Part 14: A Third Adventist Letter From the Dead
Dear Adventist Brothers and Sisters:
I realize though I were to return from the dead, you will not believe what I say. This is due to the Adventist teachings which undermine biblical truth.
I confess I am complicit in teaching fables, falsehood and fiction. As such I am without excuse.
In this letter I must warn you of another falsehood I perpetrated upon the gullible and ignorant. It is the same falsehood as that taught by the highly honored and respected Sabbath-breaker, Rev. Dr. Billy Graham: salvation of the heathen apart from faith in Christ.
In the January 1978 edition of McCall’s Magazine, an article entitled, ‘I Can’t Play God Anymore,’ Graham is quoted as saying, “‘I used to play God,' he acknowledged, 'but I can't do that anymore. I used to believe that pagans in far-off countries were lost - were going to hell - if they did not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe that,' he said carefully. 'I believe that there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God - through nature, for instance - and plenty of other opportunities, therefore, of saying 'yes' to God.' "
I confess I, too, taught this God-dishonoring doctrine:
“Among the heathen are those who worship God ignorantly, those to whom the light is never brought by human instrumentality, yet they will not perish. Though ignorant of the written law of God, they have heard His voice speaking to them in nature, and have done the things that the law required. Their works are evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts, and they are recognized as the children of God" (The Desire of Ages, p. 638).
As to the orthodoxy or heterodoxy of this question, re: salvation apart from faith in Christ, I have had the last 105 years to contemplate the issue from all sides.
On the one side it paints God as the all-loving, compassionate Father to all His creatures.
However, on the other side, it denies the necessity of sending Christ as our Mediator/Redeemer. For if it were possible to be saved apart from Christ, would not the Father be far wiser and most compassionate by avoiding the crucifixion of His Son in the first place? The Gospel message should then include one’s good use of natural revelation as the means and measure of one’s worthiness to be saved. Yet the Bible teaches no such thing.
Upon more than a century of reflection, I realized that even if it were possible for a person to cease committing sin after receiving natural divine enlightenment, (and thereby place faith in the Creator), there still remains the problem of sin committed in the past.
The Bible clearly teaches the impossibility of man making atonement for sin. The Jews were guilty of such errant attempts (Romans 10). The heathens sacrificed to appease the gods (Acts 14). Monks and nuns would flagellate themselves to bring their flesh under subjection, a very feeble attempt at atonement.
Adventists have other ways of making atonement. They have been taught, by me, the necessity of keeping the commandments, as I interpret them, in order to be saved. They also believe by following strict dietary rules they are able to mortify their flesh.
But the Bible teaches the impossibility of man’s living a sinless life by flowing a specific set of rules.
For by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16).
Favor is found with God only by looking to the crucified and risen Christ for acceptance, remission of sins and the power to live a holy life pleasing to the Lord.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5).
Next time my Adventist brothers and sisters, I hope to expose the shame of Adventism.
