Are We Judged By Our Works If We Are Saved by Grace?
Sabbath School with Branch Davidians
Release Date: 10/07/2023
Sabbath School with Branch Davidians
None of the 4 gospels in the New Testament list the name of is author, nor are they listed anywhere in the bible. So, is it okay to question the traditional authorship of the gospels? Or is that a doctrinally off limits thing to do? Like, is someone who questions these authorship traditions to be considered someone who doesn't really have a high view of scripture or something like that? Is it theologically okay to question a tradition if we are basing our doctrines on scripture alone? In our study today, we consider this. For more study, see: Is Merely Mental Prayer...
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Are humans dualistic beings – two part beings, composed of a material body plus an immaterial soul? The reason some have this idea is the belief that matter cannot be organized to think, and therefore, the thinking ability of humans must be attributed to something immaterial. This is then used as a basis for the belief in the soul's naturally immortality. If it's immaterial, it has no parts, so it can't be destroyed and must endure forever. While that might *seem* to make sense, it depends on the idea that the mind is immaterial. And the apparent necessity for that vanishes if matter can...
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Can matter be organized so that it can think? Or is there an immaterial part of humans that is responsible for thought, reason, and emotion? The SDA doctrine of the non-immortality of the soul is very well known among SDAs today, but what is less well known is the core reason behind this doctrine. This core reason is really the foundation on which the non-immortality of the soul rests, and it was plainly understood and explained by the SDA pioneers. If we don't understand this foundation, we're prone holding other beliefs that are actually in conflict with it, without even realizing it. One...
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Who is benefited by Jesus' priesthood in the Heavenly Sanctuary? Many are under the impression that people are benefited by just professing Him as their lord and savior, or accepting that He is the savior of the world. But is this the case? In this study we are going to take a look at a book which has Jesus' priesthood as the central theme – the book of Hebrews. For further study, see: "What Jesus Taught About Doing Right and Wrong," by Trent Wilde, “What Are The Streams of Water In Psalm 1?" 2024 Sabbath School, Quarter 2: The Great Controversy – Week 8, "Light From...
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As SDAs, we all know about the Great Controversy. We all have this idea in mind that there is this controversy between Christ and Satan going on in the background. At least Satan wants us to think it's just that—a background scenario that's mainly independent from our every day lives. In light of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, our controversies could be called small controversies in the scheme of things. But, as I'm sure we all would admit, we tend to think of our personal controversies as though they're great controversies, and sometimes THE Great Controversy between...
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Today we are going to look at a key aspect of what brings about successful reformation, because one thing we all know about the Protestant Reformation was that although many great truths were restored, it didn't finish the gospel work. And in fact, as Adventists, we know that while the Protestant Reformation was a good thing, the churches it produced are actually Babylon. As Seventh-day Adventists we should all know that the second angel's message was directed primarily at the Protestant Churches and declared that they were the Babylon that fell. Note, it's not that these churches *became*...
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You know the bible verse that says no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation, (2 Peter 1:19-21)? Well, it's the subject of one of Friday's discussion questions in the SDA Sabbath School Quarterly this week, and it's also the subject of *our* study today. We'll find out what the deal is with private interpretation, and we'll also learn how we're supposed to approach the task of interpreting scripture. The pillars of the SDA movement were founded on the revelations given to Ellen White, not on private interpretations of the pioneers. She says that all the brethren at that...
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As you might know, the full title of the first edition of Ellen White's book, "The Great Controversy" was "The Great Controversy, Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels." By this longer title, we can see that the angels have taken either one side or the other. These two sides operate by two completely different sets of principles. Christ's angels are wholly and consistently devoted to His principles;—they don't live by His principles some of the time and by Satan's principles some of the time. And likewise, Satan's angels are entirely on Satan's side—they don't have...
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Satan has long been keen on misconstruing the words of God's messengers, and Ellen White is no exception. Ellen wrote that Kellogg was misconstruing the meaning of her words to mean something almost opposite of their intended meaning, and as we know by the state of confusion about her writings today, this problem has only worsened since her death. So, today we're going to address this issue and point out least one thing we can do to guard against misunderstanding Ellen's writings. For more study, see: “The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine, Did Ellen White Teach...
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There seems to be a lot of confusion over what Ellen White taught about the duration of Jesus' existence. Did she teach that Jesus had a beginning at some point in eternity past? Or did she teach He has always existed with the Father as a co-eternal member of the Godhead? Is there anything Ellen White said that let's us know what she taught on this issue? In this study we look at statements by the SDA pioneers and statements by Ellen White and discover if she agreed with the then-prevailing among the pioneers that Jesus did indeed have a beginning – at the point He was begotten of the...
info_outlineHow is the concept of judgment linked to the “everlasting gospel” in the first angel’s message? Why must the gospel be central to the idea of judgment?
Some might say that the gospel is central to the idea of judgment because it is thought that acceptance of the gospel equals salvation from judgment, and if we don't have to be judged, there is nothing to fear about the judgment.
Another thing people might say concerning the gospel and its relation to the judgment is that the gospel makes it so that believers won't have to be judged by what they actually do.
However, scripture is clear that all of us, including believers, are judged by our works, and each will receive according to what they have done, whether good or bad. Many passages say this. To name a few, there's Romans 2:6; Matthew 16:27, James 2:24 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.
In this study, we look at this problem: on one hand, it is commonly thought that the gospel of being saved by grace makes it so that whether we go to heaven or not isn't determined by our works. On the other hand, Scripture plainly tells us that we are judged by our works, whether good or bad. These two ideas just don't jive.
For deeper study, please see our study:
“The Real Meaning of Jesus' Substitutionary Death,” https://youtu.be/rQQaPMOMyTY?feature=shared
“The Truth of Sacrifice” - Oct. 1, 2015 - Trent Wilde (FOT'15 S3), https://youtu.be/0YOcg3kd74Q?feature=shared
Sabbath School Q4 2023: God's Mission, My Mission - Week 2, "God's Mission to Us, Part 2"
A Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist perspective on the Sabbath School lesson.