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SDA Claim: The Seventh Day Sabbath is
the way to Salvation and the Seal of God
The Sabbath is a simple concept, or a complex doctrine, if you listen to the Adventists.
Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that the Sabbath is only a shadow of the true rest, Christ.
"So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself." NLB
Now let's look at what Adventism teaches about the Sabbath:
The holy Sabbath looked glorious -- a halo of glory was all around it. I saw that the Sabbath commandment was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the other nine commandments were; and we are at liberty to break them all, as well as to break the fourth. I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes. But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws ....
I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints" (Early Writings, 1963, pp. 32,33).
Let's again look at the Bible and look for the wall:
Ephesians 2:14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. NLB
The Bible says The "WHOLE SYSTEM OF JEWISH LAW" including the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath has ended. All that remains is the "Spirit of the Law" and the Spirit law is very different from the legalistic mess the Adventists have come up with.
To read an in-depth study of the Ten Commandments, click here.
Adventists also say the Sabbath is the "Seal of God":
The seal of the living God is placed upon those who conscientiously keep the Sabbath of the Lord.--(Ellen Gould White, 7BC 980 1897)
True observance of the Sabbath is the sign of loyalty to God.--(Ellen Gould White, 7BC 981 1899).
The observance of the Lord's memorial, the Sabbath instituted in Eden, the seventh-day Sabbath, is the test of our loyalty to God.--(Ellen Gould White, Letter 94, 1900)
The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath (Sunday).--(Ellen Gould White, Ev 234 1899).
The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord's memorial of creation. . . . The mark of the beast is the opposite of this--the observance of the first day of the week.--(Ellen Gould White, 8T 117 (1904).
The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. (Ellen Gould White, Last Day Events, page 225, paragraph 2)
This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed. All who prove their loyalty to God by observing His law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the living God. Those who yield the truth of heavenly origin, and accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast.... (Ellen Gould White, Maranatha, page 164, paragraph 3)
The enemies of God's law, from the ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. (Ellen Gould White, Maranatha, page 286, paragraph 6)
The Bible Calls The "Seal of God" The Holy Spirit" living in us:
2Cor:1:22: Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Eph:1:13: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph:4:30: And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Adventism has the Gospel jumbled, and the end result is a system of laws that were never meant to be. The Book of Galatians calls the system of Adventism "another gospel".
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