Spangler

-Bob Spangler's Doctrinal Position

# MARKED!

## VENDEN/SPANGLER COMPARISON

## BOB SPANGLER- “MARKED”

## MARKED WITH THE MARK OF WORKS

The following study was prepared at a time when the Venden analysis was very nearly completed. Something about Morris Venden's unusual message rang a bell in the back of my mind. I had read that teaching somewhere else. Here it is:

"MARKED!"

Morris Venden's view of Revelation 13 and 14 recalls to mind the puzzlement that came to mind when we read "Marked!" by Bob Spangler awhile back. This was a leading missionary book of a few years ago ("Marked!" by Bob Spangler, Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1981, 156 pages, paperback.)

Robert Spangler is the head of the Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and in that position is a very influential man. He has oversight over ministerial training programs as well as the content of "The Ministry" magazine. It is our prayer that he will cling to the Spirit of Prophecy and historic Adventism as though his life depended upon it.

Morris Venden's spiritualizing away of the Three Angels' Messages, the Beast, the Mark, the Seal, the Image, and Babylon, recalls to mind this book by Spangler which had such a similar message. Since this book purports to present the Seventh-day Adventist view of Revelation 13 and 14 for a non-Adventist readership, one would expect to find a clear statement of the history of the Change of the Sabbath, and the truth about the Beast-Papal Rome the destroyer in past ages and again in the near future. But one will have to search far to find any hint of these messages so vital to a world on the verge of the biggest crisis in all history.

Instead, one encounters a strange spiritualizing away of the truths of Revelation 13 and 14, that seems to be an endeavor to satisfy both the historic Adventists and the "new theologians" in the Church.

Here are some examples of what we find in his book:

THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL- It is the opposite -of "the natural impulse of man to seek salvation on his own terms and by his own efforts."-33.

THE KINGDOM- OF THE BEAST-And then, in the next sentence we are- told about the territory governed by the Beast: "This is the principle at the heart of the system ruled over by the beast. The 'everlasting gospel'-God's method of salvation for man-is entirely different."-33. The "kingdom of the Beast" is not the Vatican; it is the effort to achieve salvation by intentionally doing good things. One might say that this is all right, for Spangler's point is doing good things apart from God,-but read on.

HOW WE AR E SAVED-"Later in this book we will be looking in detail at God's plan of salvation, the gospel that has come down to us from the very beginning. Reduced to its most simple expression it is 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be -saved' (Acts 16: 31), 'for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved' (chap. 4:12). This salvation does not Come as a result of our actions. We cannot earn it by our works or deserve it; ft comes as the free gift of God's grace."-37.'

THE FIRST ANGEL'S MESSAGE AND THE MARK OF THE BEAST -"The first angel, then, appeals to every man, woman, and child to accept the 'everlasting gospel,' to accept God's gracious offer of salvation and refuse the mark of the beast, which is salvation by works of self-righteousness."-38. All this sounds so much like Venden.

THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL-"We have said that the 'everlasting gospel' reduced to its simplest terms is salvation by faith in Jesus Christ apart from any works or righteousness on our part. The mark-of-the-beast principle is the counterfeit, or salvation by human effort. A counterfeit, however, must closely resemble the genuine."-39. Here we have a book written for non-Adventists to explain the importance of obeying the Law of God (which is the message of Revelation 13 and 14)and instead the reader is continually warned against getting caught in a "works program!"

THE MARK-OF-THE-BEAST SYSTEM-“The true way of salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. It is the Lord's work; He is the One who does the saving. In the mark-of-the-beast system, salvation revolves around man and what he can do to save himself. It is salvation by works, a man-centered system."-46. In the one system, God saves us apart from our works; in the other--the "Beast system"-our works form a part of our salvation. -But seriously now: Are you going to be saved if you refuse to obey God?

