The Undercover Adventist: adventists

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will."

What Does This Passage Say About Predestination?

This passage speaks about God's sovereign plan, which was established before time, to unite all things in Christ. Verse 11 mentions "predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will," which indicates that God has a predetermined plan for salvation. However, the focus is on God’s plan to bring people into His inheritance through Christ rather than predetermining the eternal fate of each individual.

Are Some People Predestined to Be Saved and Others to Be Lost?

The passage does not explicitly say that some are chosen for salvation while others are chosen for condemnation. Instead, it emphasizes God’s purpose in Christ—bringing unity and redemption to humanity. The Bible consistently teaches that salvation is available to all who accept Christ (John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9), suggesting that predestination in this context refers to God's overarching plan rather than an arbitrary selection of individuals for salvation or damnation.

What Do Adventists Believe About Predestination?

Seventh-day Adventists reject the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, which teaches that God has predetermined who will be saved and who will be lost. Instead, Adventists believe:

- God desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3–4, 2 Peter 3:9).

- Salvation is by grace through faith and requires human response (Ephesians 2:8–9).

- Predestination refers to God’s plan in Christ—those who accept Him are part of the "predestined" group, meaning God has foreordained salvation for all who choose Christ.

- Human free will is essential—people can choose to accept or reject God's offer of salvation.

Ephesians 1:9–11 teaches that God has a divine plan for salvation through Christ, but it does not imply that individuals are arbitrarily chosen for salvation or condemnation. Adventists believe in free will and that predestination refers to God’s purpose to save all who willingly accept Christ.

More: Sabbath School Lesson 8: Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Grace? Faith? Works? How does it all fit?

Short video on this topic. All notes from the video are below.

How does Grace, Faith, and Works, Add up to Salvation?

The mystery and controversy. Grace, faith, and works. Some say faith plus works, some just grace. Jesus once told a story of two groups with works. One group was doomed, while the other group entered heaven. Is there some simple way of explaining it? Let's start in the book of James.

James 2:18 NKJV: "But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

Suppose you were telling people about a brand new bicycle you had, and they asked to see it. So you bring them one wheel and say, "Here is my bicycle!" They would look at you funny and say that's not a bicycle.

Then suppose you go and get a pedal. Now you have a pedal and a wheel. "There," you say, "My bicycle."

Again, they would look at you funny, knowing that's not a bicycle. Then you bring a few more pieces. Still not a bicycle. Eventually you tire of this and bring out a shiny new bicycle. It is complete and all put together.

True faith can be looked upon as being made up of many things. You can have all the wheels in the world and still not have a bicycle. You can bring many works, but still not have true faith.

Jesus gave the most perfect, complete definition of faith when He answered what the greatest commandments are.

Mark 12:29–31 "Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” "

If you have one without the other, you do not have true Christian faith. Jesus preached His faith and showed it. After His mission of healing, helping, and encouraging was over, He sacrificed Himself for others. The Christ-like life is the epitome of faith.

If we in faith, accept the gift of grace from God's love, then we are commanded to demonstrate that faith with the fruits we bear.

All of us are the individuals that God created. We are all required to have the faith that our abilities allow us to demonstrate.

Grace, faith, and works, are not separate concepts when describing Christianity. They work as one complete package.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

People will not flock to the Adventist Church

There will not be a mass of people turning to Christ and churches as the last days approach.

Many people think they will. They think somehow churches, like the Adventist Church, will be a haven for people and they will come running.

The Bible makes no such prediction. In fact, just the opposite. People will leave churches. They will turn their backs on God. They will destroy and battle over anything and everything religious that goes against modern thinking.

They will call what we believe and how we act, a perversion. They will not do business with us, and we can't do business with them.

The world will take away your Bibles, as they go against the world views. They will be hell-bent (pun intended) on making you go away. You will be banned. Shunned. Buried. Exiled. banished. All traces of what is right in God's sight will vanish from the face of the Earth.

Don't be deceived by others who think the church will still be a church in the last days.

Impossible. You can't buy or sell. How can you have a deed to the land your church is on?

As groups of people get more and more hostile, watch out as your church buildings begin to be attacked and demolished as houses of hate.

Don't think your neighbors will frantically be asking you how to be saved. They will be turning you in. You will be perceived as the root cause of all the problems in the world.

And people who think they are safe "in the church," will fall away. They won't stand the pressure. They will be mocked and bullied so badly, even some devout Christians will turn.

Very, very few, will stand to the end. Revelation states that only 144,000 (which may be just a symbolic number) will stand.....out of over seven billion people in the world today. That's nothing. That's a very minute number.

How do we know this is true? It's what The Bible says. Let's look at a few key verses, then you decide.

Matthew 24:37-39 King James Version (KJV)
"37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
*Note: Nobody came on the ark except Noah and his family. Masses of people were NOT saved.

Matthew 24:24 KJV
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
*Note: Don't be deceived by modern day false prophets.

Matthew 24:22 KJV
"And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
*Note: Where does it say masses will come to be saved?

Modern day false prophets want people to think there is more time to be saved. Don't be deceived. Make your choice now. Be well rooted in The BIble...NOT what some people tell you is in The Bible. Read it. Study it. Don't be deceived.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Should Adventists Celebrate Easter

If by Easter, one means the death and resurrection of Jesus, most certainly we should observe and celebrate Easter. Celebrations were part of ancient Jewish life, even commanded by God. The celebration of Purim was started in the book of Esther.

