Did Jesus Christ raise Himself from the dead? The Bible is abundantly clear that it was Jesus’s Father, our Father in heaven, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead – “God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Gal. 1:1). But on account of the Trinity concept of the eternal self-existence of the Son, many professed Christians are of the view that while being dead, Jesus could exercise power to raise Himself from the dead and to conquer death as it were. What is the true state of the dead? And was Jesus exempt from the death experience that other humans experience? The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus died. Jesus says: “I am he that liveth, and was dead” (Rev. 1:18).

Seventh-day Adventists, in particular, should not fall for the error of the Trinity because it contradicts one of their primary doctrinal pillars regarding the state of the dead – as the Bible says “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing” (Eccl. 9:5). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died in our place was as much dead as any other person who dies and was not alive on a different plane while appearing to be dead. To be consistent with scripture, Jesus conquered death by the life He lived, and not while He was dead.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com

 The Bible is very emphatic that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by God, His Father – “we have testified of God that He raised up Christ” (1 Cor. 15:15).  It is asserted that our faith is vain if Christ was not raised from the dead – “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Cor. 15:14).  But the question arises, why is the resurrection of Christ so important? 

The following verses tell us:

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (1 Cor. 15:17, 18).

These words blow away a myth that is very popular in Christianity, but which is based on a misunderstanding of the Bible.  The myth is that the death of Christ cancels all our sins.  But we are told here that “if Christ be not raised . . . ye are yet in your sins. Then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished”.  The death of Christ by itself is not enough to save us.  The notion that God required the death of the sinner and accepted the death of Christ in place of the sinner is false.

The Bible further tells us why the resurrection of Christ is so important – “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25).  Jesus must be alive to make intercession for us who seek to come to God – “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24).  The holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true refer to the earthly tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness.

Earthly tabernacle an object lesson

The services of the ancient tabernacle were shadows or object lessons of what Christ does in the plan of salvation to obtain pardon for our sins.  It is said of the earthly priests that they “serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle” (Heb. 8:3-5).

In the earthly tabernacle, sins were not removed just by the offering of a sacrifice.  The sacrifice provided the basis for the priest to minister on the sinner’s behalf.  It was by the ministry of the priest that sins were forgiven.  In every case, whether of the whole congregation, a ruler or any of the common people, their sins were forgiven only after the priest makes an atonement for them using the blood of the sacrifice.

In the case of a sin committed through ignorance, by the whole congregation, a young bullock was offered – “and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.” (Lev. 4:20).  In the case of a ruler, the offering was a kid of the goats – “and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.” (Lev. 4:26).  The common people, likewise, offered a kid of the goats – “and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.” (Lev. 4:31).

Only sins of ignorance were atoned for; presumptuous sins were not atoned for – “And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.” (Num. 15:28).  “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.” (Num. 15:30, 31).

Sins of ignorance, as reckoned by Jesus, could potentially include the most heinous misdeeds such as even the sin of those who crucified him; He prayed for those who crucified Him, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).  Peter said the same: “I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” (Acts 3:17). Jesus recognizes human weakness and is willing to treat every possible sin as ignorance, if we repent of it, because he knows that we are susceptible to be manipulated by the Devil – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

Sins that are not repented of and confessed are not atoned for.  Far from being cancelled by the death of Christ, they remain on the heads of those who committed them and are paid for by the sinner in the lake of fire – “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

But what happens to those sins that were confessed?  Does Jesus pay the penalty for those on our behalf and dies eternally like the unrepentant sinner?  No!  In fact, He is alive right now and will remain alive forevermore (Rev. 1:18).  In the object lesson of the ancient sanctuary ministration, the process of the final removal of sins from among the saints is illustrated.

Day of Atonement and final removal of sins

Once every year, on the Day of Atonement, all the confessed sins were placed on the head of the Scapegoat, which was then led out of the camp – “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” (Lev. 16:21, 22).

The Scapegoat’s blood was not shed on behalf of the sinners, but all the confessed sins were placed on his head, and he is removed from the camp forever, never to return.  The Scapegoat represents Satan, who would have caused all the sins of the repentant sinners to have been committed.  While interceding for us as repentant sinners, Christ would have “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 56:4).  It was in the process of taking unto Himself our sin problem, that Christ was crucified by wicked hands (Acts 2:23).  He was not bearing punishment from God that was intended for us.  By His death He has exposed Satan as a murderer and the real culprit behind the sins that he would have caused God’s children to commit (Heb. 2:14).

In interceding for us, Christ points to our repentance as evidence that we are not genuinely seeking to join Satan in his rebellion against God.  He further points to Satan as the real culprit who should pay the penalty for the sins that he would have caused us, the repentant sinners, to commit.  Thus, the repentant sinners are acquitted of the charges associated with those sins.  Christ further intercedes for us to be given the Holy Spirit that we might be empowered to resist the Devil and live righteously without continuing to commit sins.

The final intercession on our behalf during the last days, as was typified by the Day of Atonement, is described as follows: “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” (Rev. 8:3-5).

The censor being cast out of heaven signals that this is the final intercession, after which, it will be declared, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:11, 12).

Let us repent of our sins before it is too late and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live above sin – “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Eze. 36:25-27).

It has been shown that the unrepentant sinner will pay the penalty for his own sin in the lake of fire.  The sins of the repentant sinner will be placed on Satan, who will pay the penalty for those, having caused them to be committed.  Where then, did the idea come from that Christ paid the penalty for all sins?  This widespread misunderstanding arises from the fact that God did deliver His Son into the hand of Satan in place of Adam, because Adam obeyed Satan and gave Satan some claim over him before Adam’s children were born.  In this sense, Christ was turned over as a ransom for humanity due to Adam’s sin.  This transaction effectively cancels any claim that Satan might have on us because of Adam’s sin.  But it does not cancel our personal sins which we must account for and repent of to obtain forgiveness for them.

We should not be drawn into a pagan philosophy that portrays God as an unforgiving and exacting person who insists that someone must be punished for even the confessed sins and ultimately inflicting the punishment on His own Son.  Further, we should not deceive ourselves into thinking that all our sins are already cancelled by the death of Christ, so that it would not even matter that we continue sinning.  May the Lord help us to repent of our sins and be saved before it is too late.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to:

 commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

I always wondered what was so significant about the second Commandment that Rome found it necessary to remove it altogether from the Ten Commandments. But it appears that there is a fundamental truth in that Commandment concerning where God’s presence is that is intended to protect us from all forms of false worship.

The second Commandment tells us that we should not bow down before any image. This implies that God is not in any image. Which means that God is not everywhere. The Bible tells us that God is in heaven; and heaven is not everywhere. Heaven is above the earth and that is where we should direct our worship to God, where He is. He knows everything that happens everywhere and can go wherever He pleases but His abode is in heaven where Jesus, our High Priest and intercessor, is presenting our cases to Him. – “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1).

Worshipping God Where He Is

Furthermore, both the prophets Daniel and John saw God in heaven with the angels gathered around His throne and Jesus being separate and distinct (Dan. 7 and Rev. 4, 5). Daniel said “the Ancient of days did sit” (Dan. 7:9) and “one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days” (Dan. 7:13). John said “one sat on the throne” (Rev. 4:2) who was worshipped as the Creator to whom it was said “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:11), with Jesus appearing before Him to receive a book and power and authority, as the Lamb who was slain, while the angels sang, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13).

God is not everywhere all at once like a vapour while part of Him or an image sits on the throne representing Him. God Himself sits, of whom man was made in His image after His likeness, “made after the similitude of God” (James 3:9).

Logically, if God is everywhere, He can be worshipped wherever He is. One could then bow down and worship before a stone, a tree, a person or any object, not as worshipping the object but as worshipping God, since God is in it. That would open the door for the worship of false Gods as no one would be able to tell the difference whether you are worshipping the true God or not.

It would not be consistent to forbid worshipping before an object if God is in the object and one is worshipping, not the object, but God who is in the object. This is evident in the experience of the children of Israel in the wilderness. God appeared to them in a cloud and they were not forbidden to bow before Him in the cloud – “And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud” (Ex. 19:9), “And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door” (Ex. 33:10). If God is not in a particular place, say in an image, it means that there is at least one place where He is not. He cannot be everywhere and not everywhere at the same time.

The idea that the Holy Spirit is God present everywhere was precisely the argument that Dr. John Harvey Kellogg put forward to justify his pantheistic teachings. And Ellen White told him that he was wrong. Initially, he said that God was in everything. And when God instructed Ellen White to oppose it, he modified it by saying that at the time of his first presentation of the matter in the book “The Living Temple” he did not believe in the Trinity. Because of that, he said he had not given a clear explanation of the matter. He went on to explain that he had now come to believe in the Trinity and could better explain his idea. The new explanation was that it was not God the Father, but God the Holy Ghost who was everywhere and in everything. Ellen White told him that he was wrong. And we can see why. If God the Holy Spirit is everywhere and can be worshipped, it is a doorway to replace worshipping God and Christ in heaven entirely.

