Seventh Day Adventists and the Sabbath

The Seventh Day Adventist Church does not have its foundation in the Bible for it did not come into existence until the mid 1800’s.  It began under the misguided leadership of William Miller.  Mr. Miller was proven to be a false prophet when he predicted the end of the world in 1843 and again in 1844 (Deuteronomy 18:22; Matthew 24: 36).  When his prophecies failed, William Miller disappeared from the religious scene.

James White and his wife, Ellen G. White, became the leaders of Miller’s movement.  They added additional doctrines to those taught by Miller.  The Seventh Day Adventist Church was formally organized in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA in 1863. 

Ellen G. White claimed to be inspired by God.  She claimed God gave her visions and revelations (she suffered from hallucinations as a result of a childhood accident).  In 1847, Mrs. White claimed she had a vision in which she was taken up into Heaven.  She said the ten commandments were shown to her.  The fourth commandment (“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy”) had a bright light around it, according to her.  She said this meant that keeping the sabbath (Saturday, the seventh day of the week) was required of all people.

In  an effort to  prove that we are to keep the sabbath today, Seventh Day Adventists say there are two laws in the Old Testament.

1. the Law of God - the ten commandments; 
2. the Law of Moses - the ceremonial law. 

They further claim that only the Law of Moses was done away when Christ died on the cross.  The Law of God (ten commandments), which includes the command to “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy,” was not done away, Adventists say.  They teach it is still binding upon all people today. 

This Adventist view of the Law is a plain contradiction of Bible teaching!  The New Testament teaches that we today are under no part of the Old Testament (Romans 7:1-7; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Galatians 3:24-25; Ephesians 2:13-16; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 7:12; Hebrews 8:7).

The  Bible also clearly teaches that the “Law of God” and the “Law of Moses” refer to the same law (Nehemiah 8:1, Nehemiah 8:18; Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:12; Luke 2:22-23).  When Jesus did away with the Law of Moses, He did away with the Old Testament Law of God for the two are the same.  The Bible also clearly teaches that Christians are to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2; Revelation 1:10).

Following are seven reasons people today are not bound to keep the sabbath (Saturday): 

(1) In 2 Corinthians 3, a comparison of terms is used  to contrast “that which is abolished” (verse 13)  and  “passing away” (verses 7,11,14) with that which “remains” (verse 11).

The ten commandments are included in the list of those things which were abolished/ done away with!

(2) The letter to the Galatians was written to warn of false teachers who were trying to take away the freedom which Christians have in Jesus Christ.  They wanted to bring them into slavery to the Law of Moses (Galatians 2:4; Galatians 5:1).  The Law of Moses was given 450 years after God’s promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:17).  The Law  of  Moses, which included the ten commandments, was given until the “Seed” (Christ) should  come (Galatians 3:19).  The Law of Moses was a “tutor” to bring us to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24-25).  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (The Law of Moses).

(3) In Romans 7, the apostle Paul says that Christians are “dead to the law” (Romans 7:4).  He also says that we have been “delivered from the law” (verse 6).  The law we are dead to said “You shall not covet” (verse 7).  Since this is one of the ten commandments, this means the law we are dead to and discharged from is the law which contained the ten commandments.  The tenth commandment is: “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17).

(4) Jeremiah 31:31-34 is a prophecy regarding the Law which included the ten commandments: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the  hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt....”  In Hebrews 8:8-13, we see the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy. The covenant that God made with Israel and Judah when He led them out of Egypt was the Law given at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20).

It included the ten commandments. The writer of Hebrews says: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second” (Herbrews 8:7). Please note also that the sabbath was made known at Sinai, not at the creation as the Adventists argue (Nehemiah 9:13-14).

(5) Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae that “the handwriting of requirements (a direct reference to the ten commandments)  that  was  against us,  which was contrary to us”  He has “taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

(6) After Paul had told the Christians in Colossae that the “handwriting of requirements” was nailed to the cross, he instructed them: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon  or sabbaths, which  are  a  shadow  of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).  These passages clearly teach that the sabbath is not binding today, nor has it ever been binding on Christians.  It was only for the people of Israel before Christ died on the cross.

(7) It is wrong to go to the Old Testament to support a doctrine when we clearly live under the New Testament today,  In fact, Paul said those who seek to be justified by the Old Law are “estranged from Christ, and have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

Seventh Day Adventists also forbid the eating of certain foods.  This is a clear violation of 1 Timothy 4:1-5 which teaches that all foods are good to eat if they are received with thanksgiving.  Too, they teach the false doctrine called “soul sleeping” which is contrary to the Lord’s teaching in Luke 16:19-31.  In addition to these other false doctrines, they deny eternal punishment, but the Bible clearly teaches it (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 25:46).

The church of the Bible was established by Jesus Christ, not Ellen G. White (Matthew 16:18).  It began in Jerusalem, not Battle Creek, Michigan (Acts 2)!  It was established in 33 AD, not in 1863.  The church of the Bible is known as “the churches of Christ” not “the Seventh Day Adventist Church” (Romans 16:16).  Which one then is from God?

There were many Christians long before Ellen G. White claimed to have her revelations from God.  There has never been a need for anything but the Gospel to save us from our sins (Romans 1:16).  Long before Ellen G. White was born, the apostle Peter wrote that God had given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).  We do not need Ellen G. White, or any of her so called revelations, to be saved.  Nor do we need the Seventh Day Adventist Church.   We can obey the simple Gospel which was preached in the first century and be added by the Lord to the church which He Himself built (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:36-47). 

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