| Author | Message | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 1287 Registered: 7-2007 |
Now, a couple of you already posted something to this effect in another part of the site, but it is well worth mentioning here too!!! Christianity believes that the atonement is FINISHED. That a person is SAVED when they accept the one atonement, Jesus, for their sins. Some verses that support this are: "...He (Jesus) said, 'It is finished!...'" John 19:30 "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." 1st John 2:12 (the apostle John couldn't have written this if the ones he was writing to hadn't also had their FUTURE sins forgiven - otherwise what he wrote wouldn't be true. They would each have done another little sin of some kind before they got the letter. Remember, no one is sinless. John also wrote in 1st John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.") "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." Hebrews 10:14 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8,9 (also notice 2nd Tim. 1:9 and Titus 3:5 -- "Who has SAVED us..." "...He SAVED us...") Now Adventism, Catholicism, Mormons, Muslims, etc. all think, to varying degrees that salvation is a process --- SDAs have to make it through the investigative judgment --- Catholics have to confess to a priest --- Mormons believe they are "saved, after all we can do" (Book of Mormon) and Muslims believe that if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, then they'll saved. People who believe that only their past sins are forgiven at any given point, have not accepted the Atonement - Jesus - for their sins. And if they believe that Christians who believe in the Biblical definition of salvation, are given a "license to sin," then they don't understand grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. All the "religions" say: "do, do, do, don't, don't don't." Christianity says: "DONE!!!"  | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 6346 Registered: 9-2006  |
Asurprise, I was going to move that post here as you wished, I got my mind on other things and forgot. I'm sorry. Here is the post in its entirety. The Separation Point A quote from another post: _______________________________ "What part of 'It is Finished' don't you understand?" _______________________________ Another quote from that same post: “Yeah, I asked this question when I spoke to my pastor about leaving... This was the line that finished our discussion. After a few moments of being stunned, the pastor just said: "All right, I am now assured that you are not an SDA, so it is proper of you to leave." I don’t want to impose on other members posts, so Nina, if you take offense, I hope you will forgive me for imposing. This is the ‘family section’ and so it is heart to heart more than an imposition. I think this is really important. There must come, and there is, a separation point between Adventism and Christianity, and I think that needs to be identified. The Pastor was correct. There are not many issues that separate Christianity from other world religions more than the doctrine of salvation. Christianity is the only religion that says that salvation is an event in which a person is objectively saved at a point in time. All other world religions see salvation only as a process. Adventism sees salvation only as a process, and when you first realize “It is finished.” From that point on, you have entered into Christianity, and left the cult of Adventism. We talk of all the wrong doctrines in Adventism, and there are many heresy’s to deal with, grave heresy’s, shocking heresy’s, and they need to be dealt with and refuted. Now we, as a family, have our differences, differences that we take very seriously, differences that cause us to have arguments that cause pain to the body of Christ. But still some kind of unity, and that unity is this, “It is finished.” Not a process. “It is finished.” This is that separation point, if you tell me salvation is only a process, then there can be nothing in common between us, and the line of communications have been sliced cleanly. I hope you will discuss this with each other, so that you know where the separation point is. Best wishes to you all. River | ||
| Bobj Registered user Username: Bobj Post Number: 510 Registered: 1-2006  |
Thanks for writing about this, River. Thank you for the thousands of posts you have made from your perspective as a "never has been." I sincerely appreciate it, and I have come to put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ fully and completely. Just an hour ago an adventist was bragging to me about the new Andrews Study Bible, and I sort of lost patience and said "I've heard that Bible will tell us what else we have to do to be saved" and now I'm feeling down about saying that, but I'm so weary of the hopelessness of adventism. This business of dealing with the despair of adventism hits me several times a week when I check in on someone close to me. It just takes enormous strength to continually face this, and I find myself online here more often during these times. So thanks to you and so many others who write encouraging posts here. I needed the boost today. | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 6350 Registered: 9-2006 |
Thats what we're here for Bob, to support one another. Praying for you tonight, he renews us day to day. Thank you for caring for others. River | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 11330 Registered: 12-2003  |
Bob, you are SO not alone! You know we understand...and I'm just glad you'll stop by here to get some support and reassurance. Your phrase "the despair of Adventism" is so completely accurate. No matter how happy a face we tried to wear, when life got tough, there was only fear and uncertainty. Even though I would not have used the word "capricious" to describe God when I was an Adventist, nevertheless I never felt confidence in His presence and control. Now I can feel certain that my outcome and my future are secure and that I will not be abandoned or alone, no matter the circumstances; as an Adventist, I could tell myself God wouldn't leave me, but that just seemed like a theorem, an abstraction that was probably true but which didn't really feel real. I had no sense of the continuous presence of Jesus or any confidence that I could lean on His promises—even as an "evangelical" Adventist. Colleen | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 1288 Registered: 7-2007 |
Thank-you, River | ||
| Ninanish Registered user Username: Ninanish Post Number: 36 Registered: 5-2010 |
Thank you, River, for your great posts... And don't worry, I am not offended. I cannot explain how happy I am whenever I read that line "It is finished". You see how marvelous the gospel is? "It is finished." "Don't be anxious, do not worry..." "Come to me and I shall give you rest." "Stop working for your salvation, enter My eternal rest, because I did everything for you and you don't need to do anything any more, because IT IS FINISHED!" I praise the Lord every day, every hour and second, because He said all that, because He finished everything, He did everything, He completed everything, and now I am saved by His grace, and I have entered His rest. Hallelujah! |