Another modified version of Kellogg’s idea is that the Holy Spirit is really Christ himself or both God and Christ in an omnipresent form. This is also not correct as it places God and Christ on earth rather than in heaven.

Omnipresent Representative

The pioneers of Seventh-day Adventism stated in their Fundamental Principles of faith published in the 1889 Yearbook that God was everywhere present by His representative, the Holy Spirit. At face value, this would suggest that this representative is omnipresent. But it is perhaps more consistent with scripture to say that He is everywhere present by His representatives the holy spirits. Holy spirits are ministering spirits sent from heaven – “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” (John1:51). “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). The prophet Zechariah also saw chariots that were sent into the different parts of the earth; and when he asked “What are these”, the answer given was that “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 6:4, 5). This again, shows that spirits are sent by God into all the earth, and that these spirits are not God Himself.

This is consistent with the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma that are translated in the Bible as spirit. These words are also translated spirits, thus indicating that the Holy Spirit need not be seen as one individual being who is omnipresent but many spirit beings representing God everywhere.

From this perspective, there is no denying that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost is a person – only not a God-being to be worshipped. Like the Angel of Revelation 18 who comes down from heaven with the latter rain – a similar occurrence as that which took place at Pentecost except more extensive – the Comforter would be seen as a messenger sent by Christ from heaven, as stated repeatedly in John 14-16. Ellen G. White describing the latter rain speaks of a mighty angel from heaven being sent to do this work and further said, “Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven” (Ellen. G. White, Story of Redemption, p. 399).

Correcting Error

Some persons have objected by saying that Ellen G. White sought to correct one Brother Chapman who was saying that the Holy Spirit could be an angel. To be more accurate, Brother Chapman, according to a letter that Ellen G. White wrote to him, was teaching that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel. Ellen G. White told him that his view was speculative and unscriptural. Indeed, the Bible does not teach that; and neither is that view being advanced here. She admonished him to come into harmony with his brethren on the matter and not seek to bring in any new idea regarding that subject. This was in 1891, when the stated belief of the church, as presented in the 1889 Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, was that the Holy Spirit was God’s representative. This was before Kellogg sought to bring in errors concerning the Holy Spirit and the personality of God that she later had to refute.

At that time, when she wrote to Brother Chapman, she said “silence is golden” and indeed it would have been “golden” to remain silent on the matter of who or what is the Holy Spirit, at that time, but certainly not later when clearly erroneous views were being pressed upon the church regarding the matter. It certainly would not be “golden” now, either, to remain silent when the Trinitarian view, which the pioneers rejected, is now being actively promoted within the church and many who profess to reject the Trinitarian view are promoting virtually the same thing that Kellogg was trying to introduce into the church. Here is a sample of what Kellogg was saying:

“God the Father sits upon his throne in heaven where God the Son is also; while God’s life, or Spirit or presence is the all-pervading power which is carrying out the will of God in all the universe” (Letter from JH Kellogg to GI Butler dated October 25, 1903).

“The question may arise in the mind of some one, How do we know that God is in us? We are perhaps too prone to think of God as in heaven, or in some definite place, and only omnipresent in an accommodated or figurative sense. Let us ask the question, “Where is God?” – (Presentation “God in Man” made by JH Kellogg at the 32nd Session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on Feb. 15, 1897 at Lincoln, Nebraska and published in the General Conference Daily Bulletin of Feb. 18, 1897, Vol. 7. – No. 5).

The popular view that has been embraced by many who have rightly rejected the Trinity, has unfortunately been tainted by this popular error that is common among professed Christians, New Agers and pagans alike – the error that God is personally present inside people – one that was plainly rejected by the Seventh-day Adventist pioneers. The pioneer, James White, even wrote an article responding to the claim that God is everywhere, by saying that “God is everywhere by virtue of his omniscience” and that “God is in heaven”; further, “if God is as much in every place as he is in any one place, then heaven is also as much in every place as it is in any one place, and the idea of going to heaven is all a mistake. We are all in heaven; and the Lord’s prayer, according to this foggy theology simply means, Our Father which art everywhere, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is everywhere”.

Holy Spirit and Blasphemy

It should be noted that Jesus’s warning against blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is not implying that the Holy Spirit is more to be revered than Jesus Himself since one will not be forgiven if they speak against the Holy Spirit whereas they can be forgiven if they speak against the Son (Matt. 12:31, 32). Jesus went back to heaven and promises to return to this earth to take us to His Father’s house in heaven. He left the Holy Spirit to guide us until He returns. If we reject that guidance by blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, there will be nobody to guide us. The situation is like what God told the children of Israel in the wilderness – “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.” (Ex. 23:20, 21). It is simply warning us not to reject the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It is not forbidding us seeking to understand who the Holy Spirit is or what the Holy Spirit does.

It should be noted that the word “spirit” has different meanings, so the understanding of the expression depends on the context. It could refer to God Himself, to Christ or to angels as spirit beings, or to the inner spirit or mind of the person, depending on the context. So, there is a sense in which Christ is in us, meaning that His mind is in us through His words, thoughts and character. No one should therefore think that the spirit of Christ that dwells in us is an angel or Christ Himself or God in person.

Alpha and Omega of Deadly Heresies

So, there we have it. The church has now fully accepted Kellogg’s idea. Ellen White said that the initial presentation by Kellogg was the alpha of deadly heresies. She said that the omega would follow shortly afterwards and would be accepted. And it did follow shortly afterwards in Kellogg’s modified version, based on his acceptance of the Trinity. And the church has now fully accepted it – that God (the Holy Spirit) is everywhere and should be worshipped. So, based on current practice, Jesus is worshipped, the Holy Spirit is worshipped but the One true God is almost entirely ignored. Jesus, praying to His Father, made it clear who the “only true God” is and identified Himself as the one sent by God – “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3).

Nowhere in the Bible is worship given to anyone else except the one seated on the throne who is referred to as “LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev.4:8) and to Christ, the Lamb, as it will be in the new earth – “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” (Rev. 21:22). God is the Father of Christ. Accordingly, Christ, the Lamb is seen with “an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). It is the name of the Lamb’s Father that will be written in their foreheads.

Whatever one’s concept of the Godhead, the term “godhead” is used only three times in the Bible (Acts 17:29, Rom. 1:20 and Col. 2:9) and in none of these places is the expression used to replace the idea of God being a single individual who has a Divine Son who is worshipped alongside Himself. And not even once does the term “godhead” in scripture allude to the worship of anyone else.

All worship should be directed to God and Christ in heaven. It is not about where we are when we worship but, like sending a petition to the king of England, we do not send it to Spain or Australia but to him in England where he is. Similarly, Jesus in teaching us how to pray directed that we say, “Our Father which art in heaven”.

We should not be praying to nor worshipping anything on earth. We should pray to God in heaven, approaching His throne through Christ, our Mediator, and we should direct our worship to heaven where God is. This is the substance of the second Commandment that Rome has removed.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

People are missing the fact that prophets are not perfect; and are not necessarily perfect expositors or perfect interpreters of other prophets’ revelations. Prophets do not even have the authority to change what God revealed to them. They do not get revelations on everything, only on specific things. We must not make the mistake of rejecting what God has revealed through a prophet simply because we think them imperfect in their understanding of certain other matters on which they got no direct revelation.

A highly respected Union President once said: “An ounce of inspiration is better than tons of speculation”.

Good king Jehoshaphat said: “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chron. 20:20).

The truth concerning God and Christ was revealed in vision to Ellen G. White in the Great Contoversy vision in 1858 while at a funeral service in Lovett’s Grove, Ohio. You can read how she got the vision and how Satan tried to kill her to prevent her writing it, in the book Spiritual Gifts Vol. 2 pgs. 265-272 (by Ellen G. White). You will read that she “could write at first but one page a day, then rest three”. In this condition she wrote what was revealed to her concerning the Great Controversy. The very first words she wrote were as follows:

“The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Jesus Christ. His countenance was mild, expressive of happiness like the other angels. His forehead was high and broad, and showed great intelligence. His form was perfect. He had a noble, majestic bearing. And I saw that when God said to his Son, Let us make man in our image, Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man. He was filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. He wished to be the highest in heaven, next to God, and receive the highest honors. Until this time all heaven was in order, harmony and perfect subjection to the government of God. 1SG 17.1

It was the highest sin to rebel against the order and will of God. All heaven seemed in commotion. The angels were marshaled in companies with a commanding angel at their head. All the angels were astir. Satan was insinuating against the government of God, ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to submit to the authority of Jesus. Some of the angels sympathized with Satan in his rebellion, and others strongly contended for the honor and wisdom of God in giving authority to his Son. And there was contention with the angels. Satan and his affected ones, who were striving to reform the government of God, wished to look into his unsearchable wisdom to ascertain his purpose in exalting Jesus, and endowing him with such unlimited power and command.” Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1 pg. 17

God is love. Love trumps unity. The Trinity teaches unity, but the truth teaches love.

