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2011-12-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

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“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. You need to endure, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”
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2011-12-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

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2011-11-03T19:47:00.000-04:00

SemiOrganicGoodnessHealth.net noni drink and noni tea

Noni tea, a folk medicine and herbal remedy, comes from noni, a shrub or small tree also known as Great Morinda or Indian Mulberry. Noni, native to Southeast Asia, produces fruit throughout the year and grows along rocky shores and in forests. Noni tea utilizes the large leaves of the noni shrub, as well as the fruit, seeds, roots and bark, according to CrazyforTea.com. You may reap several health benefits by drinking tea made from noni leaves or noni juice.

Cancer Prevention

You may prevent cancer by drinking noni tea, according to Sunfoods.com. Compounds found in the noni fruit and noni tea improve the immune system and help fight cancer by stimulating white blood cells. In addition, a compound called xeronine that is found in noni promotes cell structure health and regeneration. The American Cancer Society reports that no scientific evidence exists to substantiate these claims; however, some research studies indicate a correlation between compounds in noni and the formation of cancerous tumors.

Skin Health

Drinking noni tea may benefit your skin, reports Sunfoods.com. Noni fruit, from which noni tea is made, contains antioxidants, like selenium, which improve the elasticity of your skin and promote the health of your skin. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements indicates that selenium combines with protein in your body to create selenoproteins, which may prevent free radical damage to your cells, including the cells contained in the skin of your face. No scientific evidence exists to prove that noni has benefits to skin health.

Improved Digestion

A benefit of noni tea includes improved digestion, according to Sunfoods.com. The Consumer Health Organization of Canada reports that noni fruit extracts trigger serotonin receptors, a compound found in your brain and the lining of your digestive tract. Serotonin regulates digestion, which makes noni tea beneficial in the treatment of digestive problems like diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, intestinal worms and food poisoning. No scientific evidence exists to support noni tea's effect on digestion

You Can Build Life on simple Budget With God Blessing

2010-11-04T02:16:00.000-04:00

The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money,he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income.This also is futile.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money

Luke 3:12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 3:13 He told them, “Collect no more than you are required to.” 3:14 Then some soldiers also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” He told them, “Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your pay.”

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

1 Timmothy 3:2 The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, 3:3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

1 Timmoty 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

1 Timmoty 6:17 Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.

1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?Collapse this postEdit

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS SELF CONTROL PART 2.wmv

2010-09-14T19:57:00.000-04:00

Movie.wmv

2010-09-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

Raw food recipe - Raw Pesto Pizza

2010-08-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

Taking Charge of Your Finances

2010-07-23T18:09:00.000-04:00

THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY MANAGEMENT

Everyone desires a fulfilling and successful life. All dream of running a stable, healthy and happy family, providing for their every need. Yet more and more people are being swept into a sea of high-interest credit card bills. Personal debt and bankruptcies are at an all-time high. Families now routinely spend more than they earn. Here is what you can do to turn the tide of debt, take charge of your finances—and find true economic success

Whether you are a newly married couple, have a family, are in debt or paying a house payment, we are living in economically tumultuous times. Following the September 11th attack, the job market experienced a shake-up. Many lost jobs—1.7 million Americans had been unemployed for more than 27 weeks by January 2003, up from 1.2 million a year earlier.
The number of people not even looking for work, due to discouragement, increased 37% in just one year, to 449,000. For those still employed, fears of recession, corporate downsizing and loss of business to foreign production often consume their thoughts. Perhaps several people have recently been “let go” from your place of employment and you fear for your job. You may already be looking for a new job.
Although many are facing the fearful reality of losing their job, most have forgotten the importance not only of proper money management, but of the need to budget and save. As spending and standards of living rise, families’ savings are dropping—drastically. As a result, many families are on the brink of financial disaster, living one or two paychecks from the streets.
This need not be!
If you are currently unemployed, take control of your circumstances. The stability of your family and spouse depends on it. Be a motivated job hunter. Do not waste time dwelling on your troubles. Take an active approach to your search. In fact, instead of staying in the house worrying, try spending all eight or nine hours that you would have spent at work looking for a job. By sitting idle, waiting for employment to be handed to you, you will soon find yourself sinking in a quicksand of slothfulness, inactivity and laziness, leading to financial insecurity. Also, by remaining inactive, the prospect of gaining a new job looms larger, seemingly becoming unattainable. Laziness always increases fear.

Budgeting—A Forgotten Tool

By establishing a budget and following it carefully, individuals and families can set patterns for efficient spending and saving, and avoid periods of financial stress. Tithing also helps develop this diligent practice, allowing one to see how much further the remaining 90% of his income goes. Keep in mind that, just because you start tithing, God will not shower money on you. But He will bless you. God expects you to follow His tithing law, in addition to practicing faithful stewardship. In doing so, you will begin seeing Him bless you in ways you have never seen before.

Helpful Points

The following are helpful tips to ending credit card bills, and taking charge of one’s finances:
• Do not ignore monthly balances on credit card statements. Gather all your monthly bills and tally the balances. This figure will almost definitely be more than you expect—or hope.
• Do not carry multiple credit cards. If you have had problems with overspending, it will take some time to develop self-control. In the meantime, do not allow yourself the temptation to have many credit cards in your purse or wallet—thus allowing yourself some “cushion” to spend what you do not have! Carry one credit card for emergency purposes only.
• Pay at least $15-20 more than your minimum monthly payment. Most often, the minimum payment only affects the monthly interest, and does not include much, if any, principal.
• Before making a large purchase, think about it for a number of days. You may even want to schedule a savings plan, which will allow you to save portions of the purchase price over a period of time. This would then allow additional time to think about it, helping ensure that you are making a wise purchase. Remember, it is always better to “sleep on” a decision than to jump in impulsively and later regret your action.
• Consolidate multiple credit card bills onto one credit card with a low interest rate. Pay off bills with higher interest rates first.
• If your interest payments are higher than you can pay, try renegotiating your interest rate with your creditors.
• If you do not have the money to buy something—do not buy it!
• Teach your children to budget and save money. If properly instilled now, these principles will stick with them throughout adulthood. Imagine the benefits of learning, at a young age, rules and laws that have been proven to work!
• Lower your standard of living, and avoid unnecessary spending. If you ask three men, one making $25,000, one making $50,000 and another making $100,000, about the status of their financial situation, all three will likely answer that they are barely making enough to “get by.” This attitude is prevalent—most are never satisfied with what they have.
• Stop the cycle of borrowing to pay for expenses.
• If you are not able to pay your bills, you may need a part-time job in order to do so.
• Remember, a wise family should learn to live with credit—never by credit!

God’s laws are faithful—they are sure—and they WORK!
As the book of Ecclesiastes explains, “Cast your bread upon the waters: For you shall find it after many days” (11:1). While man takes indiscriminately, God tells us how much He wants back and, after seeing our actions of faith, He blesses us many times over. God has even instituted another tithe, which the tithepayer saves, as a guaranteed “vacation tithe”—to be spent at God’s commanded annual festivals.
A budget helps one plan, specifying how a family’s or individual’s income should be spent over a designated period. When creating a budget, all income must be calculated, followed by expenditures.
There are two types of expenses: Fixed expenses—payments that need to be made on a regular basis, and are usually the same amount. (These include such items as car and school loans, rent or mortgage, etc.) Variable expenses—payments differing in amounts and frequency. (These include credit card bills, clothing purchases, down payment for insurance, etc.)
Before making a purchase, you must ask: (1) Is this something that I want? (2) Is this something that I need? (3) Can I do without it? (4) Does the budget allow for this purchase?
This enables you to examine whether your spending is the product of impulsive desires, or whether the purchase is justifiable—essential. American scholar and former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger once said, “Many people have had to learn in their private lives, and nations have had to learn in their historical experience, that perhaps the worst form of tragedy is wanting something badly, getting it, and finding it empty.”
Wastefulness is another, often invisible, fast and easy way to burn money. Impulsive, wasteful spending is the product of a generation lacking in strength and character, and is driving up the mountain of debt now burying so many! Notice that God places wastefulness in the same category as slothfulness: “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (Prov. 18:9). John 6:12 records Christ’s detail-oriented thinking in making sure that leftover food was not wasted: “When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
Just as every successful business runs on a budget, so does every successful household! The benefits of maintaining a budget are invaluable.
Unfortunately, most people do not implement this vital tool, and do not realize they are spending unwisely. Week after week, they spend and waste, not really knowing where their money went—or what purpose was served.
But merely knowing where the money went is not enough.

How to Balance Your Budget

In a marriage, both husband and wife should go over the household’s finances. Although the husband has been ordained to have final control over the household (Eph. 5:23), this does not mean that the wife cannot have a helpful and active role in financial matters. In fact, by openly sharing her ideas and thoughts with her husband, a prudent wife (Prov. 31) will strengthen and fortify the family budget.
After tallying the total household income, you are ready to begin budgeting, allotting your income for specific purposes. One of these should be savings. It is vital to have a family savings fund, aside from savings for emergency purposes. (In 1950, 12% of the average household’s income went for savings. Today, people no longer appreciate the value of saving. In fact, they are spending more than they actually make!)
The following is a sample budget guideline. You will need to adjust certain percentages based on your specific situation:
• Tithe and Offering—over 10%
• Housing (including utilities)—20-25%
• Food—20-30%
• Clothing—10-15%
• Savings—5-10%
• Reserve Savings (emergency)—5%
• Insurance—2-5%
• Pocket Money—2-5%
• Recreation—2-5%
• Educational material, books, magazines, etc.—2-3%
• Transportation—3-15%
Remember that emergencies regularly occur, and extra flex in spending may be required. Having an emergency savings will be vital. With this in mind, the percentage assigned for transportation costs should include space for any possible preventive maintenance and repair work.
Examine all of your monthly and yearly bills, and divide the portions of payments according to how often you receive income, remembering to divide yearly payments according to installments. (For example, if paid bi-weekly, divide yearly bills into 26 installments.)
After completing this, compare to the guideline and begin budgeting for your expenses. After you have designated your tally, make sure that your expenditures are less than your income. If not, you will have to recalculate your budget. If you find that you are spending more than you make, you are heading toward disaster. You have only two choices: Lower your expenditures or increase your income. And, unless you get a raise or an additional job, your only remaining choice is to lower spending!
Remember to budget on a regular basis. At the beginning, this may seem difficult and time-consuming. However, diligently apply what you have learned. The benefits from budgeting directly relate to the amount of effort you put into it.
After regularly disciplining yourself to hold to your budget, you will be amazed at how much money you were spending in ways you did not even realize. By the end of the first month, you will have an overall idea of where you are spending your money. The second month will allow you to make slight changes and adjustments. By the third month, you will have an overall idea of your permanent budget model.
At times, you may be tempted to stray from your designated budget. But take the following example as a precaution: If your food budget was set at $70 a week, and you begin eating out, eventually spending $100 a week, the effects will pile up. After one month, you will be $120 over budget. After one year, you will be $1,440 over budget! While occasional overspending may seem minimal, it will accumulate.
With this budget model and with God as your business partner, you can slowly begin to take control of your personal finances. By learning to properly plan for your financial future, you can begin to reach a level of stability and security as never before!
Americans often seek self-fulfillment and status through gaining material items. Indeed, products consumed and owned, rather than professional accomplishments or personal ideals, are often the standard of success in American society. The media exemplify this success with the most glamorous models of consumption: Hollywood actors, sports figures, or music celebrities. This dependence on products and on constant consumption defines modern consumer society everywhere. Americans have set the pace for this consumer ideal, especially young people, who have helped fuel this consumer culture in the United States and the world…Portrayed as a dizzy cycle of induced desire, consumerism seems to erode older values of personal taste and economy. Despite this, the mass production of goods has also allowed more people to live more comfortably and made it possible for anyone to attain a sense of style, blurring the most obvious form of class distinction.” Many wrongly associate the pleasures of this life—glitz and glamour, designer clothes, new cars, cell phones, modern accessories, and so many other things—with living life to the fullest.
But is this what God calls abundant living? Is this true prosperity, as defined by the Creator and Master Designer of the laws that bring lasting success?

Finding True Prosperity

The definition of true happiness and prosperity is in the Bible—God’s written Word. In the book of Joshua, we find God’s promise to those who obey Him: “You may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success” (1:8).
The Hebrew word for “success” is sakal, meaning “prudent, have good success, teach, understand, wisdom, wise, guide wittingly.” Notice that this does not mention physical riches. Instead, success is referred to as spiritual riches—wisdom, prudence and understanding.
The Proverbs explain, “Labor not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom. Will you set your eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (23:4-5), and “Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold” (3:13-14). Also notice this: “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver” (16:16).
Understanding and wisdom are more important in life than wealth and possessions, which will one day disappear and leave nothing to show for it. This is most evident in today’s debt-burdened world. The Hebrew words for “understanding” are tabun and benaw, meaning intelligence, discretion, reason, skillfulness, understanding and wisdom. They do not refer to wealth or material possessions.
This should be the prosperity you seek, not man’s false definition of prosperity. True wealth—wisdom, understanding and obedience to God—should be what you seek to have, not a new DVD player, digital camera, flat-screen television or the latest technological invention. All these things are physical and, while pleasant to have, are unneeded luxuries, not to be confused with life’s necessities. (To learn more, read our article “You Can Live the Abundant Life!”)
In Matthew 6, Christ had much to say about establishing proper financial priorities. Here is what He commanded His disciples: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal…No man can serve two masters: For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [money]. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?…Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (vs. 19-20, 24-25, 31).

It is better to lack comfort and be wise and happy, than to have all the latest gadgets, and be miserable with concern and worries—a slave to debt and creditors. Apply these steps in life to turn the tide on creditors, and take charge of your finances.

You Can Build a Happy Marriage

2010-07-23T17:54:00.000-04:00

The Husband’s Responsibility

The most important New Testament passage about marriage and the specific role of husbands and wives is Ephesians 5:22-33. This passage describes the most fundamental understanding each partner must bring to the marriage.
Beginning in verse 25, God describes, through Paul, instruction to the husband: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” This emphasizes the importance of husbands showing a real, sincere, deep love for their wives!
The husband’s first and greatest responsibility is to unfailingly love his wife! Initially, many husbands try to do this, but their effort wanes over time. Men often begin to take their wives for granted, not realizing they are to love them “as Christ loved the Church.” This is the extremely high standard God sets—an unending, boundless love, paralleling the way Christ cares about His bride, the Church. Christ never gives up on the Church, but rather forgives, understands, is patient with, tolerates and works with His wife-to-be.
The next several verses describe how Christ works with the Church—how a husband should treat his wife. This example culminates in verses 28-29 with this instruction: “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church.”
These are powerful words, especially the end of verse 29. They show an undying, never-ending, outgoing concern for the wife on the part of the husband. He is to love her as much as he loves himself. That is a tall order, but it is a reflection of the fact that the first woman (as a type of all women) literally came from a man—from his flesh.
Verses 30-31 speak directly of Genesis 2. Here, Paul explains that his instruction about marriage derives directly from the passage we have already read. The New Testament supports the Old. Notice: “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
Now read verse 33. It summarizes the husband’s role and introduces the most important aspect of the wife’s role, what she must understand in the marriage: “Nevertheless let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence [respect] her husband.”

The Wife’s Responsibility

What about wives? What is the most important aspect—responsibility—that God requires her to perform in marriage? Let’s now read the most crucial obligation for wives. Few married couples understand this great point.
Notice verse 22: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” Society has completely reversed, even denigrated, what we are reading from the pages of the Bible. Yet, this is what God, as the Author of marriage and what makes it work, requires of the woman.
Most women are taught today that they are equal in authority to their husband. Certainly women are equal before God as human beings. Men are not more important or better than women. But God places the man in charge of the marriage. This verse is plain.
The typical marriage counselor scorns this principle, seeing it as archaic, out-of-date, out-of-step. Very few brides-to-be enter marriage having been taught anything about being subject to their husband’s loving authority. Most would ridicule and outright reject this idea!
Some years ago, I performed a wedding where almost none of the audience was familiar with Ephesians 5. During the ceremony, as this and related scriptures were read, the wife vowed to submit herself—be subject—to her husband. We heard snickering from a number of the more “sophisticated” women in the audience. Afterwards, several approached the bride, kidding her and asking her if she “really meant it” or if it was “just for the ceremony?”
Virtually all were hoping that she did not really mean what she said—that it was mere formality. A couple of the women actually approached me about how “novel” and “sweet” it was that some women could still think this way. Of course, the implication in their voices was that it would certainly never be this way in their marriages.
What was most astonishing was perhaps not that these women disagreed with wives submitting to their husbands, but rather that they viewed the exchange of solemn vows to God’s command as little more than a formality—a statement made for show!
No wonder so many marriages do not last even five years. While all couples want to be happy, almost none follow God’s formula for achieving it. Then they wonder why they are miserable!

Wives, Encourage Your Husbands

Just as husbands are to continually encourage their wives, so should wives do this with their husbands. Men need encouragement—sometimes lots of it. They need to be inspired to success by their wives and told that they can achieve and do more than they believe possible. Nothing means more to a husband than hearing that his wife believes in him, stands behind him, knows and is confident that he will accomplish what he has set out to do. He must hear your support on a regular basis.
Wives, be sure that you do this gently, without driving, badgering or nagging your husband to success. And be sure you want him to be successful for the right reasons—because it is good for him, the family and the marriage, not just good for you.
Of course, a man should encourage his wife for the exact same reasons. He should also want her to fulfill her potential.
Partners in marriage should want each other to be all they can be—to see them grow beyond where they are, accomplish more, utilize their talents, bringing greater happiness to each other and the marriage as a whole.
Wives, understand that your husband is under pressure on the job. It is not easy to go to work in this world. Obviously, some of you hold full-time jobs. If so, you know the tremendous pressure and difficulty of the work-a-day world. This is a stressful age, perhaps the most stressful the world has ever seen. Encourage your husband if he is under strain—and husbands should obviously encourage their wives if they are under unusual pressure in the home. In either case, each partner should understand the other’s point of view—what the other may be enduring—what his or her day was like—trying to be reassuring, patient, tolerant of the mate’s occasional discouragement.
Always strive to lift each other up, reflecting to your spouse the big picture of where the marriage is going. “Accentuate the positive! Eliminate the negative! And don’t mess with Mr. In-between,” as the old saying goes.
This is not just a cliché. It truly works, if you work at practicing these things with each another. Encouraging language means so much to people who are tired, discouraged, depressed or frustrated!

Little Things Mean A Lot

Let’s return to the husbands. Recognize that little acknowledgements are far more important to your wife than you may believe—or than you may have been taught to understand while growing up. Women like to be recognized for what they do. There is an old cliché: “If you like it, say so.” Husbands, this means you.
If your wife has cooked something special, thank her. If she bought a new dress and it looks particularly good, compliment her—even finding something good to say if you do not especially like the dress. If she is wearing a new perfume, tell her if you like it. If she has moved the furniture around, as women often enjoy doing, appreciate it. If she has baked a special dessert, comment on it, notice it. No matter how small an item may be to you, it may be very important to your wife that you notice and validate what she has done.
Do not ever underestimate the importance of how little things mean a lot. Recognize the important contributions of the person you are married to. So many husbands are too focused on themselves, not caring about all the little things their wives quietly do for them.
If your wife is handling many necessary details for you, recognize that it is extremely important to her that you appreciate, with just a few seconds of compliment, what may have taken her hours or days to achieve.
Look for what she has done, perhaps bringing home a gift reflecting your appreciation. Recognize that a single rose or a card—or both—is a wonderful way to let her know that what she did was noticed. She will love you for it!
Also recognize that your children, if they see this kind of outgoing concern and interest, will see that their father loves and appreciates their mother. This will give such children confidence and peace that they are in a happy, loving home, led by parents who care about each other and, therefore, care about them. (Also, you are quietly programming this into their future marriages, and indirectly helping your grandchildren!)
I cannot overstate the importance of husbands setting this kind of tone within the family!

