What do Seventh-day Adventists teach about salvation and the Baptists teach about obedience?

Question:

Hello brother,

Can you explain to me what is the Seventh-day Adventist's view on salvation? I was watching a discussion between a Baptist and an Adventist. What the Adventist said sounded kind of similar to what the church of Christ believes salvation is.

If it is not too much trouble, can you explain to me what are the Seventh-day Adventist's views on salvation and baptism?
And what is the Baptist's view on obedience? I was reading down in the comments what some Baptists were saying while debating the Adventists. They believed in salvation by faith only. But when it came to obedience, this is where they confused me. They don't believe you need to obey to be saved, is that right? But after you repent and bring Jesus into your life and you are saved by faith, you still need to obey? Why? I don't understand their view on the purpose of obedience if you are already saved and it doesn't affect your salvation. Can you explain to me both of these views?

Answer:

The official position of the Seventh-day Adventist is that salvation comes at the point of faith.

"This saving faith 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" [The Experience of Salvation].

They believe that baptism is necessary, even though they say a person is saved at the point of faith. They cite the conversion of Cornelius' household in Acts 10 as proof. From their view, the household was saved when the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of tongues, but since Peter still required that they were to be baptized, that it is a requirement to be done after being saved by faith. In a sense, they see baptism as completing the process of being saved that started by faith. [What Does the Bible Say About Baptism].

See What Saves a Person? for what the Bible teaches about salvation.

The Baptist position on obedience is more difficult to pin down because there are several Baptist organizations and they have varying beliefs. Some Baptists are strongly Calvinistic in their beliefs. These Baptists believe you have to have a religious experience that proves that God has selected you for salvation. Others say that a declaration of faith is sufficient to say you are saved. To most Baptists, baptism is just a way to show you've joined the Baptist Church and has nothing to do with salvation. From the Baptist view, people who are saved naturally desired to do good works but even if they fail to obey, it doesn't change whether they are saved or not. Other Baptists see a failure to be obedient as evidence that the person never was saved in the first place.

See The Role of Obedience in Salvation for a discussion of the Bible teaches about obedience.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email