This answer whether the SDA church is preaching the pure gospel today.

1. WHAT IS THE PURE GOSPEL?
hat is the true gospel? Is the Seventh-day Adventist
Church preaching the pure gospel message?
Definition of Terms
The word gospel is mentioned in the New Testament
(NIV) 96 times.1
In Greek it is eu)agge/lion
(euaggelion),which means a good message, i.e., the
gospel. The eu)aggelisth/$ (euaggelistes) means a
preacher of the gospel. It is called a pure gospel because
the message is not composed of “perverted ideas and false
interpretations and misapplication of Scripture.”2
Why Is It About Christ?
Mark introduces that the gospel as about Jesus Christ
(Mark 1:1), which “must first be preached to all nations”
(13:10, NIV) “as a testimony to all nations, and then the
end will come” (Matt 24:14). Is it about Jesus as what?
The following are reasons why it is about Jesus.
First, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as Son of God. Paul says, “For the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, who was preached among you” (2 Cor 1:19). When
the fall of man happened, Christ said, “I will redeem him, I
will become his surety and substitute.”3
Then,
He laid aside his royal robes,clothed his divinity with
humanity, stepped down from the royal throne, that he might
reach the very depth of human woe and temptation, lift up our
1
See Matt 24:14; 26:13; Mark1:1; 8:35; 10:29; 13:10; 14:9; Luke 9:6; 20:1;
Acts 8:25, 40; 15:7; 16:10; 20:24; Rom1:1, 2, 9,15,16,17; 2:16; 11:28; 15; 16, 19,
20; 16:25; 1 Cor1:17; 4:15;9:12; 14, 16, 18, 23, 15: 1, 2; 2 Cor 2:12; 4:3, 4; 8:18;
9:13; 10:14, 16; 11:4,7, Gal 1:6, 8, 9,11; 2:5, 7,14; 3:8; 4:13; Eph1:13, 3:6, 7;
6:15, 19; Phil 1:5, 7,12,16,27,2:22; 4:3, 15; Col 1:5,6, 23; 1 Thess 1:5; 2:4,8, 9;
3:2; 2 Thess 1:8, 10, 11; 2:8; Phil 13; Heb4:2,6; 1 Pet 1:12; 4:6,17;Rev 14:6.
2
Ellen G. White, Christ Triumphant (Hagerstown, MD: Review& Herald,
1999), 332.
3
Ellen G. White, ChristianEducation (1893; repr.,BattleCreek,MI:
International Tract Society, 1894),119.
fallen natures,and make it possible for us to be overcomers,—
the sons ofGod, the heirs of the eternal kingdom.4
The title “Son of God” is conferred to Christ due to
his willingness to become human.5
To become the Son of
God simply means that Christ had to be fully dependent
upon the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Second, the pure gospel message is about Jesus
Christ as God incarnate. The fall of man was the cause of
the incarnation, which can only happen if there is
something that needs to be restored. God’s image in man
has been damaged (defaced) but not totally destroyed,
which means that it can still be restored. Restoration will
be a long process. In fact, complete restoration will
congruently happen along with the complete annihilation
of sin at the end of the 1000 years.
Third, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as Creator God. Through Jesus “all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made” (John
1:3). In contrast to claim of evolutionists, God “knows
how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Ps
103:14, NIV). “As the Father redeemed the world through
His Son, so He created the world through His Son. The
Father did not create through the natural process of
evolution, but through the supernatural power of the
Son.”6
Fourth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as Revealer of God. “All things have been committed to
me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and
those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt
11:27, NIV). Jesus came to reveal God, to experience
human life, to be an example to humans, to die for
humans, to defeat the devil, and to be a sinless substitute.7
4
White, Education, 119.
5
Norman R. Gulley, Systematic Theology: Creation,Christ, Salvation, vol. 3
(Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews UniversityPress, 2012),426.
6
Ibid., 11.
7
See Gulley, 435-442.
“God cannot be seen in external form by any human being.
Christ alone can represent the Father to humanity.”8
Fifth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as the Savior. John says, “For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16,
NIV). To “believe” in Greek is pisteu/w (pisteuo),
which the same word for to have faith. We do not repent
before we can heed Christ’s invitation of salvation. 9
The
sequence is realization of what sin is, then repentance,and
then fruits for repentance—for without holiness no man
shall see
God.10
It
appears that
faith is the
result of
repentance
because it is
only after the
latter that we
entrust our lives to God. In fact, baptism is the result of
repentance (Acts 2:38).11
Sixth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as Judge. Luke records, “For he has set a day when he will
judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.
He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from
the dead” (Acts 17:31, NIV).
Seventh, the pure gospel message is about Jesus
Christ as the God-Man. Jesus Christ is a blending a two,
not persons, natures. He is absolutely God and absolutely
man in one person. However, He, “being in the very nature
of God, did not consider equality with God something to
be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
8
Ellen G. White, Conflict and Courage (Washington,DC: Review& Herald,
1970), 320.
9
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (1892; repr.,MountainView, CA: Pacific
Press, 1956),26.
10
See Ellen G. White, Faith andWorks (Nashville, TN: Southern Publishing
Association, 1979),49.