A Reflection of Your Husband

The Bible explains that the wife is actually a reflection of her husband. This reflection actually gives the wife extraordinary power over the effectiveness and ultimate success of her husband.
Notice this fascinating verse from Proverbs. Wives, never forget this: “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones” (12:4).
The woman of character is actually a beautiful “crown to her husband’s” head. So says God. Wives, see yourselves as having the potential of developing into a dazzling, magnificent, bejeweled, glittering, stunning CROWN worn atop the man to whom you are married. What an honorable and wonderful goal to aspire to! The alternative is “rottenness to his bones.”
God says, “the woman is the glory of the man” (I Cor. 11:7). Certainly any woman, worn as a beautiful crown by her husband, is truly the glory of that man.
Those who wear crowns are kings. Any wife wanting to be married to a king can crown him with herself! You can be his “glory.” Do not sell short your ability to make your husband into a king in the sight of men and God.
Now consider this, wives. Women married to kings are queens! When you crown your husband, making him a king, you have made yourself a queen! This is the message of Proverbs 12:4. Do you want to be a QUEEN? Then make your husband a king. Understand this. But remember that queens usually have great character, dignity, grooming and carriage. If you have built strong character, then God says that you have become a queen—and this automatically crowns your husband a KING!
The husband should encourage his wife to become herself. Do not try to make her over in your image. When you married her—and this goes for wives as well—you married a particular, specific person. She came with certain strengths and weaknesses, certain abilities and voids, and a certain type of personality. Do not try to make her into something that she is not. If you do, the results will be devastating to her—and your marriage.
Inspire your wife to become all that she can naturally be. Encourage her to be a wise steward of her natural talents and interests—and take an interest in what these are. While never driving her to achieve her potential, inspire her to do so, reminding her that she can be more than what she may feel herself capable of becoming. Encourage her not to limit herself—and watch her rise to the occasion—in this case, the occasion is an entire lifetime of being more than she ever dreamed possible, and maybe more than you ever dreamed when you married her!
Your wife will tend to become what you want and inspire her to be. You can inspire her to be a slave, hag or plain Jane—or a wonderful mother, wife, princess or queen.
Proverbs 31:10 asks, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Rubies are worth more than diamonds, emeralds or sapphires, and are considered the most valuable of precious stones. Your wife has the potential, if she develops her character (“virtue”), to achieve greatness she has never envisioned.
Husbands have the power to help their wives achieve extraordinary things. And remember, if you inspire your wife to become a queen, you help her become a crown to your head—and yourself to become a king!

Manage Your Finances Together

All wage earners are paid a specific amount of money. Whether large or small, this is the amount they must live within. There are no exceptions. Financial problems, usually brought by people living beyond their means, along with poor communication and sexual relations problems, form the “big three” causes for marital break-up.
Our booklet Taking Charge of Your Finances offers many principles that can be applied in your marriage.
Here are a few helpful points:
• Develop the habit of systematic, monthly saving early in your marriage. Both partners must understand what this amount is—and try to never draw from it, except in emergencies. Talk about and understand why you are saving for the future. This is prudent for a host of reasons.
• Avoid credit-buying. It is a trap far deeper than it appears. If you do use credit cards, pay them off immediately every month. This means thoughtful and regular discussion between husbands and wives, so that unnecessary or hidden spending does not get away from the family. While using credit cards is very easy, repaying their debt can be very difficult, if they are abused even a little bit. Avoid the trap.
• Teach your children to budget. If you do, you will give them one of the greatest gifts any parent can give. If you teach them well, you will save them untold horror. This will also help you remember to carefully manage your income, because you will be conscious of the example you are setting.
• Plan your purchases. Develop priorities so that you do not try to buy everything at once. Then, determine to buy quality as much as possible. There is an old saying: “It is expensive to be poor.” When you buy cheap quality, which may cost half or two-thirds as much as a better brand, it may only last a third as long and then you will have to replace it. Practice patience. Save for quality—you will be glad you did!

A Proper Understanding of Sex

Earlier, we read that God said, “and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). This was followed with “and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (vs. 25).
Sex is a natural part of marriage. However, many people enter marriage without a proper understanding of the role of sex. God instructed married couples to enjoy a right and fulfilling sexual relationship.
Recognize that when you entered marriage, you may not have properly understood sex within the “marriage bed.” Notice this: “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).
Both parties must strive to grow in sexual understanding—to not be inhibited by ignorance or poor communication. God states, “The marriage bed is undefiled.” There is nothing wrong or inherently evil about sex.
While this is a large subject, requiring an entire book to properly explain, I will at least briefly comment on it here. (You may read our free book Sex – Its Unknown Dimension.)
God wants husbands and wives to be sexually fulfilled. He does not want repressed, frustrated partners, who do not understand that proper sexual relations involve basic knowledge—information that must be known to avoid unhappiness and lack of fulfillment.
If husbands lack basic knowledge of sex, they must sweep away pride. Seek help—get counsel. One must have at least a minimum understanding in this area for relations in marriage to be fulfilling. The same is true of wives. They must not be frigid. God says to be “one flesh” within marriage—and this refers to sexual relations.
Properly understood sex, practiced within marriage, binds a husband and wife in a unique and wonderful way. There is nothing dirty about sex when it is in marriage. Rather, it is beautiful, when practiced between two people who deeply love each other, who have chosen to share their lives together.
Neither mate has the right to withhold sex from the other. Notice: “Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence [sexual responsibility]: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency” (I Cor. 7:3-5).
There is valuable instruction here. Husbands and wives have a “sexual responsibility” to each other, with verse 4 revealing that, after marriage, your body belongs to your mate. The wife then owns—has “power” over—the husband’s body, and the husband owns—has “power” over—the wife’s body.

Obeying this command of God presents a big challenge in this age because there are many pitfalls couples must avoid—sex is thrown at them from every direction!
Take charge of the sexual relations in your marriage. Always remember that faithfulness, mixed with a right and proper understanding of sex, is vitally important to building a wonderful, happy marriage.
Finally, never stop romancing each other. This should not cease after your wedding day. That was merely the point at which the romancing had been so successful, you decided to continue doing it for the rest of your lives. Planning special dinners and occasions should continue for the rest of your lives. Surprising each other with unexpected activities and plans is enormously important. So is an occasional weekend away at just the right time to just the right place!
Find ways to keep your relationship interesting, even fascinating, because you are committed to continually uplifting, encouraging and inspiring your mate—and because your happiness is directly intertwined with your spouse.

Practicing Forgiveness

The subject of fidelity introduces the reality that some marriages are rocked by adultery. Many couples have to deal with the pain of a “cheating” spouse.
If there has been infidelity in your marriage, strive to move on. Ask God to help you forgive, if you are the victim—and to repent, if you are the offender. After all, repentance and forgiveness, in every aspect of human behavior, inside or outside marriage, is crucial to understand. Human beings are imperfect. Everyone makes mistakes, but some are far harder to overcome—and forgive—than others. Accept responsibility for either side of this coin, when it applies.
There will be numerous occasions when you will need to overlook what your mate has done. It means extra tolerance, at the least, and sometimes outright mercy and forgiveness when you may least feel like giving it.
Obeying this command of God presents a big challenge in this age because there are many pitfalls couples must avoid—sex is thrown at them from every direction!
Take charge of the sexual relations in your marriage. Always remember that faithfulness, mixed with a right and proper understanding of sex, is vitally important to building a wonderful, happy marriage.
Finally, never stop romancing each other. This should not cease after your wedding day. That was merely the point at which the romancing had been so successful, you decided to continue doing it for the rest of your lives. Planning special dinners and occasions should continue for the rest of your lives. Surprising each other with unexpected activities and plans is enormously important. So is an occasional weekend away at just the right time to just the right place!
Find ways to keep your relationship interesting, even fascinating, because you are committed to continually uplifting,
Obeying this command of God presents a big challenge in this age because there are many pitfalls couples must avoid—sex is thrown at them from every direction!
Take charge of the sexual relations in your marriage. Always remember that faithfulness, mixed with a right and proper understanding of sex, is vitally important to building a wonderful, happy marriage.
Finally, never stop romancing each other. This should not cease after your wedding day. That was merely the point at which the romancing had been so successful, you decided to continue doing it for the rest of your lives. Planning special dinners and occasions should continue for the rest of your lives. Surprising each other with unexpected activities and plans is enormously important. So is an occasional weekend away at just the right time to just the right place!
Find ways to keep your relationship interesting, even fascinating, because you are committed to continually uplifting, encouraging and inspiring your mate—and because your happiness is directly intertwined with your spouse.

One of the purposes of sexual relations is to produce children. God’s first command to husbands and wives, referenced before the Genesis 2 instruction, was “be fruitful, and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).
Many couples no longer want to have children. Also, one in six couples cannot have children, because one in every twelve married people is now infertile. It only takes one infertile partner to have a childless marriage.
But this is not what God intended. Your parents gave you the gift of life—and you are probably very glad they did. You have the same power—and it should be exercised! But do it wisely.
Plan to have children. Do not let careers get in the way. Determine when and how many is best for you. Consider your finances and prepare for them. Also, before they arrive, prepare yourselves to be good parents. The greatest gift you can give your children is to be a wise and understanding parent! Ask God for great wisdom in this area. In the same regard, never forget that setting an example of unified, loving, patient parents is your constant goal.
Of course, like sexual relations, childrearing requires its own book. (Read our free book Train Your Children God’s Way to learn that there is far more to rearing happy, balanced and productive children than meets the eye.)

The Truly Happy Marriage

God tells husbands: “Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of [your] life” (Ecc. 9:9). For this to be possible, the wife has to be doing the same—and this should be the daily goal of every married couple. None of the principles in this booklet will bring true, complete happiness unless both mates are diligently applying them. Successful marriages are always the product of two people working together toward the same purpose in the same way with the same understanding.
If you have a wonderful husband or a wonderful wife, you are truly blessed—and much more unusual than you may think. But if you do not have a good husband or a good wife, then strive to grow as much as you possibly can, understanding that your mate may follow your example.
God says this to husbands blessed to have found a wonderful wife: “Whoso finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord” (Prov. 18:22).
A virtuous wife is wonderful—“a good thing”—and wise husbands-to-be will search for such a woman before getting married. Special favor from God is just one benefit that comes from marrying a woman of great character.
Wives, strive to be special in every way you possibly can. Husbands, strive to be worthy of such a wonderful woman. The result may be that you find that God has sent you one.
The couple that works at their marriage will find that their marriage works!—and far better than they had ever dreamed! On your wedding day, you promised—you vowed!—before God to spend the rest of your life married to the same person. Stay focused on this commitment. Do not let it wane or blur in your mind. It was intended to be “for better or for worse.” It is easy for a couple to remain committed when times are “better,” but not so easy to remain so when they are going through a “worse” phase. A close relationship with God, based on a deep recognition that He knows how to produce all the best and most wonderful things in both marriage and life, has no substitute. No matter what difficulty your marriage is facing, bring God into it. He has all the true and lasting solutions.
Commitment is the bedrock foundation of every successful marriage. Remember, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” The rewards that flow from dedication to your wedding vows will bring joy beyond words.
Happiness depends far more on what you do than on what your mate or anyone else does. No matter the current state of your marriage, you can improve it. Take responsibility. You can grow—and it can get better. While this may take much work, not coming easily or overnight, the by-product is that much better times lie ahead for all those willing to follow God’s principles for building a truly happy marriage!

The Man of Romans

2010-07-19T16:07:00.000-04:00

LESSON 8

*August 14 - 20

The Man of Romans 7

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Romans 7.

Memory Text:

“Now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6).

Few chapters in the Bible have created more controversy than has Romans 7. Concerning the issues involved, The SDA Bible Commentary says: “The meaning of vs. 14–25 has been one of the most discussed problems in the whole epistle. The main questions have been as to whether the description of such intense moral struggle could be autobiographical, and, if so, whether the passage refers to Paul’s experience before or after his conversion. That Paul is speaking of his own personal struggle with sin seems apparent from the simplest meaning of his words (cf. vs. 7–11; [Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 19; Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 475]). It is surely also true that he is describing a conflict that is more or less experienced by every soul confronted by and awakened to the spiritual claims of God’s holy law.”—The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 553. Bible students differ on whether Romans 7 was Paul’s experience before or after conversion. Whatever position one takes, what’s important is that Jesus’ righteousness covers us and that in His righteousness we stand perfect before God, who promises to sanctify us, to give us victory over sin, and to conform us to “the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). These are the crucial points for us to know and experience as we seek to spread “the everlasting gospel” to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 21.

SUNDAY

August 15

Bound to the Law?
Read Romans 6:1. What logic is Paul dealing with here, and how, in the verses that follow, does he respond to that kind of thinking?

Paul’s illustration in Romans 7:1–6 is somewhat involved, but a careful analysis of the passage will help us to follow his reasoning.
In the overall context of the letter, Paul was dealing with the system of worship established at Sinai; that is often what he means by the word law. The Jews had difficulty grasping the fact that this system, given to them of God, should end with the coming of the Messiah. This is what Paul was dealing with—Jewish believers still not ready to abandon what had been such an important part of their lives.
In essence, Paul’s illustration is as follows: a woman is married to a man. The law binds her to him as long as he lives. During his lifetime she cannot consort with other men. But when he dies, she is free from the law that bound her to him (vs. 3).

How does Paul apply the illustration of the law of marriage to the system of Judaism? Rom. 7:4, 5.

As the death of her husband delivers the woman from the law of her husband, so the death of the old life in the flesh, through Jesus Christ, delivers the Jews from the law they had been expected to keep until the Messiah fulfilled its types.
Now the Jews were free to “remarry.” They were invited to marry the risen Messiah and thus bring forth fruit to God. This illustration was one more device Paul used to convince the Jews that they were now free to abandon the ancient system.
Again, given all else that Paul and the Bible say about obedience to the Ten Commandments, it doesn’t make sense to assert here that Paul was telling these Jewish believers that the Ten Commandments were no longer binding. Those who use these texts to try to make that point—that the moral law was done away with—really don’t want to make that point, anyway; what they really want to say is that only the seventh-day Sabbath is gone, not the rest of the law. To read these verses as teaching that the fourth commandment has been abolished or superceded or replaced with Sunday is to give them a meaning that the words were never intended to have.

MONDAY

August 16

Is the Law Sin?
If Paul is talking about the whole law system at Sinai, what about Romans 7:7, in which he specifically mentions one of the Ten Commandments? Doesn’t that refute the position, taken yesterday, that Paul was not talking about the abolition of the Ten Commandments?
The answer is No. We must keep in mind, again, that the word law for Paul is the whole system introduced at Sinai, which included the moral law but wasn’t limited to it. Hence, Paul could quote from it, as well as from any other section of the whole Jewish economy, in order to make his points. However, when the system passed away at the death of Christ, that didn’t include the moral law, which had existed even before Sinai and exists after Calvary, as well.
Read Romans 7:8–11. What is Paul saying here about the relationship between the law and sin?

God revealed Himself to the Jews, telling them in detail what was right and what was wrong in moral, civil, ceremonial, and health matters. He also explained the penalties for violation of the various laws. Violation of the revealed will of God is here defined as sin.
Thus, Paul explains, he would not have known if it was a sin to covet without having been informed of that fact by the “law.” Because sin is the violation of the revealed will of God, where the revealed will is unknown, there is no awareness of sin. When that revealed will is made known to a person, he or she comes to recognize that he or she is a sinner and is under condemnation and death. In this sense, the person dies.
In Paul’s line of argument here and throughout this section, he is trying to build a bridge to lead the Jews—who revere the “law”—to see Christ as its fulfillment. He is showing that the law was necessary but that its function was limited. The law was meant to show the need of salvation; it never was meant to be the means of obtaining that salvation.
“The apostle Paul, in relating his experience, presents an important truth concerning the work to be wrought in conversion. He says, ‘I was alive without the law once’—he felt no condemnation; ‘but when the commandment came,’ when the law of God was urged upon his conscience, ‘sin revived, and I died.’ Then he saw himself a sinner, condemned by the divine law. Mark, it was Paul, and not the law, that died.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1076.

In what sense have you “died” before the law? How, in that context, can you understand what Jesus has done for you by giving you a new life in Him?

TUESDAY

August 17

The Holy Law
Read Romans 7:12. How do we understand this text in the context of what Paul has been discussing?

Because the Jews revered the law, Paul exalts it in every way possible. The law is good for what it does, but it can’t do what it was never meant to do, to save us from sin. For that we need Jesus, because the law—whether the entire Jewish system or the moral law in particular—cannot bring salvation. Only Jesus and His righteousness, which comes to us by faith, can.
Whom does Paul blame for his condition of “death,” and what does he exonerate? Why is that distinction important? Rom. 7:13.

In this verse, Paul is presenting the “law” in the best sense possible. He chooses to blame sin, not the law, for his terrible sinful condition; that is, his working “all manner of concupiscence [lust]” (vs. 8). The law is good, for it is God’s standard of conduct, but as a sinner, Paul stood condemned before it.
Why was sin so successful in showing up Paul as a terrible sinner? Rom. 7:14, 15.

Carnal means fleshy. Thus, Paul needed Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ could take away the condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Only Jesus Christ could free him from slavery to sin.
Paul describes himself as “sold under sin.” He is a slave to sin. He has no freedom. He can’t do what he wants to do. He tries to do what the good law tells him to do, but sin won’t let him.
By this illustration, Paul was trying to show the Jews he need of the Messiah. He already had pointed out that victory is possible only under grace (Rom 6:14). This same thought is reemphasized in Romans 7. Living under the “law” means enslavement to sin, a merciless master.

What has been your own experience with how sin enslaves? Have you ever tried to play with sin, thinking you could control it as you wished, only to find yourself under a vicious and merciless taskmaster? Welcome to reality! Why, then, must you surrender to Jesus, and die to self daily?

WEDNESDAY

August 18

The Man of Romans 7
“If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:16, 17). What struggle is presented in these verses?

Using the law as a mirror, the Holy Spirit convicts a person that he or she is displeasing God by not fulfilling the requirements of the law. Through efforts to meet those requirements, the sinner shows that he or she agrees that the law is good.
What points that Paul had already made did he repeat for emphasis? Rom. 7:18–20.

To impress upon a person his or her need of Christ, the Holy Spirit often leads the person through an “old covenant” type of experience. Ellen G. White describes Israel’s experience as follows: “The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God’s law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, ‘All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.’ Exodus 24:7. . . . Only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 371, 372.
Unfortunately, by failing to renew their dedication to Christ daily, many Christians are, in effect, serving sin, however loathe they may be to admit it. They rationalize that, in reality, they are undergoing the normal experience of sanctification and that they simply still have a long way to go. Thus, instead of taking known sins to Christ and asking Him for victory over them, they hide behind Romans 7, which tells them, they think, that it is impossible to do right. In reality, this chapter is saying that it is impossible to do right when a person is enslaved to sin, but victory is possible in Jesus Christ.

Are you having the victories over self and sin that Christ promises us? If not, why not? What wrong choices are you, and you alone, making?