Here is the love of God manifested:

“Said the angel, Think ye that the Father yielded up his dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give his beloved Son to die for them. Angels were so interested for man’s salvation that there could be found among them those who would yield their glory, and give their life for perishing man. But, said my accompanying angel, That would avail nothing. The transgression was so great that an angel’s life would not pay the debt. Nothing but the death and intercessions of his Son would pay the debt, and save lost man from hopeless sorrow and misery.” Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1, pg. 26.

Not even the prophet herself has the authority to contradict what God revealed directly. Thus saith the LORD…. above all human speculation.

The three powers of heaven are God, Christ and angels. The Comforter is a messenger sent by Christ from the Father, aided by other ministering spirits.

Like Abraham, when he was called to yield his only son, Isaac, God gave His only begotten Son. Christ was already His Son before coming to this earth.

Where in the Bible does it say that the one God is three persons?

IT IS TIME TO REPENT!

Think . . .Why were there pagan Trinities but none in Israel?

“God is one” (Deut.6:4) – not three.

“One God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph.4:6).

“the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph.1:3).

I challenge any Trinitarian to show me the love of the Father in their Trinitarian philosophy.

I repeat: “An ounce of inspiration is better than tons of speculation”.

“Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chron. 20:20).

Ask yourselves, which Bible writer ever taught or ever articulated such an idea that God is three persons? Every Bible scholar knows that the entire concept was formulated between 325 AD and 381 AD during the period of apostasy that started with Emperor Constantine.

It is time to repent!

If Ellen White got nothing else right, she certainly got this one right. There is no question regarding the validity of this vision.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

PENALTY REMAINS FOR SINS NOT REPENTED OF

There is a popular notion in modern Christianity that the death of Christ has paid the penalty for all sins, and that persons are lost only because they did not accept that their debt of sin has been cleared. But we should examine the Biblical teaching concerning this matter and consider the implications of this. Whoever said that Christ paid the penalty for all sins? Do not the wicked pay the penalty for their own sins in the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8)? And doesn’t Satan, as the Scapegoat, pay the penalty for the sins that he would have caused the repentant sinner to commit, when those confessed sins are placed upon him (Lev. 16:21, 22)? It does not suffice to say that the penalty was paid but people are lost because they did not accept that the debt is already paid, because many will claim to accept Christ, wanting salvation, even saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?” and will still be lost because they did not do God’s will (Matt.7:21, 22).

It is the sin of Adam that had condemned us all that Christ paid the penalty for at Calvary. That is the free gift to all – “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom.5:18);

But we must confess our own sins and repent of them to be forgiven of them – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

In addition to the free gift of forgiveness to all humanity for the sin of Adam that had condemned us all, and God’s offer of forgiveness for our individual sins, if we repent of them, God offers us a new heart and spirit that will empower us to live righteously – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Eze. 36:26, 27). This new heart and spirit we can receive only by our conscious choice, whereas the free gift was given freely to all humanity when we were enemies, independent of any choice that we would have made or not made – “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Rom. 5:10).

The point is that there is a free gift that has been purchased for us that everybody has already received, by the death of Christ. That free gift gives each of us, including Adam, a second probation. We are all reconciled to God by that free gift – even while we are enemies – that is why we are alive right now, and Adam was not cut off instantaneously. But that free gift does not give us salvation from our own sins independent of us having to do anything. We must repent of those sins for ourselves or pay the penalty for them ourselves. Christ did not pay the penalty for those. Either we pay the penalty for them ourselves or Satan pays the penalty for them as the real culprit behind them. In other words, the death of Christ is not like an Indulgence against which Martin Luther protested – a free pass that allows you to sin as you like because the sins are already paid for.

The entire sanctuary service is all about how our confessed sins ultimately get placed on Satan, the Scapegoat, if we truly repent. And it is the death of Christ that makes that possible. For emphasis, Christ’s death makes it possible. It does not cancel all sins. If it did, then everybody would be free – good and bad alike. And it is not that everybody gets their sins cancelled but they just need to accept it. Many will genuinely think that they have accepted Christ but will be lost because they refuse to do God’s will. It is not just about accepting that it has already been done.

Ellen G. White had this to say:

“Death entered the world because of transgression. But Christ gave His life that man should have another trial. He did not die on the cross to abolish the law of God, but to secure for man a second probation.” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, TM134).

“Infinite wisdom devised the plan of redemption, which places the race on a second probation by giving them another trial.” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies Volume 3, p. 484).

“As representative of the fallen race, Christ passed over the same ground on which Adam stumbled and fell. By a life of perfect obedience to God’s law, Christ redeemed man from the penalty of Adam’s disgraceful fall. Man has violated God’s law. Only for those who return to their allegiance to God, only for those who obey the law that they have violated, will the blood of Christ avail. Christ will never become a party to sin. Bearing the penalty of the law, He gives the sinner another chance, a second trial.” ( Ellen G. White, 6BC 1092 – Manuscript 126, 1901).

“The instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood between the living and the dead, saying, “Let the punishment fall on Me. I will stand in man’s place. He shall have another chance” (Ellen G. White, Letter 22, February 13, 1900). 1BC 1085.2

By His present life, as our Advocate and High Priest, Christ intercedes on our behalf before the Father and in the presence of the holy angels so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be empowered with spiritual gifts so that we can live righteously. He will receive the kingdom of this earth from His Father and will return at His second coming to receive us (1 John 2:1; Eph. 4:10-15; Rev.3:5; Heb.4:14-16; Dan. 7:13, 14; John 14:1-3).

So, let us repent and seek God’s forgiveness for our own sins and accept the power that He offers us to live righteously. Let us not think that we are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, when we are in God’s sight, “wretched, and miserable, and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Instead, let us seek God for gold tried in the fire that we might be rich, white raiment that we might be clothed, that the shame of our nakedness does not appear, and eyesalve that we might see (Rev.3:18).

Let us not think that all our sins are already paid for, and we are already saved, without us having a part to play – so that we can sin with impunity. If that were so, then all the wicked would also have a ticket (or Indulgence) that guarantees their place in heaven.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

While it is true that the Three Angels’ Messages contain truth of a general nature – for example, “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” – it is also important to note that the vision of three angels flying one after the other, represents a sequence of prophesied events.  These events were fulfilled at specific times, in a similar way as the four Beasts of Daniel 7 arose sequentially and represented four successive kingdoms.  Likewise, the Seven Churches are sequential in their prophetic fulfilment and represent God’s Church at specific times, some of which overlap with the periods represented by the three angels.

The first angel represents the initial stages of the Advent Movement, before the disappointment of 1844, as they preached a message of the second coming of Christ and the hour of God’s judgement approaching.  The second angel represents a later stage of the same Movement, starting in the summer of 1844, when the focus of the message was a call for people to leave Babylon, the churches that had rejected the message of the soon return of Jesus Christ.  The third angel represents the later Advent Movement that has been preaching the Sabbath and warning people against the Mark of the Beast, from shortly after the disappointment in 1844.

There is an overlap between the time period covered by the three angels and the time period covered under the last three of the seven churches, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.  It was said to Sardis that “thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”; to Philadelphia, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it”; and to Laodicea, “because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:1-17).  Unlike Sardis and Laodicea, there was no rebuke for Philadelphia.

Many persons view Philadelphia as the period covering what is known as the Great Awakening or the Evangelical Revival, extending up to the disappointment in 1844; and Laodicea, they see as the period from 1844 onward.    In this, they give God’s commendations of Philadelphia to a brand of Christianity that was considered by men to be alive, but which God’s message declared was dead.  The testimony concerning the churches that rejected the Advent Message before the disappointment was as follows:

“But the churches generally did not accept the warning . . . . . .  The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the church revealed all to surely how great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.

“In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness, backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.”

– White, Ellen G., The Great Controversy, p. 379, 380.

The churches were dead, even though they were thought to be alive.  This was the period leading up to the disappointment in 1844.

Where then would Philadelphia fall?  Philadelphia comes immediately after the dead Sardis.  Consider what was said of Philadelphia: “I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it” and “thou hast a little strength”, “hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” and “hast kept the word of my patience” (Rev. 3:8-10).  This is an apt description of the early Pioneers of the Adventist Movement just after the disappointment of 1844.  The testimony concerning the Pioneers was as follows:

“I was pointed back, and saw the condition of God’s people in 1844. Then God was pleased with them, and his love rested upon them.” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 2, p. 279.

“I saw a company who stood well guarded and firm, and would give no countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the body. God looked upon them with approbation. I was shown three steps—one, two and three—the first, second and third angels’ messages. Said the angel, Woe to him who shall move a block, or stir a pin in these messages. The true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received. I was again brought down through these messages, and saw how dearly the people of God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe conflict. Step by step had God brought them along, until he had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform.” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 168, 169.

