Friday: Further Thought – Sin, the Gospel, and the Law
Daily Lesson for Friday 29th of May 2026
Further Thought:
It shouldn’t surprise us that the topic of the law can be such a twisted and misunderstood one, given that Satan’s ultimate challenge against God was about His law.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Some in Jesus’ day thought that He had come to do away with the law, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Jesus shone light on the law and God’s beautiful character, and He came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17-18) to show us what God is like.
“Only as a reverence for God’s Holy Word was cherished in the hearts of the people, could they hope to fulfill the divine purpose. It was regard for the law of God that gave Israel strength during the reign of David and the earlier years of Solomon’s rule; it was through faith in the living word that reformation was wrought in the days of Elijah and of Josiah. And it was to these same Scriptures of truth, Israel’s richest heritage, that Jeremiah appealed in his efforts toward reform.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, Pages 465, 466.
Discussion Questions
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Summary: Our lives are infected with sin, which separates us from God. However, God invites us to know and love Him with all of our mind, heart, soul, and strength. When we do this, we’ll naturally have more love for others. Such love for God and others is captured in God’s law, which was given to protect and preserve our relationships with Him and those around us. God’s law is a beautiful reflection of His character, and when we understand His law, our relationship with Him will grow stronger.
Life is about creating and maintaining relationships, with the most important being a love relationship with God. What makes this relationship even more remarkable is that God Himself desires a loving relationship with us. True life can only be found in being rightly related to God, the giver and sustainer of life. As Moses reminded the people of Israel, obedience to God was to flow from faith and love for Him. Scripture says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Likewise, Jesus declared, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Walking with God, therefore, means trusting Him and living in faithful obedience to His Word.
God called Moses and the Israelites to walk in complete obedience to all He had commanded so that they might truly live. If the people failed to live obedient and faithful lives, they could not blame God, because true life is found only in relationship with Him. In the same way today, God calls us to walk by faith and obedience. Yet humanity’s greatest need is repentance and faith in Christ, the One who perfectly obeyed God’s commandments on our behalf. Through His death and resurrection, we are given the gift of eternal life. As Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). Through Christ alone, we can experience true life in a restored relationship with God.
How to shun sin. By heeding voice of the Holy Spirit who as our Keeper, Comforter and Guide. John 14:13-18.
It is written, He will cover you with His feathers, under His wings He will protect you(it could be from sin also I do believe). Psalm 91:4 The how to is so eloquently found in this message.
We must gather about the cross. Christ and Him crucified should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion. We should keep in our thoughts every blessing we receive from God, and when we realize His great love we should be willing to trust everything to the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.
The soul may ascend nearer heaven on the wings of praise. God is worshiped with song and music in the courts above, and as we express our gratitude we are approximating to the worship of the heavenly hosts. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth” God. Psalm 50:23. Let us with reverent joy come before our Creator, with “thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3. Steps to Christ 103.3 – Steps to Christ 104.1
Someone asked why do you ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life, since He is a witness of you whether or not you are a child of God growing in Christ. Romans 8:16. Good question. It is because if you don’t invite Him into your heart He cannot fill your heart with light, every corner is no longer dark when the Comforter, Guide into righteousness, Encourager of the heart, and Builder of our spirit and soul. Dare I say Keeper, yes if we allow.
I am going to tell a joke and I hope you will bear with me because I think it has a point. An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman found themselves marooned on a desert island and were starving. One day a loaf of bread was dropped onto the island by a passing seagull and the men started arguing about who should have the loaf of bread. They argued about it all day until they finally decided that they would go to sleep that night and whoever had the best dream could have the loaf of bread.
In the morning the gathered to tell one another their dreams, The Englishman went first and he told how he dreamed he was in heaven walking along the streets of gold. The others all agreed that it was a fine dream. The Scotsman went next and told the others he too had had a dream about heaven, only he was driving down the streets of gold in a golden Rolls-Royce. They agreed that it too was a fine dream and much better than the Englishman’s one. Finally, it was the Irishman’s turn and he said, “I dreamed I was hungry so I got up and ate the loaf of bread!”
