For the longest time, as a devoted Seventh-day Adventist growing up here in the Philippines, I honestly believed Ellen G. White's books gave me a kind of "special pass" to heaven. I felt like I had the inside track, books that exposed Satan's end-time deceptions and mapped out the exact road to salvation. I was grateful to Ellen White for championing the Sabbath as the final test that would separate the sheep from the goats. And honestly? I was so confident I’d pass that test because I thought our church already had all the right answers.
I was so hyped about being part of God's "remnant church" that I didn't notice how brutally difficult salvation actually was according to Ellen White's system. Growing up, my reading of her writings was always filtered through our local SDA pastors and authors. Her more demanding statements came to me secondhand, softened, and sugarcoated. Whether deliberately or not, those leaders highlighted the passages that felt encouraging and quietly set aside the ones about achieving absolute moral perfection as a condition to be saved.
It wasn't until I read her books for myself that I was genuinely shocked. The standard she described was nearly impossible to reach. After a long, exhausting struggle of trying to measure up, I made a decision: I would cling to Christ and the cross alone, and reject Ellen White's testimony as false teaching.
I’m writing this blog post for my fellow Filipinos and former Adventists with three goals in mind:
- To show that Ellen White taught that a person must achieve a perfect character before Christ returns.
- To look closely at exactly what she meant by "perfect."
- To ask honestly whether the average Adventist is even trying to live up to her standard, because, as you'll see, salvation under her system is effectively impossible.
Perfect Living Before the Second Coming
One of Ellen White's earliest visions, what I call "The Dream of the Cords", sets up this whole heavy framework. She described the remnant walking along a narrow path on the edge of a white cliff. The path got so tight they couldn't continue on foot, so ropes were lowered from above, and they climbed up, clinging to those ropes. What really caught my attention was this: the cliff wall was smeared with blood. But it wasn't Christ's blood; it was blood "squeezed" from their own "painful feet" (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, pp. 594–597).
The section spanning pages 594 to 597 in *Testimonies for the Church*, Vol. 2 (found in the chapter titled "An Appeal to Ministers") describes Ellen G. White's vision of the narrow path and the cords. The full text reads as follows:
"I was shown a company of people traveling in a narrow path. All who walked in this path were urgently pressed by surrounding darkness and trials. They were weary and distressed, yet pressed forward, feeling that they must reach the end of the journey.
On one side of this narrow path was a high, white wall. As the company pressed along, they reached a place where the path became so narrow that they could no longer walk on it safely. Ropes were let down from above, which they seized, and by clinging to them they were sustained. The cliff wall was covered with blood. It was not the blood of Christ, but the blood squeezed from their own painful feet.
Those who were weary and distressed looked to the ropes, and by holding firmly to them they were enabled to make progress. As they advanced, the path became still narrower, until they could no longer place their feet upon it, and they hung by the ropes, their feet dangling over the precipice. Some let go of their hold and fell. Others grasped the ropes with both hands and strained every nerve to keep their hold.
I saw that the ropes were moved from above. Sometimes they swung to and fro, and the company were thrown near the wall, and their feet would strike against it, leaving blood upon the wall. This caused them much pain, yet they held fast. Some of the ropes became so short that they could no longer touch them with their feet, and they were drawn up entirely by their hands.
The company felt that they must reach the end of the path or be lost. They were encouraged by seeing others before them reach the end and enter a place of safety. They were filled with hope and courage, and pressed forward, often crying out: "We have to hold on from above! We have to hold on from above!" Each person said these words to the next one on the path.
Presently we heard all kinds of noise from below the cliff, shouting, cursing, and sounds of music and laughter. Those who were on the path were more determined than ever to keep going. They felt that if they looked down they would lose their balance and fall. They clung tighter to the ropes and cried out: "We have to hold on from above!"
Looking across the deep chasm, I saw a bright and beautiful field of green grass, dotted with flowers, more lovely than anything on earth. I saw those who had reached the end of the path joyfully enter this place of safety, resting from their weariness and rejoicing with unspeakable joy." (Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, pp. 594–597)
That vision set the tone for her entire ministry: the enormous, agonizing personal effort required for Adventists to reach heaven.
Many Adventists consider The Great Controversy to be one of her finest works, yet very few realize how terrifying her standard of perfectionism actually is. While laying out her prophetic picture of the last days, she tells her followers they must pursue perfection urgently while Christ is still interceding:
"Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to be perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Savior be brought to yield to the power of temptation… This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble." (Great Controversy, p. 623)
This urgent drive stems from her teaching that the remnant must live without sin during the "time of trouble" to prove to the universe that fallen humans can keep God's law. She explicitly states:
"In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor." (Great Controversy, p. 614)
During this time, she says Adventists will be tormented by anxiety over their own works, fearing "that every sin has not been repented of" and that "through some defect in themselves they will fail" (Great Controversy, p. 619).