How long did this period of Divine approval last?  It did not last more than a few years.  The transition to Laodicea took place by 1857.  In that year, the situation was described as follows:

“In the spring of 1857, I accompanied my husband on a tour East. His principal business was to purchase the Power Press. We held conferences on our way to Boston, and on our return. This was a discouraging tour. The testimony to the Laodicean church was generally received; but some in the East were making bad use of it. Instead of applying it to their own hearts, so as to be benefited by it themselves, they were using the testimony to oppress others . . . . . .”

“I saw that the testimony to the Laodiceans applied to God’s people at the present time, and the reason it has not accomplished a greater work, is because of the hardness of their hearts.” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 2, p. 222, 223.

It is significant, what a main cause for this condition was.  We are told:

“And I saw what God marked above everything else was their contented state. They have the truth. None can successfully oppose, and they enjoy it, as if the Saviour had no work for them to do in the salvation of souls.” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 2, p. 279.

This point in time was not immediately after the disappointment when they were struggling to hammer out the truth by tireless study of the scriptures. They were now at a point when they had the truth and were contented that nobody could oppose them.  This was even before the organization was established.  By 1857, much of the severe hardship had already passed.  The account was:

“Could some be placed back ten or twelve years, and labor through the discouragements that then existed, they would find a great change in the labor now, compared with what it was then. Then the friends of the cause were few, their means limited, and it was a constant battle against error and fanaticism. Privation and want were then endured by God’s servants without murmuring.” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 2, p. 286.

The Church of Philadelphia was the Post-Disappointment, Pre-Organization Movement that had a short span from the end of the 2300 days in 1844, as was prophesied by Daniel, when the “open door” became applicable, to around 1856 when the Church of the Laodiceans started.  Daniel prophesied that at the end of the 2300 days God would start a work of restoring the truth that had been trampled underfoot.  Sure enough, on the very next day, after the disappointment at the end of the 2300 days on October 22, 1844, God started to reveal new light to those who had just “a little strength”, who had “kept” His word, and had “not denied” His “name”.  Starting with Hiram Edson’s vision, of Christ moving through the “open door” from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven, to the first vision of Ellen White (nee Harmon) later that same year, God restored the major truths that would keep His people grounded until the second coming of Christ.  By 1858 God had already revealed that “Step by step had God brought them along, until he had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform” and that “God looked upon them with approbation” – White, Ellen G., Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 168, 169.

Establishing clearly the period that God in His wisdom described as Philadelphia, as distinct from the Sardis and Laodicean periods might seem like a small point, but it is very important.  It saves us from looking for inspiration from the wrong period.  Many Adventists today glorify the period of the so-called Great Awakening among Evangelicals, while speaking with derision of the early Adventist pioneers, not reckoning that, in God’s eyes, the first group was dead, while it was upon the latter group that God looked with approbation.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

The biggest problem facing the church today is similar to that which the Jewish church faced in the time of Christ! The constituted church authority condemned Jesus and instructed the people to reject Him. In these last days we have the constituted authority of the SDA church that has rejected the Biblical faith of the pioneers, which, in 1904 Ellen White was shown that God had established during the fifty years prior, and that efforts to overturn it were to be resisted.

These Fundamental Principles were published in the 1889 Adventist Yearbook. We must resist Caiaphas before we can resist Caesar. The Mark of the Beast will bring us in conflict with Caesar. But if we cannot run with the footmen (Caiaphas’s modern day equivalent), how will we contend with horses (the powers of earth who will impose false worship)?

Modern Christianity has gone astray on two counts, and like ancient Israel that often went astray, we need to repent.

1. We have displaced God the Father from His position as the Supreme Being in the universe – in most cases, putting Jesus in His place, which Jesus Himself does not accept.

2. We have spread the notion that the death of Jesus Christ pays the penalty for all sins – making persons either liable to pay a debt which has already been paid or free to sin with impunity because the debt for all their sins has already been paid.

BEWARE THAT WE DO NOT MISS THE ISSUES

On the first count, consider the following:

1.         The issue is not that Jesus is not God. Jesus is God by nature – same nature and character as His Father. But Jesus has a God who begot Him (John 1:14). Jesus has a God who anoints Him (Heb.1:9). Jesus has a God who appoints Him (Heb. 1:2). Jesus has a God who sends Him (John 17:18). Jesus has a God whose will He does (John 6:38). Jesus has a God who reveals things to Him (John 5:20). Jesus has a God who gives Him power (1 Cor. 15:27). There is concern that Jesus is being diminished. Really? It is the Father who is being diminished. He dwells in light that no man can approach unto (1 Tim. 6:16). No one anoints Him. No one appoints Him. No one sends Him. No one reveals anything to Him. No one instructs Him (Isa. 40:13). He does the will of no one but His own will. No one gives Him power. He can swear by none greater than Himself (Heb. 6:13). It is His name that the saved will have written in their foreheads (Rev. 14:1). The entire family in heaven and in earth is named after Him (Eph. 3:15).

2.         The issue is not that the Holy Spirit is not a person separate from God and Christ. Rather, it is that The Holy Spirit is sent by God and not a co-equal with God; and there is no biblical precedent of anyone worshipping the Holy Spirit.

3.         God gave His only begotten Son to die for us. It was not an eternal God who cannot die, who simply came and appeared to die but, in reality, cannot die. What is confusing most Trinitarians is the lack of appreciation that a living soul has two parts, body and spirit (Gen. 2:7). The difference between us and Christ is that Christ has a spirit like His Father, while He has a body like us – so, in that sense, He is both God and man. The Bible is clear, that in becoming human, Christ – the spirit being who pre-existed with the Father, the only other person who has a God-spirit fully, like the Father – took on a human body after putting off His celestial body, which was similar but not identical to the Father’s celestial body (Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Cor. 15:39-49). In putting off His celestial body, Christ effectively died from the foundation of the world – since the body without the spirit is dead (Rev. 13:8; James 2:26). His entire existence was now in the hands of His Father, who gave Him a human body (Heb. 10:5) – making Him alive again, as a human, but still retaining His God-spirit. The reverse took place when He died, as a human, and was made alive again at the resurrection with a glorified human body. On the cross, He committed the keeping of His spirit to His Father (Luke 23:46) and it was His Father who afterward raised Him from the dead (Gal. 1:1).

PENALTY REMAINS FOR SINS NOT REPENTED OF

Regarding the second count on which modern Christianity has gone astray, one should think about this: Whoever said that Christ paid the penalty for all sins? Do not the wicked pay the penalty for their own sins in the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8)? And doesn’t Satan, as the Scapegoat, pay the penalty for the sins that he would have caused the repentant sinner to commit, when those confessed sins are placed upon him (Lev. 16:21, 22)? It does not suffice to say that the penalty was paid but people are lost because they did not accept that the debt is already paid, because many will claim to accept Christ, wanting salvation, even saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?” and will still be lost because they did not do God’s will (Matt.7:21, 22).

It is the sin of Adam that had condemned us all that Christ paid the penalty for at Calvary. That is the free gift to all. But we must confess our own sins and repent of them to be forgiven of them – “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom.5:18); “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

In addition to the free gift of forgiveness to all humanity for the sin of Adam that had condemned us all, and God’s offer of forgiveness for our individual sins, if we repent of them, God offers us a new heart and spirit that will empower us to live righteously – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Eze. 36:26, 27). These latter gifts we can receive only by our conscious choice, whereas the former gift was given freely to all humanity when we were enemies, independent of any choice that we would have made or not made – “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Rom. 5:10).

By His present life, as our Advocate and High Priest, Christ intercedes on our behalf before the Father and in the presence of the holy angels so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be empowered with spiritual gifts so that we can live righteously. He will receive the kingdom of this earth from His Father and will return at His second coming to receive us (1 John 2:1; Eph. 4:10-15; Rev.3:5; Heb.4:14-16; Dan. 7:13, 14; John 14:1-3).

So, let us repent and seek God’s forgiveness for our own sins and accept the power that He offers us to live righteously. Let us not think that we are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, when we are in God’s sight, “wretched, and miserable, and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Instead, let us seek God for gold tried in the fire that we might be rich, white raiment that we might be clothed, that the shame of our nakedness does not appear, and eyesalve that we might see (Rev.3:18).

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

The SDA church is right about the great controversy world view. But they could never accept the Trinity if they really believed the great controversy vision that Ellen White got in 1858, which was a repeat of what was revealed to her ten years earlier (Spiritual Gifts Vol. 2, p. 270). This time, she got specific instructions to write it out, and she was told that Satan would try to stop her from writing it. She was struck with partial paralysis the very next day, and she saw that it was Satan’s attempt to kill her before she could write the vision (Spiritual Gifts Vol. 2, p. 272). God protected her and she wrote it.

What did Ellen White see in the great controversy vision? She saw that Lucifer was a high and exalted angel in heaven, next in honour to Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, before he rebelled and became Satan. Lucifer was jealous of Jesus, because God exalted Jesus, and this envy caused Lucifer to rebel against God, the Father of Jesus (Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1, p. 17).