THURSDAY

August 19

Delivered From Death
Read Romans 7:21–23. How have you experienced this same struggle in your own life, even as a Christian?

In this passage, Paul equates the law in his members (his body) with the law of sin. “With the flesh,” Paul says, he served “the law of sin” (Rom. 7:25). But serving sin and obeying its law means death (see vss. 10, 11, 13). Hence, his body—as it was now functioning in obedience to sin—fittingly could be described as “the body of this death.”
The law of the mind is God’s law, God’s revelation of His will. Under conviction of the Holy Spirit, Paul consented to this law. His mind resolved to keep it, but when he tried, he couldn’t, because his body wanted to sin. Who hasn’t felt that same struggle? In your mind you know what you want to do, but your flesh clamors for something else.
How can we be rescued from this difficult situation we find ourselves in? Rom. 7:24, 25.

Some have wondered why, after reaching the glorious climax in the expression “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Paul should refer once more to the struggles of the soul from which he apparently had been delivered. Some understand the expression of thanksgiving as a parenthetical exclamation. They believe that such an exclamation follows naturally the cry, “Who shall deliver?” They hold that before proceeding with an extended discussion of the glorious deliverance (Romans 8). Paul summarizes what he has said in the preceding verses and confesses once again to the conflict against the forces of sin.
Others suggest that by “I myself,” Paul means, “left to myself, leaving Christ out of the picture.” However these verses are understood, one point should remain clear: left to ourselves, without Christ, we are helpless against sin. With Christ we have a new life in Him, one in which—though self will constantly arise—the promises of victory are ours if we choose to claim them. Just as no one can breathe for you or cough for you or sneeze for you, no one can choose for you to surrender to Christ. You alone can make that choice. There’s no other way to attain for yourself the victories that are promised us in Jesus.

FRIDAY

August 20

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “The Perfect Law,” pp. 212–215; “A Divine Sin Bearer,” pp. 308–310, in Selected Messages, book 1; “Healing of the Soul,” pp. 84, 85; “The Importance of Seeking True Knowledge,” pp. 452–454, in The Ministry of Healing; “Christ’s Victory as Complete as Adam’s Failure,” p. 323, in My Life Today.
“There is no safety nor repose nor justification in transgression of the law. Man cannot hope to stand innocent before God, and at peace with Him through the merits of Christ, while he continues in sin.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 213.
“Paul desires his brethren to see that the great glory of a sin-pardoning Saviour gave significance to the entire Jewish economy. He desired them to see also that when Christ came to the world, and died as man's sacrifice, type met antitype.
“After Christ died on the cross as a sin offering the ceremonial law could have no force. Yet it was connected with the moral law, and was glorious. The whole bore the stamp of divinity, and expressed the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God. And if the ministration of the dispensation to be done away was glorious, how much more must the reality be glorious, when Christ was revealed, giving His life-giving, sanctifying, Spirit to all who believe.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1095.

Discussion Questions:

Who do you think the man of Romans 7 is? Paul, before or after conversion? Or is this chapter talking about something else entirely? What justification do you have for your answer? In class discuss the answers given.      How do we explain the fact that even baptized, born-again Christians struggle with sin? Shouldn’t we automatically overcome everything? Or will we always be sinning? Or is the answer somewhere in between?
   What potential dangers arise from the view that, as Christians, we will always be sinning, always be falling, always be violating God’s law, no matter what? On the other hand, what potential dangers arise from the view that as Christians we must overcome every wrong thing in our lives, every wrong thought, every wrong tendency—no matter what, or else we are not saved?
In the end, regardless of whatever position folk take on the man of Romans 7, what promises can we take from Romans 7 for ourselves that will help us understand what it means to be followers of Jesus?

Victory Over Sin

2010-07-19T16:05:00.000-04:00

LESSON 7

*August 7 - 13

Victory Over Sin

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Romans 6; 1 John 1:8–2:1.

Memory Text:

“Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

Having just expounded on justification by faith, apart from the deeds of the law, Paul then proceeds to answer the obvious question: If works can’t save us, why bother with them at all? Why not just keep on sinning? Chapter 6 is his answer to this important question. Paul here is dealing with what commonly is understood as “sanctification,” the process by which we overcome sin and more and more reflect the character of Christ. Yet, the word sanctification itself appears nowhere in Romans. (The word sanctified occurs once, in Romans 15:16.)
Does this mean that Paul has nothing to say about what commonly is understood by sanctification? Not at all. He simply does not refer to it by that term.
In the Bible “to sanctify” means “to dedicate,” usually to God. Thus, to be sanctified is often presented as a past completed act. For example, “all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). The sanctified ones in this definition are the ones who are dedicated to God.
But this biblical usage of “sanctify” in no way denies the important doctrine of sanctification or the fact that sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The Bible strongly endorses this doctrine, but it generally uses other terms to describe it.
This week we’ll look at another side of salvation by faith, one that easily can be misunderstood, and that is: the promises of victory over sin in the life of one saved by Jesus.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 14.

SUNDAY

August 8

Grace Abounding
In Romans 5:20, Paul makes a powerful statement: “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” His point was that no matter how much sin there is or how terrible the results of sin are, God’s grace is sufficient to deal with it. What hope that should bring for each of us, especially when tempted to feel that our sins are too great to be forgiven! In the next verse, Paul shows that though sin has led to death, God’s grace through Jesus has defeated death and can give us eternal life.
Read Romans 6:1. What logic is Paul dealing with here, and how, in the verses that follow, does he respond to that kind of thinking? Rom. 6:2–11.

Paul follows an interesting line of argument in chapter 6 as to why a justified person should not sin. To begin with, he says that we shouldn’t sin, because we have died to sin. Then he explains what he means.
Immersion in the waters of baptism represents burial. What is buried? The “old man” of sin—that is, the body committing sin, the body dominated or ruled by sin. As a result, this “body of sin” is destroyed, so that we no longer serve sin. In Romans 6 sin is personified as a master who rules over his servants. Once the “body of sin” that served sin is destroyed, sin’s mastery over it ceases. The one who rises from the watery grave comes up a new person who no longer serves sin. He or she now walks in newness of life.
Christ, having died, died once and for all, but He is now alive forevermore. Death can no more rule Him. So, the Christian who is baptized has died to sin once and for all and should never again come under its dominion.
Of course, as any baptized Christian knows, sin doesn’t just automatically disappear from our lives once we come up out of the water. Not being ruled by sin isn’t the same as not having to struggle with it. We have a daily, moment-by-moment battle to keep reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Christ. Though the promises of victory are there, we must claim them—by faith. We always must remember, too, that God’s grace abounds, even when we sin. If not, what hope would any of us have, even after being baptized?

What has been your experience with the power of sin in your life, even after baptism? What choices are you making that allow sin the power over you that it shouldn’t have, despite all the promises we have in the Bible for victory over it?

MONDAY

August 9

Sin Personified
What admonition is given to us in Romans 6:12?

The word reign shows that “sin” is here represented as a king. The Greek word here translated “reign” means, literally, “to be a king” or “to function as a king.” Sin is all too willing to assume the kingship of our mortal bodies and dictate our behavior.
When Paul says “let not sin . . . reign,” he implies that the justified person can choose to prevent sin’s setting itself up as king in his or her life. This is where the action of the will comes in.
“What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 47.
The Greek word in Romans 6:12 translated “lusts” means “desires.” These desires may be either for good things or for bad; when sin reigns, it will make us desire the bad. The desires will be strong, even irresistible if we fight against them on our own. Sin can be a cruel tyrant, one who never is satisfied but who always comes back for more. Only through faith, only through claiming the promises of victory, can we overthrow this unrelenting master.
The word therefore in this verse is important. It goes back to what has been said before, specifically to what has been said in verses 10 and 11. The baptized person is now living “unto God.” That is, God is the center of his or her new life. The person is serving God, doing what pleases God and, therefore, cannot serve sin at the same time. He or she is “alive unto God through Jesus Christ.”

Go back over the quote from Ellen G. White in today’s study. Notice how crucial the concept of free will is. As moral creatures, we must have a free will, the power to choose right and wrong, good and evil, Christ or the world. Over the next 24 hours, try to keep track consciously of how you are using this moral free will. What can you learn about your use, or abuse, of this sacred gift?

TUESDAY

August 10

Under the Law?
Read Romans 6:14. How are we to understand this text? Does it mean that the Ten Commandments are no longer binding on us? If not, why not?

Romans 6:14 is one of the key statements in the book of Romans. And it’s one we often hear, usually quoted in the context of someone telling us Adventists that the Seventh-day Sabbath has been abrogated.
Yet, that’s obviously not what the text means. As we asked before, how could the moral law be done away with and sin still be a reality, because the moral law is what defines sin? If you were to read all that came before in Romans, even in just chapter 6, it would be hard to see how, in the midst of all this discussion about the reality of sin, Paul were to suddenly say, “Besides, the moral law, the Ten Commandments, which defines sin, has been abolished.” That makes no sense.
Paul is saying to the Romans that the person living “under the law”—that is, under the Jewish economy as it was practiced in his day, with all its manmade rules and regulations—will be ruled by sin. In contrast, a person living under grace will have victory over sin, because the law is written in his or her heart and God’s spirit is allowed to guide his or her steps. Accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah, being justified by Him, being baptized into His death, having the “old man” destroyed, rising to walk in newness of life—these are the things that will dethrone sin from our lives. Remember, that is the whole context in which this verse appears, the context of the promise of victory over sin.
We should not define “under the law” too restrictively. The person who supposedly lives “under grace” but disobeys God’s law will not find grace but condemnation. “Under grace” means that through the grace of God as revealed in Jesus, the condemnation that the law inevitably brings to sinners has been removed. Thus, now free from this condemnation of death brought by the law, we live in “newness of life,” a life characterized and made manifest through the fact that, being dead to self, we are no longer slaves to sin.

How have you experienced the reality of a new life in Christ? What tangible evidence can you point to that reveals what Christ has done in you? What areas are you refusing to let go of, and why must you let them go?

WEDNESDAY

August 11

Two Contending Masters
Read Romans 6:16. What point is Paul making? Why is his argument very black and white here? That is, it is either one or the other, with no middle ground. What lesson should we draw from this very clear contrast?

Paul comes back to the point again that the new life of faith does not grant liberty to sin. The life of faith makes possible victory over sin; in fact, only through faith can we have the victory that is promised us.
Having personified sin as a king ruling over his subjects, Paul now returns to the figure of sin as a master demanding obedience of his servants. Paul points out that a person has a choice of masters. He can serve sin, which leads to death, or he can serve righteousness, which leads to eternal life. Paul doesn’t leave us any middle ground here or any room for compromise. It’s one or the other because, in the end, we face either eternal life or eternal death.
Read Romans 6:17. How does Paul expand here on what he said in verse 16?

Notice how, interestingly enough, obedience is linked to correct doctrine. The Greek word for “doctrine” here means “teaching.” The Roman Christians had been taught the principles of the Christian faith, which they now obeyed. Thus, for Paul, correct doctrine, correct teaching, when obeyed “from the heart,” assisted in the Romans becoming “servants of righteousness” (vs. 18). We sometimes hear that doctrine does not matter, just as long as we show love. That’s a very simplistic expression of something that’s not so simple. As stated in an earlier lesson, Paul was very concerned about the false doctrine to which the Galatian church had succumbed. Thus, we need to be careful about statements that somehow denigrate the importance of correct teaching.

Servants of sin, servants of righteousness: the contrast is very stark. If, after baptism, we sin, does this mean that we are not truly saved? Read 1 John 1:8–2:1. How do these texts help us understand what it means to be a follower of Christ and yet still subject to falling?

THURSDAY

August 12

Fruit Unto Holiness
Keeping in mind what we have studied so far in Romans 6, read the rest of the verses (19–23). Summarize on the lines below the gist of what Paul is saying. Most important, ask yourself how you can make real in your life the crucial truths that Paul is addressing. Ask yourself, too, what are the issues at stake here?

Paul’s words here show that he fully understands the fallen nature of humanity. He talks about the “infirmity of your flesh.” The Greek word for “infirmity” means also “weakness.” He knows what fallen human nature, left on its own, is capable of. Thus, again, he appeals to the power of choice—the power we have to choose to surrender ourselves and our weak flesh to a new master, Jesus, who will enable us to live a righteous life.
Romans 6:23 often is quoted to show that the penalty for sin—that is, the transgression of the law—is death. Certainly sin’s penalty is death. But in addition to seeing death as sin’s penalty, we should see sin as Paul describes it in Romans 6—as a master dominating his servants, duping them by paying them off with the wages of death.
Notice, too, that in his development of the figure of the two masters, Paul calls attention to the fact that the service of one master means freedom from the service of the other. Again we see the clear choice: one or the other. There is no middle ground. At the same time, as we all know, being free from the dominion of sin doesn’t mean sinlessness, doesn’t mean we don’t struggle and, at times, even fall. It means, instead, that we are no longer dominated by sin, however much a reality it remains in our life and however much we must daily claim the promises of victory over it.
Thus, this passage becomes a powerful appeal to anyone who is serving sin. This tyrant offers nothing but death as payment for doing shameful things; therefore, a reasonable person should desire emancipation from this tyrant. In contrast, those who serve righteousness do things that are upright and praiseworthy, not with the idea of thus earning their salvation, but as a fruit of their new experience. If they are acting in an attempt to earn salvation, they are missing the whole point of the gospel, the whole point of what salvation is, and the whole point of why they need Jesus.

FRIDAY

August 13

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “Victory Appropriated,” pp. 105, 106, in Messages to Young People; “The True Motive in Service,” pp. 93—95, in Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing; “Appeal to the Young,” p. 365, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3; pp. 1074, 1075, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6.
“He [Jesus] did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ’s humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 123.
“At our baptism we pledged ourselves to break all connection with Satan and his agencies, and to put heart and mind and soul into the work of extending the kingdom of God. . . . The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are pledged to cooperate with sanctified human instrumentalities.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1075.
“A profession of Christianity without corresponding faith and works will avail nothing. No man can serve two masters. The children of the wicked one are their own master’s servants; to whom they yield themselves servants to obey, his servants they are, and they cannot be the servants of God until they renounce the devil and all his works. It cannot be harmless for servants of the heavenly King to engage in the pleasures and amusements which Satan’s servants engage in, even though they often repeat that such amusements are harmless. God has revealed sacred and holy truths to separate His people from the ungodly and purify them unto Himself. Seventh-day Adventists should live out their faith.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 404.

Discussion Questions:

Though we have all these wonderful promises of victory over sin, the fact is that we all—even as born-again Christians—are aware of just how fallen we are, of just how sinful we are, and of just how corrupt our hearts can be. Is there a contradiction here? Explain your answer. In class, give a testimony as to what Christ has done in you, to the changes you have experienced, to the new life you have in Him.
However important it is that we always remember that our salvation rests only in what Christ has done for us, what dangers arise if we overemphasize that wonderful truth to the exclusion of the other part of the salvation: that of what Jesus does in us, to transform us into His image? Why do we need to understand and emphasize both these aspects of salvation?

2010-07-19T15:57:00.001-04:00

LESSON 6

*July 31 - August 6

Expounding the Faith

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Romans 5.

Memory Text:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1, 2).

Paul has established the point that justification, or acceptance with God, comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, for His righteousness alone is enough to give us the right standing with our Lord. Building on that great truth, Paul now expounds more on this theme. Showing that salvation has to be by faith and not by works, not even for someone as “righteous” as Abraham, Paul in a sense steps back, looks at the big picture—at what caused sin and suffering and death and how the solution is found in Christ and what He’s done for the human race. Through the fall of one man, Adam, all humanity faced condemnation, alienation, and death; through the victory of one man, Jesus, all the world was placed on a new footing before God, one in which, by faith in Jesus, the record of their sins, and the punishment due those sins could be remitted, could be forgiven and forever pardoned.
Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus, showing how Christ came to undo what Adam did and that by faith the victims of Adam’s sin could be rescued by Jesus, the Savior. The foundation of it all is the cross of Christ and His substitutionary death there—which opens the way for every human being, Jew or Gentile, to be saved by Jesus, who with His blood brought justification to all who accept Him.
Surely this is a theme worth expounding upon, for it’s the foundation of all our hope.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 7.

SUNDAY

August 1

Therefore, Being Justified
Read Romans 5:1–5. On the lines below summarize Paul’s message. What can you take from that for yourself now?

“Being justified” is literally “having been justified.” The Greek verb represents the action as completed. We have been declared righteous, or regarded as righteous, not through any deeds of law but through our having accepted Jesus Christ. The perfect life that Jesus lived on this earth, His perfect law-keeping, has been credited to us.
At the same time, all of our sins have been laid on Jesus. God has reckoned that Jesus committed those sins, not us, and that way we can be spared the punishment that we deserve. That punishment fell on Christ for us, in behalf of us, so that we never have to face it ourselves. What more glorious news could there be for the sinner?
The Greek word translated “glory” in verse 3 is the one translated “rejoice” in verse 2. If it is translated “rejoice” in verse 3 also (as in some versions), the connection between verses 2 and 3 is more clearly seen. Justified people can rejoice in tribulation because they have fixed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. They have confidence that God will work all things for good. They will consider it an honor to suffer for Christ’s sake. (See 1 Pet. 4:13.)
Notice, too, the progression in verses 3 through 5.
1. Patience. The Greek word thus translated hupomone means “steadfast endurance.” This is the type of endurance that tribulation develops in the one who maintains faith and who does not lose sight of the hope he or she has in Christ even amid the trials and suffering that can make life so miserable at times.
2. Experience. The Greek word thus translated dokime means literally “the quality of being approved,” hence, “character,” or more specifically “approved character.” The one who patiently endures trials can develop an approved character.
3. Hope. Endurance and approval naturally give rise to hope, the hope found in Jesus and the promise of salvation in Him. As long as we cling to Jesus in faith, repentance, and obedience, we have everything to hope for.

What is the one thing in all your life that you hope for more than anything else? How can that hope be fulfilled in Jesus? Or can it? If not, are you sure you want to be putting so much hope in it?

MONDAY

August 2

God Seeking Man
Read Romans 5:6–8. What do these verses tell us about the character of God, and why are they so full of hope for us?

When Adam and Eve shamefully and inexcusably transgressed the divine requirement, God took the first steps toward reconciliation. Ever since, God has taken the initiative in providing a way of salvation and in inviting men and women to accept it. “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son” (Gal. 4:4).
Romans 5:9 says that we can be saved from God’s wrath through Jesus. How do we understand what that means?

As the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites in Egypt on the eve of their departure protected the firstborn from the wrath that befell Egypt’s firstborn, so the blood of Jesus Christ guarantees that one who has been justified and retains that status will be protected when God’s wrath finally destroys sin at the end of the age.
Some folk struggle with the idea of a loving God having wrath. But it’s precisely because of His love that this wrath exists. How could God, who loves the world, not have wrath against sin? Were He indifferent to us, He would not care about what happens here. Look around at the world and see what sin has done to His creation. How could God not be wrathful against such evil and devastation?
What other reasons are we given to rejoice? (Rom. 5:10, 11).

Some commentators have seen in verse 10 a reference to the life that Christ lived on this earth, during which He wrought a perfect character that He now offers to credit to us. Though this is certainly what Christ’s perfect life accomplished, Paul seems to be emphasizing the fact that whereas Christ died, He rose again and is alive forevermore (see Heb. 7:25). Because He lives, we are saved. If He had remained in the tomb, our hopes would have perished with Him. Verse 11 continues with the reasons that we have to rejoice in the Lord, and that’s because of what Jesus has accomplished for us.

