Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit: The Essence of Christian Character"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 1: Sabbath Afternoon, March 20, 2010

First we will look at a section from the teacher's edition. Then following the commentary on this material we will look at the lesson as presented for this day.

 

From the Teachers Quarterly "Learning Cycle"

“Jesus’ ministry began with a special anointing in which the Father gave Him the Holy Spirit and His gifts without measure. It was this constant presence of the Holy Spirit and His fruit that empowered and enabled Jesus to overcome sin.

"Jesus is our best Example of how to live a Spirit-led life. His close communion with the Father shone through all aspects of His life. Tempted by Satan himself, Jesus showed self-control and remained strong (Matt. 4:1–11). Falsely accused and beaten, He was calm and gentle (John 18:1–11). Pleading with God in despair, He remained faithful (Mark 14:35, 36). Put to death by His own people, He forgave (Luke 23:33, 34).

"Jesus manifested what it means to bear the fruit of the Spirit. He was so in tune with God that all these things became a natural part of His character.” (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Pages 153 and 155)

 

Observations

I honestly don’t know any other way to put this in order to convey the seriousness of the situation, so I beg your indulgence in advance.

The statement quoted above is heresy. It makes three claims which, in turn, lead to one inescapable conclusion.

1. Jesus did not have the Holy Spirit until the Father gave it to Him.
2. Jesus had to overcome sin, and it was the Spirit “that empowered and enabled” Him to do so.
3. Self-control, strength, calmness, gentleness, faithfulness and forgiveness were not part of His character. They had to become “a natural part of His character” through being “in tune with God.”

The inescapable conclusion: This lesson claims that Jesus was not God.

Why? Jesus could not be God if he was not one with the Holy Spirit, if he had a sin nature to overcome and if he was not inherently full of grace and truth.

I’ll let John make my argument for me.

“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:18-23).

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:1-6).

John wrote these words to counteract one key element of what was to become the Gnostic heresy – spirit is entirely good; matter is entirely evil. People who held this tenet made one of two arguments against Jesus:

1. Jesus was indeed a human being. Therefore, because flesh is matter and by definition evil, Jesus could not be the Christ. This is what John answered in 1 John 2.
2. Jesus is indeed God. However, because flesh is matter and by definition evil, Jesus could not have come in the flesh; that is, could not have been truly human. This is what John answered in 1 John 4.

This lesson falls under the first form of this heresy. Jesus was human and had a sin nature to be overcome. Therefore, he could not be the Messiah until reaching some state of perfection, until overcoming sin and morphing into something other than mere humanity. John claims that this position “denies the Father and the Son” and is, therefore, antichrist.

This SDA teaching invalidates the entire lesson. In fact, it invalidates their entire theology. If the church officially holds to this position, then Seventh-day Adventism is not even Christian.

I counter by saying that Jesus is fully and completely God (John 1:1-4, Colossians 1:15-20). Therefore, He is fully and completely one with the Holy Spirit, Who is completely God (Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:9). Therefore, He does not have a sin nature – He did not need to overcome sin (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 1:5-7).

I also counter by saying that Jesus is fully and completely human (John 1:14, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:21-23). This is why Paul compares Jesus to Adam, and not to any of us (Romans 5:12-20).

Adam was created spiritually alive. Jesus was born spiritually alive. Adam spiritually died when he and Eve chose to disbelieve God and tried to become gods themselves by eating the forbidden fruit. All of us are born spiritually dead in Adam (see Genesis 5). Jesus lived a life of perfect dependence on His Father, even though Jesus, as God, could have lived a sinless life in His own power. Because He did this Jesus could die for us, and then be raised for us.

If Jesus was like you and me He COULD NOT have been our Savior. Instead, He would have needed a Savior.

 

Summary

1. This lesson claims Jesus had to overcome sin; that, in fact, He had a sin nature.
2. If this was true, then Jesus could not save anyone.
3. If this truly is what Seventh-day Adventism teaches, then they have nullified the rest of their theology.
4. Jesus, as fully God and fully man, was inherently sinless. He was one with the Father, and therefore one with the Holy Spirit, for His entire life.

 

Today's Lesson

Overview

“When Moses asked God to show him His glory, it was then that the Lord revealed to him His character as merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exod. 34:6). And so when “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [we] are changed into the same image from glory [character] to glory [character], even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

“By believing in Christ, the fallen race he has redeemed may obtain that faith which works by love and purifies the soul from all defilement. Then Christlike attributes appear: for by beholding Christ men become changed into the same image from glory to glory, from character to character. Good fruit is produced. The character is fashioned after the divine similitude, and integrity, uprightness, and true benevolence are manifested.”—Ellen G. White, My Life Today, p. 54 (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Page 149)

 

Observations

The quotation above is exactly what was written in the quarterly.I neither added to nor subtracted from it. Note Ellen White’s use of 2 Corinthians 3:18 and how she equates glory to Christ’s character.

Now, let’s see 2 Corinthians 3:18 in context:

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

"Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

What is the “glory” Paul is talking about in this passage? Is it the glory of Christ’s character? Absolutely not!

There are two kinds of glory in this passage. The first is the glory of the Old Covenant. The core of this covenant is what was written “in letters on stone”. In other words, the core of the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments. This covenant did indeed come with glory. In every aspect it was a shadow of what was promised to come in the Messiah. Paul equates this glory to that which glowed from Moses’ face whenever he had been with God, either coming down from Mt. Sinai or after being with Him in the tent of meeting. This glory was fading.

Why was the glory of the Old Covenant fading? Because it brought condemnation and death. The best thing the Old Covenant can do is demonstrate my state of spiritual death.

The second kind of glory Paul wrote about is the ministry of the Spirit, which brought righteousness. This glory is surpassing, and it never fades.

Note especially this part of the E.G.W. quotation: “By believing in Christ, the fallen race he has redeemed may obtain that faith which works by love and purifies the soul from all defilement. Then Christlike attributes appear: for by beholding Christ men become changed into the same image from glory to glory, from character to character.” Does faith indeed purify the soul from all defilement? No. We have been declared pure. Part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to transform our thinking. Faith is nothing more, and nothing less, than acting out of the truth of what Jesus has already accomplished for and within us.

Mrs. White is equating the Old and New Covenants. Paul is contrasting the two. Both positions cannot be true. I’ll take my stand with Paul.

I will allow the indwelling Spirit to continue transforming me, because it is Jesus Himself who is effecting the transformation. I will not try to add positive character traits to myself in a vain attempt to become more acceptable to God. Instead, I will rest in Christ’s completed work and rejoice that He has declared me to be righteous and fully acceptable to God.

 

Summary

1. Ellen White pulls a verse out of context and treats it as if it proves that the Old and New Covenants are one and the same. She supports a continuing reliance on the Old Covenant to prove that our job as believers is to improve ourselves.
2. In fact, Paul is contrasting the Old and New Covenants and is telling people that the Old will forever leave its adherents’ hearts under a veil and suffering from a dull mind.
3. The EGW quote invalidates rather than supports the Memory Text (Colossians 1:27).

 

GO TO DAY 2

 

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The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.

 

Official Adventist Resources

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