OUR SALVATION-"Christ-not repentance, confession, justification, or sanctification-is our salvation. We don't praise the gospels; we praise Jesus. We don't worship any or all of the steps of salvation, but we worship the Lord of salvation. Some make the mistake of letting the cross of Christ obscure the Christ of the cross." -54-55. Repentance, confession, justification and sanctification have nothing to do with our salvation? Christ, only Christ,-but how can He save us apart from those precious tear-stained steps? Who is Spangler writing to? non-Adventists or Adventist intellectuals? Why was this book proclaimed to be a Missionary Book of the Year,-when 'it is not teaching our Revelation 13-14 doctrines to the world?

THE FIGHT OF FAITH-"It [the plan of salvation] sounds incredibly wonderful, doesn't it? But wait a moment! The greatest battle facing every sinner is overlooking or not looking to Jesus. Paul employs a battle term to illustrate this point 'fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life: (1 Tim. 6:12). The' 'fight of faith' is the struggle to look to Jesus rather than focusing on our temptations. It is a battle to look to Jesus by faith alone. . . It is so much easier to do something rather, than to look at something to be saved. . It is so much easier to study the Bible for information rather than for inspiration and salvation."-60. Don't do something to be saved, the non-Adventists are told, only look.

BABYLON-"Babylon began in distrust of God."-74. THE FOURTH ANGEL-"In Revelation 18:1 John sees a mighty angel who floods the earth with its glory. This angel represents a combination of all three of the angels of Revelation 14."-81. In reality, the Fourth Angel of Revelation 18 is a powerful repetition of the Second Angel's Message (GC 603), and unites with the Third Angel (GC 604) in giving the Loud Cry. Also, notice GC 390.

BABYLON-"In its simplest form, then, 'Babylon is fallen' means spiritual confusion. No doubt the 'Christians in John's day applied the title 'Babylon' to imperial Rome, which mercilessly tortured and murdered the early Christians. Both symbolically and literally, Babylon has bee., traditionally re. cognized as the enemy of God's truth and His people. Thus, as it is used in the second angel's message, this name becomes symbolic of all apostate religious organizations, whether Christian :or non-Christian."-82. If you want to know what God . says Babylon is, read chapters 25 and 35 of the book, "Great Controversy."

THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE-"God's appeal to you is: 'Come out of falsehood and take your stand on the side of right. . Come out of her while you can!"-83. But what is the non-Adventist to come out of? They are not told. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS-"So in the spiritual captivity of the last days, only a few will listen to God's appeal and come out of Babylon, taking their place fearlessly on the side of God and truth. But to those who do, God will give the righteousness of Jesus to cover their sins. They will receive forgiveness and peace and eternal life with God Himself."-83-84. Not to take away their sins, but to cover them.

PROMISE OF ASSURANCE-"Praise God for the second angel's message, which is one of tremendous hope! Connected with the appeal of Revelation 18:4-'Come out of her, my people/-it [the Second Angel's Message] is a wonderful promise of assurance that when we are willing to set aside our natural self-sufficiency and pride to give our wills to God, our lives will be 'lightened with his glory' (verse 1)."-84-85. Did you know that all that is involved in the Fourth and Second Angels' Messages-is a call to "set aside our natural self-sufficiency and pride and give our wills to God"? One thing is certain: That is the very same message that Morris Venden is giving-"set aside our self-sufficiency and give our wills to God."

THE SEAL-OF-GOD PRINCIPLE-"I must run the risk of wearying you by repeating that salvation is God's work, not man’s! This is why it is termed salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ. This is the heart of the seal-of God principle. The Mark-of the-beast principle is that man can save himself, or at the very least do something that will get him to heaven and make him acceptable to God. It is a hateful, despicable counterfeit of God's true plan of salvation. Furthermore, it is an insult to God to try to buy one's way into the kingdom when He has offered it as a gift, it the enormous price of the life, death, resurrection, and high priestly ministry of His Son, Jesus Christ” -88-89.

