November 9–15

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 7: “Our Forgiving God”

The week starts out with a discussion of the confession of sin and celebration of God’s forgiveness. 

 

Fasting and Worship

From the lesson:

Through our reading of the Bible, God draws near to us, and the Holy Spirit can speak to us and teach us. The truth of His Word molds our thinking and understanding, encourages and lifts us up.

While very true, there was something in those two sentences that didn’t seem right, but it took a while for it to stand out.

First of all, it seems to separate the Holy Spirit from “God” as if they aren’t the same. The Holy Spirit is sealed in us the moment we believe, so He doesn’t “draw near” if we read the Bible. He is always there and never leaves us. (John 14:16) If anything, spending time in the Word draws us nearer to God and helps us to hear and respond to the Spirit.

The second sentence is very true but out of place in Adventist theology. There is a truism to Christian faith and theology that says that we don’t change scripture to fit our theology; rather, we change our theology to fit scripture.

But as an Adventist, I was taught that when what the Bible said didn’t agree with the 28 (at that time 27) fundamental beliefs, we had to essentially change the meaning (or at least our understanding) of the verses based on our previous understanding of things.

For instance, let’s look at 2 Cor.5:6-8:

6Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

In The Clear Word there is nothing of the “absent from the body and at home with the Lord”. Rather, it just says that we would rather be there than here.

This is because of the Adventist ideas on the nature of man in Fundamental Belief #7: 

Though created free beings, each is an indivisible unity of body, mind, and spirit

and #26:

The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people.

Because of statements like those, they can’t accept what Paul says about being absent from the body is being present with the Lord, so Scripture is adjusted to fit their theology—we (our assumed indivisible combination of body, mind and spirit) would rather be there than here. 

While that idea is certainly true, what Paul is saying is that it is an either/or condition. Either your spirit is here with your body, or your spirit leaves the body and is with God. Not absent from here—and after a long, unconscious sleep state—present with the Lord.

Because their theology does not match the Bible, rather than adjust their theology, they adjust the Bible.

Another example is in the Adventist interpretation of Jesus’ first miracle in John 2 where Jesus changed water into wine. 

The Greek word for wine means just that—wine. In Strong’s Concordance, it is exactly the same word and definition as used in Eph. 5:18: 

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 

Yet, somehow, In Ephesians 5 it means fermented grape juice, but in John 2, it means fresh grape juice. Because Adventist theology holds that alcohol is evil and it’s a sin to consume it, Jesus couldn’t have made something sinful, so He just made fresh grape juice.

Once again, the Bible is changed to fit theology rather than the correct way of changing theology to fit the Bible.

The sad result of this interpretation of the clear meaning of Scripture is that “The truth of His Word” is no longer the truth of the Bible but rather the “truth” adjusted to fit Adventist theology.

At the end of the day’s lesson, we are directed to read the prayer in Daniel 9:4-19 and then answer this question:

In what ways is His prayer applicable to ourselves today? What should the reality of this application say to us individually and as a church?

That prayer is heartfelt and sincere and was the pouring out of Daniel’s heart the remorse he felt for the sins of the nation of Israel. While in general, we must pour out our remorse for our sins, the whole prayer of Daniel is remorse for the sins of the nation of Israel, not individual sins.

In the Old Covenant, the blessings for obedience and curses (punishment) for disobedience was corporate, not personal. If that wasn’t so, then a follower of God such as Daniel would not have been punished along with those who rejected God.

His prayer repeatedly refers to the sins of the nation as a whole, not individual sin like this in verse 8:

“Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers,”

On the other hand, under the New Covenant, salvation, blessing, and punishment for disobedience is personal and individual, not corporate.

So, while there can be personal application in the sorrow, remorse, and confession of individual sin, there is no corporate application to the Church.

 

Beginning of the Prayer

The beginning of the prayer does recount the goodness of God compared to the apostasy of Israel that led to the Babylonian captivity. And the lesson has a good summary of the praise of God’s name and the meaning of names.

