Here is the next one, which has been renumbered as the result of another Fundamental Beliefs being added earlier in the list:

24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.
(Heb. 8:1-5; 4:14-16; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)

I want to do a Bible Study on this particular Fundamental Belief beginning with the Bible references at the bottom of the belief statement.

To answer this myself, I would say it is in response to this part of the Fundamental Belief Statement:

Yes, the Lord built the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus is its High Priest, but it also says that Jesus offers gifts from his sacrifice as he ministers in heaven.

That word in the voted statement "benefits" has been given the wrong implication: it is made to say that Christ's death effected full & finished atonement and this full atonement is shared out to us saints as a finished product in his intercession. Instead "benefits" should mean that Christ's atoning death produced the actual righteousness with which to effect atonement in his priestly intercession of presenting that actual righteousness on our behalf in his Father's presence.

This latter meaning is according to the temple services so well known in the Bible, for the gifts ministered by the sanctuary's High Priest must be obtained by the ministry itself and not supplied by the sacrifice itself just to be handed over later. The merits of Jesus are supplied by his sacrifice of himself for us, but the atonement itself is the result of interceding for us with the results of the sacrifice of himself: the Levitical high priest obtained blood from the national sacrifice of the Lord's goat - atonement wasn't obtained by that sacrifice of the atonement service; the shed blood sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant, in the very presence of God, worked the atonement - not before.

Jesus working such a work in heaven is most grand and efficacious, finishing the full, final atonement by his own merits, for us and in us - thus, as Heb 8:1 says, summing up the whole gospel message.

This text lists the qualifications of our great High Priest, sympathising, touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and able to help us in our need.

Such is the result of Jesus assuming a human nature such as we have and developing the practical solution to its sinfulness, is it not? How much clearer than this text can Scripture be?? I really have no wish for debate on this; just an instinct to praise and worship the Son of God for inventing the answer to my worst sinfulness and sharing this joy with others.

Colin,

Thank you for expressing your thoughts on this important belief statement.

When I have a chance I will respond further.

hello may the Lord be with all.i have a problem,i always believes that the Holy Spirit was a person,but my uncle who also is a sda says different.that he is a person but that its the same spirit from the father and the son.but not bodily,now i am somewhat at odds of what the truth is .you see that i always thought that like Jesus i would see the Spirit bodily.but apparently not.what are your thoughts on this.is the Spirit a bodily person like Christ or just a Spirit.like saying hes a ghost like figure.i hope he is a aperson so i can meet him.brian .s.wales uk

sorry this thread should have gone to the fundamental beliefs.brian

Brian, if you believe the Father has a body, then you can believe the Spirit has a body, too. Having a body does not prevent God from abiding in us, right? Compare the following passages:

John
4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
14:17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Also, Sister White was shown the truth even more clearly:

I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that He is a person. I asked Him if His Father was a person and had a form like Himself. Said Jesus, "I am in the express image of My Father's person." {EW 77.1}

Personality of the Holy Spirit.--We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.--Manuscript 66, 1899. (From a talk to the students at the Avondale School.) {Ev 616.5}

The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God. . . . {Ev 616.6}

The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."--Manuscript 20, 1906. {Ev 617.1}

The Power of God in the Third Person.--The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.--Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10, p. 37. (1897) {Ev 617.2}