It is a reminder that sometimes in our effort to explain the Gospel to one another, we become so heavenly-minded we forget its practicallity. The world needs the Gospel now; not dreams about heaven but practical application that satisfies the hungry, Earlier this week I reminded ourselves:
A good place to finish this week’s study is to remind ourselves that the Gospel is not about theories and explanations, but about about practical application.
Now, I would call your story that has a message for us, a fable that resembles an analogy. Morris Venden was good at telling parables. He would start out by asking the question am I allowed to tell a parable? There would be a chuckle in the audience. And he would proceed with his story that had a moral in it. One such moral, or principle and even precept(instruction from God), was life is much more livable , and enjoyable if you let Christ be in control of your life. I can still tell that parable as well as I can tell the parable of Matthew 22:1-14. Is not putting on the robe of righteousness letting Christ be in control of our life’s? It is like abiding ing Christ and letting Him abide in us. John 15:4,7,10. Thank-you Maurice for reminding us 1 Timothy 4:15. Rather than meditate on these things as in The New King James Version, put these things into practice as it says in the English Standard Version.
Popular culture sees the concept of sin as out of date and out of touch with reality. A 19th century relic that has no place in “enlightened” society. Something that bigots, homophobes, xenophobes, etcetera hold to anymore. Moral relativism rules the day and nearly everyone does what is right in their own eyes. It’s really nothing new, just recyled, and repackaged. The ancient lie of Satan has come true. People have set themselves up as gods to determine what is right or wrong, good, or evil, to them.
How can the church remain salt and light and stay relevant in such a society? It certainly isn’t by embracing, or making provision for it. Yes, we need to show the love of Jesus to people who are not very lovable. We need to do it the way that Jesus did. He loved the sinner but hated the sin. Jesus hung out and dined with “sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes,” but never to condone their behavior, more to show them there was a better way. Jesus understood that separation from God leads to sinful living. He came to be that bridge back to God. He never condemned a struggling sinner but gave scathing rebukes against the self-righteous religious leaders of his day.
Why did the masses flock after Jesus? Aside from the miracles, they discovered a rabbi that understood them and cared for them, wanting the best for them, all the while knowing it wasn’t the way they were living. When the church in today’s upside down society can interact with “sinners” the way that Jesus did, maybe we will begin to make a difference like he did. “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Mahatma Gandhi For want of a positive Christian witness India could’ve been a majority Christian country. We can and we must do better. We must feel their pain and have empathy for their brokenness, seeking to lead them to the One that can make them whole. By His Grace, we will.
Do You Feel Their Pain, Steve Camp 1989
Tim – what a powerful, heart wrenching message in song:
“Do you feel their pain, has it touched your life? Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry?
Will you love them more than the hate that’s been? Will you love them back to life again?
Oh, empty eyes and lonely souls starving for love and crying for hope. And Jesus said: “bring them unto Me, I will make them whole, I can set them free!”
Thank you for sharing – Tim!
To popular culture, sin and its meaning is personal. In short, sin is subjective. The church’s response to the subjective view of sin by popular culture must be objective. However,compassion and grace should be the church’s approach to dealing with sin.
The law sends us to the gospel for cleansing, and the gospel sends us back to the law to live out God’s character.
This captures the biblical balance beautifully. The law cannot save us, but it reveals our sin and our need of Christ. The gospel does not abolish the law; rather, through forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit, it restores us to joyful obedience.
The law points us to Jesus for pardon, and Jesus points us back to the principles of God’s kingdom as the pattern for Christian living. In this way, law and gospel are not enemies, but partners in God’s work of redemption.
As Paul wrote, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31
The Title of our Lesson for this week is Sin, the Gospel and the Law. I grew up in this Church. I was about six to seven years old when my mother became a baptised Seventh-Day Adventist, and as her little son I attended the Adventist church with her. I won’t tell you how old I am ; but trust me I am not young, by no stretch of the imagination and my brothers and sisters in Jesus, as it relates to the Theme of this week’s lesson, what an experience it has been.
