Immorality of the soul and Sunday sacredness

[Robert]

"Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience."

[doug yowell]

I have come to believe that the Bible does teach the immorality of the soul.

[skyblue888]

Conditionally

[Gibs]

Only for the Redeemed,

Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[Robert]

"Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience."

How do these two errors attack justification by faith - the gospel received by faith?

[Robert]

How do these two errors attack justification by faith - the gospel received by faith?

Yes?

[Robert]

Okay, let's start with the immortality of the soul. How does the commonly held belief that one's soul goes to paradise at death deny one's need of Christ?

[olger]

We make Jesus an unnecessary middleman, and bypass the resurrection, or at a minimum trivialize it away.

[doug yowell]

Conditionally

Yes, upon being born.

[Robert]

We make Jesus an unnecessary middleman, and bypass the resurrection, or at a minimum trivialize it away.

Well, many Christians would disagree with you. They say at the 2nd coming Christ resurrects the believer's body and combines it with his soul that comes back with Christ from heaven.

[Robert]

1 Thess 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus."

Some Christians interpret this to mean that God will bring the souls of those who have fallen asleep with Jesus to return for their bodies.

So the idea here is that the body is evil and the soul good or righteous.

Do you see a problem here? I do because it attacks the gospel.

What does the gospel message say to sinners?

a] You are a sinner by performance, birth and by nature! There's nothing good in your humanity. Remember Paul's statement?

"I know that in me, that is in my flesh (humanity) dwells nothing good".

b] You must be delivered from the curse of the law or you will die the 2nd death.

c] You need the righteousness of Christ.

The problem is the doctrine of the immortal soul attacks "a". If I have something good in me that escapes death then my "soul" doesn't need Christ's righteousness. It's already good & righteousness.

Do you see the problem?

[Robert]

The problem is the doctrine of the immortal soul attacks "a". If I have something good in me that escapes death then my "soul" doesn't need Christ's righteousness. It's already good & righteousness.

Do you see the problem?

Now, although some SDA are trapped in a subtle form of legalism, many Sunday keepers are too!

How so? Their teaching on the immortal soul.

If I have a soul that is holy & sinless then there's something in me that doesn't need the righteousness of Christ. There's something in me that can escape "the wages of sin".

Well, what a lie...what a lie!

What does the Bible say? "The SOUL that sins it will die". Notice it says "soul".

The whole person is corrupted by Adam's fall. All of us need the righteousness of Christ. We have nothing to offer God.

So this doctrine is the doctrine of devils. It appeals to our human pride. It's legalistic and self-righteous.

[Robert]

"Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness,

Is there anything wrong with going to church, in honor of the resurrection, on Sunday?

Answer: No!

Is Sunday the Sabbath?

Answer: Even the Catholic Church admits it is not.

What's the issue, then? Keep in mind, as Ellen White states, "Sunday keeping is not yet the mark of the beast, and will not be until the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idol Sabbath."

So this issue is future, but we need to understand why the Sabbath will be especially important in the near or distant future.

What will Sunday & Sabbath represent in the future?

When this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations [Matthew 24:14]; it will polarize or divide the human race into only two camps — believers and unbelievers [1 John 5:19], those who are fully resting in Christ and those who have ultimately rejected Christ. All who come under the banner of Christ will in the end-time worship the Lord of the Sabbath and their Sabbath keeping will be the outward sign or seal of the righteousness they have already received by faith, just as circumcision was to Abraham “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised” [Romans 4:11].

Those who have deliberately and ultimately turned their backs to the free gift of salvation in Christ will all worship the dragon which gave power unto the beast [Revelation 13:3-4]. These will exalt Sunday as man’s day of rest in defiance of the Sabbath, God’s rest day. The issue then in the final conflict will not be between two groups of Christians or even two rest days, but two opposing methods of salvation: the Sabbath, signifying salvation by faith alone, versus Sunday, signifying salvation by works or human effort.

[Robert]

the Sabbath, signifying salvation by faith alone, versus Sunday, signifying salvation by works or human effort.

So we aren't talking about the Sabbath of the 4th commandment, we are talking about the Sabbath under grace - the Sabbath as it is connected to the gospel.

Read Hebrews chapter four.

Here's the summation:

Q: What day did Christ die?

A: Shortly before the Sabbath late Friday evening.

Q: What did Christ cry out just before He died?

A: "It is finished"

Q: What was finished?

A: "We were reconciled to God through the death of His Son"

Q: When Christ died the human race was reconciled or justified to God through Christ. What day did God rest from His work in Christ?

A: The Sabbath!

Now read Hebrews 4:10 "For the one who has entered His rest (accepted the gospel, i.e., we are complete in Him) has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Q: What does this rest symbolize?

A: That "in Christ Jesus" we are complete and nothing we do can add to His perfect work of redemption. We rest outwardly because God rested from His work of saving us in Christ.

To reject the Sabbath is to reject the gospel. If you can add something to what God did in Christ you will exalt Sunday. That's the issue in the future.

[Robert]

To reject the Sabbath is to reject the gospel. If you can add something to what God did in Christ you will exalt Sunday. That's the issue in the future.

I like what Jack states and that is that mankind is by nature legalistic...he is proud. He wants credit...he wants glory...he doesn't want a handout.

So many, when the time comes, will rest in their own self-righteousness. They will exalt Sunday....

