Pastor Ronald Obidos
The question we will answer in this series is #2 of the 11 questions sent to Former Adventist Philippines by someone we will refer to as "Brother Ben," a Seventh-day Adventist member for 11 years from Pampanga.
According to Brother Ben,
"Honestly, I prefer to be open-minded about information rather than doubting right away. If I doubt immediately, I'll become biased. I just want to be open-minded—neither a defender of the SDA nor an attacker. I know there are still many recorded pieces of information I haven’t touched yet. My focus now is on all the controversial books that reveal the secrets of the SDA. I believe the only way to truly understand this church is by reading writings from people who aren't hiding any secrets. Personally, I believe that no church has perfect, infallible doctrines. The only infallible source is the Scriptures alone. That's why I’m already thankful to you because it seems like you’ll help me broaden my knowledge. I want to make the most of it while you’re still strong. It’s rare for me to talk to someone like you who has such a high level of study and access to resources that are hard to find. I also pray for you, brother, that you’ll be granted a long life. Because of you, I have so many things I want to read now. You’re the one who opened my eyes to these controversies."
I also asked for his permission to share our Bible study on this blog, and by God's grace, he agreed on one condition: that I do not reveal his real name. I pray to the Lord that our Bible study becomes an instrument to reach many Seventh-day Adventists who, like Brother Ben, remain open-minded and continue to seek the truth.
To start this Bible study, we will address Question #2:
Question #2 When a person is chosen as a prophet or apostle of God, will they remain in the sinful nature of the human body, or will their body be changed?
Answer:
According to the Bible, the "sinful nature of the body" will only be changed from its corrupt state due to sin into an incorruptible body at the time of the resurrection of the dead, as promised by God to those who believe in Christ. Here's what 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 says:
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'"
This is the promise of the Lord that all faithful believers in Christ await, including the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord, whom He called in the past to spread the truth. The Prophets in the Old Testament and the Apostles in the New Testament were called by God for a holy purpose. This was not because their sinful nature had already been changed but despite their sinful nature as human beings.
Furthermore, the apostles clearly teach that a person is only deceiving themselves if they claim they no longer sin, for this is a great lie before God.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
The Background and Calling of the Prophets and Apostles
God called people from various backgrounds to become prophets and speak in His name, often in difficult circumstances. For example, Moses was raised in the royal court of the Egyptians (Exodus 2:1-10); Samuel served in the temple at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:21-28); Elisha was a farmer (1 Kings 19:19-21); Ezekiel was a priest living in exile in Babylon (Ezekiel 1:3); Amos may have been a wealthy sheep breeder and landowner or a poor migrant worker before being called to be a prophet. Thus, God's prophets came from all walks of life. Similarly, those chosen to be the 12 apostles of the Lord Jesus were ordinary fishermen or tax collectors with bad reputations among the Jews, like Matthew (Mark 3:13-19; Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16).
Only the Lord God called them; they did not volunteer simply because they wanted to (Jeremiah 1:4-5; Isaiah 6:8-10; Ezekiel 2:3-3:5; Jonah 1:1; 3:1; Acts 1:15-26). What mattered most was that those called to be Prophets and Apostles responded with faith and entrusted their lives to the Lord who called them (Jeremiah 1:6-10; Exodus 3:11-12; Acts 26:12-18). Although they were not perfect, God saw their hearts, faith, and fear of the Lord. The lives of Prophet Jonah and Judas Iscariot serve as evidence that there is no perfect prophet or apostle of God (Jonah 1:1-3; Matthew 26:47-50).
The Bible is Trustworthy
Although the Prophets and Apostles lived in bodies tainted by sinful flesh, this did not hinder their responsibility and duty. God called them not because they were qualified, but because He qualified them when He called them. For example, the Prophets and Apostles were chosen to become the authors of the 66 books of the Bible. According to 2 Peter 1:20-21:
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Even though the people God used to write the Bible were not perfect, there is no reason to doubt or suspect that God's Word contains any error. As the verse explains, the Holy Scriptures did not come from the personal interpretation of the prophets or apostles who wrote them, but rather, "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
Therefore, although God used their different experiences and freedom in expressing what they wanted to write, the final outcome of their writings is still "from God" through the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who has the ability to filter out any wrong ideas that might come from imperfect humans. 2 Timothy 3:16 uses a different term to describe this process by the Holy Spirit:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)
The phrase "inspired by God" in Greek is "theopneustos," which literally means "God-breathed." Because of this, the Holy Scriptures are a product of the Spirit of God working through people (2 Peter 1:20-21).
