Friday: Further Thought – Reconciliation and Hope
Daily Lesson for Friday 27th of February 2026
Further Thought
“We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
But Christ has made a way of escape for us. . . . If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.
“More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. . . .
“So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and through us.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Pages 62, 63.
“The light given me has been very forcible that many would go out from us, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The Lord desires that every soul who claims to believe the truth shall have an intelligent knowledge of what is truth.”—Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 363.
Discussion Questions
|
Reconciliation and hope! This week we have quoted texts to one another about Jesus and his work of reconciliation and the hope it provides. Most of what has been said, both in the lesson and on this forum is pretty standard stuff aimed at supporting the traditional view of Jesus and his work. Now I am not saying that the discussion is wrong, but collectively I could ask my AI Bot to write it up and get much the same response.
This week I had an interesting discussion with Gemini about my PhD research. I pointed out that I had spent about 6 years writing algorithms for supporting concurrency control, and now I could give the specifications to it and it would write those same Algorithms in a few seconds. Gemini made a very important observation. It classed itself as a stochastic parrot (I love that term). It analyses thousands of examples and assembles the algorithm based on the probably of token placement. It did not understand one single word of what it was writing. It pointed out that I, on the other hand, had a full understanding based on experience and reason. It said that its effort was a hallucination, while my effort added to the understanding. It was very flattering, but I saw where it was heading.
We are in serious danger in our Sabbath School lessons of becoming stochastic parrots, reciting bible texts and Spirit of Prophecy quotes, putting together a hallucination of truth by putting the tokens together in the correct order. That is not Christianity. It is the assembly of a Christian encyclopedia.
What is the message of this week? Christ reconciled us to him and gives us hope. When we walk away from our computers and go out into the real world, are we going to sprout words about reconciliation and hope, or are we going to live reconciliation and hope. Christianity is drowning in words and arguments. It needs to be lived.
Postmodernism has influenced us so deeply that many people are convinced their own perspectives, their “independent” interpretations, determine what sin is or is not. As a general rule, it is difficult to agree on the solution unless we first agree on what the problem is. Unless we agree on what we are being saved from, we cannot fully agree on what salvation means. The Bible not only insists on the existence of sin but also clearly defines its nature. It portrays sin as ugly, offensive, and utterly contrary to the holy nature of God. Scripture teaches that sin is not merely a social flaw but a direct offense against God Himself. As Romans 1:18 declares, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” Likewise, Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.”
The cross reveals a merciful God who understands that His children have sinned and stand condemned, yet responds not with uncontrolled anger, but with redemptive love. His response to the problem of sin is substitution: through Christ, a holy God takes upon Himself our sin, and we receive His righteousness. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Similarly, Romans 3:21–22 affirms, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known… This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” These verses show that salvation is not the denial of sin, but God’s gracious provision to deal with it fully and justly through Christ.
Again why is it so important you are grounded and steadfast in your faith?
We as humans attracted to things of this world. It is human nature to be attracted to the wide road rather than the narrow road. I do believe Christ told that to his disciples. Yes, it is found in Luke 13:23, and Matthew 7:13-14. I choose the narrow gate, it leads to life. I am almost certain that is what C.S.Lewis, Philip Dunham, Morris Venden, Richard O’FFill chose also. Speaking for everyone on this blog, we choose the narrow gate because we know that Christ chose us as He saw in us a potential for redemption. That is why we are called Christians. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 🙏 and 🙏!
It is a striking thought that we are born with a sinful nature because of Adam, even though we played no part in his choice. We inherited a condition we didn’t ask for. But the beauty of the Gospel is that the “likewise” is also true: we are made righteous by Jesus Christ, even though we had no part in His perfect life or His sacrifice on the cross.
Just as Adam’s disobedience was credited to us without our help, Christ’s perfect obedience is credited to us without our effort. This is often called the “Great Exchange.” Jesus took the sin He didn’t commit so that we could receive the righteousness we didn’t earn. When we are “in Him,” God looks at us and sees the perfect record of His Son.
