6. Creation:

The young earth creationist viewpoint is essential for their Sabbath doctrine. "Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of His completed creative work."

7. Nature of Man: "Though created free beings, each is an indivisible unity of body, mind, and spirit, dependent upon God for life and breath and all else." Genesis 2:7  Body + Spirit = Soul

SDAs deny the immortality of the soul. They teach that the soul is a "living person" and disintegrates into nothing at death. Therefore nobody goes to heaven at death and the resurrection is a recreation from nothing.

==2 Cor 5:8; Jn 14:1-2==

"When our first parents disobeyed God, they denied their dependence upon Him and fell from their high position under God. The image of God in them was marred and they became subject to death."

Gen 2:17 is contentious for both SDAs and others: "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." SDAs accuse us of supporting Satan's lie.

8. Great Controversy:
"All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law [TEN COMMANDMENTS], and His sovereignty over the universe [SABBATH]. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God's adversary, and led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood. Observed by the whole creation [MANY INHABITED UNFALLEN WORLDS], this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation. (Rev. 12:4-9; Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-18; Gen. 3; Rom. 1:19-32; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; Gen. 6-8; 2 Peter 3:6; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14.)"

This statement oversimplifies what SDAs teach so much that it is dishonest. To anybody who reads EGW's book, The Great Controversy, the main contention over the Law is the Sabbath. In the last days 144,000 sinless SDAs will stand before God after the "close of probation" to prove to the universe that the law can be kept perfectly by men and women without a mediator. GC613++.

9. Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ:
"In Christ's life of perfect obedience to God's will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life, and the whole creation may better understand the infinite and holy love of the Creator."

This is deceptive. SDAs teach that the merits of the atonement are not imputed to the believer until after the Investigative Judgment (which began in 1844) certifies that every sin and motive has been confessed and forgiven.

"This perfect atonement vindicates the righteousness of God's law [TEN COMMANDMENTS] and the graciousness of His character; for it both condemns our sin and provides for our forgiveness. The death of Christ is substitutionary and expiatory, reconciling and transforming. The resurrection of Christ proclaims God's triumph over the forces of evil, and for those who accept the atonement assures their final victory over sin and death. It declares the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow."

This is dishonest. There is no assurance of salvation in SDA theology because they teach that the final atonement has not been applied to the believer until an after-death investigation of one's life.

10. Experience of Salvation:
"In infinite love and mercy God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God. Led by the Holy Spirit we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions, and exercise faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as Substitute and Example. This faith which receives salvation comes through the divine power of the Word and is the gift of God's grace. Through Christ we are justified, adopted as God's sons and daughters, and delivered from the lordship of sin. Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our minds, writes God's law of love in our hearts, and we are given the power to live a holy life. Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the [INVESTIGATIVE] judgment."

This is not what SDAs teach at all when they explain the Investigative Judgment from The Great Controversy.GC486-487: Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight for deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn.

A. SDAs tell outsiders that they believe salvation is by grace through faith alone.

B. When pressed for details, SDAs teach that salvation is received by grace through faith alone, but it is maintained by works of the Law, especially Saturday-Sabbath-keeping.

C. Those living when Christ returns must be honoring God by worshipping on Saturday.

11. Growing in Christ: Sanctification

The statement is common to other churches. However SDAs teach that 144.000 SDAs in the last days will achieve sinless perfection and can stand before God without a mediator.

GC425-426: "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."

12. Church:
"The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour."

This is deceptive. SDAs teach the cult-characteristic of exclusiveness at least for the last days. "Church" does not mean the universal body of Christ in the last days --it means only the SDA remnant church.

"In continuity with the people of God in Old Testament times …"

SDAs see themselves as the true spiritual Israel in prophecy and interpret the NT word "Israel" to mean "SDA."

"… we are called out from the world; and we join together for worship, for fellowship, for instruction in the Word, for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, for service to all mankind, and for the worldwide proclamation of the gospel."

The "gospel" is only that which is taught by the SDA church.

"The church derives its authority from Christ, who is the incarnate Word, and from the Scriptures, which are the written Word. The church is God's family; adopted by Him as children, its members live on the basis of the new covenant."

The Great Controversy, page 485, says that the new covenant promise that God will no longer "remember" sins of believers will not occur until after the post-death investigative judgment.

"The church is the body of Christ, a community of faith of which Christ Himself is the Head. The church is the bride for whom Christ died that He might sanctify and cleanse her. At His return in triumph, He will present her to Himself a glorious church, the faithful of all the ages, the purchase of His blood, not having spot or wrinkle, but holy and without blemish."

SDAs teach that the Roman Catholic Church is Babylon the Great, the harlot church. It also teaches that all Protestants churches which worship on Sunday are "harlot daughters of Babylon." "The faithful of all ages" does not include Sunday worshippers in the last days.

13. Remnant and Its Mission:
"The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the [TEN] commandments of God [ESPECIALLY THE SABBATH] and the faith of Jesus."

There is no universal church in the last days. The only true church is SDA.