FULFILLING THE LAW'S REQUIREMENTS-"We see God as a man among men, by His perfect life settling forever the immutability of heaven's precepts and completely fulfilling the law's requirements on man's behalf."-89.,

LEGALLY FORGIVEN BEFORE ADAM-"What a wonderful Lord we are dealing with! He is so wonderful that He legally forgave the human race for all their sins even before Adam and Eve sinned."-91.

LEGALLY SAVED I F WE CHOOSE TO ACCEPT -"Because of His infinite, reconciling love, God could legally save the whole human race in the righteousness of its substitute, Jesus Christ, but He will never destroy our freedom to choose [to accept that salvation] :'-92.

THE GOOD NEWS-"So the good news is that Christ has paid our debt without any work or action on our part." 92.

THIS WORKS PRINCIPLE-"There are a thousand ways for this 'works principle' to become a part of our everyday life. Even the performance of some kind deed to a person in need gives us a sense of satisfaction, and it should. But do not let it ever lead you to think that these actions give you credit in heaven for salvation."-93.

SALVATION BY WORKS-"This salvation by-works syndrome rears its ugly head in all facets of life. . This, too, is part of salvation by works and the mark-of-the-beast principle."-93. '

BY FAITH ALONE-"They [men today! don't know the message of salvation by faith alone in Jesus. They don't know that because of Heaven's priceless gift, Jesus, the war is over."-96.

PERMANENT PEACE-'The kind of peace Jesus offers Is Permanent. It is this peace that everyone desperately seeks and few really find, because they are looking for it in the wrong places. The key to finding this permanent, satisfying peace lies in a single word. It is one that we have mentioned before, but it needs broader emphasis. That word is justification."-96.

REDEEMING GRACE APART -"Martin Luther rediscovered centuries later-God's, redeeming grace apart from man's worthiness. It needs to be discovered individually by those who hope to enter heaven. How I wish every human being on earth would discover it and be saved I When the great truth of justification by faith alone in Christ is lost sight of, man begins to invent ways and means of recommending himself to God, of getting to' heaven by his own merits."-103. People need to know that salvation comes through Christ, but when we only teach that that salvation comes by faith alone apart from any moral behavior on our part, then we are teaching a "new gospel." Spangler does what Venden does: He pits "by faith alone" salvation against "righteousness by works,"—as If there Is no other alternative: the Bible-Spirit of Prophecy view which is Forgiveness and Obedience by Faith in Christ's enabling merits. Christ alone saves us-but not in sin. He saves us from sin by empowering us to obey His Law.

APART FROM LAW-"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known. Note the words 'apart from law,' or in other words, apart from works. No penance, no money, no pilgrimage, no performance of some duty could achieve this righteousness."-104.

RIGHTEOUS WHILE IN SIN-"God declares us to be justified, or righteous, before our characters are changed. God accepts us as' His sons and daughters even before we act like sons and daughters."-105.

THIS ANTICHRIST CONGLOMERATE-"The Lord's ultimate concern for humanity is salvation-nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. The ultimate concern of the prince of evil is to destroy humanity, and his most insidious way of destruction is to entice man with a counterfeit gospel . . The beast described in Revelation 13:2 and warned against in chapter 14:9-12 [the Third Angel's Message], receives his power, throne, and great authority from Satan the dragon (see chap. 12:9), and thus has similar characteristics. It is this beast, this antichrist conglomerate, that is the object of the most fearful threatenings God has ever addressed to mortals: [Revelation 14:9-10 quoted] . . What is the basic difference between those who worship the beast and his image and those who worship the Lamb, Christ Jesus? It is the same difference found between those who build on the Rock and those who build on the sand. As previously noted, that difference is found in two methods of salvation that can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. One is salvation by man's own methods and works, the other is salvation through grace by faith in Jesus Christ."-115-116. Spangler tells his readers that obedience will naturally follow salvation by faith, and that obedience is part of our worship of God, but that it is not fundamental to salvation (page 112). The picture given to us is that salvation is by faith alone, and as far as ultimate salvation is concerned, nothing else really matters. As with Venden, Spangler believes and teaches that obedience is an automatic, spontaneous something that will effortlessly flow forth from the saved life.

