The campaign which has been spearheaded by Dr. Donald G. Barnhouse, Dr. E. Schuyler English, and Mr. Walter Martin (with their respective magazines, Eternity and Our Hope) to gain for the Seventh-day Adventists the fellowship of evangelical Christians, seems to be bearing its baleful fruit. We have just learned from San Jose, Costa Rica, that an evangelical group, the "Committee of Cooperation for Latin America," has accepted the "General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist" as an associate member. Thus the cult that has been the bane of many faithful missionaries will have acquired increased stature and influence.
We saw last month that the Adventists are still guilty of having within the body politic the very serious heresies that the Lord Jesus possessed a fallen human nature, that He was liable to sin, that He risked eternal loss, and could not see through the tomb to resurrection. Thus the very essentials of deity are removed with un holy hands. How can a faithful follower of Christ be at peace with this? What fellowship can he have with it, and not be disloyal to Christ?
In our December issue we considered the Adventists' denial of the finished work of Christ by their strange doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary, for they reject the plain statements of Scripture that He went at once to the right hand of God where He sat Himself down in perpetuity, never to rise up to deal with the question of sins again. We quoted from the works of Mrs. E. G. White (which are still on sale in their book rooms) to the effect that the sins were transferred to the heavenly sanctuary, and that Christ was working about sins in cleansing the outer sphere, the holy place, until 1844, and that since then He is investigating sins in the holiest. Now all this is entirely incompatible with the truth of the gospel of God concerning His Son. And while Dr. Barnhouse and Mr. Martin both assure us that these views are "not heretical," and "should constitute no bar to fellowship," we judge that they are of such great moment that fellowship is impossible, and trust that many faithful men and women will feel likewise.
Next let us look briefly at the Adventists' strange, false doctrine regarding the scapegoat, for it is interwoven with their sanctuary theory. To understand the real truth as to this subject, it is necessary to have a somewhat clear view of what is taught in Lev. 16 regarding the two goats which were involved in the cleansing from sin on the great day of atonement.
Two goats (nothing to distinguish the one from the other) were to be taken on that day, and the high priest was to cast lots between them—the one for the Lord's lot, and the other for the people's lot. Both goats were to be used to "make atonement." The goat which was the Lord's lot was to be killed as a sin offering, and its blood was to be taken by the high priest into the holiest and sprinkled there before and on the mercy seat. Its blood was to make atonement for the whole congregation, and be used to reconcile the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
The other goat, the people's lot, was to be taken by the high priest after he came out of the tabernacle. He was to "lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and... send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Lev. 16:21, 22.
The goat of the Lord's lot is a type of the Lord Jesus in His sacrifice on Calvary's cross as the One who made expiation, or propitiation, for sin and fully glorified God about the whole question of sin. The blood of the goat was placed upon the mercy seat where God dwelt among the people. There the cherubim looked down upon the mercy seat where the blood was placed. So all God's holy claims against sin were fully satisfied in the death and blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus.
The other goat—the people's lot—was not killed, but "presented alive before the LORD, TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT WITH HIM, AND to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." This goat represents the other part of the work of the Lord Jesus; that is, His actual bearing the sins of His people, and removing them forever. While the former goat gives the type of the expiation before God, the latter gives the shadow of His substitution for sinners. There was no confessing of sins on the head of the goat of the Lord's lot, but on the head of the scapegoat the sins of the people were in type transferred by the laying on of the high priest's hands and his confessing over it the sins of the people.
Both aspects of the death of Christ are needful. God must have His holiness vindicated, and the blood must be presented before Him; but it is likewise needful for the sinner who has been brought to a sense of his guilt before God, to have his conscience set at liberty by the knowledge that Jesus bore his very own sins and removed them forever. The knowledge that God saw the blood of the first goat as it was placed upon the mercy seat was not sufficient to give the guilty conscience peace; the actual transference of his sins to Christ to be removed forever was requisite to peace with God. To use the words of another, "It is not enough to see God has been glorified in the death of Christ; I feel my own sins before God. Then I see that He has confessed my sins; and now as Priest on high, He maintains me in the power of reconciliation made."—Notes on Hebrews, J.N.D.
Now it is precisely here that Seventh-day Adventism falls into a grievous and monstrous error. They boldly contend that "when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed [note that it is not yet completed], then in the presence of God and the heavenly angels and the host of the redeemed the sins of God's people [for remember that according to Adventism they have been transferred "by the blood and by the flesh" of Christ to heaven] will be placed upon Satan: he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness." - The Great Controversy, p. 658. Today they blandly disclaim that Satan has anything to do with the atonement; but remember that the scapegoat was also for the express purpose of making atonement. Evidently in their blind folly this has been overlooked.
Furthermore, remember that it was only by casting lots for the goats that any difference was made between them—they were not distinguishable in themselves. This is quite understandable if both are types of the Lord Jesus in His twofold character of the work of atonement; that is, expiation and substitution. But falsely try to make one of them a type of Satan, and insurmountable trouble ensues. Were Satan and Christ indistinguishable? and were both to make an atonement? Was it left to a matter of chance which work was for Christ and which for Satan? Far be the thought! The truth cannot be mistaken by any mind subject to the general truth of the Word of God. But those who bring their own erroneous thoughts to Scripture are sure to wrest it to their own condemnation.
