From the early days, Adventist pioneers understood the importance of the biblical doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary as a central element shaping their belief system. In Ellen G. White’s words, the subject of the sanctuary “opened to view a complete system of truth, connected and harmonious.”1
Accordingly, Ellen White and other Adventist pioneers recognized that the sanctuary doctrine holds many crucial implications for the mission of the church, which includes proclaiming the present truth of the heavenly sanctuary as highlighted in the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12.
Because they recognized the centrality of this message to the mission of the church, the pioneers placed great emphasis on the doctrinal instruction of those who would become members of the church. This involved particular emphasis on the sanctuary, the investigative judgment, and preparing for the second coming of Christ.2
Over time, however, some Adventists have paid less attention to the role of the sanctuary as a fundamental factor that shapes our understanding of mission and guides our practice. Some have imitated mission approaches that focus almost exclusively on people making a decision for Christ at the beginning of their Christian experience, with little concern for subsequent spiritual growth and discipleship. Such an approach often tends to lack emphasis on people making a significant commitment to biblical doctrines and lifestyle.3 This has contributed to new members sometimes not being deeply rooted in the Adventist faith and easily departing from it later on, as well as frustrations of various kinds in the life of the church.
Toward an Understanding of the Mission From the Sanctuary Perspective
How can a biblical and Adventist understanding of the sanctuary help to change this scenario?
As mentioned, the pioneers articulated Adventist doctrines around the sanctuary doctrine. My conviction is that the current Adventist understanding and practice of mission should also be articulated from this perspective. The sanctuary is at the heart of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12, the first of which announces that the hour of judgment has arrived. Adventists have historically regarded these messages as the focus of their preaching. How then can the sanctuary shape the understanding and practice of mission?
In what follows, I want to highlight four aspects: (1) the sanctuary shapes the biblical understanding of salvation that underlies the practice of mission and discipleship, (2) the sanctuary shapes the content of the message to be proclaimed, (3) the sanctuary shapes the vision of the church as the covenantal, priestly, and missionary community to which new converts come to belong, and (4) the sanctuary shapes the final events that guide the mission at this time.
The Sanctuary Shapes the Biblical Understanding of Salvation
The approach taken in mission is closely related to the way salvation is understood. In the Bible the understanding of salvation is articulated around what I call the relational pattern of the sanctuary.The sanctuary is more than just a real physical structure in heaven. God relates to the world through that complex structure by which He dwells in the universe with His creatures, receives worship from them, and conducts the plan of salvation to its final resolution.
In this framework the sanctuary shapes and manifests the biblical understanding of salvation. Salvation requires a process of atonement, that is, a process by which God seeks to reconcile fallen human beings with Himself and eradicate the problem of sin (2 Cor. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:4, 5). From this perspective, atonement is not only what Christ did on the cross. It encompasses the entire divine plan to eliminate sin.
It is time to allow the sanctuary to reshape the Adventist understanding of its message and mission.
On the individual level, the application of this plan of salvation is also a process, not a one-time event, as some people may believe. This process encompasses, among other things, justification and sanctification. Justification is nothing other than divine forgiveness (Rom. 4:6-8), which is required, continually and daily, every time someone sins (1 John 2:1; 1:9). This forgiveness is obtained through the ongoing intercession of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary (Mark 11:24-26; John 14:13). Justification in turn allows the believer to develop a life of holiness thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit sent by Christ from the heavenly sanctuary as His representative (Rev. 5:6). Without justification there is no true sanctification (Rom. 6 and 8). But without sanctification, there is no justification either (Col. 1:21-23).
This biblical view of salvation as a process that, in light of the sanctuary, encompasses both the ongoing reception of divine forgiveness and growth in holiness implies that the mission of discipleship should also involve a process. Discipleship should be a process (Col. 2:6). It is not right to focus only on people accepting Christ and attaining baptism; new members should be trained before and after baptism as well. Just as there is both a pre-forgiveness process that encompasses recognition, repentance, and confession of sins (Ps. 51:4; Luke 18:13; Acts 2:38; 3:19; Ps. 32:5) and a subsequent process of growth in holiness and Christian lifestyle (Rom. 6:22), discipleship should include pre-baptismal and post-baptismal preparation to assist in that process.
Sanctuary Activity Shapes the Content of the Message
Understanding the biblical message of salvation is very important in reaching people who are not familiar with that message. Christ’s activity in the heavenly sanctuary articulates the plan of salvation. Thus, Christ’s work is a major theme in the New Testament (see, for example, Acts 5:31; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 8:1; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Rev. 5:7, 8). Consequently, Christ’s activity in the sanctuary now should shape the content of the remnant people’s message today (as set forth in Rev. 14:6-12).
