Christ and His Law

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                                                                                                                                                                    CHRIST AND HIS LAW
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                                                 INDIA
                                                                                                                                                      MYANMAR

                                                                                   UNION           CHURCHES COMPANIES MEMBERSHIP POPULATION
                                                                                   East-Central India 2,516         1,593     950,956 131,852,478
                                                                                   Northeast India      192           320      49,611 46,821,310
                                                                                   Northern India       445         1,402     152,401 723,915,049
                                                                     2             South-Central India 250            212      72,848 65,402,195
                                                                                   Southeast India      428           822     119,872 76,284,925
                                                                                   Southwest India      227           101      36,169 34,865,298
                                                                                   Western India        232           507     143,099 32,021,552

                                                                                   TOTAL                4,324       5,069   1,534,593 1,291,678,000
                                                                                   Statistics as of December 2013

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  Laws in Christ’s                            Day



  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:1–5, Heb. 10:28, Deut.
  17:2–6, Lev. 1:1–9, Luke 14:1–6, James 2:8–12.

  I
      n most societies, various laws function at the same time. There can
      be general laws that apply to everyone and, simultaneously, local
      laws that prevail in one community but not in another.
    In New Testament times, when a person used the common word for
  “law” (nomos in Greek, lex in Latin, and Torah in Hebrew), he or she
  could have been referring to any one of a number of laws. Often the
  only indicator as to the exact law being discussed was the context of
  the conversation. Thus, as we study this quarter, we’ll always need to
  keep the immediate context in mind in order to understand best what
  law is being discussed.
    This week’s lesson investigates the various laws that functioned in
  the community during the time of Christ and the early church. We will
  study these various laws but only in the context of helping to set a
  foundation for the study of the law that will be the major focus of this
  quarter—God’s moral law, the Ten Commandments.

 Roman Law Read Luke 2:1–5. What lessons can we learn from the ways in which
 these two faithful followers of the Lord interacted with their politi-
 cal environment?
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   Since the time of the early republic, the Romans recognized how
 important written laws were for the governance of society. In fact,
 the system of constitutional law established by the Romans remains a
 foundation of the legal systems found in many of today’s democratic
 societies.
   For the most part, Rome allowed vassal kingdoms to maintain their
 own customs, but all subjects were expected to obey imperial and sena-
 torial laws. Obviously, this included Joseph and Mary.
   Roman law was concerned with order in society. As such, it not
 only addressed issues of government but also legislated behavior in
 the domestic arena. In addition to stipulating the procedures for select-
 ing people to public office, Roman law also dealt with things such as
 adultery and master/slave relationships. Many of the social codes are
 similar to the ones found in the Old Testament and other societies.
   All attempts to understand the culture in which the New Testament
 books were composed must take into account the fact that the Roman
 Empire formed the political backdrop for the world in which Jesus and
 the early church lived. Many things taking place in the New Testament,
 from the death of Jesus to the imprisonment of Paul, make much better
 sense when we understand whatever we can about the environment of
 their times. Of course, one doesn’t need to be a scholar of Roman his-
 tory in order to understand that which we need for salvation. However,
 when it is possible for us to obtain it, historical knowledge can indeed
 be helpful.

  Despite the amazing providences of Mary’s pregnancy and the
  obvious hand of the Lord in it, these two people still obeyed the
  law of the land, which required them to leave their home, even
  when Mary was quite far along in her pregnancy. Would it not
  have been better simply to have stayed home, considering the
  extraordinary circumstances? What might their actions say to us
  about how we should relate to civil law? (Think how easy it would
  have been for them to have justified not obeying.)
                                                                        7

 Mosaic Law: Civic
    Although the Jews were under Roman rule at the time of Jesus,
 they were granted authority over those issues that were unique to their
 customs and religion (see Acts 18:15). The legislative body responsible
 for administering Jewish law was called the Sanhedrin. Sometimes
 referred to as the council (John 11:47, Acts 5:27), the Sanhedrin con-
 sisted of 71 men selected from among the priests, elders, and rabbis
 and was presided over by the high priest. It served as a type of Supreme
 Court that dealt with Jewish customs, traditions, and laws.
    Jewish societal law was founded upon the civil codes revealed in
 the five books of Moses. Because Moses was the author of the first
 five biblical books, the laws are referred to as the law of Moses. When
 God originally gave the laws to Moses, He envisioned a state where He
 would be the head and the people would enforce His legal mandates.
 By the time of Jesus, the Jews were subject to Roman law. However,
 the Roman government allowed them to use Mosaic law in order to
 settle issues relating to their customs. Here is where the work of the
 Sanhedrin was especially important.
    The New Testament provides several examples of the Mosaic law
 being applied, or alluded to, in civic matters: Jewish men were still
 expected to pay the half shekel temple tax (Matt. 17:24–27, Exod.
 30:13); divorces were still being governed by the stipulations set forth
 by Moses (Matt. 19:7, Deut. 24:1–4); people still adhered to the law of
 levirate marriage, in which a widow was to marry her husband’s brother
 (Matt. 22:24, Deut. 25:5); boys were still circumcised on the eighth day
 (John 7:23, Lev. 12:3); and adulterers were to be punished by stoning
 (John 8:5; Deut. 22:23, 24).

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 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

  Read some of the civil legislation found in the early books of the
  Bible. Some of those laws do seem strange to us, don’t they? (See, for
  example, Deuteronomy 21.) Considering who the Author is of these
  laws, what should this tell us about how we must learn to trust the
  Lord in all things, especially those things we don’t fully understand?

 Mosaic Law: Ceremonial Read Leviticus 1:1–9, 2:14–16, 5:11–13. To what are these laws refer-
  ring? What was their purpose? What important truths were they
  meant to teach?
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    Besides the civil laws in ancient Israel, there was also what is often
 called the “ceremonial law.” This law centered around the sanctuary and
 its services, all of which, of course, were designed to teach the children
 of Israel the plan of salvation and point them to the coming Messiah.
 In the texts for today, twice it is mentioned that through these services,
 “atonement” would be made. In their own way, these laws were what
 has been deemed “miniprophecies” of Christ and His work of atone-
 ment for the sins of His people.
    “The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even after it was no longer
 to be observed, Paul presented it before the Jews in its true position and
 value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to
 the work of Christ; and the great apostle pronounces this law glorious,
 worthy of its divine Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary
 typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive
 generations. . . . Thus through age after age of darkness and apostasy
 faith was kept alive in the hearts of men until the time came for the
 advent of the promised Messiah.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and
 Prophets, p. 367.
    Though instituted by Jesus, the ceremonial system was meant to
 function only as a type, a symbol of a future reality—the coming of
 Jesus and His death and High Priestly ministry. Once He completed His
 work on earth, this old system—along with its sacrifices and rituals and
 feasts—no longer was needed (see Heb. 9:9–12). Though we no longer
 keep the ceremonial law today, by studying it we can garner insights
 into the plan of salvation.

  Central to the sanctuary service was the sacrifice of the animals,
  which pointed to the death of Jesus. Think what it means that our
  salvation could come only through His death on our behalf. What
  should this tell us about just how costly sin is?
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                                                                         9

 Rabbinic Law
   In addition to the Mosaic laws, Jews at the time of Jesus were also
 familiar with the law of the rabbis. The rabbis were the scholastic
 arm of the Pharisees, and they took the responsibility of ensuring that
 the Mosaic law remained relevant to the people. The rabbis counted
 613 laws in the five books of Moses (including 39 pertaining to the
 Sabbath), and they used these laws as the basis for their legislation.
 They supplemented these written laws with an oral law that consisted
 of the interpretations of leading rabbis.
   Oral law is known as halakah, which means “to walk.” The rabbis
 felt that if the people adhered to their numerous halakoth (plural of
 halakah), they would walk in the way of the 613 major laws. Although
 originating as oral law, the rabbinic halakoth were collated and
 recorded in book form. Some of the interpretations from Jesus’ day
 survive in commentaries known as Midrash, while others are recorded
 in a legal collection called Mishnah. Many religious Jews through the
 ages, and even today, seek to adhere strictly to these laws.

   Though it’s easy from our perspective today to deride many of these
 oral laws, especially when they were used as they were against Jesus,
 the fault exists more with the attitude of the leaders and not with these
 laws themselves. Though often kept very legalistically, halakoth were
 meant to be very spiritual, infusing a spiritual element into the most
 mundane of actions, giving them a religious significance.

  How can we learn to give even the most mundane tasks a religious
  significance?
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  _______________________________________________________ 10

 The Moral Law
   However much Roman law, Mosaic law, and rabbinic law impacted
 the lives of Jews living in first-century Israel, many people who fol-
 lowed the religion of Israel lived outside of Palestine and beyond the
 borders of the Roman Empire. Thus, many of these laws would not
 have played a big role in their lives.
   At the same time, however, anyone professing to be a follower of the
 God of Israel would have adhered to the Ten Commandments.
   “The Ten Commandments provide Israel with the moral framework
 for maintaining it [their relationship with God]. The metaphor that the
 Bible uses to express this relationship is covenant. While the metaphor
 comes from the sphere of international law, it is wrong to understand
 the commandments merely as a summary of Israel’s obligations toward
 God. . . . Israel’s obedience to the commandments was not a matter of
 submission to the divine will as much as it was a response to love.”
 —Leslie J. Hoppe, “Ten Commandments,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the
 Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000), p. 1285.
   The Ten Commandments surpassed any system of law known to
 Jews in the first century. Even the Pharisees, who had meticulously
 memorized the 613 Mosaic laws, recognized the importance of the
 Ten Commandments. The division of the Mishnah called Tamid
 (5:1) contains a rabbinic command to recite the Ten Commandments
 daily. It was believed that all the other laws were contained in the Ten
 Commandments. In fact, the Jewish philosopher Philo, who was a con-
 temporary of Jesus, wrote an entire book on the central place the Ten
 Commandments held among all biblical law.

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   Like their Jewish counterparts, the inspired writers of the New
 Testament recognized the purpose of the Ten Commandments for
 God’s people. Although some of the lessons for this quarter will dis-
 cuss the way in which Christ interacted with other systems of law in
 His day, the primary emphasis will be on His relationship to the Ten
 Commandments—what is often known as “the moral law.”
                                                                     11

   “If Adam had not transgressed the law of God, the ceremonial law
 would never have been instituted. The gospel of good news was first
 given to Adam in the declaration made to him that the seed of the woman
 should bruise the serpent’s head; and it was handed down through suc-
 cessive generations to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. The knowledge
 of God’s law, and the plan of salvation were imparted to Adam and
 Eve by Christ Himself. They carefully treasured the important lesson,
 and transmitted it by word of mouth, to their children, and children’s
 children. Thus the knowledge of God’s law was preserved.”—Ellen G.
 White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 230.

   How does the whole concept of good and evil impact the ques-
  tion of God’s existence? In other words, if there is no God, from
  where do the concepts of good and evil come? From where is the
  only place that they could come if no God existed?

   We often use the concept of “law” in different ways. We talk
  about the law of gravity, the law of motion. We talk about interna-
  tional law. We talk about the law of the land. We talk about tax law.
  What do all of these laws have in common? In what ways do they
  differ? What is the probable consequence of violating any of these
  laws? What are the benefits of cooperating with these laws? How
  do the principles of law help you to understand the purpose of the
  Ten Commandments as it relates to the life of believers?

   In class, go back to Wednesday’s lesson and deal with the issue
  of how we as a church need to be careful that we don’t make the
  same mistake that some of the leaders did by adding burdens to
  the law that were never meant to be there. Why is such a mistake
  easier to make than we might think, no matter how well-meaning
  we might be?

  Christ and the Law of
  Moses


  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:21–24; Exod. 13:2,
  12; Luke 2:41–52; Matt. 17:24–27; John 8:1–11; Deut. 22:23, 24.

  M
             any Christians have been raised on stories about Jesus’
             supposedly negative relationship to the Jewish religion, an
             unfortunate misconception that has only helped feed anti-
  Semitism through the centuries. Jesus spoke out against abuses of the
  religion, that’s true, but not against the religion itself. After all, He was
  the founder of it.
    Indeed, the Gospel accounts of His life and ministry show that Jesus
  was a faithful Jew fully immersed in Jewish culture from the moment
  of His birth to the final week of His life in human flesh.
    Like every loyal Jew in the first century, Jesus was subject to the
  Mosaic law. Raised in a home with loyal Jewish parents, He fully
  appreciated His rich earthly heritage, which was rooted in Divine
  providence. He knew that God Himself had inspired Moses to pen these
  laws, with the purpose of creating a society that reflected His will and
  served as a beacon to the nations. He adhered faithfully to the letter of
  the law. From circumcision to His visit to the temple to the feasts and to
  His attitude about taxes, Jesus remained steadfastly faithful to a system
  that, He knew, would over time be fulfilled through His death and His
  ministry in heaven.
    This week we’ll look at more of the laws that Jesus Himself kept.

 Circumcision and Dedication                             (Luke 2:21–24)

   God established His covenant with Abraham, saying that he would be
 the father of many nations (Gen. 17:4). When God made this covenant,
 the 99-year-old Abraham had only recently fathered Ishmael and had
 not yet seen the birth of his promised son, Isaac. Nonetheless, he was
 commanded to circumcise himself along with every male member of
 his household, and he was instructed to ensure that every son born into
 his household from that day forth be circumcised on the eighth day
 (Gen. 17:9–12). So important was this sign that the circumcision took
 place even if the eighth day fell on a Sabbath (Lev. 12:3, John 7:22).
   This truth gives us a better understanding of the earliest days of
 Jesus’ life. The Gospels do show that Joseph and Mary were chosen
 to be the earthly parents of Jesus at least in part because of their piety.
 Joseph is described as a “righteous man” (Matt. 1:19, NASB), and
 Mary is said to have “found favor with God” (Luke 1:30, NASB). When
 Jesus was eight days old, His parents held a naming and circumcision
 ceremony in the same manner as an untold number of Hebrew males
 had experienced in times past.
   Imagine, the spotless Son of God, now in human form, undergoing
 the very ritual that He Himself had instituted many centuries earlier!

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   The Bible is clear that Mary was a virgin when she was chosen to
 be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:27); so, Jesus was the first child that
 “opened her womb.” According to Exodus 13, every firstborn among
 the Israelites (whether animal or human) was to be dedicated to the
 Lord. The law also stipulated in Leviticus 12:2–5 that after the birth
 of a male child, the woman was ceremonially unclean for a total of 40
 days (80 for a female child). At the end of this period, she was required
 to show herself to the priest and offer a sacrifice. As pious Jews, Mary
 and Joseph meticulously fulfilled the obligations of the Mosaic law and
 ensured that the Son of God bore the marks of the covenant.



                                                                        15

 Jewish Feasts            (John 5:1)

   “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to
 Jerusalem” (John 5:1, NKJV).

   The first major festival period in the Jewish calendar year is
 the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which commences with
 Passover. The festival commemorates the deliverance of the Israelites
 from Egyptian slavery, when the angel of death passed over the homes
 of those who put the blood on their doorposts. The Gospels record
 three occasions when Jesus celebrated Passover (Luke 2:41–43, John
 2:13–23, Matt. 26:17–20).
   Fifty days after Passover came the feast of Shavuot, often referred
 to by its Greek name, Pentecost. Although the Scriptures don’t provide
 a reason for Pentecost, the rabbis believed that it commemorated the
 giving of the law to Moses. There is no record in the Gospels that Jesus
 celebrated Pentecost. However, before His ascension He counseled His
 disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts
 1:4, 5). This event actually occurred on the Day of Pentecost (Acts
 2:1–4).
   The final festival season in the Jewish calendar were the Feast of
 Booths (Tabernacles) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The
 Day of Atonement signifies the day on which sin was cleansed from the
 camp and the people were at one with God. Booths commemorates the
 time when Israel had to live in tents in the wilderness.
   In addition to the feasts of Moses’ laws, the Jews have two other
 festivals that commemorate God’s historical intervention. The first is
 Purim, which marks the deliverance of the Jewish people from geno-
 cide, when Esther appealed to the Persian king. The second is Hanukah,
 also known as the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22), which celebrates
 the victory of the Maccabeans over the Greeks in 164 b.c.
   Of course, the biblical feasts were done away with long ago, at least
 as far as Christians are concerned. They all met their fulfillment in
 Christ. However, we can learn a great deal through studying them and
 the messages that they contain, because all of them teach lessons about
 God’s saving grace and power to deliver.

  Though we no longer keep the feasts, what things can we do that
  help to keep before us the reality of God, what He has done for
  us, and what He asks of us?

