No matter what we do, our human nature is sinful and unworthy in comparison to the purity of God’s righteousness. By accepting Christ’s substitutionary death for us through the covenant, we can stand worthy in the sight of God. And however much God cleanses us, changes us, molds us into reflections of His image, we must always have Jesus as our perfect Substitute. This is the essence of the gospel and our great hope, our covenantal hope.
Part II: Commentary
Before the new covenant could be ratified, blood had to be shed. Hence, as had been etched and foretold in the archives of Messianic prophecies, that life-giving blood, which streamed from Calvary, validated the new covenant.
Reflections on Calvary
We do need divine grace to cleanse us, to deliver us from our own presumptuousness, and to free us from the inherent sinfulness that, though all but wired into us, does not need to dominate us. And who doesn’t long to be freed from the petty jealousies, the envies, the bitterness and anger and guilt-causing deviousness inherent in us all? All this, and more, is what God will do for His covenant people, if they would but abide by the covenant and rest in Him and His promises.
“Their plight is serious indeed. They cannot cleanse themselves of sin (Prov. 20:9), and no deeds of law will ever enable them to stand before God justified (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Hence the atonement, to accomplish for sinners what needed to be done, had to be made by someone else in their behalf. Christ is utter self-giving, even in death. He is the means of our return to God. Through Him we have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18), an access to be appropriated by faith (Eph. 3:12), faith in Him ‘whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith’ (Rom. 3:25).”—Raoul Dederen, “Christ: His Person and Work,” in Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald® Publishing Association, 2000), pp. 174, 175.
The Faith of Abraham: Part 1
How amazing that the Old Testament, often viewed as the ultimate example of what legalism is all about, is really the foundational expression of the covenant promise of salvation by faith. Back in Genesis 15:6, we can see this in the famous verse: “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (NKJV). This, of course, in talking about Abram (not yet Abraham). The Hebrew is clear: Abram believed “in” the Lord; that is, he not only believed that He existed, but he also believed His promises, even the ones that seemed impossible, such as that he would one day father a great nation.
What about other promises of God that seem impossible? Such as that we, though sinners, can be accounted righteous, and even made righteous, in His sight? Talk about belief in the impossible!
The Faith of Abraham: Part 2
“Faith eats her manna and leaves not a morsel for worms to breed in. . . .
“The faith of Abraham could lead strings of camels and flocks of sheep away from Haran to Canaan. His was the faith which could drive the tent-pin into a foreign soil, or roll up the canvas. . . .
“It is a practical, active, living, week-day, every-day faith. I will speak very broadly and plainly, and say we need a bread-and-cheese faith, . . . a faith which believes that God who feeds the ravens will send us our daily bread; a faith . . . that . . . does not live in the region of fiction.”—Charles Spurgeon, “Hearken and Look,” Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia, vols. 1, 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 43, 47, 48. (See Isa. 51:2.)
Resting on the Promises
“How can Divinity risk so much in behalf of humanity? How can God declare completeness (perfection) for people who, though in process, have not fully attained? How can He declare as accepted persons who by nature are unacceptable? How can the Godhead risk Their reputation by extending such daring grace?
“The answer is threefold. “First, God does so because He accepts our sincere prayers and efforts toward spiritual maturity as perfection. . . .
“Second, Christ is able to take such action because the faith that He sees in us is not really ours; it is His. He sees His faith in us and honors that faith. It is ours in that we are the repositories of His love, the objects of His grace. But it is His because saving faith is of divine, not human, origin. . . .
“Third, God acts with such confidence because in the final analysis it is not on us that the Father focuses; it is on the righteousness of Christ’s robe that covers us.”—Calvin Rock, Seeing Christ: Windows on His Saving Grace, pp. 158, 159.
Part III: Life Application
For Reflection: Are you saved? To answer this question, it is important to understand what salvation is. Salvation is a noun that suggests action. To save is the root, which is a verb. What action is involved in salvation?
Different faiths view salvation in different ways. The Baptists place salvation in the past. It is an event that took place at the cross. All sins were forgiven at that point. People who believe in predestination put salvation at the “Holy Council,” where certain people were appointed to be saved or lost. Roman Catholics place salvation in the future, after a person who dies believing in Jesus is purified in purgatory. These are punctiliar views of salvation, meaning that salvation takes place at one point in time.
Seventh-day Adventists, however, have a linear view of salvation. Salvation has a past, present, and a future. It is a process—a series of divine acts and human responses.
God knew from the beginning that Adam and Eve would reject Him. He created them with free will—the ability to choose between right and wrong. He assumed responsibility for rectifying the sin that they had brought. Jesus stepped forward and said, I will experience the second death in their place.
God established a covenant with His people and never changed the conditions of that covenant. All interactions between God and His people were established in the covenant. God illustrated the plan of salvation through the sanctuary services and, ultimately, through Jesus’ sacrifice.
The most significant contribution we can give to the world right now is to share with others who Jesus is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. He is not on holiday or taking a 15-minute break. Right now is the most pivotal point in our salvation.