Do Seventh-day Adventist believe this? If so, how is it that the church is now saying that Jesus is not the literal Son of God but only one of three coequal beings who is simply playing a role as Son? And that there is a third divine being who is coequal with the Father? They say that the mark of the remnant church is that they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy. But do they really accept the great controversy vision as divine revelation through the spirit of prophecy? Question to ponder.

The Father of Christ is Supreme and Not One-third of a Three-part God

To be clear, the Trinity doctrine is not simply that there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is quite biblical. Instead, the Trinity doctrine is that the three (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) make up the one God, which is false and unscriptural. The Bible teaches that there is one supreme Being, who is the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:3; 3:14, 15) – “One God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph. 4:6). The entire family in heaven and in earth is named after Him (Eph. 3:15). He is not one-third of a three-part God. There is “one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5);  “the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor. 11:3). Jesus said of Him, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17). He is Jesus’s God. He is “the blessed and only Potentate” (1 Tim.6:15), “dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Tim.6:16).

Jesus is God, by nature – same nature as His Father, but He is not the supreme Being. He has a God to whom He submits. There is no mystery in this. We should not mystify that which is already plain. The Trinity makes nonsense of the gospel by making out that the immortal God died. How can one be dead and be immortal at the same time? The Bible refers to God as “Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever” (Rev. 4:9) while referring to Christ as “he that liveth, and was dead” (Rev. 1:18).

The scriptures are simple and clear on the matter of who God is. God is the father of Christ. Christ is the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is someone sent by Christ to represent Him until He returns. “For though, there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:5, 6); “One God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph. 4:6). The Father is not one-third of a three-part God.

May modern Israel, the people of God, be armed with the truth so that the Trinity Goliath of pagan falsehood that was brought into Christianity by Rome might be decisively defeated.

Our heritage comes from the apostles and the church that had to flee into the wilderness for 1260 years after the Edict of Thessalonica (380 AD), enforcing the Trinity, took full effect after the so-called Arian nations were defeated in 538 AD. Our pioneers built on the biblical foundation that was preserved by the church in the wilderness, not on the creeds and councils of Rome.

“Thus Saith The Lord…” Above Human Speculation

A highly respected Union President once said: “An ounce of inspiration is better than tons of speculation”.

Good king Jehoshaphat said: “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chron. 20:20).

The truth concerning God and Christ was revealed in vision to Ellen G. White in the Great Contoversy vision in 1858 while at a funeral service in Lovett’s Grove, Ohio. You can read how she got the vision and how Satan tried to kill her to prevent her writing it, in the book Spiritual Gifts Vol. 2 pgs. 265-272 (by Ellen G. White). You will read that she “could write at first but one page a day, then rest three”. In this condition she wrote what was revealed to her concerning the Great Controversy. The very first words she wrote were as follows:

“The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Jesus Christ. His countenance was mild, expressive of happiness like the other angels. His forehead was high and broad, and showed great intelligence. His form was perfect. He had a noble, majestic bearing. And I saw that when God said to his Son, Let us make man in our image, Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man. He was filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. He wished to be the highest in heaven, next to God, and receive the highest honors. Until this time all heaven was in order, harmony and perfect subjection to the government of God. 1SG 17.1

It was the highest sin to rebel against the order and will of God. All heaven seemed in commotion. The angels were marshaled in companies with a commanding angel at their head. All the angels were astir. Satan was insinuating against the government of God, ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to submit to the authority of Jesus. Some of the angels sympathized with Satan in his rebellion, and others strongly contended for the honor and wisdom of God in giving authority to his Son. And there was contention with the angels. Satan and his affected ones, who were striving to reform the government of God, wished to look into his unsearchable wisdom to ascertain his purpose in exalting Jesus, and endowing him with such unlimited power and command.” Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1 pg. 17

God is love. Love trumps unity. The Trinity teaches unity, but the truth teaches love.

Here is the love of God manifested:

“Said the angel, Think ye that the Father yielded up his dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give his beloved Son to die for them. Angels were so interested for man’s salvation that there could be found among them those who would yield their glory, and give their life for perishing man. But, said my accompanying angel, That would avail nothing. The transgression was so great that an angel’s life would not pay the debt. Nothing but the death and intercessions of his Son would pay the debt, and save lost man from hopeless sorrow and misery.” Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1, pg. 26.

Not even the prophet herself has the authority to contradict what God revealed directly. Thus saith the LORD…. above all human speculation.

The three powers of heaven are God, Christ and angels. The Comforter is a messenger sent by Christ from the Father, aided by other ministering spirits.

Like Abraham, when he was called to yield his only son, Isaac, God gave His only begotten Son. Christ was already His Son before coming to this earth.

Where in the Bible does it say that the one God is three persons?

IT IS TIME TO REPENT!

Think . . .Why were there pagan Trinities but none in Israel?

“God is one” (Deut.6:4) – not three.

“One God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph.4:6).

“the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph.1:3).

I challenge any Trinitarian to show me the love of the Father in their Trinitarian philosophy.

I repeat: “An ounce of inspiration is better than tons of speculation”.

“Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chron. 20:20).

Ask yourselves, which Bible writer ever taught or ever articulated such an idea that God is three persons? Every Bible scholar knows that the entire concept was formulated between 325 AD and 381 AD during the period of apostasy that started with Emperor Constantine.

It is time to repent!

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

Many people speak loosely of the ‘omega of apostasy’ without realizing that the term ‘omega’ was used by Ellen G. White in relation to a particular change of doctrine that would be embraced within the church on account of which the earlier foundation would be rejected.  The following statements speak for themselves.

FOUNDATIONS OF SDA FAITH – LET THE PROPHET SPEAK

“Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Elder Hiram Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure… When they came to the point in their study where they said, ‘We can do nothing more,’ the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me.” (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages Vol. 1, p. 206.)

In 1904, Ellen White writes, “For the past 50 years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us… Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayer, study, and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord.” (Special Testimonies, Series B #2, p. 59)

She also said in 1905: “the past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after the passing of the time. . . . Not a word is changed or denied.  That which the Holy Spirit testified to as truth after the passing of the time, in our great disappointment, is the solid foundation of truth.  Pillars of truth were revealed, and we accepted the foundation principles that have made us what we are – Seventh-day Adventists, keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus.” – Ellen G. White, Special Testimonies Series B, – 57, Sanitarium, Cal., Dec. 4, 1905.

SCHEME TO CHANGE THE FAITH

“In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.  (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp. 49, 50)  {1SM 200.2}19

“”Living Temple” contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, p53)  {1SM 203}20

“The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, p53)  {1SM 203} 21

“In a vision of the night I was shown distinctly that these sentiments have been looked upon by some as the grand truths that are to be brought in and made prominent at the present time. I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers,– the truths of the Word of God. Some one high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, “Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Masterworker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action.

The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.”  (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp 54, 55)  {1SM 204}22

These statements were made around the year 1904.  Therefore, the points of truth to which reference has been made (“the last fifty years”) would largely have been those that were held within the period 1854 to 1904 and articulated in the statements of faith of 1874, 1889 and 1894.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

1. When people were being warned not to engage in any controversy concerning the presence and personality of God, considering the error that was seeking to intrude, what was then the accepted belief in the church concerning the nature and personality of God? Was it a Trinitarian view?  The answer is no.  Therefore, she was not urging that the then accepted position be changed.  Quite the opposite, she was cautioning against an attempt to change it.
2. The “alpha of deadly heresies” was being resisted and it had to do with the presence and personality of God. She said, “the omega would follow in a little while” and “will be received”.  What doctrine, that had to do with the presence and personality of God, was “received” by the church “in a little while” after the statement was made in 1904?  There is only one doctrine that fits the description – the Trinity doctrine.  In 1931, after the prophet had died, the first Trinitarian statement of faith was published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1931Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination (Washington, D.C.: R&H 1931, p. 377), 23 which marked a distinct shift from all others that were previously published.
3. She further indicated what would be the result of the acceptance of that particular heresy: “The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error” ; “A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced” ; people would “deny the past experience of the people of God” and this would result in “giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith”. Which other doctrine but the Trinity doctrine fits the description?  The acceptance of the Trinity is the only major change of doctrine that has occurred within the Seventh-day Adventist church since the pioneers fell asleep.  Other changes have taken place, but not on a scale such that a doctrine which the pioneers actively campaigned against, as a pagan and papal heresy, becomes accepted as truth, and on account of which the pioneers are being discredited. So significant is the change that George Knight, Andrews University Seminary Professor said: “Most of the founders of Seventh-day Adventism would not be able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the denomination’s Fundamental Beliefs.  More specifically, most would not be able to agree to belief number 2, which deals with the doctrine of the trinity.” (Ministry, October 1993, p. 10)
4. “The Fundamental Principles of Seventh Day Adventists”, as upheld by the SDA Pioneers, was presented in the 1889 Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1889.pdf). This reflects the defining Statement of Beliefs of the Seventh Day Adventist Church from 1888 to 1930. These beliefs reflect what Ellen White, James White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church as an organization advocated and believed up until 1930, 15 years after the death of Ellen White.  In the 1889 Yearbook, E. G. White is even listed as one of the Ministers along with several other notable pioneers. Some of them, such as James White, Joseph Bates and J. N. Andrews had already passed off the scene.
5. There was no formal declaration that whereas the church previously held a non-trinitarian position it was now adopting the Trinity as official belief. This was not formally done until 1980 when the 27 Fundamental Beliefs were adopted en bloc without any focussed discussion on whether the church should change its belief.

