Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit is Patience"

CAROLYN MACOMBER

 

Day 4: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

 

Overview

The heading for Tuesday's study is "Patience in the Gospel". The author encourages the reader to have patience with those they share the gospel with. The author also encourages the reader to be patient with those who are under false "false doctrine, tradition, family, and so forth." According to this lesson's author "conversion can be a long, complicated process that could take years in some instances." Patience is encouraged towards those who do not "make a commitment to the truths that we love."

 

Observations

The author again uses double speak in the teacher's comments and the regular quarterly causing confusing about what exactly is the "gospel".

The author blurs the lines of the definition for the word gospel. The gospel according to Adventist understanding encompasses Jesus plus the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Scripture is crystal clear as to what the gospel is.

"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" (1 Cor. 15:1-4; NASB).

The gospel is quite simple. It is Jesus. The gospel is that we are born spiritually dead and unable to move toward God (Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 3). Jesus saves us in our deadness. Jesus rose again and paid the penalty of our sin.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24; NASB).

The gospel is centered on Jesus Christ. Everything else is teaching or "doctrine". The thief on the cross was saved because he believed in Jesus as the Son of God sent to pay his debt of sin. That is the gospel.

The author of the teacher's quarterly clearly shows the Adventist compromise of the gospel. "Fruit bearing is an essential part of the salvation experience and spiritual growth." (pg. 57) No, fruit bearing is NOT an essential part of the salvation experience. Jesus is! So that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

The author again muddies the water by the meaning he places behind the word "truth". In Seventh-day Adventist understanding "truth" equals the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church most particularly the Sabbath as Saturday.

When a Christian/Evangelical hears the word "truth" they immediately think Jesus. This is illustrated by Christ's own words, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the Truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me'." (John 14:6: NASB) "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14; NASB) Absolute Truth is only found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Doctrine, on the other hand, is defined as "teachings" in the mind of a Christian/Evangelical. And there are false teachings and doctrines as pointed out by the quarterly. O'fill muddies the water by using a double-speak of doctrine and Christ to refer to the gospel. The gospel is Jesus!!

O'fill clearly uses the word "truth" in an Adventist way. "We are prone to think that when someone studies a particular Bible doctrine and doesn't accept it immediately, it must mean the person has rejected the truth." Later in the lesson O'fill writes, "Most important, we never must condemn or judge someone who doesn't make a commitment to the truths that we love and care so deeply about at the precise time that we think the person should." Notice the plural use of truth, truth(s). This indicates doctrine. And according to O'fill a person should love and care about doctrine.

A Christian/Evangelical will say we must love and care about Jesus. There is a distinctive difference. A Christian/Evangelical will understand the words, "rejecting the truth" as rejecting Jesus.

In Adventism, Jesus and the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are intricately entwined. And usually Adventist doctrine is front and foremost in the Seventh-day Adventist mind.

It would take quite awhile to point out the false doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but there are some good resources in the following web pages: "Adventism: A Thumbnail Sketch";and "Studies" (eight differenct studies for Adventists).

 

Summary

1. The gospel is defined as Jesus Christ, Who died for our sins, and rose again on the third day.
2. Adventists use the word "gospel" to refer to their doctrines and belief in Christ.
3. Adventists use the word "truth" to refer to the distinctive doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
4. Evangelicals use the word "truth" when referring to Jesus and His death and resurrection on the cross.
5. The gospel is horrendously compromised in Seventh-day Adventism.
6. Once the gospel is compromised other teachings/doctrines are subjected to compromise and falsehood.

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

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The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.

 

Official Adventist Resources

Standard Edition Study Guide Week 5

Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 5

Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Week 5

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