Disagreement With Des Ford
When I was having baptismal studies in 1975, Pastor Chris Jagger from Bankstown SDA Church, Sydney, Australia, said I should ignore Colossians 2:16,17. The Adventist practice used against 2:16, is to isolate 2:16. Line up all the verses that mention Sabbath, from Genesis to Revelation, a straight line can be drawn through them. There are a few verses, like 2:16, that don’t come anywhere near the Sabbath line, and these verses can be discounted.
Chris trained for the ministry under Desmond Ford who has said, “There is really only one text in the whole Bible capable of being interpreted as a negative reference actually naming the Sabbath, and that is Colossians 2:16. Christians are thus left with the option of judging the approximately 149 references by the one, or judging the one by the 149. And let us remember that Scripture repeatedly admonishes us that ’in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established’” [ “Desmond Ford Asks: Is the Seventh-day Sabbath Christian?” Jul/Aug 1996 issue of Adventist Today ].
I don’t agree. To Colossians 2:16, I would add Acts 15, and of course the book of Galatians which Paul wrote before Acts 15 took place. Paul said to the Galatians in 4:10,11: “…you are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days/Sabbaths…I fear for you.” Acts 2:42 states that “all the believers devoted themselves to the APOSTLES’ TEACHING”. Believers soon developed the practice of meeting on Sunday, recalling the day when Jesus was resurrected [ 1 Corinthians16:1-4 TPT, Acts 2:1-4, 20:7, Revelation 1:10, Romans14:5,6 ].
—VIA PROCLAMATIONMAGAZINE.COM, response to “Lesson 13: ’The Tabernacle’”
Response: While Des Ford really did understand the problems with the Investigative Judgment and understood that Hebrews 9 disproved that heretical doctrine completely, he did not really understand the biblical covenants. He stayed in that modified “covenant theology” camp that continued to see the law as having a function as a rule of faith and practice for the church. It’s sad to me; he saw so clearly that a plain, contextual reading of Hebrews showed how Jesus fulfilled the shadows of the sanctuary, but he failed to do the same contextual study of the covenants. Galatians, Romans, Colossians, Acts 15, these would have settled the issue. But covenant theory has been the model of reformed Christianity for a few hundred years, and it sees the Old Testament as having a different interpretation in light of the New Testament.
In fact, I do not believe (and I am so NOT alone in this understanding!) that the New Testament changes the meaning of the OT; rather, it adds application that was not yet revealed in the Old. But we can’t change the meaning of the OT text just because we have the NT now.
Contextually, understanding that the Mosaic covenant was temporary and specifically time-limited (see Galatians 3:17–21) confirms that the law had a specific purpose: it shaped the nation which brought the Messiah into the world, and it identified the Messiah when He finally came. Only He could break those ritual laws without sin (as in touching lepers and dead people and breaking the Sabbath). He could break those laws because only He could do so without sin—all while FULFILLING what they foreshadowed: the rest and healing and forgiveness and restoration God promised to send through the Messiah. The Law was like a glove made to fit and thus identity the Messiah. Only Jesus could fulfill it!
Yet covenant theology doesn’t read the covenants that way, and Des kept that covenantal model. He also kept a certain respect for EGW, and I personally believe that those commitments kept him bound to old traditions that in some measure kept him enslaved to them. The Lord used him profoundly—and yet he confused many people, I believe. Understanding that the Law truly had an end point and that the new high priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek necessitated a change of the law would have been incredibly freeing had he been able to read those passages literally, in context, and embrace the rather shocking reality they revealed.
Do you have a podcast where you talk/teach listeners how to pray?
Are we supposed to pray to Jesus, the Father in the name of Jesus, all Three Persons of The Trinity, and when do you include The Holy Spirit since He dwells in us? Since there is One God in three Persons, I am not sure who to direct my prayers to.
I’ve never been Adventist, and I am not sure how to pray. Did you, Nikki, or other former Adventists have to learn how to pray or did you pray the same way except change your prayers based a new perspective?
Thank you for your ministry.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: I had to ask the Lord to teach me to pray because I just wasn’t sure when I left Adventism. The answer, though, is surprisingly straightforward throughout Scripture: we simply talk to God and let our requests be made know with thanksgiving. Paul addresses prayer often:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:6–7 LSB
Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, also receive THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel– for which I am an ambassador in chains–so that in [proclaiming] it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.—Ephesians 6:14–20 LSB
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been bound, that I may make it manifest in the way I ought to speak.—Colossians 4:2–4 LSB
And so on.
As for the question about whom to address, the first thing we know is that Father, Son, and Spirit are all equally God. It is not wrong to address any of them. Paul even tells us that the Spirit intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words (Romans 8:26), and Jesus said He prayed for Peter before His death (Luke 22:32).
However, Jesus has told us that our privilege is to address God as our Father. When we are born again and adopted by the Father, the Holy Spirit teaches us to call Him “Father” (Romans 8:15). Only those who believe/trust in Jesus are adopted and are truly His children. Only believers have the privilege of addressing God as “Father”. That is an intimate address, and we are to see Him and address Him as our true Father who will take care of us, who knows our struggles and needs, and the One to whom we can appeal for HELP and comfort and provision. He has promised to provide all we need, and it is our privilege to address Him as Father.
Jesus taught His disciples to address “Father…” when they prayed, as the Lord’s Prayer reveals. A believer’s privilege is to know and address God as one’s true Father for whom no detail of our lives is too small.
A really helpful idea I learned from our women’s ministry leader years ago is this: if you don’t know specifically what to pray for someone, pray God’s word back to Him. We can be sure that praying God’s word is definitely praying within His will! For example, here is a sample list of prayers. There is actually a whole Bible full of prayers that are legitimate for us to pray IN ADDITION to our personal concerns and needs.
Ephesians 3:14–19: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Colossians 1:9–12: For this reason also, since the day we heard [of it,] we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please [Him] in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Philippians 4:4–7: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:3–6: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. [For I am] confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
2 Peter 1:2–4: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of [the] divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Hebrews 13:20 21: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, [even] Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Jude 1:24, 25: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, [be] glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
John 16:22–27: “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one [will] take your joy away from you. “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.
John 10:27–29: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.
Revelation 22:17, 20–21: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. … He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. †
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