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The Investigative
Judgment, or the pre-Advent Judgment, is
unique only to the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and is considered to be one of the
pillars of the Adventist faith. According to
their view, Christ moved from the Holy Place
to the Most Holy Place in the heavenly
sanctuary on October 22, 1844, and began a
new phase of His High Priestly ministry, the
divine judgment of professed believers.
Ellen G. White had this to say about the Investigative
Judgment:
The
Investigative Judgment began in 1844:
“Thus those who followed in the light of
the prophetic word saw that, instead of
coming to the earth at the termination of
the 2300 days in 1844, Christ then entered
the most holy place of the heavenly
sanctuary to perform the closing work of
atonement preparatory to His coming.” — The
Story of Redemption, page 378.
A Christian’s sins are not cancelled
and blotted out when they come to faith in
Christ:
“The
blood of Christ,
while it was to
release the repentant sinner from the
condemnation of the law,
was not to cancel
the sin; it would stand on record in
the sanctuary until the final atonement; so
in the type the blood of the sin offering
removed the sin from the penitent, but it
rested in the sanctuary until the Day of
Atonement.” — Patriarchs and Prophets, page
357.
“So in the great day of final
atonement and investigative judgment, the
only cases considered are those of the
professed people of God. The judgment of the
wicked is a distinct and separate work, at a
later period.” — The Great Controversy, page
480.
“At the time appointed for the
judgment—the close of the 2300 days,
in 1844—began the
work of investigation and blotting out of
sins. All who have ever taken upon
themselves the name of Christ must pass its
searching scrutiny. Both the living and the
dead are to be judged “out of those things
which were written in the books, according
to their works.” Revelation 20:12. Said the
Judge: “All will be justified by their faith
and judged by their works.”
Sins that have
not been repented of and forsaken will not
be pardoned,
and blotted out
of the books of record,
but will stand to
witness against the sinner in the day of God....”
— The Faith I Live By, page 211.
“All
who have truly repented of sin, and by faith
claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning
sacrifice, have had pardon entered against
their names in the books of heaven;
as they have
become partakers of the righteousness of
Christ,
and their characters are found to be in
harmony with the law of God,
their sins will
be blotted out, and they themselves
will be accounted worthy of eternal
life....” — The Faith I Live By, page 212.
“The work of the investigative judgment
and the blotting out of sins is to be
accomplished before the second advent of the
Lord. Since the
dead are to be judged out of the things
written in the books,
it is impossible
that the sins of men should be blotted out
until after the judgment at which their
cases are to be investigated.... When
the investigative judgment closes, Christ
will come, and His reward will be with Him
to give to every man as his work shall be.
All are to be judged according to the things
written in the books, and to be rewarded as
their works have been.
This judgment
does not take place at death…
Satan, not Christ is the scapegoat:
“As the priest, in removing the sins
from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the
head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place
all these sins upon Satan, the originator
and instigator of sin. The scapegoat,
bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away
“unto a land not inhabited;”
so Satan,
bearing the guilt
of all the sins which he has caused God’s
people to commit, will... at last suffer
the full penalty of sin in the fires that
shall destroy all the wicked.” — The
Faith I Live By, page 213.
Christians will have to live without Christ
as their mediator before He comes back
again:
“Those who are living upon
the earth when the intercession of Christ
shall cease in the sanctuary above are to
stand in the sight of a holy God without a
mediator. Their robes must be spotless,
their characters must be purified from sin
by the blood of sprinkling.
Through the grace
of God and their own diligent effort
they must be conquerors in the battle with
evil. While the investigative judgment is
going forward in heaven,
while the sins of
penitent believers are being removed from
the sanctuary,
there is to be a special work
of purification,
of putting away of sin,
among God’s people upon earth.”
— The Great Controversy,
page 425.
It was seen, also, that
while the sin offering pointed to Christ as
a sacrifice, and the high priest represented
Christ as a mediator,
the scapegoat
typified Satan,
the author of sin,
upon whom the
sins of the truly penitent will finally be
placed.” — The Great Controversy,
pages 421, 422.
“All who have
received the light upon these subjects are
to bear testimony of the great truths which
God has committed to them. The sanctuary in
heaven is the very center of Christ’s work
in our behalf... It is of the utmost
importance that all should thoroughly
investigate these subjects and be able to
give an answer to everyone that asketh them
a reason of the hope that is in them.
