Adventism and Salvation by Grace through Faith at The Bereans Forum
Posted: June 4th, 2004 | Author: arnold | Filed under: Theology | View CommentsAbugian started a discussion on Adventism and Salvation by Grace through Faith. I feel a little unconfortable because I know he’ll get different answers from diffent Adventist readers. Here’s why (as I also posted there):
To understand better, there are two basic classifications of members within the Adventist church right now. For the sake of discussion, let me call them “evangelical” Adventists, which composed of about 5% of their current population according to my experience, and “fundamental” Adventists, which composed of the rest of the majority. What will make it a little unconfortatable is that they live under the same roof. Some evangelical Adventists would go out if they can’t handle the “legalism” inside the church. Groups I know that did this are Gospel Life Community (http://gospelife-cwow.org), a Filipino based church in West Covina, CA and Grace Place (http://graceplace.org). On the other hand, majority of evangelical Adventists stay for the reason that the church is in a very tightly knit sub-community.
Now, why am I saying this? If you will ask this question or discuss this topic to, say yahoo_dotcom, an active Adventist participant in the forum, you will notice that he will answer differently as compared to that Adventist pastor Justyn spoke with. I know Yahoo_dotcom personally and he is a typical example of an evangelical Adventist. He understands salvation and grace the same way evangelicals do with some Adventist “twist”.
But if you will talk with the rest of them, you wil probably get a different answer. Just like a couple of weeks ago, I spoke with an Adventist friend and the ultimate answer to the question “What will happen if I don’t observe the Sabbath after hearing it?” is “You will not be saved because you disobeyed God’s commandments”.
The big question: is the Adventist church as an organization evangelical or not? Dr. Martin in the 60′s declared “yes”. But before he died in 1988, he wanted to pull back his declaration — but he didn’t. If you’ll ask me, I’d say, I’m confused. Aside from the 1844 doctrine, the Sabbath and regard of Ellen White as a prophet, The official doctrines sounds evangelical. But when they preach or hear their members talk, you will feel the legalism. Whenever I watch their local UHF channel (3ABN) and the “favorite topic” (eschatology) is being preached or lectured, and if you’re a sensitive, well-established Christian, you’ll feel the pressure of legalism. “Obey the 10 Commandments, or else…”, “The Sabbath is the seal of the people of God. If you don’t have it you’ll …”
Further readings:
Evangelical Adventism: Clinging to the Old Rugged Cross
What Evangelicals Say About Seventh-day Adventists
Evangelical Adventist or 7th Day Adventist (looks like this one is written by a Fundamental Adventist or off-shoot fundamentalists)