Unpacking the Adventist Confusion about Death

After an Adventist discovers the gospel and realizes that Jesus completed the atonement at the cross and we are saved by trusting Him alone, no Sabbath required, the next paradigm shift we usually face is that of our true nature: are we merely bodies, or do we have an immaterial component called spirit?

This question of whether we are merely bodies that breathe or whether we have spirits that are separate from our bodies identifies what may be our biggest adjustment as we learn a biblical reality: what happens when we die?

The Adventist “soul sleep” is one of the organization’s most powerful means of control. This idea negates the fact that we are born with spirits that must be born again, and without a spirit that is born dead, a person has no way to understand that we are born truly sinners. The true nature of our spiritual condemnation and the need for the Lord Jesus to make us alive through His gospel is something that Adventists actually deny.

Before we can understand our condition in death, it is necessary first to understand that Adventism misdefined our spirits. Adventism taught us that we are “body + breath = living soul.” Their use of “breath” is used unbiblically; the Hebrew word “ruah” can be translated in various ways including “breath”, but when the Bible uses it of “spirit”, whether the spirit of man, of angels, or of God, it does not mean “breath”. It means a literal immaterial identity.

For example, in John:4:24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
See All... Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “God is spirit, and true worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth”. In that sentence Jesus clearly identifies God as “spirit”.That does not mean breath; it means non-physical. It is immaterial, but not non-existent. It is not merely a puff of air, either, as in a breath or as wind. 

Angels are “ministering spirits” (Heb:1:14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
See All...). God is spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not “holy breath”. Moreover, Paul explains in 2Corinthians 5:1–9 that “we” dwell in mortal tents, and when the tent dies, “we” go to God; “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”. 

Ephesians:2:1-3 [1] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; [2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: [3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
See All... tells us that we are born dead in sins.Now, we are born breathing and moving, yet Paul tells us that we are by nature “children of wrath” (Eph:2:3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
See All...), and John:3:18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
See All... records Jesus saying that when people believe in Him, they do not come into judgment, but those who have not believed are condemned already. In other words, we are born spiritually dead even though our bodies are alive. When we believe, we pass from death to life (Jn:5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
See All...), and this new life is not a metaphor. It is our literal spirit that comes to life. In fact, God Himself transfers us out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Beloved Son when we believe (Col:1:13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
See All...). This transfer is a spiritual REALITY, not a metaphor. We literally are born again and become alive in our spirits. 

Ellen White said Jesus resurrected Moses and uses Jude 9 as her proof. But Jude 9 only says Michael the archangel contended with Satan for the body of Moses. We are not told WHY he contended,but we are told that Michael did not dare to rebuke Satan but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” This verse actually says the OPPOSITE of what EGW taught.

First, she said that Michael the archangel was another name for Jesus. She is wrong. Jesus is never called any sort of angel. He is God the Son, the creator of all angels—and the angels know He is their creator. Second, Michael did not have the authority to rebuke Satan; they were of the same essential order of creation: they were both angels. Instead, Michael said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 

Jesus, in contrast, directly rebuked Satan many times during His time on earth. He went head to head with him and rebuked him in the wilderness temptation right after His baptism. He rebuked him when He drove the demons out of the Gadarene demoniac and sent them into the pigs. And so forth. Jesus repeatedly rebuked Satan directly. HE IS LORD!

Philippians:1:22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
See All..., 23 and 2 Corinthians:5:1-9 [1] For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [2] For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: [3] If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. [4] For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. [5] Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. [6] Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: [7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) [8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. [9] Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
See All... both are clear that when people die, their spirits go to God. In other words, we are spirit beings, as are the angels, but we also have bodies. That makes us different from other spirit beings. Yet being made spirit beings is what makes us in the image of God. God is spirit! 

https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2020/10/15/unpacking-the-adventist-confusion-about-death/