All Doves:
According to Ellen G. White, Jesus entered the heavenly holy of holies to begin an investigative judgment of the records (deeds and thoughts) of those that have professed faith in Christ. The judgment is supposedly based on the Ten Commandments, and the character of each person will be tested by the standard of this law to determine his eternal destiny. During this heavenly judgment, God has allegedly raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church to proclaim the gospel to the world. When the judgment is finished, Christ will return to the Earth, destroy the wicked, resurrect the saved (who have allegedly been sleeping in the grave), and place all sins upon Satan.
"Every man's work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite
each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness every wrong word, every selfish act,
every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. ... The law of God is the standard
by which the characters and the lives of men will be tested in the judgment. ... Every name is mentioned,
every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining
upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the books of life,
and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book of God's remembrance. ... All who have
truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon
entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness
of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out,
and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life. ... Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God" -(Ellen White, 'The Great Controversy', pgs. 424-425).
"The righteous dead will not be raised until after the judgment at which they are accounted worthy of 'the resurrection of life.' Hence, they will not be present in person at the tribunal when their reocrds are examined and their cases decided. ... Everyone must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. ... When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death"
-(Ellen White, 'The Great Controversy', pgs. 431-432).
"When the investigative judgment closes Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give every man
as his work shall be. ... Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the riginator and instigator of sin. The scapegoat bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away 'until a land not inhabited' -(Lev. 16:22); so Satan,
bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years
confined to the earth, which will be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of
sin in the fires that shall destroy all the wicked" -(Ellen White, 'The Great Controversy', pg. 427).
Theologians and Bible scholars of all stripes will tell you that unequivocally, 'The Great Controversy' is one of the biggest pieces of heresy ever put into print. The Bible says as follows:
1. The believer will not be judged by the Ten Commandments and will not lose his salvation if his service is unacceptable. The believer has eternal life -(John 3:16). He has already passed from death unto life -(John 5:24). He is safe in Christ Jesus and stands and rejoices in hope of the glory of God -(Romans 5:1-2). He has no fear of future wrath, contrary to SDA followers, for he is complete in Christ -(Romans 5:9). All punishment for his sin fell on Jesus Christ, and he is forever free. Jesus Christ took the believer's unrighteousness upon HImself and gave the believer His very righteousness -(2nd Corinthians 5:21).
2. The believer's judgment is an examination of his service to Christ Jesus to determine whether he will be rewarded or suffer loss of reward. See 1st Corinthians 3:11-15 and 2nd Corinthians 5:5,9-10).
Consider some important differences between the judgment described in these passages and the Investigative Judgment of Sevent-day Adventism: (1) Christ's judgment of believers does not determine their salvation. Those who stand at the judgment of 1st Corinthians 3 will be there because they have always been saved, not in order to determine whether or not they will be saved. The ones judged in 1st Corinthians 3 are those that have established their lives upon the solid foundation of Christ Jesus -(1st Corinthians 3:11-12). (2) The believer's judgment will not result in damnation, torment, or separation from God. Believers whose works fail the test will suffer shame and loss of reward, but not loss of salvation. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" -(1st Corinthians 3:15). Words could not be plainer. (3) Notice, too, that the believer shall appear personally before his Lord. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" -(2nd Corinthians 5:10). According to Adventist theology, the believer's judgment occurs in the heavenly holy of holies between 1844 and the Second Coming, while the believer himself is supposedly on earth or sleeping in the grave. This is not what the Apostle Paul taught.
3. It is unscriptural to identify Satan with the scapegoat of Leviticus16. Both goats of the Day of Atonement - the one slain and the one released into the wilderness - represent the Lord Jesus Christ. The slain goat pictures the act of Jesus Christ's atonement: it is a bloody sacrifice. The released goat pictures the sufficiency of Christ's atonement: it is accomplished once and for all and is forever complete. To interpret the scapegoat as a reference to Satan is blasphemous. Adventism finds confirmation of this doctrine, not in Scripture rightly divided, but in the visions of Ellen G. White, which is yet another example of how they have added to the Bible's revelation. Recall the definition of a cult, identified in part 1 of this series.
It becomes quite clear why Dale Ratzliff of 'Life Assurance Ministry' has done so much de-programming to free former and transitioning Adventists from the fear and guilt placed upon them. Furthermore, it begs the larger question, why do certain web sites keep hosting the teachings, videos, of Steven "Mark" Wohlberg, Doug Batchelor, and their ilk, yet deny they are not a SDA site? Hebrews 5:11 calls the believer to: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." The Greek word for "reprove" is "elegcho" and its meaning is "to shame, to expose, to refute, to convict, to find fault with, to correct". The wags at those sites talk about how they love Jesus, and Jesus is all and everything. If they were as genuine of a believer as they pontificate they would purge their site of anything that even smells of being SDA cult excrement.
Being a Christian is more than just talk, feelings, and warm feelings.
God Bless,
Pastor Bob