THE SABBATH IS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS!!

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Pastor William Wallace in email discussion brings up points against Adventism

Seventh-day Adventists have used Revelation 12:17 as irrefutable "proof" that the SDA denomination is the only denomination on earth which fulfills the description of "the remnant".

Let us examine the two main features of this claim:

1. "keep the commandments of God"

In Proverbs 6:16-18 seven sins are listed as being hated by God. Sabbath-breaking is not on that list. I Corinthians 6:9,10 gives us a list of sins which will disqualify people from entering God's kingdom. Sabbath-breaking is not on that list. Revelation 22:15 gives a list of the sins of those who will be outside the New Jerusalem. Sabbath-breaking is not on that list either.

Adventist Comment: Pastor Wallace has here again erred exceedingly. According to Pastor Wallace and the rest who attack Adventism, it is now time to get back to Christ. That will keep their eyes away from His precious church.

The Sabbath is the most important commandment for it embodies all of them. The text says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. . ." (Ex. 20:8). How can God expect unholy beings to keep the Sabbath holy? The Sabbath command is therefore a call to holiness. Nothing unholy can keep it. A great definition for holiness is: where Christ's presence is. Therefore on that holy day, all are to seek the presence of Christ and keep the mind single to Him to the extent where servile work is not to be done. We are to keep Christ in mind everyday, but we cannot cease from work everyday. It is therefore quite likely that none of us have ever kept a Sabbath holy in our lives. This is not to make us become discouraged however. The secret is in seeking Christ so that He can come into our lives and live in us so that He can do the works through us.

Once you have become holy, naturally you will always keep the other commandments. The Sabbath command is therefore a sign or SEAL: the finishing touch in the Christian warfare against the bondage of sin. You can keep the other commandments and break the Sabbath. You cannot keep the Sabbath holy by word, deed and thought, and break any of the other commandments. Since you are holy, you will keep the rest.

According to his description, Sabbath-breaking is not on the list of the worst sins that a person can commit. Consider therefore what happens when we add what Sabbath-keeping is to the list. The test would then be worded that of the worst sins God hates, IS NOT BEING HOLY. Is not being holy worse than MURDER? Is not being holy worse than ADULTERY? If that's so, most everyone is damned! There are many even atheists who have honest convictions and are honorable to the best light that they have. They are not holy, but they are also not criminals, and often not the worse offenders in the eyes of heaven. How therefore can Sabbath breaking be listed as the worst of sins, when merely not being holy is a breaking of the Sabbath?

The Seventh-day Adventist elevation of the Sabbath above all other commandments of God is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Jesus said the greatest or most important commandment is to "Love God" with all one's being (Matthew 22:36-38). Jesus said the second most important commandment is to "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Jesus said, "All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:40 NLT). The Apostle Paul wrote, "love satisfies all of God's requirements" (Romans 13:10 NLT).

Jesus told His disciples, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:35 NLT).

Adventist Comment: Again an error!

The lawyer asked Jesus a pointed question, and Jesus did not directly answer the question. He did not give them what they asked for, but gave them something they needed.

They wanted to catch Jesus in a slip or error so that they could accuse Him of trying to destroy the law. Instead of therefore declaring which of the Ten Commandments was the greatest, Christ commented upon the underlying principles that undergirded all of them in a stroke. The love commandments are not listed in the Ten Commandments. Christ was asked which of the specific Ten Commandments was the greatest, and Christ instead focused on the undergirding principles upon which those specific Ten Commandments were based. Those self-same principles of love Pastor Wallace comments about are in the Old Testament and were always around (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18), and yet God's people were commanded to observe the rest or the specific Ten with these love principles throughout the Old Testament. If those principles of love satisfied or REPLACED the law, how come the Children of Israel were commanded to keep extra therefore? What therefore are our duties today?

What about those who asked Christ what they must do to be saved? Here is one example:

Mat 19:17-19 And He [Christ] said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF.

Notice the specific commandments in Christ's exhortation which happen to be the same commandments Pastor Wallace is struggling to convince us to ignore.

The testimony of Scripture is that "the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of God's laws" (James 2:10 NLT).

Adventist Comment: In other words, HE IS A SINNER. So what! Nothing new! The apostle is here trying to say that the Commandments are comprehensive and stand as a whole. If you break even part of it, the situation is supposed to be considered that you broke the law. You look at it in the same way you should look at the sin of Adam in the garden of Eden. He wasn't punished because he committed a minor crime. He was punished because he sinned.

The unloving person does not "keep the commandments of God", no matter how carefully he/she may keep the Sabbath. Are Seventh-day Adventists the most loving people on earth? That has not been my experience.

Adventist Comment: That has not been Achan's experience with God's people either. Those who went to work the land on the Sabbath, also found God's people to be very unloving. Korah, Dathan and Abiram also found out that God Himself was not so loving. There is a reason for this you know. Nevertheless, remember that no unholy thing can keep the Sabbath holy as it is intended to be kept. No one who is unloving is holy, and no one who is unholy can keep the Sabbath holy.

The testimony of Scripture is that "all have sinned, all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 3:23 NLT).

There has been only one human being who has perfectly kept all the commandments of God - the man Jesus Christ.

The only way you and I have any hope for being considered among those who "keep the commandments of God" is to be "in Christ" - completely covered with His life of perfect righteousness.

Adventist Comment: After that, it looks like we can commit adultery, tell lies, commit murder and break the Sabbath! This person needs to understand that certain people had to be perfectly holy at least one day out of the entire year every year. Those certain people were the High Priests of the Sanctuary in the Old Testament. The High Priest, during the Day of Atonement, had to go into the Most Holy Place to be in the direct presence of God. Just a single unholy or wrong thought would be the end for the High Priest. Do we therefore have record of all the High Priests never coming out of those chambers alive? If they did survive, would we say that it was because they went to sleep for 24 hours while being in there? How did they accomplish such a feat? Who would like to let us know?!

What did Jesus mean when He told Mary, who was caught in the act of committing adultery, "Go and sin no more!" John 8:11? What's the use doing any of this, if it cannot be done? This question needs to be asked the Lord Jesus. We say however, that Christ has already abundantly answered, and all history testifies to the answer.