TUESDAY

August 3

Death Swallowed Up
Death is an enemy, the ultimate one. When God created the human family, He designed that its members should live forever. With few exceptions humans do not want to die; and those who do, do so only after the greatest personal anguish and suffering. Death goes against our most basic nature. And that’s because, from inception, we were created to live forever. Death was to be unknown to us.
Read Romans 5:12. What is Paul describing here? What does this explain?

Commentators have argued more over this passage of Scripture than over most others. Perhaps the reason is, as noted in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 529, that these commentators “attempt to use the passage for purposes other than Paul intended.”
One point they argue over is: in what way was Adam’s sin passed on to his posterity? Did Adam’s descendants share the guilt of Adam’s sin, or are they guilty before God because of their own sin? Though folk have tried to get the answer to that question from this text, that’s not the issue Paul was dealing with. He had a whole other object in mind. He is reemphasizing what he already stated, “for all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). We need to recognize that we are sinners, because only that way will we realize our need of a Savior. Paul here was trying to get readers to realize just how bad sin is and what it brought into this world through Adam. Then he shows what God offers us in Jesus as the only remedy to the tragedy brought upon our world through Adam’s sin.
Yet, this text tells only of the problem, death in Adam—not the solution, life in Christ. One of the most glorious aspects of the gospel is that death has been swallowed up in life. Jesus passed through the portals of the tomb and burst its bonds. He says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18). Because Jesus has the keys, the enemy can no longer hold his victims in the grave.

What has been your own experience with the reality and the tragedy of death? Why, in the face of such a relentless enemy, must we have a hope in something greater than ourselves or greater than anything this world offers?

WEDNESDAY

August 4

Law Awakens Need
“Until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come” (Rom. 5:13, 14).
What is Paul talking about here? The phrase “until the law” is paralleled with the statement “from Adam to Moses.” He is talking about the time in the world from creation to Sinai, before the formal introduction of the rules and laws of the Israelite system, which included, of course, the Ten Commandments.
“Until the law” means until the detailing of God’s requirements in the various laws given to Israel at Sinai. Sin existed before Sinai. How could it not? Were lying, killing, adultery, and idolatry not sinful until then? Of course they were.
What are some texts that reveal the reality of sin before Sinai?

It is true that prior to Sinai the human race generally had only a limited revelation of God, but they obviously knew enough to be held accountable. God is just and isn’t going to punish anyone unfairly. People in the pre-Sinai world died, as Paul here points out. Death passed upon all. Though they had not sinned against an expressly revealed command, they had sinned nevertheless. They had the revelations of God in nature, to which they had not responded and thus were held guilty. “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. . .; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
For what purpose did God reveal Himself more fully in the “law”? Rom. 5:20, 21.

The instruction given at Sinai included the moral law, though it had existed before then. This was the first time, however, according to the Bible, that this law was written and widely proclaimed.
When the Israelites began to compare themselves with the divine requirements, they discovered that they fell far short. In other words, “the offense” abounded. They suddenly realized the extent of their transgressions. The purpose of such a revelation was to help them to see their need of a Savior and to drive them to accept the grace so freely offered by God. As stressed before, the true version of the Old Testament faith was not legalistic.

THURSDAY

August 5

The Second Adam
“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom. 5:18, 19). What contrast is presented here to us? What hope is offered us in Christ?

As humans, we received nothing from Adam but the sentence of death. Christ, however, stepped in and passed over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeemed Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall, and, thus, as our substitute, He placed us on vantage ground with God. Hence, Jesus is the “Second Adam.”
“The second Adam was a free moral agent, held responsible for his conduct. Surrounded by intensely subtle and misleading influences, He was much less favorably situated than was the first Adam to lead a sinless life. Yet in the midst of sinners He resisted every temptation to sin, and maintained His innocency. He was ever sinless.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1074.
How are Adam’s and Christ’s acts contrasted in Romans 5:15–19?

Look at the opposing ideas here: death, life; disobedience, obedience; condemnation, justification; sin, righteousness. Jesus came and undid all that Adam had done!
It is fascinating, too, that the word gift occurs five times in verses 15 through 17. Five times! The point is simple: Paul is emphasizing that justification is not earned; it comes as a gift. It is something that we don’t merit, that we don’t deserve. Like all gifts, we have to reach out and accept them, and in this case, with this gift, we claim it by faith.

What was the best gift you ever were given? What made it so good, so special? How did the fact that it was a gift, as opposed to something you earned, make you that much more appreciative of it? Yet, how could that gift even begin to compare with what we have in Jesus?

FRIDAY

August 6

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “Help in Daily Living,” pp. 470–472, in The Ministry of Healing; “Christ the Center of the Message,” pp. 383, 384, in Selected Messages, book 1; “The Temptation and Fall,” pp. 60–62, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “Justification,” pp. 712–714, in The SDA Encyclopedia.
“Many are deceived concerning the condition of their hearts. They do not realize that the natural heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. They wrap themselves about with their own righteousness, and are satisfied in reaching their own human standard of character.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 320.
“There is great need that Christ should be preached as the only hope and salvation. When the doctrine of justification by faith was presented . . ., it came to many as water comes to the thirsty traveler. The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, seemed a precious thought.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 360.
“Trial is part of the education given in the school of Christ, to purify God’s children from the dross of earthliness. It is because God is leading His children that trying experiences come to them. Trials and obstacles are His chosen methods of discipline, and His appointed conditions of success. He who reads the hearts of men knows their weaknesses better than they themselves can know them. He sees that some have qualifications which, if rightly directed, could be used in the advancement of His work.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 524.

Discussion Questions:

How has your faith sustained you through some terrible trials? What things did you learn from these trials about yourself and about God? Also, what have you learned that might be of assistance to others who might be going through some hard times themselves? Think about the reality of death, of what it does not only to life but to the meaning of life. Many writers and philosophers have lamented the ultimate meaninglessness of life because it ends in eternal death. How do we as Christians respond to them? Why is the hope we have in Jesus the only answer to that meaninglessness?
Just as Adam’s fall imposed a fallen nature on all of us, Jesus’s victory offers the promise of eternal life to all of us who accept it by faith, no exceptions. With such a wonderful provision right there for us, what holds people back from reaching out and eagerly claiming

Justification and the Law

2010-07-19T15:56:00.000-04:00

LESSON 5

*July 24 - 30

Justification and the Law

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Gen. 15:6; 2 Samuel 11, 12; Rom. 3:20–23, 31; 4:1–17; Gal. 3:19; 1 John 3:4.

Memory Text:

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

In many ways, Romans 4 gets to the foundation of the biblical doctrine of salvation by faith alone. By using Abraham—the paragon of holiness and virtue—as an example of someone who needed to be saved by grace, without the deeds of the law, Paul left readers no room for misunderstanding. If the best one’s works a15nd law-keeping weren’t enough to justify him before God, what hope does anyone else have? If it had to be by grace with Abraham, it has to be the same with everyone else, Jews and Gentiles. In Romans 4, Paul reveals three major stages in the plan of salvation: (1) the promise of divine blessing (the promise of grace); (2) the human response to that promise (the response of faith); and, finally, (3) the divine pronouncement of righteousness credited to those who believe (justification). That’s how it worked with Abraham, and that’s how it works with us.
It is crucial to remember that for Paul, salvation is by grace; it’s something that is given to us, however undeserving we are. If we deserved it, then we’d be owed it, and if we’re owed it, it’s a debt and not a gift. And for beings corrupt and fallen as we are, salvation has to be a gift.
To prove his point about salvation by faith alone, Paul goes all the way to the book of Genesis, quoting Genesis 15:6—“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (NIV). Here’s justification by faith in one of the earliest pages of the Bible.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 31.

SUNDAY

July 25

The Law Established
Read Romans 3:31. What’s Paul’s point here? Why is this point important to us as Adventists?

In this passage, Paul states emphatically that faith does not make void God’s law. Even those who kept the law, even the entire Old Testament corpus of law, were never saved by it. The religion of the Old Testament, as that of the New, was always one of God’s grace given to sinners by faith.
Read Romans 4:1–8. How does this show that even in the Old Testament, salvation was by faith and not by works of the law?

According to this Old Testament narrative, Abraham was accounted righteous because he “believed God.” Therefore, the Old Testament itself teaches righteousness by faith. Hence, any implication that faith “makes void” (Greek katargeo, “renders useless,” “invalidates”) the law is false; salvation by faith is very much part of the Old Testament. Grace is taught all the way through it. What, for instance, was the entire sanctuary ritual if not a representation of how sinners are saved, not by their own works but by the death of a substitute in their stead?
Also, what else can explain how David was forgiven after the sordid affair with Bathsheba? Certainly it wasn’t law-keeping that saved him, for he violated so many principles of the law that it condemned him on numerous counts. If David were to be saved by the law, then David would not be saved at all.
Paul sets forth David’s restoration to divine favor as an example of justification by faith. Forgiveness was an act of God’s grace. Here, then, is another example from the Old Testament of righteousness by faith. In fact, however legalistic many in ancient Israel became, the Jewish religion was always a religion of grace. Legalism was a perversion of it, not its foundation.

Dwell for a few minutes on David’s sin and restoration (2 Samuel 11, 12; Psalm 51). What hope can you draw from that sad story for yourself? Is there a lesson here in how we in the church should treat those who have fallen?

MONDAY

July 26

Grace or Debt
The issue Paul is dealing with here is much more than just theology. It gets to the heart and soul of salvation and of our relationship to God. If one believes that he or she must earn acceptance, that he or she must reach a certain standard of holiness before being justified and forgiven, then how natural to turn inward and to look to oneself and one’s deeds. Religion can become exceedingly self-centered, about the last thing anyone needs.
In contrast, if one grasps the great news that justification is a gift from God, totally unmerited and undeserved, how much easier and more natural is it for that person to turn his or her focus on God’s love and mercy instead of on self?
And in the end, who’s more likely to reflect the love and character of God—the one self-absorbed or the one God-absorbed?
Read Romans 4:6–8. How does Paul here expand on the theme of justification by faith?

“The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, lay his sins upon the Sin Bearer, and receive His pardon. It was for this cause that Christ came into the world. Thus the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner. He becomes a member of the royal family.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 215.
Paul then continues, explaining that salvation by faith was not only for the Jews but for the Gentiles, as well (Rom. 4:9–12). In fact, if you want to get technical about it, Abraham wasn’t Jewish; he came from a pagan ancestry (Josh. 24:2). The Gentile-Jewish distinction didn’t exist in his time. When Abraham was justified (Gen. 15:6), he was not even circumcised. Thus, Abraham became the father of both the uncircumcised and the circumcised, as well as a great example for Paul to use in order to make his point about the universality of salvation. Christ’s death was for everyone, regardless of race or nationality (Heb. 2:9).

Considering the universality of the Cross, considering what the Cross tells us about the worth of every human being, why is racial or ethnic or national prejudice such a horrible thing? How can we learn to recognize the existence of prejudice in ourselves and through God’s grace purge it from our minds?

TUESDAY

July 27

Promise and Law
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13).
In this verse, “promise” and “law” are contrasted. Paul is seeking to establish an Old Testament base for his teaching of righteousness by faith. He finds an example in Abraham, whom all the Jews accepted as their ancestor. Acceptance or justification had come to Abraham quite apart from law. God made a promise to Abraham that he was to be “heir of the world.” Abraham believed this promise; that is, he accepted the role that it implied. As a result God accepted him and worked through him to save the world. This remains a powerful example of how grace was operating in the Old Testament, which is no doubt why Paul used it.
Read Romans 4:14–17. How does Paul here continue showing how salvation by faith was central to the Old Testament? See also Gal. 3:7–9.

It’s important to remember, as we said in the beginning, to whom Paul is writing. These Jewish believers were immersed in Old Testament law, and many came to believe that their salvation rested on how well they kept the law, even though that was not what the Old Testament taught.
In seeking to remedy this misconception, Paul argued that Abraham, even prior to the law at Sinai, received the promises, not by works of the law (which would have been hard, since the law—the whole Torah and ceremonial system—was not in place yet) but by faith.
If Paul here were referring to the moral law exclusively, which existed in principle even before Sinai, the point remains the same. Perhaps even more so! Seeking to receive God’s promises through the law, he said, makes faith void, even useless. Those are strong words, but his point is that faith saves, and the law condemns. He’s trying to teach about the futility of seeking salvation by the very thing that leads to condemnation, because we all, Jew and Gentile, have violated the law, and, hence, we all need the same thing as Abraham did: the saving righteousness of Jesus credited to us by faith.

WEDNESDAY

July 28

Law and Faith
As we saw yesterday, Paul showed that God’s dealings with Abraham proved that salvation came through the promise of grace and not through law. Therefore, if the Jews wished to be saved, they would have to abandon trust in their works for salvation and accept the Abrahamic promise, now fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah. It’s the same, really, for everyone, Jew or Gentile, who thinks that their “good” deeds are all that it takes to make them right with God.
“The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion. . . . Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 35, 36. What does this mean? Why does the idea that we can save ourselves through our works leave us so open to sin?

How did Paul explain the relationship between law and faith in Galatians? Gal. 3:21–23.

If there had been a law that could impart life, it certainly would have been God’s law. And yet, Paul says that no law, not even God’s, can give life, because all have violated that law, and so all are condemned by it.
But the promise of faith, more fully revealed through Christ, frees all who believe from being “under the law”; that is, from being condemned and burdened by trying to earn salvation through it. The law becomes a burden when it’s presented without faith, without grace—because without faith, without grace, without the righteousness that comes by faith, being under the law means being under the burden and the condemnation of sin.

How central is righteousness by faith to your walk with God? That is, what can you do to make sure it doesn’t get blurred by other aspects of truth to the point where you lose sight of this crucial teaching? After all, what good are these other teachings without this one?

THURSDAY

July 29

The Law and Sin
We often hear folk say that in the New Covenant the law has been abolished and then they proceed to quote texts that they believe prove that point. The logic behind that statement, however, isn’t quite sound, nor is the theology.
Read 1 John 2:3–6, 3:4 and Romans 3:20. What do these texts tell us about the relationship between law and sin?

A few hundred years ago, Irish writer Jonathan Swift wrote: “But will any man say that if the words drinking, cheating, lying, stealing were by Act of Parliament ejected out of the English tongue and dictionaries, we should all awake next morning temperate, honest and just, and lovers of truth? Is this a fair consequence?”—Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal and Other Satires, (New York: Prometheus Books, 1995), p. 205.
In the same way, if God's law has been abolished, then why are lying, murder, and stealing still sinful or wrong? If God's law has been changed, then the definition of sin must be changed, too. Or if God's law was done away with, then sin must be, as well, and who believes that? (See also 1 John 1:7–10; James 1:14, 15.)
In the New Testament, both the law and the gospel appear. The law shows what sin is; the gospel points to the remedy for that sin, which is the death and resurrection of Jesus. If there is no law, there is no sin, and so what are we saved from? Only in the context of the law, and its continued validity, does the gospel make sense.
We often hear that the Cross nullified the law. That’s rather ironic, because the Cross shows that the law can’t be abrogated or changed. If God didn’t abrogate or even change the law before Christ died on the cross, why do it after? Why not get rid of the law after humanity sinned and thus spare humanity the legal punishment that violation of the law brings? That way, Jesus never would have had to die. Jesus’ death shows that if the law could have been changed or abrogated, that should have been done before, not after, the Cross. Thus, nothing shows the continued validity of the law more than does the death of Jesus, a death that occurred precisely because the law couldn’t be changed. If the law could have been changed to meet us in our fallen condition, wouldn’t that have been a better solution to the problem of sin than Jesus having to die?

If there were no divine law against adultery, would the act cause any less pain and hurt than it does now to those who are victims of it? How does your answer help you understand why God’s law is still in effect? What has been your own experience with the consequences of violating God’s law?

FRIDAY

July 30

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “Christ the Center of the Message,” p. 388, in Selected Messages, book 1; “The Call of Abraham,” pp. 125–127; “The Law and the Covenants,” pp. 363, 364, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “The Sermon on the Mount,” pp. 307, 308; “Controversy,” p. 608; “‘It Is Finished,’” pp. 762, 763, in The Desire of Ages.
“In that age of caste, when the rights of men were often unrecognized, Paul set forth the great truth of human brotherhood, declaring that God ‘hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.’ In the sight of God all are on an equality.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 238.
“In order for man to be saved, and for the honor of the law to be maintained, it was necessary for the Son of God to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He died for us on Calvary. His death shows the wonderful love of God for man, and the immutability of His law.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 240.
“Righteousness is obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 367.
“If Satan can succeed in leading man to place value upon his own works as works of merit and righteousness, he knows that he can overcome him by his temptations, and make him his victim and prey. . . . Strike the door-posts with the blood of Calvary’s Lamb, and you are safe.”—Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, Sept. 3, 1889.

Discussion Questions:

Why is it so important to understand salvation by faith alone without the deeds of law? What kind of errors can that knowledge protect us from? What dangers await those who lose sight of this crucial biblical teaching? What other reasons can you give for the continued validity of God’s law, even when we understand that the law and obedience to it are not what saves us?
Dwell more on this idea that because of the Cross all human beings are equal. Why is it that so often Christians, who have the Cross before them, seem to forget this important truth and can be guilty of racial or ethnic or even national prejudice?

Dwell more on this idea that because of the Cross all human beings are equal. Why is it that so often Christians, who have the Cross before them, seem to forget this important truth and can be guilty of racial or ethnic or even national prejudice?

Justified by Faith

2010-07-19T15:54:00.000-04:00

LESSON 4

*July 17 - 23

Justified by Faith

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Rom. 3:19–28.

Memory Text:

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28).

In this lesson we come to the basic theme of Romans: justification by faith. The phrase is a figure based on law. The transgressor of the law comes before a judge and is condemned to death for his transgressions. But a substitute appears and takes the transgressor’s crimes upon himself, thus clearing the criminal, who—by accepting the substitute—stands before the judge, not only cleared of his guilt but regarded as never having committed the crimes for which he was first brought into court. And that’s because the substitute—who has a perfect record—offers the pardoned criminal his own perfect law-keeping. Thus, the guilty one stands before the judge as having never transgressed. No one is saying that the person was innocent. On the contrary, his guilt is presumed. The good news is that, despite the guilt, he is pardoned.
In the plan of salvation, each of us is the criminal. The substitute, Jesus, has a perfect record, and He stands in the court in our stead, His righteousness accepted in place of our unrighteousness. Hence, we are justified before God, not because of our works but because of Jesus, whose righteousness becomes ours when we accept it “by faith.” Hence the term “justification by faith.” No matter our past, when we accept Jesus, we stand before God in His righteousness, the only righteousness that can save us.
Talk about good news! In fact, the news can’t get any better than that.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 24.

SUNDAY

July 18

The Deeds of the Law
Read Romans 3:19, 20. What is Paul saying here about the law, about what it does and what it does not or cannot do? Why is this point so important for all Christians to understand?

