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Our 25 Fundamental Beliefs
“Built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone.” Ephesians 2:20.
I.That there
is one God, a personal, spiritual being, the
creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient,
and eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness,
justice, goodness, truth, and mercy;
unchangeable, and everywhere present by his
representative, the Holy Spirit. Ps. 139:7.
II. That
there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Eternal Father, the one by whom God created all
things, and by whom they do consist; that he
took on him the nature of the seed of Abraham
for the redemption of our fallen race; that he
dwelt among men full of grace and truth, lived
our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for
our justification, ascended on high to be our
only mediator in the sanctuary in Heaven, where,
with his own blood he makes atonement for our
sins; which atonement so far from being made on
the cross, which was but the offering of the
sacrifice, is the very last portion of his work
as priest according to the example of the
Levitical priesthood, which foreshadowed and
prefigured the ministry of our Lord in Heaven.
See Lev. 16; Heb. 8:4, 5; 9:6, 7; c.
III. That
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments, were given by inspiration of God,
contain a full revelation of his will to man,
and are the only infallible rule of faith and
practice.
IV. That
Baptism is an ordinance of the Christian church,
to follow faith and repentance, an ordinance by
which we commemorate the resurrection of Christ,
as by this act we show our faith in his burial
and resurrection, and through that, of the
resurrection of all the saints at the last day;
and that no other mode fitly represents these
facts than that which the Scriptures prescribe,
namely, immersion. Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12.
V. That the
new birth comprises the entire change necessary
to fit us for the kingdom of God, and consists
of two parts: first, a moral change, wrought by
conversion and a Christian life; second, a
physical change at the second coming of Christ,
whereby, if dead, we are raised incorruptible,
and if living, are changed to immortality in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye. John 3:3, 5;
Luke 20:36.
VI. We
believe that prophecy is a part of God’s
revelation to man; that it is included in that
scripture which is profitable for instruction, 2
Tim. 3: 16; that it is designed for us and our
children, Deut. 29: 29; that so far from being
enshrouded in impenetrable mystery, it is that
which especially constitutes the word of God a
lamp to our feet and a light to our path, Ps.
119: 105, 2 Pet. 2:19; that a blessing is
pronounced upon those who study it, Rev. 1:1-3;
and that, consequently, it is to be understood
by the people of God sufficiently to show them
their position in the world’s history, and the
special duties required at their hands.
VII. That
the world’s history from specified dates in the
past, the rise and fall of empires, and
chronological succession of events down to the
setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, are
outlined in numerous great chains of prophecy;
and that these prophecies are now all fulfilled
except the closing scenes.
VIII. That
the doctrine of the world’s conversion and
temporal millennium is a fable of these last
days, calculated to lull men into a state of
carnal security, and cause them to be overtaken
by the great day of the Lord as by a thief in
the night; that the second coming of Christ is
to precede, not follow, the millennium; for
until the Lord appears the papal power, with all
its abominations, is to continue, the wheat and
tares grow together, and evil men and seducers
wax worse and worse, as the word of God
declares.
IX. That the
mistake of Adventists in 1844 pertained to the
nature of the event then to transpire, not to
the time; that no prophetic period is given to
reach to the second advent, but that the longest
one, the two thousand and three hundred days of
Dan. 8:14, terminated in that year, and brought
us to an event called the cleansing of the
sanctuary.
X. That the
sanctuary of the new covenant is the tabernacle
of God in Heaven, of which Paul speaks in
Hebrews 8, and onward, of which our Lord, as
great High Priest, is minister; that this
sanctuary is the antitype of the Mosaic
tabernacle, and that the priestly work of our
Lord, connected therewith, is the antitype of
the work of the Jewish priests of the former
dispensation. Heb. 8:1-5, c.; that this is the
sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300
days, what is termed its cleansing being in this
case, as in the type, simply the entrance of the
high priest into the most holy place, to finish
the round of service connected therewith, by
blotting out and removing from the sanctuary the
sins which had been transferred to it by means
of the ministration in the first apartment, Heb.
9:22, 23; and that this work, in the antitype,
commencing in 1844, occupies a brief but
indefinite space, at the conclusion of which the
work of mercy for the world is finished.
XI. That
God’s moral requirements are the same upon all
men in all dispensations; that these are
summarily contained in the commandments spoken
by Jehovah from Sinai, engraven on the tables of
stone, and deposited in the ark, which was in
consequence called the “ark of the covenant,” or
testament. Num. 10:33, Heb. 9:4, c.; that this
law is immutable and perpetual, being a
transcript of the tables deposited in the ark in
the true sanctuary on high, which is also, for
the same reason, called the ark of God’s
testament; for under the sounding of the seventh
trumpet we are told that “the temple of God was
opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. 11:19.
XII. That
the fourth commandment of this law requires that
we devote the seventh day of each week, commonly
called Saturday, to abstinence from our own
labor, and to the performance of sacred and
religious duties; that this is the only weekly
Sabbath known to the Bible, being the day that
was set apart before Paradise was lost, Gen.