The intercession
of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary
above is as essential to the plan of
salvation as was His death upon the cross.”
— The Great Controversy, pages 488-489.
This is what the
doctrinal statement from the “28 Fundamental
Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church”
says,
24. Christ’s Ministry
in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
| There is a
sanctuary in heaven, the true
tabernacle that the Lord set up and
not humans. In it Christ ministers
on our behalf, making available to
believers the benefits of His
atoning sacrifice offered once for
all on the cross. At His ascension,
He was inaugurated as our great High
Priest and, began His intercessory
ministry, which was typified by the
work of the high priest in the holy
place of the earthly sanctuary. In
1844, at the end of the prophetic
period of 2300 days, He entered the
second and last phase of His atoning
ministry, which was typified by the
work of the high priest in the most
holy place of the earthly sanctuary.
It is a work of investigative
judgment which is part of the
ultimate disposition of all sin,
typified by the cleansing of the
ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day
of Atonement. In that typical
service the sanctuary was cleansed
with the blood of animal sacrifices,
but the heavenly things are purified
with the perfect sacrifice of the
blood of Jesus. The investigative
judgment reveals to heavenly
intelligences who among the dead are
asleep in Christ and therefore, in
Him, are deemed worthy to have part
in the first resurrection. It also
makes manifest who among the living
are abiding in Christ, keeping the
commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are
ready for translation into His
everlasting kingdom. This judgment
vindicates the justice of God in
saving those who believe in Jesus.
It declares that those who have
remained loyal to God shall receive
the kingdom. The completion of this
ministry of Christ will mark the
close of human probation before the
Second Advent (Lev. 16; Num. 14:34;
Ezek. 4:6; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14;
9:24-27; Heb. 1:3; 2:16, 17;
4:14-16; Heb. 8:1-5; 9:11-28;
10:19-22; Rev. 8:3-5; 11:19; 14:6,
7; Rev. 20:12; 14:12; 22:11, 12).” |
Theological
Considerations:
Seventh-day
Adventists claim that Daniel 8:14 teaches
that in 1844, at the end of the prophetic
period of 2,300 days, Christ entered the
second and last phase of His atoning
ministry.
According to Seventh-day
Adventist theology, each prophetic day
mentioned in the Bible in apocalyptic
literature, (like the books of Daniel and
Revelation) stands for an actual year of
chronological time. Adventism teaches that
the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 starts
in 457 B.C. when the Persian ruler Xerxes
ordered that Jerusalem should be fully
rebuilt, reaching all the way to A.D. 1844
when Christ was said to have entered the
Most Holy Place to investigate the records
of the saints and offer final atonement for
their sins.
Seventh-day Adventists
claim that Christ’s work of redemption
wasn’t completed at the cross, but the Bible
doesn’t say that.
There is no Investigative Judgment ever
spoken of where Christ completes His work of
redemption sometime after His death and
resurrection. Seventh-day Adventist’s fear
for their salvation and can never know they
are saved because of their false belief in
the Investigative Judgment. Seventh-day
Adventists believe that Jesus is still in
the process of redeeming them when in fact,
Jesus accomplished our salvation at the
cross. The notion of a “second phase” of
redemption is exclusive to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. The Investigative Judgment is a
heretical teaching that is not taught
anywhere in Scripture.
“The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment
is not biblical for many reasons. The
following is a summary listing some of the
major objections to this doctrine:
• The
word translated “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is not the same word used for
the cleansing of the Most Holy Place
on the Day of Atonement.
• Daniel 8:14 refers to 1,150 days,
not 2,300 days.
• The term translated “days” in
Daniel 8:14 should actually be understood
as “evenings-mornings,” referring to
the 1,150 sacrifices rather than
2,300 prophetic days.
• The
year-day principle is nowhere proven
in scripture. “1) The rule that a
day in prophecy is equal to a year
is incapable of proof. Numbers 14:34
and Ezekiel 4:6 are more pretexts
than proof-texts. They do not say
what Seventh-day Adventists have
traditionally tried to make them
say. There are many instances in
Bible prophecy where a day means a
day and a year means a year. 2) The
“seventy weeks” of Daniel 9 cannot
prove the year-day principle,
because the expression is actually
“seventy ‘sevens‘ (Dan. 9:24 NIV).