AUTOMATIC OBEDIENCE-"Thus the whole issue between Christ and Satan, between the marked ones and the sealed ones, centers on faith in Jesus Christ and a love for Him that automatically results in obedience to His will."-123.

SALVATION BY RELATIONSHIP ALONE-"Only those who have this kind of relationship with our Lord, the lovely Jesus, will stand on the sea of glass having gotten the victory over the beast and its image and its mark."-123. How thankful we can be for the beautiful pictures, but, unfortunately, the emphasis here is on salvation by faith and relationship apart from behavior and obedience.

COVERS OUR FUTURE ACCOUNT -"Justification settles our present account, but it also applies to our future as a covering umbrella from the moment we accept Christ until we meet the Lord."-125.

ASSURANCE APART FROM PERFORMANCE -"Satan is just as pleased when individuals think that eternal life can be theirs without a new-birth experience as he is over those who are working night and day to buy eternal life with the money of works. Either extreme is equally false and equally disastrous. May I add one more point' from my own' personal experience? I am constantly ,aware of my faults, shortcomings, weaknesses, mistakes, and sins. How depressed and discouraged I would be if I believed that my assurance of salvation depended upon my performance. Despair would overwhelm me."-127.

MY RESPONSIBILITY IS TO PERMIT-"Yet at the same time, while I no longer look to myself [my actions, as having any part] for assurance of salvation, I am also aware of my responsibility to God. 'Responsibility' involves the idea of responding to any given situation. In the case of salvation, my 'response' to what Christ has done for me [justification by faith that saves me] is to permit Him to do something in me. When I say 'permit,' I mean I am eager—in fact have an unutterable longing-for God to change 'The inside."-127. Spangler's view is that of Venden: We submit to Christ and He does the changing in our lives apart from our having to be concerned about the matter. Obedience will be a spontaneous result of justification by faith alone.

NO RIGHT TO ENTER-"I know that my salvation depends on Christ alone, not on myself. When my Lord returns and I hear the words 'Well done,' do you think for a moment I will ever feel that I deserve to hear those words? Do you think that those words will make me feel that I have a right to enter His eternal kingdom? Never!"-128-129. Ellen White, in commenting on Revelation 22: 14, tells us that the saints will know that they have a right to enter the Holy City because of obedience through Christ. It is only because of Christ that we, are saved, but obedience is involved. Justification by faith cannot save us apart from definite, chosen obedience on our part.

OUR OBEDIENCE NOT PARTLY OF OUR EFFORTS -"Now let me come to another point that needs careful consideration. Is our obedience to God's will (as some assert) composed partly of our efforts and part of God's? No! Such is not the case! God must have the total credit for all phases of salvation-past, present, and future."-129. Of course, all our efforts to obey are prompted by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit,-but the fact remains that obedience to the Law of God is partly due to our effort. We do not simply lie down and do nothing. Christianity is more than submission; it is also active cooperation of the human with the Divine. God will not save I us apart from our own decided efforts. “

OUR COOPERATION IS BELIEVING-" 'But we must cooperate with God in the sanctification process,' some insist. Of course sanctification requires our cooperation, but it also requires our cooperation to be justified-and that cooperation is called believing. To believe and accept by faith that God justifies me is really no different than believing and accepting by faith that God sanctifies me. This is a key point in understanding victory over sin. I have never been able in my own experience to distinguish between the quality of faith that accepts God's gift of justification and the quality of faith that accepts God's gift of sanctification. It requires an enormous amount of the gift of faith to believe that God justifies me and declares me righteous when my faulty emotions madly struggle to tell me that I have to do something or give something to earn God's favor. Those same emotions also scream at me that God can't call me righteous when I am so wicked! But faith, and faith alone, must rise above these feelings to lay hold of the magnificent truth that God does justify me, by faith alone, through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Likewise, it also requires an enormous amount of the gift of faith to believe daily that God can and will give me victory over every wrong action—even wrong thoughts! There is always the emotional tendency to feel that I can overcome anything by trying hard enough or at least by trusting a combination of His help and my effort."-129-130. This is Venden's teaching on "cooperation:" Not His help combined with my effort to resist sin and obey, but looking to Him in faith to do it all apart from my earnest efforts.

