Monday: Debt or Grace?
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 to turn inward and to look to oneself and one’s deeds. Religion can become exceedingly self-centered, about the last thing anyone needs.
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In contrast, if one grasps the great news that justification is a gift from God, totally unmerited and undeserved, how much easier and more natural is it for that person to turn his or her focus on God’s love and mercy instead of on self?
And in the end, who’s more likely to reflect the love and character of God-the one self-absorbed or the one God-absorbed?
Read Romans 4:6-8. How does Paul expand here on the theme of justification by faith?
“The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, lay his sins upon the Sin Bearer, and receive His pardon. It was for this cause that Christ came into the world. Thus the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner. He becomes a member of the royal family.” – Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 215.
Paul then continues, explaining that salvation by faith is not only for the Jews but for the Gentiles, as well (Rom. 4:9-12). In fact, if you want to get technical about it, Abraham wasn’t Jewish; he came from a pagan ancestry (Josh. 24:2). The Gentile-Jewish distinction didn’t exist in his time. When Abraham was justified (Gen. 15:6), he was not even circumcised. Thus, Abraham became the father of both the uncircumcised and the circumcised, as well as a great example for Paul to use in order to make his point about the universality of salvation. Christ’s death was for everyone, regardless of race or nationality (Heb. 2:9).
| Considering the universality of the Cross, considering what the Cross tells us about the worth of every human being, why is racial or ethnic or national prejudice such a horrible thing? How can we learn to recognize the existence of prejudice in ourselves and, through God’s grace, purge it from our minds? |
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Prejudice exists because people are selfish! When ego turns to itself, everyone else is lower! Lack of empathy is another trace of prejudice. Thinking the world only through one's eyes is dangerous! Reality and truth belongs to a broader view.
Adam & Eve's choice to "know/experience" good and evil affects all human beings, however I don't believe that Jesus holds us responsible for what they did. That is why He offers to wipe our slate clean as a gift. Then it is our choice to either follow Him, allow Him to change our hearts & characters to be like Him or to reject/rebel against Him and choose our own lifestyle. The really great news is that Jesus gives us the power to follow Him and make the right choices in all that we desire, think and do.
Thank you Jesus!!!
Praise God for His Word and salvation which is by Faith in Jesus Christ! I would never make it on my own, trying to be saved by keeping the law. I am so grateful for a Savior and His mercy and grace for me and my family! With that being said, I am learning to "Let Go, and Let God!" Let God be God in my life and I am thankful, so thankful!
Abraham was considered "Righteous," by God many years before God tried him at the land of Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac there. And before that, when Abraham was first considered "Righteous" by God, Abraham was believing God for something else other than for A Savior that would some day have to die for him. Abraham was placing his faith on God's Promise to him that God would make of him a great nation. Abraham did not come to start having faith toward a savior that would some day die in his place for his sins, until after God tried him at the land of Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac.
So should we say there are some people out there like Abraham who have already been justified before even becoming the remnant? Please answer am from Uganda, East Central African division
Christopher, that is the subject of this whole lesson. Please review it, beginning with the Sabbath portion at https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-the-faith-of-abraham/, or you can see the whole week's lesson at once at "The Faith of Abraham."
I suggest you also review Hebrews 11.
Pete, I don't believe that faith is believing God *for* something. I believe it is a matter of entrusting our present and our future completely to Him, trusting Him to lead us and do what is best for us. It also means doing what He asks us to do.
I believe that's the kind of faith Abraham had, both before an after Mt Moriah. But Abraham did not always exercise his faith. There were times he trusted his own judgment instead, and that got him into deep trouble. However, on Mt Moriah, he got a glimpse of what his salvation cost God, and it deepened and firmed his faith.
In our Sabbath School class today, we considered the implications of Abraham living contemporaneously with Shem for over 200 years. So Abraham had the opportunity of learning the plan of salvation from Shem who lived for 100 years of Methuselah's lifetime. And Methuselah had more than 200 years to learn the plan of salvation directly from Adam who was taught by God.
Thus I'm pretty sure that Abraham had faith in the Savior that was promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden even before the experience on Mt Moriah. But that experience allowed him to enter into the heart of God and experience some of what God experienced in offering His own Son.
To me , avoiding prejudice is all about one deciding that those mindsets are not necessary and important. For at the end your thinking, you will be left in the dark and think people hate. It also leads people to wicked acts. I pray that God should help us to stop such thinkings as we learn this lesson to completion.
Scenarios
If you work for an employer at an agreed rate per day, come end of the week you should get your wages due to you for the 5 days (salvation by works)
As a child if you work in the house cleaning dishes and cooking and you parents decide to give you a token of appreciation at the end of the week (salvation by faith). You were not entitled to such payment from your parents but because of their grace they rewarded you. It is also because of your love for cleanliness (love and faith) you were rewarded.
If however your parents realises that all the cleaning and cooking was because you were aiming for some reward they will not give it to you because it was not out of love.
I think the same principle applies here. If you obey Gods laws mainly because you want to be rewarded with a 1000 vacation in heaven then you miss the point. You do not love God but you love what he will give out (same as prostitution getting payment for services rendered and not love)
The same applies to those who obeys Gods commandments out of fear of some everlasting burning in hell. These are scared of a punishment and do not love God.