Why I Am A Baptist
And Not A
Seventh Day AdventistBy The Late D.B. Eastep
"...Be ready...to give...every man...a reason...
of the hope that is in you..." -- (1 Peter 3:15).
It is out of the Bible I will give five reasons why I am a
Baptist and not a Seventh Day Adventist:
1. Because I have not found in the New Testament
one single sentence where God ever commanded a
Gentile to keep the law -- not one. I am a Gentile and
the [local] church is a Gentile church. When a Jew is saved the
"middle wall of partition is broken down," and he is
NOT commanded to keep the law (Eph. 2:14).
2. Because the Word of God teaches me that I am
NOT saved by keeping the law -- and the keeping of
the sabbath is keeping the law. In Romans 3:20-28 we
read:
"Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of
sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law
is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets...being justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law"; and "For by the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16).; and
"Wherefore the law was our school-master to bring us
to Christ, that we might be justified by faith...for we
are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus"
(Gal. 3:14-16).
3. Because I do not believe what they teach that
Catholics were the first to observe Sunday as a day of
worship.
The Catholic church did not begin until the fifth
century after Christ. Anyone who knows history knows
that this is so.
Baptists are not Protestants -- we did not come out of
the Catholic Church -- the Catholic Church came out of
us.
Baptists of today are not all they ought to be. Some of
them are so far from the truth that they will never get
back; but the Baptist churches were the first churches
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It has not always been known by the name
"Baptist," but the early Christians believed just what
we believe, that all men are saved by faith, that no
group or organization within or without it has any
jurisdiction over it. That was the New Testament
Church.
Now, who did start the observance of the first day of
the week as the day of worship? "Now upon the FIRST
DAY OF THE WEEK, very early in the morning, they
came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which
they had prepared, and certain others with them"
(Luke 24:1).
It is rather interesting that the Lord Jesus arose on
the first day of the week. The devil is shrewd. He would
be happy if he could get God's people to abolish the
Lord's day as a day of worship...it would be a
tremendous victory for him. If I worship on Saturday, so
far as I am concerned, I might as well worship Christ
on the crucifix. The risen Lord appeared to the disciples
on the first day of the week. Why did He not appear on
the sabbath?
"The same day at evening, being the first day of the
week...came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said
unto them, Peace be unto you" (John 20:19).The early disciples of the risen Lord worshiped Him
on the first day of the week, and you will search the
New Testament in vain for one instance where the New
Testament Christians worshiped on the old Jewish
Sabbath.
And there is another interesting fact. The early
Christians gathered together their offerings on the first
day of the week.
"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you
lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that
there be no gatherings when I come" (I Cor. 16:2).
Why not on the seventh day? Adventists say that
when we worship on Sunday we are worshiping on a
heathen day because Sunday means "the day of the
sun." Every one of the days of the week are named
after a heathen deity:
Sunday means "The Day of the Sun";
Monday means "Day Sacred to the Moon";
Tuesday means "Day of Mars";
Wednesday means "Woden's Day";
Thursday is named for Thor, the "god of Thunder";
Friday means "day of Sacred Frigg";
Saturday means "Saturn's Day"; this is the Jewish
Sabbath.
4. Because of the difficulty of harmonizing some of
the practices and teachings of the Seventh Day
Adventists, I will give you a few of them:
If Christians are required to keep the seventh day, or
the Sabbath
(1) Why do Adventists depart from their dwellings
on that day?
"For the Lord hath given you the sabbath...abide ye
every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on
the seventh day" (Ex. 16:29).
If the Adventists are going to be consistent, the only
thing for them to do is stay at home on the Sabbath.
That is what the Word of God commands. They do not
do that.
(2) If the Adventists keep the Sabbath, the seventh
day, why do they not keep them all -- the seventh year,
the year of jubilee? (Lev. 25:1-22).
(3) If Christians were to keep the law, they would
have to live in warm climates.
"Ye shall kindle no fire through your habitations
upon the sabbath day" (Ex. 35:3).
(4) If Christians are to keep the seventh day, then
who is to put to death all who fail to do so?
"And while the children of Israel were in the
wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon
the sabbath day...and the Lord spake unto Moses, The
man shall surely be put to death...and the congrega-
tion stoned him with stones, and he died..."
(Num. 15:32ff).
The law doesn't mean a thing if you do away with the
penalty.
(5) If God required the keeping of the law to be
saved, then why did He not require the young rich ruler
to keep the sabbath? (Matt. 19:16-20). Jesus did not tell
the rich young ruler to keep the law.
(6) If you are going back and take up the law of the
sabbath, then what about circumcision? Why do the
Seventh Day Adventists not observe the law of
circumcision? (Read Gen. 17:1-14).
(7) If the early Christians observed the sabbath, why
did they "break bread on the first day of the week?"
(Acts 20:7). They gathered on the first day of the week
to worship God in recognition of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus.
(8) If Christians are to keep the sabbath, then why
did not the New Testament writers command it? They
commanded just the opposite.
"Let no man judge you therefore in meat, or drink, or in
respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of
sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come"
(Col. 2:14ff).
The law of the Lord is the law of the New Testament.
(9) Why should anyone insist on observing the
sabbath, when God said that Israel's sabbaths would
cease?
"And I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast
days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and her
solemn vows" (Hosea 2:11).
5. Because, to me, the first day of the week has a
greater significance for this gospel age than the
seventh. Not one time does God ever command a
believer to observe Saturday.
...Sunday is our day of worship, and there is a
reason. Keeping the sabbath won't save you. Baptism
won't save you. Good works won't save you. Joining a
church won't save you. The Lord Jesus Christ, and He
alone, is the Saviour of every sinner. There is no other
way. Hell is filled with people who have joined the
church and tried to keep the law, but have spurned the
Lord Jesus and His cleansing blood (Eph. 2:8-9).
Seventh Day Adventists deny the resurrection by
observing the Sabbath. We come to church on Sunday,
the Lord's Day, to worship Him who "died for our sins,
and rose again for our justification." We worship a
living Saviour, and with thanksgiving, can sing:
"He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!"
If I worship Christ on Saturday I deny that His work is
finished, that He is a resurrected, living Saviour.
--copied from the Ashland Ave. BaptistTRACT # C-415 ORDER FROM: TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH
1911 34th St., P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452Send payment with order and we pay postage! If total order is less
than $5.00, add .50 cents. All foreign add 40% and send U.S. funds.15 for $2.00 - 100 for $5.00 - 500 for $18.00
50 for $3.00 - 250 for $10.00 - 1,000 for $28.00For current discount prices send stamped envelope!
[ Christian Helps Ministry (USA) ] [ Christian Home Bible Course ]