Gospel Adventists believe in keeping the commandments as a loving response to having been gifted the free gift of salvation that was bought by the blood of Christ. There is a way to preach holiness that avoids legalism while still stressing the importance of living a life that reflects the character of God.
We are saved by faith and blessed by our obedience to the law. While our salvation does not depend on our level of holiness in this life, our blessings and rewards from God are directly related to our willingness to sacrifice our will for His glory. We cannot accept Jesus as our Savior but reject Him as Lord. We must be willing to be made into His likeness and commit to a life of loving obedience.
Not only are earthly rewards and blessings a result of obedience, but our rewards in heaven are also affected by how we choose to live on earth. Those with the highest positions in heaven will have sacrificed and suffered the most for the cause of Christ.
We cannot be cleansed of sin until we accept we are forgiven. We are granted the assurance of salvation before we give up a single bad habit. We have no power to live a godly life unless we trust in the promise of God to “declare us righteous” before we are “made righteous” over our lifetime.
The reason we cannot be judged by our righteousness in the judgement is because we never reach the state of sinlessness prior to the second coming of Jesus. While we can go from bad, to good, to better in this life, we are never at 100 percent until we are granted new bodies with sinless natures. Until then we will always be sinners saved by grace
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Stephen Beagles (2023)