SDA Sabbath School Lessons
Tuesday November 26, 1996

Principles Of Christian Standards
(2 Cor. 6:14-7:1)

How can the principles we studied yesterday help us define standards regarding entertainment, dress, and health?

"Christians win unbelievers not by looking and behaving like the world but by revealing an attractive and refreshing difference.... Instead of adorning the exterior ... [Peter] counseled, let believers concentrate on developing 'the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God' (1 Peter 3:1-4)."- Seventh-day Adventists Believe, pp. 286, 287.

Medical science has repeatedly borne out the validity of biblical health laws with regard to food, temperance, work, exercise, and cleanliness. (See Gen. 1:29; Prov. 23:29-35; Isa. 58:5-12; 2 Thess. 3:7-13.)

"God is as truly the author of physical laws as He is author of the moral law. His law is written with His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every faculty, which has been entrusted to man." - Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 17. Divine laws do not restrict or limit us, but disclose secrets of happiness, health, and success.

Note next to each text the practical standards taught in the scriptures.

Praising God on a daily basis helps us to keep our concerns in proper perspective. "In looking upon our crucified Saviour who redeemed us from the penalty and delivers us from the power of sin, we are motivated to do only 'those things that are pleasing in his sight' (1 John 3:22)."- Seventh-day Adventists Believe, p. 288.