HIERARCHY IN HEAVEN – A DIRECT REVELATION

It is clear, from the report of the vision, as given by Ellen G. White that there was a hierarchy in heaven in which God, the Father was supreme and regarded as the Sovereign, His Son, Jesus Christ was next and then Lucifer was third.  Lucifer was a created being while Jesus Christ was Divine, being of the same nature as God, the Father.  One might query whether the omission of any mention of a third divine being necessarily precludes the existence of such a person.  In this case, it is more than mere omission that is evident in the report, it is a definite exclusion.  When Christ, for example is referred to as the “only being” that could enter into the counsels and purposes of God, there is a definite exclusion of any other being.

In other places where the same vision was reported, the idea is the same, for example, in the Story of Redemption it is reported as follows:

“Lucifer in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son…. Christ, God’s dear Son, had the pre­eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created.  Lucifer was envious of Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone.

The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son…. The Father then made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ His Son, should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested with authority to command the heavenly host.” (Ellen G. White, the Story of Redemption, p.13.)

NEW BELIEF IN THE TRINITY REJECTS THE MOST NOTABLE PIONEERS

The SDA church has since embraced the Trinity, citing statements by Ellen G. White concerning a three-person Godhead as a primary basis for doing so.  In that view, the Father is not inherently the Supreme Being; He is simply a co-equal among three Persons.  The representation of the Father as Supreme, by that view, should only be understood as an arrangement based on assumed roles.  Jesus is represented as Sovereign who obeys no one.  And the Holy Spirit is represented as a co-equal Divine Being who is as much entitled to be worshipped as the Father Himself. That perspective is contrary to Scripture and contrary to direct revelations in the Spirit of Prophecy.  The question is now being asked, where is the vision to back up the change?  Further, by what authority has a view of God, that was backed up by vision given more than once, been changed to a concept that was once labelled as pagan and unscriptural by the founders of a movement that God raised up, as attested to by prophecy (Dan. 8:14)?

There is nowhere in the Bible that says God is three-in-one or triune.  This concept is at best an assumption, yet it is stated in most church creeds as a required belief, even while many of the churches claim sola scriptura – the Bible, and the Bible alone.  Where did that belief come from?  – From Paganism, and brought into Christianity by Rome through a series of deliberations starting at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.  The Jews had no such concept of God but the pagans around them did.  The early Apostles had no such concept, but the pagans around them did.  The early Adventist pioneers had no such concept but the churches around them did.

Historic Seventh-day Adventism rejected the Trinity as being unscriptural and pagan in origin.  A sample of the view that was taken by the historic Seventh-day Adventists is seen in the following answer that was given in a Review article by J. N. Loughborough to the question, “What serious objection is there to the doctrine of the Trinity?”  The answer was:

“There are many objections which we might urge, but on account of our limited space we shall reduce them to the three following:  1. It is contrary to common sense.  2. It is contrary to scripture.  3. Its origin is pagan and fabulous.” (J. N. Loughborough, Review and Herald, Nov. 5, 1861).

Other pioneers spoke similarly, as follows:

“The greatest fault we find in the Reformation is, the Reformers stopped reforming.  Had they gone on, and onward, till they had left the last vestige of Papacy behind, such as natural immortality, sprinkling, the trinity, and Sunday-keeping, the church would now be free from her unscriptural errors.” (James White, Review & Herald, Feb. 7, 1856).

“The doctrine of the Trinity was established in the church by the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325.  This doctrine destroys the personality of God, and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (J. N. Andrews, Review & Herald, March 6, 1855).

Some scholars today question the scholastic acumen of the early pioneers.  But I would challenge them to show me a scholar today who was as gifted as J. N. Andrews, who also clearly rejected the Trinity.  James White was not only the husband of the prophet Ellen G. White, but the one who above all others could have been viewed as “the Apostle Paul” of early Seventh-day Adventism.  Ellen G. White herself never once used that expression to describe God; and she remained a faithful member of the church during her entire lifetime during which the SDA Church held a non-trinitarian view of God, as was upheld by the other SDA Pioneers and as was reflected in “The Fundamental Principles of Seventh Day Adventists”, published in the 1889 Yearbook of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

ROMAN EDICT TO PERSECUTE THOSE WHO REJECT THE TRINITY

In contrast to the Jews, the early Apostles and the Seventh-day Adventist Pioneers who did not hold a Trinity concept of God, the Roman emperors, who had a tradition of persecuting Christians, made the Trinity their basis for continuing to persecute God’s people. These pagan emperors, who claimed to have accepted Christianity, showed their lack of conversion by continuing to persecute those who did not accept the form of Christianity that they claimed to have embraced. The form of Christianity that they embraced was identified by belief in the Trinity – and this they made a standard requirement for all who fell within their dominion. As declared in the Edict of Thessalonica, all who rejected the Trinity were to be persecuted; and history bears record of the fact that faithful Christians were driven into the wilderness and into the desolate parts of the world, fleeing from persecution, because they refused to accept the Trinity.

The Edict of Thessalonica was issued in 380 AD by the three reigning emperors of Rome, and gave the formal declaration that belief in the Trinity defines who is Catholic and authorized persecution of all those who did not believe in the Trinity. The Edict was as follows:

“EMPERORS GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS AUGUSTI. EDICT TO THE PEOPLE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.

GIVEN IN THESSALONICA ON THE THIRD DAY FROM THE CALENDS OF MARCH, DURING THE FIFTH CONSULATE OF GRATIAN AUGUSTUS AND FIRST OF THEODOSIUS AUGUSTUS

CODEX THEODOSIANUS, XVI.1.2”

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica, retrieved July 21, 2019).

If for no other reason, certainly the history of the Trinity doctrine, as an instrument of persecution of God’s faithful people who had to flee into the wilderness and remain there for 1260 years, as was prophesied (Rev. 12:6, 14), should be enough reason to cause any sincere Christian to reconsider whether the Trinity concept is of God. Instead, we are hearing such superficial queries as to whether everything that is practiced or believed by Rome is wrong; and whether the pioneers were beyond being in error. At the very minimum, it is hardly likely that the persecutors of God’s people would have been more enlightened to the truth about God than the people that God Himself had raised up.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

The Bible teaches that there are three powers in heaven: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it did not say that together, they are the one true God, or that they are co-equal. The concept of God as a Trinity has been prevalent in pagan religions and cultures but entirely absent from the religion of ancient Israel, the apostolic religion and even the religion of Seventh-day Adventist pioneers such as James White, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, J. N. Loughborough, J. H. Waggoner, and others. It is a well-established fact of history that the concept of God being a Trinity was first formulated within Christianity after the Council of Nicea (325 AD) and was gradually refined and adopted by the Council of Constantinople (381 AD).

The Seventh-day Adventist church now requires that persons wishing to become members make a vow to believe in “one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons.” whereas the Bible does not explicitly teach that. The previous vow that persons took prior to 1980 was belief in “God the Father, in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit”, which the Bible clearly teaches. The church has not allowed views like those of the pioneers to be expressed in the church and has disfellowshipped or sidelined those who hold similar beliefs as the pioneers on this matter.  The church then accuses those very persons whom they forced out of the church and who then operate outside of the church, of causing division or calling people out of the church.  Is that fair? Or is it a repeat of Ahab’s accusation against Elijah?

A few of the popular arguments for the Trinity are now addressed below.

1. Assertion: SDA pioneers only objected to the Catholic version of the Trinity.

Response: The pioneers of Seventh-day Adventism fully understood the doctrine of the Trinity and rejected it as error.  Later, some persons such as John Harvey Kellogg and S. N. Haskel spoke favourably of the Trinity but earlier pioneers who Ellen White described as laying the foundations of our faith consistently objected to the Trinity. There is a common definition of the Trinity that is shared by all Trinitarians, whether Catholic or otherwise, even though explained differently by various bodies.  This definition as given in the dictionary is that the one God of scripture is three co-equal persons. The SDA Church expresses its trinitarian belief that “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons.” (SDA Fundamental Beliefs number 2).  The definition of who is Catholic, as given in the Edict of Thessalonica expresses the same idea as follows: “let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics” (Edict of Thessalonica issued 380 AD).  This definition of who is Catholic and who is heretic was used as the basis for persecuting God’s people during the dark ages and continues to define what is considered Christian orthodoxy by the World Council of Churches (WCC).  The Basis of the WCC speaks of “one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” (Basis of the WCC, adopted by the Third Assembly (New Delhi 1961).  The Bible teaches otherwise, as Jesus, in praying, stated that the one true God is His Father – “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3).