The fact that God sees us as righteous as His own Son should compel us to live accordingly.
Living a life with Christ is an experience. Christ has to be a real experience. It is not just a name, it is IT: the beginning and the end. Christ makes sense only when searched with a full heart. He may start as a little seed, but it can grow into a huge sequoia.
Sin has more power over us than we do have over it. It is easy to get into it but its consequences and its exit are hard to deal with. As such, only Jesus can save us. So, we need to recognize and acknowledge Jesus for His victory over sin on our behalf as well as pray continually for His blessings and protection from sin. Anything short of this is ungodly and dangerous.
It is no secret that sin has brought a big gap between us and heaven. In order to bridge the gap, we need to surrender totally to Christ. He is the only one who can stand in the middle of the gap and reconcile us to God and to Himself. Without Him, we are nothing. Jesus is all the world to us, without Him, we will fall deep into a bottomless pit.
Through Love and Faith, Christ Jesus was able to remain steadfast, so conquering sin and death. The firstborn of many more to come – Rom.8:27-30. Because of the faith of Jesus, not the Law, the Jew and the Gentil can now step through this marvelous door called Faith to be saved.
The fiery darts of wickedness hurled against Jesus fell short. They could not penetrate His armor of faith inspired by His love for His Father as He was protected by the Father’s Grace and Mercy – just as we are protected now.
His Love for the Father engendered steadfast Love, having the power to overcome sin leading to death. The born-again life is guided by the same Spirit which was present in Jesus. And just as He followed Him by Faith, so we do likewise. His Father’s Will became His Will – not giving up faith – even unto death – Phil.2:8; 2 Tim.1:7.
As we have our life in Christ Jesus – willing to remain faithful in all circumstances -, we become more than conquerors – Rom.8:37. When being found in Him, the same Faith and Love will fill us with Hope during our lifelong journey home – Phil.4:13; 2 Cor.12:9; Hebr.11:1; Mark 11:22; Isaiah 41:10.
I have to make a comment about the second question in today’s lesson that talks again about “once saved, always saved” and then asks how despite rejecting it we can have the assurance of salvation. Be warned, this is long comment, but I have been thinking quite a bit about the topic this week and mulling over ideas.
There is no question, many Adventists struggle to have the assurance of salvation. Many polls confirm this and many of you have likely struggled with this. One of the reasons for this is that the “light-switch” model of sin and salvation has definitely been promoted over the years. People who hold to this basically say that we have salvation until we sin, then we lose that salvation until we ask forgiveness of that sin. I don’t know if anyone ever actually articulated it that way, but the principles of it certainly have floated around. This has also often been linked to the idea of names coming up at any time during the Investigative Judgment and the risk that one’s name might come up at a moment of sin, thus condemning one forever. Obviously this picture of salvation does not provide any assurance.
But I think there is another subtle issue and I detected it in this week’s lesson. The ideas I mentioned in the paragraph above aren’t promoted too much, at least not in mainstream Adventism. Instead what I hear is the idea of moment by moment surrender, “dying daily”, and what the lesson said this week about making constant choices to exercise faith. And I feel this also negatively impacts our assurance of salvation.
Now you may heartily disagree with me, but hear me out. I am not against any of these things, and our surrender is inextricably connected to the Holy Spirit’s ability to work in our lives. However, if your salvation is dependent on surrender and exercising faith constantly and so on and if you need to do this daily or even more often than that, how can you have assurance? We don’t surrender perfectly – if we did, we wouldn’t sin, and we do. I think we would all also agree we’re a long way from the walk with God that Enoch had. Are we in constant communion with God throughout the day? A lot of us struggle with this. And so, bye-bye assurance.
What I find ironic is that really these ideas about what keeps us saved are not really that different from the “once saved always saved”. For Christians who believe in that, they put very high stock in saying the sinner’s prayer or following the five figures of the glove (does anyone remember that?). Once they perform this ritual they’re saved. I think being saved is much more than a prayer with the right words. But lest we be too critical, are we so different? How many people pray a prayer of surrender each morning and somehow feel that keeps them in a saved state? I’ve heard of people also who pray when their watch beeps on the hour too. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to pray such prayers. It keeps us reminded of our dependence on God. But if those prayers keep someone saved and the person who doesn’t pray them isn’t, well this is salvation by ritual. And I think that sells salvation short along with really putting the pressure on ourselves to keep us saved.
