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There seem to be different "degrees" of Seventh-day Adventism. Some Seventh-day Adventists believe identically to orthodox Christians, other than believing that worship should be held on Saturday a...
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Just like many other Christian denominations the Seventh-Day Adventists believe in the Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer, who came down to earth, became the lowest of lowest to save sinners and become our Friend and King. They also believe in His resurrection and his ascension and His second advent (hence the name Adventist). However they do have a few beliefs that distinguish them from mainstream Christians. The main one being their observance of Saturday as the Sabbath. These are the reasons that they have for doing so. (I will capitalize a few of the main points.) 1) God created the heavens and the earth in SIX days and on the SEVENTH day He RESTED and HALLOWED it. (Genesis 2:1-3) Just like our birthday is very much part of our birth, Sabbath is very much an important part of our earth's birth. God did not rest on the Sabbath day because he was tired and exhausted. In Mark 2:27 it says "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." I am sure that you would not like it if some one decided that they would celebrate your birthday on a different day, I wouldn't. Well, the Sabbath is like the birthday of the world, and we should celebrate it also. 2) The Ten Commandments clearly state "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" and that you should work SIX days a week but "the SEVENTH is the SABBATH of the Lord your God." It goes on to say that NOBODY in your household should do work INCLUDING your CATTLE. Then in verse eleven it goes on to recall that " in SIX days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and RESTED the SEVENTH day. Therefore the Lord BLESSED the Sabbath day and HALLOWED it." (Exodus 20:8-11) Now you may be thinking, "Yeah, yeah, but that is for the Jews" but if it is for the Jews than should we throw out all of the ten commandments because that must be for the Jews also? The bible never once mentions the Sabbath as the Jewish Sabbath but always as "the Sabbath of the Lord." Personally I believe in the Seventh day Sabbath. Many times as Christians we say we believe in the ten commandment but we leave out a very fundamental commandment and all of them are fundamental. 3) When Jesus died on the cross He died on Friday and arose on Sunday, therefore he rested on Sabbath. But many Christians rest on Sunday because this is the day Jesus arose. But that is not the reason or the ground that the Sabbath was created. In Exodus 20:11 says "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." We as Christians have changed the reason for the Sabbath rest day. Another of the beliefs that makes Adventists a distinct denomination is their belief in when some one dies they know nothing. One of the reasons for this is found in Ecclesiastes 9:5. It says " For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing." This to them means that when a person passes away they do not go to heaven or hell, it simply means that they are "asleep" until Jesus' second coming and their final judgement. Remember Lazarus never told any stories about heaven or hell when he was rose from the dead. Adventists believe that since we are the "temples of God" as said in 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 that they should "therefore glorify God in your bodies" 1 Corinthians 6: 20. Many Adventist therefore are vegetarians, they do not drink, use tobacco or illegal drugs. Seventh-day Adventists believe in baptism by immersion, the Lord's supper and the ordinance of humility (foot washing). These are only a few of their beliefs if you would like to learn more of their beliefs here is a link: http://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-English.pdf I myself am studying the Seventh-Day Adventist beliefs and am finding them very interesting. I hope my answer has given you insight on this topic and I encourage you to study this our for yourself, like I am now doing. Thank you so much for your question.
Okay, Seventh Day Adventism is really a summation of Christianity. First, the bulk of professed Christians are Adventist, in that they await the soon return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in visible glory. The next attribute of SDA is that they accept the whole bible as the infallible Word of an Infallible God who does not err. Hence the SDA believe that the Word comprises the Old and the New Testaments. That the whole bible is still the relevant Word of God, including, but not restricted to, the Ten Commandments, which includes the universally rejected Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath commandment. They also believe that the prophecy of Joel concerning prophecy in the end time will, and is being, fulfilled. It would be helpful if you can specify what exactly about the SDA teachings you wish to know. That way, you can get more direct and relevant answers. Bless.
I would just like to add that there is much division about the true sabbath and it's purpose. I was baptized in the adventist church and during the course of studies I went a little further and studied other religions and documented History itself as well as the Bible and other such books. If most people would honestly research mans documented history they would find millions of tiny little books under one large binding and it's contents spilling out all of mankind's evilest deeds, greatest accomplishments and every nasty, deviant, and dishonest way that was used to get the end results. One needs to study the origin of our calendar, the origin of our language and it's meanings as far back as you can go. You will gain an understanding of how things were set in the beginning and how over thousands of years humans have changed the original plans into plans of our own. Plans, rules, laws, punishments, rituals, and such subjects have all been set by man overlooking the Father's will and at any cost to gain whatever prize we may be after. From the very first recorded king, Narmar (Menes) 3100-3050 B.C. every ruler has changed something in his realm or kingdom to suit himself including the observance of sabbath. Research suggest that in the Biblical era there was only one sabbath day and all observed this day. This day was from sunset on Friday till sunset on Saturday by the calendar in use at the time. As time progressed other rulers attempted to wipe out all observance while others were tolerant of observers as long as they didn't cause trouble while others tried to combine all beliefs and set one day for observance so all would be happy. Hence we have Sunday worship. Egyptians used Sunday to worship their sun god Ra hence the name Sun-day. So who's right or who's wrong? All I can say for myself is that the research is there for anyone to see. I'm convinced that sundown Friday till sundown Saturday is the true and correct day of observance and was not ever meant to be changed even under the new laws. Man changed it to suit himself in whatever feeble attempts he made to conquer the world. I have since realized that there is no such thing as religion in the Father's eyes. Christ taught a ministry of love and unity while man made religion separates us, causes loss of life, families divided, war, hate and jealousy and the list goes on. I cut out the middle man so to speak and now go directly to the source. Through Christ to the Father, a one on one, a connection I can't even explain here. I wish I knew how to tell everybody but I don't know how to explain it. It's just absolutely amazing to watch Him work. That's all I know to say.
