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Seventh-day Adventism Refuted: What are the Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast?      Seventh-day Adventists began as a Church with the false belief that the Sabbath was the seal of God; then they took the next step and said that the mark of the beast would become Sunday-keeping. Both doctrines are false and cannot be proven from scripture. Notice some of the claims Ellen G. White made about Sabbath and Sunday worship: “The Sabbath was instituted in Eden and observed by our first parents before the fall. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were expelled from Eden; but they observed the Sabbath after their fall.” [The Signs of the Times, February 6, 1879] “Hallowed by the Creator’s rest and blessing, the Sabbath was kept by Adam in his innocence in holy Eden; by Adam, fallen yet repentant, when he was driven from his happy estate. It was kept by all the patriarchs, from Abel to righteous Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob.” [The Great Controversy, 1888, page 453] “The sign or seal of God is his Sabbath, and the seal or mark of the beast is in direct opposition to it; it is a counterfeit Sabbath on the “day of the sun.” According to Revelation 14:9-12, they who do not receive the mark of the beast keep the commandments of God; and the Sabbath is in the fourth precept; they keep the Sabbath of the Lord; they have his sign or seal.” [The Great Controversy, 1888, page 691] “The central issues in the final crisis will be worship and obedience to God in keeping His commandments (Rev. 14:12). The Sabbath commandment in particular, will be the test of faithfulness and obedience to God. As the Sabbath is the distinctive sign of the obedience of God’s faithful people (Ezek. 20:12, 20), so the mark of the beast is the sign of allegiance to the beast. The mark of the beast involves the substitution of a human commandment for God’s commandment. The greatest evidence of this fact is the humanly established institution of Sunday (Dan. 7:25) as the day of worship instead of the seventh day Sabbath, the day mandated in Scripture by our Creator. The attempt to change the sign of God’s authority to another day is an attempt to usurp the role and power of God Himself. “The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath. … When the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, … then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.” [Evangelism, pages 234-235]. “The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God.” [The Great Controversy, page 640]. Who are we to believe, Ellen G. White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church or what the Bible plainly teaches about the seal of God and the mark of the beast? Ellen White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church falsely say the seal of God was the Sabbath in the Old Covenant and then apply it to the New Covenant seal. In fact, the Old Covenant never says the Sabbath was the “seal” of God, only that it was a “sign” of the Old Covenant (Exod. 31:13-17; Ezek. 20:12-20). The words “sign” and “seal” are not synonymous like the Seventh-day Adventists try to say. The words are only used together when speaking about the rite of circumcision, something the New Covenant clearly says is obsolete and unnecessary (Acts 15:1, 5; Rom. 2:25-28; 4:11; 1 Cor. 7:18; Gal. 5:2-3; 6:15; Col. 3:11). The scriptures tell us exactly what God’s seal is for the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” 2 Corinthians 1:22 says, “and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Where does the New Testament say otherwise? Where is the Sabbath ever called a seal in the Old, or the New Testaments? The Holy Spirit is God’s seal and not just His sealing agent. God seals us when we put our trust in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ; not because we earn His seal by working to keep the Sabbath. In fact, the New Covenant tells us very clearly that the Old Covenant ceremonies, Sabbaths, feasts, and Holy days were all made obsolete by the New Covenant. Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (NIV) In Colossians 2:16-17, false teachers were evidently insisting on abstinence from certain foods and observance of certain days. Paul said that these were only shadows of what was to come and that they have been made obsolete by the coming of Christ (Heb. 8:7-13; 10:1). We are told not to judge anyone over those issues. The phrase “a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day” refers to the annual, monthly, and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13; 31:3; Ne. 10:33; Isa. 1:13-14; Ezek. 45:17; 46:1-11; Hosea 2:11). The weekly seventh day Sabbath is clearly meant because Paul had already mentioned the ceremonial festivals and new moons and would have no reason to repeat himself. False teachers in the Church were insisting that Christians have to keep the Holy days from the Mosaic Covenant. Paul said in Galatians 4:10-11, “You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” Paul had to rebuke the legalistic Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days as holy, including the seventh day Sabbath. The rituals, ceremonies, and