Paul is using the term law in its broad sense as the Jew in his day understood it. By the term Torah (the Hebrew word for “law”), a Jew even today thinks particularly of God’s instruction in the first five books of Moses but also more generally in the entire Old Testament. The moral law, plus the amplification of this in the statutes and judgments, as well as the ceremonial precepts, was a part of this instruction. Because of this, we may think of the law here as the system of Judaism.
To be under the law means to be under its jurisdiction. The law, however, reveals a person’s shortcomings and guilt before God. The law cannot remove that guilt; what it can do is lead the sinner to seek a remedy for it.
As we apply the book of Romans in our day, when Jewish law is no longer a factor, we think of law particularly in terms of the moral law. This law can’t save us any more than the system of Judaism could save the Jews. To save a sinner is not the moral law’s function. Its function is to reveal God’s character and to show people wherein they fall short of reflecting that character.
Whatever law it is—moral, ceremonial, civil, or all combined—the keeping of any or all in and of itself will not make a man just in God’s sight. In fact, the law never was intended to do that. On the contrary, the law was to point out our shortcomings and lead us to Christ.
The law can no more save than can the symptoms of a disease cure the disease. The symptoms don’t cure; they point out the need for the cure. That’s how the law functions.

How successful have your efforts in law-keeping been? What should that answer tell you about the futility of trying to be saved by keeping the law?

MONDAY

July 19

Faith and Righteousnes
“Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Rom. 3:21). How are we to understand what this text means?

This new righteousness is contrasted with the righteousness of the law, which was the righteousness with which the Jew was familiar. The new righteousness is called “the righteousness of God”; that is, a righteousness that comes from God, a righteousness that God provides, and the only one that He accepts as true righteousness.
This is, of course, the righteousness that Jesus wrought out in His life while here in human flesh, a righteousness that He offers to all who will accept it by faith, who will claim it for themselves, not because they deserve it but because they need it.
“Righteousnessis obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account. Christ’s righteousness is accepted in place of man’s failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 367. How can you learn to accept this wonderful truth for yourself? (See also Rom. 3:22.)

The faith of Jesus Christ is here doubtless faith in Jesus Christ. As it operates in the Christian life, faith is much more than intellectual assent; it is more than just an acknowledgment of certain facts about Christ’s life and His death. Instead, true faith in Jesus Christ is accepting Him as Savior, Substitute, Surety, and Lord. It is choosing His way of life. It is trusting Him and seeking by faith to live according to His commandments.

TUESDAY

July 20

Grace and Justification
Keeping in mind what we have studied so far about the law and what the law cannot do, read Romans 3:24. What is Paul saying here? What does it mean that redemption is in Jesus?

What is this idea of “justifying,” as found in the text? The Greek word dikaioo, translated justify, may mean “make righteous,” “declare righteous” or “consider righteous.” The word is built on the same root as dikaiosune, “righteousness,” and the word dikaioma, “righteous requirement.” Hence, there is a close connection between “justification” and “righteousness,” a connection that doesn’t always come through in various translations. We are justified when we are “declared righteous” by God.
Before this justification, a person is unrighteous, and thus unacceptable to God; after justification, he or she is regarded as righteous, and thus acceptable to Him.
And this happens only through God’s grace. Grace means favor. When a sinner turns to God for salvation, it is an act of grace to consider or declare that person to be righteous. It is unmerited favor, and the believer is justified without any merit of his or her own, without any claim to present to God in his or her own behalf except his or her utter helplessness. The person is justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, the redemption that Jesus offers as the sinner’s substitute and surety.
Justification is presented in Romans as a punctiliar act; that is, it happens at a point in time. One moment the sinner is outside, unrighteous, and unaccepted; the next moment, following justification, the person is inside, accepted, and righteous.
The person who is in Christ looks upon justification as a past act, one that took place when he or she surrendered himself or herself fully to Christ. “Being justified” (Rom. 5:1) is, literally, “having been justified.”
Of course, if the justified sinner should fall away and then return to Christ, justification would occur again. Also, if reconversion is considered a daily experience, there is a sense in which justification might be considered a repeating experience.

With the good news of salvation being so good, what holds people back from accepting it? In your own life, what kinds of things cause you to hold back from all that the Lord promises and offers you?

WEDNESDAY

July 21

“His Righteousness”
In Romans 3:25, Paul expounds further on the great news of salvation. He uses a fancy word, propitiation. The Greek word for it, hilasterion, occurs in the New Testament only here and in Hebrews 9:5, where it is translated mercy-seat. As used in Romans 3:25, describing the offer of justification and redemption through Christ, propitiation seems to represent the fulfillment of all that was typified by the mercy-seat in the Old Testament sanctuary. What this means, then, is that by His sacrificial death, Jesus has been set forth as the means of salvation and is represented as the One providing the propitiation. In short, it means that God did what was needed to save us.
The text also talks about the “remission of sins.” It is our sins that make us unacceptable to God. We can do nothing of ourselves to cancel our sins. But in the plan of redemption, God has provided a way for these sins to be remitted through faith in Christ’s blood.
The word for remission is the Greek paresis, literally “passing over” or “passing by.” The “passing over” is in no sense an ignoring of sins. God can pass over the sins of the past because, by His death, Christ has paid the penalty for all men’s sins. Anyone, therefore, who has “faith in His blood” can have his or her sins remitted, for Christ has already died for them (1 Cor. 15:3).
Read Romans 3:26, 27. What point is Paul making here?

The good news that Paul was eager to share with all who would listen was that there was available to man “his [that is, God’s] righteousness,” and that it comes to us, not by works, not by our merit, but by faith in Jesus and what He has done for us.
Because of the cross of Calvary, God can declare sinners righteous and still be considered just and fair in the eyes of the universe. Satan can point no accusing finger at God, for Heaven has made the supreme sacrifice. Satan had accused God of asking of the human race more than He was willing to give. The Cross refutes this claim.
Satan expected God to destroy the world after it sinned; instead, He sent Jesus to save it. What does that tell us about the character of God? How should our knowledge of His character impact how we live?

What will you do differently in the next 24 hours directly as a result of knowing what God is like?

THURSDAY

July 22

Faith and Works
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Does this mean that we are not required to obey the law, even if it doesn’t save us? Explain your answer.

In the historical context, Paul was speaking in Romans 3:28 of law in its broad sense of the system of Judaism. No matter how conscientiously a Jew tried to live under this system, if he or she failed to accept Jesus as the Messiah, that person could not be justified.
This verse is Paul’s conclusion from his claim that the law of faith excludes boasting. If a man were justified by his own actions, he could boast about it. But when he is justified because Jesus is the object of his faith, then the credit clearly belongs to God, who justified the sinner.
Ellen G. White gives an interesting answer to the question “What is justification by faith?” She wrote: “It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 456.
Works of law cannot atone for past sins. Justification cannot be earned. It can be received only by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, in this sense, works of law have nothing to do with justification. To be justified without works means to be justified without there being anything in ourselves to merit justification.
But many Christians have misunderstood and misapplied this text. They say that all one has to do is to believe, while downplaying works or obedience, even obedience to the moral law. In so doing, they completely misread Paul. In the book of Romans, and elsewhere, Paul attaches great importance to the keeping of the moral law. Jesus certainly did, as well, as did James and John (Matt. 19:17; Rom. 2:13; James 2:10, 11; Rev. 14:12). Paul’s point is that, although obedience to the law is not the means of justification, the person who is justified by faith still keeps the law of God and, in fact, is the only one who can keep the law. An unregenerate person who has not been justified can never fulfill the requirements of the law.

Why is it so easy to get caught up in the trap of thinking that because the law doesn’t save us, we need not worry about keeping it? Have you ever rationalized away sin by claiming justification by faith? Why is that a very dangerous position? At the same time, where would we be without the promise of salvation, even when tempted to abuse it?

FRIDAY

July 23

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “The Righteousness of Christ in the Law,” pp. 236–239; “Come and Seek and Find,” pp. 331–335; “Perfect Obedience Through Christ,” pp. 373, 374, in Selected Messages, book 1; “Things New and Old,” pp. 128, 129, in Christ’s Object Lessons.
“Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 62.
“Grace is unmerited favor. The angels, who know nothing of sin, do not understand what it is to have grace exercised toward them; but our sinfulness calls for the exercise of grace from a merciful God.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 331, 332.
“Faith is the condition upon which God has seen fit to promise pardon to sinners; not that there is any virtue in faith whereby salvation is merited, but because faith can lay hold of the merits of Christ, the remedy provided for sin. Faith can present Christ’s perfect obedience instead of the sinner’s transgression and defection. When the sinner believes that Christ is his personal Savior, then, according to His unfailing promises, God pardons his sin, and justifies him freely. The repentant soul realizes that his justification comes because Christ, as his substitute and surety, has died for him, is his atonement and righteousness.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 366, 367.
“Though the law cannot remit the penalty for sin, but charges the sinner with all his debt, Christ has promised abundant pardon to all who repent, and believe in His mercy. The love of God is extended in abundance to the repenting, believing soul. The brand of sin upon the soul can be effaced only through the blood of the atoning Sacrifice . . . of Him who was equal with the Father. The work of Christ—His life, humiliation, death, and intercession for lost man—magnifies the law, and makes it honorable.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 371.

Discussion Questions:

Read over the texts for this week and then, in your own words, write a paragraph summarizing what they are saying. Share your paragraphs with each other in class. Think about what it cost to save us: the death of the Son of God. What should that tell us about just how bad sin is? After all, if we stopped sinning and never did it again, why would that still not be enough to make us righteous before God? How can these facts help motivate us to resist the temptation to sin?
What are ways one could be tempted to abuse this wonderful news about salvation by faith alone? What trap is someone falling into who gets caught up in that kind of thinking? (See 2 Pet. 3:16, 1 John 3:7.)

		I N S I D E Story
		Ryan's Birthday Mission Like most children, Ryan Wigglesworth from Australia looked forward to his seventh birthday and the party his parents had promised. He would have a birthday cake and play games with his friends. But Ryan wouldn't receive birthday gifts. Instead, it was his family's tradition that he would ask his friends to bring a donation of money for a special mission project. Ryan's family was planning a mission trip to the island of Vanuatu [van-oo-AH-too] in the South Pacific, and Ryan wanted to use his birthday money to buy books and literature to give to the people there so they could learn more about Jesus. After his birthday Ryan and his mom went to the Adventist Book Center to buy the books for their trip. The store was having a big sale, so Ryan's money went even farther than he dreamed! "We bought 245 books and Bible study guides and other literature," he says. Soon the family flew to Vanuatu. They visited a marketplace, where Ryan's mother bought fruits and vegetables while Ryan gave the children some colorful pamphlets about Jesus. Then Ryan met Sope, a man who worked with prisoners. Ryan gave him some Bible study guides to share with the prisoners. The family held a week of meetings on two different islands. The first day 49 children came after school. The next day they brought their friends, and the attendance grew to 100! Even though the meetings were for children, some adults came to hear the messages of God's love. When Ryan and his brothers and parents gave out literature, they were surprised at how happy people were to receive it. The family said Goodbye to their new friends and took a boat to the second island. There they held another series of meetings with much the same results. People were amazed that Ryan and his brothers led out in the programs, even though they were children themselves. Too soon it was time to say Goodbye. Ryan's family agreed that this was the best possible vacation sharing God's love with people who were eager to learn. "The people were so happy to receive even one piece of literature. That was gift enough for me! I know now that even though I'm just a boy, I can do lots of things for Jesus!

All Have Sinned

2010-07-19T15:52:00.000-04:00

LESSON 3

*July 10 - 16

All Have Sinned

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Rom. 1:16, 17, 22–32; 2:1–10, 17–23; 3:1, 2, 10–18, 23.

Memory Text:

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Unless a person acknowledges that he or she is unrighteous, that person will sense no need for justification (God’s declaration of a sinner as righteous in His eyes). Therefore, for Paul, the first step in justification is that a person recognize himself or herself as a helpless, hopeless sinner. In building this argument, Paul presents first the terrible depravity of the Gentiles. These have sunk as low as they have because they have pushed God from their memories. Paul then shows that the Jews are just as bad, the point being that none can save themselves with their good works. Ellen G. White makes it so clear: “Let no one take the limited, narrow position that any of the works of man can help in the least possible way to liquidate the debt of his transgression. This is a fatal deception. If you would understand it, you must cease haggling over your pet ideas, and with humble hearts survey the atonement.
“This matter is so dimly comprehended that thousands upon thousands claiming to be sons of God are children of the wicked one, because they will depend on their own works. God always demanded good works, the law demands it, but because man placed himself in sin where his good works were valueless, Jesus’ righteousness alone can avail. Christ is able to save to the uttermost because He ever liveth to make intercession for us.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1071.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 17.

SUNDAY

July 11

Not Ashamed of the Gospel
“I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live’” (Rom. 1:16, 17, RSV). What do these verses say to you? How have you experienced the promises and hope found in them?

Several key words occur in this passage:
1. Gospel. This word is the translation of a Greek word meaning literally “good message” or “good news.” Standing alone, the word may refer to any good message; but modified as it is in this passage by the phrase “of Christ,” it means “the good news about the Messiah” (Christ is the transliteration of the Greek word meaning “Messiah”). The good news is that the Messiah has come and men may be saved by believing in Him. In Jesus and in His perfect righteousness—and not in ourselves, or even in God’s law—can one find salvation.
2. Righteousness. This word refers to the quality of being “right” with God. A specialized meaning of this word is developed in the book of Romans, which we shall bring out as our study of the book proceeds. It should be pointed out that in Romans 1:17 the word is qualified by the phrase “of God.” It is righteousness that comes from God, a righteousness that God Himself has provided. As we’ll see, this is the only righteousness good enough to bring us the promise of eternal life.
3. Faith. In Greek the words translated believe and faith (KJV) in this passage are the verb and noun forms of the same word: pisteuo (believe), pistis (belief or faith). The meaning of faith as related to salvation will unfold as we progress in the study of Romans.

Do you ever struggle with assurance? Do you have times when you truly question whether or not you are saved, or even if you can be saved? What brings these fears? What are they grounded on? Might they be grounded in reality? That is, could you be living a lifestyle that denies your profession of faith? If so, what choices must you make in order to have the promises and assurances that are for you in Jesus?

MONDAY

July 12

The Human Condition
Read Romans 3:23. Why is this message so easy for us, as Christians, to believe today? At the same time, what could cause some people to question the truthfulness of this text?

Amazingly enough, some folk actually challenge the idea of human sinfulness, arguing that people are basically good. The problem, however, stems from a lack of understanding what true goodness is. People can compare themselves to someone else and feel good about themselves. Even the mobster Al Capone was a saint compared to Adolph Hitler. However, when we contrast ourselves to God, and to the holiness and righteousness of God, none of us would come away with anything other than an overwhelming sense of self-loathing and disgust.
The verse also talks about “the glory of God.” The phrase has been variously interpreted. Perhaps the simplest interpretation is to give the phrase the meaning it has in 1 Corinthians 11:7, “He [man] is the image and glory of God” (RSV). In Greek, the word for “glory” may be considered as loosely equivalent to the word for “image.” Sin has marred the image of God in man. Sinful man falls far short of reflecting the image or glory of God.
Read Romans 3:10–18. Has anything changed today? Which of those depictions best describes you, or what you would be like were it not for Christ in your life?

As bad as we are, our situation is not hopeless. The first step is for us to acknowledge our utter sinfulness and also our helplessness in and of ourselves to do anything about it. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring about such conviction. If the sinner does not resist Him, the Spirit will lead the sinner to tear away the mask of self-defense, pretense, and self-justification and to cast himself or herself upon Christ, pleading His mercy: “ ‘ “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” ’ ” (Luke 18:13, NASB).

When was the last time you took a good hard cold look at yourself, your motives, your deeds, and your feelings? This can be a very distressing experience, can’t it? What’s your only hope?

TUESDAY

July 13

From the First to the Twenty-first Century
At the turn of the twentieth century, folk lived with the idea that humanity was improving, that morality would increase and that science and technology would help usher in a utopia. Human beings, it was believed, were essentially on the path toward perfection; that is, through the right kind of education and moral training, humans greatly could improve themselves and their society. All this was supposed to start happening, en masse, as we entered into the brave new world of the twentieth century.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite turn out that way, did they? The twentieth century was one of the most violent and barbaric in all history, thanks—ironically enough—in great part to the advances of science, which made it much more possible for people to kill others on a scale that the most depraved madmen of the past could only dream about.
What was the problem?
Read Romans 1:22–32. In what ways do we see the things written there, in the first century, being manifested today in the twenty-first century?

When humanity lost sight of God, a floodgate of sin and error and degradation opened. We, today, each of us, are living the consequences of that problem. In fact, unless we are moment by moment surrendered to God, we become part of the problem, as well.
Focus specifically on Romans 1:22, 23. How do we see this principle being manifested now? By rejecting God, what have humans in our century come to worship and idolize instead? And, in so doing, how have they become fools? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.

WEDNESDAY

July 14

Jews and Gentiles Together
In Romans 1, Paul was dealing specifically with the sins of the Gentiles, the pagans, those who had lost sight of God a long time ago and, thus, fell into the most degrading practices.
But he wasn’t going to let his own people, his own countrymen, off the hook either. Despite all the advantages that they had been given (Rom. 3:1, 2), they, too, were sinners, condemned by God’s law, and in need of the saving grace of Christ. In that sense, in the sense of being sinners, of having violated God’s law, and of needing divine grace for salvation, Jews and Gentiles are the same.
Read Romans 2:1–3, 17–24. What is Paul warning against here? What message should all of us, Jew or Gentile, take from this warning?

“Do not think yourself better than other men, and set yourself up as their judge. Since you cannot discern motive, you are incapable of judging another. In criticizing him, you are passing sentence upon yourself; for you show that you are a participant with Satan, the accuser of the brethren.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 314.
It’s often so easy to see the sins of others and to point them out. How often, though, are we guilty of the same kinds of things, or even worse? The problem is that we tend to turn a blind eye on ourselves, or we make ourselves feel better by looking at just how bad others are in contrast to ourselves.
Paul will have none of that. He warns his countrymen not to be quick to judge the Gentiles, for they, the Jews—even as the chosen people—were sinners, in some cases even more guilty than the pagans they were so quick to condemn because, as Jews, they had been given more light than the Gentiles.
Paul’s point in all this is that none of us are righteous, none of us meet the divine standard, none of us are innately good or inherently holy. Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, God-fearing or God-rejecting, we all are condemned, and were it not for the grace of God, as revealed in the gospel, there would be no hope for any of us.

How big of a hypocrite are you? That is, how often do you, even if only in your own mind, condemn others for things that you, yourself, are guilty of? How, by taking heed of what Paul has written here, can you change?

THURSDAY

July 15

Repentance
A five-year-old boy pushed his little sister down, and the parents made him say he was sorry. He didn’t want to, and out of the side of his mouth, with no sincerity and eyes boring into the ground, he barely squeezed out, “Sorry.” Hardly true repentance, for sure.
With that story in mind, read the following: “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). What message is here for us?

We should notice that God’s goodness leads, not forces, sinners to repentance. God uses no coercion. He is infinitely patient and seeks to draw all men by His love. A forced repentance would destroy the whole purpose of repentance, would it not? If God forced repentance, then would not everyone be saved, for why would He force some and not others to repent?
What comes to those who resist God’s love, refuse to repent, and remain in disobedience? Rom. 2:5–10.

In these verses, and frequently throughout the book of Romans, Paul emphasizes the place of good works. Justification by faith without the deeds of the law must never be construed to mean that good works have no place in the Christian life. For instance, in verse 7, salvation is described as coming to those who seek for it “by patient continuance in well doing.” Though human effort can’t bring salvation, it is part of the whole experience of salvation. It’s hard to see how anyone can read the Bible and come away with the idea that works and deeds don’t matter at all. True repentance, the kind that comes willingly from the heart, always will be followed by a determination to overcome and put away the things that we need to repent over.

