The Undercover Adventist

  Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:12 are remarkable. Writing near the end of his life, knowing that suffering and death were ahead, he did not speak with fear or uncertainty. Instead, he declared, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Notice what gave Paul such confidence. His assurance was not based on favorable circumstances, personal strength, or the belief that everything would work out exactly as he wanted. His confidence was in a Person—Jesus Christ . Paul knew whom he had believed. Paul had experienced hardship, rejection, persecution, imprisonment, and suffering. Yet none of these things could shake his confidence in Christ. He understood that his future was ultimately in God's hands. Even death could not separate him from the promise of eternal life. How Could Paul Be So Sure? Paul's certainty was rooted in what God had already done. The greatest evidence was the resurrection of Jesus . The resu...

  What does it really mean to be a Christian? Is being a Christian simply a matter of going to church, believing in God, trying to be a good person, or being raised in a Christian family? According to the Bible, being a Christian is much more than belonging to a religion or following a list of rules. A Christian is someone who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ, received God's grace, and chosen to follow Him. Christianity is ultimately about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Bible gives us a clear and beautiful picture of what it means to be a Christian. A Christian Believes in Jesus Christ At the center of Christianity is Jesus. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Christianity begins with believing in Jesus—not merely believing that He existed, but...

  What the Bible Really Says For centuries, Christians have worshiped on different days of the week. Some worship on Sunday, others on Saturday, and some observe multiple days in different ways. But an important question remains: What day does the Bible actually identify as the Sabbath? If we want to answer that question honestly, the best place to begin is not with church tradition, denominational practice, or popular opinion. We should begin with Scripture. The Bible gives a surprisingly clear answer: the seventh day of the week is the biblical Sabbath. The Sabbath Was Established at Creation The Sabbath did not begin with Moses or the Jewish nation. It goes all the way back to creation. Genesis 2:2–3 says: “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” Notice three things God did with the seventh day: He rested on it. He blessed it. He sanctif...

  The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands at the very heart of Christianity. Without the resurrection, the Christian message would be empty. Paul wrote, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14, KJV). Christianity does not ask us to believe in a meaningless story or a spiritual metaphor. It points us to an event that the New Testament presents as a real occurrence in history. But what reasons do we have for believing that Jesus actually rose from the dead? The Resurrection Was Foretold One reason Christians believe in the resurrection is that Jesus Himself predicted it. Before His death, Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He would be killed and would rise again. He said, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected... and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). The resurrection was not an unexpected development that Jesus’ followers invented afterward. It was part of the mission He ...

  There has been a real development in Adventist language. The 1980 Fundamental Belief was significant because it explicitly said that Christ's atoning sacrifice was offered “once for all on the cross.” It then described Christ's heavenly ministry as making the benefits of that sacrifice available to believers. The same statement also shifted the emphasis of the judgment toward revealing, making manifest, and vindicating God's justice , rather than simply determining who is worthy. The Investigative Judgment: What Seventh-day Adventists Believe Today—and How the Doctrine Has Evolved The investigative judgment is one of the most distinctive—and most misunderstood—teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For some Christians, the phrase immediately brings to mind a frightening picture of God examining every mistake in a person's life to determine whether that person is good enough to be saved. But that is not the best way to understand the doctrine today. At its he...