festivals of the Jewish religious calendar which God gave to Israel in the Old Covenant were never required for the church. Paul warned the Galatians, just like he did the Colossians and the Romans against legalistically observing them as if they were required by God in the New Covenant (Col. 2:16-17; Rom. 14:1-6). Romans 14:5-6 says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Paul told the Christians in Rome who held certain days higher, or with greater esteem than another day not to condemn those who do not (a Sabbath day, Feast days, and fasting days were all in view). We have no right to bind another person’s conscience with restrictions that do not apply to the Christian life. There are two commands we are to pursue where our Savior gets all the glory, loving God and loving our neighbor. When we do those two things we fulfill the law of Christ (Rom. 14:5-23). The Mosaic Covenant served as a dividing wall or partition that was meant to separate Israel from the unbelieving Gentiles. The New Covenant did away with the Law to break down the barrier between the two groups. Ephesians 2:13-16 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (NIV) The New Covenant has made both groups into one new body of believers, the church. Colossians 3:11 says, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” Romans 2:28-30 says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” The only laws Christians are expected to follow are the laws given in the New Covenant. Seventh-day Adventists make an artificial distinction between the Law of God (the Ten Commandments) and the Law of Moses, but the Bible never makes that distinction. They are one and the same law! They were the Old Covenant that was made obsolete by the New Covenant (Heb. 8:13-9:4). Christians are no more required to keep the seventh day Sabbath than they are required to be circumcised, or offer animal sacrifices for their sins. They were all obligations for Israel living under the Mosaic Covenant and are not binding on Christians who live under the New Covenant. Seventh-day Adventists are covenant confused! Their entire belief system is based on the false assumption that the Old Covenant law is eternal and permanent. Their entire theology is centered around Old Covenant Sabbath-keeping and not the lifesaving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seventh-day Adventists are missing out on the wonders of having the Holy Spirit live inside them. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we are set free from the Old Covenant Law to live by God’s Spirit (Rom. 7:1-7; 8:1-17; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 12:13). The mark of the beast in Revelation is connected to the seal of God but not the way the Seventh-day Adventists say it is. All God’s people receive His seal when they become a believer (Eph. 1:13). The mark of the beast has nothing to do with going to church on Sunday. The mark of the beast will be given to all those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads (Rev. 7:2-3; 13:16-18). Anyone who is not a true follower of Jesus Christ receives the mark of the beast because they have not been saved by Jesus Christ. Seventh-day Adventists are missing out on the wonders of the Spirit-led life. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. We are sealed “with” the Holy Spirit, not just “by” Him. The blessings of Christianity are largely spiritual. God does not guarantee that we have good health, wealth, or prosperity under the New Covenant but He does promise the Holy Spirit will live in our hearts as a guarantee of our future hope (2 Cor. 1:22). Seventh-day Adventists deny one of the central roles of the Holy Spirit who is given to us as God’s pledge of our eternal inheritance. When we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives we have the guarantee that God will be with us unto the end. Seventh-day Adventists grieve the Holy Spirit when they turn the grace of God into a work they must perform in order to be saved. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, not by works of the law (Eph. 2:8-10). Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant doesn’t require Christians to keep any day of the week holy. The day you go to church is not the issue, what matters is that you make Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life, and trust in Him for your salvation. If you truly follow Jesus Christ then you have been sealed already by God’s Spirit and can know for certain that you have eternal life.   See also: What is the Gospel? What does it mean to be born again? The Process of Salvation. How do we overcome our sinful nature? Do you have a saving faith? We serve in the new way of the Spirit. Is it really possible to keep the Ten Commandments? God promised to make a New Covenant for us to live by! “Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible” “Used by permission. All rights reserved.” ESV Text Edition: 2016 Seventh-day Adventist Resource Page Links to Helpful Websites, Books and Videos on the SDAs The Seventh-day Adventist Church: (Beliefs and Errors) Learn more about our beliefs Read more Local Ministries Available Serving Denver, Colorado and the Front Range. Email us at: Webmaster@In-Him.com