But then it diverges from the prayer of the leaders on behalf of Israel, and picks out one part of it in an effort to support the Adventist claim that even under the New Covenant, we are subject to the words of the Old Covenant, the 10 Commandments.

It then uses that base to form these questions:

“Why is the doctrine of God as our Creator so central to our faith? After all, what other teaching is so important compared to this one, in which we are commanded by God to spend one seventh of our lives every week in remembering Him as our Creator?”

In Adventist theology, the doctrine of God as Creator is really central. It is the basis used to “prove” that the 7th day Sabbath, as stated in the 4th Commandment, applies to us because He created us. That is their acknowledged central point on which rests their entire reason for being. 

And it is based on the word of Ellen White who says this:

“The pope has changed the day of rest from the seventh to the first day. He has thought to change the very commandment that was given to cause man to remember his Creator. He has thought to change the greatest commandment in the Decalogue and thus make himself equal with God, or even exalt himself above God.” EW 65.1

Since the Bible is supposed to be the final authority that changes our theology, let’s look at what Jesus said:

Jesus answered “the foremost is, ‘hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength. ‘ The second is this ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

So, who will you believe? God or someone who says the very opposite?

Look at the question at end of the day:

“How can you better learn to trust in the goodness of God amid times you feel completely discouraged, let down, and fearful for the future?”

As Christians, secure in Christ, the way to learn trust is by trusting. And before you say that that is just trite and not helpful, think about it. Like anything else we learned to do, building faith takes practice. Our faith and trust in God is not based just on the fact that He created us. If that’s the only basis of your faith, then when things are not going well, it is too easy to feel and think that maybe He created us and just left us on our own. That is the agnostic point of view.

So we must learn more about Him than just that He is Creator. The Bible is full of glorious promises of His care and examples of faith and reliance in times of distress. 

The best time to read and learn these are during the good times when the needs aren’t so pressing. Stay in the Bible. Take it at it’s word. Get a good concordance for word and topical study. I highly recommend Strong’s Concordance as it defines the words without any attempt to guide theology.

Then, when the attacks happen, the losses, the painful impacts of life, you will be fortified by the truth of God and will be more able to follow His leading you to the help you in your need. If He is your Shepherd in the good times, you will find He is still with you in the bad.

Let’s look at just a few of the reassurances that we all need.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6, 7).

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’

For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Mt. 6: 25–31).

 

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 (John 10: 27–29).

 

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 

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” (Jn. 6:37–40).

When life hits us hard, it is much more difficult to turn to God for support and comfort if you are not already grounded in His word and walking in a relationship with Him. 

Notice that none of those verses say that there will not be difficulties and hard times. Rather, because our spirits are safe in God’s hands and He promises to provide for us and to never lose us, even if our life here on earth is rough, we can take comfort in the fact that our eternal life is secure.

God isn’t saying that there is nothing to worry about on this earth; in fact Jesus said that in this life we will have tribulation (John 16:33) but not to worry about it because He already overcame the world. Which means that in Him, our physical life is not the end of everything; we have a heavenly home and eternal future that is guaranteed, so the passing worries of this world are just that—temporary and passing.

 

Lessons From the Past

From the lesson:

“The acknowledgment of human failure and lack of true devotion to God is an important step in confession and repentance. And even though these texts are talking about people long removed from us, no one can deny that every single one of us has a problem with those same issues.”

Those are very encouraging words and true. If we don’t know or acknowledge our sins and failures, we would not feel the need to confess.

But then, it is followed by this quote from Ellen White:

“When through repentance and faith we accept Christ as our Saviour, the Lord pardons our sins, and remits the penalty prescribed for the transgression of the law. The sinner then stands before God as a just person; he is taken into favor with Heaven, and through the Spirit has fellowship with the Father and the Son.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 191.