For me, the issue is we are too focused on “sins” and not Sin (with a capital S). Sin is what makes us lost and it leads to sins. At it’s core, it is about rebellion. Our salvation is really about moving from rebellion to reconciliation. When we have this connection, we are saved. Sins plural do not impact this. We are saved and whether we confess and ask for forgiveness or not does not change this. (I know that sounds heretical, and I don’t mean we shouldn’t confess our sins. However, we forget some of our sins and don’t confess them. And praying “Forgive me for all my sins today” is again salvation by ritual) Now if we cling to a particular sin and refuse to move away from it, this is where we move into a state of rebellion. And that in time could lead to us losing our salvation. But even with these sins, I believe God is patient and continues to work on us. It’s only when we choose to be completely hardened that we are in serious trouble.
I think this really matters because if we have no or flimsy assurance of salvation we will not be effective witnesses. How can we genuinely introduce someone to Jesus if deep inside we are constantly unsure if He accepts us? If we’re burdened, others will know. I also believe that if we can conceive that we are saved regardless of our performance, whether that’s actions or just praying the right prayer each day, we are actually much more likely to obey and do good works. In any relationship, we seem to mess up more if we are unsure if we’re accepted or loved. If we’re walking on egg-shells, a meaningful relationship is unlikely. The same is true with God.
I say this as someone who’s not there yet – I struggle to have assurance myself. But I am 100% confident that the answer to all our struggles is not focusing on my performance or surrender or whatever. It will never be good enough. It’s all about Jesus, and that must be our focus.
We are saved by grace and “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” James ch 4; also “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.”
Say not “I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing..” Rev ch 3
Dear Christina – I read your, yes, long comment, and appreciate your candor. I wondered that you did not include any references to God’s promises to keep us save as we keep the Faith. You conclude with: “I say this as someone who’s not here yet – I struggle to have assurance myself.” And: “It’s all about Jesus, and that must be our focus.”
My comment is meant to help bring some clarity. I agree with this finding that ‘it is all about Jesus’. Our faith, given to us through God’s Grace, is able to keep us focused on believing our heavenly Father and His Son. He gave His Son to demonstrate the ‘Way of Reconciliation’ with the Father. At Jesus’ departure, He asked the Father to give us the Holy Spirit to continue helping us along His ‘Way of Life’ – John 14:6.
Eph.2:6-10
”And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms IN Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His Grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us IN Christ Jesus.
For it is by Grace you have been saved through Faith, and this NOT FROM YOURSELVES; it is the GIFT of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s workmanship, created IN Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our Way of Life.”
Rom.5:1-2 is about believing this to be God’s Truth! Nothing can be added or changed about His chosen Way of Salvation. But what is our portion is to live His Truth. God’s Grace unto Salvation comes alive as we walk in His Truth by Faith – 2 Cor.5:7; Rom.5:2;
Hi Brigitte,
It wasn’t my intent to leave out Bible verses. I believe my ideas are Biblical, but I summarized my ideas in the interest of time and space. Perhaps one day, I will write it all down, but not here as it would be much too long.
I think Ephesians 2:1-10 is probably the best summary of how salvation works in the whole Bible. Of course, Romans develops the same ideas in more detail, but nothing beats Ephesians for a concise description.
I certainly believe in good works as part of the sanctification process. If we are connected to Jesus we will do good works. However, the challenge with assurance is typically not whether we have good works, but the bad works we are so aware of. That is what my post was addressing more than anything.
Ultimately we all start at different places on our transformation journey – each with different inherited tendencies, trauma, personal struggles. We might think someone is very sanctified when their growth is limited. Only God, who knows the heart, really can make good judgments of anyone.