"This remnant announces the arrival of the [INVESTIGATIVE] judgment hour [IN 1844], proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent [WHEN THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT IS FINISHED]."

The original 1844 message was a false prophecy preached by Baptist farmer, William Miller, who used Daniel 8:14 to teach that the world would end in 1844 by fire. SDAs re-interpreted the event to Christ entering, for the first time, into the MHP of heaven to fulfill the Day of Atonement.

"This proclamation is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; it coincides with the work of [INVESTIGATIVE] judgment in heaven and results in a work of repentance and reform on earth. Every believer is called to have a personal part in this worldwide witness." (Rev. 14:6-12)

The proclamation of the SDA Three Angels' Messages has had an unnoticeable overall affect of "repentance and reform on earth." Most homes have not been touched by SDAs.

1st Angel: Second coming is near because Christ began investigating our life records in 1844 and all must be Sabbath-keepers.

2nd Angel: Those who disagree with SDAs have become spiritual Babylon.

3rd Angel: Those who worship on Sunday will receive the Mark of the Beast in the last days.

14. Unity in the Body of Christ:
True church is SDA. Others are Babylon and her harlot daughters.

15. Baptism: Same as Baptists.

16. Lord's Supper: Same as Baptists. Foot-washing is included.

17. Spiritual Gifts and Ministries:
"… According to the Scriptures, these gifts include such ministries as faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration, reconciliation, compassion, and self-sacrificing service and charity for the help and encouragement of people."

Like Baptists, SDAs do not include the gifts of faith healers or tongues but emphasize the gift of prophecy.

"Some members are called of God and endowed by the Spirit for functions recognized by the church in pastoral, evangelistic, apostolic, and teaching ministries particularly needed to equip the members for service, to build up the church to spiritual maturity, and to foster unity of the faith and knowledge of God. …"

Like Baptists, SDAs do not use the tithe of Apostle for church leaders. They refer to their ministers as elders. SDAs have a female prophetess but no female pastors or elders.

18. The Gift of Prophecy:
"One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen. G. White."

SDAs say they are the only true remnant church because they "keep the commandments" [especially the Sabbath] and "have the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy" [Ellen G White]. They ignore the fact that EGW died in 1913 and has not been replaced; therefore, the gift is not a continuing revelation. David Koresh claimed to replace her in the Branch David, Seventh-day Adventist offshoot.

"As the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested." (Rev. 12:17; 19:10)

Her writings as a prophetess are treated as equally inspired as the Bible. The final statement is hotly debated even within Adventism.

19. Law of God:
"The great principles of God's law are embodied in the Ten Commandments and exemplified in the life of Christ."

SDAs will not agree that Christian law, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death," is NOT the same as the Old Covenant Law. Most of the time they very narrowly interpret the word "law" to refer to the Ten Commandments.

"They [TEN COMMANDMENTS] express God's love, will, and purposes concerning human conduct and relationships and are binding upon all people in every age."

The SDA emphasis on the Ten Commandments is really an emphasis on the Sabbath.

"These precepts are the basis of God's covenant with His people and the standard in God's judgment. … Salvation is all of grace and not of works, but its fruitage is obedience to the Commandments. …"

SDAs blur the difference between the Old and New Covenants. They ignore the NT fact that Christ is now the standard of God's Judgment. They teach that all true last-day believers must worship on Saturday. Rom 3:21-26; Jn 16:8-9

20. Sabbath:
"The beneficent Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath."

SDAs teach that God gave the 7th day Saturday Sabbath to all people to observe in recognition of His creation rest.

"The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom."

SDAs downplay the role of the Holy Spirit as the seal of redemption.

"The Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people." Ex. 31:13-17

By claiming that they are the only replacement of national Israel as spiritual Israel, SDAs appropriate God's OT promises to Israel as their own.

"Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts. (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; Luke 4:16; Isa. 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Matt. 12:1-12; Eze. 20:12, 20; Deut. 5:12-15; Heb. 4:1-11; Lev. 23:32; Mark 1:32.)"

SDAs teach that the Sabbath can be perfectly kept on a round world from north pole to the south pole.

21. Stewardship: Same as most Baptists.

22. Christian Behavior:
"… our amusement and entertainment should meet the highest standards of Christian taste and beauty."

Although most do, SDAs are encouraged not to have televisions and not to attend movies.

"While recognizing cultural differences, our dress is to be simple, modest, and neat, befitting those whose true beauty does not consist of outward adornment but in the imperishable ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit."

SDAs are taught not to wear wedding rings but are allowed to wear expensive "functional" jewelry such as watches.

"It also means that because our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are to care for them intelligently. Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures. Since alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and the irresponsible use of drugs and narcotics are harmful to our bodies, we are to abstain from them as well. Instead, we are to engage in whatever brings our thoughts and bodies into the discipline of Christ, who desires our wholesomeness, joy, and goodness. (Rom. 12:1, 2; 1 John 2:6; Eph. 5:1-21; Phil. 4:8; 2 Cor. 10:5; 6:14-7:1; 1 Peter 3:1-4; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 10:31; Lev. 11:1-47; 3 John 2.)"

