11. Who are the remnant today?

Throughout history, only those who worshiped God according to His covenant were the faithful remnant (1 Kings 19:18; Amos 3:2; Amos 9:7-10). Just as the Old Testament prophets distinguished between an apostate Israel and a faithful remnant within national Israel, so the Bible gives us a clear definition of who are God’s faithful remnant just before He comes.JTL22 13.1

This eschatological remnant that includes non-Israelites (Isaiah 11:10, 11) would be a religious rather than a political community who live out the power of God’s “new covenant” in humility and purity of heart. They will keep the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12) and have the gift of prophecy in their midst (Revelation 12:17; 19:10). None of them will retain any vestige of Babylon (Revelation 14:4; 17:7) and will refuse to compromise with antichrist powers by worshipping on the counterfeit sabbath (Sunday). They do not claim exclusive status with God. Instead, they are consumed with love for the people for whom Christ died which drives them to share the final gospel message of Christ’s righteousness. Giving glory to God as Creator also leads the remnant to recognize their accountability for the well-being of the human body and mind as the temple of God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).JTL22 13.2

Some who had been Millerite Adventists of the mid-19th century came to understand that Christ’s final cleansing ministry in the Most Holy Place of heaven’s sanctuary (see Step 5, The Sanctuary) mandated a worldwide proclamation of the everlasting gospel (Revelation 3:8; Revelation 19:9-11).JTL22 13.3

Early on, the Seventh-day Adventist church developed three key biblical teachings: Christ’s final intercessory ministry in heaven’s sanctuary, the seventh-day Sabbath as a sign of loyalty to God, and the application of the phrase “testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17) to the prophetic gift of Ellen G. White (see Step 21, The Gift of Prophecy).JTL22 13.4

Adventists believe that the restored Sabbath is a biblical truth that counteracts evolution, one of the key heresies of the end-time. As with God’s remnant through the ages, they have a mission to prepare people to meet God at His coming. But there is a special component to the end-time remnant’s mission—to call God’s invisible remnant out of “Babylon’s” apostasy to receive the fullness of God’s Spirit and escape the seven last plagues that will fall on those who receive the mark of the beast (Revelation 18:1-5).JTL22 13.5