A Much Abused Text

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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A text that is much used by the Seventh-Day Adventists to press upon the believer that he is under the law is: " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."1 (Matt. 5:1818For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)). But when they press it they only take what is convenient and ignore the rest. The fact is they do not know that FOR THE BELIEVER the law has been fulfilled in Christ. Was the blessed Lord not the Substance of all the shadows, the Fulfiller of all the types? Is not "Christ the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth "? (Rom. 10:44For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4)). And does not Scripture say that the believer has " become dead to the law by the body of Christ "? (Rom. 7:44Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)). And again, "Ye are not under the law, but under grace " (Rom. 6:1414For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)); which surely is plain enough.
Of course the Christian is not to use his liberty for an occasion to the flesh. The Christian will surely not steal, kill, or bear false witness if he is true to Christ. But the way the Seventh-Day Adventists use this verse (Matt. 5:1818For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)) is dishonest and misleading. By their interpretation, they put it into plain opposition to other parts of Scripture, with which its true teaching harmonizes in every particular.
Yet, in spite of all, Mrs. White would put the believer under the law, and is bold enough to prophesy that when men "reject the institution which God has ordained to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome—' the mark of the beast.' "
 
1. The previous verse is important in this connection: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, OR THE PROPHETS; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The prophets are as much referred to as the law, but Adventists are not careful exegetists.