SDAs are often found in the health food industry and medical professions. They frown on eating the OT unclean foods along with alcohol and tobacco.

23. Marriage and the Family: Same as conservative Baptists.

24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary: The Investigative Judgment Doctrine.
"There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man."

SDAs emphasize the literal sanctuary in heaven looking exactly like the one on earth. They seem to say that God lives in a small room in heaven.

"In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension."

SDAs and EGW's The Great Controversy teach that Christ only began ministering in the outer room of the Holy Place at his ascension. They have re-worked this statement to avoid obvious contradiction with the Bible.

"In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry."

SDAs teach that the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 are prophetic years, that they refer to the heavenly sanctuary, that they began in 457 BC and ended in 1844, and that Christ, for the first time in 1844, entered into the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven to begin fulfilling the Day of Atonement types.

"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."

SDAs teach that everybody ceases to exist at death. In 1844 Jesus entered the MHP in heaven and began reading the books to determine who will saved, recreated and resurrected at His coming. In 1844 he began with Adam. When he is finished he will return.

"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."

This is gross oversimplification of what SDAs teach. They teach that every confessed and atoned sin since Eden has been carried by Jesus into the MHP in heaven and the heavenly sanctuary has been defiled by atoned sin. This means that the Most Holy Place of the Universe is the storage place for all atoned sin which must be cleansed beginning in 1844.

GC421 As anciently the SINS of the people were placed by faith upon the sin offering and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary, so in the New Covenant the SINS of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary.

"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."

This contradicts earlier statements promising the assurance of salvation. "Reveals" should be "determines." The determination of whether one is saved will not be made until after each person's life has been researched for un-confessed and un-forgiven sin.

GC480: The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. Says the prophet Daniel: ‘The judgment was set and the books were opened’ [Dan. 7:10].

"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 is deceptive. EGW says that the books of record are "to determine the decisions of the judgment" ---not merely "manifest" or "reveal." "Keeping the commandments" is code for "Sabbath-keepers" and "the faith of Jesus" is code for the prophetic gift of "Ellen G White" per Revelation 19:10.

"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."

SDAs teach that one can fall from grace if the Sabbath is not continually observed. Again the final decision is made after one dies.

"The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent. (Heb. 8:1-5; 4:14-16; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)"

The close of probation is after all the dead and living professed believers have been judged since 1844. After Jesus has closed the books in heaven and put on his king's garment those still living on earth must be able to stand before God without an intercessor.

25. Second Coming of Christ:
"The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the [SDA] church, the grand climax of the gospel. The Saviour's coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide."

Sunday worshippers will not be saved at the second coming because they have the Mark of the Beast.

"When He returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven, but the unrighteous will die."

This is dishonest. Instead of "resurrected" SDAs teach that souls (which are living bodies) will be re-created and then resurrected. Everybody who is not resurrected is killed at the second coming.

"The almost complete fulfillment of most lines of prophecy, together with the present condition of the world, indicates that Christ's coming is imminent. The time of that event has not been revealed, and we are therefore exhorted to be ready at all times."

This is deceptive and incorrectly uses the word,  "imminent." By "imminent" SDAs teach that Christ could not have come prior to 1844. Also by "imminent" SDAs mean that many prophecies must still be fulfilled before the Second Coming: (1) the revival of papal Antichrist, (2) the US government teams with apostate Christians to imprison SDAs for a death decree and (3) the Mark of the Beast allowing Sunday worshippers to buy and sell.

26. Death and Resurrection:
"The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people."

This is deceptive. SDAs use the term "soul sleep" but they mean "annihilation" --the soul ceases to exist at death and even the righteous must wait until the resurrection to have eternal life with God.

"When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord."

SDAs deny that Jesus brings the souls of believing saints back with him per 1 Thess 4:13-17. They deny that souls of saints immediately go to heaven at death. 2 Cor 5:8

"The second resurrection, the resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a thousand years later." Eccl. 9:5, 6

SDAs deny that souls of the wicked suffer at death.

27. Millennium and the End of Sin:
"The millennium is the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints in heaven between the first and second resurrections. During this time the wicked dead will be judged; the earth will be utterly desolate, without living human inhabitants, but occupied by Satan and his angels."

SDAs teach that the earth will remain desolate for 1000 years after the second coming of Christ.  They transpose events concerning the judgment of unbelievers. Revelation 20-21

"At its close Christ with His saints and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The unrighteous dead will then be resurrected, and with Satan and his angels will surround the city; but fire from God will consume them and cleanse the earth. The universe will thus be freed of sin and sinners forever." (Rev. 20; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Jer. 4:23-26; Rev. 21:1-5; Mal. 4:1; Eze. 28:18, 19.)

Again SDAs severely transpose the events surrounding the judgment of the wicked at the end of the millennium. Revelation 20-21.

28. New Earth: Same as most Baptists.