Your incense is detestable to me.


New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies’” (Isa. 1:11-13, NIV).


God told the Israelites to stop, because the system wasn’t


working. Tey thought that going through the motions of observance is all God wanted, but they could not have been more mistaken. Tey were not saved by their sacrifices, as Hebrews 10:4 later clarified when it categorically stated, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (NIV).


Instead of seeing salvation as the fulfilling of laws, we need to look more deeply at the reasons why, or what I call the value principles that lie behind all that God is and does.


Jesus likewise taught that rule-based observance doesn’t work.


He told the Pharisees: “You give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone” (Luke 11:42, NIV). Tithing may be important, but it’s not as important as the fundamental aspects of God and his salvation! In trying to preserve the rules, the Pharisees invented even


more, with the result that they fulfilled the divine prophecy from Isaiah 29:13: “Tey worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (Matt. 15:9, NIV). Tey even sought salvation by focusing on the words of Scripture while missing the Savior it proclaimed. Jesus chided: “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39, NLT).


How do we fall into the same kind of trap? By thinking that


such requirements—weekly church attendance, tithe paying, avoiding unclean foods, or whatever—are what God demands. We need to go back to the Source. Jesus states very clearly, “I


am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. Tey will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life” (John 5:24, GNT). Instead of seeing salvation as the fulfilling of laws, we need


to look more deeply at the reasons why, or what I call the value principles that lie behind all that God is and does. Instead of talking about our pride in keeping the rules or in having a “title for heaven” or a “passport to the kingdom,” let us place our convictions on becoming like Jesus. As we look to the author and finisher of our faith, we become changed (Heb. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). Otherwise, we become like the rich young ruler, who truly


believed he had kept the commandments since he was young and, therefore, was assured of salvation (Mark 10:20). Jesus had to get him to think about values, and his wealth was his value. Another poignant example was the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:10). Which of the two went home right in God’s eyes? Not the man who thanked God that he was not like the sinner beside him, but the man who asked God for help in changing.


Daring to Imagine Something Better One could ask, What are our essential value principles from an ethical perspective? In place of seeing God as a celestial policeman who is waiting for anyone who breaks some deontological obligations to be punished, we should aspire to virtues that could make us a living community of saints in the world that God has given us to serve. In place of the fear of punishment that I grew up with in my early Adventist experience, we can paint a picture that is aspirational. Dr. Daniel Duda, president of the Trans-European Division,


recently described the type of community I desire to be a part of in this 21st century. At the 2025 annual meeting of the Adventist Society for Religious Studies in Boston, Duda liſted us into the realm of virtue ethics with this vision statement: Just imagine… What if God had a community…that doesn’t deny trauma.


… Doesn’t rush past it with clichés. … Doesn’t shame people for bleeding too long. A community that has learned to say, gently and truthfully: “Yes, this happened. Yes, it hurt. And no, you are not alone.”


12 AD VENTIS T T OD A Y


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