The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, are the written Word
of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit. In this Word, God has committed to man the knowledge necessary
for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard
of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy
record of God’s acts in history. (2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Ps. 119:105; Prov. 30:5, 6;
Isa. 8:20; John 17:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12.)

Somewhere out there in space are beings who are connected to us via some sort of remote access "technology". In the past, Messengers spoke to chosen humans face-to-face, or messages or other types of information were relayed from the LORD to these few, devoted servants of God. That is how some of the books of our present day Bible originated. Other books were mainly history or a collection of someone's private or public letters.

Our Messengers, or Angels, can communicate to us via this connection, also. We have to shut off the world and read and study and ponder the scriptures. Perhaps they will give us spiritual ideas also, no less important than what has been written and handed down to us.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2: 11-16)

The original doctrinal statement in regard to the holy scriptures when E.G. White was a member of the church had the phrase "the only infallibile rule of faith and practice". Since she died that phrase has been taken out. If she were alive today could she join the church as the statement is now written???

You raise a good point about the difference between today's statement and the earlier one. Do you know when that change was first introduced? I am sure that the dropping of that single word was not an oversight but was deliberate. I am not sure of the reason.

But the fact is that as a church we still believe that the Bible is "the only infallible rule of faith and practice." Ellen White specifically said that she was not infallible (1 SM 37). She said that God alone is infallible and also pointed people to God's Word as "infallible" (1 SM 37, 416). SDAs still stand by the statement she made in the Introduction to The Great Controversy: "The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience... The Spirit was not given-- nor can it ever be bestowed-- to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested" (CC vii).

Later, in the same book, she wrote, "In our time... there is a need of a return to the great Protestant principle-- the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty... God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms... Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain 'Thus saith the Lord' in its support" (GC 204, 205, 595).

I would like to know myself why the change was made in our doctrinal statement on the Holy Scriptures.

I would just like to point out that the official statement is almost an exact quote of Ellen White's. Notice that she also omitted the word "only" in her statement that the Bible is "an authoritative, infallible revelation." She does also say, "the only rule of faith," however.

As far as your question is concerned about whether Ellen White could join the church today because of the change in the official statement of beliefs, my understanding of Ellen White is that she submitted to the decisions of the General Conference on those kinds of matters, even when she didn't personally agree with them. She wouldn't have accepted doctrinal error in what she considered major issues, but she often went along with General Conference decisions that she found disagreeable. For instance, she was asked to go to Australia and she went even though she didn't believe it was God's plan for her to go.

What Ellen White couldn't have accepted is any decision by the church to make her writings a test of faith in the church. She felt that it was essential for people to come to believe in her writings, or in any of the spiritual gifts, only on the basis of prayer, study and comparison with the Bible.

I'll study further into this topic and if I find anything new, I'll be back in touch here.

I would be interested in knowing what books you're referring to. I assume you're talking about the history books in the Bible and maybe the letters of Paul, Peter, James and John.



What do you make of Paul's statement in Galatians 1: 8, 9 that even if an angel from heaven were to teach a different gospel, they would be wrong? Do you believe all the "spiritual ideas" communicated from the Lord will agree with what the Lord communicated before?

"Spirit," I'm thinking, might be the connecting force between us and "THEM". When Jesus and everyone else who has died give up their spirits, this connection is terminated. Spirits could also be entities who live in or near every human being. Their main function is to record human thoughts in order to determine who will be worthy to enter the Kingdom of God at the End of Time. Maybe spirits are entities that connect.

By "spiritual ideas" above, I was thinking of a better understanding of reality instead of relying on religious myths or misunderstandings of scriptures because of the limited information available to us.

What was supposed to be a proprietary business relationship in the beginning, that is, Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery in order to serve the LORD as his servants, has morphed into numerous religions which may be quite far off course. The silly rules we invent in order to look good on the outside get in the way of truly serving the LORD as his obedient servants.