How often are you in an attitude of repentance? Is it sincere, or do you tend just to brush off your faults, shortcomings, and sins? If the latter, how can you change? Why must you change?

FRIDAY

July 16

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “The Lord’s Vineyard,” pp. 291–294, in Christ’s Object Lessons; “God’s Love for Man,” pp. 9–15; “The Sinner’s Need of Christ,” pp. 17–22, in Steps to Christ; “In Contact With Others,” pp. 492–494, in The Ministry of Healing; “Agents of Satan,” pp. 146, 147, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5.
“Many are deceived concerning the condition of their hearts. They do not realize that the natural heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. They wrap themselves about with their own righteousness, and are satisfied in reaching their own human standard of character; but how fatally they fail when they do not reach the divine standard, and of themselves they cannot meet the requirements of God.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 320.
“A terrible picture of the condition of the world has been presented before me. Immorality abounds everywhere. Licentiousness is the special sin of this age. Never did vice lift its deformed head with such boldness as now. The people seem to be benumbed, and the lovers of virtue and true goodness are nearly discouraged by its boldness, strength, and prevalence. The iniquity which abounds is not merely confined to the unbeliever and the scoffer. Would that this were the case, but it is not. Many men and women who profess the religion of Christ are guilty. Even some who profess to be looking for His appearing are no more prepared for that event than Satan himself. They are not cleansing themselves from all pollution. They have so long served their lust that it is natural for their thoughts to be impure and their imaginations corrupt.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 346.

Discussion Questions:

In class, go over your answers to Tuesday’s question. How do we see this principle manifested in today’s society? Look at the second quote from Ellen G. White in Friday’s study. If you see yourself in there, what is the answer? Why is it important not to give up in despair but to keep claiming God’s promises—first, of forgiveness; second, of cleansing? Who is the one that wants you to say, once and for all, “It’s no use. I’m too corrupt. I can never be saved, so I might as well give up”? Do you listen to him or to Jesus, who will say to us, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more”? John 8:11.
Why is it so important for us as Christians to understand basic human sinfulness and depravity? What can happen when we lose sight of that sad but true reality? What errors can a false understanding of our true condition lead us into?

Jew and Gentile

2010-07-19T15:50:00.000-04:00

LESSON 2

*July 3 - 9

Jew and Gentile

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Leviticus 23, Matt. 19:17, Acts 15:1–29, Gal. 1:1–12, Heb. 8:6, Rev. 12:17.

Memory Text:

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17, NKJV).

The first converts to Christianity were all Jews, and the New Testament gives no indication that they were asked to drop the practice of circumcision or to ignore the Jewish festivals. But when the Gentiles began to accept Christianity, important questions arose. Should the Gentiles submit to circumcision? To what extent should they keep other Jewish laws? Finally, a council was called at Jerusalem to settle the matter (see Acts 15). Despite a firm decision by the council not to trouble the Gentiles with a host of regulations and laws, some teachers continued to plague the churches by insisting that Gentile converts to the faith were required to keep these rules and laws, including circumcision.
In some ways, these issues exist today, only in a different form. How often are we, as Adventists, accused of being Judaizers, or legalists, because of our adherence to the Ten Commandments (or, in actuality, our adherence to the Sabbath commandment)? How often do we hear that we are now under the New Covenant, and so the law (the Sabbath commandment) has been done away with?
On the other side, at times as a church we are confronted with those who would like to impose more Old Testament rules and regulations on us, as well.
Hence, Romans certainly has an important message for us today, as it did for the Roman church back then.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 10.

SUNDAY

July 4

Better Promises
Read Hebrews 8:6. What is the message here? How do we understand what these “better promises” are?

Perhaps the greatest difference between the religion of the Old Testament and that of the New is the fact that the New Testament era was introduced by the coming of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. He was sent by God to be the Savior. Men could not ignore Him and expect to be saved. Only through the atonement He provided could they have their sins forgiven. Only by the imputation of His perfect life could they stand before God without condemnation. In other words, salvation was through the righteousness of Jesus, and nothing else.
Old Testament saints looked forward to the blessings of the Messianic age and the promise of salvation. In New Testament times, the people were confronted with the question, Would they accept Jesus of Nazareth whom God had sent as the Messiah, their Savior? If they believed in Him—that is, if they accepted Him for who He truly was and committed themselves to Him—they would be saved through the righteousness that He offers them freely.
Meanwhile, the moral requirements remain unchanged in the New Testament, because these were founded in the character of God and of Christ. Obedience to God’s moral law is just as much a part of the New Covenant as of the Old.
Read Matthew 19:17; Revelation 12:17, 14:12; and James 2:10, 11. What do these texts tell us about the moral law in the New Testament?

At the same time, the entire body of ritual and ceremonial laws that were distinctly Israelite, that were distinctly tied to the Old Covenant, all of which pointed to Jesus and to His death and ministry as High Priest, were discontinued, and a new order was introduced, one based on “better promises.”
Helping both Jew and Gentile to understand what was involved in this transition from Judaism to Christianity was one of Paul’s principal aims in the book of Romans. It would take time to make the transition.

What are some of your favorite Bible promises? How often do you claim them? What choices are you making that can stand in the way of having these promises fulfilled in your life?

MONDAY

July 5

Jewish Laws and Regulations
As time allows, skim through the book of Leviticus. (See, for instance, Leviticus 12, 16, 23.) What thoughts come to your mind as you read all these rules and regulations and rituals? Why would many of these be all but impossible in New Testament times to follow?

It is convenient for us to classify Old Testament laws into various categories: (1) moral law, (2) ceremonial law, (3) civil law, (4) statutes and judgments, and (5) health laws.
This classification is in part artificial. In actuality, some of these categories are interrelated, and there is considerable overlap. The ancients did not see them as separate and distinct.
The moral law is summed up by the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:1–17). This law sums up the moral requirements of humanity. These ten precepts are amplified and applied in various statutes and judgments throughout the first five books of the Bible. These amplifications show what it meant to keep the law of God in various situations. Not unrelated are the civil laws. These, too, are based on the moral law. These define a citizen’s relationship to civil authorities and to his fellow citizens. They name the penalties for various infractions.
The ceremonial law regulated the sanctuary ritual, describing the various offerings and the individual citizen’s responsibilities. The feast days are specified and their observance defined.
The health laws overlap the other laws. The various laws relating to uncleanness define ceremonial uncleanness, and yet go beyond this to include hygienic and health principles. Laws regarding clean and unclean meats are based on physical considerations.
While the Jew probably largely thought of all of these laws as a package, having all come from God, he or she must have made certain distinctions mentally. The Ten Commandments had been spoken by God directly to the people. This would set them apart as especially important. The other laws had been relayed through Moses. The sanctuary ritual could be kept only while a sanctuary was in operation.
The civil laws, at least in large part, could no longer be imposed after the Jews lost their independence and came under the civil control of another nation. Many of the ceremonial precepts could no longer be observed after the temple was destroyed. Also, after the Messiah came, many of the types had met their antitypes and no longer had validity.

TUESDAY

July 6

“What Must I Do to Be Saved?”
Read Acts 15:1. What issue was causing dissension? Why would some people believe that this wasn’t just for the Jewish nation? See Gen. 17:10.

While the apostles united with the ministers and lay members at Antioch in an earnest effort to win many souls to Christ, certain Jewish believers from Judaea “of the sect of the Pharisees” succeeded in introducing a question that soon led to widespread controversy in the church and brought consternation to the believing Gentiles. With great assurance these teachers asserted that in order to be saved, one must be circumcised and must keep the entire ceremonial law. The Jews, after all, always had prided themselves on their divinely appointed services, and many of those who had been converted to the faith of Christ still felt that since God had once clearly outlined the Hebrew manner of worship, it was improbable that He would ever authorize a change in any of its specifications. They insisted that the Jewish laws and ceremonies should be incorporated into the rites of the Christian religion. They were slow to discern that all the sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type met antitype, and after which the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation were no longer binding.
Read Acts 15:2–12. How was this dispute to be settled?

“While looking to God for direct guidance, he [Paul] was ever ready to recognize the authority vested in the body of believers united in church fellowship. He felt the need of counsel, and when matters of importance arose, he was glad to lay these before the church and to unite with his brethren in seeking God for wisdom to make right decisions.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 200.
It’s interesting that Paul, who often talked about his prophetic calling and how Jesus had called him and gave him his mission, was so willing to work with the larger church body. That is, whatever his calling, he realized that he was part of the church as a whole and that he needed to work with it as much as possible.

What is your attitude toward church leadership? How cooperative are you? Why is cooperation so important? How could we function if everyone was doing only what he or she wanted, independent of the larger body?

WEDNESDAY

July7

“No Greater Burden”
Read Acts 15:5–29. What decision did the council come to, and what was their reasoning?

The decision was against the contentions of the Judaizers. These folk insisted that the Gentile converts be circumcised and keep the entire ceremonial law, and that “the Jewish laws and ceremonies should be incorporated into the rites of the Christian religion.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 189.
It’s interesting to note in verse 10 how Peter depicted these old laws as a “yoke” that they were unable to bear. Would the Lord, who instituted those laws, make them a yoke on His people? That hardly seems so. Instead, over the years some of the leaders had, through their oral traditions, turned many of the laws, which were meant to be blessings, into burdens. The council sought to spare Gentiles from these burdens.
Notice, too, that there was no mention or question of the Gentiles not needing to obey the Ten Commandments. After all, could we imagine the council telling them not to eat blood, but that it was acceptable to ignore the commandments against adultery or murder and the like?
What rules were placed on the Gentile believers (Acts 15:20, 29), and why these specific ones?

Although Jewish believers weren’t to impose their rules and tradition on Gentiles, the council wanted to make sure that the Gentiles didn’t do things that would have been deemed offensive to the Jews who were united with them in Jesus. The apostles and elders, therefore, agreed to instruct the Gentiles by letter to abstain from meats offered to idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood. Some say that, because Sabbath keeping wasn’t specifically mentioned, it must not have been meant for the Gentiles (of course, the commandments against lying and murder weren’t specifically mentioned either, so that argument means nothing).

Could we, in some ways, be laying burdens on people that are not necessary but are more from tradition than divine command? If so, how? Bring your thoughts to class on Sabbath.

THURSDAY

July 8

The Galatian Heresy
However clear the counsel, there were those who sought to go their own way and who continued to advocate that the Gentiles keep Jewish traditions and laws. For Paul, this became a very serious matter; that is, it wasn’t trifling over the fine points of faith. It had become a denial of the gospel of Christ itself.
Read Galatians 1:1–12. How serious does Paul see the issue he is confronting in Galatia? What should that tell us about how important this question is?

As stated before, it was the Galatian situation that in large degree prompted the content of the letter to Rome. In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul further develops the theme of the Galatian epistle. The Judaizers were contending that the law God had given them through Moses was important and should be observed by Gentile converts. Paul was trying to show its true place and function. He didn’t want these people to gain a foothold in Rome as they had done in Galatia.
It is an oversimplification to ask whether in Galatians and Romans Paul is speaking of ceremonial or moral laws. Historically, the argument was whether or not Gentile converts should be required to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The Jerusalem council had already ruled on this question, but some refused to follow its decision.
Some read in Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Romans evidence that the moral law, the Ten Commandments (or, in truth, only the fourth commandment), is no longer binding on Christians. Yet, they are missing the point of the letters, missing the historical context and issues that Paul was addressing. Paul, as we’ll see, stressed that salvation was by faith alone and not by keeping the law, even the moral law—yet that isn’t the same thing as saying that the moral law shouldn’t be kept. Obedience to the Ten Commandments was never an issue; those who make it one are reading back into texts a contemporary issue, one that Paul wasn’t dealing with.

How do you respond to those who claim the Sabbath is no longer binding upon Christians? How can you show the truth of the Sabbath in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the gospel?

FRIDAY

July 9

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “Jew and Gentile,” pp. 188–192, 194-197; “Apostasy in Galatia,” pp. 383–388, in The Acts of the Apostles; “The Law Given to Israel,” pp. 310–312; “The Law and the Covenants,” pp. 370–373, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “The Chosen People,” pp. 27-30, in The Desire of Ages.
“But if the Abrahamic covenant contained the promise of redemption, why was another covenant formed at Sinai? In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant. . . .
“The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God’s law; and they readily entered into covenant with God.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 371, 372.
“Through the influence of false teachers who had arisen among the believers in Jerusalem, division, heresy, and sensualism were rapidly gaining ground among the believers in Galatia. These false teachers were mingling Jewish traditions with the truths of the gospel. Ignoring the decision of the general council at Jerusalem, they urged upon the Gentile converts the observance of the ceremonial law.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 383.

Discussion Questions:

2010-05-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

Serve One Another
The life of Jesus on earth was a life of service. From the earliest days of His ministry right up until the end, He was serving humanity. In fact, according to the Bible, He is still serving us today (Heb. 2:17, 18).
As we have seen, as human beings, we were made to love others, as Jesus loved. And when we do this, we simply do not benefit others. We benefit ourselves, as well.
Think for a moment how good you feel when you reach out and help others, when you selflessly give of yourself with no intention of getting anything back for yourself. Something inside us is touched. There is a sense of well-being; we get a satisfaction that, really, nothing else can match. And that is because, by giving of ourselves, we are living as we were meant to live. We are doing what we were originally created to do.
As we have seen, a positive mental outlook on life can have a positive impact on us physically, as well. Our body reacts better when we feel positive, happy, and fulfilled. No wonder, then, that scientific studies have shown positive medical benefits that arise from doing good for others. It makes perfect sense: by helpings others, we feel better, and when we feel better, our physical being is improved. What a perfect combination!
“You, brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13, NIV). What does it mean to serve one another in love? How can you take these words and apply them in a practical way in your own life right now? John 13:35

Rom. 15:7

Eph. 4:32

Col. 3:13

1 Thess. 4:18

James 5:16

1 Pet. 3:8

1 Pet. 4:9

1 John 1:7

LESSON 8 *May 15 - 21 The Atmosphere of Praise

2010-05-22T11:16:00.000-04:00

LESSON 8

*May 15 - 21

The Atmosphere of Praise

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Gen. 1:1, 2, 9–12, 20–26; Ps. 104:29; Dan. 5:23; Luke 15:7; Rev. 21:4.

Memory Text:

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, NIV).

A few years ago, a family of five went to a cabin in the mountains for a short Christmas vacation. One evening they shut all the windows tight in order to keep cold air from coming in, and they turned the furnace on full blast in order to keep the cabin warm through the bitter night. The only problem? The whole family died because the furnace had used up all the oxygen in their air!
As most of us know, we can live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but only a few minutes without air.
Air, clear pure air, is vital to our existence. Impure, polluted air is the cause of many acute and chronic disease conditions often attributed to other causes. Every year millions of people, especially children, suffer terribly because of breathing polluted air.
With oxygen going to every organ of our body, it is no wonder we need air as fresh and as clean as possible.
The good news about fresh air is that not only is it free, in most cases people can have access to it.

The Week at a Glance:

Clean, fresh air is a vital component in maintaining good health, and we should do all in our power to breathe as much clean air as possible.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 22.

SUNDAY

May 16

The Creation
Read Genesis 2:15. What does it say about God’s intention for humanity regarding work, even before sin?

The earth at that point was chaotic; there was darkness, a void, formlessness. However difficult for us to understand exactly what was present or what was happening, it is clear that there was no created life at this time on the earth. Yet, even amid this primeval chaos, God’s presence is made manifest. This is revealed in the words, “and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We can, for now, only speculate on what that means.
According to the texts, over the next few days God began the process of preparing the earth for life. Genesis 1:3–10 shows us part of this process. Notice the recurrence of separation and division. God separates light from darkness, God separates the waters of the firmament, God separates the land from water. All the way through there are these major divisions of these prime elements. After these initial divisions have been completed, God then brings forth the first life on earth.
Read Genesis 1:9–12, and Genesis 1:20–26. What does God create next? What conditions were needed in order for this to happen; that is, what was needed in order for this part of creation to be able to survive?

God had a great master plan for His creation. It called for many types of living things—things that would require constant support to survive. As the Creation story unfolds, it is clear that God planned for many of His created beings to live on dry land. It also is clear that He knew that these creatures would need oxygen in some form for sustaining life. We see this plan realized on day two of Creation, with the separation of the waters and the creation of the atmosphere. The space between the waters above and below was thus prepared to receive the rest of the creation that was to follow.

The Creation account teaches that the Creation was a very orderly, planned, and meticulously executed event. It leaves no room for chance of any kind. What does that tell us about the character and power of God? How could this realization about God help you in whatever struggles you might be going through now?

MONDAY

May 17

The Necessity of Air
In the creation of the animals that populated the earth, one thing they shared in common was the need for oxygen to sustain life. Air is a combination of gases in which oxygen forms about 21 percent of the total product (our entire atmosphere weighs about five thousand trillion tons!). Other component gases include nitrogen, argon, helium, hydrogen, and small trace gases. The amount of oxygen in the air is the ideal percentage for the breathing requirements of the creatures God made. It is another testimony to the carefulness and precision that God used in creating us.
What was the unique way God used air in the creation of Adam? Gen. 2:7. How does this account differ from the account of how God created the other creatures? What does this tell us about ourselves, about our uniqueness in the eyes of God?

Air obviously was important in the creation of all animals, in that all these animals need air to exist. Yet, the creation of humanity was different. God “breathed” into Adam the “breath” of life. Air, life-giving air, was certainly a component of this miraculous act of creation, for right after God breathed this breath into him, Adam became a living soul. When Adam was first formed, with all his organs, with all his flesh, with all the physical components needed for life, he still was lifeless, kind of a “corpse.” One more thing was needed, and that was life itself, which only God, the Life-Giver, could provide.
God did just that, and we ourselves partake every day of this gift of life. Indeed, the gift of life, carried with that breath, has been shared by everyone in the human race since then. Through our first father, Adam, the breath of God has been passed on to all of us. And through the act of breathing, we keep that original breath of life alive in us. Each breath we take should remind us of that original breath breathed into Adam!

Take a deep breath. Unless you have respiratory problems, it seems so simple, so natural, so easy, and yet it is really a miracle from God, it is a legacy passed on to us from Eden. How thankful are you for the gift of life? Why wait until your life is threatened before you stop taking it for granted?

TUESDAY

May 18

The Air Over Our Heads
“Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25, NKJV).
Look up the following texts: Daniel 5:23; Psalm 104: 29; 146:4. What do they tell us about the link between life and breath?

The air has many protective qualities. On a global level, the air and its suspended water vapor protect the earth and its people from solar radiation and from the cold vacuum of outer space. The air recycles water and many chemicals to moderate the climate. Within this atmospheric envelope, life is found over a very wide range of altitudes and temperatures. Some life forms require a high level of light and warmth. Other things require only a little light and very little heat to survive. Some animals require large amounts of oxygen, others only a scant amount.
On a more personal level, high-quality fresh air is the best suited to transfer oxygen to the blood through the lungs and to carry off the carbon dioxide that the body produces. This high-quality air is most available in natural environments, where trees, plants, and flowing waters are found. The plants absorb the carbon dioxide in exchange for renewing the oxygen content of the air.
We recall that God placed Adam and Eve in a garden setting surrounded by plants of all types and watered by a river that flowed through the garden and became the headwater for the great rivers of the antediluvian earth.
The message for us, then, is that in order to obtain optimal health, fresh air is crucial. We should seek to do all that we can in order to breathe the cleanest and freshest air possible.
A person carries about two quarts of oxygen in the blood, lungs, and body tissues at any given time. Every cell in our bodies requires air in order to work, and when that supply is cut off, life cannot exist. Indeed, brain cells deprived of oxygen for more than four minutes begin to die, and the person will, as well.