Another question must show the fallacy of the Adventist heresy: Why if, as they now claim, Satan will only bear his own sins (namely, the part he played in prompting others to sin), is there any reason for transferring the guilt and sins of men to him? Men have their own guilt, and Satan has his. Transferring their sins to him is crass folly. But see this in the light of the Lord's confessing our sins to bear them substitutionally, and to remove them forever from sight and record, and the reason for the transference is evident. But, wicked thought! if Satan bears our sins, then he has a part in our atonement. Could anything lead more surely to blasphemy against Christ, and despite to His blessed work of atonement? Again, we say with emphasis, Seventh-day Adventism is permeated with evil doctrine.
There is still another fallacy in this transferring of sins to Satan, as though if it were not for him man would not sin. It is an easy way of shifting responsibility from man to Satan. It presupposes that fallen man only does wrong because Satan provokes him to it; this is error, for man himself is innately bad, and is capable of doing evil without prompting. "A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit."
Matt. 7:17. "For from within, out of the HEART OF MEN, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21, 22. Furthermore, if Adventism were correct, and if man is so weak that he only acts when pushed to do so, then why punish man at all?
There is another conclusive proof in Scripture, that man is bad and that he will do evil without the devil's promptings. When the Lord Jesus establishes His glorious millennial kingdom, and Satan is bound, there will still be overt wickedness. In Psalm 101, which "gives us the principles on which the government of this earth will be carried on by Jehovah's King" (quotation from last month's article on Psalm 94), it is said, "Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land." v. 8; A.R.V. There will be wicked persons to be cut off daily, even though Satan cannot tempt them to do evil. This does not indicate that those who are born again and thus enter into the kingdom will rebel, but Psalm 18 lets us know that when the Messiah sets up His kingdom, many will yield feigned obedience (see margin of Psa. 18: 44). Their rebellion against the beneficent reign of Christ will prove that man is bad in himself without any promptings from Satan. (Of course the Adventists will not listen to this, for they have the illogical and unscriptural idea of the Millennium as being a time when the earth will lie dormant after being burned out. But this ill-conceived doctrine provides a manufactured solution for their false teaching about the scapegoat being Satan; that is, that he will bear the sins into this burned out waste—they must make a "wilderness" for Satan to bear sins into. Does not a careful evaluation of their scapegoat theory prove that when once any portion of Scripture is distorted, then every other part which it touches must be warped to make it fit? And so the process continues!)
Adventists have been very adept at conjuring up manifold arguments to support this false doctrine. One of their number, John Edwin Fulton, says, "Christ is the high priest; and the high priest sends the goat away. Christ could not send Himself away."
- The Sanctuary and the Judgment, p. 29. This may convince some simple souls; but the first goat represented Christ, and the high priest represented Christ as He presented its blood—thus, His own blood. By Mr. Fulton's argument, this would have been impossible. We need to remember that Christ is both the offerer and the offering; He is the One who made expiation for sins before God, and the One who bore our sins as our substitute. He is represented by both goats, and by the priest in both actions. He, blessed be His name, has done it all!
The prophet Isaiah has well expressed by the Holy Spirit the language of those who know the Lord Jesus as their substitute: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Isa. 53:5. Then as to the transference of sins to Him, it is said, "Jehovah hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all." v. 6; A.R.V. In Psalm 69:5, the Lord Jesus takes the sins on Himself. Thank God, we who have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ did not have to lay our sins on Jesus, for we might have forgotten some of them. The poet has expressed this well:
"All thy sins were laid upon Him,
Jesus bore them on the tree;
God, who knew them, laid them on Him,
And, believing, thou art free."
The Adventists and their new apologists excuse this strange false doctrine of the scapegoat by referring to prominent Jewish theologians who held that the scapegoat was Satan; but when did Jewish theologians ever see anything aright about Jesus? And regardless of who may have held this doctrine, it is error. It detracts from the work of Christ and gives to Satan one of Christ's most needful works as far as the awakened sinner is concerned. And while Mr. Martin says that "it certainly cannot be cited as a legitimate reason for refusing fellowship with the Adventists," and Dr. Barnhouse concurs, we object. It can and should. And if Mr. Martin were faithful to the Word, they would not want him; but he has compromised himself and preached in their churches. Did he attack these heresies when he preached among them? Surely not!
Furthermore, this group of errors which we have so far noticed does not stand alone; it is only a part of a whole scheme of false doctrine which is destructive of the true gospel, false to Christ, and damaging to souls.
Denial of Christ's substitutionary work AND COMPLETE REMOVAL of the sins He bore, as typified in the scapegoat, has led to the Adventist's preposterous stand that after a man's sins have been forgiven, they can be brought out and again charged to him. Such forgiving is unworthy of man, not to speak of Him who "cannot deny Himself." W. H. Branson, past president of the sect, says that after men receive pardon, if they "refuse to confess present sins, and harden the heart against the voice of the Spirit... the sins of the past" will "be charged to them again."-How Men are Saved, p. 53. Their S. N. Haskell says: "Sins are forgiven and covered when confessed, and will never be uncovered if the one who confesses them remains faithful: but if he forsakes the Lord and turns back into the world, that part of his past life which, while he was faithful, was covered by Christ's righteousness [mark, not by the blood of Christ], appears open and uncovered on the books of heaven."—The Cross and Its Shadow, pp. 77, 78. If that be true, they are not covered at all; but David described the blessedness of one who knew his sins removed, saying, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED." Rom. 4:7.
This is only one little point in all the muddled false doctrine of the Adventists who corrupt the truth of God. May God graciously thwart the work of their apologists who would accredit them as true evangelicals, and thus help to expose precious souls to their Christ-dishonoring gospel, which is "not another," but a deception. We are sorry that we have not yet covered the blasphemous heresy which denies the consciousness of the soul after death, and that boldly rejects the eternal damnation of the lost, and that places people under the law, but space forbids at this time.