SALVATION BY FAITH ALONE-

"Salvation-both justification and sanctification-is all of God. Did we create ourselves? Even the ability to think-an action of the brain-is a gift from God. The consequences of justification is sanctification, but both are received and experienced by faith" in Christ alone”-130.

NOT OUR EFFORT COMBINED WITH GOD'S GRACE –

“To believe that sanctification is a combination of our effort and God's grace, while justification is by faith alone, leads inevitably to the despicable state of pride. If we see sanctification as partly a result of our effort, every evidence of growth in Christ becomes a cause for taking credit to ourselves. We may outwardly seem to be advancing, but inwardly we are going backward. It is the age-old struggle between righteousness by works and righteousness by faith. it is the age-old struggle between taking credit to self and giving God the credit for everything."--131.

We are nearing the end of the book, and as with Venden's books, we are coming to the punch-line: the "how it is done" part. Spangler here is talking about sanctification, and he tells us that our part in obeying the Law of God has nothing to do with the process. All this would seem quite confusing if we had not already read the larger picture of this error given us in Venden's statements. [See the previous set of studies in this series: "Morris Venden and-THE NEW OBEDIENCE.]

THE LAW COMES AFTER DELIVERANCE IS COMPLETED-"It is God who puts His laws, His will, into our hearts. We are totally incapable of doing this of ourselves. Those operating on the mark-of-the-beast principle try in their own strength to satisfy God and His requirements, but God's way is much different. It is an important point, too, that God gave Israel His law after He delivered the people from slavery." -136. The new scheme of final events: Those trying to keep the requirements of God will receive the Mark of the Beast; those who do not try to do this, but wholly trust to God to do it apart from any effort on their part, will receive the Seal.

OBEDIENCE IS GRATITUDE AFTER SALVATION

"The was never given as a means of earning salvation. Rather, the law is a standard that gives the converted person a knowledge of how to show his loyalty and gratitude to the One who has saved him and whom he loves above all else."-136-137.

THE MARK OF THE BEAST –

"It is not keeping the law in order to be saved, but it is obedience to God because of the Holy Spirit's sanctifying presence in the heart. Such obedience is God's seal; obedience from any other motive is really not obedience at all and is the mark of the beast."-141. Truth: The Seal is obedience, through Christ, to the Law of God; the Mark is disobedience to the Law of God. The climax of this will be seen in obedience or disobedience to the Fourth Commandment.

Error: The Seal is obedience to the Law of God in one way; the Mark is just a different kind of obedience to that same Law. No clear-cut distinctions, but fine-line theology over "this obedience" vs. "that obedience" is the final confusing issue to be presented to all the world. Not disobedience vs. obedience, but obedience vs. obedience.

An earlier chapter was entitled, "AlI by Faith." And now we come to the closing chapter in Spangler's book, "Marked!" It is entitled "Rest for the Restless," and explains that the true religion is rest in Christ from works. He introduces his chapter with a passage from Revelation that Venden likes to use:. "One theme, previously mentioned, relates to the warning" against receiving the mark of the beast: 'There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name' (Rev. 14:11, N.I.V.)"-142. This passage, speaking about hellfire, is applied by Venden and Spangler to mean the unrest of those who are working their way to heaven by trying to obey God's laws, instead of submitting to His plan for their lives. At last, Spangler has come to the Sabbath Truth-and he uses Bacchiocchi to present it:

THE SABBATH MEANS REDEMPTIVE REST-

"Samuele Bacchiocchi, a personal friend, in his book 'Divine Rest for Human Restlessness’ has enumerated many beautiful things connected with the Sabbath, some of which I want to incorporate in this chapter. He points out that the true Sabbath rest is intimately connected with the redemptive rest Jesus offers His followers."-145-146.