How often do you take advantage of fresh air? What changes can you make that would give you more access to it? Sometimes it would take nothing more than opening a window.

WEDNESDAY

May 19

Bad Air, Good Air
One of the great challenges that many people face, especially those living in cities, is that the air often is dirty and polluted. Other factors working against fresh air include tobacco smoke, especially when it is recirculated in office buildings. Breathing dirty air can lead to numerous health problems, including migraine headaches, nausea, vomiting, and eye and respiratory ailments. In some parts of the world, millions of people, especially children, suffer life-threatening illnesses from breathing bad air, often from poorly ventilated cooking facilities.
In contrast, good clean air usually may be found in abundance in natural outdoor environments, especially around evergreen trees, green plants in mountains and forests, near moving waters such as oceans, lakes, and waterfalls, and after rain. It is estimated that the algae in the ocean provides almost 90 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere, with the rest coming from plants. Live plants in your own home can help to clean the air there and remove carbon dioxide.
How important, then, that we do our best to breathe clean air. Exercise outside, as opposed to indoors, especially in the morning, if possible. In addition, especially for those who work inside, it is important to be able to take regular intervals or breaks in order to get outside and breathe fresh air, again if possible. After just a few moments outside, a person often will feel refreshed and reinvigorated. It’s so much better to sleep at night with a window open, even just a little, so that we can enjoy the benefits of fresh air while sleeping.
“In order to have good blood, we must breathe well. Full, deep inspirations of pure air, which fill the lungs with oxygen, purify the blood. They impart to it a bright color and send it, a life-giving current, to every part of the body. Good respiration soothes the nerves, stimulates the appetite, and aids digestion. And it induces sound, refreshing sleep.
“The lungs should be allowed the greatest freedom possible. Their capacity is developed by free action; it diminishes if they are cramped and compressed. Ill effects follow the practice so common, especially in sedentary pursuits, of stooping at one’s work. In this position it is impossible to breathe deeply. Superficial breathing soon becomes a habit, and the lungs lose their power to expand.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Health and Healing, pp. 151, 152.
Our personal situations vary; some folk have a lifestyle and situation in which about all they ever breathe is fresh, clean air; others, due to where they live and work, might find fresh air a precious commodity that they covet as much as a thirsty person does water.
Whatever your situation, how important it is for the best health to take advantage of fresh air when you can get it.
Read Genesis 1:26. What does this imply about our responsibility to the created world we have been given?

THURSDAY

May 20

The Atmosphere of Heaven
The study so far this week has emphasized the physical properties of the atmosphere that God created for His family on earth.
We use the word atmosphere to describe not only the physical environment of air that surrounds us, but also the attitudes, feelings, emotions, support, and affirmation of those around us, which create an atmosphere that may be positive or negative.
“Every soul is surrounded by an atmosphere of its own— an atmosphere, it may be, charged with the life-giving power of faith, courage, and hope, and sweet with the fragrance of love. Or it may be heavy and chill with the gloom of discontent and selfishness, or poisonous with the deadly taint of cherished sin. By the atmosphere surrounding us, every person with whom we come in contact is consciously or unconsciously affected.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 339.
One may thrive or die, depending upon the nature of such atmospheres. Let us now consider the atmosphere of heaven—a spiritual atmosphere of praise and joy—and study the effect it can have on the lives of believers here and now on earth.
What can you learn about the atmosphere of heaven from these texts? Job 38:6, 7; Pss. 103:20–22; 148:2; Luke 15:7; Rev. 21:4.

The atmosphere in heaven is clearly one of joy and praise to God. Several of the texts above call for the angelic host to praise God. It is a rich experience to see in the mind’s eye these mighty beings of light gathered about the throne of God in praise for His love, mercy, and grace. Heaven must be a place where joy, praise, and happiness reign.
The good news is that we may, by accepting the abiding presence of Christ and the Father in our lives (John 14:23), begin to experience these things now. We are called to action, to breathe the pure air of heaven now and be surrounded by the atmosphere of the heavenly home as we complete our sojourn on this earth.

What kind of atmosphere surrounds you? That is, your words, your demeanor, your attitudes; are they more reflective of the lowlands of earth or of the promises of heaven? What does your answer tell you about yourself and your need to change?

FRIDAY

May 21

Further Study:

Read Ellen G. White, “Not Judging, but Doing,” pp. 123–152, in Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing; “Growing Up Into Christ,” pp. 67–75, in Steps to Christ; “General Hygiene,” pp. 151–154, in The Ministry of Health and Healing.
“God calls upon His people to arise and come out of the chilling, frosty atmosphere in which they have been living, to shake off the impressions and ideas that have frozen up the impulses of love and held them in selfish inactivity. He bids them come up from their low, earthly level and breathe in the clear, sunny atmosphere of heaven.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 607.
“Those with whom Christ dwells will be surrounded with a divine atmosphere. Their white robes of purity will be fragrant with perfume from the garden of the Lord.”—Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 135.
“Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have constant communion with heaven.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 99.

Discussion Questions:

What is the general quality of the air where you live? If you live in the country, it is probably very good, and you can breath plenty of it. If in the city, what challenges do you face?      The question of air pollution is a serious one. What can you do as an individual, even on a very small scale, that could help with this problem? What are our obligations as a church to try to help alleviate this problem?
  “In fellowship with God, with Christ, and with holy angels, they are surrounded with a heavenly atmosphere, an atmosphere that brings health to the body, vigor to the intellect, and joy to the soul.”—Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 513. How can the class assist each other in realizing this goal?
  Do you know people who have been suffering some sort of health problems due to poor air quality? If so, how could you help? Why not help them spend some time in a place where the air is pure and fresh?
  Bring a health professional to class who could explain in more detail the benefits of fresh air.

		I N S I D E Story
		My Brother's Wish Ashika lives in Fiji. She grew up in an eastern Indian home where many gods were worshiped. Her parents had divorced, and Ashika and her brother lived with their grandparents. Then her father married a Seventh-day Adventist woman, and Ashika and her brother were introduced to Christ. Soon the brother and sister gave their hearts to God and were baptized into the Adventist Church. Their choice to follow Christ caused a deep rift within their extended family, but the teenagers were deeply devoted to God. Then Ashika's brother became sick and was diagnosed with bone cancer. Ashika stayed with her brother in the hospital whenever she could. One day he told her, "I won't live to become a pastor, Ashika. You must take my place." Ashika was devastated by her brother's death. Her brother's last wish troubled her, for she had planned to become a teacher. She wasn't interested in studying theology. What can I—an Indian woman—do with a theology degree? she wondered. Her parents encouraged her to apply to study theology at Fulton College, so she did. She hoped that the school of theology wouldn't accept her. But her parents were praying that God's will would be done in her life. When she learned that she had been accepted into the theology department, she realized that this was God's will. She surrendered to God. "Now I know that this wasn't just my brother's wish; this is God's calling," she says. "I rest in God's will and wait for Him to show me His plan." Ashika's decision to study theology in Fiji means stepping out against a culture in which women are not encouraged to be leaders in the church. But she is willing to follow the path God is laying for her. She is certain that He will guide her all the way. Roughly half the population of Fiji is a Indian; only a handful are Christians. Pray for this largely unreached population. And remember that your mission offerings support evangelism in Fiji and around the world.

Faith and Healing Bible Study lessons

2010-05-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

LESSON 6

*May 1 - 7

Faith and Healing weekly Bible Study lessons


	We pray that you may be blessed through our resources here and that you will, in turn, be a blessing to your family, friends and neighbors.

Study Helps

Study Helps for this quarter are now available.

SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study:

Gen. 3:8–10; Ps. 118:6; Prov. 17:22; Matt. 6:27-34; Heb. 13:6; 1 John 4:18.

Memory Text:

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3, NIV).

Convinced that he was the victim of an evil spell, a patient came to a physician with symptoms unrelated to any known disease or syndrome. The doctor placed before the patient two glass tubes, one filled with hydrogen peroxide, the other with plain water, though both looked identical. He then drew blood from the patient and mixed it with the hydrogen peroxide. The mixture immediately started to bubble and fizz, which the patient believed was the work of the evil spell. The doctor then gave the patient a simple saline injection, telling him that this would break the spell. After a while, he then drew blood from the patient and mixed it with the plain water in the other glass. There was no bubbling or fizzing, “proof” that the spell was broken. The patient left feeling cured, so much so that he brought all his friends to the doctor to be “cured,” as well.
This story shows, indeed, how powerful an influence our mind has on our bodies, the subject for this week’s lesson.

The Week at a Glance:

Faith and trust in the Lord’s goodness can have very positive health effects.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 8.

SUNDAY

May 2

The Fear Factor
For a few seasons, TV watchers were subjected to a show called “The Fear Factor,” in which contestants would be placed in various fearful situations: from sitting in a pit filled with scorpions or rats to walking through a building on fire—all in order to see how well they would deal with fear.
Of course, one doesn’t need to manufacture fear. Life itself, in this fallen world, is full of things that cause us to be afraid. A seventeenth-century British political philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, wrote that fear was the prime and motivating factor in all human life and that humans created governments for the main purpose of protecting us against those who would do us harm. No matter who we are, where we live, how good and safe we might feel, we all face things that cause us to fear.
Fear, though, in and of itself, isn’t always bad.
What are ways in which fear can help protect us? What are things, in fact, that we should be afraid of?

Fear is a natural and necessary emotion that helps humans cope with danger and helps them survive. This emotion and instinct is necessary in a world subject to accidents, crime, disease, terrorism, and war.
Fear is a natural and necessary emotion that helps humans cope with danger and helps them survive. This emotion and instinct is necessary in a What can we learn about fear from the Bible’s first mention of it? Gen. 3:8–10.

Sure, there are many things to make us afraid in this world. So often, though, we find ourselves fearing things that never come to pass. Fear is a very stressful emotion, one that can take a powerful physical toll on our bodies. In other words, fear is not merely limited to what it does to our minds; it can have a very deleterious effect on our physical health, as well. No matter who we are, where we live, what challenges we face, fear is an ever-present part of our lives. The question for us, then, should be, How are we to deal with it?

What are your fears? How have they affected your life? How can you better take advantage of the promises of God in dealing with things that make you afraid?

MONDAY

May 3

A Man Said to the Universe

A man said to the universe:

“Sir I exist!”

“However,” replied the universe,

“The fact has not created in me

A sense of obligation.”—Stephen Crane

Read the poem above. What is the message there? How should we, as Adventist Christians, differ in our view of our place in the universe from the idea presented here? What is the main reason for that difference?

Think for a moment: suppose there were no God, no Creator, no Divine Power who created us. Suppose, instead, we are what many folk claim we are: highly advanced apes, nothing more; just beings who arose amid a godless universe that cares nothing about us at all. Suppose we were at the mercy of mindless forces that have no interest or concern about us or our well-being? What kind of world would that be?
In contrast, that is not what we as Christians believe. We believe, instead, that God created us, sustains us, and cares for us. Because of this, we of all people should have reasons to be able to deal with the fears and trials that beset all humanity.
Look up the following texts. What hope and comfort, even amid fearful times, can you draw from these texts? Ps. 118:6; Prov. 3:5, 6; Luke 12:6, 7; Rom. 8:38, 39; Heb. 13:6; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:18.

There is no question, even as Christians who believe in the existence of God, that we face a scary world out there, a world where anything can happen. With our knowledge of God, however, we have a context, a background, to help us
better understand the world as a whole and our place in it.
And thus, ideally, we can have hope and comfort even amid the most trying times. This does not mean we do not face bad things, or things that can cause us to fear. It means, instead, that we have a firm foundation upon which to meet and deal with those fears.

TUESDAY

May 4

The Power of Faith
“A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Prov. 17:22, NKJV). What does this text tell us about the link between the mind and the body?

A young child lay dying in a hospital bed when his teacher visited him and gave him some schoolwork to do. “Here, Michael,” he said, “are lessons on verbs and adverbs. Do the best you can.” The teacher, though, could not help but sense the futility of it all, because the child seemed so lethargic, so empty, so resigned to death. Yet, right after that, the child had a remarkable turnaround. Before the prognosis was not good, when it was not expected that he would live, everything changed, and he now seemed well on his way to recovery. When asked about what happened, about why the schoolwork seemed to have changed him so much, he replied: “They wouldn’t give a dying boy work on adverbs and verbs, would they?”
No question, the link between our mind, our attitude, and our bodies is very powerful. Though science does not fully understand how that link works, it knows that the link is there, and it can make a world of difference in our overall health.
And here is where faith in God, and trust in His love and His goodness can make such a difference. How much easier to be calmer and less stressed when you know the reality of God’s love and His care for you! Studies from around the world have shown that religious faith brings with it clear health benefits, that those who believe in God tend to live longer, to suffer less depression, and to deal better emotionally with traumatic events. And while we certainly can’t rule out the supernatural and miraculous power of God to bring healing in our lives, that is not necessarily what is always involved here. Instead, the peace, the assurance, the hope that faith gives believers no doubt can bring about mental attitudes that will impact our overall health. A merry heart can, indeed, be like medicine—even better, because so often medicine can come with deleterious side effects.

Read Matthew 6:27–34. What is Jesus saying to us here? How can you apply these words to whatever is causing you fear and worry now? Are any of those fears too great for the Lord to handle? Is anyone beyond the loving reach of God? How can you learn to surrender these fears to the Lord and have the peace that He promises?

WEDNESDAY

May 5

Stressing Out
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13, NKJV). How can you learn to better claim these promises? What attitudes or actions are holding you back?

One of the greatest health challenges we all face has to do with stress; it does not have to be with major traumas in life but with life in general, with the daily pressures that we so often face.
Doctors report that up to 90 percent of patients they see come with stress-related complaints. Science has shown that when we are stressed, we release certain hormones that can affect various organs in our bodies. Over long periods of time, the organs can be weakened by these hormones, making them more susceptible to disease. Stress, for instance, can release adrenaline, which causes the heart to beat faster and more powerfully, leading to palpitations. Some stress hormones cause the blood vessels to constrict, causing hypertension. Stress can induce shallow and rapid breathing, even hyperventilation. Stress can result in the diversion of blood from the stomach, causing digestive problems. (Who has not felt what fear, anxiety, and worry can do to the stomach?) Stress can cause an increase in blood glucose, which in some people can lead to diabetes. Stress also is known to have a negative impact on our sleep, which in turn can have a negative impact on our overall health. Stress has been shown, too, to affect negatively our immune system, our body’s front-line defense against disease.
The list can go on and on. And so the point should be clear. We need to learn to handle stress. Here is where faith in God can have such an important role, because knowing and experiencing for yourself the reality of God’s love can have such a calming effect, greatly reducing stress and the negative health consequences that often follow it.

Just being religious, in and of itself, is not the answer. What is most important is having a personal relationship with Jesus, knowing for yourself His love and care. This can be done through daily reading of the Word, through prayer, through talking to the Lord as if with a friend, through contemplating His character as revealed in nature and Scripture. How much time do you spend getting to know the Lord for yourself? Might you need, perhaps, to spend a little more time with your Lord and Maker?

THURSDAY

May 6

Faith and Miraculous Healing
Even a superficial reading of the Gospels shows that much of Jesus’ ministry involved miraculous healing: the sick, the blind, the dying, even the dead all were healed through the supernatural power of the Lord. In many cases, too, faith is treated as a prerequisite to the healing itself (Matt. 9:2, 22, 28, 29; 15:28).
In contrast, in some cases, disbelief was a deterrent to healing, as in Nazareth (Matt. 13:58; Mark 6:5,6). In one case when the disciples were unable to perform a healing, Jesus said it was because of their unbelief (Matt. 17:14–20).
The fact, however, that faith is such an important component in these miraculous healings has led some to believe that if an attempt at healing through prayer fails, it is because of a lack of faith on the part of the one who is sick. Yet, this is a very superficial and false understanding of faith and healing.
Read the following texts in which Jesus miraculously healed people. What do the texts say about the faith of those who were healed? What lessons can we take from these examples? Matt. 12:9–13, Luke 13:11–13, 14:2–4, 22:47–52.

In none of these texts is there any mention of faith on the part of those who were healed. This is not to diminish the role of faith in the question of miraculous healing; it is just to show that expressed faith is not always a crucial component.
The fact is that we do not understand why in some cases we can see what is obviously a supernatural intervention of the Lord for healing. In other cases, healing comes from natural processes, in which we justifiably can believe that the hand of the Lord is working in behalf of the sick through these means. And there always are those cases where, for reasons we do not understand, healing does not come as we have prayed for and would wish for. The good news for us as Adventist Christians, however, is that even in these latter cases, we still can trust in the love, mercy, and goodness of God, even amid the inexplicable tragedies that always are part of a fallen world.

How can we learn to trust in the Lord and in His love for us even when prayers for health and healing have not come as we would have liked?

FRIDAY

May 7

Further Study:

“In true science there can be nothing contrary to the teaching of the word of God, for both have the same Author. A correct understanding of both will always prove them to be in harmony.” In light of this understanding, there should be no hesitation in seeking God’s help through true science—which is a revelation of His natural laws.—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 258. See also The Ministry of Healing, p. 462 and Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, vol. 12, pp. 751-783.
The sympathy which exists between the mind and the body is very great. When one is affected, the other responds. The condition of the mind has much to do with the health of the physical system. If the mind is free and happy, under a consciousness of right doing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to others, it will create a cheerfulness that will react upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood and a toning up of the entire body. The blessing of God is a healer, and those who are abundant in benefiting others will realize that wondrous blessing in their hearts and lives.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, pp. 60, 61; Counsels on Stewardship, pp. 345, 346.
“We all desire immediate and direct answers to our prayers, and are tempted to become discouraged when the answer is delayed or comes in an unlooked-for form. But God is too wise and good to answer our prayers always at just the time and in just the manner we desire. He will do more and better for us than to accomplish all our wishes. And because we can trust His wisdom and love, we should not ask Him to concede to our will, but should seek to enter into and accomplish His purpose. Our desires and interests should be lost in His will. These experiences that test faith are for our benefit. By them it is made manifest whether our faith is true and sincere, resting on the word of God alone, or whether depending on circumstances, it is uncertain and changeable. Faith is strengthened by exercise. We must let patience have its perfect work, remembering that there are precious promises in the Scriptures for those who wait upon the Lord.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, pp. 230, 231.

Discussion Questions:

What is the role of medical science in the healing of the Christian? Does our seeking of health and healing from medical science mean we don’t have faith in God? Discuss your answers with your class. What has been your own personal experience regarding the link between your attitudes and emotions and your physical health? What have you learned from your own experience that you could, if willing, share with others that could help them better use the power of the mind to benefit the body?
Do you know someone in your church who is sick and in need of healing? How can you, either as an individual or as part of a class, help that person in the healing process?