What does salvation mean to you? What will your answer be when someone asks if you are saved?
1. Ask people in the class to respond to the question, Are you saved? Discuss the various answers and what they reveal about how we, as church members, understand the plan of salvation and how it works. Why do Adventists seem to struggle with that question?
2. Ellen G. White has said that God loves each of us as if each individual were the only human being alive. What does that teach us
3. A fundamental thought of some of the people in Christ’s day was that a person must “earn” God’s favor. A fundamental thought of Christians is that all a person can do is take God at His word. Considering the difference between these two thoughts, why do you think Paul used Abraham as the greatest example of faith (see Rom. 4:1–8)?
4. Thursday’s study tells us that when people review their life before they die, they see how vain and futile their deeds were in earning salvation. What are the elements of life that make us feel as though we have to depend on ourselves more than on anyone or anything else? What can we do to live a life that says “Jesus is in control”? How does your spiritual life reflect who/what is in control?
5. “God does not give us up because of our sins. We may make mistakes and grieve His Spirit, but when we repent and come to Him with contrite hearts, He will not turn us away. There are hindrances to be removed. Wrong feelings have been cherished, and there have been pride, self-sufficiency, impatience, and murmurings. All these separate us from God. Sins must be confessed; there must be a deeper work of grace in the heart. Those who feel weak and discouraged may become strong men of God and do noble work for the Master.”—Ellen G. White, Faith and Works, p. 35. How can we learn to live by these words?
6. We have all felt the rejection and pain of a broken promise. The Bible, however, is full of promises we can count on 100 percent. Yet, we are the ones who, in disobedience, step out of our covenant relationship. Having known the pain of broken relationships, what can we do to ensure we do not take for granted our covenant relationship with God?
7. Jesus sacrificed Himself because we owed a debt we had no way of repaying. Why could God not simply forgive the debt? If God could not do this, does it mean that He is somehow subject to His own law?
8. In 1 Peter 1:18, 19, the author writes that Christ’s blood “ransomed” readers from “the futile ways inherited from [their] forefathers” (ESV). Was he writing strictly about redemption from future punishment? Or was he also referring to the impact of this fact on the lives that his readers were living currently? Discuss.
9. Genesis 15:6 states that Abram’s belief in the Lord was counted as righteousness. Today most people associate faith or belief with assent to a list of doctrines or propositions. Is this what is referred to here? Why, or why not? If not, what part do the “right” beliefs about God play in our relationship to God?
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Study Focus: Galatians 3:11
Part I: Overview
No matter what we do, our human nature is sinful and unworthy in comparison to the purity of God’s righteousness. By accepting Christ’s substitutionary death for us through the covenant, we can stand worthy in the sight of God. And however much God cleanses us, changes us, molds us into reflections of His image, we must always have Jesus as our perfect Substitute. This is the essence of the gospel and our great hope, our covenantal hope.
Part II: Commentary
Before the new covenant could be ratified, blood had to be shed. Hence, as had been etched and foretold in the archives of Messianic prophecies, that life-giving blood, which streamed from Calvary, validated the new covenant.
Reflections on Calvary
We do need divine grace to cleanse us, to deliver us from our own presumptuousness, and to free us from the inherent sinfulness that, though all but wired into us, does not need to dominate us. And who doesn’t long to be freed from the petty jealousies, the envies, the bitterness and anger and guilt-causing deviousness inherent in us all? All this, and more, is what God will do for His covenant people, if they would but abide by the covenant and rest in Him and His promises.
“Their plight is serious indeed. They cannot cleanse themselves of sin (Prov. 20:9), and no deeds of law will ever enable them to stand before God justified (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Hence the atonement, to accomplish for sinners what needed to be done, had to be made by someone else in their behalf. Christ is utter self-giving, even in death. He is the means of our return to God. Through Him we have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18), an access to be appropriated by faith (Eph. 3:12), faith in Him ‘whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith’ (Rom. 3:25).”—Raoul Dederen, “Christ: His Person and Work,” in Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald® Publishing Association, 2000), pp. 174, 175.
The Faith of Abraham: Part 1
How amazing that the Old Testament, often viewed as the ultimate example of what legalism is all about, is really the foundational expression of the covenant promise of salvation by faith. Back in Genesis 15:6, we can see this in the famous verse: “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (NKJV). This, of course, in talking about Abram (not yet Abraham). The Hebrew is clear: Abram believed “in” the Lord; that is, he not only believed that He existed, but he also believed His promises, even the ones that seemed impossible, such as that he would one day father a great nation.
What about other promises of God that seem impossible? Such as that we, though sinners, can be accounted righteous, and even made righteous, in His sight? Talk about belief in the impossible!
The Faith of Abraham: Part 2
“Faith eats her manna and leaves not a morsel for worms to breed in. . . .
“The faith of Abraham could lead strings of camels and flocks of sheep away from Haran to Canaan. His was the faith which could drive the tent-pin into a foreign soil, or roll up the canvas. . . .
