regarding the Saturday Sabbath, they have been accused of legalism and anti-antinomianism.But repeatedly
the SDA's through official pronouncement and thousands of articles and hundreds of books have made it
known the following position: "According to Seventh-day Adventist belief, there is, and can be, no salvation
through the law, or by human works of the law, but only through the saving grace of God. This principle, to
us, is basic... Salvation is only by the grace of Christ. Moreover, there never was a time in the plan of God
when salvation was by human works or effort. Nothing men can do, or have done, can in any way merit
salvation...While works are not means of salvation, good works are the inevitable result of
salvation...salvation is wholly of grace; it is the gift of God...." 31 And one of the founders of the SDA
Church conclusively states: "The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the Church in clear
and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, but do not
teach or believe Christ." 32
Of late, there is increased emphasis on God's grace from Adventists' pulpits. With the disintegration of
American families and rampant secularization of American culture, there is also a growing interest in
Sunday Sabbath as a spiritual exercise and medium for Christian nurture and religious symbolism. A new
consonance between the evangelical ethos and the Adventist motif is beginning to emerge, so it seems.
VI. Dietary Issue
From the beginning of the Adventist movement, health reform has been one of the main emphases. The
so-called NEW-START program using the acronym aims in calling attention to (n)utrition, (e)xercise, clean
(w)ater, (s)unshine, (t)emperance, fresh (a)ir, (r)est/recreation, and (t)rust in God. Believing that the Lord
must have a purpose in forbidding the use of swine flesh and other unclean food, even though the prohibition
is part of the abolished Mosaic ceremonial law, Adventists have advocated a vegetarian diet and avoidance
of unclean meats.
With discoveries of modern science on nutrition and harmful effects of achohol, tobacco, animal fats,
sugary and refined food, the Adventist health emphasis has much to commend within and outside of
Christian circles. Evangelicals and Adventists may disagree on the degree of Christian freedom according to
one's conscience on the peripheral issues of Christian lifestyle and preference in food, dress, dwelling,
entertainment, sports, and recreation. However, there is no disagreement on Apostle Paul's admonition,
"Whether therefore we eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor.
10:31). This is a good, basic rule for Christian practice.
Seventh-day Adventists, being an international community and far from being a monolithic body, follow
many paths in the matter of food selection. They base their choices not on the Mosaic dietary law, which to
them are no longer binding, but on health principles, environmental ethics, and moral reflection on reverence
for life, sensitivity to the suffering of God's creatures, and conservation of God's resources (vegatable
protein is much more economical to produce than animal protein from meat). Many of them subscribe to
ovo-lacto-vegetarianism (use milk and eggs but no animal flesh); some follow pure vegetarianism (no animal
product whatsoever); some eat only the clean meat (beef and lamb, but no pork or rabbit) and fowl (chicken,
duck, goose) and fish (no catfish because it has no fins or scales); some include in their meals certain kinds
of shellfish such as shrimp, crab and lobster (their shells and legs and swimmerets are functionally analogous
to the scales and fins of fish). Even though the OT diet laws are not binding, some SDA's feel that God must
have a reason for forbidding certain foods, such as swine flesh. Out of respect for the Creator's wisdom and
intention for our human good, they take God's dietary instructions with more than just casual notice.
Christians regardless of their denominational affiliation should heed Paul's other advices in Romans14:1-
4: "One man's faith allows him to eat everything...The man who eats everything must not look down on him
who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has
accepted him"; 1 Cor. 10:23-33; Gal. 5:1:"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free"; 1 Tim.4:4: "...foods
which God created to be received with thanksgiving...For everything God created is good, and nothing is to
be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer"; and