It is so much more than just being “taken into favor with Heaven”! Through Christ we are, in spirit, actually seated with Him where He sits at the right hand of the Father (Eph. 2:4-6) just as Jesus was raised from the dead and is seated at the Father’s side. He holds our spirit safe, and that is what is seated with Him.

Saying “taken into favor” is weak at best and limiting at worst. Who hasn’t been in favor with someone and then fell out of favor? Being “in favor” with God can, from our limited human understanding, be something that can change.

The last part of the Ellen White quote: “through the Spirit has fellowship with the Father and the Son”, while true, needs to be understood with a correct understanding of God. 

In Adventist theology, although they are careful to be vague about the exact wording, what they call ‘God’ is actually three separate beings that work together so well that we get to call them, collectively, God. That is not a Trinity; it is three separate Gods—Tri-Theism—and does not match what the Bible says about God.

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses repeated the words of the covenant with God, the 10 Commandments. Then he recounts the cloud, fire and thunder from the mountain where God exhibited His presence.

Then, in the next chapter, Moses tells the people more of the words from God and he starts with verse 4:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 

The truthfulness of that is verified by the fact that Jesus quoted him in Mark 12:

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 

The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk. 12:28–30). 

 

The Law and the Prophets

From the lesson we find a very good description of what can bring happiness:

 “…a delight in all they had instead of a delight in God. Apparently having everything doesn’t produce a close walk with God.”

And:

“Of course, this doesn’t mean that we cannot be happy for the things that God has given us. He desires that we rejoice in His gifts, but this joy in the things He gives doesn’t guarantee a relationship with God. In fact, if we are not careful, these things can become a stumbling block.” 

This is all so true, and I like how it is stated. The things of this world can bring happiness, but if they are removed, we tend to lose the happiness.

The things of God, however, bring joy which can never be taken away.

In this context, we define happiness as that which comes from things outside of us and can change, and joy is what comes from inside, and can’t be taken away.

It was this that Jesus meant when He said to build our treasure in Heaven where it can’t be damaged or removed (joy) instead of on earth where moth and rust and robbers and destroy it (happiness).

From the lesson:

“In other words, they realized that God’s law and His prophets were essential to their development as a godly nation and as individuals.”

And:

“God has given us His commandments for an abundant life, and He sent His prophets to guide us in our understanding of His truth. “

The first one is accurate. God gave Israel the Law, and they were expected to obey it. Obedience brought blessing, and disobedience brought curses. That would have been painfully obvious to these people who had just returned from 70 years of curses—punishment for turning from God.

In times of disobedience, God sent the prophets to warn, guide, and to encourage them and to tell them of coming judgments for continued disobedience. They were from God and always came with specific messages from God.

But to tack on the second comment, as if it naturally follows, goes beyond the Bible into assumptions that are not true..

First, when Adventist’s use the word “commandments” they almost always mean the 10 Commandments. But those were the words of the covenant God made with Israel and were exclusively for them. 

And then, the comment about sending us prophets is clearly an effort to insert Ellen White into the role of another legitimate, Biblical prophet. Her role is explained by the Church as this: 

“Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church”. 

While that is a subtle change from what they used say—that she is also a continuing source of truth—it still attempts to put the stamp of Biblical approval on all that she wrote.

And to say that her writings: “also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested” is clearly not what they believe in practice. When what she wrote disagrees with the Bible, they take her interpretation over that of the Bible. 

 

Praise and Petition

From the lesson:

“They also bring a petition in the form of making a covenant with God (chap 10)”

As mentioned before, they weren’t making a covenant with God; rather, they were promising to submit to and obey the covenant previously made between God and Israel back at Mt. Horeb.

From the lesson:

“Read Romans 5:6–8. How do these texts reflect what the Israelites were asking of God? What comfort can we draw from what the Israelites were asking and what Paul was saying in Romans?”

Nehemiah 9 and Romans 5:6-8 are not related at all. In fact, in many way, they are completely opposite.

Consider the contrasts:

Israel was given land which was theirs as long as they obeyed God. The Church is not promised any land. Rather, we are promised a home in the New Jerusalem.

