March 6–12

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.

JEANIE JURA

 

Lesson 11: “Waging Love”

In a discussion of the plan of salvation, Monday’s lesson has a statement that could be considered accurate, yet the balance of the lesson reveals Adventism’s lack of acceptance of the biblical new covenant. Here is the statement from Monday’s lesson:

That the Creator of the universe would stoop to clothe Himself in humanity, live a life of toil and suffering, only then to die in our behalf, a sacrifice for sin, all in order that He could pardon us and show mercy to us is a truth that will thrill the hearts of God’s created beings for all the ages of eternity. Of all the great mysteries of the universe, no doubt the greatest one of all is the plan of salvation, a mystery we can only barely begin to understand. (See Eph. 6:19.)

And yet, while we can “only barely begin to understand” it, at the same time, salvation is also so simple that a child can grasp it. There is a very interesting set of statements in Sunday’s lesson. First, though, is a question: “How does Isaiah’s approach to salvation compare with that of the New Testament? (Eph. 2:8, 9.)”

Then there follows this statement:

Isaiah encapsulates the gospel in the Old Testament, and it is the same as the gospel in the New Testament. There was no “old-covenant” salvation by works, to be superseded by “new-covenant” salvation by grace.

First let’s read those verses: 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.

In essence, both those statements in the lesson are true. In fact, Paul makes that same point in Romans 9:30–32:

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,”

So, old covenant salvation was by faith, not works—and yet, since that salvation had not yet been provided, they did have to perform “works”—the sacrificial system—to show their faith in the coming payment for their sin. Let’s read Paul’s argument in Romans 3:21–26:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Notice in verse 25 that the sacrifices of animal blood did not forgive their sins, it merely set them aside until the true Sacrifice, illustrated by the animal sacrifices, was accomplished. When they offered sacrifices for their sin, God “passed over” or set aside their guilt because of their faith in the full forgiveness to come. It demonstrated their faith that the coming Messiah would do what the blood of animals could not do. 

Yes, they had to have faith, but they also had to provide the works until the faith became reality. As Paul was pointing out in Romans 9, somehow they forgot the part about faith, and instead relied solely on the works—the sacrifices—to save them.

That requirement of the shadows of the Sacrifice to come was the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. The old looked forward and required actions to demonstrate the faith until the coming of the reality. The new, because it could look back at the completed work of Jesus on the cross, requires only faith. What works we perform after the faith are simply in response to the incredible gift of the cross.

While that may be the point the author of this lesson was trying to make, it sounds suspiciously like he is trying to say that the old covenant and the new covenant are one and the same. (We will see more of that very claim in next quarter’s lesson.)

In Tuesday’s lesson, we come to something that is problematic when the author wanders into an attempted discussion of the temple services and sacrifices. In it he makes the same un-biblical statements that define the core of Adventist soteriology when he claims not only that the sins of the people defiled the sanctuary, but that, ultimately, Jesus’ blood actually defiled Heaven itself:

After all, it was the sins of the people that had defiled God’s sanctuary. It had to be cleansed with blood that was shed because of what they had done.

I do not feel myself adequate to the task of explaining the whole sanctuary, blood, Day of Atonement process, so for those who are interested in a deeper study, I will direct you to an article that explains them in depth. It is from the magazine Proclamation!, reprinted one year ago from the April May June, 2010, issue of the magazine. Here is the brief introduction and the link to the article:

In this document Russell Kelly presents classic Adventist teaching on the defilement and cleansing of the sanctuary quoted from Ellen White’s writings, and he contrasts her teaching with the biblical truth about the same doctrine.

Does Blood Defile the Tabernacle? https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2020/02/20/does-blood-defile-the-tabernacle/

To whet your appetite for more, here are two short quotes from that article that clearly show from the Bible, the truth—and error—of the defilement of the sanctuary:

While Adventists teach that the sanctuaries on earth and heaven are defiled by sins which have already been confessed, atoned by a sacrifice, and pronounced forgiven, in reality un-atoned sins are the only sins committed by Old Testament believers which “defiled” the sanctuary on earth. And the heavenly sanctuary cannot be defiled in any manner. (See Lev. 15:31; 18:28; 20:3; Num. 5:2-3; 19:13, 20; 35:34; Ez. 2:62.)

Redemption blood brings the sinner “near” to God by reconciliation—not by defiling God’s dwelling place (Eph. 2:13). God could not declare “peace through the blood” if that same blood had separated him from God by defiling his throne (Col. 1:20).

After this problematic divergence into Judaism, the author of the lesson returns to Isaiah:

True Sabbath keeping brings joy (Isa. 58:14), as does helping others (Isa. 58:10, 11). What must change in your own life in order to experience these blessings yourself?

In typical fashion, he attempts to claim a day as our ultimate rest; but this assumption ignores the argument of Hebrews 4. The chain of thought starts in Hebrews 3—this is another example of the chapter divides that were added to Scripture—so let’s start with 3:16–19:

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

There should be no break at all between that and chapter 4 where the author of Hebrews continues to build the argument that even though Joshua “gave” them a rest—the day—their lack of faith kept them from entering the real rest it represented—our true rest in Jesus.

The day was just a shadow, as Paul points out (Colossians 2:16, 17), but Jesus is the true Rest that it symbolizes. To cling to the day is to cling to the shadow and to ignore the reality.

Hebrews 4:10 sums up that train of thought by saying:

For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

And just what are the works from which we rest? It is the work of being saved. Under the Old Covenant, they had to have faith, but they also had to provide the “works” of following the sacrificial system to demonstrate that faith in a future event. Now that we look back at that event, by faith we rest in Jesus’ finished work.

We must look at one further note on the theme of Sabbath-keeping made by the author. His statement, “True Sabbath keeping brings joy”, while very true, ignores the difference between “keeping” a day and resting in our true Rest.

The day, as outlined in Isaiah 58, was a time of mainly of “don’ts”:

• desisting from your own ways,
• seeking your own pleasure
• speaking your own word

And these prohibitions were limited to that one day. Is it any wonder that those who cling to a day often keep one eye on the clock for the moment it is over so they can go back to “living” their own pleasures! 

In contrast to that, those who rest in Jesus’ finished work have that true joy all the time, every day! It is no longer limited to one day a week, and we no longer wait anxiously for it to end so we can get back to our normal lives.

In the questions at the end of the week, there is one question to ponder.

Look at the question Isaiah asked the people of his time: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2, NRSV). Ask yourself, in what ways, if any, are we doing the same thing, laboring for that which does not satisfy? Why is it so easy to fall into that very trap?

What do we labor for that does not satisfy? A set of behaviors that make one day a week into a boring (by not doing anything we want to do) time whose end is gladly welcomed? Attempting to work our way into salvation by following someone’s contradictory ideas of diet, thoughts, attitude, dress, conversation and all other things? 

If these things are required in order to maintain salvation, then they have become a requirement FOR salvation.

The true message of real rest is found in Christ and His finished work on the cross. There is nothing more for us to do to earn it or to keep it. He keeps us safe and promises to never lose us (John 6:35-40); we are so secure in Him that nothing—including us—can remove us from His hand (John 10:28, 29); we are so secure in Him that nothing can separate us from Him (Romans 8:38, 39).

That last promise is so all-encompassing and beautiful that it is worth reading again:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is our safety and our true rest—He has done it all, and we can totally trust, and rest, in Him! There is no greater joy to be found! †