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  _______________________________________________________ 16

  Jesus in the Temple
    The New Testament does not tell us too much about the childhood of
  Jesus. One account, though, that gives great insight is Luke 2:41–52,
  the story of Jesus and His parents’ visit to Jerusalem during the Feast of
  Passover. Read it over and then answer the following questions:

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________


   Read Luke 2:51. What does it mean that He was “subject” to
   them? How does this verse give us even more insight into the
   amazing condescension on the part of God for our salvation?
   What can this teach us about the need for submission in the right
   time and place?
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   _______________________________________________________
                                                                        17

 Taxes      (Matt. 17:24–27)

    As last week’s lesson noted, the law of Moses had both civic and
 ceremonial components. The ceremonial aspect means that the temple
 was at the center of Jewish religious life. In fact, by the first century,
 the temple was probably the only remaining structure that gave the Jews
 any sense of national identity.
    The temple that stood in Jerusalem was undergoing renovations dur-
 ing Jesus’ ministry. Herod the Great had started the grandiose project
 in about 20 b.c., and it would not be fully completed until a.d. 66.
 Recognizing how serious many Jews were about their faith, the Romans
 allowed the Jews to collect their own taxes in order to cover the costs
 involved with the maintenance of the temple. Every Jewish male over
 the age of 20 was to pay the half-shekel tax regardless of his economic
 status (Exod. 30:13, 38:26).

    It seems that the temple tax collectors traveled throughout the prov-
 inces to ensure that every male fulfilled his legal obligation. Peter’s
 initial response to the tax collectors gives the impression that Jesus
 regularly paid His taxes (Matt. 17:24, 25). However, as the Son of God,
 Jesus appears to question the appropriateness of having to pay taxes for
 the upkeep of His Father’s house.
    “If Jesus had paid the tribute without a protest, He would virtually
 have acknowledged the justice of the claim [that He was under obliga-
 tion to pay], and would thus have denied His divinity. But while He
 saw good to meet the demand, He denied the claim upon which it was
 based. In providing for the payment of the tribute He gave evidence
 of His divine character. It was made manifest that He was one with
 God, and therefore was not under tribute as a mere subject of the king-
 dom.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 434.
    Notwithstanding, Jesus chose to comply with the authorities and
 directed Peter to retrieve the tax from the mouth of the first fish that he
 caught. The shekel in the fish’s mouth was enough to cover the tax for
 both Jesus and Peter.

  Jesus paid His temple tax even though He knew that the mag-
  nificent structure would soon be destroyed (Matt. 24:1, 2). What
  should this tell us about our obligations to be faithful in our tithes
  and offerings, regardless of whatever problems we believe exist?
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  _______________________________________________________ 18

 Law Enforcement (Matt. 5:17–20)
   As we have seen, Jesus was a faithful citizen who fulfilled His
 responsibilities as a Jewish male, even when His life was in danger
 (see, for example, John 7:1, 25, 26; 10:31). In fact, Jesus makes it clear
 that it was not His purpose to abolish “ ‘the Law or the Prophets’ ” (Matt.
 5:17–20, NKJV).

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Some of the Pharisees were always trying to expose Jesus as a law-
 breaker (see, for example, John 8:6). When they present Him with the
 woman who was caught in the act of adultery, they pose this ques-
 tion: Moses says she should be stoned; what do You say? Interestingly
 enough, Jesus does not directly respond to their inquiry. In fact, He
 affirms the law of Moses with His response, “ ‘He who is without sin
 among you, let him throw a stone at her first’ ” (John 8:7, NKJV). He
 isn’t saying that she shouldn’t be stoned; He simply forces these men
 to see their own violations of the law. Even the woman’s release is
 in harmony with the law of Moses, because there is none to point an
 accusing finger, and at least two witnesses are needed to administer
 justice (Deut. 17:6).
    In the incident concerning divorce and remarriage, Jesus appears
 to contradict the law of Moses with His insistence that there were
 originally no grounds for divorce (Matt. 19:4–6). When the Pharisees
 point to Moses’ commandment in Deuteronomy 24:1–4, Jesus places
 everything in perspective. Nowhere does Moses command that divorce
 should take place. However, because of the people’s obstinacy, Moses
 made an allowance for divorce (Matt. 19:8). Thus, we see that even
 when Jesus critiques a Mosaic law, He does not set it aside. Jesus was a
 faithful Jew in every way, adhering to the laws of Moses.

  How do we learn to balance justice and grace for those who,
  like ourselves, fall into sin? If we are going to err, as we as fallen
  beings inevitably do, what side is it better to err on, and why?
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                                                                        19

    “Three times a year the Jews were required to assemble at Jerusalem
 for religious purposes. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, Israel’s invis-
 ible Leader had given the directions in regard to these gatherings.
 During the captivity of the Jews, they could not be observed; but when
 the people were restored to their own land, the observance of these
 memorials was once more begun. It was God’s design that these anni-
 versaries should call Him to the minds of the people.”—Ellen G. White,
 The Desire of Ages, p. 447.
    “It was natural for the parents of Jesus to look upon Him as their own
 child. He was daily with them, His life in many respects was like that
 of other children, and it was difficult for them to realize that He was
 the Son of God. They were in danger of failing to appreciate the bless-
 ing granted them in the presence of the world’s Redeemer. The grief
 of their separation from Him, and the gentle reproof which His words
 conveyed, were designed to impress them with the sacredness of their
 trust.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 81.

   Try to put yourself in the position of Joseph and Mary. Is it
  any wonder that they didn’t fully understand all that was involved
  with Jesus? Are there not a lot of things about Jesus that we don’t
  understand either? How can we learn to trust and obey, despite
  the many things that we don’t understand?

   What would you say to a Christian who argues that we are to
  keep the feasts? (Hint: You might start by asking, “How do you
  intend to keep them, given that the feasts all centered around the
  temple, which has long been destroyed, and the shedding of blood,
  which has stopped?”)

  Christ and Religious
  Tradition


  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 23:1–7, Matt. 15:1–6,
  Isa. 29:13, Matt. 5:17–20, Rom. 10:3.

  J
      ohn Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, suggested
      that one’s theology is influenced by four factors: faith, reason,
      Scripture, and tradition. He didn’t mean, however, that all sides
  are equally authoritative. He acknowledged that the Bible was foun-
  dational, but he also recognized that one’s individual faith, ability to
  reason, and religious tradition affect the way in which the Bible is inter-
  preted. If Wesley were brought back to life today, he would be shocked
  to discover that many modern theologians in the Wesleyan tradition
  (and other traditions, as well) now value reason, tradition, or personal
  opinion over the clear teaching of Scripture.
    This week’s lesson investigates the religious traditions upon which
  the scribes and Pharisees based many of their teachings. The rabbis
  who originally penned these traditions greatly respected the Scriptures
  and had no intention for these traditions to be elevated to the status of
  God’s Word. However, some of their zealous disciples confused the
  method with the message and in doing so shifted the focus from God’s
  written revelation to human tradition.

 Seat of Moses
   While the “scribes and Pharisees” appear to be two separate groups
 who just happened to be lumped together, the scribes were likely a
 subset of the Pharisees (see Acts 23:9). The Pharisees became a visible
 group during the time of the Grecian Empire. They are believed to be
 the remnants of a pious Jewish sect, known as the Hasidim, who helped
 to fight in the Maccabean revolution against Greece.
   The name Pharisees is derived from the Hebrew paras, which means
 “to separate.” In an age when many Jews had become greatly influ-
 enced by pagan cultures, the Pharisees saw it as their duty to ensure
 that every Jewish male was taught the law. To accomplish this task,
 they established the position of rabbi, which literally means “my great
 one” or “my teacher.”
   In saying that the “ ‘scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat,’ ”
 Jesus acknowledged their positions as teachers of the people (Matt.
 23:2, 3, NKJV). After all, at least they had taken the responsibility to
 ensure that the people were instructed in the way of the law.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Most of the references to the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospels are
 negative, and considering the complicity that many (but not all) had in
 the death of Jesus and the persecution of His followers, that negativ-
 ity was well deserved. Members of these groups seemed to be lurking
 around corners and hiding behind trees just waiting for people to make
 mistakes so they could enforce the law against them. This image of
 the Pharisee is so frequent in Scripture that the word is often used as a
 synonym for legalist. As we look closely at this text, we find that Jesus’
 big problem with the Pharisees was not so much that they wanted oth-
 ers to keep the law of Moses but that they themselves were not keeping
 it. They were hypocritical—they said one thing, but did another—and
 even when they did the right thing, they did it for wrong reasons.

  Read again what Jesus said about the scribes and Pharisees.
  How can we make sure that we don’t become guilty of similar
  attitudes?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________
                                                                       23

 Human Commandments
    Although the scribes and Pharisees “sat in Moses’ seat,” their
 source of authority for religious instruction extended beyond the
 Old Testament. The law that the Pharisees utilized consisted of bibli-
 cal interpretations of leading rabbis. These interpretations were not
 intended to replace the Scriptures but to complement them. At first they
 circulated orally; later the scribes began to assemble them into books.
    The first official publication of rabbinic law did not appear until the
 end of the second century a.d., when Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi (Judah
 the Prince) published the Mishnah. The laws recorded in the Mishnah
 reflect about four centuries of rabbinic interpretation. Included among
 the contributing rabbis are many who lived at the time of Jesus, the
 most notable being Hillel and Shammai. There was also Gamaliel, the
 grandson of Hillel and also Paul’s teacher.

 _________________________________________________________

    In lesson 1, we learned that the rabbinic laws were called halakah,
 which means “to walk.” The rabbis felt that if a person would walk in
 the ways of the minor laws, they would keep the major ones by default.
 However, somewhere along the way the minor laws began to take on
 major status, and after a while it was difficult to distinguish the tradi-
 tional from the biblical.
    It does not appear that Jesus had a problem with the Pharisees
 having their own rules. However, He did have a problem with the
 elevation of these rules to the status of “doctrine.” No human has the
 authority to create religious restrictions and elevate them to the level
 of divine mandate. But this is not to say that groups of believers are
 prohibited from creating regulations that help to govern community
 behavior. Practical instruction could help people greatly in keeping
 the law. However, the instruction should never be allowed to take the
 place of the law itself.

  As Seventh-day Adventists, what rules, traditions, and customs
  do we have that we believe help us to live more faithfully and
  obediently to the law? Write them down and bring them to class
  on Sabbath, asking questions about the role that they play in the
  life of your faith community.
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 24

  Traditions of the Elders
     As we saw, some of the rabbis paid so much attention to the rules and
  traditions created to assist in the keeping of the law of Moses that they
  failed to distinguish between the two. After a while, the words of the
  rabbis gained canonical status; people thought they were as binding as
  Scripture. In all probability, when the rabbis originally wrote their com-
  mentaries, they had no intention of adding to the pages of Scripture.
  However, their devoted disciples probably saw it as their duty to share
  these unique interpretations with the general populace.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

     One is hard pressed to find a biblical text that commands, “Thou
  shalt wash thy hands before thou eatest.” However, this injunction
  would not have surprised the scribes and Pharisees as they confronted
  Jesus, for they made it clear that the disciples were not in violation of
  Mosaic law but the “tradition of the elders.” The intensity with which
  they asked the question makes it seem that, for the Pharisees, this was
  a serious religious violation.
     Health professionals and parents would probably like to provide a
  hygienic or psychological rationale for the Pharisees’ apparent obses-
  sive compulsion with hand washing. However, scholars believe that
  the issue was really about ceremonial uncleanliness. Apparently, the
  Pharisees were concerned that as people went about their daily business
  they would touch items that had been defiled. Consequently, if they ate
  without washing, they would contaminate themselves ceremonially by
  touching the food.
     Given the fact that they levied their charge against Jesus’ disciples,
  we might conclude that Jesus Himself was not in violation of the well-
  known tradition (Mark 7:3). Nonetheless, He was well aware that the
  Pharisees were majoring in minors.

   Read Isaiah 29:13. What crucial biblical principles are revealed
   here? Why are they so important for us to remember?
   _______________________________________________________

   _______________________________________________________
                                                                        25

 The Precepts of Men
   “The substitution of the precepts of men for the commandments of
 God has not ceased. Even among Christians are found institutions and
 usages that have no better foundation than the traditions of the fathers.
 Such institutions, resting upon mere human authority, have supplanted
 those of divine appointment. Men cling to their traditions, and revere
 their customs, and cherish hatred against those who seek to show them
 their error. . . . In place of the authority of the so-called fathers of the
 church, God bids us accept the word of the eternal Father, the Lord of
 heaven and earth.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 398.

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    When the Pharisees confronted Jesus about the hand-washing inci-
 dent, they expected Him to respond directly to their charge. However,
 in His unique style, Jesus confronted them with a question that got to
 the real heart of the issue. Jesus wanted them to know that the problem
 was not about hand washing or tithe paying but about the elevation of
 human standards over divine standards. The Pharisees could provide a
 logical explanation for their stance on hand washing. Undoubtedly, they
 probably also reasoned that their channeling of resources to the cause
 of God rather than to their parents was an expression of their unparal-
 leled love for God.
    Although the Pharisees may have had logical motives for their
 actions, God does not expect humans to love Him on their own terms.
 It was good that they were concerned about discipline and holy living,
 but that concern should never eclipse the will of God. The Pharisees
 should have recalled that the 613 laws recorded in the law of Moses
 were harmonious and not contradictory. None of the laws sought to
 supplant another. However, their insistence in following the “tradition
 of the elders” invalidated the Word of God (Matt. 15:6), at least as far
 as they themselves were concerned. No doubt, seeing themselves as
 the protectors of the law, they must have been shocked, even scandal-
 ized, by the claim that they were actually violating it, even making it
 of “none effect” by the very traditions that they thought were helping
 people to keep the law better!

 Excessive Righteousness (Matt. 5:20) Read Matthew 5:17–20. In the context of this week’s lesson, what are
 some of the ways that Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 5:20 could be
 understood? See also Rom. 10:3.
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    If read in isolation, Matthew 5:20 could be seen as an invitation to
 out-Pharisee the Pharisees; that is, do what they do, only do it more.
    But is this what Jesus is saying? Fortunately, the answer to that ques-
 tion is within our reach. Yesterday’s lesson pointed out that it was not
 unusual for the scribes and Pharisees to elevate traditional laws over the
 law of God. Jesus had to tell them that their actions in effect invalidated
 the plain Word of God. Sunday’s study also mentioned that, although
 the scribes and Pharisees probably had good content in their teaching,
 many of them lived hypocritical lives.
    Given this background, it is not hard to see the true sentiment behind
 Jesus’ statement. He very well could have been referring to that which
 He had elsewhere warned about: “ ‘Anyone who breaks one of the
 least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will
 be called least in the kingdom of heaven’ ” (Matt. 5:19, NIV). The
 Pharisees were so focused on the laws of human origin that they bla-
 tantly broke the law of God. Their righteousness was based on their
 own efforts and, as such, was defective. Isaiah had long declared that
 human righteousness is nothing but filthy rags (Isa. 64:6).
    The kind of righteousness that Jesus promotes is one that starts in
 the heart. In the hand-washing incident, Jesus pointed to the Pharisees’
 error by quoting from Isaiah 29:13: “ ‘These people . . . honor me with
 their lips, but their hearts are far from me’ ” (NIV). The righteousness
 that God seeks goes deeper than visible action.
    Jesus calls for a righteousness that exceeds what the Pharisees them-
 selves thought that they possessed. The righteousness that counts is
 not obtained by checking off every item on a task list; it can be gained
 only by faith in Jesus Christ and by claiming His righteousness for
 ourselves. It is a righteousness that comes from a complete surrender
 of self and a passionate realization that we need Jesus as our Substitute
 and Example.

  Read Romans 10:3. How does this text help us to see what true
  righteousness is all about?

                                                                        27

    “Let all who accept human authority, the customs of the church, or
 the traditions of the fathers, take heed to the warning conveyed in the
 words of Christ, ‘In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines
 the commandments of men.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,
 p. 398.

   “Believers have not infrequently allowed the enemy to work
  through them at the very time when they should have been
  wholly consecrated to God and to the advancement of His work.
  Unconsciously they have wandered far from the way of righteous-
  ness. Cherishing a spirit of criticism and faultfinding, of phari-
  saical piety and pride, they have grieved away the Spirit of God
  and have greatly retarded the work of God’s messengers.”—Ellen
  G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 125. How does one
  “unconsciously” wander far from the way of righteousness? What
  steps can a person take to avoid getting trapped in a self-righteous
  rut?

   Reflect on the order of the divine worship service in your
  church. Why does your church have that particular order? What
  is the meaning of each item in the service (for example, invocation,
  doxology, pastoral prayer, and so on)? What lessons can you learn
  from the church service that help to reveal just how much tradi-
  tion is interwoven in our faith? At the same time we need to ask:
  just because it’s tradition, and nothing else, is it bad?

                           Willem Hifikepunye is a student serving God in
                           Opuwo in northern Namibia.

  Christ and the Law in the
  Sermon on the Mount




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 5:17–20, Luke 16:16,
  Matt. 5:21–32, Rom. 7:24, Matt. 5:33–37, 5:38–48.

