Commentary on "Life"

PHIL HARRIS

 

Day 4: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Spiritual Life

In today's lesson the question is ask; What is our understanding of the following verse?

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Cor. 5:17 KJV).

The point is then made that sin has introduced decay and death to all life on this planet and refers to the "new birth" (of a Christian) where the "old person" dies and a "new person" is born with John Chapter Three as assigned reading. Finally, the author asks how you would respond to the question, "Have you been born-again?"

 

Problems

On the topic of "sufferings of this present time", the Bible teaches that all of creation, not just life on this planet, is under the bondage of sin:

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22 KJV)

The effects of sin has polluted far more than just life here on this planet.

The primary defect in today's lesson is that it is titled "Spiritual Life", yet leaves us to speculate on our own concerning what this spiritual life is about. So, if you would turn to John Chapter Three and begin at verse one we will rectify that oversight:

Commentary on John Chapter Three, Verses 1-21

Verses 1,2 Jesus is a teacher from God. In other words, he is God and speaks with full ultimate authority.

Verse 3 You must be born again to enter God's kingdom. Jesus is clearly speaking of our salvation.

Verses 4-6 Jesus calls this our "spiritual birth". Because of our sin nature our spirit is dead, it needs life.

Verses 7,8 The spirit is like the wind. You can not see it but you do see the effects of what it does.

Verses 9-13 This is heavenly sourced knowledge. We can not learn this through human logic.

Verses 14,15 Jesus paid sins penalty so that he has authority to send the Holy Spirit and bring life to our spirit.

Verses 16,17 Because of what Jesus did, the world has the opportunity to be saved and all are without excuse.

Verse 18 He who believes Jesus is no longer condemned. They have salvation and are saved.

Verses 19,20 The world hates light and avoids truth, therefore it is condemned.

Verse 21 Those who respond to the truth of the light are not condemned.

What Jesus is saying is that when we have our physical birth we are dead spiritually and we need another birth, a spiritual birth to be fully and truly alive.

In the Teacher's comments related to this lesson, reference is made to Ps. 139:13,14 where speculation is made concerning what the Bible means about how God formed us in the depths of the earth. To get a better understanding we should read on to at least verse sixteen. The Bible text doesn't say the "human fetus" was formed in the depths of the earth. What it says is "inward parts" which is the essence of who we are. The lesson author then makes reference to our physical and spiritual self, ignoring the fact that we are born dead spiritually. King David, on the other hand, specifically mentions his soul. Physically, we are formed in our mother's womb. Spiritually we are not alive at our physical birth. Since David mentions his soul, why not keep it simple and conclude that is what he is talking about? Our soul, the essence of human life made in the image of God and is what he forms 'in the depths of the earth'.

 

Summary

1. When our spirit is made alive by God's Spirit, we enter God's kingdom and we are no longer condemned. This is central to the gospel message of Jesus Christ and our salvation.
2. Therefore it is vital to have a clear and truthful understanding of the condition of our spirit and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The destiny of our souls is at stake.
3. Our walk with Jesus is a result of the changed condition of our spirit when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to bring life to our spirit. This is the new birth or being "born again".

 

 

Copyright 2008 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised April 11, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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