October 31–November 6

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 6: “More Lessons From the Master Teacher”

Had I been the author of this lesson, I would have chosen John 3:16 as the memory verse:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

This is one of the most profound, impacting statements in the Bible—we were perishing, and God gave! In fact, the lesson nicely complements John 3:16 with this statement:

…the gospel is universal, and Christ’s death was for all humanity. Whatever our differences, surely one thing unites us: our general sinfulness.

That quote describes our need and God’s solution to that need by giving His Son to die in our place to pay the price for our sin which we inherited from Adam. Romans 5:12-21 tells us, in at least five different ways, that we inherited death from Adam and were given life by Jesus. And then, in a sequence that is often repeated in the Bible, in the very next verse, Romans 6:1, we are encouraged to let that wonderful gift of life change us. In fact, this admonition is followed by a whole sequence of observations on this change:

• Since we died to sin we are to no longer live in sin (verse 2(.
• We are to “walk in newness of life” (verse 4).
• We are no longer to be slaves to sin (verse 6).
• We are freed from sin (verse 7).
• In fact, we are to live (be alive) with Him (Christ) (verse 8).

Then verses 12 and 13 urge us not to put ourselves in the path of sin or to choose to give ourselves over to it. 

There are many places in the Bible where the added chapter divisions are regrettable in the way they interrupt a line of thought, and in Romans that chapter interruption is particularly true. In fact, most of Romans is one continuous development of thought, so let’s keep going into chapter 7. 

After equating the attempt to combine Law and Grace with committing adultery, Paul continues with the thought:

• We are to be dead to the Law and joined (alive) to Christ (verse 4).
• The Law actually gives us sinful ideas and, in a way, it leads us to sin by mere suggestion (verse 5).
• Verse 6 rounds out this chain of thought by telling us that we are released from the Law and instead of living by the letter of the Law, we are now to live by the Spirit. (Notice how that is not an either/or choice; it is one or the other.)

Romans has been called the Christian Manifesto as it is one long statement of theology, and it outlines our change from being dead in sin into being alive in Christ. It needs to be read in context to get the full impact of its message. When one proof-texts Romans, things are taken out of context and important details are usually left out, thus blunting the message. 

Romans is longer than Galatians, so the Galatians challenge—read the whole book through in one sitting—may not be practical for most people. Nevertheless, reading several chapters in Romans without paying attention to the chapter breaks will make it much clearer as the theological truths are built in sequence.

In Monday’s lesson, there is a thought question that seems good, but it also contains a subtle error in understanding our spiritual condition:

“What can we learn from this story about how God, in Christ, is seeking to reach us despite our sins?”

That last word—our “sins”—is deceptively right-sounding but comes out of a lack of understanding of our true condition. 

Our problem is so much more than just the sins we commit; it is the actual death of our souls that resulted from being separated from God, the only source of Life. This spiritual death was our legacy from Adam and his sin, as laid out in Romans 5:12-21.

There is an old saying that highlights this thought:

• We are not sinners because we sin.
• We commit sin because we are sinners.

The sins we commit are the result of being spiritually dead and slaves to sin and totally unable to do what is right. It isn’t their actions—sins—that will keep people from heaven; rather, it is their refusal to accept the only acceptable payment for them—the payment that was provided by the only One qualified to make that payment—and their refusal to accept the gift of eternal life that comes only in Christ. The perfect, sinless One—Jesus—died the death we deserve in payment for our sin and in exchange, He offers us the eternal life found only in Him which we do not deserve.

We don’t deserve it, and we cannot earn it. We can only accept it by faith in Jesus, and we are then made alive in Him. Then we trust Him to keep us safe. This certainty is stated more than once by Jesus Himself. For example, in John 6:39, 40 Jesus said:

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

In John 10:27-29 Jesus promised that we are secure in Him:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 

Wednesday’s lesson asks us to read Hebrews 5:12–14 and then asks, “What is this teaching us about true education?”

Those verses aren’t really saying anything about “true education” because the focus is on those who are spiritually immature and unable to learn the real “meat” of the gospel. This understanding is made clear by the first two verses of chapter 6 (once again an unfortunate chapter break):

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

The problem is not the teaching, the “education”; rather, it is the immaturity of the student who is unable to comprehend more than the basics of sin and salvation. The mind that clings to the Law in an attempt to guide behavior is either ignorant of true Grace or is simply unwilling to let go of the Law and trust Christ and His Grace.

When the mind is spiritually immature, it is unable to grasp the deeper meaning of Scripture. Instead, it tries to hold onto works and what we do rather than learning how God did it all, inviting us to rest in His accomplished work. 

Instead, the spiritually immature mind keeps trying to perfectly obey all itself, and when that effort fails, it thinks it must be re-converted by repenting over and over to win back salvation. All the while, the spiritually immature person does not realize that it is futile to try to save itself (impossible), while trying to become good enough that it won’t sin anymore (also impossible).

In the questions at the end of Friday’s lesson there is one very profound, relevant question:

How do we define what is good and what is evil?

With the events of the last eight or nine months, we have seen what happens when the only reliable basis for true morality is abandoned to be replaced by each person’s and group’s own opinion.

There is a profound difference between God’s point of view and man’s point of view. In God’s eyes, everyone is evil, unless they are renewed in Christ.  In the world’s eyes, most people are pretty good. But even that assumption has come under attack lately.

So what has gone wrong? We have always read in the Bible how in the last days man will be evil, but now that biblical fact it is coming alive before our very horrified eyes. As God and His Word are pushed out and considered irrelevant or even hateful, there is no longer any solid basis on which to decide good and evil. Without God, there is no absolute moral ground and instead, good and bad are just relative truths and a matter of opinion.

Now, more than ever before, it is critical that we let God renew our minds (Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2; Titus 3:5) and become mature in our thinking. The mature mind is able to let the Bible speak for itself instead of trying to make it agree with pre-determined ideas. 

The Bible is God’s inerrant Word, and it is totally trustworthy; and the Holy Spirit, who is in us and who seals us (Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30), is always available to lead, encourage, and teach us. †