Editorial – Heretics in Heaven; Orthodox in Hell

The word heretic comes from a Greek word that means, “a person who is factious or causing divisions or dissension, and holding to a certain dogma or teaching that has these characteristics.” (See Titus 3:10.) Orthodox is a composite Greek word referring to those who believe or teach straight or right doctrines or teachings.

It is paradoxical that millions of people who have been considered heretics will be in heaven, while other millions who were considered orthodox will be in hell after the end of the millennium. During the Dark Ages, millions of people were murdered (martyred) by the orthodox for heresy.

Today, people in Protestant churches consider themselves to be orthodox. Seventh-day Adventists consider themselves to be orthodox. The various groups that have developed out of Adventism consider themselves to be the ones holding to correct teachings. This includes not only those who call themselves historic Adventists, but those who have rejected Ellen White as a prophet, and who have subsequently rejected the biblical doctrines that Adventists teach about the sanctuary. Many of these individuals now keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. As our Sunday-keeping friends do, they relegate the Sabbath to the Old Covenant that has been abolished, not distinguishing between the temporary ritual law and the moral law of ten commandments. Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees considered themselves to be orthodox and engaged in bitter debates trying to prove the other party wrong, just as we see within Adventism today.

The character you develop in this life, not the doctrines you believe to be most accurate and true, will determine your destiny in the judgment. This is the big point that many orthodox fail to see, and that the professed people in Jesus’ day seemed to overlook too. This is the bottom line reason that millions of heretics will be in heaven and countless millions of the orthodox will not.

God’s messenger, Ellen G. White, wrote: “Profession is as nothing in the scale. It is character that decides destiny.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 74. “The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come.” Education, 108. “We are daily determining our destiny in the future life by the character we develop in this.” Review and Herald, January 11, 1898. “Character cannot be changed when Christ comes, nor just as a man is about to die. Character building must be done in this life.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 430.

Are you praying to God daily, pleading for a pure, holy, righteous character?