  W
             hen most people think about the Sermon on the Mount,
             they automatically think of “the Beatitudes” (Matt. 5:1–12).
             However, the Sermon on the Mount actually covers three
  chapters that have been divided into four sections. The Beatitudes com-
  prise only the first section. In the second, Jesus compares Christians to
  light and salt (Matt. 5:13–16). The third, Matthew 5:17–48, is where
  Jesus gives us a new and deeper perspective on the law. And then there
  is the final and longest section, Matthew 6:1–7:23, in which Jesus pro-
  vides clear teaching on Christian behavior. The whole talk ends with
  the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matt. 7:24–27), which
  stresses the importance of obedience to what God calls us to do.
     This week we will investigate the third section, Matthew 5:17–48
  (which theologians call the antitheses, cases in which sharp contrasts
  are presented), to see what it teaches us about the law.

 “One Jot or Tittle” Read again Matthew 5:17–20. How interesting that Jesus would greatly
 emphasize the law here, while at the same time making the state-
 ment that He did about the scribes and Pharisees, who so greatly
 emphasized the law, as well. What important lesson does this pas-
 sage teach about true obedience to the law?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Jesus begins this section with the assurance that He has not come to
 abolish “the Law or the Prophets” (Matt. 5:17, NKJV). Although there
 is no reference to it, many see this as a formulaic expression for the
 entire Old Testament (see also Matt. 7:12, 11:13, 22:40, Luke 16:16,
 Acts 13:15, 24:14, Rom. 3:21). In spite of what His opponents claimed,
 Jesus did not attack the very book that revealed the will of His Father.
 Instead, His purpose was to “fulfill” the law and the prophets, not to
 do away with them.
    The word used for “fulfill” (plero) literally means to “fill up,” or
 “complete.” It carries the sense of “filling to the brim.” There are two
 ways to understand fulfill. One is to place the emphasis on Jesus as
 being the fulfillment of Scripture (for example, Luke 24:25–27, John
 5:39). However, key to understanding this text is the immediate con-
 text, which shows that Jesus did not come to destroy Scripture but to
 reveal its inner essence.
    Having established His overall intent, Jesus switched emphasis from
 the Old Testament in general to the law in particular. Almost as if He
 knew that people would one day accuse Him of abolishing the law, He
 cautions that as long as heaven and earth remain, the law will exist until
 everything “is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18, NIV). With this statement,
 Jesus confirms the perpetuity of the law.
    In fact, the law is so important that all those who violate its precepts
 will be called “the least in the kingdom.” This is just a way of saying
 that they are wrong in what they are doing. Jesus is quick to point out
 that He is not promoting the empty righteousness of the scribes and
 Pharisees but instead a righteousness springing from a heart that loves
 God and seeks to do His will.


                                                                        31

 Murder (Matt. 5:21–26)
    After He clarified His intention to uphold the law, Jesus started to
 explain a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.
 He begins by citing the sixth commandment (Exod. 20:13) and summa-
 rizing, from the law of Moses, the penalty for violation (Exod. 21:12,
 Lev. 24:17).
    The sixth commandment does not include all cases in which one
 person kills another. In cases of manslaughter, a person could flee to a
 city of refuge and gain temporary asylum (Exod. 21:13, Num. 35:12).
 However, one who intentionally took another’s life would receive swift
 judgment. In His explanation, Jesus does not focus on the act itself but
 on the motive and intents of the one who commits the act. One might
 take a life accidentally, but the person who purposes to take a life has
 gone through a period of deliberation. The sin took place before the
 person even carried out the terrible deed. Many potential murderers are
 stopped only by a lack of opportunity.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Though the Bible often talks about the power of words, Jesus here
 takes it to a deeper level. Often, the sole purpose of harsh words or
 cursing is to evoke negative feelings in the victim. Jesus’ point is
 crystal clear. It’s not just those who carry through with the crime who
 are guilty of murder but also those who speak harsh words to others or
 who even harbor murderous thoughts. Jesus counsels those harboring
 these thoughts to reconcile with their victims before coming to the altar
 (Matt. 5:23–26).

  Dwell on the implication of Jesus’ words in the texts for today.
  How well have you done in this regard? What does such a high
  standard tell you about the need to be covered by Christ’s righ-
  teousness at all times?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 32

 Adultery (Matt. 5:27–32)
    Jesus’ next example involves commandments concerning adultery.
 He first cites the seventh commandment, You shall not commit adultery.
 In the context of the law of Moses, adultery took place when a married
 person was sexually involved with someone other than a spouse. The
 law was very clear that both parties found guilty of adultery should be
 put to death. As with the sixth commandment, Jesus gave the deeper
 implications of this particular commandment.
    Adultery often starts long before the acts are committed. In the same
 way that murder starts with the intention to inflict permanent harm on
 an individual, adultery begins at the very moment when an individual
 lustfully desires another person, married or single, to whom he or she
 is not married.

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Here, too, Jesus provides an instant remedy for those sins that have
 been exposed. The solution is not to follow through with the sin but to
 have a conversion of the heart. With strong metaphors, Jesus counsels
 the one who has the problem to do what is necessary if he or she wishes
 to enter the kingdom. This may mean taking a different route to work or
 terminating a cherished friendship, but eternal gain far outweighs the
 passions of the moment.
    As we saw before, Moses permitted divorce even though he knew
 it was not a part of God’s original plan. After addressing married men
 with roaming eyes and admonishing them to control their impulses,
 Jesus encourages lifelong marriage fidelity.

  “The surrender of the will is represented as plucking out the eye
  or cutting off the hand. Often it seems to us that to surrender the
  will to God is to consent to go through life maimed or crippled.
  But it is better, says Christ, for self to be maimed, wounded, crip-
  pled, if thus you may enter into life. That which you look upon as
  disaster is the door to highest benefit.”—Ellen G. White, Thoughts
  From the Mount of Blessing, p. 61. What implication might these
  words have for you?
                                                                     33

 Promises, Promises . . . (Matt. 5:33–37)
   The first two antitheses (murder and adultery) are based on the
 Decalogue. The antithesis regarding divorce and the ones that follow
 are taken from other sections of the Mosaic law, including the one
 about swearing falsely and performing oaths to the Lord.

 _________________________________________________________

    The Mosaic law, from which Jesus quotes, is listed in a section of
 Leviticus that condemns a number of deceptive practices. Here again
 it is evident that Jesus’ concern is with the intentions. Anyone who
 makes a promise with no intention of fulfilling it has made a conscious
 decision to sin.
    Though the command against swearing falsely relates to promises
 made to other people, the second command concerns promises made
 to God.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

   Unlike the person guilty of false swearing, the one who makes
 a financial pledge to God is not necessarily intending to defraud.
 However, Jesus knows human nature and cautions against making
 promises that one may later regret. Rather than making promises that
 may not even be in the power of the individual to fulfill, a Christian
 should be a person of integrity whose “yes” means “yes” and “no”
 means “no.”

  Think about a time that you made a promise (either to a person
  or to God) that you intended to keep but ultimately didn’t. How
  can you learn to be careful about this problem? What about
  promises to yourself that you have reneged on?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 34

                                                                       35

    “Jesus takes up the commandments separately, and explains the
 depth and breadth of their requirement. Instead of removing one jot of
 their force, He shows how far reaching their principles are, and exposes
 the fatal mistake of the Jews in their outward show of obedience. He
 declares that by the evil thought or the lustful look the law of God is
 transgressed. One who becomes a party to the least injustice is breaking
 the law and degrading his own moral nature. Murder first exists in the
 mind. He who gives hatred a place in his heart is setting his feet in the
 path of the murderer, and his offerings are abhorrent to God.”—Ellen
 G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 310.
    Love is the binding principle in God’s law. In each of the antitheses,
 Jesus elevates the principle of love: love keeps a person from harboring
 hatred toward her sister; love keeps a husband and wife together; love
 challenges the Christian to be always honest in his dealings with others
 and God; love allows a person to react in kindness when he has been
 wronged; and love empowers the individual to treat the enemy as he
 himself would like to be treated.

   Many fall into the trap of interpreting texts in isolation from
  other texts. One such text is Matthew 5:48, where we are told to be
  as perfect as our Father in heaven. How does the interpretation of
  this text in its immediate context (Matt. 5:43–48) demonstrate the
  importance of careful Bible study? How would you respond to a
  person who claimed that this text was teaching sinlessness? What
  is the text really teaching, and why does this teaching reveal the
  true meaning of being a follower of Jesus?

   How do the texts we studied, particularly about murder and
  adultery, help to show how wrong those are who claim the law was
  abolished after the Cross?

  Christ and the Sabbath




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 2:1–3, Heb. 1:1–3, Acts
  13:14, Mark 2:23–28, John 5:1–9, Isa. 65:17.

  T
         he vast majority of Christian denominations observe Sunday as
         the day of “rest” and worship (even though the vast majority of
         Sunday keepers don’t really rest on Sunday). Sunday “keeping”
  is so prevalent among modern Christians that many believe the day to
  be the “Christian Sabbath.”
     This was not always the case. On the contrary, as a continuation of
  the Israelite faith, Christianity did not discard all of the symbols of its
  parent religion, including the seventh-day Sabbath. For a time, the only
  Bible that early Christians had to guide them was the Old Testament.
  No wonder, then, that the issue of an alternative day of worship was
  not introduced into Christianity until more than a century after Christ
  ascended to heaven. Furthermore, it was not until the fourth century,
  with the edict of Constantine, that Sunday observance became the
  policy of the dominant church. Unfortunately, even after the Protestant
  Reformation, almost all Christianity has adhered to keeping Sunday,
  despite the Bible teaching that the seventh day remains the true Sabbath.
     This week’s lesson will cover Christ and the Sabbath.

 The Jewish Sabbath? (Exod. 20:8–11)
   Although many refer to the seventh day as the “Jewish Sabbath,” the
 Bible reveals that the Sabbath predates the Jews by many centuries. Its
 roots go back to the Creation itself.
   Genesis 2:1–3 declares that after God had completed His acts of
 creation in six days, He rested on the seventh day and then “blessed
 the seventh day and made it holy” (NIV). This clearly shows the high
 place of the Sabbath in God’s creation. In addition to the blessing, the
 Sabbath was also “made holy.” In other words, God applied some of His
 own qualities to this monument in time.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    The most notable difference between the two commandments is the
 rationale for Sabbath observance. Exodus makes a direct reference to
 Genesis 2:3 as it elevates the fact that God both “blessed” and “made
 holy” the Sabbath day. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 5:15 points to
 Israel’s divine deliverance from Egyptian bondage as being a rationale
 for Sabbath keeping. On the basis of the Deuteronomy text, many
 believe the Sabbath is only for the Jews. However, this argument totally
 ignores the fact that the Exodus text points to the Creation, when God
 established Sabbath for all humanity.
    Furthermore, the Deuteronomy 5:15 reference to deliverance from
 Egypt is symbolic of the salvation we have in Christ. Hence, the
 Sabbath is a symbol not only of Creation but also of Redemption, two
 themes that are linked with each other in the Bible (Heb. 1:1–3, Col.
 1:13–20, John 1:1–14). Only by the fact that Jesus is our Creator could
 He also be our Redeemer, and the seventh-day Sabbath is a symbol of
 His work as both.

  Anyone can claim to be resting in Christ. In your own experience,
  how does keeping the seventh-day Sabbath help you to find that
  rest?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________


                                                                     39

 A Time for Rest and Worship (Luke 4:16)
    According to Colossians 1:16 and Hebrews 1:2, the preincarnate
 Christ was directly involved in the creation process. These texts declare
 that all created things came into existence through Him. Paul further
 expresses that Christ had a part in creating “invisible” things (Col. 1:16,
 17), which would, of course, include the Sabbath. Although Christ was
 central in the creative process, when He was transformed into human
 flesh, He subjected Himself to His Father’s commandments (John
 15:10). As earlier lessons showed, Jesus was opposed to certain tradi-
 tions and used every opportunity to correct religious behavior that was
 not grounded in the will of God. If Jesus had intended to abolish the
 Sabbath commandment, He had plenty of opportunities to do just that.
    Most of the Sabbath texts in the Old Testament speak of the Sabbath
 as a day of rest. The understanding of “rest” in many modern languages
 may lead some to believe that the Sabbath should be spent sleeping and
 generally relaxing. While we can definitely enjoy these activities on the
 Sabbath, the true meaning of rest is “cessation,” “stop,” or “pause.” The
 Sabbath is a time when we can take a break from the routine labor of
 the first six days and spend special time with the Creator.
    By the time of Christ, the Jews were holding a weekly divine worship
 service on the Sabbath (see Luke 4:16). Those who lived in Jerusalem
 would attend special prayer services in the temple, where the liturgy
 was different from what it was on the other days of the week. Jews who
 lived in other parts of the world developed the synagogue as a place of
 social gathering and worship. On Sabbaths, as long as a minimum of
 ten males was present (a minyan), a divine worship service could take
 place.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Given their Jewish roots, it was only natural for early Christians to
 worship on the day prescribed in the Old Testament. Yet, almost twenty
 years after the ascension of Jesus, it was still Paul’s “custom” to attend
 a synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2). Thus, no biblical evidence
 shows that the first Christians kept Sunday instead of Sabbath. 40

 A Time for Enjoyment (Mark 2:27, 28)
   Many who claim to keep the Sabbath do not always understand what
 Sabbath keeping entails. As did some of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time,
 people even today have imprisoned the Sabbath behind rigid walls of
 rules and regulations (while others have almost made it a day no dif-
 ferent than any other). The Sabbath is supposed to be a delight, not a
 burden, but it is still a day to be kept holy.
   During the time when Jesus walked this earth, some of the religious
 leaders had surrounded the Sabbath with 39 other commandments.
 They reasoned that if people could keep the 39 laws, then the Sabbath
 would be perfectly kept. As a result of this well-­intentioned law-making,
 the Sabbath—which was intended to be a joy—did, indeed, become a
 yoke to many.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   As Jesus and His hungry disciples walked through a field one
 Sabbath, the disciples decided to satisfy their hunger by plucking grain.
 Although it was not their field, their actions were permissible under the
 law of Moses (see Deut. 23:25), even if the Pharisees interpreted it as
 a violation of another Mosaic law that forbade plowing and harvesting
 on the Sabbath (see Exod. 34:21). Apparently, Jesus did not partake of
 the grain; nonetheless, He took the time to defend the disciples’ actions.
 Jesus reminded the Pharisees that even David and his men had eaten the
 “forbidden” sanctuary bread when hungry.
   In Mark 2:27, 28, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for the
 benefit of humans, not vice versa. In other words, the Sabbath was not
 made to be worshiped, but rather to provide opportunities for worship.
 As God’s gift to all humans, the Sabbath is not meant to oppress but to
 provide release and liberation. It is truly a way to experience our rest
 and freedom in Christ.

  What are some things that you can do on the Sabbath that you
  can’t so easily do other days of the week? Think through this
  question, and bring your answers to class on Sabbath.
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________
                                                                       41

 A Time for Healing                    (Luke 13:16)

   When God created the world, He pronounced that everything was
 “very good” (Gen. 1:31), no doubt perfect in every way. However, with
 the advent of sin, the creation has been corrupted with evil, an impact
 seen everywhere. Humans, though created in the image of God, became
 subject to sickness, deterioration, and death. We often say that death is
 part of life; death, though, is the negation of life, not part of it. Death
 was never meant to be something that we experience.
   Given God’s original plan for humanity, it is no surprise that some
 of Jesus’ most dramatic healing miracles took place on the Sabbath.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Each of the Sabbath-healing miracles is spectacular and serves to
 demonstrate the true meaning of Sabbath. Before Jesus healed the man
 with the withered hand (Mark 3:1–6), He asked the rhetorical question,
 “ ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or
 to kill?’ ” (Mark 3:4, NKJV). If a person has an opportunity to relieve
 suffering on the day of liberation, why shouldn’t he do it? In fact, the
 miracle with the woman who had a bent back powerfully demonstrates
 the liberating purpose of the Sabbath (Luke 13:10–17). When criticized
 for the healing, Jesus asked, “ ‘Then should not this woman, a daughter
 of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be
 set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’ ” (Luke 13:16, NIV).
    The theme of liberation is also present in the accounts of the healing
 of the man by the pool of Bethesda, who had been sick for thirty-eight
 years (John 5:1–9), and the healing of the man born blind (John 9:
 1–14). In response to the Pharisees’ charge that Jesus broke the Sabbath
 with His healing miracles, He reminded them, “ ‘My Father is always
 at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working’ ” (John 5:17, NIV).
 If God did not allow the healing, it would not have happened. When it
 comes to relieving human misery, God does not rest.