Let’s pause and look at this. Ellen White’s entire theology of terror is built on a faulty prophetic timeline. She points to a future Great Tribulation where believers are left stranded without Jesus as their mediator. But biblical prophecy shows us that the Great Tribulation she is so afraid of was already fulfilled in the first century (AD 70) with the fall of Jerusalem! We are living in the millennium right now, where Christ’s kingdom is advancing and victorious across the globe. We aren't waiting for a panicked, mediator-less nightmare; we are part of the triumphant, advancing Gospel.
Yet, if you follow EGW, God will not upgrade your character at the Second Coming. If you aren't perfect yet, you fail the test:
"When Christ comes, He is not to change the character of any man… The removal of the stains of sin is the work of a lifetime." (Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 429)
How Perfect Is "Perfect"?
At this point, many of my Adventist friends look for a way out. Did she just mean being covered by Christ's righteousness? Did she mean perfection in faith?
Some find comfort in isolated quotes about grace. But when you read her extensively, her passages about strict moral perfection outnumber the grace passages by about fifty to one. Her "grace" quotes usually refer to initial justification, while the heavy perfectionism kicks in for sanctification, the state you supposedly must reach before the time of trouble.
She claimed God stood behind every word she wrote:
"The moment I take up my pen to write, I do not darken my mind as to what to write. It is made clear to me, as if a voice said to me, 'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.'" (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 49)
Here is exactly what she meant by "perfect":
- "We can overcome. Yes; fully, entirely... that we might overcome every evil temper, every sin, every temptation, and sit down at last with Him." (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 144)
- "The law of God is satisfied with nothing short of perfection, absolute, entire obedience to all its requirements." (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 416)
- "God will accept nothing but purity and holiness; one spot, one wrinkle, one defect in the character, will forever debar them from heaven..." (Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 453)
The Fine Print of Perfection: Are You Actually Trying?
Ellen White wasn't just talking about "big" sins. She cataloged an exhausting range of everyday behaviors that, according to her, will cost you your salvation. Let’s bring this into our Filipino context.
Look at this list and ask yourself if you are truly meeting her standards:
Look at this list and ask yourself if you are truly meeting her standards:
- No salvation for the wrong diet: 3‑in‑1 coffee is prohibited, or anything hot for the stomach. No cheese (keso de bola is out). No eating between meals (goodbye, merienda). Too much sugar is worse than meat. "It is impossible for those who indulge the appetite to attain to Christian perfection." (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 236)
- No salvation for having life insurance: Trying to secure your family’s future in the Philippines? She said, "Every investment made in it weakens our faith and lessens our spirituality." (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 550)
- No salvation for joking around: Laughing with your friends? "Lightness, joking, and laughing will cause spiritual drought and the withdrawal of God's blessing." (Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 236)
- No salvation for watching TV/Movies: No Netflix, no teleseryes, no SM Cinemas. "The only safe course is to shun the theater, the circus, and every other questionable place of amusement." (Messages to the Young People, p. 380)
- No salvation for taking photos: Family albums and selfies? "I am instructed that these pictures are so many idols... a species of idol worship." (Messages to the Young People, p. 316)
- No salvation for kids playing on the Sabbath: "God holds you guilty as Sabbath-breakers when you permit your children to wander about and play on the Sabbath." (Review & Herald, Sept 19, 1854)
- No salvation for reading fiction: Even religious novels. "Those who are in the habit of reading fiction are disqualifying themselves for reading the word of God." (Messages to the Young People, p. 272)
The Real Thing: What the Bible Actually Says About Salvation
Friends, before you decide how you are saved, look at the beautiful, relieving promises of Scripture.
Through the lens of New Covenant Theology, we understand that the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath, were part of the Old Covenant, acting as a shadow and a tutor to lead Israel to Christ. Christ is the reality! He is our Sabbath rest. We don't interpret the Old Covenant laws as our ultimate checklist for salvation today.
And from a biblical perspective, while we believe in a real, living faith that abides in Christ, we firmly believe salvation is anchored entirely in God's grace, not in our flawless performance. We don't save ourselves by reaching moral perfection.
Look at the Word:
- "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24)
- "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
- "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." (Romans 4:4–5)
- "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:18)
We also believe in the beautiful, ongoing gifts of the Holy Spirit. But true spiritual gifts from God will always build up the church in grace and point to the sufficiency of Jesus' cross; they will never put you in chains of legalism and fear like Ellen White's writings do.
A Final Word to My Adventist Friends
You have a clear choice in front of you. If you want to believe in Ellen White's prophetic ministry, you are free to do that, but then you need to be consistent. You can't treat her testimonies like a buffet where you just take what you like and leave the rest.
I walked away from Ellen White because I realized I could never meet her standard for salvation. She would say we reach perfection through God's power, but honestly, no one apart from Jesus has ever maintained the kind of unbroken, flawless track record her standard requires.
The good news is that there is another way, and it comes from God's inerrant Word, not a fallible 19th-century writer.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." That's it. It is not about our performance. Salvation is a free gift that can be received right now. We can strive toward growth in grace, but we must rest in Christ, the one who is "the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
Call to Action: Step out of the exhausting treadmill of religious perfectionism today, lay down your heavy burdens, and rest completely in the finished work of Jesus Christ!
FORMER ADVENTISTS PHILIPPINES
“Freed by the Gospel. Firm in the Word.”
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