek first the kingdom of God, all our daily needs will be added to us (Matthew 6:31-34). Jesus promised that anyone who leaves houses, family, or possession for His sake will “receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).
Following Jesus wherever He leads often feels like jumping off a cliff with no view of one’s landing spot. But Jesus Himself catches us as we risk leaving all that we know and love for Him.
Following Jesus wherever He leads often feels like jumping off a cliff with no view of one’s landing spot. But Jesus Himself catches us as we risk leaving all that we know and love for Him. Jesus Himself is our great reward—and there is no possible way to know how He will provide until we risk being truthful and obedient by faith.
God is asking us to trust Him. He is asking us to be willing to give up rationalizing and to know the absolute truth of the gospel of God. He is asking us to release whatever stands between us and complete trust in Jesus. He is asking us to allow Him to be our only identity.
Jesus is asking us to be willing to give up even the Adventist church and its teachings if that is the “world” that keeps us from complete rest in Him.
God’s call is never easy—but it always comes with His equipping and His peace and authority. Whatever He asks of us, He enables us to do.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). †
*Not her real name.
—Republished from the printed Proclamation!, November/December 2006.
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