I know that my mom became an SDA a few years back.
What little she speaks of her religion is very legalistic.
I don't know what you mean by legalistic. SDA's choose not to ignore important teachings in the Old Testament such as following all of the 10 commandments ( Exodus 20) and instructions on diet (Leviticus 11). Do you think that it's a coincidence that the only commandment that states "remember" is forgetten or ignored (Exodus 20:8-10)? I don't believe that works alone will guarantee anyone a spot in heaven. It is true that God's love is unconditional. Also that accepting the gift he gave us on the cross is part of salvation. However, the best way to show love is by actions right. By following his teachings or what I call his instruction manual (the bible) we are showing the love we have for him. Words are meaningless without actions to support those words.
Why do you follow the works of Ellen G. White?The full text is found in Mark 2:27,28:"And he said unto them. the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:"Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath"
Jesus was saying that he made the Sabbath for us a day where we rest by leaving the troubles of the week behind and putting our full focus on him. Exodus:20:8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates"
What else does God say about the sabbath? Exodus 31:16,17: Wherefore the children of Isreal shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Isreal for ever:for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed"
Eze. 20:12: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them"
Eze.:20:20:"And hollow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God"
Did God warn against the impending change of the Sabbath in the bible? Isa 59:12-14: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the savvath a delight, the hold of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt though delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the eath, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it"
Isaiah 56:1,2 "Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgement, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil"
Dan 7:25 "And he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into this hand until a time and times and the divinding of time"
What does the new testament say about the Sabbath?
Luke 4:16: "So he [Jesus] came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read."
There is no mention of Sunday being the day of worship in the bible so where did it come from?Jesus birth or ressurection did not change the sabbath.Matt. 5:17-19: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and each them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Even in death Jesus kept the Sabbath. He died on Friday night and resurrected on Sunday. He "rested" through Sabbath. Matt 28:1-7: Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold , there was a great eathquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His counternance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women. "Do not be afriad, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he is risen, as he said.Come and see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him, Behold I have told you"
Sunday was orginally a pagan day of worship where the sun god was celebrated. Because many sun worshipers were coming into the early church, pagan and christian practices were mixed. It became a practice to worship on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't until later that Sunday worship was widely popularized. According to the encyclopedia britannica {11th edition] pg 95) "the earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in A.D. 321, enacting that all courts of justice, inhitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday."
This is taken from "A History of the Christian Councils" by Charles Joseph Hefele": Canon 29 of the council of laodicea states "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honour, and; as being christians shall. if possible. do no work on that day. If. however. they are found Judaizing they shall be shut out from Christ. "
2 Thess 2:3,4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God"
By changing God's law man attempts to be God.
To answer your question about Ellen White. Ellen White's works are in no way held in higher accord then the bible by SDA's. Reading her works are by no means a prerequisite to being SDA or christian. They are books of commentary that use the bible as references. Only to be used as means to better understand the bible. Also it shows us how to apply the word to the present day (without adding or removing any biblical law). She is simple an author and founder of our church and has never claimed to be more than that.
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