We know that Daniel 9 is talking
about “weeks of years,” not “weeks
of days,” but this knowledge comes
from the context, not from the word.
3) The formula “a day for a year”
was not used by the New Testament,
nor by the early Christians. It was
first suggested by a medieval Jewish
scholar, and only later adopted by
some Christian expositors. It
reached its zenith of acceptability
in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.”
• The atonement was finished at
the cross; the Bible doesn’t teach
an anti-typical Day of Atonement.
• The little horn in Daniel 8 desolates the
sanctuary and halts the daily
sacrifices; therefore, the sanctuary
in question cannot be the heavenly
sanctuary, for it cannot be
desolated by any human power (such
as Rome).
• The SDA teaching
is contradictory regarding the
source of pollution in the heavenly
sanctuary: is it caused by the
little horn, or is it caused by the
confessed sins of God’s people?
• The little horn in Daniel 8
arises from the divided Greek
empire, so it cannot be Rome.
• Rome cannot be the little horn
in Daniel 8 because the desolation
of the sanctuary begins under the
Persian empire (if the start date of
457 B.C. is correct).
• The date 1844 in Roman
Catholic history has no particular
significance that would tie it to
the end of the little horn’s
activities.
• What desolating
act takes place in 457 B.C. that
could possibly impact the Most Holy
Place in heaven?
• The
righteous are not judged by the law.
• The Investigative Judgment
focus on perfection is unbiblical;
it robs believers of assurance.”
[1] |
Most commentators agree that Daniel 8:13-14
is talking about Antiochus IV Epiphanies’
desecration of the temple in Jerusalem.
Daniel 8:13-14 says, “Then I heard a
holy one speaking, and another holy one said
to the one who spoke, “For how long is the
vision concerning the regular burnt
offering, the transgression that makes
desolate, and the giving over of the
sanctuary and host to be trampled
underfoot?” And he said to me, “For 2,300
evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary
shall be restored to its rightful state.’”
“In Daniel 8:13-14, the “Holy one” refers
to an angel. Daniel overheard the angelic
conversation concerning how long Antiochus
should continue to tread underfoot the host
of Israel. The answer was that Antiochus
would continue for 2,300 evenings and
mornings (Literally: evening-mornings). How
literally may Daniel’s prophecy be reckoned?
Judas Maccabaeus cleansed the temple about
December 25, 165 B.C. Tracing the chronology
in reverse, 2,300 days brings us to 171
B.C., when Antiochus began his harassment of
the Jews.”
[2]
“Antiochus’ desecration
of the temple was to last 2,300 evenings and
mornings before its cleansing (Dan. 8:14).
Some take the 2,300 evenings and mornings to
mean 2,300 days, that is, a little more than
six years. In this interpretation, the six
years were from Antiochus’ first incursion
into Jerusalem (170 B.C.) to the
refurbishing and restoring of the temple by
Judas Maccabeus in late 164. A second
interpretation seems preferable. Rather than
each evening and each morning representing a
day, the reference may be to evening and
morning sacrifices, which were interrupted
by Antiochus’ desecration (cf. “the daily
sacrifice,” Dan. 8:11-21). With two
sacrifices made daily, the 2,300 offerings
would cover 1,150 days or three years (of
360 days each) plus 70 days. This is the
time from Antiochus’ desecration of the
temple (December 16, 167 B.C.) to the
refurbishing and restoring of the temple by
Judas Maccabeus in late 164 and on into 163
B.C. when all the Jewish sacrifices were
fully restored and religious independence
gained for Judah. Whichever interpretation
it is that one accepts, the figure of 2,300
was a literal one and so the time period was
literally fulfilled.”
[3]
“Daniel 8:25
says, “he shall even rise up against the
Prince of princes”. This title refers to God
and indicates the rebellion of Antiochus IV
against even God’s legitimate sovereignty.
Antiochus IV’s coins even have the phrase
“god manifest” (Greek: theos epiphanēs)
on the back of them, which probably means
that he thought he was the gods’
representative on earth.”
[4]
Where did the idea that the Second
Coming would take place in 1844 come
from?
