May 30–June 5

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 10: “The Bible as History”

This week we look at some of the historical accounts in the Bible and how they impact our understanding of people and events in the past. Some of those are also recorded in extra-biblical history, some are not. But, as God’s inspired Word, we can trust what we read in the Bible even when history and archeology apparently disagree with the biblical account. Through the years, and even as recently as this year, there have been archeological discoveries that prove the truth of biblical people, locations, and accounts of wars and historical cities.

Ironically, this week, the memory verse is one that was carefully ignored last week:

Memory Text: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exod. 20:2 [also Deut. 5:6], NKJV).

God used the fact that He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt as His authority for commanding them to obey the Law—a law that is summed up in the verses immediately following that statement in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.

The lesson says this:

“He sends prophets. He sends judgments. He calls people to live and share His divine law and the plan of salvation with other nations. Ultimately, He sends His Son Jesus Christ into the world, thus dividing history forever.”

But think about that for a minute. It says that God “calls” people to obey the law, yet according to the Bible, there is only one group of people that were called to live that Law. It was the Children of Israel, as God’s unique, chosen people that heard that Law who were commanded to follow it. The fact that no one else was given that command is made clear by the fact that no one else was even allowed to participate in Judaism unless they first became a member of Israel by accepting circumcision and embracing the entire Law. 

In Sunday’s lesson, we read this:

“Finally, without David there would be no future Messiah, for it is through the line of David that a Messiah is promised (Jer. 23:5, 6; Rev. 22:16). Israelite history would need to be completely rewritten. Yet, that history, as it reads in Scripture, is precisely what gives Israel and the church its unique role and mission.”

This statement illustrates a profound confusion over the difference between the role of Israel and that of the Church. They each have their own unique role, and they are in no way the same thing. This confusion is actually a statement that comes out of the misguided idea called Replacement Theology—the idea that God has rejected Israel and transferred everything, at least the blessings of †he old covenant, to the Church.

But a quick reading of Romans chapters 9–11 firmly shoots down that absurd idea. And an understanding of end times, along with understanding the purpose of the coming Tribulation, shows how the future of each is vastly different in God’s plans. 

Monday’s and Tuesday’s lessons give illustrations of Biblical accounts of people who were important in the progression of history. Some of them are also in extra-Biblical history.

Wednesday’s lesson, The Historical Jesus, has this to say:

“Though it’s always nice to have archaeological evidence that supports our faith, why must we learn not to make our faith depend upon these things, as helpful as they might at times be?“

I agree with that but it brings to mind a question: if that is true, and it is, why waste three to four days doing exactly that? The point could have been made quickly by reminding us that reading and interpreting the Bible is important and that it is, in some cases, even supported by outside history.

In Thursday’s lesson, Faith and History, we read:

“Faith is not simply a belief in something or someone; it is acting in response to that belief. It is a faith that works; this is what is reckoned as righteousness. It is those faith actions that change history. Each of these actions depends on a reliance on God’s Word.”

The first part of that statement, that faith is more than just a belief in something or someone, while true, leaves out a very important point that should have been included. No matter how good or strong your faith may be, it is useless if it isn’t placed in the right object or person. A sincere faith in Buddha, for instance, or secular humanism, or wealth, or our good behavior or any other object or person will not save. Only faith in Jesus has the power to save us. 

Jesus Himself said that He is the only way to salvation (John 14:16). To leave out that fact is to weaken the concept of faith by implying that whatever you believe in is OK just as long as you have faith and act on it. 

The second part of that statement from the lesson is even more troubling:

“It is a faith that works; this is what is reckoned as righteousness.”

On the surface, it sounds good; but if you understand anything about Adventist theology, you will immediately recognize the works-based foundation of what they call “faith”. In fact, that entire sentence directly contradicts the Biblical definition of faith.

Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 say virtually the same thing, with slightly different wording:

Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

In Genesis 15 God had Abraham look at the stars and then promised him that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the sky. Then verse 6 says that Abraham believed and that was credited to him as righteousness. There was nothing for him to do—merely believe, have faith.

That belief is followed by the story of the covenant God made with Abraham. In verses 9-21, God made a unilateral covenant with Abraham, and the very fact that God put Abraham to sleep, and God “walked the covenant” alone, emphasizes the fact that Abraham’s faith had nothing to do with any kind of works. He did nothing, merely observed.

In the very next chapter of Genesis, we see the disaster that resulted when Abraham and Sarah tried to combine works with their faith. They tried to help God, and the result is one that has plagued their descendants, and in fact now the whole world, with the conflict that came out of that weak faith that thought it had to add works.

Faith and works are not the same thing, and if you try to add works to faith to make it valid, you no longer have faith in God; instead, although you have some faith in God, you also have some faith in yourself and your ability, or obligation, to accomplish something. And that is no longer true faith.

This reality of true faith is the whole purpose of what Paul was explaining in Ephesians 2:8–9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

If we add any works to faith, we then have something about which to boast. Even if our salvation is 99.99% of God and only 0.01% of us, we still have that 0.01% about which we can boast. Further, that would make our salvation dependent wholly on us. Why, you ask? Think it through: we know that God cannot fail in His 99.99% of the equation, so the result depends entirely on our 0.01% which means that our salvation depends on us.

Furthermore, if faith is a faith that has to work in order to be valid, then grace is no longer a gift; instead it has become wages that are owed to the one who works.

That is the mistake that Paul addressed in Romans 4:1-5:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 

Having faith doesn’t mean that we don’t respond with action, acting on our faith in our walk with God as His Spirit changes us as a result of His free gift. The problem is when you add to the faith and say that for it to be true faith, it has to include the work, people such as Adventists, not understanding that true faith yields a new birth and new desires, require works as part of their “salvation package”. Biblical good works are the result of being saved and are the works God brings to us to do (see Eph. 2:10), not part of the requirements for being saved.

In fact, that idea that good works are required along with faith is the argument that is used in Adventism to justify “keeping” the Sabbath. They say that it doesn’t save them, but they observe it as a result of gratitude for the gift of salvation. (But, just ask them what happens if they don’t keep the Sabbath!)

Once again, we have a week of “study” that could have made some good points, but instead it fell back on lots of words with a little truth mixed in with a lot of confused and confusing ideas. That is hardly the way to teach anyone how to correctly interpret (understand) Scripture. †