• Assertion: The Hebrew word for “one” that describes God really means “united”.

Response: The Bible says that God is one (echad).  The word echad is the first counting number in Hebrew, as with the numeral one.  In other places of the Bible God is described using similar words such as “only” (quoted above in Jesus’s prayer), “none else”, “no other”, “He”, “none like me”.  The Jews themselves, in whose language the word echad is used to describe God, understood it to mean one individual.  The one God (one supreme Being) of the Bible is Jesus’s Father – “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:14, 15).  The Father has no co-equals. He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Tim. 6:15, 16). There aren’t three supreme beings, only One. All other beings are subject to Him. Another word that Trinitarians appeal to is Elohim, where God (Elohim) said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).  They assume that God (Elohim) is three persons.  The Bible does not say that.  Ellen White explains, “I saw that when God said to his SON, Let us make man in our image, Satan was jealous of JESUS.” (Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, pp. 17, 18).  God (the Father of Christ) was speaking to His Son only.  His Son is “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3).  Ellen White speaks again explicitly in the following words: “The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate – a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes”. “Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father – one in nature, in character, in purpose – the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” (E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34).

• Assertion: Jesus is co-equal with the Father.

Response: Jesus never claimed full equality with God, His Father, at any point in His existence – neither before He came to earth, during his time on earth, nor after.  Before He came to earth, His Father anointed and appointed Him – “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” (Heb. 1:9). See also verse 2 – “His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things” (Heb.1:2). While He was on earth, He said “my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). After sin is finished, He will still be subject to His Father – “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28).

• Assertion: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father.

Response: The Bible does not speak anywhere of a third God-Being who has the image or likeness of God or “the similitude of God.” (James 3:9).  There is no denying that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost is a person – only not a God-being to be worshipped. Like the Angel of Revelation 18, the Comforter carries out a work of worldwide extent and is aided by other heavenly beings.  Ellen G. White describing the latter rain speaks of a mighty angel from heaven being sent to do this work and further said, “Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven” (Ellen. G. White, Story of Redemption, p. 399).  The language of John 14-16 speaks of someone whom Jesus would ask the Father to send.  That Person would not speak of himself but would speak only what He hears and would bring back to the minds of the disciples the things that Jesus would have told them – “he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak” (John 16:13).  The three powers of heaven are God, Christ, and holy spirits (angels).  There are many such references; for example: “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things” (1 Tim. 5:21).  These are the same ones who were present at the creation – “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? …. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).  Again, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ” (Rev.1:4, 5). These seven spirits are later described as “seven lamps of fire” (Rev. 4:5) and as “the seven angels which stood before God” (Rev. 8:2).  This is consistent with the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma that are translated in the Bible as spirit. These words are also translated spirits, thus indicating that the Holy Spirit need not be seen as one individual being who is omnipresent but many spirit beings representing God everywhere.

• Assertion: Ellen White led the church into a Trinitarian understanding of God. 

Response: Ellen White never used the term Trinity to describe God.  She spoke of three persons of the godhead, which is consistent with the view expressed here that the Holy Spirit is a person, just not someone co-equal with God or to be worshipped.  Regarding Ellen White’s statement that “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived” (Desire of Ages, p. 530), the full statement shows that it is not Jesus Himself that is being described, but rather, life – which Jesus has and is able to impart.  Here is the full statement as it was originally published in Signs of the Times: “In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived.  This life is not inherent in man.  He can possess it only through Christ.”  (The Signs of the Times, April 8, 1897; also Selected Messages, vol. 1, pp. 296, 297).  Being described is the nature and quality of this life and not the origin of it.   Original – not a pattern or copy, but something genuine, authentic.  Unborrowed – does not have to be returned.  Underived – not being drawn from a source; He has it in Himself.   How He came in possession of it?  It was given to Him by His Father. Jesus said: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26).

The Trinity denies the most fundamental truth of the gospel that God loved us to the point of giving His only begotten Son to die for us (John 3:16).  It was not an eternal God who cannot die, but the literal Son of God who did die and was raised from the dead by His Father (Gal.1:1).

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

There is a stalemate between SDA Trinitarians (modern Adventists) and SDA Non-Trinitarians (which includes the Pioneers such as James White, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews and others). Trinitarians say that the one God of scripture is three persons. But the Non-Trinitarians say that there is no place in the Bible that teaches that – and they are correct on that point. On the other hand, many modern SDA Non-Trinitarians are saying that the Holy Spirit is not a person separate from Christ – unlike the Pioneers who saw the Holy Spirit as Christ’s Representative. But SDA Trinitarians object to this and insist that the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter, appeared separate from Jesus at His baptism, and speaks, can be grieved, and persons cannot blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and be forgiven, unlike the case with Jesus – and in this, they are perfectly correct. So, how can the two camps be reconciled? It is by recognizing who the three powers of heaven are.

The Three Powers

The three powers of heaven are God, Christ, and angels (ie. Father, Son and holy spirits). The Bible teaches that God is the Father of Christ, while it describes angels as ministering spirits – “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb.1:14). This is consistent with the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma that are translated in the Bible as spirit. These words are also translated spirits, thus indicating that the Holy Spirit need not be seen, in every case, as one individual being but as many spirit beings representing God everywhere.

There are many references to the three powers in scripture, without mention of any other; for example: “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things” (1 Tim. 5:21). Also, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26). These are the same ones who were present at the creation – “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? …. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).  Again, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ” (Rev.1:4, 5). The seven spirits are later described as “seven lamps of fire” (Rev. 4:5) and as “the seven angels which stood before God” (Rev. 8:2). Even in the process by which Revelation was given to John on the Isle of Patmos, the same powers are mentioned with the order of precedence clearly given – God gave to Christ, and Christ gave to His angel to give to John: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1).

The heavens declare the glory of God – sun, moon and stars are like object lessons that teach us about the three powers of heaven – God, Christ and the angels. The Father dwells in light that no man can approach unto (like the sun), while Jesus is glorious but can be seen, reflecting His Father’s glory (like the moon reflecting the glory of the sun); and of course, the angels (stars) as smaller lights that are glorious but insignificant when compared to the sun and the moon.

Holy Spirit the Comforter

The Bible uses the term “Spirit” in multiple ways. It is used in some cases to refer to a person’s inner being or mind, for example, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). But it also uses the term “Spirit” to refer to spirit-beings such as angels – “Are they not all ministering spirits”? (Heb. 1:14). Even God the Father, Himself is referred to as a “Spirit” – “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23,24).

Nowhere in scripture is there a notion that the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is someone to be worshipped, as we would worship God and Christ. Neither do the scriptures teach anywhere that God, the Father, is only one-third of a three-part God. He is above all.

From this perspective, there is no denying that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost is a person – only not a God-being to be worshipped. Like the Angel of Revelation 18 who comes down from heaven with the latter rain – a similar occurrence as that which took place at Pentecost except more extensive – the Comforter would be seen as a messenger sent by Christ from heaven, as stated repeatedly in John 14-16. Ellen G. White describing the latter rain speaks of a mighty angel from heaven being sent to do this work and further said, “Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven”(Ellen. G. White, Story of Redemption, p. 399).

Lamb’s Father the Almighty

Nowhere in the Bible is worship given to anyone else except the one seated on the throne who is referred to as “LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev.4:8) and to Christ, the Lamb, as it will be in the new earth – “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” (Rev. 21:22). God is the Father of Christ. Accordingly, Christ, the Lamb is seen with “an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). It is the name of the Lamb’s Father that will be written in their foreheads.

Body and Spirit Makes the Person

A part of the confusion that both camps have is their failure to appreciate that body and spirit makes the person; and man was made in the image of God – “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7).The spirit is like the inner programming – the database of information that is uniquely you, along with the ‘electricity’ or life force to power it. God and Christ likewise have body and spirit, which, together, make them living Beings

The world is moving towards the creation of humanoid robots. It is a similar concept – an appropriately constructed body with inner programming and a source of electicity to power it. When you die, the ‘electricity’ or life force runs out, the spirit or inner programming goes back to God, who preserves it, and the body goes back to the elements – “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Eccl. 12:7). At the resurrection  a new ‘battery’ so to speak (life) is put into a new body with the same original programming that is uniquely you.