“Daniel’s
prophetic 2,300 days have interested many
throughout history who have sought to
predict the date of the Lord’s return. By
interpreting each day as a year, William
Miller, a Baptist pastor from New York,
calculated that Christ’s second advent would
take place between March 21, 1843 and March
21, 1844. As the date approached, a wave of
excitement and expectation swept across
America. Thousands of Christians from
mainline churches, convinced of the accuracy
of Miller’s prognostication, joined with the
new Adventist movement. Many of these
“Millerites” sold their property to wait
anxiously for the arrival of God’s kingdom.
When the date passed without any cataclysmic
event, Miller set October 22, 1844, as the
new date for the parousia, or return of
Christ. A second failure, known as the
“Great Disappointment,” led Miller to repent
of his errors. Several of his followers,
however, said that Miller’s latest date was
correct but that his explanation was wrong.
According to them, on October 22, 1844,
Jesus moved from His seat at God’s right
hand into the holy place to begin an
“investigative judgment” of all professing
believers, many of whom will be blotted out
of the book of Life. This remnant of
Millerites eventually founded the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.”
[5]
The Little Horns
of Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 Compared:
It is important to
note that the little horns of Daniel 7 and
Daniel 8 are two different and distinct
persons; not the same person like the
Seventh-day Adventists believe. Several
factors make this distinction clear:
The Little Horn in Daniel 7:
Would come from Rome (the fourth kingdom).
Would be an eleventh horn, rooting up three
of ten horns.
Would persecute God’s
people for 42 months, or 3 1/2 years.
The Little Horn in Daniel 8:
Would come from Greece (the third kingdom).
Would be a fifth horn, coming out of one of
four horns.
Would persecute God’s people
for 2,300 evenings and mornings.
Listen To What The
Bible Says About The Judgment Of Christ’s
Followers:
Christ
entered the inner most place of the Heavenly Sanctuary
right after
He died:
Hebrews 1:3
says, “He is the radiance of the glory of
God and the exact imprint of his nature, and
he upholds the universe by the word of his
power. After making purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high.”
Hebrews 6:19-20
says, “We have this as a sure
and steadfast anchor of the soul,
a hope that
enters into the inner place behind the
curtain,
where Jesus has
gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a
high priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 9:11-12 says, “But
when Christ appeared as a high priest of the
good things that have come,
then through the
greater and more perfect tent (not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation)
he
entered once for all into the holy places,
not by means of the blood of goats and
calves but by means of his own blood, thus
securing an eternal redemption.”
And
Hebrews 9:23-24 says, “Thus it was necessary for
the copies of the heavenly things to be
purified with these rites, but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ has entered,
not into
holy places made with hands, which are
copies of the true things,
but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God
on our behalf.”
The Bible says
believers do not come under negative
judgment and can know for certain they have
eternal life as a present possession:
John 5:24 says, “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 10:27-28 says, “My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me. I give them eternal life, and they will
never perish, and no one will snatch them
out of my hand.”
Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also
obtained access by faith into this grace in
which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of
the glory of God.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
says, “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith–and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God–not by works, so that
no one can boast.”
And 1 John 5:13
says, “I
write these things to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God that you may know
that you have eternal life.”
Christ’s final
judgments are after He returns, not before:
Matthew 25:31-32 says, “When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious
throne. Before him will be gathered all the
nations, and he will separate people one
from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats.”
When
Christians stand before God in this judgment
it is to receive their final reward, not to
determine whether or not they are saved:
Romans 14:10 says, “Why do you pass judgment
on your brother? Or you, why do you despise
your brother? For we will all stand before
the judgment seat of God;”
And 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
says, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please
him. For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may receive what is due for what he has done
in the body, whether good or evil.”
•
Both Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
speak of the “judgment seat” of Christ. This
is a translation of the Greek word, “bema”
which was the tribunal bench in the Roman
courtroom where the governor sat while
rendering judicial verdicts. Metaphorically
it refers to the place where the Lord will
sit to evaluate believers’ lives for the
purpose of giving them eternal rewards.
Salvation and sin are not in view at
this judgment, as that was paid for by
Christ, but only faithfulness in Christian
service. Selfish works or those done with
wrong motives will be burned up, only works
of lasting value to the Lord will survive
(1 Cor. 3:12).
There is no condemnation for
those of us who are in Christ Jesus!
Romans 8:1-4 says, “Therefore, there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law
of the Spirit of life set me free from the
law of sin and death. For what the law was
powerless to do in that it was weakened by
the sinful nature, God did by sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be
a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in
sinful man, in order that the righteous
requirements of the law might be fully met
in us, who do not live according to the
sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
And John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is
not condemned, but whoever does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only Son of
God.”