  What should we learn from the mistakes of these religious lead-
  ers about how preconceived notions can so blind us to even the
  most obvious of truths?
  _______________________________________________________

 A New Creation
   Sabbath not only reminds us of God’s creative ability, but it points to
 His restorative promises. Indeed, with every healing of a person on the
 Sabbath, the promise of eternal restoration was powerfully reinforced.
 In its own unique way, the Sabbath provides a view that reaches back
 to earth’s earliest history and stretches forward to humanity’s eventual
 destiny. Again, we can say that the Sabbath points both to Creation and to
 Redemption.
   God created this world once already. Due to sin, however, His creation
 has been defiled, but this defiling will not last forever. A key element of
 the plan of salvation is restoration—not just of the earth but, even more
 important, of people, beings made in His image who will be restored to
 that image and who will live on the new earth. The same God who made
 the first earth, whose work we celebrate every seventh day, will create the
 earth again. (Think about how important remembering our creation must
 be that we are commanded to do it once a week in a special way.)

  Isa. 65:17_________________________________________________

  Isa. 66:22_________________________________________________

  2 Pet. 3:9–13________________________________________________

  Rev. 21:1__________________________________________________

  2 Cor. 5:17________________________________________________

  Gal. 6:15__________________________________________________

  Rev. 21:5__________________________________________________

  The Sabbath “declares that He who created all things in heaven and in
  earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church,
  and that by His power we are reconciled to God. . . . The Sabbath is
  a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom
  Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is
  given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God.”
  —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 288, 289.

   What practical things can you do to allow the power of God to
   sanctify you? That is, what choices do you make on a daily basis
   that either help or hinder this creative process in you?

                                                                        43

   In the following texts (Mark 3:2, Luke 13:14, John 5:18, 9:16)
  Jesus is charged with breaking the Sabbath. Review Exodus
  20:8–11 and evaluate the merit of this charge. What do you say to
  those who claim that these passages provide evidence that Jesus
  broke the Sabbath?

   In class go over your answer to the final question at the end of
  Tuesday’s lesson. That is, what are some things that the Sabbath
  frees you up to do that on other days of the week you might not be
  able to do because of worldly obligations?

   Review your own Sabbath experience. Is the Sabbath for you a
  day of liberation, rest, and freedom or a day of foreboding, bond-
  age, and stress? How can you learn to enjoy the Sabbath, to make
  it a delight, as we are told to do in this verse: “If thou turn away
  thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day;
  and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable;
  and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine
  own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words” (Isa. 58:13)?

  Christ’s Death and the Law




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Rom. 7:1–6; 8:5–8; Rom.
  7:7–13; Rom. 4:15; Acts 13:38, 39; Gal. 3:10.

  A
           woman is driving way over the speed limit. Suddenly, she sees
           in her rearview mirror the flashing red and blue lights of a
           police car and hears the familiar wail of the siren. She pulls
  over, grabs her purse, and takes out her driver’s license. The police
  officer approaches, takes her license, and returns to his car.
     She wonders how much the ticket is going to be (she was way over
  the limit); she also worries about how she will be able to pay it. A few
  minutes later the police officer comes back and says, “OK, miss, what
  we are going to do, so that you don’t have to face the penalty of the
  law again, is abolish the law. You no longer have to worry about the
  speed limit.”
     As ludicrous as that story is, it’s no more so than the theology that
  teaches that after Jesus died, the law, the Ten Commandments, was
  abolished.
     This week we’ll look at the death of Jesus and what it means in rela-
  tion to the law.

 Dead to the Law (Rom. 7:1–6) Carefully examine Romans 7:1–6 and summarize as well as you can
 what Paul is saying. Read it carefully, keeping in mind other Bible
 passages about the law.
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Although some Bible versions incorrectly translate verse one to read
 that the law is binding until death, a literal interpretation is: “every liv-
 ing person is under the rule of law.” The emphasis is not on the dead
 but on the living.
   The example from marriage demonstrates that any married person
 who has an intimate relationship with someone other than his or her
 spouse has broken the law and is guilty of adultery. Only if his or her
 spouse dies can he or she enter a relationship with another person with-
 out violating the law.
   Also, some argue that this passage shows the death of the law;
 however, it really shows a person’s death to the law through the
 body of Christ (Rom. 7:4). According to Romans 6:6, the part of
 the person that dies is “the old self.” When united to the old self,
 the person is condemned by the law and thus trapped in a miserable
 relationship (Rom. 7:9–11, 24). After the old self dies, the person is
 free to enter into a relationship with another—the resurrected Christ
 (Rom. 7:4).
   What Paul is saying is that because law binds every living person,
 God’s law must also govern the new union. However, the fact that the
 believer is now married to Christ means that the law is no longer an
 instrument of condemnation; the believer in Jesus is free from the con-
 demnation of the law because he or she is covered in the righteousness
 of Jesus.
   Paul is not stating that the Ten Commandments, which define sin,
 are now abolished; that would be contrary to so much of the Bible, his
 own writings included. Instead, he is talking about a new relationship
 one has to the law through faith in Jesus. The law still is binding; it’s
 just that for the believer in Jesus, the one who died to self and to sin,
 the law no longer holds him or her in the grip of condemnation because
 the person now “belongs to another,” Jesus.

                                                                          47

  The Law of Sin and Death (Rom. 8:1–8)
     Paul assures the Christian that “there is therefore now no condemna-
  tion to those who are in Christ Jesus. . . . For the law of the Spirit of
  life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”
  (Rom. 8:1, 2, NKJV). If we read these verses apart from their immediate
  context, it would appear that Paul was referring to two opposing laws:
  the law of life and the law of sin and death. However, the difference
  is not with the law but with the individual before and after he or she
  receives Christ.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

     The function of the law depends on the person with whom it is asso-
  ciated. The same knife, for instance, can be used by a surgeon to heal
  or by a murderer to kill. In the same way, a thief who breaks a law to
  steal someone’s purse will stand in a different relationship to the law
  than will the one whom the law was meant to protect (the owner of the
  purse). The law itself is described as “holy and righteous and good”
  (Rom. 7:12, NASB), or as the “law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2,
  NASB). However, in the same way that God’s retributive vengeance
  does not stop Him from being a God of love, the law’s function as an
  agent of sin and death does not make it sinful.
     According to Romans 8:5–8, the law is an instrument of “sin and
  death” for those who “set their minds on the things of the flesh” (Rom.
  8:5, NASB). This describes the person who is still married to the “old
  self ” and has no apparent desire to sever the relationship and be joined
  to the resurrected Christ. As a result of the sinful union, the person
  finds himself or herself “at enmity” with God and His law since they
  are on opposing sides (Rom. 8:7).
      Paul then emphasizes that it is impossible for the “mind set on the
  flesh” to submit to God’s law, or even to please Him (Rom. 8:7, 8,
  NASB). This is obviously not a reference to the struggling individual
  of Romans 7:13–25, since that person serves the law of God “with my
  mind” (Rom. 7:25, NASB). Paul is probably referring to those who by
  their wickedness “suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18, NASB). It is for these
  rebels against God’s sovereignty that the law becomes an instrument of
  sin and death (Rom. 2:12).

   How do you relate to the law when you violate it?

 The Power of the Law According to Romans 4:15, 5:13, and 7:7, what is the function of
 the law? Also, what does Romans 7:8–11 say about the effect that
 the law has on the person who violates it?
 _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Every instrument has its purpose. Just as a key is used for opening a
 lock or a knife is used for cutting, so the law is used to define sin. Had
 it not been for God’s law, there would be no absolute method of know-
 ing what actions were acceptable or unacceptable to Him. And though
 sin cannot exist without the law, Paul makes it clear that the law is not
 a willing partner with sin: “Did what is good, then, bring death to me?
 By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in
 order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment
 might become sinful beyond measure” (Rom. 7:13, NRSV).

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   If read in isolation, 1 Corinthians 15:54–58 would appear to promote
 a negative view of God’s law. Paul’s point, however, is that the law
 “empowers” sin only because it defines what sin is. And, of course,
 the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Had it not been for the law,
 there would be no death because it would be impossible to define sin.
 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s purpose is not to demonize the law but to
 demonstrate how, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, all who
 believe can experience victory over death, a death that comes because
 of violation of the law.

  When was the last time that someone sinned against you; that is,
  the last time that someone violated God’s law in a way that hurt
  you? How does such an experience help us to understand why the
  belief that states that God’s law was abolished after the Cross is
  so wrong?
  _______________________________________________________

                                                                       49

 The Impotent Law
   Though in one sense, as we saw, the law “empowers” sin, in another
 real way the law is terribly impotent. How can the same object be both
 powerful and impotent at the same time?
   Here again, the difference lies not in the law but in the person. For the
 one who discovers that he is a sinner, the law forces him to acknowl-
 edge that he is going against God’s will and is consequently on a path to
 death. Upon discovering his sinfulness, the sinner may decide to follow
 the law to the letter. However, the fact that he has already sinned has
 made him a candidate for death.

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Some people believe that strict adherence to the law will grant salva-
 tion, but this is not a biblical teaching. The law defines sin (Rom. 7:7);
 it does not forgive it (Gal. 2:21). Hence, Paul remarks that the same
 law that empowers sin is also “weak” (Rom. 8:3). It is able to convict
 the sinner of sins but cannot make the sinner righteous. A mirror can
 show us our faults; it just can’t fix them. As Ellen G. White wrote: “The
 law cannot save those whom it condemns; it cannot rescue the perish-
 ing.”—Signs of the Times, November 10, 1890.
    When we fully consider the purpose of the law, it is easier to under-
 stand why Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for the human race. The
 death of Jesus placed formerly sinful human beings in a right relation-
 ship with God and with His “holy and righteous and good” law (Rom.
 7:12, NASB). At the same time, too, His death showed us the futility
 of salvation by keeping the law. After all, if obedience to the law could
 save us, Jesus would not have had to die in our place. The fact that He
 did reveals that obedience to the law could not save us. We needed
 something much more drastic.

  Though we are promised again and again the power to obey
  God’s law, why is this obedience not enough to secure our salva-
  tion? In one sense the answer shouldn’t be that difficult. Look at
  yourself and your law-keeping. If your salvation depended upon
  your obedience, how much hope would you have?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 50

  The Curse of the Law (Gal. 3:10–14) What do the following texts tell us about human nature? How do we see
  the reality of this truth every day? Ps. 51:5, Isa. 64:6, and Rom. 3:23.
  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

    With the exception of Christ, all human beings have a common
  experience in that all have been infected by Adam’s sin. Consequently,
  no natural person can ever claim to be fully righteous. There are some,
  such as Elijah and Enoch, who lived exceptionally close to God, but
  no one has been able to live a completely blameless life. Indeed, it is
  with this reality in mind that Paul declares: “For all who rely on the
  works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone
  who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of
  the law’ ” (Gal. 3:10, NRSV). The truth is, the law demands total and
  complete conformity, and who has ever always given that, except Jesus?

  _________________________________________________________

     Everyone is naturally under the curse of the law. Because the law
  has no margin for error, it is impossible for a person to correct a past
  sin. Consequently, death is the individual’s fate. James paints an even
  bleaker picture by reminding us that transgression in one area of the
  law is just as bad as transgression in all areas (James 2:10). The wages
  of sin is death, and death has no proportions.
     When we recognize the helpless condition of those under the curse, it
  is easier to appreciate the extent of God’s love: “But God demonstrates
  His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
  for us” (Rom. 5:8, NKJV). Through His death, “Christ redeemed us
  from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13, NIV).

   Think about what Paul said: “For all who rely on works of the
   law are under a curse” (Gal. 3:10, RSV). This is because the law
   can’t save us; thus, we are cursed with death. How can acknowl-
   edging this truth help us to better appreciate what we have been
   given in Jesus? In what ways do we manifest such appreciation
   in our lives? See 1 John 5:3.
   _______________________________________________________
                                                                        51

    “The law requires righteousness,—a righteous life, a perfect charac-
 ter; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s
 holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and
 developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who
 will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have
 remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More
 than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds
 up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a
 goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteous-
 ness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can ‘be just,
 and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.’ Rom. 3:26.”—Ellen
 G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 762.
    In summary, the death of Jesus powerfully demonstrated the per-
 manence of God’s law. When our first parents sinned, God could have
 abolished His laws and taken away the penalties for violation. However,
 this would have meant a miserable existence in a lawless society for the
 earth’s inhabitants. Instead, God chose to send His Son as a Substitute
 for us, in that He received the just penalty for sin as required by the law
 on behalf of all people. Through Jesus’ death, the entire race stands in
 a new relationship to God. This means that any one of us, through faith
 in Jesus, can have our sins forgiven and stand perfect in God’s sight.

   Jesus, the One who was equal to God, died for our sins. If we
  think that obedience to the law can somehow add to that, in terms
  of saving us, what does this say about the efficacy of Christ’s sac-
  rifice?

   What are some other reasons why the belief that states that
  God’s law was abolished after the Cross is false? When people say
  that, what do they really mean was abolished; that is, what com-
  mandment do they think was abolished?

  Christ, the End of the Law




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Rom. 5:12–21, 6:15–23,
  7:13–25, 9:30–10:4, Gal. 3:19–24.

  A
          well-known magazine ran a full-page ad with a headline that
          read: “Achieve Immortality! (we’re not kidding).”
             In a sense they were kidding, because the ad went on to say,
  “To find out how you can leave a charitable legacy that will make gifts
  in your name forever, contact us for our free booklet.”
     Writers, scholars, philosophers, and theologians through the millen-
  nia have all wrestled with the question of death and what death does
  to the meaning of our lives. Hence, the ad was a clever, if ultimately
  unsuccessful, way to help people deal with their mortality.
     In contrast, all throughout the New Testament we have been shown
  the only way to achieve immortality, and that is through faith in Jesus
  as opposed to the keeping of the law—even though we are to keep it.
  Indeed, obeying the law is not in conflict with grace; on the contrary,
  it’s what we’re supposed to do as a result of receiving grace.
     This week we continue exploring law and grace.

 Where Sin Abounded (Rom. 5:12–21)
   Though it points out sins, the law is powerless to save us from them.
 That very powerlessness, however, shows us our need for Jesus, the
 only solution for sin.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Notice in this passage the constant association between sin and
 death. Time and again they appear in immediate relationship with
 each other. And that’s because sin, the violation of God’s law, leads
 to death.
    Now read Romans 5:20. When the law “entered,” sin abounded, in
 the sense that the law clearly defined what sin was. However, instead
 of bringing in the natural result of sin, which is death, Paul says this:
 “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (NKJV). In
 other words, no matter how bad sin is, God’s grace is sufficient to
 cover it for those who claim His promises by faith.
    Influenced by the translation of 1 John 3:4 in the King James
 Version (“sin is the transgression of the law”), many restrict sin to the
 violation of the Ten Commandments alone. However, a more literal
 translation is “sin is lawlessness” (NKJV) (anomia). Anything that
 goes against the principles of God is sin. Hence, although the Ten
 Commandments had not yet been formally revealed when Adam ate
 the forbidden fruit, he violated a command of God (Gen. 2:17) and
 was consequently guilty of sin. Indeed, it is through the sin of Adam
 that the curse of death has affected all generations of humanity (Rom.
 5:12, 17, 21).
    In contrast to Adam’s unfaithfulness, Jesus’ loyalty to God’s law
 resulted in the hope of eternal life. Although tempted, Jesus never
 yielded to sin (Heb. 4:15). Here in Romans, Paul extols Jesus’ righ-
 teous obedience, which has resulted in eternal life (Rom. 5:18–21)
 for those who accept it. As the Second Adam, Jesus kept the law fully
 and broke the curse of death. His righteousness can now become that
 of the believer’s. A person condemned to death by inheriting the sin
 of the first Adam can now embrace the gift of life by accepting the
 righteousness of the Second Adam, Jesus.

                                                                      57

 Law and Grace (Rom. 6:15–23)
    One of the most difficult concepts for Christians to comprehend is
 the continued role of the law for the one saved by grace. If a believer
 attains righteousness by accepting the sufficiency of the life and death
 of Jesus, why is it still necessary to keep the law? This question pro-
 vides another opportunity to repeat a key point: the law was never
 intended to provide salvation; its function (after the Fall) was to define
 sin. Yet, the Cross doesn’t negate the need for a person to follow God’s
 law any more than someone having been pardoned for violating the
 speed limit can now continue to violate it.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Grace and the law are not contraries; they do not negate each other.
 Instead, they are powerfully connected. The law, because it can’t save
 us, shows us why we need grace. Grace is not opposed to law but to
 death. Our problem was not the law itself but the eternal death that
 resulted from violating it.
    Paul warns the Christian to be careful about using the promised gift
 of grace as an excuse to sin (Rom. 6:12, 15). Because sin is defined
 through the law, when Paul tells Christians not to sin, He is basically
 telling them: keep the law, obey the commandments!
    “Paul had ever exalted the divine law. He had shown that in the
 law there is no power to save men from the penalty of disobedience.
 Wrongdoers must repent of their sins and humble themselves before
 God, whose just wrath they have incurred by breaking His law, and they
 must also exercise faith in the blood of Christ as their only means of
 pardon.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 393.