Ultimately, those who are chosen for the next life will also have a business relationship with the LORD, because they will serve as his slaves/servants by working six days and resting one day. It's not our man-made rules we should worry about so much as having hearts willing to be slaves of a fearful, powerful, fiery being who will tower over us.

Once we wash up in the River of Life, we will lose our tendency for rebellion and selfishness. Today's baptisms by preachers in tanks of water are a nearly comic distortion of what will occur when we jump into "Living Water" and wash up and take a nice, long drink. This act will lock us in to serving the LORD, forever.

Someday, I believe, we will see that the Kingdom of God has very little to do with religion. It's more like an employer/employee, master/slave, relationship where, if we do the work that the LORD wants us to do, he will take good care of us by providing food, shelter, and everlasting health.

The 10 Commandments are the Code of Ethics for employment in the Kingdom of God. If we don't agree to them or follow them, we may not have a job in the next life. Most of us try to keep our jobs on Earth by doing what our employers expect of us.

This is the essence of the Scriptures. This is our only hope for a better life in the next world.

Personally I don't feel that what I "do" will add much to the hope for a better life. Now ... what Christ did adds all that is needed.

I agree with some of what you say here, but where does "faith" in Christ and trust in God come into play in your understanding of the gospel?

Is "the business relationship with the Lord" that you mention the same as having a close, personal relationship with Him?

Also, can we wait until we get into the kingdom before we put away our rebellion and selfishness?

Regards,
"John 3: 17"

If we have a job we like, and we like the company and its managers, too, we will probably be appreciative of the owner for providing a way for us to make a living. We may even be extremely grateful to the owner for taking the risk and working hard to create the company we work for. We may or may not personally thank the company's owner for taking care of us, but we are still grateful, anyway.

Because we're happy with our job, we will do our best to help the company be successful and make a profit. We may also want to help our coworkers be successful, too, in order to help the company. We won't try to create discord by complaining or being slackers. Instead, we will be promoters and supporters, maybe even telling our friends what a great job we have and a great company this is to work for. Maybe they would like to work for the same company, too.

It's unlikely we will find fault with the company's rules and regulations or Code of Ethics. It's just a given that as employees we accept and willingly observe these rules regulations and procedures that will make the company run more smoothly. Those who complain about their job or attack others because they're not doing things right will probably find work elsewhere in some other company.

So it is with the Kingdom of God. The LORD has given us a few simple rules to show us our responsibility to God, and to our coworkers, or neighbors. If we truly wish to serve the LORD, these rules are not impossible for us. We don't have to lie, steal, murder, dishonor our parents, curse God, or create other Gods to serve.

We can, however,:

Learn to love, honor, and obey God at all times, under all circumstances.

Do nothing to harm ourselves or others.

Practice self-sacrifice for the good of others.


We do this, not to rack up points to gain entrance into the future Kingdom, but to demonstrate that we do love God by doing whatever he asks us to do or by not doing what he prohibits us from doing. Really, this is job training for the next life. Those of us who may be casual about obedience to God and his Code of Ethics may find ourselves in the same condition as the disobedient people of Israel whose bodies dropped in the desert during the 40 years of wandering.

Obedience to God's requirements are a prerequisite to admittance to his Everlasting Kingdom. Some people may talk big or pray loud, but if their actions, or lack thereof, deny their profession, their bodies will burn like dry straw tossed into an inferno at the End of Time.

The LORD, as we can see from the scriptures, is looking for people willing to do what he asks of them. Those who try to force others to conform to their standards of Christianity aren't the kind of people the LORD needs in his new world, because Christianity is a misrepresentation of the original covenant he made with Israel. He needs people who don't hoard possessions or money, or don't harm themselves or others in any way. He's looking for people who can get along with each other forever. He's looking for people who are even willing to die for him, if necessary, to maintain their honor and obedience.

Of course, none of us are likely to be absolutely perfect here on Earth because we're warped from birth on, but a willing heart will go a long way. Once we wash up in the River of Life, the real baptism, our old selfish and complaining and rebellious natures will never again reappear. That way we can all be safe, forever, in the Land of God.