Meeting weekly @ Mills Park Centre

86 Brixton St, Beckenham WA

Public Notice dated 22 July 2025

We want a different King?

The Slippery Slope of Regulation: When Liberty Yields to Control

In recent decades, we have watched as society increasingly turns to regulation and control in nearly every area of life. From the rise of complex local by-laws to the tightening grip of institutionalised religion, both civil and ecclesiastical systems seem to be moving toward centralised authority and loss of individual conscience. As Seventh-day Adventists, this should not surprise us—yet many remain unaware of just how far we’ve drifted from our Protestant foundations.

“It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.”
(Psalm 119:126, KJV)

The Illusion of Safety Through Regulation

Regulations are often presented as necessary for the “common good” or public safety. Leaders, politicians, and even local councils feel a sense of competence and accomplishment when implementing new rules. The assumption is that society demands these changes—or at least that a vocal minority does. Once upon a time, community facilities truly served the community—freely and without excessive restriction. Today, these services are increasingly monetised and bureaucratised. The spiritual lesson here is crucial: as civil freedom shrinks, so too does spiritual liberty.

“The very work which we have been expecting the worldlings to do, we have been doing ourselves.”
—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 217

A Protestant Heritage Forgotten

Western society was built on Protestant values—especially the primacy of the Bible, liberty of conscience, and the priesthood of all believers. These values were hard-won through blood, sacrifice, and principle. Yet today, these foundations are being quietly dismantled, and ironically, often by those who claim to uphold them. Churches that once protested against Rome’s dictates now dismiss protest altogether. The concept of a protesting voice is uncomfortable in a world that values compliance and institutional unity above all.

“Protestantism sets the power of the Bible above the authority of the visible church.”
—The Great Controversy, p. 204

Many Protestants today argue that the Ten Commandments were "nailed to the cross"—a notion popularised without clear biblical support. But while God’s law is dismissed, civil legislation is applauded and enforced. More troubling still, man-made spiritual rules—bans, exclusions, and traditions—are applied in place of divine principle. This mirrors exactly what happened in the days of Christ.

Pharisaic Religion: Rules Without Righteousness

In Jesus’ time, the religious leaders added hundreds of man-made rules to the law of Moses. Yet this didn’t make people more holy—it only increased guilt, confusion, and hypocrisy.

“For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... making the word of God of none effect through your tradition.”
(Mark 7:8,13, KJV)

The Pharisees burdened the people with countless restrictions, but created exceptions for themselves to follow their carnal desires under the guise of spirituality. Decisions were justified with phrases like, “the group I lead has decided it.”

Ellen White confirms:

“In the days of Christ the leaders and teachers of Israel were slaves to ritual. The outward ceremonies had taken the place of inward piety.”
—The Desire of Ages, p. 36

How different were Christ’s methods. He taught the sufficiency of the Word:

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
(Isaiah 8:20, KJV)

The Church Mirrors Society

Tragically, the Adventist Church has followed the same pattern. Once built on the principle of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as sufficient for doctrine and governance, it now increasingly depends on manuals, policies, and hierarchy.When the idea of a Church Manual was introduced in the 1880s, leaders rejected it. General Conference President Elder W.W. Prescott and others warned that a church manual would open the door to creedalism and dependence on human rules, rather than trust in the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

“When we come to place the authority of custom above the authority of truth and conscience, then we are no better than the Roman Church.”
—Review and Herald, February 5, 1901

Our movement was built on the understanding that local church members—not executives—hold the final say in church decisions. The church’s strength was in its transparency, decentralisation, and prayerful dependence on Scripture. But today, we have largely adopted a corporate structure, complete with executive “CEOs,” committees, and top-down authority. Church boards and administrators now decide who speaks, who leads, and even who may participate in worship. Where once there was faith in God, there is now faith in policy. Where once the church was led by the Spirit, it is now led by the handbook.

More Laws = More Lawbreakers

The Bible is clear: the more man-made laws that are introduced, the more rebellion and confusion arise.

“Where no law is, there is no transgression.” (Romans 4:15, KJV)
“For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” (Romans 7:11, KJV)

Ellen White warns:

“The work of the enemy is to unsettle the faith of God’s people in the true testimony. Satan will bring in spurious visions, to mislead, and mingle the false with the true.”
—Early Writings, p. 78

It is in this context that we must ask: Are we building trust in God and His Word, or are we replicating the Tower of Babel, brick by brick, regulation by regulation?

Do We Trust in God—or in Committees?

The slippery slope is real. More laws do not make people holy. More control does not produce spiritual revival. As we near the close of probation and the final events foretold in Revelation, we must return to the foundation: the Word of God and the liberty of conscience.

“We are not to depend upon man’s judgment. The Lord has given each of us an individual experience.”
—Manuscript Releases, Vol. 8, p. 221

“Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.” (Jeremiah 17:5, KJV)

Conclusion: Return to the Foundation

The question before us is simple: Will we return to a simple, Bible-based, Spirit-led faith—or will we continue down the slope of regulation, institutionalism, and human control? Let us remember that the Protestant Reformation was not a call to new rules, but a return to the Word of God alone.

“The Bible, and the Bible only, is to be our creed.”
—Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 208

In the end, faith and freedom go hand in hand. Let us be faithful to the God who calls us not to be ruled by men, but by His Spirit and His Word. The early Adventist church was uniquely structured to preserve individual liberty of conscience and local church authority, unlike the corporate, hierarchical systems common in other denominations. In its original form, the Adventist system placed the greatest authority in the individual member, followed by the local church through its business meeting, and only then did higher representative bodies serve in support—not control—of the local work. This grassroots model ensured that spiritual decisions flowed upward from the conviction of the people, not downward from administrative decrees. Today, however, the trend has reversed. What was once a system built on collective local decision-making has gradually shifted toward corporate-style centralisation, where policy manuals and committee decisions increasingly override the voice of the individual. This was never God’s design for His remnant movement. He calls us back to a structure where faith in His Word—not control by man—is the guiding principle.