Israel lost their land for 70 years because of the disobedience of the ancestors of the ones praying this prayer. Jesus died for us and when we accept His gift by faith, it cannot be taken away.

The Old covenant with God was based on corporate obedience, not personal. Even the few righteous people who remained were taken to Babylon along with those in apostasy.

The New Covenant is personal, not corporate. Our salvation does not depend on any group or church, but is based simply on our personal faith.

 

Friday

Today starts with the usual instruction to read from Ellen White in Steps To Christ. Here is part of that chapter:

“The only reason why we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth. Explicit instruction is given concerning this matter. Confession of sin, whether public or private, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. It is not to be urged from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and careless way, or forced from those who have no realizing sense of the abhorrent character of sin. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. The psalmist says, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18.” {SC 37.4}

Once again, it isn’t clear if she is talking about our original conversion with our realization of sin and confessing of that to God, or if she is talking about our daily walk where we still sin. 

Sin interferes with our walk, our relationship, with a perfect God but 1 John 1:9 assures us that confessing that sin restores the walk and the relationship.

One clue in the quote is the highlighted phrase, “sins that are past” which perfectly fits into Adventist theology. The belief is that at conversion (coming to Christ, becoming saved, or whatever you are comfortable calling it) that all past sins are forgiven. But after that, you must remember each and every sin to confess it specifically, or it will stand against you. There is no understanding that when we come to Christ, ALL sins are forgiven, and ALL means ALL—past, present and future. Jesus already paid the price for our sins—death—and His payment covers it all.

Otherwise, the moment of salvation is just a starting point, like a wind-up toy that God sets in motion, but after that it is up to us to keep it going by counting on our fingers to remember every single sin we ever committed so that it can be individually confessed. 

If you have read what she wrote about forgiven sin, you probably came across this:

“A perversion of right principles is a transgression of God’s law. Those who in their actions pervert the grand principles of His holy law are under condemnation, for the righteousness of Christ cannot cover one unconfessed sin..… 17MR 241

This one says the same thing;

“Every secret, unconfessed sin will be laid bare in the great day of judgment. Bring all the faculties that have been used for selfish purpose into God’s service; repent and forsake sin. Let the work of the inner man of the heart be carried on. Let the plowshare of truth go deep and thorough. God has a work for you to do. God forbid that the truth should have no power over your daily life and character .” Lt41.a-1888.18

The last question at the end says this:

“How do we strike the right balance in acknowledging our inherent sinfulness and yet, at the same time, not allow Satan to use our sinfulness in ways that could cause us to be discouraged and to give up our faith entirely?”

The best defense against the devil’s accusations is the truth from the Word of God.

Instead of listening to a supposed ‘prophet’ who contradicts the Bible and tells us that every individual sin must be named and confessed, read what God’s word says and take it at its word.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law (Romans 3:27, 28).

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, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” (Romans 4:4–8).

Romans 5:1, 2

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1, 2). 

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 

For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8–11).

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:21–25).

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1–4).

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:7–14).

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:13–14, 21–22).

There are so many wonderful promises to find that these are just a few of them. And if you get the idea that I like the book of Romans, you are right! It is the most clear, concise description of Christian thought, a complete ‘Christian manifesto’ if you will. I would have liked to include the entire book, but space won’t allow that.

Romans is worth reading through and through, over and over. Let its beauty and simplicity wash over you; use its promises of forgiveness, now and always, be a guard against the accusations of the devil. Do as Jesus did when tempted in the wilderness—quote Scripture.

Don’t study verses out of context or you won’t get the full message. It is one train of thought from beginning to end.

And now, to combat the errors taught by man, let this admonition sink in:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ (Col. 2:8)

Just because tradition says that your salvation is not secure, don’t listen. When you came to Christ, you were sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit. He will never let you go, even when you fall into sin. When you confess that sin, He will forgive you and restore you to a full relationship with Him. †