“It is a practical, active, living, week-day, every-day faith. I will speak very broadly and plainly, and say we need a bread-and-cheese faith, . . . a faith which believes that God who feeds the ravens will send us our daily bread; a faith . . . that . . . does not live in the region of fiction.”—Charles Spurgeon, “Hearken and Look,” Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia, vols. 1, 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 43, 47, 48. (See Isa. 51:2.)
Resting on the Promises
“How can Divinity risk so much in behalf of humanity? How can God declare completeness (perfection) for people who, though in process, have not fully attained? How can He declare as accepted persons who by nature are unacceptable? How can the Godhead risk Their reputation by extending such daring grace?
“The answer is threefold. “First, God does so because He accepts our sincere prayers and efforts toward spiritual maturity as perfection. . . .
“Second, Christ is able to take such action because the faith that He sees in us is not really ours; it is His. He sees His faith in us and honors that faith. It is ours in that we are the repositories of His love, the objects of His grace. But it is His because saving faith is of divine, not human, origin. . . .
“Third, God acts with such confidence because in the final analysis it is not on us that the Father focuses; it is on the righteousness of Christ’s robe that covers us.”—Calvin Rock, Seeing Christ: Windows on His Saving Grace, pp. 158, 159.
Part III: Life Application
For Reflection: Are you saved? To answer this question, it is important to understand what salvation is. Salvation is a noun that suggests action. To save is the root, which is a verb. What action is involved in salvation?
Different faiths view salvation in different ways. The Baptists place salvation in the past. It is an event that took place at the cross. All sins were forgiven at that point. People who believe in predestination put salvation at the “Holy Council,” where certain people were appointed to be saved or lost. Roman Catholics place salvation in the future, after a person who dies believing in Jesus is purified in purgatory. These are punctiliar views of salvation, meaning that salvation takes place at one point in time.
Seventh-day Adventists, however, have a linear view of salvation. Salvation has a past, present, and a future. It is a process—a series of divine acts and human responses.
God knew from the beginning that Adam and Eve would reject Him. He created them with free will—the ability to choose between right and wrong. He assumed responsibility for rectifying the sin that they had brought. Jesus stepped forward and said, I will experience the second death in their place.
God established a covenant with His people and never changed the conditions of that covenant. All interactions between God and His people were established in the covenant. God illustrated the plan of salvation through the sanctuary services and, ultimately, through Jesus’ sacrifice.
The most significant contribution we can give to the world right now is to share with others who Jesus is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. He is not on holiday or taking a 15-minute break. Right now is the most pivotal point in our salvation.
What does salvation mean to you? What will your answer be when someone asks if you are saved?
1. Ask people in the class to respond to the question, Are you saved? Discuss the various answers and what they reveal about how we, as church members, understand the plan of salvation and how it works. Why do Adventists seem to struggle with that question?2. Ellen G. White has said that God loves each of us as if each individual were the only human being alive. What does that teach us3. A fundamental thought of some of the people in Christ’s day was that a person must “earn” God’s favor. A fundamental thought of Christians is that all a person can do is take God at His word. Considering the difference between these two thoughts, why do you think Paul used Abraham as the greatest example of faith (see Rom. 4:1–8)?4. Thursday’s study tells us that when people review their life before they die, they see how vain and futile their deeds were in earning salvation. What are the elements of life that make us feel as though we have to depend on ourselves more than on anyone or anything else? What can we do to live a life that says “Jesus is in control”? How does your spiritual life reflect who/what is in control?5. “God does not give us up because of our sins. We may make mistakes and grieve His Spirit, but when we repent and come to Him with contrite hearts, He will not turn us away. There are hindrances to be removed. Wrong feelings have been cherished, and there have been pride, self-sufficiency, impatience, and murmurings. All these separate us from God. Sins must be confessed; there must be a deeper work of grace in the heart. Those who feel weak and discouraged may become strong men of God and do noble work for the Master.”—Ellen G. White, Faith and Works, p. 35. How can we learn to live by these words?6. We have all felt the rejection and pain of a broken promise. The Bible, however, is full of promises we can count on 100 percent. Yet, we are the ones who, in disobedience, step out of our covenant relationship. Having known the pain of broken relationships, what can we do to ensure we do not take for granted our covenant relationship with God?7. Jesus sacrificed Himself because we owed a debt we had no way of repaying. Why could God not simply forgive the debt? If God could not do this, does it mean that He is somehow subject to His own law?8. In 1 Peter 1:18, 19, the author writes that Christ’s blood “ransomed” readers from “the futile ways inherited from [their] forefathers” (ESV). Was he writing strictly about redemption from future punishment? Or was he also referring to the impact of this fact on the lives that his readers were living currently? Discuss.9. Genesis 15:6 states that Abram’s belief in the Lord was counted as righteousness. Today most people associate faith or belief with assent to a list of doctrines or propositions. Is this what is referred to here? Why, or why not? If not, what part do the “right” beliefs about God play in our relationship to God?