2:2, 3, and which will be observed in paradise
restored, Isa. 66:22, 23; that the facts upon
which the Sabbath institution is based confine
it to the seventh day, as they are not true of
any other day; and that the terms, Jewish
Sabbath, and Christian Sabbath, as applied to
the weekly rest-day, are names of human
invention, unscriptural in fact, and false in
meaning.
XIII. That
as the man of sin, the papacy, has thought to
change times and laws (the laws of God), Dan.
7:25, and has misled almost all Christendom in
regard to the fourth commandment, we find a
prophecy of a reform in this respect to be
wrought among believers just before the coming
of Christ. Isa.56:1, 2, 1 Pet. 1:5, Rev. 14:12,
c.
XIV. That as
the natural or carnal heart is at enmity with
God and his law, this enmity can be subdued only
by a radical transformation of the affections,
the exchange of unholy for holy principles; that
this transformation follows repentance and
faith, is the special work of the Holy Spirit,
and constitutes regeneration or conversion.
XV. That as
all have violated the law of God, and cannot of
themselves render obedience to his just
requirements, we are dependent on Christ, first,
for justification from our past offenses, and,
secondly, for grace whereby to render acceptable
obedience to his holy law in time to come.
XVI. That
the Spirit of God was promised to manifest
itself in the church through certain gifts,
enumerated especially in 1 Cor. 12 and Eph. 4;
that these gifts are not designed to supersede,
or take the place of, the Bible, which is
sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, any
more than the Bible can take the place of the
Holy Spirit; that, in specifying the various
channels of its operation, that Spirit has
simply made provision for its own existence and
presence with the people of God to the end of
time, to lead to an understanding of that word
which it had inspired, to convince of sin, and
to work a transformation in the heart and life;
and that those who deny to the Spirit its place
and operation, do plainly deny that part of the
Bible which assigns to it this work and
position.
XVII. That
God, in accordance with his uniform dealings
with the race, sends forth a proclamation of the
approach of the second advent of Christ; and
that this work is symbolized by the three
messages of Rev. 14, the last one bringing to
view the work of reform on the law of God, that
his people may acquire a complete readiness for
that event.
XVIII. That
the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary (see
propositionX), synchronizing with the time of
the proclamation of the third message, is a time
of investigative judgment, first, with reference
to the dead, and at the close of probation with
reference to the living, to determine who of the
myriads now sleeping in the dust of the earth
are worthy of a part in the first resurrection,
and who of its living multitudes are worthy of
translation—points which must be determined
before the Lord appears.
XIX. That
the grave, whether we all tend, expressed by the
Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades, is a place of
darkness in which there is no work, device,
wisdom, nor knowledge. Eccl. 9:10.
XX. That the
state to which we are reduced by death is one of
silence, inactivity, and entire unconsciousness.
Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6; Dan. 12:2, c.
XXI. That
out of this prison house of the grave mankind
are to be brought by a bodily resurrection; the
righteous having part in the first resurrection,
which takes place at the second advent of
Christ, the wicked in the second resurrection,
which takes place a thousand years thereafter.
Rev. 20:4-6.
XXII. That
at the last trump, the living righteous are to
be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, and with the resurrected righteous are to
be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so
forever to be with the Lord.
XXIII. That
these immortalized ones are then taken to
Heaven, to the New Jerusalem, the Father’s
house, in which there are many mansions, John
14:1-3, where they reign with Christ a thousand
years, judging the world and fallen angels, that
is, apportioning the punishment to be executed
upon them at the close of the one thousand
years; Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; that during
this time the earth lies in a desolate and
chaotic condition, Jer.4:23-27, described, as in
the beginning by the Greek term abussos
)bottomless pit (Septuagint of Gen. 1:2); and
that here Satan is ______( confined during the
thousand years, Rev. 20:1, 2, and here finally
destroyed, Rev. 20:10; Mal. 4:1; the theater of
the ruin he has wrought in the universe, being
appropriately made for a time, his gloomy prison
house, and then the place of his final
execution.
XXIV. That
at the end of the thousand years, the Lord
descends with his people and the New Jerusalem,
Rev. 21:2, the wicked dead are raised and come
up upon on the surface of the yet unrenewed
earth, and gather about the city, the camp of
the saint, Rev. 20:9, and fire comes down from
God out of heaven and devours them. They are
then consumed root and branch,
Mal. 4:1, becoming as though they had not been.
Obad. 15, 16. In this everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess. 1:9, the
wicked meet the everlasting punishment
threatened against them, Matt.25:46, This is the
perdition of ungodly men, the fire which
consumes them being the fire for which “the
heavens and the earth which are now” are kept in
store, which shall melt even the elements with
its intensity, and purge the earth from the
deepest stains of the curse of sin. 2 Peter
3:7-12.
XXV. That
new heavens and earth shall spring by the power
of God from the ashes of the old, to be, with
the New Jerusalem for its metropolis and
capital, the eternal inheritance of the saints,
the place where the righteous shall evermore
dwell. 2 Peter 3:13; Ps. 37:11, 29; Matt. 5:5.
Our "25
beliefs" is adopted from the 1872 version of
Seventh-Day Adventist "twenty-five Fundamental
Principles"
Steam Press Of The Seventh-Day Adventist
Publishing Association, Battle Creek, Mich.:
1872
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