The Sabbath-Sunday Controversy

The real issue is not the one we usually think of — Sabbath keeping versus Sunday keeping. Many sincere Sunday-keeping Christians today are fully resting in Christ for salvation. They are keeping the wrong day but for the right reason. Likewise, many sincere Sabbath-keeping Christians do so because they think their Sabbath keeping will save them. They are keeping the right day for the wrong reason. Both need to be corrected and, if we let Him, the Holy Spirit will do this as He guides us into all truth [see John 16:13].

When the gospel of the kingdom is preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations [see Matthew 24:14], it will polarize the human race into only two camps — believers and unbelievers [see 1 John 5:19]. There will be only those who are fully resting in Christ and those who have ultimately rejected Him. In the end time, all who come under the banner of Christ will worship the Lord of the Sabbath; their Sabbath keeping will be the outward sign or seal of the righteousness they have already received by faith, just as Abraham’s circumcision was “a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” [Romans 4:11].

In the end time, those who have deliberately turned their backs on God’s free gift of salvation in Christ will worship the dragon that gives power to the beast [see Revelation 13:3-4]. They will exalt Sunday as man’s day of rest in defiance of God’s rest day. The issue, then, in the final conflict will not be between two groups of Christians, or even between two rest days, but between two opposing methods of salvation. The conflict will be between the seventh-day Sabbath, signifying salvation by faith alone, and Sunday, signifying salvation by human effort.

The fundamental issue throughout Scripture is salvation by faith versus salvation by works. At the heart of the Bible message is salvation by grace made effective through faith alone [see Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 10:38-39; Hebrews 11:1-40]. At the heart of every false religion is salvation by works. In ancient times, Sunday became not only man’s day of physical and mental rest, but above all it symbolized his day of spiritual rest and worship based on the pagan belief that the sun was the chief of gods. This became prominent in the Roman Empire of Christ’s day. Hence, at its very foundation, Sunday rest is a pagan institution representing self-righteousness in contradiction to God’s Sabbath, the sign of righteousness by faith. These two opposing concepts of salvation have been in conflict since the Fall and can never be reconciled.

When the true gospel of righteousness by faith will be fully recovered and preached in all the world for a witness, every person will have to make a choice — either for or against Christ [see Deuteronomy 30:19-20; Joshua 24:13-15; Romans 9:30-33; Philippians 3:3-9]. At that time, the Sabbath will become God’s seal, representing righteousness by faith. Sunday keeping, in contrast, will represent the mark of the beast, signifying mankind’s rejection of God’s saving grace in Christ [see Revelation 14:10-11]. When laws legally establishing Sunday worship are enacted, it will indicate the world’s deliberate and ultimate rejection of God’s loving offer to salvation through His Son.

This is the “the abomination that causes desolation” of which Christ spoke [Matthew 24:15]. Those who will then insist on Sunday rest in willful opposition to God’s Sabbath will receive the plagues, God’s wrath poured out without mixture [see Revelation 14:9-11]. In contrast, those who will stubbornly cling to the seventh-day Sabbath will manifest a faith in God that is unshakable. They will go through the great time of trouble and wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb [see Revelation 7:14].

Because even so many Christians still have confused ideas about salvation, the true nature of the controversy between God’s Sabbath and man’s Sunday is also not clearly understood. But when the two opposing methods of salvation come clearly into focus, then the true importance of the Sabbath will also be clearly seen. At that time Sabbath keeping will become a test of faith.

At that time, may God give each of us the grace and courage to stand for truth. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people” [Revelation 22:20-21].

[Gibs]

Robert in part I can agree but where you don't see it in my view of this is there is no gospel without the law. The law must be in our hearts and be our love the same as our God and Saviours.

Then none of it is galling and it is no heavy yoke to bear, Jesus in us makes it light and our love to do. We all do what we love to do.

It is a matter of what one loves the most. When Sabbath believers truly have the law of love in them then the Sabbath will be a pleasure to keep Holy. Then the same for the Sunday keepers when they truly have the law in their hearts then the Sabbath kept rightly will be a delight to be a part of.

Ro 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[BobRyan]

"Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience."

A wonderful insight God gave Ellen White!

Now ask yourself this - given that our Catholic friends are praying to the dead on a regular basis - what is it that Protestants have to do to leapfrog the Catholics in being "be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism;"???

All things being equal the most logical "guess" would be to say that Catholicism is already WAYYYYYY ahead of Protestantism in that area - so Protestants will in fact merely "Follow johnny-come-lately style the Catholic lead" on that subject.

But instead - Protestants go wayy out in front! -- How do they do it??

Time will tell.

in Christ,

Bob

[BobRyan]

Originally Posted By: skyblue888

Conditionally

Yes, upon being born.

So there is a text about "immortal man" or "born immortal" in the Bible?

Please share.

[doug yowell]

So there is a text about "immortal man" or "born immortal" in the Bible?

Please share.

Sorry Bob, just having a poke(trying to)at the title (I notice stuff like that). But I guess no one else noticed it.

Carry on.

[7daysadventist]

In the hopes of bringing a little levity to such a serious topic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp3aAvorZcw&NR=1

[BobRyan]

On a more serious note - what Bible text says that at the end of time the two great errors that the entire world will have to sort out - will be the myths about immortality of the soul, and Sunday sacredness?

in Christ,

Bob

[Lysimachus]

The Immortal Soul Doctrine is the Devil's Door to Spiritualism:

http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/articles/?d=155#.UQHG9ydn6So

Excellent article by Steve Wohlberg!