It was 500 years ago this day that Martin Luther hung his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. How fascinating that the subject for today also gets right to the heart of salvation by faith. In Romans 4:13, “promise” and “law” are contrasted. Paul is seeking to establish an Old Testament background for … Continue reading –>
Key thought: Faith produces obedience to the law of love. Lesson 5 November 4, 2017 Have a volunteer read Genesis 15:6. A. Ask what the point of this passage is. B. What does it mean to be accounted righteous? C. Personal application: What is the difference between believing in the Lord and just believing He exists? … Continue reading –>
I want to share two passages, that many claim contradict each other. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Romans 3:28 NKJV You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. James 2:24 NKJV When I run into apparent … Continue reading –>
The Law. Yes or No: We are saved according to our obedience of God’s law. If you answer “No,” that we are saved by grace and not by our works, then answer this question: Does a Christian’s behavior differ from that of a non-Christian? If so, what is the source of the difference? Did either … Continue reading –>
The Sabbath School Lesson title instantly brought to mind: Hymn 11, “The God of Abraham Praise” so we will commence our singing with this hymn. The introduction to our Sabbath School Lesson asks the question: “If Abraham’s works and law-keeping didn’t justify him before God, what hope do we have? This type of question is … Continue reading –>
The issue Paul is dealing with here is much more than just theology. It gets to the heart and soul of salvation and of our relationship to God. If one believes that he or she must earn acceptance-that he or she must reach a certain standard of holiness before being justified and forgiven-then how natural … Continue reading –>
Read Romans 3:31. What’s Paul’s point here? Why is this point important to us as Adventists? In this passage Paul states emphatically that faith does not make void God’s law. But even those who kept the law, even the entire Old Testament corpus of law, were never saved by it. The religion of the Old Testament, … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 15:6; 2 Samuel 11-12; Rom. 3:20, Romans 3:31; Romans 4:1-17; Gal. 3:21-23; 1 John 3:4. Memory Text: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). In many ways Romans 4 gets to the foundation of the biblical doctrine of salvation by faith alone and to the heart … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, The Righteousness of Christ in the Law, pp. 236-239; Come and Seek and Find, pp. 331-335; Perfect Obedience Through Christ, pp. 373, 374, in Selected Messages, book 1; “ Things New and Old,” pp. 128, 129, in Christ’s Object Lessons. “Though the law cannot remit the penalty for sin, but charges the sinner with all his debt, … Continue reading –>
WHERE’S THE BEEF?! I remember the popular fast food restaurant commercial where three senior ladies were staring at a less-than-adequate hamburger. As one lady peered at the sandwich she asked: “Where’s the beef?” Her question was a statement that, regardless of all of the trappings and accompaniments, the bottom line was that a hamburger should … Continue reading –>
