Friday: Further Study: The Apostles and the Law
Further Study: Read Ellen G. White, The Law in the Christian Age,
Signs of the Times, August 5, 1886.
-Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, August 5, 1886.
Why should the apostles teach repentance toward God? Because the sinner is in trouble with the Father. He has transgressed the law; he must see his sin, and repent. What is his next work? To look to Jesus, whose blood alone can cleanse from all sin. Faith in Christ is necessary; for there is no saving quality in law. The law condemns, but it cannot pardon the transgressor. The sinner must depend on the merits of the blood of Christ. Let him take hold of my strength,
says our merciful Redeemer, that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.
Our Lord declared that he would love most to whom most was forgiven; and he only will feel that he needs forgiveness who sees himself as he is, defiled by sin, a transgressor of God’s holy law. He who has the fullest conviction of the sacred claims of the law, will most clearly see the enormity of his offenses, and will feel that he is indeed forgiven much.
Discussion Questions:
- Carefully read the above statement by Ellen G. White. How does this excerpt shed light on the biblical teachings covered in this quarter? What does it mean that a sinner must
depend on the merits of the blood of Christ
? - Dwell more on the warning in Jude 4. If the men are proclaiming the grace of God, they obviously are believers. Yet, Jude says that they are denying the Lord. What serious implications does this have for those who claim that God’s grace nullified the law? When people claim the law was done away with, what are they really trying to get rid of?
- How does the denial of the law, or even of one of the commandments, play into Satan’s hands as he seeks to
overthrow
the law of God?
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This excerpt from Ellen G. White sums up the overarching idea of the quarterly: the law has no power to save, only to comdemn, but God's grace frees us from the condemnation of the law. This is what she means when she says that we must depend on te merits of the blood of Christ.
Saying that God's grace nullified the law would mean that anyone can keep sinning and enter heaven. That is simply not the case. If we truly love someone, we would be faithful to them. Likewise, if we truly love God, then we must obey to show we love him.
Denying the law or one of God's commandments plays into Satan's plan which is to cast doubt on the law. Once you raTionalize breaking one rule, then it doesn't take long for you to start rationalizing to break another. Simply put, once the seed of corruption is set in the believer's mind, it is hard to dislodge.