Bible Question:
1.What is the link between the preaching of the gospel and the sealing of Gods peaple? 2.After God's people have been sealed will there be anymore preaching? 3.The three books that are mensioned in the bible,the book of life, the book of records and the book of rememberence,when exactly are they written? 4.Would it be correct to say,Mal.3:16 implies that the book of rememberence is yet to be written? 5.What exactly is meant by investigative judgement, and when does it begin and end? |
Bible Answer: Question: 5. What exactly is meant by investigative judgement, and when does it begin and end? An answer: Investigave Judgement is a distinctive teaching of the Seventh Day Adventists. The following is from "Seventh-day Adventist Church Profile" by Timothy Oliver. WHAT SDAs BELIEVE 'The Investigative Judgement: In 1844…[Christ] entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgement which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin… It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgement vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom (SDA’s Believe…, p. 312; emphasis added). '…[O]ur High Priest enters the holy of holies [in 1844]…to perform the work of investigative judgement and to make an atonement for all who are shown to be entitled to its benefits… Every man’s work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness… The law of God is the standard by which the characters and the lives of men will be tested in the judgement… As the books of record are opened in the judgement, the lives of all those who have believed on Jesus come in review before God… Names are accepted, names rejected… as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life… Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His wounded hands before the Father… Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner… [Christ] had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him… this is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble (Great Controversy, pp. 480, 482–84, 486, 623).' (...) 'BIBLICAL RESPONSE 'The Investigative Judgement: the whole concept of the investigative judgement is antithetical to the Gospel. Jesus did not wait until 1844 to enter the Holy of Holies in heaven (Heb. 1:3; 6:19–20; 8:1; 9:6–12, 24; 12:2). Neither is he still making an atonement in heaven (Heb. 9:25–26; 10:11–14). The investigative judgement proposes to "vindicate the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus," by showing they were "loyal," "penitent," and "faithful" commandment keepers. This is an outrage. God’s justice in saving sinners is vindicated by Christ’s death on the cross, period (Rom. 3:24–26). 'Even when speaking of being saved by the righteousness of Christ, Adventist writers refer to imparted righteousness, seldom to the biblical concept of imputed righteousness. Calling it "Christ’s righteousness," while insisting on the believer’s perfection of character as a prerequisite to salvation, is at worst a thinly veiled works salvation, or at best an attempt to mix grace and works, something the Bible says is impossible to do (Rom. 11:6). Mrs. White's words are crystal clear—one will not be forgiven until all sins are eradicated from one’s life and one’s character is perfected. Precisely the same heresy is found (besides many others) in Mormonism. It is not the salvation by grace alone through faith alone offered in the Bible. 'The error is compounded by the teaching that this latter day 1844 event must be believed in to exercise the proper faith necessary to be saved. When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished," i.e. completed, paid in full, it cannot be that there is yet another salvation event more than 1800 years later, just as essential to salvation as Christ’s death on the cross, in which one must believe in order to be saved. This is clearly "another gospel" (Gal. 1:6–9).' (www.watchman.org/profile/sdapro.htm) |