The difference between us and Christ is that Christ has a spirit like His Father, while He has a body like us – so, in that sense, He is both God and man. Before the incarnation, Christ had a glorious celestial body, which He laid aside. The Bible is clear, that in becoming human, Christ – the spirit being who pre-existed with the Father, the only other person who has a God-spirit fully, like the Father – took on a human body after putting off His celestial body, which was similar but not identical to the Father’s celestial body (Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Cor. 15:39-49). In putting off His celestial body, Christ effectively died from the foundation of the world – since the body without the spirit is dead (Rev. 13:8; James 2:26). His entire existence was now in the hands of His Father, who gave Him a human body (Heb. 10:5) – making Him alive again, as a human, but still retaining His God-spirit. The reverse took place when He died, as a human, and was made alive again at the resurrection with a glorified human body. On the cross, He committed the keeping of His spirit to His Father (Luke 23:46) and it was His Father who afterward raised Him from the dead (Gal. 1:1).

Summary

In summary, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter is Christ’s representative, sent to us from the Father, aided by other ministering spirits, to comfort and minister to us till Christ returns. Another similar representative, the Angel of Revelation 18 will come to dispense spiritual gifts on a scale far more extensive than was done at Pentecost. These representatives and ministering spirits should not be confused with the spirit that dwells in us, which is the mind of God, through His word and manifested in the exercise of God’s power.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

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The following excerpt was published by James White in 1854 while he was Editor of the Review and Herald periodical. It leads one to question which is better – being presumptuous as to arrogate to oneself the prerogative of changing what God says or being dishonest enough to claim that God said what He did not say?

Here is the excerpt, which the Editor reproduced from the Catholic Doctrinal Catechism, in which Rome refutes the Protestants’ claim that they are following the Bible:

“Q. Have you any other proofs that they are not guided by the Scriptures?

” A. Yes; so many that we cannot admit more than a mere specimen into this small work. They reject much that is clearly contained in scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine Book.

“Q. Give some examples of both?

“A. They should, if the Scripture were their only rule, wash the feet of one another, according to the command of Christ, in the 13th chap. of St. John; – they should keep, not the Sunday, but the Saturday, according to the commandment, ‘Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath-day;’ for this commandment has not, in Scripture, been changed or abrogated.

“Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

“A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; – she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.

“Q. Do you observe other necessary truths as taught by the Church, not clearly laid down in Scripture?

“A. The doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine the knowledge of which is certainly necessary to salvation, is not explicitly and evidently laid down in Scripture, in the Protestant sense of private interpretation.”

– The Review and Herald, August 22, 1854

In a series of articles published in the Catholic Mirror periodical, the Roman Catholics challenged the Protestants to show from the Bible that we should observe Sunday. They made it clear that there is no such teaching in the Bible; and that it was the Roman Catholic Church that made the change. So, Protestants who claim that the Bible teaches that are peddling lies. The Catholics even published a little poem in that series mocking the Protestants as follows:

“Halting on crutches of unequal size, one leg supported by truth, the other by lies.

Thus sidled to the goal at awkward pace, secure of nothing but to lose the race”

This poem is very profound because, if indeed the race referred to is the same race of which the Bible tells us to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1), the implication is that losing the race means not making it to the kingdom. Indeed, the Bible is clear that no liars will be in the kingdom. So, peddling lies is no small matter. But is being presumptuous as to claim the authority to change what God has said any better?

So what are the lies that are being peddled? One is that the Bible teaches the observance of Sunday. To this, Sunday-keeping Protestants stand accused, because there are only eight places where the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament, and in none of these places there is any mention of the first day of the week, Sunday, being made a day to be observed.

What is the other lie? The other lie is that the Bible teaches that the one God is aTrinity. In this, most of Protestantism stands accused, including Seventh-day  Sabbath-keepers who claim that the Bible teaches that. Indeed, there is no record that anyone in the Bible ever conceived of such a notion. The notion that the one God of Scripture is three persons was only formulated between the Council of Nicea in 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. Every Bible scholar knows that. So, why are they claiming that the Bible teaches it? They know full well that there is nowhere in the Bible that says the one God is three persons. Yet, they insist that in order to be a member of their church, individuals must take an unscriptural vow and profess belief in one God, a unity of three co-eternal persons – something that the Bible does not teach; and which no Bible writer believed or articulated.

So, who is better, the one who is honest enough to declare that the Bible does not teach either Sunday observance or that the one God is a Trinity but who is presumptuous enough to claim that they have the authority to change what God said by instituting these beliefs, or the one who is barefaced enough to claim that the Bible teaches Sunday observance or that it teaches that the one true God is a Trinity, whereas the Bible does no such thing?

For those who care to know, the Bible is clear that the one true God is the Father of Christ. Jesus said it in His prayer to His Father. He said: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3). It is clear that we must worship God and Christ. But what authority do Trinitarians have to worship a third person? It is time to repent.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

– Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:6)

The three powers of heaven are God, Christ, and angels (ie. Father, Son and holy spirits). There are many references to the three powers in scripture, without mention of any other; for example: “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things” (1 Tim. 5:21). Also, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26). These are the same ones who were present at the creation – “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? …. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7). Again, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne” (Rev.1:4). These seven spirits are later described as “seven lamps of fire” (Rev. 4:5) and as “the seven angels which stood before God” (Rev. 8:2).

Even in the process by which Revelation was given to John on the Isle of Patmos, the same powers are mentioned with the order of precedence clearly given – God gave to Christ, and Christ gave to His angel to give to John: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1).

The Heavens Declare – Object Lesson in the Skies

Ellen White described sun, moon and stars as the “three powers of heaven”. That is also correct. We recall that there are three heavens – the atmospheric heaven, the starry heaven and the heaven of heavens where God dwells. The three powers of the starry heaven are the sun, moon and stars. The heavens declare the glory of God. So, we see in the starry heaven, an object lesson about the three powers of the heaven of heavens – God, Christ and the angels. The Father dwells in light that no man can approach unto (like the sun), while Jesus is glorious but can be seen, reflecting His Father’s glory (like the moon reflecting the glory of the sun); and of course, the angels (stars) as smaller lights that are glorious but insignificant when compared to the sun and the moon.

Holy Spirit Both Person and Power

The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, as a Person – He speaks, He can be grieved, He is sent, He is separate from Jesus, as seen when Jesus was in the water and the Holy Spirit appeared separately as a dove etc. – all scriptural; but many people add to the scriptures by saying that He is co-equal with the Father and should be worshipped – totally unscriptural.

The Bible uses the term “Spirit” in multiple ways. It is used in some cases to refer to a person’s inner being or mind, for example, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). But it also uses the term “Spirit” to refer to spirit-beings such as angels – “Are they not all ministering spirits”? (Heb. 1:14). Even God the Father, Himself is referred to as a “Spirit” – “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23,24).

The Statement of Fundamental Principles published in the 1889 Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook refers to the Holy Spirit as Christ’s “Representative”. Neither in scripture nor among the pioneers was there a notion that the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is someone to be worshipped, as we would worship God and Christ. Neither does the scripture teach anywhere that God, the Father, is only one-third of a three-part God. He is above all.

The Bible describes angels as ministering spirits – “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb.1:14). This is consistent with the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma that are translated in the Bible as spirit. These words are also translated spirits, thus indicating that the Holy Spirit need not be seen, in every case, as one individual being but as many spirit beings representing God everywhere.

Holy Spirit, The Comforter, a Person

From this perspective, there is no denying that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost is a person – only not a God-being to be worshipped. Like the Angel of Revelation 18 who comes down from heaven with the latter rain – a similar occurrence as that which took place at Pentecost except more extensive – the Comforter would be seen as a messenger sent by Christ from heaven, as stated repeatedly in John 14-16. Ellen G. White describing the latter rain speaks of a mighty angel from heaven being sent to do this work and further said, “Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven” (Ellen. G. White, Story of Redemption, p. 399).

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

It should be noted that Jesus’s warning against blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is not implying that the Holy Spirit is more to be revered than Jesus Himself. Jesus went back to heaven and promises to return to this earth to take us to His Father’s house in heaven. He left the Holy Spirit to guide us until He returns. If we reject that guidance by blasheming against the Holy Spirit, there will be nobody to guide us. The situation is similar to what God told the children of Israel in the wilderness – “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.” (Ex. 23:20, 21). It is simply warning us not to reject the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It is not forbidding us seeking to understand who the Holy Spirit is or what the Holy Spirit does.

God and Christ Alone Worshipped

Nowhere in the Bible is worship given to anyone else except the one seated on the throne who is referred to as “LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev.4:8) and to the Christ, the Lamb, as it will be in the new earth – “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” (Rev. 21:22). God is the Father of Christ. Accordingly, Christ, the Lamb is seen with “an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). It is the name of the Lamb’s Father that will be written in their foreheads.

Christ’s Representative

In summary, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter is Christ’s representative, sent to us from the Father, aided by other ministering spirits, to comfort and minister to us till Christ returns. Another similar representative, the Angel of Revelation 18 will come to dispense spiritual gifts on a scale far more extensive than was done at Pentecost. These representatives and ministering spirits should not be confused with the spirit that dwells in us, which is the mind of God, through His word and manifested in the exercise of God’s power.