		I N S I D E Story
		A Thousand Ways by ERIC KOFI BOADI-AGYEKUM I'm from Ghana, West Africa. I wanted to study in a university, but I didn't know which one. Someone told me about Valley View University (VVU), a Seventh-day Adventist school. I had never heard of the school or of Seventh-day Adventists before, but after I asked a lot of questions, I decided to go see the school. When I walked onto the campus I was amazed. Everyone was so friendly, so helpful, that I wanted to be a part of this institution. I called my brothers, who lived abroad, and they encouraged me to apply. They even promised to help sponsor me. So I applied. But on the day that I received my acceptance letter from VVU, my brothers told me that they couldn't help me. I was so disappointed. I prayed and fasted about this decision, and I was sure that God wanted me at VVU. Then suddenly I had no way to pay my school fees. I talked to my church, and the members agreed to help me the first year. So I enrolled. I come from a charismatic home, and the worship style I knew was far different from the worship services at Valley View. But I felt God's presence in the school's worships, and I realized what a deeply spiritual school this was. When help from my home church ran out, I had to earn my own school fees, a difficult thing in Africa. I was not a baptized Seventh-day Adventist, but I applied to be a student literature evangelist to earn a scholarship. I was accepted and sent to Nigeria to work. I loved working for God and being a part of the action. I didn't earn enough to pay all my school fees that summer, but God led me to a government worker who helped me. The next summer I returned to Nigeria to canvass. I earned half my school fees, and I feared that I would have to drop out of school. But again God provided in small ways, and I could stay. That semester I gave my life totally to God and was baptized. When I took my stand for Christ, the people who helped me withdrew their support. When I thought I had exhausted every means of paying my school fees, I learned that God has a thousand ways to provide. I've learned the importance of trusting Him for everything, for with Christ standing beside me, Satan cannot prevail. Your mission offerings make Christian education possible. Because of you, I found Christ.

The Fruit of the Spirit Is Truth

2010-03-20T11:36:00.000-04:00

LESSON 12

*March 13 - 19

The Fruit of the Spirit Is Truth
SABBATH AFTERNOON this is study guide to help anyone understand gods truths,please keep open mind thank you Mr.Shatoctga Gunter happy sabbathkeeping

SABBATH AFTERNOON

This Week's Study:

2 Chron. 25:2; Ps. 51:17; Jer. 29:13; John 7:16, 17; 14:6; 17:3; Heb. 5:14.

Memory Text:

"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” " (Jeremiah 29:13, NKJV).

The Greek word for truth, aletheia, has two meanings. One is objective truth (actual facts, verity, or principle), and the other is subjective truth (truth as a personal excellence—a candor of mind that is free from affectation, pretense, dissimulation, falsehood, and deceit). Truth, then, is what we know, the objective “facts on the ground,” as it were. But there’s the subjective element of truth, as well, which entails how we individually respond to what we learn. When both of these are real in our lives, we will manifest truth as a fruit of the Spirit. That’s why both elements are crucial to the Christian walk. We need to know the basic objective truth as it is found in Jesus, and then we need the personal subjective experience of having our lives changed by that truth.
Look at Judas. He was with Jesus for more than three and a half years. Judas had all sorts of truth revealed to him. He saw things the rest of us only can read about. And yet, in the end, look what good it did him.
May we all take heed.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 20.

SUNDAY

March 14

“I Am . . . The Truth”
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6, NKJV) Write out a short paragraph explaining what you think this text means.

On one level, this text radically challenges the relativism (the idea that truth is only subjective and personal) so current in much of the world today. Jesus’ words leave no ambiguity: There’s none of this “Each finds his own path to God,” and so forth. With these words, Jesus establishes the reality of objective truth. Here is Truth. Period. Few verses in the whole Bible are more contrary to the sentiment of relativism than these.
At the same time, there’s a whole other element, as well. The Truth is a Person. You come to truth through a relationship with a Person. This is a radically different idea from the notion of truth being only a group of facts. Jesus, a human being, is the Truth; thus, if you want to know truth, you have to know Jesus.
How does what’s written above help us understand Christ’s words in John 17:3?

We have to be careful, however, with this notion that all our religion means is having a relationship with God. Everyone lives in a relationship with God, one way or another. Folk who deny His existence live in relationship with God. Pilate had a relationship with Jesus; so did Caiaphas. Even the devil has a relationship with Jesus—he hates Him. The gospel is not a call to have a relationship with Jesus but to make a commitment to Him. Nicodemus, for instance, had a relationship with Jesus, one in which he eventually committed his life and all that he had to Christ. That’s the kind we all need!

No question, you have a relationship with Jesus. The question you need to ask yourself is, What kind do you have? And, How can you make it better?

MONDAY

March 15

The Spirit and Truth
“ ‘However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth’ ” (John 16:13, NJKV).
In view of what we learned yesterday, it is obvious that the work of the Holy Spirit is to point us to Christ and to help us abide in Him. “ ‘But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me’ " (John 15:26, NKJV).
Look at this powerful insight: “The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 671, 672.
What emphasis is Ellen G. White placing on the work of the Holy Spirit here?

What we see in the work of the Holy Spirit is both the objective and subjective aspect of Truth. The Spirit comes, and He testifies of Jesus and reproves “ ‘the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment’ ” (John 16:8). These are hard facts about the world, about God, about reality. At the same time, the work of the Holy Spirit doesn’t end simply with teaching us these truths. Our lives need to be changed by our understanding of them. These objective and eternal truths will do us no good unless our lives are transformed by them, and part of that process (perhaps even the most important part) is for us, as she wrote, to be broken on the Rock (see Ps. 51:17).

How were you broken (or were you ever)? What happened? What changes came? What did you learn about life, about suffering, about God from that experience? What other lessons might you still need to learn?

TUESDAY

March 16

“With All Your Heart”
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13, NKJV).
“With all your heart” means “sincerely,” true in word and act. The word sincere comes from two Latin words—sine (without) and cera (wax). Apparently in the past, less-than- honest sculptors would secretly fix the flaws and cracks in their work by plugging them with wax, which, of course, doesn’t hold. Hence, sincerity means being real and genuine, not artificial. It means speaking or acting “from the heart” and meaning it.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:2. What is that text saying? What important point is being made about what’s inside us?

The Hebrew word translated in some versions as “perfect” comes from the root slm (from which shalom is derived). It means, basically, “full,” “complete,” or “at peace.” Thus, we have here a king who did the right thing but not with a heart that was in the right place. He wasn’t sincere in his actions. This raises the possibility that a person could be doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Though we may be able to fool some of the people some of the time, and ourselves all the time, we can't fool God any of the time. How interesting that when David prayed for his son, the first thing he wanted him to have was “a perfect heart” (1 Chron. 29:19, NASB).
Sincerity is important because the one who isn’t sincere, the one whose heart isn’t committed to what’s true and right, is someone with a divided heart. There is surely something else pulling on such a person, and as long as he or she doesn’t let go, as long as this person still allows those other allegiances a place, the heart cannot be slm, complete or perfect before God. The key, then, is complete surrender to the Lord, a complete letting go of self. It’s not easy; in a real sense, to have that happen you need to be, as we saw yesterday, broken on the Rock.

How sincere are you in your faith? We’re not talking about occasional doubts, or having deep unanswered questions (everyone at times has doubts, and all have deep unanswered questions), nor are we talking about struggling with sin. Instead, we’re talking about your heart. Is it fully committed to God, “complete” before Him, or is it divided between God and something of the world? If it is the latter, what choices must you make?

WEDNESDAY

March 17

A Conscience Seared
Last week we saw how Jesus had sharp words for the fake “righteousness” of the scribes and the Pharisees (see Matt. 23:27), calling them “hypocrites.” The word hypocrite in the original language (hupokrites) means “actor.” Jesus was letting them know that He could discern their inner feelings and secret sins. It was as though He were telling them, “You act one way but inside you are another, as though you were acting out in a play. Cannot you be real?” Another time Jesus said, “ ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me” ’ ” (Mark 7:6, NKJV). His meaning is obvious.
Read 1 Timothy 4:2 and Titus 1:15. What important point is Paul talking about here? Our conscience is the place where the Holy Spirit makes contact with us. What can happen to us if we constantly are doing wrong?

No question, the more we continue in evil, and the more we do what we know is wrong, the more defiled our conscience becomes and the further from the Truth we get. Again, you can have more than enough head knowledge to be saved. The final fires will, unfortunately, have way too many folks who knew more than enough objective truths to be saved. But, as we are saying, objective truth alone is not a fruit of the Spirit. Truth lived out in our life, that’s the fruit we need to bear.
Read Hebrews 5:14 and John 7:16, 17. How do these texts help us better understand the idea of truth as a fruit of the Spirit?

What’s your own experience of a “seared conscience”? How long did it take until the act that had, at first, seared your conscience barely touched it at all? Why did that happen, and why is it so spiritually dangerous?

THURSDAY

March 18

Walking in the Truth
"I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father” (2 John 4, NKJV). “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6, NKJV). What important point is being made in both these texts regarding what it means to have a saving relationship with Jesus?

Truth, as a fruit of the Spirit, isn’t just what we know—it’s what we do. Living in God’s light means more than just knowledge. Look at how John explains what walking in darkness is like: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9–11).
Thus, walking in the light, walking in the truth, is more than just keeping the Ten Commandments, at least according to the letter of the law. In the end, when all is said and done, isn’t living in the truth basically manifested by how we deal with people and how we treat them? If we are sharp, cross, unforgiving, vengeful, hateful, unsympathetic; if we treat people as means rather than as ends, if we are trampling upon others in an attempt to advance ourselves, then we are walking in darkness, no matter how strictly we keep the Sabbath, no matter how faithfully we adhere to the health message, no matter how much we profess faith in Jesus, pay tithe, and go to church. In one sense, it’s often a lot easier to learn correct doctrine and theology than it is to be kind, selfless, and giving to others, is it not?

Think about your interactions with folk in the past twenty-four hours. How have you treated them? What kind of words did you use? How comfortable would you be if your attitudes and actions toward them were made public (don’t worry, one day they will; see Matt. 10:26). What does your answer tell you about what changes you need to see made in your life?

FRIDAY

March 19

Further Study:

“It is not the length of time we labor but our willingness and fidelity in the work that makes it acceptable to God. In all our service a full surrender of self is demanded. The smallest duty done in sincerity and self-forgetfulness is more pleasing to God than the greatest work when marred with self-seeking. He looks to see how much of the spirit of Christ we cherish, and how much of the likeness of Christ our work reveals. He regards more the love and faithfulness with which we work than the amount we do.”—Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 402, emphasis supplied. “The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. ‘Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.’ By the life we live through the grace of Christ, the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun. They have Christ's joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They have the honor of being accepted for the Master's use; they are trusted to do His work in His name.”—Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 535.

Discussion Questions:

  Is there any sense at all in which truth could be relative; that is, it may not apply all the time to every situation? If not, why not? Are there certain truths, perhaps, that could be relative while others aren’t?    Dwell more on this idea of what it means to be sincere in your faith. However crucial sincerity is, why is that not enough? After all, folk who strap bombs to themselves and blow themselves up are, it would seem, sincere. What else is needed?
   Why is spending time in the Word so important if truth is more than head knowledge? What are ways in which we can learn to study our Bible so that the Truth in there can impact and change our lives for the better?
   How can you help someone whose conscience has been so hardened in sin that they don’t feel their need of help?
In class, discuss this question: What’s better, to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason?

The Fruit of the Spirit Is Righteousness

2010-03-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

SABBATH AFTERNOON this is study guide to help anyone understand gods truths,please keep open mind thank you Mr.Shatoctga Gunter happy sabbathkeeping

Read for This Week's Study:

Matt. 23:25-28, Rom. 3:28, 8:4, 10:3, Gal. 3:6, 1 John 2:3-6, 5:1-3.

Memory Text:

" 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled' " (Matthew 5:6, NKJV).

Last week we finished our study on nine branches of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23). The next two weeks we will study two more: "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth" (Eph. 5:9, NKJV). In this verse, Paul repeats the reference to "goodness" while he adds righteousness and truth. This week we look at what this "righteousness" is. We understand righteousness in two ways. First, there is the imputed righteousness of Christ, which is what Jesus has done for us, the righteousness that covers us and that is our title to heaven. Second, there is the imparted righteousness of Christ, which is what He does in us, through the Holy Spirit, to mold us into His image. Thus understood, righteousness has two inseparable components, even though it's all really one righteousness--the righteousness of Christ, without which we would have no hope of salvation.

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 13.

SUNDAY

March 7

The Necessity of Righteousness
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28). “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright”(Ps. 11:7, NKJV). “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves him who follows righteousness” (Prov. 15:9, NKJV). “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed”(1 Pet. 2:24, NKJV). “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”(Rom. 8:4, NKJV). “ ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ ”(Matt. 6:33, NKJV). “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him”(1 John 2:29, NKJV). Referring to the texts quoted above, respond to the following questions:
If we cannot be justified by the law, how then are we justified?

Although we know that God hates sin but loves sinners, what wrong conclusions must we avoid?

What does it mean: “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us”? Can we ever keep the law well enough to fulfill it? Or does Paul mean something else? If so, what?

How should our lives be changed when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?

What does it mean “to do righteousness”? Can we be righteous without doing righteousness? Justify your answer.

MONDAY

March 8

Do-It-Yourself Righteousness
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God”(Rom. 10:3, NKJV). What do you think Paul was talking about here? About whom is he talking, and how might these folk have tried to establish their “own righteousness”? Given human nature, why is that impossible anyway?
A “do-it-yourself” activity is one in which a person does or makes something (as in woodworking or home repair) without professional training or assistance. In its broadest sense it is an activity in which one does something oneself or on one’s own initiative. We sometimes refer to a particularly successful person as a self-made man or woman. According to the Bible, however, a “do-it-yourself” approach to true righteousness is impossible. There is nothing that we can do of ourselves, no matter how hard we try, to be righteous before God. Our righteousness is as “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). In fact, seeking to make yourself righteous often leads to the opposite result.
Read Matthew 5:20 and 23:25–28. How does Jesus here pinpoint the problem that comes from those who seek to make themselves righteous?

The crucial thing for Christians to understand is how utterly dependent they are upon Christ for their righteousness. What makes them holy before God is what Christ has done for them, not what they do. The moment someone loses sight of that truth, it’s so easy for self-righteousness to rise up, along with pride and inner corruption. The scribes and Pharisees were prime examples of how that happens. So concerned with their outward deeds of piety, they lost sight of what really matters.

In what ways might you be guilty of the same sin as the scribes and Pharisees? How might this trap be more subtle than we think?

TUESDAY

March 9

Christ Our Righteousness (Rom. 5:17)

Read Romans 5:17–19 and summarize in your own words what Paul is saying here. How are we condemned, and how do we become righteous?

If the righteousness of Jesus is a gift, how do we obtain it? Gal. 3:6, James 2:23.?

   In Romans 5:19, notice the emphasis on disobedience and on obedience. One man’s disobedience, Adam’s, led to all of us becoming sinners. This is basic biblical teaching. Adam’s sin brought the downfall of the human race. We’re all, each of us, every day of our lives, living with the results. No one is immune.
    The same verse, however, also talks about obedience. Whose obedience? Of course, the obedience of Christ, who alone has the righteousness needed for salvation, the righteousness given to all those who will “receive the abundance of grace” Indeed in that same verse Paul says that those who receive this grace get “the gift of righteousness.” Notice, it is a gift. As a gift it must be unearned and be undeserved. The moment it’s earned, or deserved, it’s no longer grace (Rom. 4:4).
   Yet, it’s not a blanket gift. The righteousness of Christ is’nt automatically bestowed on everyone (Rom. 5:17, NASB). Paul is clear, it comes to those who will receive it; that is, it is given to those who claim it by faith—such as Abraham, who believed God, and it was “accounted to him for righteousness”(Gal. 3:6).

Do you really understand what it means to be saved by faith? How well do you grasp the idea that it’s only the righteousness of Jesus, credited to you by faith, that allows you to stand righteous and justified before God? What can you do to better grasp this wonderful provision, the foundation of the gospel?

WEDNESDAY

March 10

Righteousness and Obedience (1 John 2:29)
Though we are covered by the righteousness of Christ, that righteousness must be revealed in our lives. Righteousness isn’t just a legal declaration. It also becomes a reality in the life of the person who has it.
How carefully we should heed John’s words: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7).
What might we be deceived about in regard to what it means to be righteous?

Righteousness is the fruit of the Spirit that is connected to obedience. To some people, obedience is inconsistent with salvation by faith. On occasion one might hear, “Now that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, won’t you accept Him as the Lord of your life?” The implication seems to be that our obedience to the will of God and our salvation are separate issues. That’s a radical misinterpretation of what salvation is. John wrote that living a righteous life is a verifiable indicator of those who have salvation.
Read 1 John 2:3–6. What’s John’s point there?

When the subject of obedience is raised, it is not unusual for someone to point out that we are not saved by works. While there can be no doubt that Lucifer’s obedience to the will of God did not put him into heaven, we must bear in mind that it was his disobedience that caused him to be expelled. The same can be said for Adam and Eve. Their obedience did not put them into the Garden of Eden, but it was their disobedience to the will of God that resulted in their being put out of the garden.
“Righteousness is right doing, and it is by their deeds that all will be judged. Our characters are revealed by what we do. The works show whether the faith is genuine.”—Ellen G. White,Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 312.

How well do you manifest the fruit of righteousness in your life? What practices might you need to give up that are hindering the fruit of righteousness in your life? (Be careful not to try to rationalize them away!)

THURSDAY

March 11

The Righteous Life
“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:1–3).
How does John tie in the love of God with the love other fellow believers have and with keeping the commandments? Why would he link all these together?

“The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely—because he is required to do so—will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer. This will lead us to do right because it is right—because right doing is pleasing to God.”—Ellen G. White,Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 97, 98, emphasis provided.
And what better way to inspire a desire to be loyal to God than through contemplation of His incredible sacrifice in our behalf on the cross? There’s no power in telling people that they have to keep the law. The power comes in pointing people to Jesus and to His substitutionary death in our behalf. The power comes from letting sinners know that their sins can be forgiven through Jesus, and they can stand perfect before God in the robe of Christ’s righteousness.
Love of God, and not the fear of hell and condemnation, should be the power that motivates our lives, and nothing will cause us to love God more than focusing on the Cross and the riches and promises that are ours through it.

Do you really love God? If so, how do you know? (Might you be deceiving yourself?) What do you do or say that reveals the reality of this love? In other words, what evidence is there that this love is real?

FRIDAY

March 12

Further Study:

“It is not enough for us to believe that Jesus is not an impostor, and that the religion of the Bible is no cunningly devised fable. We may believe that the name of Jesus is the only name under heaven whereby man may be saved, and yet we may not through faith make Him our personal Saviour. It is not enough to believe the theory of truth. It is not enough to make a profession of faith in Christ and have our names registered on the church roll. ‘He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.’ ‘Hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments.’ 1 John 3:24; 2:3. This is the genuine evidence of conversion. Whatever our profession, it amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 312, 313.

Discussion Questions:

  How can we avoid the trap of legalism, that of thinking that our works will save us or that of cheap grace, thinking that our works have nothing at all to do with our salvation? How do we strike the right balance here? Which ditch do you tend to lean more toward, cheap grace or legalism?    What is the inherent danger of having our lives driven by the desire to do good works? What can this lead to, and how can we avoid it?
   Think of a person you know who seems to be “righteous.” What is this person like? How does he or she act? How does he or she treat people? What does this person talk about? What can you learn from this person?
   We tend to think of righteousness in individual terms, which is correct. But is there not a community element, as well? Can our church community be “righteous”? If so, how? What would a “righteous” church community look like? How does yours compare with the ideal that you’ve come up with?
If salvation by faith means more than merely making a profession of faith in Christ and having our names registered on the church roll, then what does it really mean? What is “faith” in the biblical sense of the term?