TIME TO CELEBRATE THE GOOD NEWS-

"But above and beyond all, the Sabbath, in the light of the cross is a time to celebrate both the good news of God's perfect creation and the good news of Christ’s complete redemption. The Sabbath day is a time to remember His rest of forgiveness and. salvation."-146-147. .

THE BEAST SYSTEM-

"In contrast to those who faithfully adhere to the seal-of-God principle, we find a host who follow the beast and worship him. This group includes almost the entire world. . As pointed out before, this beast system operates on the principle of salvation by works."-149. " At last, Spangler is coming to the point where he is going to identify the Beast of Revelation. The Spirit of Prophecy clearly identifies it as Rome ("Great Controversy," chapter 25-26, etc.).

ALL KINDS OF RELIGIONS-

"Therefore this multifaceted system includes as many plans, doctrines, and beliefs as there are people who follow them. The world is filled with all kinds of religions, but at the heart and core of them all, save one-true Christianity-is the do-it-yourself concept. Most of Christianity itself, sad to say, operates on this principle."149-150.

BABYLON-

"On the other hand are those forces opposed to God's will-led by fallen Babylon, apostate Christianity. In disregard of God, these insist on following their own method of salvation independently of their Creator-the principle of salvation by works."-150. There are only six pages remaining in this book, and still the non-Adventist readers are given no hint of what Babylon is-other than the fact that it is an "apostate Christianity" that believes in "salvation by works"! This is incredible.

SABBATH KEEPING WILL SAVE NO ONE-

"Please understand that I do not believe that, of itself, Sabbath keeping can save a person any more than can honoring one's parents. I am referring to the results of salvation in a person's life. Those results are seen in the willingness of one who has been saved to allow the Holy Spirit to bring his life daily into harmony with the commandments of God."-152. Spangler always declares salvation to be something concluded and past in the life of the Christian.

How thankful we are, that in the final four-and-a-half pages, the Sabbath message is finally given! Thank you, Elder Spangler. Although the Beast, the Lamb-like Beast, and the Image are not identified, yet we are now finally told that the Seal is related to Sabbath observance and that the Mark is related to disobedience to the Sabbath (pages 152:3-154:3). His audience is then asked to let God do the work for them that is needed in their lives, so that they can have the Sabbath fulfilled in their lives (pages 155-156). This 156-page book is now completed.

Morris Venden places more emphasis on a a continuing, methodical, daily time for personal worship with God. Thus the heart of his message is one of the finest emphases ever seen in our Church. How tragic to find it linked to a gospel of no-effort, no-try, no-succeed when the converted Christian attempts to resist sin and obey his Maker. No need to try to resist or overcome sin means no responsibility on our part for our sins. And that is a frightening theology.

Robert Spangler shares Venden's concern for justification continued, but Spangler's emphasis is on the fact that when we were justified we were saved at that moment Even though he recognizes that we could possibly later fall, he primarily sees salvation in the ordinary life of the Christian as something in the past It is finished and completed; a past event. As with Venden, Spangler sees the salvation of man as something done solely by God apart from any effort, behavior or morality of the man being saved. We are saved by faith alone.

While sharing Venden's burden that man's obedience is just ancillary "fruit," quite apart from salvation solely through faith in Christ, Spangler likes to emphasize the "salvation already completed." Whereas Venden’s concern is for the daily time alone with God. In this, we see Morris Venden's view to be more mature. For, at least, he recognizes prominently the great danger if one does not maintain a daily walk with Christ.

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