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Jesus Himself said of Lazarus and the rich man, “So when the [sincerely believing] beggar died, he was carried by the angels to [the spiritually alive] Abraham’s bosom. The rich [religious, but disobedient and spiritually dead] man also died and was buried. And being tortured in [hell,] he lifted up his eyes and saw… Lazarus [in heaven.] Then he cried… ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame…” - Lu. 16:19-31.
ARE WE TO MAKE JESUS CHRIST A LIAR, THEN, BY BELIEVING that there is no eternal punishment, nor salvation on the other side of the grave? WHAT THEN, IS THE USE OF OUR DILIGENT RELIGIOUS WORKS AND OBSERVANCES? ‘For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raise up Christ, Whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise... Then your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.’ - 1 Cor. 15:12-19.
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ELLEN WHITE TAUGHT JESUS IS MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL and MICHAEL IS JESUS This is another prominent dogma of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, Hebrews chapters 1 & 2 unmistakably describe Who Jesus Is, and tell us that the angels are Jesus’ servants: mighty spirits, or supernatural beings whom He Himself had created. The meaning of “He became so much better than the angels…” does NOT mean that Jesus was or ever will be an angel. Jesus “became so much better than the angels,” not because He is the archangel Michael or because Michael is Jesus, as White alleges, but because on God’s creation-scale, angels were created as higher beings than human beings. For the purpose of atoning for all of humankind’s sin in FULL, Jesus, Who is God Himself, was ‘begotten,’ (not created,) as a mere man in a human body. So, “for a little while,” while the fully human, but still fully God Jesus was on earth, He became, as a human being, “a little lower than the angels…” so that He might taste death in the place of EVERY [human being,] “and was again exulted far above the angels when He ascended on high,” (Heb. 2:9-18.) Nevertheless, White made the human man Jesus Christ into some divine god-angel-man called “Michael the Archangel,” while transforming God’s created creature Michael into Jesus God Himself. Adventists even substituted verses in the King James Bible to reflect this teaching in their Clear Word bible. For example: Jude 1:9, King James Version, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation but said, The Lord rebuke three.” SDA Clear Word Version, “In contrast to these ungodly men is the Lord Jesus Christ, also called Michael, the archangel in charge of the entire angelic host. When He was challenged by Satan about his intention to resurrect Moses, He didn’t come against Satan with a blistering attack nor did he belittle him. He simply said, ‘God rejects your claim to his body.’” However, the TRUE Bible does not support any of these allegations they made in the Clear Word bible. Jesus is God Himself (Col. 2:9) and not Michael the archangel, a created being, (Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 2:9, Heb. 7:1-3, etc.) Moreover, this angelic dispute was not about ‘resurrecting Moses,’ but about where Moses was buried, as God Himself (and not Michael or any other angel) buried Moses “and no one knows his grave to this day,” (Deut. 34:5-6.) The Real Jesus of the Bible IS God Himself Who came in the flesh of a man. Col. 2:9-10 teaches, “In HIM DWELLS [present tense] ALL the fullness of the Godhead [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] bodily, and you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality and power.” Jesus was never an archangel! He is not a god-angel-man! It is interesting to note that Jehovah's Witnesses also teach that Jesus is Michael. However, the writer of Heb. 1:5-14 declared, “For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are my Son, today I have begotten [not created] You [in the form of a human being...] Let all the angels worship [Jesus…] You, [Jesus Creator God,] in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment… but You are the same.” Those in defense of this Michael-turned-Jesus doctrine say that the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist movement, Ellen White in particular, taught trinitarianism as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, Ellen G. White stated, “The man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty, [but Rev. 1:7-8 tells the truth!] yet Christ and the Father are one.” Adventists say, “...She was [not stating that Jesus is not God as some allege, but] that Christ was not God the Father, but rather that he was [note the past tense!] God the Son, co-equal with the Father.” This woman is severely confused between angel worship and the Roman Catholic trinity — while this is the main doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, which they call the “whore!” Still, she never clarified if Jesus the son in the trinity, who is “not” the father in the trinity, is actually Michael the archangel the son in the trinity, or Jesus the mere angel, or a mere angel that became God? Truth is, Jesus Himself is called “Mighty God” in the Old Testament in Isa. 9:6, and “Almighty God” in Rev. 1:7-8, because the Biblical Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Is inseparably One God and does not consist of ‘two separate fathers,’ one ‘mighty’ and the other ‘almighty.’ And no, this is not Pentecostal Oneness or “Jesus Only” doctrine but sound Biblical fact! In reality, the holy spirit of the Roman Catholic trinity is ‘Mother Mary,’ the goddess Sophia or “the wisdom of god,” and Shekinah, the so-called “glory of god!”