11
Repentance is not the wholegospel message—in contrast towhat some are
saying. The message of the repentance is just one ofthe steps toacceptingthe pure
gospel message—themessage about andof Christ.
W
It appears that faith is the result of
repentance because it is only after
the latter that we entrust our lives to
God. In fact, baptism is the result of
repentance (Acts 2:38).

2. nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
(Phil 2:6-8, emphasis mine). The phrase “made himself
nothing” are better understood as “emptied himself”
(heaton ekenōsen). This is self-emptying Christ’s divinity
while remaining divine. Gulley says,
This emptying, or kenōsis,was not an emptying of His deity,
as if He were only human, but an emptying of His prerogative
to use His deity to help His humanity. He lead aside the use of
His divine powers while remaining fully divine and human.
So the divine-human reality was fully present,but He
continually refrained from acting as God as He lived out His
human life.12
Eighth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus as the
Christ. Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God” (Matt 16:16). To recognizing Jesus as the
Christ is to believe that Jesus must suffer and die (Matt
16:21-23). Moreover, serving the Lord must involve
suffering.13
Ninth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as High Priest. Paul says,
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses,but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us
then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need.14
Tenth, the pure gospel message is about Jesus Christ
as the coming King. His coming is the great anticipated
and climactic event ever recorded in the Bible. However,
Satan knows that when this happens, his end is near. Thus,
he diverts the minds of men and women from Christ’s
personal coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt 24:23-26).
In fact, millions accepted Satan’s deception.
12
Gulley, 448.
13
See Robert McIver, “Feed My Sheep:” 1 and2 Peter (Silver Spring, MD:
Pacific Press,2017), 161.
14
Heb4:15, 16, NIV.
And eleventh, the pure gospel message is about Jesus
Christ as Restorer. When Christ comes, He will “restore
all things” (Matt 17:11).
Why Is It of Christ?
Not only it is the gospel about Christ, which means it
is only the gospel concerning Him but, it is also the pure
gospel message of Christ (Phil 1:27), which means that
this gospel is possessed by Christ.
Is the SDA Church Preaching It?
Since the last-day church is a church of Christ, it must
also preach the pure gospel message about and of Christ.
In fact, the SDA Church believes that she is “God’s
appointed agency for the salvation of men” and “to carry
the gospel message to the world.”15
After Christ’s ascended to heaven, He left to His
church the mission to reveal God. In other words,
Christianity is revealing God as representatives. Gulley
says, “The integrity of God is on the line in the cosmic
controversy. What would convince rebels that the Law-
Giver is not to be blamed for the breaking of His law? This
is an issue that God needs to solve. He can do it through
Christians who love Him and keep His commandments
(John 14:15).”16
Moreover, E. G. White says, “The
Christian is in the world as a representative of Christ, for
the salvation of other souls.”17
The pure gospel message is not a mere theological
accent. It must be a living sermon—not just preaching
Christ but also living Him.
Oh, there is need of most earnest, devoted,self-sacrificing
labor—the preaching of the truth, preaching Christ, and living
Christ. Oh, that all our workers would be laborers together
with God, not trifling with time, not trifling with sacred
responsibilities, with solemn, sacred truth, the presentation of
which is deciding the destiny of souls,but representing Christ
in all things, watching for souls as they that must give an
15
White, Acts,9.
16
Gulley, 436.
17
Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (1900; repr.,Washington,DC:
Review& Herald, 1941),67.
account,day by day, hour by hour, living in the channel of
light. This is the only course that you can pursue with safety
in the churches,and among the people in cities and villages,
diffusing the light received from the Sun of Righteousness.18
In fact, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our
personal Savior, we are to forget ourselves, and we should
try to help others. We will talk of the love of Christ and
tell of His goodness.19
In fact, “Christ is waiting with
longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His
church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly
reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim
them as His own.”20
With this, the SDA Church is
continuously preaching the gospel message and hastening
the return of “the One altogether lovely.”21
Conclusion
The pure gospel message is about Christ and His love.
Not only that, it is also the gospel of Christ—something
that He possessed and preached. When Christ ascended,
He left to His church the responsibility to preach this
gospel. God’s remnant church keeps on waiting of Christ.
Not just waiting but keeps on hastening His return. The
SDA church continuously preached the gospel message so
the end will ultimately come.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CristopherV. Luaya teaches theology at Northern Luzon Adventist
College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree from Central
Philippine Adventist College (2004) and a Master of Arts in Religion, major
in church history, from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced
Studies (2013) where he successfully defended his thesis on ecumenism.
His first book is Understanding the Book of Daniel: An Introduction
published by South Philippine Adventist College in 2015. Aside from
teaching, he is the current pastor of NLAC Church. He and his wife Alvie
are blessed with two growing kids, Chris Alwyne and Hailey Nicole.
Email: luayac@aiias.edu
Cell #: 09778552618
18
Ellen G. White, Pastoral Ministry (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference
Ministerial Association, 1995), 97.
19
Ibid., 67.
20
White, Object Lessons, 69.
21
White, Acts,274.