I am a christian who is currently living with 2 SDA's. I believe that we are all brothers is Christ. However the specifics of Christianity which distinguish SDA's from Christians are minor to me but major to SDA's. The Sabbath worship is essential to their salvation, justification and relationship with God. Galatians 5:4 has a distinct response to any of the Commandments. Our Salvation and justification is based on faith in Jesus Christ period. Much of Paul's work was to differentiate Christianity from Judaism.
The SDAs believes in the following: The Bible, the OT and NT, is the word of God. The Trinity; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Gen 1:26; Eph 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:21). The Bible six-day creation (Gen 1-2; 5; 11; Exod 20:8-11; Heb 1:2; 11:3; Rev 10:6; 14:7). Man and woman were made in God’s image (Gen 1:26-28; 2:7, 15; 3; 1 John 3:4; 4:7, 8, 11, 20.) There is a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. (Gen 3; 6-8; Rom 3:4; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb 1:14; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:6; Rev 12:4-9.) Salvation is only through Jesus who died for our sins; by faith we have eternal life (John 3:16; 14:30; Rom 1:4; 3:25; 4:25; 8:3, 4; Phil 2:6-11; Col 2:15; 1 Peter 2:21, 22; 1 John 2:2; 4:10.) We continually grow in Christ, in knowledge and faith lead by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:38, 39; 2 Cor 3:17, 18; Heb 10:25; James 1:27; 2 Peter 2:9; 3:18; 1 John 4:4.) God's Church is serving, celebrating, studying and worshiping together (Acts 7:38; 1 Cor 1:2; Col 1:17, 18; 1 Peter 2:9.) In the last days will be a time of apostasy, and a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Dan. 7:9-14; 1 Peter 1:16-19; 4:17; 2 Peter 3:10-14; Jude 3, 14; Rev 12:17; 14:6-12; 18:1-4.) Baptism by immersion in water (Matt 28:19, 20; Rom 6:1-6; Gal 3:27; Col 2:12, 13.) The Lord’s Supper: partaking of the emblems of the body and blood of Jesus. The communion service is open to all believing Christians (Matt 26:17-30; Rev 3:20.) The Holy Spirit gives each of us with skills and talents to use for God’s glory and the church’s mission (Acts 6:1-7; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph 4:8,1 Peter 4:10, 11.) The gifts of prophesy is form the Holy Spirit (Amos 3:7; Joel 2:28, 29; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Heb 1:1-3; Rev 12:17; 19:10; 22:8, 9.) The Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17; Deut 28:1-14; 1 John 2:3; 5:3; Rev 12:17; 14:12.) The seventh-day Sabbath is God’s holy day. No man or earthly institution can change God's law (Gen 2:1-3; Exod 20:8-11; 31:13-17; Deut 5:12-15; Isa 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Ezek 20:12, 20; Matt 12:1-12; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:16; Heb 4:1-11.) Christian stewardship (Gen 1:26-28; 2:15; Mal 3:8-12; Matt 23:23; Rom 15:26, 27; 1 Cor 9:9-14; 2 Cor 8:1-15; 9:7) Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit; we should abstain from harmful and addictive substances and live a wholesome life. (1 Cor 6:19, 20; 10:31; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; 10:5; Phil 2:4; 4:8; 1 Tim 2:9, 10; Titus 2:11, 12; 1 John 2:6; 3 John 2.) Marriage is only between one man and one woman (Gen 2:18-25). Christ is our High Priest ministering for us in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 1:3; 2:16, 17; 4:14-16; 8:1-5; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; Rev 8:3-5; 11:19; 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:11, 12.) The soon second coming of Christ (John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Cor 15:51-54; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 5:1-6; 2 Thess 1:7-10; 2:8; 2 Tim 3:1-5; Titus 2:13; Heb 9:28; Rev 1:7; 14:14-20; 19:11-21.) Only God alone is immortal. Death is an unconscious state. Christ will resurrect the righteous and the living righteous will be caught up to meet their Lord. The 2nd resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a 1000 years later. (Job 19:25-27; Ps 146:3, 4; Eccl 9:5, 6, 10; Dan 12:2, 13; Isa 25:8; John 5:28, 29; 11:11-14; Rom. 6:23; 6:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess 4:13-17; 1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 20:1-10.) The 1000-year Christ's reign with His saints in heaven is between the 1st and 2nd resurrections. At its close, Christ and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The resurrected unrighteous and Satan and his angels will surround the city and God's fire will consume them and cleanse the earth. (Rev 20; 1 Cor 6:2, 3; Jer 4:23-26; Rev 21:1-5; Mal 4:1; Eze 28:18, 19.) God will recreate the earth, and live with us forever (Isa 35; 65:17-25; Matt 5:5; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev 11:15; 21:1-7; 22:1-5.) Although some Christians do not agree with these beliefs, they are grounded in the Bible.
I take my aunt to sabbath day worship because she has no other way to get there even though I am a follower of Jesus Christ and just happen to attend a baptist church on Sundays. While attending their Wednesday night Bible study I found out that SDA's believe the antichrist is the Roman catholic church and that the false prophet was revealed in 1776 (being the USA with our declaration of independence from England). I had to quit attending their Wednesday night Bible studies.
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