  Why is it so easy to get caught up in the faulty logic that says that
  because we are not saved by the law, we no longer have to obey it?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

 O Wretched Man! (Rom. 7:21–25) Read Romans 7:13–25. How are we to understand these verses? Is
 Paul talking about an unconverted man, or is this the experience of
 the converted? What reasons can you give for your answer?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    If you were unsure as to whom these verses refer, you are not alone.
 Theologians also have wrestled with this question for centuries. The
 person described here is someone who delights in the law of God
 (hardly sounds like a nonbeliever) yet who seems to be enslaved to
 sin (which makes no sense because Christians are promised power
 over sin). The SDA Bible Commentary, after looking at the arguments
 from both sides, says: “Paul’s main purpose in the passage seems to
 be to show the relationship that exists between the law, the gospel, and
 the person who has been awakened to earnest struggles against sin in
 preparation for salvation. Paul’s message is that, although the law may
 serve to precipitate and intensify the struggle, only the gospel of Jesus
 Christ can bring victory and relief.”—The SDA Bible Commentary,
 vol. 6, p. 554.
    No matter how we look at these verses, we must always remember
 that the person who struggles with sin is still capable of making right
 choices. If this were not the case, all the Pauline (as well as other) prom-
 ises about power over sin would be meaningless. Also, as Matthew 5
 demonstrates, sin often starts before an act is committed. Consequently,
 a person is in violation of the law simply by thinking something sin-
 ful. Ordinarily, this reality could be a source of frustration. However,
 in the context of Romans 7, the individual may be helpless, but he is
 not hopeless. For the person who lives in the Spirit, the ever-present
 law serves as a constant reminder that deliverance from condemnation
 comes through Jesus (Rom. 7:24–8:2).

  Read again the verses for today. In what ways do they parallel
  your own experience with the Lord? Despite your struggles, how
  can you experience the hope that Paul nevertheless expressed
  there?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                         59

 The Goal of the Law (Rom. 9:30–10:4)
    The title for this week’s lesson comes from Romans 10:4—“Christ
 is the end of the law” (NKJV). Many who have been preconditioned to
 think negatively about the law automatically interpret the text to mean,
 “Christ made the law obsolete.” However, this reading goes against the
 many references in the book of Romans and other parts of the New
 Testament that discuss the continued relevance of the law.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   As with the rest of the epistle to the Romans, Paul’s purpose in these
 verses is to demonstrate the true source of righteousness. The law is an
 indicator of righteousness, but it is powerless to make people righteous.
 Hence, Paul portrays a paradox: the nations (Gentiles) who did not
 even strive for righteousness have obtained it, while Israel, who strove
 to keep the righteous law, did not obtain it. Paul is not excluding Jews
 from righteousness; neither is he saying that every non-Jew is righ-
 teous. He is simply saying that the law does not bring righteousness to
 a sinner, whether Jew or Gentile.
   Many Jews were sincere in their desire for righteousness, but their
 quest was futile (Rom. 10:2). They were zealous about serving God but
 wanted to do so on their own terms. They had taken an object of God’s
 revelation (the law) and confused it with the Source of their salvation.
 As good as the law is, it’s not good enough to save anyone. In fact,
 rather than making a person righteous, the law highlights the indi-
 vidual’s sinfulness; it amplifies the need for righteousness. That’s why
 Paul describes Christ as the “end” of the law. He is not the “end” in the
 sense of terminating the law, but in the sense of being the “goal” of the
 law, the One to whom the law points. The law leads a person to Christ
 as the repentant sinner looks to Him for salvation. The law reminds all
 Christians that Christ is our righteousness (Rom. 10:4).

  People who take the law seriously are always in danger of legal-
  ism, of seeking to establish “their own righteousness.” As we seek
  to obey God’s law, how can we be careful not to fall into what can
  be a very subtle trap?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 60

  The Disciplinarian (Gal. 3:19–24)
    In harmony with the book of Romans, Paul is careful to stipulate in
  Galatians that the purpose of the law is to define sin and not to make
  people righteous (Gal. 3:19, 21).

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

    Depending on the translation, the law is identified in verse 24 as
  a “schoolmaster,” “taskmaster,” “tutor,” and “custodian,” among other
  designations. The Greek term refers to a slave employed by a wealthy
  individual to be a disciplinarian for his son. It was the tutor’s respon-
  sibility to ensure that the son learned self-discipline. Although a slave,
  the tutor was given the authority to do that which was necessary to keep
  the son in line, even if it meant physical punishment. When the son
  reached adulthood, the tutor no longer had authority over him.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

    Although the tutor no longer had authority over the adult son, it was
  expected that the lessons that the son had learned would enable him to
  make mature decisions. Similarly, while the Christian is not under the
  condemning power of the law, as a person who has attained maturity,
  he or she is expected to govern his or her actions in accordance with
  the principles of the law.
    In addition to its role as tutor, the law also operated as a caretaker that
  protected the believer until “the faith” came (Gal. 3:23). Here again we
  see that Christ is the “end,” the goal, of the law. Paul makes that point
  explicitly when he says that the law brought us to Christ, so that “we
  might be justified by faith” (vs. 24).

   Read carefully Galatians 3:21. What does it say that should forever
   end any idea that we can be saved by obedience to the law? Why is
   this such good news? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.
                                                                           61

   Godly living is not optional for those who call themselves
  children of God. Many well-meaning individuals stress the need
  for us to attain “perfection” if we desire to enter the kingdom.
  Unfortunately, those who embrace this doctrine not only promote
  self-sufficiency as a key to salvation, but they also ignore the real-
  ity of sinful human nature. Humans have to live with inherited
  tendencies toward sin and are constantly bombarded with temp-
  tation. Even more troubling is the discouragement that can come
  to those who are constantly looking to themselves and how well
  they are doing as a barometer of their salvation. Compared to
  the holiness of God and His law, who among us can ever measure
  up? How, then, can we be careful that while seeking to live godly,
  faithful lives, we do not get caught up in any theology that puts the
  hope of our salvation in anything other than the righteousness of
  Christ covering us?

   What is the goal of the law?

                           Munkhtogtokh Nyamdavaa is a teenager living in
                           Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

  The Law of God and the Law
  of Christ




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 19:16–22; John 13:34,
  35; Gal. 6:1–5; Acts 17:31; John 5:30.

  I
      n most nations a hierarchy of laws exists. At the top are laws that
      come from the national government and that bind all who reside in
      the country. Then there are laws on the provincial level that pertain
  to the inhabitants of certain territories. Finally, local laws govern the
  smallest districts. Although each division within a country is permitted
  to make laws that are relevant to its constituents, none can make a law
  that contradicts the law of the nation. And though circumstances may
  dictate that a certain law be applied in different ways, the application
  cannot deviate from the spirit of the law.
     As the Supreme Head of the universe, the Creator God has estab-
  lished laws for all of His creatures. When Jesus Christ voluntarily
  transformed Himself into human flesh, He gave Himself to a life of
  obedience to His Father (Phil. 2:5–11) and to His commandments.
  Thus, everything that Jesus taught, the perspective that He put on the
  law, even the “new” commandment that He gave, was always in full
  harmony with the law of God.

 The Law and the Prophets
    Some believe that the Ten Commandments, delivered through Moses
 at Sinai, were relevant only to the Israelites before the Cross and are not
 binding in the New Covenant era of grace. Others teach that Christians are
 free from the old law, but only those of Jewish heritage, and not Christians,
 are still expected to adhere to it. As we have seen, though the Bible does
 teach that the works of the law can save no one, no passage gives a person
 license to violate God’s law. If any did, it would be a license to sin, and the
 Bible would blatantly contradict itself on a crucial topic.
    In this context we remember that God revealed the terms of His cov-
 enant to Israel on tablets of stone that contained the law. However, the
 Bible contains many other commandments that cover details not found
 in the Decalogue. In seeking a comprehensive understanding of God’s
 will, the rabbis counted 613 scriptural laws, which they anchored in the
 Ten Commandments. Jesus appears to go beyond the rabbis when He
 announces that He has not come to “ ‘abolish the law or the prophets’ ”
 (Matt. 5:17, NRSV; emphasis supplied). While summarized in the Ten
 Commandments, the law of God contains every divine command spo-
 ken directly to or through His prophets.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Although there are hundreds of commandments that God has
 revealed in His Word, the Ten Commandments provide solid principles
 that can be applied to all other laws. Hence, Jesus mentioned five of the
 Ten Commandments when speaking to the rich young ruler. There is an
 even more potent summary of God’s law in the commandments found
 in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, which is to love God and to
 love one’s neighbor. Jesus declares, “ ‘On these two commandments
 hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matt. 22:40, NKJV). Ultimately,
 Jesus and His Father are united in purpose as they urge the people of
 God’s creation to love as they have been loved, and obedience to the law
 is foundational to how that love is to be expressed.

  What in your life shows your love for God and for your neighbor?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                            65

 The “Rules” of Love (John 15:10)
    Scripture provides a number of examples of Jesus’ fidelity to the
 law of God. For instance, although His words in Luke 2:49 imply that
 at a young age He understood His identity, when His earthly mother
 expressed the hurt she felt that resulted from His straying from the
 family, He humbly accompanied His parents home and “was obedi-
 ent to them” (Luke 2:51, NIV). On another occasion, Jesus refused to
 bow to Satan when tempted in the wilderness because worship was
 reserved for God alone (Luke 4:8). And there are several illustra-
 tions of His Sabbath keeping (for example, Luke 4:16). Paul wrote
 that Jesus’ entire life was based on obedience to God’s will (Phil.
 2:5–11), and Hebrews says that, although tempted, He never sinned
 (Heb. 4:15). Thus, He could say as He approached His final hours,
 “ ‘I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love’ ”
 (John 15:10, NKJV).

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Jesus understood that there is a relationship between commandment
 keeping and love. Though we’re not used to talking about “rules” of
 love, one could say that, in a real sense, the Ten Commandments are
 those rules. They show us how God wants us to express our love for
 Him and others.
    God is love (1 John 4:16), and so in presenting His commandment
 to His disciples (John 13:34, 35), Jesus is simply amplifying the law of
 love that originated in His Father (John 3:16). Now, though, more than
 just loving each other as ourselves, we are to love as Jesus loved us.
    “At the time when these words were spoken, the disciples could not
 understand them; but after they had witnessed the sufferings of Christ,
 after His crucifixion and resurrection, and ascension to heaven, and after
 the Holy Spirit had rested on them at Pentecost, they had a clearer con-
 ception of the love of God and of the nature of that love which they must
 have for one another.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 547.

  With today’s lesson in mind, read 1 John 3:16. How can we have
  this kind of love in our own lives? How can we die the kind of
  death to self that is needed in order for us to express such love?
  _______________________________________________________

 All Things to All Men Take a close look at the references to law in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23.
 What is Paul saying here? Why such a strong emphasis on law?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    God’s desire is that all people accept His gift of eternal life and become
 citizens of His everlasting kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul reveals his
 method of attracting people to God’s kingdom. He understands that there
 are cultural barriers that hinder people from making a decision for the
 gospel. Paul is willing to adapt to the culture of the group to whom he
 was witnessing for the sole purpose of seeing them saved.
    Ultimately, all who become a part of God’s kingdom will be subject
 to His law. Consequently, those who minister for God must also be in
 line with God’s will. Paul is quick to state that although he uses innova-
 tive methods to reach people, he is always careful to remain under the
 dictates of God’s law. His desire to see people saved will not allow him
 to compromise the laws of the God he is asking them to serve. He may
 adapt to cultural laws, but only if there is no conflict with the ultimate
 law. The principle that governs his method is the “law of Christ” (1 Cor.
 9:21, NASB).
    We can also understand Paul’s reference to the “law of Christ” as the
 method that Christ used. It was a method based on love for all people
 and not for just a select few. Paul does not intend for the law of Christ to
 be seen as an alternative to the law of God. The two work harmoniously
 together as the loving law of Christ is used to introduce those saved by
 grace to the law of a loving God. In fact, the entire section, in which
 Paul so openly explains all that He is willing to do in order to reach
 the lost, is a perfect example of the kind of self-sacrificing love that is
 revealed in the “law of Christ.”

  How much self are you willing to deny in order to reach others
  for Christ? How much self have you already denied in reaching
  out to others? How much of the “law of Christ” do you follow?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                          67

 Fulfilling the Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2)
    Whether revealed in written documents or in nature, the law of God
 discloses His will to every person capable of understanding (Rom.
 1:20, 2:12–16). Consequently, no one can claim to be ignorant of the
 basic requirements of God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory
 of God” (Rom. 3:23, NKJV) and thus are destined for destruction (Rom.
 6:23, Ezek. 18:4). However, all is not lost: the curse has been reversed
 by the gift of eternal life, which has been made available through the
 life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8).
    According to Paul, grace should empower the believer to live an obe-
 dient life (Rom. 6:15, Eph. 2:10, Titus 2:11–14), though, as we all know
 too well, we don’t always live as obediently and faithfully as we should.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    It is important to remember that everyone is subject to temptation
 and can submit to sin in moments of weakness. With this recognition,
 it is insensitive for a person to immediately condemn a fellow Christian
 who has fallen. Even Jesus, who had never sinned, was willing to assist
 those who have been overcome by sin. As Ellen G. White wrote of Jesus,
 “He did not censure human weakness.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 353.
 Paul admonished Christians to provide assistance for the purpose of res-
 toration (Gal. 6:1). In other words, the person who has sinned should be
 encouraged to abide once again by the precepts of God’s law.
    The law of Christ is driven by mercy. Had it not been for His sacrifi-
 cial death, there would be no reason to keep the law of God. However,
 because Christ has made eternal life possible, there is an incentive for
 the faithful to resume keeping God’s law after moments of weakness.
 Fellow believers should use the law of Christ as a vehicle to transport
 the repentant sinner back to the arena of God’s law of love.

  Think about a time when you messed up and were shown grace,
  though you didn’t deserve it (after all, if you did deserve it, it
  wouldn’t be grace). How can you make sure that you remember
  the grace that you have received the next time that someone
  needs to beg some grace from you?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 68

  Law and Judgment (John 5:30)
     Although God’s law is a law of mercy, God will eventually use it as
  the standard of judgment. God has continued to provide opportunities
  for sinners to repent and pledge loyalty to Him, but the hour is coming
  when the cry will go out, “ ‘Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy
  still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy’ ”
  (Rev. 22:11, NRSV). This announcement serves as a prelude to the final
  judgment.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

    Although Christ had laid aside His divine nature when He became
  human (Phil. 2:5–11), He still had a special relationship with the
  Father. When the religious leaders accused Him of blasphemy, He
  informed His accusers that God had given Him authority to fulfill
  specific divine tasks (John 5:19–30), one of which was judgment.
  The fact that Christ has been assigned the responsibility of judg-
  ment demonstrates the mercy of God. Because Christ has become
  one with the human race, He is in a position to judge impartially.
  Given His familiarity with the human experience, Christ would not
  condemn a person unjustly. In fact, Christ suggests that condem-
  nation does not come from Him, but that the unrepentant sinner
  condemns himself when he refuses to heed the command of God
  (John 12:48).
    Many are familiar with the content of God’s law but don’t know
  how to keep it. The law is not a checklist we use to see how close
  we are to the kingdom; instead, it is an instrument that expresses
  various principles of love. Fulfilling the law does not mean that
  we obey it to gain personal favor with God, but it beckons each
  Christian to share the love of God with those who need it. As the
  standard of judgment, the law serves to measure the level of love
  that the individual has shared with God and humanity. When Christ
  presides over the final judgment, He will use God’s unchanging law
  of love as the standard by which to judge (James 2:12).

                                                                              69

   “ ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.’
 Here, again, our duty is plainly set before us. How can the professed
 followers of Christ so lightly regard these inspired injunctions? . . .
   “We know but little of our own hearts, and have but little sense of
 our own need of the mercy of God. This is why we cherish so little of
 that sweet compassion which Jesus manifests toward us, and which
 we should manifest toward one another. We should remember that
 our brethren are weak, erring mortals, like ourselves. Suppose that a
 brother has through unwatchfulness been over-borne by temptation,
 and contrary to his general conduct has committed some error; what
 course shall be pursued toward him? We learn from Bible history that
 men whom God had used to do a great and good work committed
 grave sins. The Lord did not pass these by unrebuked, neither did he
 cast off his servants. When they repented, he graciously forgave them,
 and revealed to them his presence, and wrought through them. Let
 poor, weak mortals consider how great is their own need of pity and
 forbearance from God and from their brethren. Let them beware how
 they judge and condemn others.”—Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times,
 January 25, 1883.