God chooses not to remember our
sins when
we become followers of Jesus Christ:
Jeremiah 31:33-34 says, “For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the LORD:
I will put my law within them, and I will
write it on their hearts. And I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. And
no longer shall each one teach his neighbor
and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the
LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest, declares the
LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and
I will remember their sin no more.”
Romans 11:27 says, “and this will be my covenant
with them when I take away their sins.”
Hebrews 8:10-12 says, “For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds, and
write them on their hearts, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. And
they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the
Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest.
For I will be
merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will
remember their sins no more.”
And Hebrews 10:16-17 says, “This is the covenant that I
will make with them after those days,
declares the Lord: I will put my laws on
their hearts, and write them on their
minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their
sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Once we become a member of the New
Covenant our sins are no longer remembered by God
(Jer. 31:34; Rom. 11:27; Heb. 8:12; 10:17). If God cannot,
and will not remember them, they can no longer be on any
books of record that God has kept. God knows
all things. 1 John 3:20 says, “God is
greater than our heart, and he knows
everything.”
The Investigative
Judgment is a doctrine that was invented by
Seventh-day Adventists to explain away a
false prophecy about the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ, by people who were completely
deceived.
Our sins are blotted out when we
repent and give our lives to Christ:
Isaiah 44:22 says, “I have blotted out your
transgressions like a cloud and your sins
like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed
you.”
Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore,
and turn back, that your sins may be blotted
out,”
1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
And Romans 5:9
says, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified
by his blood, much more shall we be saved by
him from the wrath of God.”
[See also: John 19:30;
Heb. 10:12-14]
God
knew who His children were from the
beginning of time:
John 10:14 says, “I am the good shepherd. I
know my own and my own know me,”
2 Timothy 2:19
says, “But God’s firm foundation
stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows
those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who
names the name of the Lord depart from
iniquity.”
John 6:64 says, “But there are some of you who do not
believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning
who those were who did not believe, and who
it was who would betray him.)”
1 John 1:9
says, “If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins” and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Colossians 2:13 says, “And you, who were
dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all
our trespasses.”
Ephesians 1:3-4
says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, even as he chose us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and blameless before him.”
And John 2:24
says, “But Jesus on
his part did not entrust himself to them,
because he knew all people.”
Whoever accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior has the Holy Spirit as God’s seal
and guarantee
of eternal life:
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Having believed, you were marked in him with
a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a
deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until
the redemption of those who are God's
possession—to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you
were sealed for the day of redemption.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “And it is
God who establishes us with you in Christ,
and has anointed us, and who has also put
his seal on us and given us his Spirit in
our hearts as a guarantee.”
1 John 5:11-13
says, “And this is
the testimony, that God gave us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have
the Son of God does not have life. I write
these things to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God that you may know that you
have eternal life.”
And John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son
has eternal life, but whoever rejects the
Son will not see life, for God’s wrath
remains on them.”
[See also: John 3:16; 17:3;
Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim. 6:12; 1 Jn. 3:14]
Christ, not Satan, bore our sins on the
cross:
Isaiah 53:4-6 says, “Surely he has borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace, and with his wounds
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned—every one—to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all.”
Hebrews 9:28
says, “so Christ, having been offered once
to bear the sins of many, will appear a
second time, not to deal with sin but to
save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
And 1 Peter 2:24 says, Christ “bore our
sins in his body on the tree, that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. By his
wounds you have been healed.”
Christ is
our scapegoat. Christ bore our sins in His
body to save us. He alone is our sin-bearer!
Satan plays no part in our redemption!
“Christ never sinned, and yet he
suffered so that we could be set free.
Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan
(Matt. 16:21-23; Luke 24:25-27; 24:44-47)
and was intended to save us (Matt. 20:28;
26:28).” [6]
The Bible clearly shows that the
cases of the righteous have already been
decided long before any make-believe
Investigative Judgment:
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•
“Jesus told the thief on the cross,
“Today you will be with me in
paradise” (Luke 22:43). How could
Jesus determine his case before the
Investigative Judgment began?
•
Abraham was justified (accounted
righteous) by faith (Rom. 4:2-5)
nearly 1800 years before the
Investigative Judgment supposedly
began.
