| As we welcome this new year, we are not only embarking on a
new quarter, a new year, or even a new century but on a brand-new millennium!
This occurred only once before since the time of Christ. How fitting it is,
then, to launch this new millennium with this crucial message and mission
subject of our assurance of salvation in Christ.
Christians who have experienced the rebirth by the Holy Spirit often wonder
whether they can be sure of salvation. This question of assurance arises
especially when believers realize that their self-centered nature is still
present and their character flaws have not all disappeared. It is then that
the joy of salvation seems to evaporate. They ask how it is still possible
to be sure of salvation and of acceptance by God. This concern continues
as long as we live in this natural body and in this broken world; and it
can arise suddenly when adversity strikes or a serious illness crushes our
plans for the future or when believers succumb to temptation and fall into
sin.
Such a question can seriously affect not only our relationship to God and
others but also our Christian witness. Can we be effective in our testimony
about Jesus when we are unsure of our own salvation? James Montgomery Boice
reminds us: "When Martin Luther was wrestling through these questions, prior
to the Reformation, he was a monk shut up in a monastery. Afterward, when
he knew that he had been saved by Christ's death and that God had justified
him, he left the monastery to launch the Reformation. How can we launch out
for God if we are shut up in a monastery of doubts?"-James Montgomery Boice,
Foundations of the Christian Faith (Downer's Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity
Press, 1989), pp. 431, 432.
How can believers in Christ regain personal assurance of salvation for the
present and for the future? How can they cultivate that blessed assurance
in order to be a joyful and effective witness for Christ and His cause? This
quarter's Bible Study Guide seeks to answer these questions. We plan to study
the correlations of faith and the major revelations of God. We will touch
on areas such as faith in: (1) the trustworthiness of the Scriptures; (2)
Christ and His work on our behalf; (3) the plan of redemption; (4) the end-time
assurances of God's accept-ing love; (5) His judgments at the end of time;
and (6) His last promises in the book of Revelation. In the process we will
learn about the saving and sanctifying knowledge and power of Jesus. Some
examples from biblical and church history will illuminate our journey of
discovery and clarify the issues of a blessed assurance and a false certainty.
As our basic motto we adopt the admonition of Peter: "Therefore, dear friends,
since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried
away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2
Pet. 3:17, 18, NIV).
Contents: (no
frames)
Meet the Principal Contributor
to This Quarter's Lessons
 Hans
K. LaRondelle is professor emeritus of theology at the Theological Seminary
of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. He has served in the
Netherlands as a pastor-evangelist and teacher for fourteen years and at
Andrews University as a professor of theology for twenty-five years. He received
part of his theological education from the distinguished Dutch theologian
G.C. Berkouwer, at the Reformed Free University in Amsterdam. There he received
his doctoral degree in systematic theology in 1971.
Born and reared as a Roman Catholic, he later belonged to an evangelical
group of independent Christians. He became a Seventh-day Adventist at the
age of 19 by reading Ellen G. White's The Great Controversy. He then
gave up his law studies at the Leyden University and devoted himself completely
to becoming a pastor, evangelist, and teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. His field of expertise within biblical theology is that of salvation,
eschatology, and apocalyptic studies.
Dr. LaRondelle is the author of a number of books, some of which were translated
in several languages, such as Christ Our Salvation, Deliverance in the
Psalms, Chariots of Salvation, and The Israel of God in Prophecy.
He also coauthored books, such as Symposium on Revelation, Book II
and The Sabbath in Scripture and History. He continues to serve as
speaker at Bible conferences, seminars for pastors, and Bible-study groups
around the world.
Dr. LaRondelle and his wife, Barbara, have a son and a daughter (twins).
Giardina Sabbath School
Study Helps
Jerry Giardina of Pecos, Texas, assisted by his wife, Cheryl, prepares a
series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all related
scripture and most EGW quotations. These are provided in three wordprocessing
versions Wordperfect;
Microsoft Word;
RFT for our MAC friends; and
HTML (Web Pages).
Last updated on January 17, 1999
Editorial Office: 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904.
Principal Contributor: Hans K. LaRondelle
Editor: Philip G. Samaan.
Associate Editor: Lyndelle Brower Chiomenti.
Editorial Assistant: Soraya Homayouni Parish.
Art and Design: Lars Justinen.
Pacific Press Coordinator: Paul A. Hey.
Copyright © 2000 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.
All Rights Reserved.
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