I want to state very clearly, particularly as Seventh Day Adventists, a misunderstanding of God’s way of making us and keeping us righteous can have very serious negative repercussions on our mental health and social relationships. This is not an exaggeration and certainly no joke.
This matter deals with the very core of our relationship with God and the very essence of the Gospel. In my personal experience, the simplest manner in which I can explain the Gospel is in this manner.
Just as you cannot “Will” to love someone (I am not speaking of the general love that we should have for all mankind; although it can be included to some extent) and trust someone, neither can you “Will” to love and trust God (I also concur that He has given to all of us a meassure of faith); however I am speaking of that deep and abiding trust that is nurtured in the bosom of a relationship. And as we trust in Him we are empowered to do miraculous things, for example, like not telling lies, not stealing, not committing adultery and even keeping the Sabbath day holy.
I missed this crucial part.- As we spend time in His Word, not simply looking for information to display our theological brilliance but to know Him, to grow to love Him and trust in Him: we are empowered to obey.
Respectfully, was the ‘ultimate challenge against God really about His law’, or was it about God’s benevolent nature? Lucifer slandered God by placing His integrity in question, accusing Him of lying and deceiving, and accusing Him of withholding, for His own benefit, that which would be beneficial to man.
What did Lucifer offer – that “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen.3:1-5. Did we receive such ‘knowledge’ or ‘understanding’? No! All we received was chaos – confusion, distress, war, and utter lostness because of not knowing what is good and evil.
Indeed, our heavenly Father loves us with all His Being! Jesus came to fulfill the essence of the God’s Law and the prophet’s warnings and admonishments by showing us God’s Way of Truth and Light through/by His Love. He came to convict us of the Father’s Love for us and His Righteousness to do what is beneficial for man in light of our ultimate destination.
Can man trust the law unless he knows the lawgiver? Our troubles started with believing Lucifer’s lies and ends with our acceptance of God’s Love – His Truth and Light. The Law, the Prophets, and Jesus Christ show the way back to our Father. And this is His and our victory over evil – that we believe His Son, Jesus Christ, and trust our heavenly Father’s Love for us – John 1:5; Psalm 27:1; Rom.8:37; Rev.19:11-16.
I am always moved by the fact that our God never forces us to do His will. Rather, He makes every provision for our salvation from sin, should we choose eternity with Him (Gal. 3:24; 1John 3:6).
You see, Our Most Powerful Creator loathes the presence of sin. Yet, with compassion and grace, He lovingly directs us, through the parameters of His law, to natural purification and perfection in Him. (Rom. 3:20). Through Him, we are able to both know and do of His good pleasure!
Although we all have inherited sin as a biological trend, there is a cure. The Manufacturer sent us the recall message to address the problem: while the Law describes the defect, the solution is offered as a replacement. Acceptance takes away guilt, while the antidote is a daily portion of Jesus! Love is the cure.
The Law has “no glory” in the presence of the eclipsing glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Covenant (2 Cor 3:7-11). The ministers of the Old Covenant, instead of fading away and acknowledging that they must “decrease” like John Baptist, they “took a stand” against Christ and therefor had to be “cast out” (Dan 8: 11,25; Matt 21:33-45; Gal 4:21-31; Heb 9:6-10).
Christ had come born “under Law” to redeem His people from under the Law, being sin-slaves, to become sons and daughters of God. He was inaugurating the New Covenant, the eternal covenant (Heb 9:15-28; Lev 16). The ministers of the Law perceived that they were going to “lose our place”(John 11:47-53). They killed Christ to try to perpetuate the Old Covenant, the Law. If Christians are to be under Law it is the “Law of Christ” and His commandments (Dt 18:15-19;1 Cor 9:20,21; Gal 6:2; 1 Jn 3:22-24). Christians are possessed of a new heart that’s capable of loving God sincerely and our fellow beings as Christ does (Dt 30:6), and our enemies too.
The Ten Commandments are addressed to sin-slaves, the unregenerate, those are still in the flesh (1 Tim 1:8-11).