• Jesus did not need an
Investigative Judgment to determine
the cases of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, so why does He need one to
determine our destiny (Matt. 8:11)?
• How could Enoch be taken to heaven
without the Investigative Judgment
(Gen. 5:24)?
•
Seventh-day Adventists claim from
Jude 1:9 that after Moses sinned and
died, he was resurrected and taken
to heaven. How could Moses enter
heaven if everyone’s sins are not
blotted out until after the
Investigative Judgment?
• How
could God take Elijah in a
“whirlwind to heaven” (1 Kings 2:11),
before the Investigative Judgment
took place?” [7]
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These Examples Prove That Christ
Needs No
Investigative Judgment To
Determine Who Will Be Saved.
However, according to
Ellen G. White,
the Investigative
Judgment is just as Important as the
Plan of Salvation.
“Those who would
share the benefits of the Saviour’s
mediation should permit nothing to
interfere with their duty to perfect
holiness in the fear of God...
The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf
in the sanctuary above is as essential to
the plan of salvation as was His death upon
the cross. By His death He began that
work which after His resurrection He
ascended to complete in heaven.”
— The
Great Controversy, pages 488-489.
Later
Ellen White
wrote:
“The correct understanding of the
ministration in the heavenly
sanctuary is the foundation of our
faith.” — Evangelism, page 221. |
Concerning the Biblical
justification for 1844 and the Investigative
Judgment:
“A committee
appointed by the General Conference met for
five years and could not resolve the issues.
A minority admitted that the Adventist
position could not be proved from the Bible.
The majority wanted to solve the problem by
ignoring context and language altogether. .
.
This great
testing truth is not based on a few
scattered texts, much less on a doubtful
interpretation of a difficult Scripture. But
people are prone to set other tests. In the
place of this bright light of the gospel
many want to make less certain things into
tests of faith. Some of these tests rest on
the interpretation of a single doubtful
text.
In this category
I must place the traditional Adventist
interpretation of Daniel 8:14. I do not mind
if the Adventist wants to think his
calculations give him an exact prophetic
reckoning, including his use of a Karaite
calendar. What concerns me is that this
interpretation of a single text, with no
other scriptural witnesses and no New
Testament confirmation, should be made an
article of faith alongside faith in the
sinless life and resurrection of Jesus. Some
Adventists think that believing this
interpretation of Daniel 8:14 is as
important as believing in Christ. October
22, 1844, is considered an event in
salvation history that a person must believe
as fully as one believes that Christ is
risen from the dead. The mentality that
makes a particular interpretation of Daniel 8:14 an article of faith to be placed
alongside the certainties of the New
Testament is rank sectarianism. It is
esoteric and cultic.
Many Adventists
will not really accept other Christians as
sound in the faith if they do not believe
that Jesus passed from one heavenly
compartment to another in 1844. Yet not one
Adventist in a thousand would know how to
prove it from the Bible, and scholars like
Raymond Cottrell and Don Neufeld have stated
that it cannot.”
[8] |
Conclusion:
Ellen G. White was a false prophet who
taught a non-Christian, works-based,
investigative judgment that is not found
anywhere in scripture and her writings
should be completely rejected. The
Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches her
false gospel that can only lead a person to
have self-doubts, fear, and failure. You
need to always remember that,
“it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God—not by works, so that no one
can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
You can always trust God and His Word. John 5:24 says, “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.”
The
Investigative Judgment is a false and
heretical doctrine that should be rejected!
You can believe God’s Word when He says that
every true believer has eternal life when
they come to faith in Christ. We never have
to fear for our salvation once we put our faith
and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our redemption.
References:
1. This list is
compiled from:
“1844 - Is It Prophetic?” and
“Is the Investigative Judgment Biblical?”
2. See: The Believer’s Study Bible Notes:
Daniel 8:13-14.
3. See: The Bible Knowledge Commentary:
Daniel 8:23-25.
4.
See: ESV Study Bible Notes: Daniel 8:25.
5. See: The
Apologetics Study Bible: Daniel 8:14.
6.
See: The Life Application Study Bible: 1
Peter 2:24.
7. Adapted from:
“1844 - Is It Prophetic?” (nonegw.org)
8. See:
“1844 — Is It Prophetic?” (Gospel Outreach)
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