Of course bunnies, eggs, chicks, and other things are not to be promoted in the church.

Easter does not really have pagan beginnings. It is called Pascha in both Greek and Latin. It is named after the month it occurs in.

Don't be caught up in the falsehoods that are generated each time during Easter. It is just a name. The name came from a book, and from the name of a month in that book. Nothing more, nothing less.

Easter is no more pagan than modern weddings. Yes modern weddings have their origin in pagan beliefs.

So you would sound quite foolish by telling people about the paganism they are doing when they celebrate Easter, as you condone wedding cakes, veils, dresses, flowers, rings, rice, and more. They all have pagan origins. In fact, many if not most, of our customs and everyday items, can be traced to paganism.

And anyone that knows this, will start schooling you on such pagan practices that you do.... as you berate them about Easter.

Easter is not about bunnies or any other such nonsense. But a person do such a thing can hardly be called pagan. The origins of those things do not exist today.

We seem to quote only half The Bible, and only things we like. Consider tattoos. We love to criticize people over those, all the while ignoring something in the same passage: Trimming your beard with round corners. Funny how we never talk about the pagan practice of rounding the edges of your beard.

Why not? Because it's not a good sound bite the way Easter is.

Easter, and Christmas, should be all about Jesus Christ. If it is, then go in peace.

Oh and one more thing. Do you use The King James version of The Bible? And hate Easter? Better get a new Bible. The word Easter is in there.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Should Adventists "Celebrate" Halloween?

No, Christians should not celebrate . But that does not mean they should hide either. If you lock the doors, turn off the lights, then hope no come by, shame on you. You are not doing what you should be doing: .

If you are home, and you know children will be trick or treating in your neighborhood, you should be telling them about . Various candies come with that you can pass out. You can also give them , , etc. It does not have to be candy.

And...you should be telling them about Jesus in some way. Buy little bags and put tracts in them with the goodies. Put a little note about coming to your .

You have the once a year opportunity for people to come to your door! What a witnessing moment! Use it!

Allowing to completely have the day is wrong. Why are YOU not taking it back?

Monday, August 15, 2016

Will Adventists Ever Publish a Sabbath Manual?

With all the talk we have about The Sabbath, we all have different opinions on it. You say black, I say white. They say swim, others say wade. With all of these different opinions and sides, why not produce a Sabbath Manual? Sound silly? Why? Why not settle these issues once and for all. It makes everyone very judgemental of each other when we can have two, or three, opposing views.

Let's take what many Adventists say about The Sabbath. That it is extremely important. In fact, so important it will affect the "last days." (The Undercover Adventist will have more to say on that later.) If it means SO MUCH, how can we NOT have a manual?

Let's look at a typical, but inane example. Swimming. Or hiking...playing soccer...anything you wish. One person says swimming is just fine on The Sabbath. Another say, no you can only wade to your knees. Another person says, who cares? Just do whatever you want as long as you and God are okay with it. Well, sorry folks. All three of those choices makes other arguments about The Sabbath seem really silly.

If someone is swimming on Sabbath, and we think it is a sin, isn't it our duty as Christians to steer this person to the right? After all, we do not want people breaking Sabbath, right? So if we really think that swimming is a sin, then we should be there to stop it. Why should we look the other way when we see a brother or sister going astray? If Sabbath Keeping is SO IMPORTANT, then let's do it!

But if swimming is not a sin, should we not want to inform those that think it is to believe the right way? After all, we cannot leave it up to the individual to decide what sin is, right? That would be chaos. If swimming is not a sin, and we fail to reveal that, then everyone is free to decide what a sin is. Jesus certainly wanted it to be known that gathering grain on Sabbath was not always a sin. He did not say that for Him it wasn't a sin, but you are free to decide it on your own.

What if we say, "Who cares"? Then again, we are leaving virtually all Sabbath "rules" up for interpretation by the individual. That is, you choose. As long as you are right with God, go for it.

That makes no sense. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot say to people that they can choose to do on The Sabbath whatever they feel is right....and in the same sermon tell them that keeping The Sabbath has consequences at the end times. We never say that about salvation, do we? The Undercover Adventist would like to reiterate that if someone asked us how to be saved, WE WOULD TELL THEM! And make no bones about it!

Perhaps, just perhaps, we are a little mixed up on Sabbath keeping. Sure, that's a shock to a lot of you, and a welcome message (we hope) to most.

The conclusion? We give clear, very clear, instructions on how to be born again in Jesus. But we have no clear instructions on Sabbath Keeping. Sure, some of us have individual "rules" and "convictions" about this or that, but we certainly do not have a manual. And that still is the question....if Sabbath Keeping is so important, so important that it defines us, then why do we not have clear definitions?

We, as a group, seem to fall more frequently on the side of, "Who cares?" Just do what feels right.

If someone asked about salvation, you would not say, "Who cares?" Just do what feels right.

So what is right when it comes to Sabbath Keeping? Will Adventists ever have the nerve to write a manual? If not, then The Undercover Adventist will offer that we had better start looking at Sabbath Keeping in a much different way.

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