If Christ is interceding for believers in the pre-Advent investigative judgment, that subject should be a significant part of the Adventist message. Therefore, the Adventist mission today cannot be understood only in light of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. It should also be understood in the light of Revelation 14:6-12, the three angelic messages, which constitute the present truth for this time.4
This implies that the fulfillment of the mission and the discipleship process must include strong doctrinal preparation of new believers that allows each person to understand the message of the sanctuary and the judgment in order to make a conscious and practical commitment to that message. In the heavenly sanctuary God deals with human wills that must make informed decisions, not based on sentimentality or momentary emotional outbursts. It is not surprising therefore that the New Testament widely highlights the need to teach doctrines and the centrality of the Word in that process (1 Tim. 4:13, 16; 6:3; 2 Tim. 3:15, 16; 4:2, 3; Titus 1:9; 2:1, 7).
The Sanctuary Shapes the Vision of the Church
Those who accept the gospel message become part of the church. The church is a spiritual temple, a community made up of the spiritual inhabitants of the heavenly sanctuary (1 Cor. 3:16; Rev. 11:1; 21:3) who have entered into a covenant bond with God by which they commit themselves to obey His law of love (Jer. 31:31-33; Rev. 12:17; 14:12).
The church’s members belong to a priestly and missionary community, a holy nation, whose task is to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who” called them “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, NASB; see Ex. 19:6).5 Through such proclamation, in their role as missionary priests, they draw others to Christ, the high priest of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1, 2), from whom they receive the power to live holy lives in obedience to the requirements of the covenant. The end-time remnant people are distinguished by this (Rev. 12:17; 14:12).
Believers are already, in a sense, citizens of the New Jerusalem and worshipers belonging to its sanctuary by faith (Gal. 4:26; Eph. 2:18, 19; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 11:10, 16; 12:22; 13:14), where Christ represents them and is their forerunner (Heb. 6:20). On the new earth, believers will dwell in the New Jerusalem, considered “the tabernacle of God,” in whose center God and the Lamb will continue to receive worship for eternity (Rev. 21:3; 22:3).
In this context baptism is a sign of acceptance of the terms of the covenant and of entry into the covenantal, priestly, and missionary community, just as circumcision was the covenantal sign in the Old Testament (Col. 2:11, 12) that someone belonged to the priestly and missionary community of Israel (Ex. 19:5, 6). Therefore, it must be taken very seriously. The one who is baptized publicly expresses that he or she wants to be a member of the community, accepts the terms of the covenant expressed in the commandments (Rom. 6:1-6), and desires to be a missionary priest as part of the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9). The Sabbath is in turn the sign of permanence and continuity in, and of fidelity to, the covenant terms (Ex. 31:17; Rev. 14:6, 7). This implies that whoever accepts baptism must be adequately instructed regarding the commitment he or she assumes by participating in that rite.
The Sanctuary Shapes the Prophetic Events That Guide the Mission
Finally, the sanctuary activity shapes the prophetic events that guide the Adventist mission. The sanctuary activity is linked to Christ’s first coming (Dan. 9:24-27; Gal. 4:4) and is also linked to His second coming (Dan. 7:13, 14; Matt. 25:31). The end-time mission of the remnant church (Rev. 12:17) is to cooperate in the preparation of a people for Christ’s coming (Rev. 14:6-12). God gathers the church into Christ—its head (Eph. 1:22, 23) and high priest (Heb. 8:2)—all who agree to belong to the covenantal community and to be part of His universal end-time missionary priesthood (Rev. 1:6; 5:10). In turn, those who join the covenantal community make a commitment to be missionary members wherever God appoints them, “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12, NASB). In cooperation with divine power, God’s people are to do their part to advance the final preaching work of the gospel (Matt. 24:14) as Christ concludes His work in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:28). In this way, sanctuary activities provide the framework for final events and guide the mission of the final remnant within that framework.
Conclusion
The sanctuary articulated the doctrines and mission of Adventism in the past. In recent times, however, some have emphasized the initial experience of those being discipled at the expense of their doctrinal preparation and Christian lifestyle. This carries with it the serious risk of the church losing its identity and diluting its distinctive message to the world. In the past the sanctuary fostered the discovery “that God’s hand had directed the great advent movement and” revealed “present duty as it brought to light the position and work of His people.”6 It is time to allow the sanctuary to reshape the Adventist understanding of its message and mission.
1 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. 423.
2 See P. Gerard Damsteegt , Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Message and Mission (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1977), pp. 295, 296.
3 See Russell Burrill, Radical Disciples for Revolutionary Churches (Fallbrook, Calif.: Hart Research Center, 1996), pp. viii, ix.
4 See, with some qualifications, Burrill, pp. 75-81.
5 Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
6 E. G. White.