   Think about some well-known Bible characters who fell into
  sin, whom God was yet able to forgive and continue to use. What
  important lesson is there for us in these examples?

   In what ways can we enforce church discipline while at the
  same time showing grace and mercy toward those among us who
  fall into sin? Why should we see the two concepts, discipline and
  grace, as not being in contradiction with each other?

                           Rober Aquino and his family share their faith in
                           central Peru.

  Christ, the Law and the
  Gospel


  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Rom. 7:7–12; Deut. 30:15–20;
  Matt. 7:24–27; Acts 10:34, 35; John 15:10; Eph. 2:1.

  A
           century before Christ, Roman poet Lucretius wrote a famous
           poem “On the Nature of Things” that was lost in history until
           the Middle Ages. Though often accused of being an atheist,
  Lucretius didn’t deny in his poem the existence of the gods; he just
  argued that by virtue of being gods, they would have absolutely no
  interest in anything human.
    In contrast, the Bible argues that there is only one God, and that He’s
  fervently interested in what happens here. And two manifestations of
  that passionate interest in humanity are found in His law (which is
  to guide how we live) and in His grace (His means of saving us even
  though we have violated that law). Though often seen as contrary to
  each other, law and grace are inseparably linked. Their methods of
  operation may be different, but together they reveal that righteousness
  must triumph over sin. The manifestations of God’s law and His grace
  provide powerful evidence of His love for humanity and His desire to
  save us into His eternal kingdom.

 Sin and the Law Read Romans 7:7–12. What is Paul saying here about the relationship
 between sin and law? Why would he even ask such a question as,
 “Is the law sin?” (NKJV)?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Paul so closely relates the law and sin that he asks the rhetorical
 question, “Is the law sin?” The answer, of course, is that it’s not; on the
 contrary, at the end of the section he says, “Therefore the law is holy,
 and the commandment holy and just and good” (NKJV). The “there-
 fore” shows the conclusion of his argument: that, far from being sin,
 the law is indeed holy and good.
    What Paul says here is analogous to the relationship between crimi-
 nal law and crime. Something is criminal only if a law depicts it as
 such. You might go to jail in one country for doing something that in
 another country is legal. The reason: one country has a law forbidding
 that action, the other doesn’t. It is the same action but with two different
 consequences. What makes the difference? The law.
    A crucial point to remember, too, is that just because something is a
 law doesn’t make it good. In early America, a law required people to
 return escaped slaves to their masters. It was the law; yet, it was hardly
 a just one. In the case of God’s law, however, we know that it reflects
 His loving character. Thus Paul’s words that the law is holy and good;
 what else could it be, considering who created it?

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Perhaps Paul uses that specific commandment instead of some of the
 others because it’s not so obvious that it’s wrong. Many people, in and of
 themselves, might not believe that coveting is wrong. Murder, stealing, yes;
 one generally doesn’t even need the Ten Commandments to know that. But
 coveting? So it is a perfect example to make his point that it’s the law that
 shows us what sin is. Otherwise, he might not have known that coveting
 was wrong.
                                                                          73

 The Law and Israel (Deut. 30:15–18)
   The giving of the law to Israel was a special act. Just before He gave
 the law to Moses, God reminded His people that they are “ ‘a kingdom
 of priests and a holy nation’ ” (Exod. 19:6, NKJV). Among all nations
 on the face of the earth, it was to Israel that God specially revealed
 His law (Rom. 9:4). The law was not intended to be a burden to the
 people but to be a tool through which the chosen nation would reveal
 to the masses the moral code that is the foundation of God’s govern-
 ment. Israel was to be a partner with God in the mission of universal
 evangelism, and God’s law was to be the identifying mark for God’s
 spokespersons.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    God chose Israel to be His representatives. Israel would be the people
 through whom the nations of the earth received the blessings promised
 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, the blessings were by no means
 automatic. As a chosen nation, Israel was expected to walk in harmony
 with the Lord’s will. Moses made it clear that life and prosperity would
 come to the people only if they observed God’s “commandments,
 decrees, and ordinances” (Deut. 30:15, 16, NRSV).
    Given the numerous stories of rebellion that mar Israel’s history, Israel
 as a nation failed to live up to the covenant conditions. Yet, we must not
 forget that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom.
 3:23, NKJV). No nation on earth has fulfilled the will of God. Even in
 recent history, nations that profess to be Christian have misrepresented
 the cause of God with warmongering, prejudice, and oppression.

  In your own experience, how are obedience and faith related?
  That is, when you obey, what happens to your faith in contrast to
  when you disobey? How does obedience strengthen faith?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

 The Law and the Nations (Acts 10:34, 35) Read Acts 10:34, 35; 17:26, 27; Romans 1:20; and 2:14. What is the
 central teaching of these texts?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Despite Israel’s mistakes, God did not leave the people in other
 nations without a witness. Those who were not privileged to receive
 God’s written revelation received divine messages through the pages of
 natural revelation (Rom. 1:20). God’s book of nature contains enough
 information to direct a person to Him.
    God has also instilled a measure of spiritual desire in every human
 being. According to Paul, those who sense God’s indwelling Spirit will
 engage in a quest to find Him (Acts 17:27). So many people sense an
 emptiness in their lives that nothing this world offers—fame, power,
 money, sex—can ultimately fulfill. At its heart, this was the message
 of the book of Ecclesiastes. This emptiness, this dissatisfaction, often
 leads people in a quest for something beyond, for something that tran-
 scends everyday existence. They are drawn to revealed truth in a desire
 to quell the longings and emptiness of their souls.
    Whether God’s will is revealed through written documents or nature,
 the person who receives it has the responsibility to live it. Truth is
 truth, regardless of the vehicle that delivers it, and those who suppress
 the truth will experience the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18). Consequently,
 although many people may not have received the Bible or the Ten
 Commandments, God still holds them accountable for the portions of
 truth that they have gleaned. Ultimately, everyone will be judged, and
 the standard of judgment will be law: either the law God expressly
 revealed through His prophet Moses, or, for those who are ignorant of
 the written law—the law of conscience, which has been developed by
 listening to God’s voice in nature.

  What great disappointments have you faced that have helped you
  see just how untrustworthy and unsatisfactory the things of this
  world really can be? How can you learn from these disappoint-
  ments about what truly matters?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                      75

 Grace and Truth (John 1:17)
   John condensed the history of salvation into one verse: “The law was
 given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
 (John 1:17, NKJV). As a result of Adam’s sin, all humanity has been
 affected by the curse of death. The curse is intensified by the fact that
 no one born to human parents, except Jesus, has been free from sinful
 inclinations. Therefore, God selected a people to whom He revealed
 His law, intending that those elected would be His light to the other
 nations. God did not give the law to Israel as a means to salvation but
 as a constant reminder of their need for righteousness.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    When he disobeyed the express command of God, the first Adam
 plunged the entire world into disarray and bondage. On the other hand,
 through His obedient life, the Second Adam, Jesus, came to deliver the
 world from the bondage that the first Adam had brought. When Jesus
 walked this earth, He voluntarily subjected His own will to the will of
 His Father and chose not to sin. Unlike the first Adam, who brought
 condemnation and falsehood into the world, Jesus brought in “grace
 and truth.” Grace and truth did not supplant the law. Jesus showed,
 instead, why the law alone was not enough to procure salvation. The
 truth that He brought was a more complete understanding of grace.

 _________________________________________________________

    The Greek word translated as “grace” (charis) can also mean “gift”
 and is related to the term for joy (chara). The gift that Jesus gives to
 humanity is eternal life. Further, grace manifests itself as the indwell-
 ing presence of Christ that enables the individual to participate in the
 righteousness that the law promotes. Paul states that in condemning sin
 in the flesh, Jesus has made it possible that “the righteous requirement
 of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:4, NKJV). Grace not only
 frees us from the condemnation of the law, but it enables us to keep the
 law in the way that we are called to do. 76

 The Law and the Gospel (Rom. 1:16, 17)
   No matter how “good” our lives are, none can escape the constant
 reminders of sin. Inevitably, happiness is interrupted by sickness, death,
 disaster. On a personal level, feelings of spiritual security are often
 challenged by memories of past sins and, even worse, by the urge to
 sin again.

 _________________________________________________________

    A person living in sin, in unrighteousness, is merely a walking corpse
 just waiting for the day when the last breath exits his body. When Paul
 assesses the human condition, he cries out in desperation, “Who will
 deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24, NKJV). This is a cry
 for liberation from unrighteousness. Paul quickly realizes that deliver-
 ance comes through Jesus (Rom. 7:25).
    This is the gospel. The good news is that we who have been trapped
 in bodies of unrighteousness can be covered with the righteousness of
 Christ. The gospel is the guarantee that we can escape the condemna-
 tion of the law because we now possess the righteousness that the law
 promotes (Rom. 8:1).
    When Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, the story of Jesus’ death
 was still being circulated throughout the empire. Those who had heard
 were fully aware that the way He had died was scandalous. People
 whose loved ones had been executed on a cross were often left to a life
 of shame. However, Paul and countless other Christians understood
 that Christ’s “shameful” death was the most powerful event in human
 history. That is why Paul declares, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for
 it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom.
 1:16, author’s translation). And the heart of that gospel is the great
 promise that in the end, death will not have the final say and that those
 saved by Jesus will live forever in a new earth.

  Many people believe that life is meaningless because it always
  ends in death. So, nothing we do will matter in the long run. It’s
  hard to argue with that logic, isn’t it? If everything we have ever
  done and every person we have ever influenced will all forever be
  lost and forgotten, what can life mean?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                       77

    “Let the subject be made distinct and plain that it is not possible to
 effect anything in our standing before God or in the gift of God to us
 through creature merit. Should faith and works purchase the gift of salva-
 tion for anyone, then the Creator is under obligation to the creature. Here
 is an opportunity for falsehood to be accepted as truth. If any man can
 merit salvation by anything he may do, then he is in the same position as
 the Catholic to do penance for his sins. Salvation, then, is partly of debt,
 that may be earned as wages. If man cannot, by any of his good works,
 merit salvation, then it must be wholly of grace, received by man as a
 sinner because he receives and believes in Jesus. It is wholly a free gift.
 Justification by faith is placed beyond controversy. And all this controversy
 is ended, as soon as the matter is settled that the merits of fallen man in
 his good works can never procure eternal life for him.”—Ellen G. White,
 Faith and Works, p. 19.

   Although God gave His law to Israel through Moses, the Bible
  suggests that He uses other methods to reveal His will to people
  who may not have access to His written revelation (for example,
  Rom. 1:20; 2:14; Acts 17:26, 27). If God does indeed speak to all
  people, what is the purpose of missionaries and evangelists?

   John 1:17 states that “grace and truth” originated with Jesus
  Christ. Using that text, many people place the law in opposition to
  “grace and truth.” Why is this a false dichotomy? In what ways do
  the law and “grace and truth” all work together to reveal to us the
  character of God as seen in the plan of salvation?

   Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky created a character who
  wanted to study why more people didn’t kill themselves. As an
  atheist, he couldn’t understand why people would want to live
  meaningless lives that were often so full of pain. Discuss the logic
  of this thinking.

  Christ, the Law and the
  Covenants


  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 9:12–17, 17:2–12, Gal.
  3:15–28, Deut. 9:9, Heb. 10:11–18, Heb. 9:15–28.

  G
           od’s eternal decision to save humanity has been revealed to us
           through the ages by the covenants. Though the Bible speaks of
           covenants in the plural (Rom. 9:4, Gal. 4:24, Eph. 2:12), there
  is really only the covenant of grace, in which salvation is given to sin-
  ners, not on the basis of their merits but on the merits of Jesus that are
  offered to all who claim those merits by faith. The plural, covenants,
  simply means that God has advanced His saving purposes by restating
  the covenant in various ways in order to meet the needs of His people
  in different times and settings. It is always, though, one covenant—the
  eternal covenant of God’s saving grace.
     The heart of this covenant is our Lord’s steadfast, faithful love, a love
  that the Bible at times even equates with the covenants themselves (see
  Deut. 7:9, 1 Kings 8:23, Dan. 9:4). As part of that covenant, God calls
  His people to obey His law, not as a means of salvation but as the fruit
  of it. Law and grace together have always been central to God’s eternal
  covenant.

 Covenant Signs (Gen. 9:12–17)
    A covenant can be simply defined as an agreement between two par-
 ties based upon promises made by either one or by both parties. There
 are two basic methods by which a covenant can operate. In the first,
 both parties to the covenant agree to the terms of the relationship and
 make mutual promises. This would be the case in a marriage, busi-
 ness merger, or even the purchase of property. In the second category,
 one party initiates the covenant by stipulating both the promises and
 the nonnegotiable terms, and the other party is invited to participate.
 Examples include payment of taxes or enrollment at an educational
 institution. In both instances, either party is free to withdraw from the
 covenant, but there is usually a consequence. (For instance, a person
 who fails to pay his mortgage will lose his home, or a citizen who
 refuses to remit taxes will be prosecuted.)
    A covenant is usually sealed with at least one symbol. For instance,
 a person purchasing a home places several signatures on a mortgage
 agreement with a lending institution, which keeps the title deed for the
 property in trust until the full amount is paid. Or married people are
 issued a legal document of marriage by the state. The symbol itself is
 not the covenant but an indicator that a person is obligated to a cov-
 enant.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    In Genesis 9:9, God covenants with creation that He will never again
 destroy the earth with water. Whenever a rainbow appears in the sky, all
 are expected to remember God’s promise. The same is true for the mark
 of circumcision, which was supposed to remind every Jewish male of
 His people’s role in blessing the nations. One covenant was made with
 all humanity; the other, specifically with the nation of Israel. Also, in
 the covenant made with humanity after the Flood, the people didn’t
 have to do anything; the promise was just there, regardless of what
 the people did. This wasn’t so with the second one, the one made with
 Israel; the people had to fulfill their part of the deal.
                                                                      81

 Covenant Promises
   Covenants are based on promises. In fact, it is possible to use the
 two terms interchangeably. Of course, when a covenant is made, it is
 expected that the person who makes the promise (covenant) has the
 ability to deliver what is promised (covenanted).
   In the Old Testament, some covenants were local and limited affairs
 (see, for instance, Gen. 31:43–54).
   The incident with Jacob and Laban demonstrates that covenants can
 be transactions made within and between societies. The monument at
 Mizpah was to serve as the sign of a treaty that would apply only to the
 two clans. When those to whom the treaty applied had died, the terms
 of the treaty would be irrelevant. Unlike this covenant made between
 humans, the covenants that Yahweh instituted with Noah and Abraham
 have everlasting implications.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Throughout the Bible, God has made several universal covenants in
 which He makes promises that are relevant to all humanity. Recognizing
 that the entire earth had been affected by the Flood, Yahweh promised
 not to allow His creation to be devastated by water again. In the case
 with Abraham, God saw humanity’s need for righteousness, and so He
 promised to provide a blessing for all nations through Abraham’s seed
 (Gen. 22:18).
   Though God made the Sinai covenant with a specific nation, it
 also has universal significance. God was very clear that any foreigner
 could be a part of the chosen people (for example, Exod. 12:48, 49),
 and Israel’s mission was to be an evangelistic light to the world (Exod.
 19:5, 6).

  What is your own personal understanding of your covenantal
  relationship with God? That is, what has God promised you, and
  what has He asked of you in return for those promises?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

 Tablets of the Covenant
    Although a covenant is based on promises, there are usually condi-
 tions to meet before the promises are fulfilled. The Abrahamic covenant
 involved the circumcision of all males who were born either to Abraham
 or his descendants. When Yahweh covenanted with Israel, He personally
 engraved the requirements for the relationship on tablets of stone (Deut.
 9:8–11). These requirements, preserved in the Ten Commandments, were
 to form the basis of God’s everlasting covenant with all humans.
    Because they detail certain terms of the covenant, the Ten
 Commandments are often termed the “tablets of the covenant” (Deut.
 9:9, NKJV). The Ten Commandments are not intended to be an obstacle
 course designed to make life hard for those who have entered into the
 covenant with God; instead, as an expression of God’s love, the com-
 mandments have been given for the benefit of those who have entered
 into a covenant relationship with their Lord.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Under the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai, the Israelites and those who
 joined the community were obligated to demonstrate faithfulness to the
 covenant by keeping the Ten Commandments. When they violated a
 commandment, they were expected to offer an animal sacrifice if they
 wished to have their sins forgiven.
    Under the New Covenant at Mount Calvary, God’s people are still
 obligated to keep the Ten Commandments. However, when they sin
 they don’t have to offer continuous sacrifices, because Jesus is their
 full and complete sacrifice (Heb. 9:11–14). The New Covenant is so
 much better than the old because now, by faith, we claim the promises
 of forgiveness offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus. “There is
 hope for us only as we come under the Abrahamic covenant, which
 is the covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus.”—Ellen G. White
 Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1077.

