Gilbert Jorgensen’s Weblog

 While there is certainly much to cover pertaining to Ellen White, and the influence she had (and still has) on the Seventh-day Adventist Church, what I really get excited about is the precious opportunity that God gives us as New Covenant Christians. That is indeed the "good news".

I like to leave Ellen White behind, and focus on God’s wonderful truths — the reason why we as Christians have much to be excited about — the good news of the gospel.

As I study my Bible, I learn that the "good news" is not about the Sabbath being the Seal of God (instead of the Holy Spirit), the Mark of the Beast, the Great Controversy, the Investigative Judgment, the 1844 Sanctuary Message, the "Spirit of Prophecy", the Seventh-day Adventist Church being the one and only "Remnant Church" — God’s elect, or many of the other unique doctrinal permutations I was taught as a child in Sabbath School.

It is all about Christ, and what He has done for us. The focus is not on us, and our works. It is on Him, and His unfathomable grace. As one of my favorite preachers, former Seventh-day Adventist pastor Clay Peck of Grace Place Church, likes to say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing is the gospel.” — simple but profound.

And two of my favorite books on this subject are Romans and Hebrews. These two books are so simple that even a child can understand them. One Saturday this past winter, my 12-year old son and I sat down and diagrammed the following chart from Romans 8. Isn’t this fascinating! 

 Which would you prefer? This is so simple that a child can even understand it! And yet have you ever heard an expository sermon given on this subject?

I am reminded of Christ’s admonition

"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 (KJV)

If your Seventh-day Adventist upbringing was anything like mine, the Covenants were a subject that you probably never heard much about either from the pulpit, or in Sabbath School class. Now that I am focusing on studying 1-1/2 inches of Bible, instead of 6 feet of Ellen White’s writings, I am making up for lost time. God’s Holy Word is so fascinating, isn’t it!

What a beautiful message. How exciting! The gospel of Jesus, and the Law of the Spirit is indeed good news! Why wouldn’t we want it? As Clay Peck says, "The main thing is the gospel."