ADVENTISM DENIES THE COMPLETE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST AS THE ONLY MEANS OF SALVATION, AS THE WHOLE NEW TESTAMENT TEACHES Ellen White declared, “The ministration of the priest throughout the year in the first apartment of the sanctuary, represents the work of ministration upon which Christ entered at His ascension… For 18 centuries this work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. [Huh? How could she know this while everyone else, the Bible especially, is ignorant of this?] The blood of Christ pleaded on behalf of penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father, yet their sins still remained upon the Books of Record!” [From ‘The Great Controversy,’ Ellen White and ‘Heresies Exposed,’ Irvine.’] Until this ‘progressive atonement’ is completed, there can be no forgiveness for Adventists – yet Jesus declared with His last breath on the cross, “It is finished!” ‘[My work of complete atonement in the place, and for all humanity is done for all eternity!’ Jn. 3:16-17.] Col. 2:13-16, “...Having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirement that was against us… Taken it out of the way… so let no one judge you in food and in drink…” Contrary to the truth of real Biblical Scripture, Ellen denies the complete atonement of Christ on the cross and “judges everyone in food and in drink!” Yet, in God’s infinite grace, He has already warned us against such terrible blunders when Paul said in Col. 2:8-15, “Beware lest anyone cheats you through philosophy and empty deceit… For in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him… (“It is finished!” Jesus cried,) Who is the Head of all principality and power!” In spite of God’s own, unshakable truth, White continued to cover the false prophecies of William Miller. She declared, “As in typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ’s work for redemption of men is completed, there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service which began when the 2,300 days ended [in 1844!] At that time, as foretold by Daniel the prophet, our high priest entered the most holy to perform the last division of his solemn work to cleanse the sanctuary… In the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ, and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary… so the actual cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded. But, before this can be accomplished, there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of His atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore involves a work of investigation – a work, of judgment. Those who followed in the light of the prophetic word [not the light of the truth of real Scripture!] saw that, instead of coming to earth at the termination of the 2,300 days in 1844 as Prophet William Miller had so dogmatically and widely proclaimed, Christ then entered into the most holy place of the heavenly, to perform the closing work of atonement preparatory to His coming.” Liar, liar, pants on eternal fire!
SHOULD WE BELIEVE A DECEIVED HUMAN OR THE WHOLE CONTENT OF GOD-INSPIRED SCRIPTURE? The writer of Heb. 9:12-14 plainly declared, ‘With His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption…. For this reason Jesus Christ [Alone] is the Mediator of the New Covenant… that those [who sincerely believed and followed Him through His Moral Law to prove their Love for God, others, and self] may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance… For Christ has not entered the holy places made with [human] hands… [a material or physical sanctuary,] but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…’ [Jesus is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and He is the Eternal Creator, God, and High Priest forever according to the Order of Melchizedek!]’ (Jn. 13:34; Mt. 22:37-430: Lev. 19:18.) Paul also testified in Eph. 2:8, ‘By grace you have been saved through faith, [past tense for those who sincerely believe in, accepted Christ, and follow Him above all else!] and that not of yourselves, [by keeping some of the precepts of the Law;] it is the gift of God.’ [Read Jn. 1:12-13!) How is it possible that salvation, redemption and blessing can be such entirely free, underserved, unmerited gifts? Jesus’ “doing away with the handwriting of requirements” once and for all, and in full, means He atoned fully for the entire sinful, cursed state, place, or position of humanity without God, (Col. 2:13-15; Gal. 3:10-14; Rom. 3:23-24.) Solely by sincerely accepting Jesus’ full atonement in our place, we are instantly and completely saved and blessed by the grace of God. But once we are saved by faith, we have to become disciples; following closely in the footsteps of the Lord to glorify Him! - [Jn. 1:12-13; Jn. 14:15, 21-24.]