  What does it mean to have God’s law written in your heart? How
  does this differ from merely understanding God’s law as a code
  of obedience?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________
                                                                      83

 The Covenant and the Gospel (Heb. 9:15–22)
   There were strong consequences for violating certain biblical cov-
 enants. Yahweh warned Abraham that any male who was not circum-
 cised would be cut off from the chosen (Gen. 17:14), and a litany of
 curses was directed toward those who refused to abide by the terms of
 the Sinai covenant (Deut. 27:11–26). Ultimately, those who violated
 the terms of the covenant would be punished with death (Ezek. 18:4).
 The same is true for the New Covenant: those who refuse to keep God’s
 law are also denied access to eternal life (Rom. 6:23).

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Hebrews 9:15–28 repeats the gospel story as it proclaims the part
 that Christ plays in securing the promises for believers. Verse 15 points
 out that Jesus functions as the “mediator” of the New Covenant, who,
 through His death, offers eternal life to those who otherwise would face
 eternal destruction.
   In verses 16 and 17, some Bible translations switch from discussing
 “covenant” and introduce the term “will” instead, even though the same
 Greek word is used. This brings in the whole idea of death, the death
 of Jesus for us. When viewed in that context, the passage reminds the
 believer that without Christ the covenant requires the death of each sin-
 ner. However, the sinner can be covered and then cleansed by Christ’s
 shed blood and thus be among those who “eagerly wait” His return
 (Heb. 9:28, NKJV).
   “Then we shall know that our own righteousness is indeed as filthy
 rags, and that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us from the defile-
 ment of sin, and renew our hearts in His own likeness.”—Ellen G.
 White, Steps to Christ, p. 29.

  God Himself, in the person of Jesus, bore in Himself the punish-
  ment for our sins in order to spare us that punishment, which we
  deserve. What does this tell us about the character of God, and
  why we can trust Him, no matter our circumstances?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________ 84

 Covenant Benefits (Eph. 2:6)
   In many instances people can experience the promises of a covenant
 before all the terms are even met. For instance, a person purchasing a
 home has the opportunity to live in the home before it is paid for. Or
 a citizen enjoys the public services offered by the government before
 he has even started paying taxes. Those who enter into a covenant with
 God can also start to experience the benefits of the covenant before the
 promises are actualized in the future.
   Think, for instance, about the Ten Commandments, and how much
 pain and suffering people could avoid if they simply followed them.
 Who hasn’t personally experienced the heartache that comes from
 the violation of these commandments? Even worse, the suffering that
 comes isn’t always limited to the one who violates the law; often others,
 even those closest to the sinner, suffer, as well.

 2 Cor. 4:16–18______________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 1 John 5:11–13______________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 Phil. 1:6__________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 John 5:24_________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Jesus uses very strong language in the Gospel of John when He
 reports that those who accept Him have already “ ‘passed from
 death into life’ ” (John 5:24, NKJV). So confident is the believer
 in his or her salvation that although confined to this earth, he or
 she can claim to be sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus
 (Eph. 2:6).

  If someone were to ask you, “What does it mean to be sitting with
  Jesus in heaven now (as Ephesians 2:6 says),” what would you
  answer, and why?
  _______________________________________________________

                                                                      85

    “This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, ‘In
 thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ Gen. 22:18. This
 promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it, and he trusted in
 Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted
 unto him for righteousness. The covenant with Abraham also main-
 tained the authority of God’s law. . . .
    “The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is
 called the ‘second,’ or ‘new,’ covenant, because the blood by which it was
 sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. . . .
    “The covenant of grace is not a new truth, for it existed in the mind of
 God from all eternity. This is why it is called the everlasting covenant. . . .
    “There is hope for us only as we come under the Abrahamic cov-
 enant, which is the covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus.”—Ellen
 G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 75.

   It is often thought that the Old Covenant, the one established
  with Abraham, was a covenant of works, in contrast to the New
  Covenant, which is of grace. Why is this idea wrong? What Bible
  verses can you find that prove it was always a covenant of grace?
  Why must it always have been by grace and never by works?

   Though Ephesians 1 doesn’t use the phrase “everlasting cov-
  enant,” in what way do these words help us to understand why the
  covenant has been called that?

   God promised that He would never again destroy the world by
  a flood, a promise symbolized by the rainbow. If, as some suggest,
  Noah’s flood were only local, what does that make of God’s prom-
  ise? Why is the idea that the Flood was not global a major assault
  on Bible truth? (After all, look at all the local floods that have
  happened since then. If Noah’s flood were only local, what would
  these other local floods do to God’s covenant promise?)

  The Apostles and the Law




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Rom. 3:31, 6:15, Acts 10:9–14,
  John 15:1–11, James 2:1–26, Heb. 3:7–19, Jude 5–7.

  W
              ith so much evidence for the continued validity of God’s law,
              why do so many Christians argue against it?
                 First, some (as we have seen) look at certain New
  Testament texts that condemn a false understanding of the law’s func-
  tion but conclude that the problem is with the law itself. As a result,
  they claim that the Ten Commandments are not obligatory for those
  under the new covenant.
     Second, others are so convinced that the Sabbath is not binding on
  Christians that, in order to justify this position, they claim that all the
  commandments have been crucified with Jesus on the cross.
     Third, some argue that the other nine commandments are in effect
  but that the fourth, the seventh-day Sabbath, has been superseded by
  Sunday, which is kept in honor of the resurrection of Jesus.
     Numerous problems exist with all these positions. This week we’ll
  look at the attitude of Christ’s apostles concerning the law, because
  surely if it were to have been nullified or modified after Christ’s death,
  the apostles would have known something about it.

 Paul and the Law
   Paul, it has been said, was the true founder of Christianity. That is wrong,
 of course. Though Paul contributed much to our theological understanding
 of Christian doctrine, including 13 of the 27 New Testament books, practi-
 cally all the teachings in his writings can be found elsewhere in Scripture.
 The main reason why some claim that Paul started a “new” religion is the
 misconception over his teaching about law and grace.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   Read in isolation, these texts definitely give the impression that the
 law is no longer relevant for the Christian. However, all these verses
 belong to a broader context that we must see in order to understand
 what Paul is truly saying.

 _________________________________________________________

    For those who don’t understand the concept of justification by faith,
 Paul may seem to be contradicting himself. In the same breath he
 claims that the Christian is not under the law; yet the same Christian is
 obligated to keep the law. The problem is solved when we remember
 that God demands righteousness from those who claim to be in rela-
 tionship with Him. The standard of righteousness is His law. However,
 when people measure up against His law, they fall short and are there-
 fore condemned by the law. If the law were the means to salvation, then
 none would have any hope of eternal life. The hope of the Christian
 is not found in the law but in Jesus Christ, who not only kept the law
 perfectly but through God’s miraculous power allows believers to share
 in His righteousness (Rom. 8:3, 4). The Christian can now serve the law
 of God with a free conscience because Christ has taken away the law’s
 condemnation (Rom. 7:25–8:2). The grace that comes through Christ
 does not release us from the law but rather compels us to obey it.

                                                                           89

 Peter and the Law (1 Pet. 2:9)
    Peter was one of Jesus’ closest apostles. Among the first selected,
 Peter was present at many of the major events in the ministry of Jesus.
 It was he who, at Caesarea Philippi, made the declaration that Jesus was
 the Messiah; and Peter followed his Savior to the house of Caiaphas on
 the night that Jesus was arrested and tried. And on the morning when
 the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples by the sea, it was Peter
 who received specific instructions regarding the ministry of Christ.
 When the first group of believers gathered on the day of Pentecost,
 Peter was the chief spokesperson. Certainly, if the law had been
 changed in any way, Peter would have known.

 _________________________________________________________

    Peter received his vision several years after the ascension of Jesus.
 As a result of the disciples’ preaching, thousands of Jews had already
 accepted Jesus as the Messiah. There is nothing in the biblical record
 to suggest that the content of the Christian message included instruc-
 tions to reject the law. In a powerful way, the incident in Acts 10 dem-
 onstrates that the earliest Christians fully identified with their Jewish
 roots.

 _________________________________________________________

    When Peter referred to his audience as a “royal priesthood, a holy
 nation” (NKJV), they would have recalled instantly the story of the giving
 of the law at Sinai. As the heirs of Israel, they were expected to abide by
 the terms of the covenant made explicit in the law of God. So immedi-
 ately after reminding the people of their status, Peter urges them to live
 lives of righteousness (1 Pet. 2:11, 12). He also warns his audience to
 be wary of false teachers promoting a law-free gospel (2 Pet. 2:21, 3:2).

  Remember how badly Peter messed up; and yet, look at the grace
  extended to him. How can we learn (1) to extend that kind of grace
  to others and (2) to accept grace for ourselves when we mess up? 90

 John and the Law
   John is second to Paul in the number of books contributed to the New
 Testament. This is the same John who wrote the Gospel, three letters,
 and the book of Revelation. Like Peter, he was among the first disciples
 Jesus chose, and he also had a special relationship with Jesus. Because
 of his closeness to Jesus, he is often referred to as “John the Beloved.”
 Judging from the ending of his Gospel (John 21:25), John knew a lot of
 personal information about Jesus. Surely one who was as close to Jesus
 as John would have known if Jesus had set aside God’s law.

 _________________________________________________________

 ________________________________________________________

    Toward the end of His earthly life, Jesus could testify to His disciples
 that He had been faithful to His Father’s commandments, and, as a
 result, had “remained” in His Father’s love (John 15:10). Jesus did not
 see the commandments as negative obstacles to be dismissed or dis-
 carded; rather, He saw them as guidelines for a loving relationship with
 Him and with other people. When John, the beloved disciple, reminds
 Christians of their obligation to God, he uses the same language of love
 and unity that Jesus does in the Gospel. In fact, John understood that
 love has always been the essence of the law (for example, 2 John 6). A
 person cannot claim to be keeping the law if he or she is not involved
 in loving relationships with God and other people.
    “The law of God requires that we love our fellow men as we love
 ourselves. Then every power and action of the mind must be put forth
 to that end—to do the greatest amount of good. . . . How pleasing to
 the Giver for man to hold the royal gifts of the soul so that they shall
 tell with power upon others! They are the connecting link between God
 and man, and reveal the Spirit of Christ and the attributes of heaven.
 The power of holiness, seen but not boasted of, speaks more eloquently
 than the most able sermons. It speaks of God, and opens to men their
 duty more powerfully than mere words can do.”—Ellen G. White,
 Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, p. 138.

  What is your own experience with the link between law and love?
  That is, on a personal practical level, how is love expressed by
  obedience to God’s law?
  _______________________________________________________

                                                                        91

 James and the Law
   “Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are
 called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you
 show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as
 transgressors” (James 2:7–9, NKJV).

   There is only one book in the New Testament that is attributed to
 James. While the author does not stipulate which James he is, it is
 generally accepted that the letter comes from James, the brother of
 Jesus. Though perhaps at first skeptical about Jesus’ Messiahship (John
 7:5), James eventually rose to an influential leadership position in the
 New Testament church (Acts 15:13, Gal. 1:19). Again, if Jesus had
 intended to abrogate the divine law, His own brother certainly would
 have known.

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    Misunderstanding Paul’s teaching on the law, some argue that James
 and Paul are opposed to each other regarding the role of the law. The
 major point of contention is over the place of works in salvation. Paul
 declares that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works
 (Eph. 2:8, 9), while James emphasizes that “faith without works is
 dead” (James 2:26, NKJV). These statements are not contradictory;
 James is merely expressing in a forceful manner what Paul had said
 numerous times about grace not nullifying the law. Like Paul in
 Romans 13:9, James fully understands that the essence of God’s law is
 love (James 2:8). No one can truly claim to keep God’s commandments
 if he or she does not demonstrate practical acts of love.

 Jude and the Law
   Jude, one of the shortest books in the New Testament, is believed to
 have been written by another brother of Jesus. While the author refers
 to himself as a “slave” of Jesus Christ, he does admit to being the
 brother of James. Because Matthew gives James and Jude as names for
 two of Jesus’ four brothers (Matt. 13:55), the Jude (sometimes called
 Judas) of this brief epistle is generally accepted to be the Savior’s
 brother. As with all the other biblical writers we have studied, Jude
 would have known if Jesus had set the law aside.
   Although Jude makes reference to neither law nor commandments,
 his entire letter is about fidelity to God and the consequences of trans-
 gressing His law.

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   The very mention of grace demands the existence of law, because
 grace would not be necessary if there were no sin (Rom. 5:18–6:15).
 What these false teachers were saying was so bad that Jude equated it
 with denying the Lord Himself.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    In his own diplomatic style, Jude reminds his audience about the expe-
 rience of the Israelites, who had been delivered from Egyptian bondage.
 God had demonstrated His strength to them and had even given them His
 law, but when they became unfaithful, they faced terrible consequences
 that came from being separated from Him. Jude makes it very clear that
 people can, indeed, fall away, and those who do will face judgment. Jude
 is as clear as is the rest of Scripture: all who claim to have faith must be
 willing to express that faith through an obedient life.

  Read the book of Jude. Amid all his strong warnings, what prom-
  ises can you discover there for yourself?

                                                                         93

   “Why should the apostles teach repentance toward God?—Because
 the sinner is in trouble with the Father. He has transgressed the law; he
 must see his sin, and repent. What is his next work?—To look to Jesus,
 whose blood alone can cleanse from all sin. Faith in Christ is necessary;
 for there is no saving quality in law. The law condemns, but it cannot
 pardon the transgressor. The sinner must depend on the merits of the
 blood of Christ. ‘Let him take hold of my strength,’ says our merciful
 Redeemer, ‘that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace
 with me.’ Our Lord declared that he would love most to whom most
 was forgiven; and he only will feel that he needs forgiveness who sees
 himself as he is, defiled by sin, a transgressor of God’s holy law. He
 who has the fullest conviction of the sacred claims of the law, will most
 clearly see the enormity of his offenses, and will feel that he is indeed
 forgiven much.”—Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, August 5, 1886.

   Dwell more on the warning in Jude 4. If the men are proclaim-
  ing the grace of God, they obviously are believers. Yet, Jude says
  that they are denying the Lord. What serious implications does
  this have for those who claim that God’s grace nullified the law?
  When people claim the law was done away with, what are they
  really trying to get rid of?

   How does the denial of the law, or even of one of the command-
  ments, play into Satan’s hands as he seeks to “overthrow” the law
  of God?

                                    Zamboanga Adventist School.

  Christ’s Church and the Law




  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 2:16–3:7, Genesis 6,
  Genesis 12, Deut. 7:6–12, Gal. 3:6–16, Rev. 12:17, 14:6–12.

  I
      n a relay race, a team usually consists of four runners. Team mem-
      bers may have competed against each other at another time, but
      now, as a part of the same team, they must learn to think as one. In
  the race itself, the length of the course is equally divided between the
  participants. One team member alone can race at any given time—the
  one who is holding the baton. The baton is skillfully passed from one
  team member to the next until the race is finished. In a sense, the baton
  is the only symbol of continuity among the members of the relay team.
     God’s church is something like a relay team. Starting with Adam in
  the garden, the baton has been passed through several phases of salva-
  tion history: from Noah to Abraham to Sinai to the New Testament
  church to the Reformation church, and now to those who proclaim the
  three angels’ messages.
     The symbol of continuity for God’s church is His law, which, after
  the Fall, must always be coupled with God’s saving grace. Together,
  both are the essence of the gospel.
     This week’s lesson traces the continuity of the law (and grace) in
  God’s church through the ages.

 From Adam to Noah
   In one sense, we can speak of a “church of Christ” only since the New
 Testament era, when believers first testified to the life, death, and res-
 urrection of Jesus. However, we can see “Christ’s church” in a broader
 context. The Greek term for “church” is ekklesia. Borrowed from the
 secular world, it refers to those who have been “called out.” In every
 generation God has “called out” a people to reflect His will by lives of
 faithfulness, trust, love, and obedience.

 _________________________________________________________

    In order to be able to love, Adam and Eve had to be created as mor-
 ally free agents. They had to have the ability and the freedom to do
 wrong, even if they had no valid reason to do so. The test at the tree
 was a moral test: In what way would they use their God-given moral
 freedom?
    We know the answer.
    At the center of morality is law, God’s law, which defines good and
 evil for us (note that the tree is called the “tree of the knowledge of
 good and evil”). What’s the purpose of a law that forbids lying, steal-
 ing, and killing if these beings were incapable of doing any of those
 things to begin with? The law itself would be meaningless in a universe
 of automatons—beings able to do only good. That’s not, however, how
 God chose to create us. He couldn’t—not if He wanted beings who
 could truly love.
    Though after the Fall, Adam and Eve were to “pass the baton” to
 the next generation, humanity’s moral spiral downward was quick and
 dirty. Of their first two sons, only Abel chose to join God’s church,
 while Cain became possessed by the spirit of covetousness, lying, mur-
 der, and parental disrespect. Things went from bad to worse until evil
 overshadowed the good, and by the time of the Flood only Noah and his
 family could truly claim to be members of Christ’s church.

