Redeemed From the Chains of Legalism

SHIRLEY BURTON | Proclamation! Contributor |

It was Tuesday evening, and the ladies had come to my home for our weekly Bible study. We were studying To Live Is Christ—The Life and Ministry of Paul by Beth Moore. That particular week we had studied Paul’s first missionary journey. After we had opened with prayer, one of the women remarked how impacted she was by the fact that in Acts 14:21, Paul had gone back to the cities where he had been beaten and stoned to see how the brothers were doing. Even though he had experienced many difficulties, he was willing to risk again and go back. 

Paul’s return to the places that had been difficult for him encourages me as I look back at my journey out of Seventh-day Adventism. It began 37 years ago when I was a teenager. I was raised in a strict Seventh-day Adventist home and often felt like a prisoner to all the rules that the church taught. I knew that I was not measuring up to the standards that my mother and the church had for me and believed that I would not be good enough to get to heaven. I lived my childhood and teen years in fear and frustration. In high school I met a girl who was a born-again Christian. I saw in this new friend a love for Jesus that I had not experienced as well as a freedom to love Him without all these rules. Initially I thought that I would show her that Sabbath-keeping was mandatory for Christians, but she instead explained to me with the aid of Scripture that Christ had fulfilled all of the old law at the cross. I made a decision to accept the gift of salvation that Christ offered me through grace and became a born-again believer.

For many years after that I had minimal contact with Adventists other than my mother who remains a member to this day. When I thought of those who still remained in the Adventist church, I pictured people walking with very heavy loads of legalistic rule strapped to their feet. With that scene in my head came frustration and at times anger with a church that taught such crippling doctrines. Further, I was so excited about my new relationship with Christ I wanted the Adventist people also to experience this relationship with Him. I had tried sharing my newfound faith with a number of people with whom I had grown up, but the comment that I continually received was that I needed to come back to “the truth” and that I must keep the Sabbath in order to be a Christian. The frustration that I felt is hard to put into words. . The easiest and most comfortable way for me to deal with this frustration and helplessness was to put it out of my mind. I was not yet ready to process my own experience in the church.

Approximately ten years ago I met a vocalist at a funeral home at which I worked. The first time we met she pulled out her Seventh-day Adventist hymnbook, and I reacted with those same thoughts—here is another person who is bound by legalism and will not understand what I have experienced.. She is an amazing vocalist, and that day we began a friendship that continues to this day. I believe she did not know initially that I was raised an Adventist, but it wasn’t long until she found out, and we started to have some discussions about faith. At one point she invited me to attend some Revelation meetings at her church specifically relating to the Sabbath. I politely thanked her but said no. I remembered attending Revelation meetings growing up, and they were depressing and scary. They did not focus on God’s gift of salvation. Once again I could see people trying to live their lives with huge loads of legalism attached to them. My life was now so changed and I was so excited with my faith. I did not want to go back to a time that was so difficult for me.

But as I remembered things I had refused to think about for a long time, I could feel the Lord’s presence with me, giving me the words to say and showing me what He had done for me. It was awesome.

Yet here was my new friend, and I knew that not many people understood both where she was and also the freedom that could be hers. I prayed and told the Lord that if He wanted me to reach out to this person—an act which would take me back into my childhood memories—that I needed Him to take my hand and walk with me. He did just that, and He helped me share my faith story with my friend. I remember that, as I told her my story, I could sometimes feel the chains threatening to restrain me. But as I remembered things I had refused to think about for a long time, I could feel the Lord’s presence with me, giving me the words to say and showing me what He had done for me. It was awesome. 

Some years passed. I was no longer afraid to remember and to process my painful memories. In my search for information for my friend, I tried one day to find a book entitled Who Changed The Sabbath? which had helped me in my journey to faith in Christ. While looking on the internet for the author of the booklet, I stumbled across a website called FormerAdventist.com [now at proclamation magazine.com. I will never forget the feeling when I read story after story of people who had journeyed similarly to myself and had come to faith in Christ. I had always felt so alone in my spiritual journey; I knew only one other person who had experienced the yoke of Adventism and had received Christ . Now I knew that I had brothers and sisters in Christ who understood. I was overwhelmed. Filled with gratitude, I had no idea God had yet another gift in store for me!

I had always felt so alone in my spiritual journey; I knew only one other person who had experienced the yoke of Adventism and had received Christ . Now I knew that I had brothers and sisters in Christ who understood. I was overwhelmed.

A few months ago God gave me a special blessing—a trip to Palm Springs, California, which is 45 minutes away from Trinity Evangelical Free Church and a group of Former Adventists. I spent two wonderful weekends fellowshipping with Former Adventists who had found Christ—it was incredible! Once again I walked back into that time that I had wanted to forget, but this time it wasn’t just I who was walking. The Lord and I were hand-in-hand as I walked with my new brothers and sisters into shared memories, fears, and surpassing praise to God for His deliverance through the blood of Jesus! 

I have many memories of a time that was bound with legalism and frustration, but I have far more memories of a Savior who loved me, who died for me and released me from the burden of legalism. I will never know this side of Glory how Paul and Barnabas felt as they went back into the towns where they were stoned, but the Scriptures indicate that the church grew as the Good News was preached, even in places that were initially hostile. I praise Jesus that out of the ashes of my painful past He has brought new life and healing to my heart with His love and His blood. 

Acts 15:10 & 11 sums up my thoughts. “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” 

I am saved through grace—Praise His Name. †

—Republished from Proclamation!, September/October, 2006.

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Shirley Burton lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has been married for 33 years to her husband Dan and they have three children who are grown and on their own. She was raised in an Adventist home and became a born-again Christian at the age of 18 through the influence of a godly Christian friend that she met in high school. She currently worships at Waverley Fellowship Baptist Church in Winnipeg. She loves to travel, spend time at their cottage, scrapbook and read. [2006]