‘SATAN IS THE JOINT SIN-BEARER AND THE VICARIOUS SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SINNER’ WM Irvine wrote, "Adventists further deviate in their salvation doctrine by teaching that Satan ultimately becomes the sin-bearer. They teach he bears away the sins of the world. As the [Old Testament, Hebraic Covenant] priest in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confesses them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin... – [Comments: ‘The Great Controversy’ p. 485,’ Mark Martin; ‘Satan is The Sin Bearer,’ by Bob Pickle; ‘The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, p. 605, by Ellen White.] “While the Adventist Church does point to Christ as A sacrifice, the real scapegoat is supposedly Satan, the author of sin, “upon whom the sins of the truly penitent will finally be placed. When the high priest by virtue of the blood of the sin offering removed the sins from the ‘sanctuary,’ he placed them upon the scapegoat, (Satan.) [That’s why poor old Satan is always blamed for everything! “The devil made me do it!”] Satan will, in the execution of the judgment, bear the final penalty. [That’s why Adventists do not believe in eternal hell, because Satan allegedly takes the punishment for unrepentant sin, not them!] The scapegoat was sent into a land not inhabited, never to return to the congregation of Israel. So will Satan be forever banished from the presence of God and His people and ‘he will be blotted from existence in the final destruction of sin and the sinner.” [Satan is already banished, judged, and he will exist in the eternal fires of hell forever more! Jesus said in Mt. 25:41, “...Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”]
The True ‘scapegoat’ of Lev. 16:22 is a type of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and it foreshadows His finished work on the cross. The writer of Heb. 13:11-13 made this clear when he wrote, ‘[Just as] the bodies of those [sacrificial] animals… were burned outside the camp, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the [city] gate…’ Paul taught in Gal. 3:10-14 and blessing] are under the curse, [the entire state or position of cursedness without Christ, Deut. 28.] ...The law is not of faith… [But] Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us… that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Ellen White founded most of these blasphemous lies on Lev. 23 and the book of Daniel, but Heb. 9:22 declares, ‘Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.’ Would Satan shed one drop of his blood – even if he, as a spiritual being, had blood of his own to give? No, definitely not - but since the fall in Eden, he continually sheds and drinks the blood of others, especially the blood of the weak, defenseless and the innocent! I agree with W.M. Irvin, who declared in holy anger, “They dare to substitute for Christ’s finished work on the cross, Satan’s “vicarious suffering” in bearing away the sins of the people of God into a land of utter annihilation! It does not lessen the blasphemous grossness of the idea to say that it is wholly imaginary, a figment of the imagination of a [grossly deceived] Adventist!”
SDA ATTACKS THE SINLESS HUMANITY OF CHRIST: [“Jesus inherited a fallen, sinful nature.”] Adventists declare in ‘Bible Readings for the Home Circle, p. 115, 1915,’ “In His humanity Christ partook of our sinful, fallen nature. [No, as the most holy God Himself, “in Whom the fullness of the Godhead [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] dwells bodily, Col. 2:9,” Jesus only partook of our fragile human state or ‘flesh,’ and as a complete human, became subject to the pain and brokenness of this fallen dimension, NOT it’s sin!] If not, then He was not ‘made like unto His brethren,’ and ‘in all points tempted as we are,’ did not overcome as we have to overcome, and is therefore not the complete and perfect Savior man needs and must have to be saved. [This sounds so logical, so Biblical – but wait! They are not portraying the truth of Scripture!] The idea that Christ was born of an immaculate or sinless mother, [the false Roman Catholic ‘immaculate’ Mother Mary], inherited no tendencies to sin, and for this reason did not sin, removes Him from the realm of a fallen world, and from the very place where help is needed. In His humanity, Christ inherited just what every child of Adam inherits – a sinful nature. [What? God inheriting a sinful nature? The fallen sin-state of humanity was laid upon Him or “imputed” to Him as a human being at the cross! Gal. 3:10-14.] On the divine side, from His very conception, He was begotten and born of the Spirit. [The Spirit only came upon Him when He rose from the water of the baptism! Jesus wasn’t just ‘born’ of the Spirit; He is and always will be God The Spirit: God Almighty Himself, Rev. 1:7-8!] And all this was done to place mankind on vantage-ground, and to demonstrate that in the same way everyone who is born of the Spirit may gain like victories over sin in his sinful flesh. Thus, each one is to overcome as Christ overcame, (Rev. 3:21.) Without this birth there can be no victory over temptation, and no salvation form sin.” What ‘birth’ is she talking about? Legalistic works cannot bring anyone to the Scriptural ‘birth’ of salvation! There is only one spiritual birth in the Bible: we must all be born again through sincere faith in, and acceptance of the Biblical Christ, Jesus the Son of God, (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5.) And then we must follow Him as His disciples.
The entire crux of New Testament salvation, redemption, and blessing rests upon the certain fact that the human man Jesus was the completely sinless Lamb of God. Thank God that someone proclaimed the truth of real Scripture without hesitation, writing, “Were this teaching of the Adventists true, we would have a monstrosity – sinless Deity inheriting a sinful nature! If this could have been so, there could have been no sinless sacrifice, no hope for sinners, no [true] Savior. And how could it have been written, ‘The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me,’ (Jn. 14:30.) And, ‘IN HIM [Jesus] THERE IS NO SIN,’ (1 Jn. 3:4-5!) If Jesus had ‘sinful flesh,’ (a sin polluted mind) it would have meant that He Himself was in need of a Savior. ‘Likeness of sinful flesh’ would have meant that the Humanity of the Savior was unreal!” Paul explained plainly in 2 Cor. 5:21, “[God the Father sent His Son] JESUS CHRIST, WHO KNEW NO SIN [God Jesus the sinless sacrifice,] to be sin for us, [or rather, to carry the entire cursed, sinful state or the whole load of sin and cursedness in our place] that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ!” The sinless Jesus Christ always Was, Is and always Will Be The All-good God Who became a mere human being, (Jam. 1:17.) How could the sinless Lamb of God be half-evil and half good; half-fallen and half-divine; half-sinful and half-holy; half blessed and half cursed like humanity without God? He “came in the likeness [in the human body] of humanity, but without their sinful, fallen state without God. [Read about God’s all-righteous, holy Character in ‘Are Tsunamis and Earthquakes [really] the Judgment of God?’]