  How many times in the past 24 hours have you made moral
  choices, using the freedom given to us from Eden? What were
  those choices, and how much were they in harmony with God’s
  moral law?
  _______________________________________________________

  _______________________________________________________

                                                                       97

 From Noah to Abraham (Gen. 6:5–9)
   The world into which Noah was born was worse than any society that
 has ever existed, which means that it must have been pretty bad. With
 people living for almost a thousand years, it is not difficult to see how
 evil could become ingrained in society to the point that God became
 sorry that He ever created people to begin with!

   1. How are we to understand the idea that God was “sorry” that
 He had created humanity? Why does this not mean that God had
 been unaware of what was going to happen? (See Deut. 31:15–17.)
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   2. Ellen G. White wrote that the designations “sons of God” and
 “daughters of men” refer to faithful men marrying unfaithful
 women. What lessons, then, can we learn from Genesis 6 about the
 church’s interaction with the world?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   3. What were some of the things that these people did that dis-
 pleased God, and how do these things relate to His law?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   4. Look at the description of Noah in Genesis 6. What does the text
 say about him that helps us to understand the kind of man that he
 was, especially in such a corrupt world? At the same time, why did
 Noah need “grace” in the eyes of the Lord? What does this tell us
 about the relationship between faith and God’s law, even back then?
 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________ 98

 From Abraham to Moses
   After the Flood, it was the responsibility of Noah and his sons to
 share God’s will with their descendants. Noah’s family knew that global
 destruction had come to the world as a result of humanity’s refusal to
 obey God’s law, and having experienced God’s grace, they could do
 something to help develop a more faithful generation. Unfortunately,
 not too long after the Flood, the inhabitants of the earth again rebelled
 (Gen. 11:1–9). “Many of them denied the existence of God and attrib-
 uted the Flood to the operation of natural causes. Others believed in a
 Supreme Being, and that it was He who had destroyed the antediluvian
 world; and their hearts, like that of Cain, rose up in rebellion against
 Him.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 119.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    God called Abraham, a descendant of Shem, and made a covenant of
 blessing with him (Gen. 12:1–3). The Bible gives no criteria for God’s
 call of Abraham. He does not appear to have had the righteous profile
 of Noah. In fact, soon after the call he proved himself to be cowardly
 and deceptive (vss. 11–13), violating God’s law. Nevertheless, Abraham
 was a man of true faith, and by God’s grace this faith was credited to
 him as righteousness. Although he was not perfect, he was willing to
 listen to the voice of God, even if it meant trusting God for things that
 seem all but impossible from a human standpoint.
    Abraham was not alone among those who were willing to lis-
 ten to God’s voice and obey His commandments. Pharaoh, the two
 Abimelechs, and Joseph were well aware that God did not approve
 of adultery and lying. The second Abimelech even rebuked Isaac for
 exposing Abimelech’s people to temptation (Gen. 26:10). Although
 God had chosen Abraham for a specific task, there were people in
 many different nations who feared Him. In fact, after Abraham and
 his military alliance had defeated Chedorlaomer and his coalition,
 Abraham was blessed by King Melchizedek, who was a “priest of the
 Most High God” (Gen. 14:18, TEV). This is more evidence that knowl-
 edge of God existed in the world at that time, even before the work and
 ministry of Moses.

                                                                      99

  From Moses to Jesus
    Though ancient law codes found in Egypt and Mesopotamia also
  provide evidence for a widespread knowledge of the principles and
  precepts found in God’s law, none of them is complete. In fact, many of
  these codes also contain laws that promote idolatry and other practices
  that God later condemned. So, God chose a people to be the stewards
  of His true law. These people were the Hebrew nation, the descendants
  of Abraham and heirs to the covenant promise made to him many cen-
  turies earlier—a promise whose ultimate fulfillment was found only
  in Jesus.

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     When God chose Israel to be the depository for His law, He knew
  that they were an imperfect people. Nonetheless, He entrusted them
  with the task of sharing His will with other imperfect people. The very
  designation “ ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ ” (Exod. 19:6, NKJV)
  shows that Israel was to be God’s mediating priesthood for the entire
  world. Israel was the one chosen to bring the truth of God’s will to the
  confused nations. And, despite Israel’s mistakes, failures, and, at times,
  outright rebellion, it was still among these people that the Messiah
  came, lived, ministered, and died, fulfilling the covenant promise made
  to Abraham many centuries earlier.

  _________________________________________________________

    Though many in ancient Israel understood the single noun form of
  “seed” to mean Israel as a single corporate entity, Paul here presents
  Jesus Himself, as the true and complete fulfillment of the covenant
  promise. So, the gospel itself, with its clear emphasis on both law and
  grace, most fully manifests and reveals the covenant.

   Think about all the long ages that passed from the time Abraham
   first received the covenant promise to the time of Christ. What
   does this tell us about the need for patience when it comes to
   trusting God?

 From Jesus to the Remnant
    Since Eden, God’s church has always been filled with fallible people.
 The very institution that was supposed to be a witness to God’s righ-
 teousness was itself in need of that same righteousness. As “the baton”
 passed from generation to generation, no runner was worthy enough to
 cross the finish line. None who received the law was able to reach its
 level of righteousness. Humanity, it appeared, was trapped in a wheel
 of futility in its quest for God’s approval.
    However, when it seemed as if all hope was gone, God sent His Son
 “to receive the baton.” As the Second Adam, Jesus came to this earth
 without sin, and through constant devotion to His Father managed to
 maintain His obedience all the way to the Cross. With His resurrection,
 Jesus crossed the finish line, for He broke the chain of death. Now,
 through the power of the Spirit, the resurrected Christ shares His righ-
 teousness with every believer. This message, always the center of the
 covenant promise, was most clearly understood after Jesus completed
 His earthly ministry, and the New Testament church began.
    Unfortunately, the Christian church—even with all this light—proved
 itself at times less faithful to the covenant than was ancient Israel, and
 deep apostasy soon took over almost everywhere. The Reformation,
 beginning in the sixteenth century, started to reverse this trend, but even
 it faltered, and many false doctrines and teachings have remained in
 the Christian world, including (as we have seen) wrong views about the
 role and purpose of the law in the life of New Covenant Christianity.
 God would call out a remnant people to restore many lost truths.

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

  As we have seen, keeping “the commandments of God” is God’s
  appointed way of manifesting true love. In what ways, though,
  might we be outwardly keeping these commandments but not
  really manifesting love as we should? Why can’t we really be
  keeping the commandments if we don’t show love?
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                                                                       101

    Read Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, and James 2:23, all in context.
   How do these verses help us understand salvation by faith?

    Notice that in the first angel’s message, which begins with the
   “everlasting gospel,” there is also a proclamation that the “hour of
   his judgment has come.” So, the gospel, the law, and judgment all
   appear together in the three angels’ messages. How do we under-
   stand the role of the law and grace in judgment? How do they all
   fit together?

  Christ’s Kingdom and the
  Law


  Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 4:8, 9; Dan. 2:44; 1 Pet.
  2:11; 1 Cor. 6:9–11; Rev. 22:14, 15; 1 Cor. 15:26.

  I
      n 2011 Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, died. He was 56. Years
      earlier, after a bout with cancer, Jobs called death “the single best
      invention of life” because it forced us to achieve the best we could
  here. In other words, because our time is so limited, we must try to be
  as successful as we can now.
     Jobs, though, got it backward. What pushed him to seek a greater
  stake in this world, death (or at least the inevitability of it), should have
  been what revealed the futility of putting down roots too permanently
  here, in what’s always shallow ground. Sure, Jobs accomplished a lot,
  but in contrast to a million years or to eternity, what does it matter?
     Indeed, we have been promised that this world and all that’s in it will
  be destroyed, and God will establish a new and eternal world where sin
  and death (all the result of the violation of God’s law) will never exist.
     This week we’ll look at the question of God’s eternal kingdom and
  the role of the law in relation to it.

 The Kingdom of God
   When God created the first human beings, He gave them dominion
 over all things. Adam was to rule the world. However, through violating
 God’s law, he forfeited his right to earthly sovereignty, and ownership
 went to the archenemy, Satan. When the representatives from the other
 worlds gathered before God during the time of the patriarchs, it was
 Satan who appeared as the “delegate” from earth (Job 1:6).

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   What happened during the wilderness temptations is very revealing.
 Satan offered to give Jesus rulership over all the earthly kingdoms if
 Jesus would fall down and worship him (Matt. 4:8, 9; see also Luke
 4:5–7). Jesus came to take the world back from Satan, but He could do
 so only at the cost of His life. How strong, then, the temptation must
 have been when Satan stood there and offered to give the world to Him!
 However, in bowing to Satan, He would have fallen into the same trap
 as had Adam and, consequently, would also have been guilty of violat-
 ing His Father’s law. Had He done so, the plan of salvation would have
 been aborted, and we’d be dead in our sins.
   Of course, we know that Jesus stayed victorious, and, in His victory,
 we have the assurance and promise of our own, which is life in God’s
 everlasting kingdom, the one depicted in Daniel 2, when the stone cut
 out without hands destroys all kingdoms of this world. And then, after-
 ward, “ ‘the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be
 destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall
 break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
 forever’ ” (Dan. 2:44, NKJV).

  All the kingdoms depicted in Daniel 2 did everything predicted
  about them, including the continued disunity in Europe, symbol-
  ized by the iron and clay in the toes of the statue. Why should
  these incredible facts help us trust in the promise of the last
  kingdom, the one that will “stand forever”?
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                                                                   105

  Citizens of the Kingdom
     In many nations, those who move there from other countries
  have to surrender all allegiances to their land of birth if they want
  citizenship in their new country. However, some countries allow a
  person to hold dual citizenship; that is, they can pledge allegiance
  to both places.
     There’s no such thing as dual citizenship, however, in the great
  controversy. We are on one side or the other. The kingdom of evil
  has been battling the kingdom of righteousness for millennia, and
  it is impossible for a person to be faithful to both at the same time.
  We all have to make a choice about whose kingdom will have our
  allegiance.

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

    Once people make a decision to follow Christ, they have chosen to
  turn their back on the devil’s kingdom. He or she is now part of another
  commonwealth, that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as a result the person
  now obeys His rules, His law, His commandments, not those of the
  devil. The person’s obedience, however, isn’t universally appreciated—
  certainly not by the devil, who is anxious to get these people back, and
  often not by other people as well, who tend to distrust the “strangers
  and pilgrims” among them. Despite these obstacles, God has a people
  whose first allegiance is to Him, not to the “ruler of this world” (John
  12:31, NKJV).

   So often foreigners in a country stand out because they are dif-
   ferent. How should we, as Seventh-day Adventists, as “strangers
   and pilgrims here,” stand out, as well? Or do we?
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   _______________________________________________________

 Faith and the Law
    The dominant theme in Scripture is simple: God is love. God’s love
 is most potently demonstrated in His grace. With His unlimited power,
 He could easily have wiped humanity from the face of the earth, but
 instead He chose to exercise patience and give all a chance to experi-
 ence the fullness of life in His eternal kingdom. Even more so, His love
 is revealed in the price that He Himself paid at the Cross.
    God’s love is also directly related to His justice. Having provided
 countless opportunities for people to choose their own destiny,
 the God of love will not force them into a kingdom that they have
 rejected. When the wicked stand before God’s throne in the judg-
 ment, they are condemned by their own testimony. No one who stands
 before the throne can truthfully say that he was unaware of God’s
 requirements. Whether through written or natural revelation, all have
 been exposed to the basic principles of the law of God (Rom. 1:19,
 20; 2:12–16).

 _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

   What’s fascinating is that if you put 1 Corinthians 6:11 together with
 Revelation 22:14, you get faithful Christians who are justified in the
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, they are “justified by faith apart
 from the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28, NKJV); yet, they also keep that
 law.

  “It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the
  wicked from heaven: they are shut out by their own unfitness for
  its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consum-
  ing fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might be
  hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them.”—Ellen
  G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 18. How do these words help us to
  understand better the painful topic about the fate of the lost?
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                                                                      107

  The Everlasting Kingdom
     God created a perfect world. Sin entered, and that perfect world
  became severely marred. The story of redemption tells us that Jesus
  entered human history so that, among other things, the original perfec-
  tion will be restored. The redeemed will live in a perfect world where
  love reigns supreme.
     As we have seen, love can exist only in a moral universe, only in a
  universe with moral beings, and to be moral they must also be free. This
  prompts the question: could evil arise again?

  _________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

     When God created the universe, there were conditions attached to its
  stability. This is most evident in Genesis 2:17, where Adam was warned
  that violation of God’s expressed command would result in death. The
  very mention of death indicates that the concept of eternity from a
  human perspective was conditional. Adam would have experienced
  eternal life only if he maintained loyalty to God.
     However, in the re-created earth, death will no longer be a reality,
  which means that we will live forever, a fulfillment of the many prom-
  ises of Scripture. Whether rebellion could occur is really a moot point.
  The fact is, it won’t.

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  _________________________________________________________

     The Messianic kingdom will comprise people who maintained loyalty
  to God throughout their religious experience. In the face of persecution
  and personal struggles, they chose the path of obedience and demon-
  strated their willingness to live lives of divine service. God promises to
  inscribe His law in their hearts so that they will naturally do the things
  that are pleasing to Him. In the kingdom of Christ, sin is entirely van-
  quished, and righteousness reigns supreme. 108

 The Law in the Kingdom
    Of all the harsh consequences of sin, death has been the most per-
 sistent. Sin can be overcome, Satan can be resisted, but with just two
 known exceptions (Enoch, Elijah) out of billions, who has escaped the
 inevitability of death? “When it comes to death,” wrote an ancient phi-
 losopher, “we human beings all live in an unwalled city.”

  _________________________________________________________

 _________________________________________________________

    With the power ascribed to death, it is no wonder that just before
 Christ establishes the Messianic kingdom on earth, He will first utterly
 destroy death.
    There is no question that death is related to sin, which means it’s
 related to God’s law, as well; because sin is violation of God’s law.
 Consequently, there can be no sin without the law. Although sin is
 dependent on the law, the law is independent of sin. That is, the law can
 exist without sin. In fact, it did for all the ages until Lucifer rebelled
 in heaven.
    “When Satan rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that
 there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to some-
 thing unthought of. In their ministry the angels are not as servants, but
 as sons. There is perfect unity between them and their Creator.”—Ellen
 G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 109.
    With this in mind, the absence of death and sin in the kingdom of
 God does not require the absence of the law. Just as the law of grav-
 ity is necessary for the harmonious interaction between the physical
 elements of the universe, God’s moral law is needed to govern the
 righteous interaction between the saints. When God inscribes His law
 in the hearts of the redeemed, His sole purpose is to seal their decision
 to walk in the way of righteousness for eternity. Consequently, His law
 becomes the very essence of His kingdom. So we have every reason to
 believe that the principles of God’s moral law will exist in God’s eternal
 kingdom. The difference, of course, is that those principles will never
 be violated there as they have been here.


  Try to imagine the perfect environment of heaven: no fallen
  natures, no devil to tempt us, no sin, and no death. Now ask
  yourself: what things in your life and character would not fit very
  comfortably in such an environment?

                                                                      109

    “Satan had claimed that it was impossible for man to obey God’s
  commandments; and in our own strength it is true that we cannot obey
  them. But Christ came in the form of humanity, and by His perfect
  obedience He proved that humanity and divinity combined can obey
  every one of God’s precepts. . . .
    “The life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God’s law,
  and when those who claim to be children of God become Christlike
  in character, they will be obedient to God’s commandments. Then
  the Lord can trust them to be of the number who shall compose the
  family of heaven. Clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ’s righteous-
  ness, they have a place at the King’s feast. They have a right to join
  the blood-washed throng.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons,
  pp. 314, 315.

    The introduction to this week’s lesson talked about the late
   Steve Jobs and his claim that the specter of death, our own death,
   should drive us to accomplish all that we can here. Though there’s
   some truth to that idea, in and of itself it’s not enough. It never
   solves the problem of death itself and what death does to the
   meaning of the lives that precede it. In fact, after Jobs’ death, the
   cover of the New Yorker magazine depicted Peter, iPad in hand,
   checking Steve Jobs in at the pearly gates. Though that might be
   cute, what lesson can we learn from the fact that there probably
   won’t be any iPads, or anything that Steve Jobs created here, in
   heaven?

    What things are on the earth now that will last forever? What
   won’t last past the final destruction of this world? Why is it crucial
   that we know the difference between them?