The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Errors in the Bible
The SDA Church believes that the Bible contains errors. This was boldly stated by Dr. Robert W. Olson. Who is Dr. Robert W. Olson? Robert W. Olson (October 25, 1920 – April 16, 2013) was an American leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He served as the director of the Ellen G. White Estate from 1978 to 1990. He is known as the first staff member who was not a direct descendant of Ellen G. White to manage her estate, and he was also the first to hold a Ph.D.
In 1982, he wrote an article titled "The Question of Inerrancy in Inspired Writings." This article caused controversy among SDA members because they mistakenly believed that the Seventh-day Adventist Church held a high view of the authority of the Bible, asserting that it cannot contain errors as it is considered the infallible word of God. When Dr. Robert Olson's article was published, which was recognized as an authority regarding the writings of their acknowledged prophet Ellen G. White, he stated that the Bible contains numerous errors and listed some of them as follows:
1. Historical Uncertainties.
2. Numerical and Chronological Problems.
3. Inaccurate Citations by New Testament Authors.
4. Use of Scripture Out of Context.
5. Grammatical Imperfections.
6. Discrepancies in the Original Manuscripts.
After pointing out the errors in the Bible, he then proceeded to present a list of errors in the writings of their prophet, Ellen G. White:
1. Inaccurate Descriptions of Biblical Events.
2. Errors in Dates and Years.
3. Application of Scripture Out of Context.
4. Erroneous Attribution of a Quoted Work.
5. Grammatical Imperfections.
6. Historical Discrepancies.
Dr. Robert Olson intended to show that even the inspired Scriptures can contain errors. The writings of their prophet, Ellen G. White, are also not exempt from mistakes. It is not surprising that most SDA members accept that the Lord Jesus had a "sinful nature" with a tendency to sin when He took on human form here on earth over 2,000 years ago.
This teaching of the SDA Church is quite dangerous because they accept that the Bible contains errors or is not inerrant, which for us conservative Christians is a viewpoint that originated from liberal scholars in the early 20th century who held a low view of the Bible. I also noticed during my 24 years within the SDA Church that they elevated Ellen G. White above the Bible. For them, the Bible is not the final authority because they first need to see what Ellen G. White says about a subject before they confirm what the Bible states.
In the past, both William Miller and the early Adventists held the view that the Bible is inerrant or cannot be mistaken. However, this changed when they officially accepted the inspired prophetic ministry of Ellen G. White. Only then did they begin to acknowledge that the Bible contains errors, as they also recognized numerous mistakes in the writings of their prophet.
This led to a reversal; instead of maintaining that only Ellen G. White's writings contained many errors while the Bible remained the true inspired word of God that cannot be mistaken, they implicated the Bible by claiming it also has errors due to the mistakes found in Ellen G. White's writings. Is this not enough reason to consider Ellen G. White a false prophet? The Lord is showing SDA members that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a false church because, according to the Bible, the true church of the Lord would not be led by a false prophet. Even now, the SDA Fundamental Beliefs still include the belief that Ellen G. White is the prophet predicted in Revelation 12:17, which truly means that the SDA Church is still being led by a false prophet. Members continue to allow themselves to be deceived unless they choose to leave this false church.
Conclusion:
Once again, in response to Question #2: "If a person is chosen as a prophet or apostle of God, will he remain in the sinful nature of the human body or will his body be transformed?" As we answered above, the prophets and apostles of God don't need to be sinless and perfect to fulfill their divine calling. No prophet or apostle of God is perfect or without sin. The perfection of our bodies into a glorious and incorruptible state will only occur when our Lord Jesus returns for His second coming. Moreover, there is no true church led by a false prophet.