SDA: “How could Jesus be tempted and learn obedience if he did not have a sinful nature?” · The truth of Scripture teaches that the disobedience of the “First Adam,” who was created sinless, brought death to everyone. God created “the first Adam” and his wife Eve as completely sinless human beings. However, although they did not know sin, death, and suffering before the fall, God installed in these first humans the incredible wonders of free will and self-preservation, (the instinct to live and survive,) as also in every other living being. If the marvels of free will and self-preservation were not created in the first human couple (and in all forms of life) as vital components of their natural, physical ‘flesh,’ Adam and Eve and every other living creature would not have known when they hurt themselves, drowned in water, choked on food, etcetera. This means, even before the fall, as a self-preserving reflex of the physical body, even the sinless Adam would have felt natural pain and pulled his hand from the fire. God also created every living thing to make their own decisions and obey their ‘physical flesh’ in terms of self-preservation; submitting to the astonishing power of hunger, thirst, oxygen, and everything else that has to sustain life - or to flee from everything that might endanger the safety of their physical bodies. Thus, submitting to the real, physical needs of our physical bodies is not sin. It is God-given realities in this life. God even instituted the marriage covenant to accommodate the need of companionship and sexual desire. If the sinless Adam was unable to feel pain before the fall, Gen. 2:21 would not have declared, “The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, [anesthetizing him]... and [then God did an operation on him.] God took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place… [to create a living woman from his bone.]” Childbirth too, was not without pain in the garden in Eden, because God said to Eve directly after the fall, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in [greater] pain you will bring forth children…” Similarly, natural emotions in themselves are not sinful. For instance, just as it is not a sin to become hungry and thirsty, it is not a sin to become angry when dreadfully wronged, fearful when in danger, sorrowful when confronted with great loss, etcetera, (Eph. 4:26.) This is what the Bible calls our human, natural “weaknesses.” It is what we do with these natural emotions when under pressure that can lead us to sin, (Eph. 4:26.) Adam, before the fall, although he reigned over God’s natural creation and had all the animals as best friends, (even having the privilege of naming them,) was lonely because he did not have another human being to share his life with, (Gen. 2:18.) That is why God gave Adam a wife to be his companion and helper. · The “first Adam’ was tempted to sin while he was still in a sinless state or position before God. The first Adam failed to overcome temptation; not because he had a sinful nature or because he did not fully partake in the natural desires of the natural ‘flesh,’ but because he made the fatal mistake to give in to temptation by not submitting his human will to the will of God. He chose to become disobedient to God, with the dreadful effect of sinning and falling away from God; pulling the whole human race with him. · Thus, “by [the disobedience of the first Adam] came [spiritual and physical] death to Adam and all his descendants [in the form of a cursed spiritual position or place without God,]” (1 Cor. 15:21.) · God intended that humanity should have remained in control of their natural, sinless emotions and desires before the fall. Therefore, He also commanded that humanity must remain in control of their sinful emotions and desires after the fall. The fact that we inherited a sinful nature from the fall is no excuse to reject God’s cure for our fallen state without Him, (faith in and obedience to Jesus,) or to continue in sin. (Read Col. 2:8-15 and Rom. 6 to see how the Holy Spirit circumcises or cuts away the sin nature from all true believers!) To commit sin against God remains a choice for both unsaved and saved humanity. Difference is, the unsaved chose to remain in their state of sin without Christ, while the saved chose to live in a position or state of salvation in Him, (Jn. 1:120-13; Prov. 25:28; 1 Cor. 14:32-33.) Disobedience constitutes allowing excessive pressures on either the natural or the “sinful flesh” to push us into the sins of rage, theft, lust, etcetera. (For true believers “sinful flesh” is not the “sin body,” “old man that was crucified with Christ,” or the “sin nature,” but ‘just’ the sinful thoughts or ‘minds’ that are not yet renewed through contextual truth of the Scriptures in Holy Spirit power, Rom. 12:1-2,) Hence, God commanded us to “crucify the desires of the sinful flesh,” (as the battle is now for the ‘mind’ or our thoughts and beliefs,) which are in conflict with the will of God for any particular situation; tempting or pushing us to violate the commandments of God that pertain to His Moral Law of Love, (2 Cor. 10:5.)
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