Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit is Kindness"

GABRIEL PROKSCH

 

Day 6: Thursday, February 4, 2010

 

Overview

Our Thursday's lesson brings us to the theme of right theology versus right behavior. The goal of today's section is to stress the idea that a community of believers relating among themselves in love and kindness is the key to bringing people to conversion and belief in the Adventist message. Ellen White is quoted as saying "there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one" if Adventists would be kind. Right doctrine is insufficient to bring conviction, but right and loving behavior added to the right doctrine is powerful.

 

Observations

The final paragraph of this lesson is interesting enough to warrant a close look at its ideas. It says: "When we teach the doctrines of the church, we include the Sabbath, the state of the dead, the origin of sin, and other defining beliefs. But are we as careful about emphasizing the importance of kindness and the other fruit of the Spirit, along with the Sermon on the Mount and 1 Corinthians 13?" The author rightly perceives a lack of importance given to kindness and "other fruit of the Spirit", but it is doubtful he is aware of the problems which his views raise. He presents the specific Adventist doctrines of the Sabbath, state of the dead, and origin of sin as "defining beliefs" while "other fruit of the Spirit" is deliberately seen as pertaining to another category, obviously not as "defining" as the first. The author's position is mainstream: the Adventist identity is defined by those peculiar doctrines, not by the Holy Spirit's work in regeneration and sanctification. Being a Christian is almost if not identical to being an Adventist, being part of a faithful remnant who keep the “everlasting covenant” and the “sign” or “seal” of the covenant, the Saturday-Sabbath. This remnant is not affected by the apostasy which manifests itself as the wine of the Babylon: Sunday-sacredness, immortality of the soul, plus the horrible eternal hell. Faithfulness to God in all of these points is the mark of a true believer; being born again and sanctified by the Holy Spirit is secondary in importance if considered at all. 

Our author continues: "Knowing that the Sabbath is the seventh day or that the dead sleep until the resurrection or that Christ’s righteousness covers us now and in the final judgment is all fine, and important." It is assumed that the above are specific Adventist doctrines that are not shared by the other evangelical denominations. That's true, but the formulation of the statement in today's lesson is misleading because it gives to the Adventist reader the impression that evangelicals are biblical illiterates who are not able even to count properly to the seventh day, don't "know" that the Sabbath is the seventh day, and that Adventists are the only ones who truly "know" that the Bible speaks about the dead as sleeping. But evangelicals recognize and believe that the Bible tells us about the Sabbath and especially about it's fulfillment. The Bible also tells us about people's spirits being with Christ while their bodies are asleep in the grave.  

The paragraph ends: "But having knowledge alone isn’t the same thing as knowing the truth as it is in Jesus (John 14:6), for the truth sets us free (John 8:32); that is, the truth changes us and makes us more like Christ. Could one then ask, Do we really have the truth if the Truth, Jesus, doesn’t have us?"

Here the author construes a false dichotomy between "knowing the truth as it is in Jesus" and knowing "that Christ's righteousness covers believers now and in the final judgment". Yet the news of Christ’s righteousness is the gospel, and it is the truth as it is in Jesus. Christ's life, death for our sins and resurrection for our justification constitutes the gospel (see 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 1- 4). It's the life of the church, it's the power for salvation of everyone who believes. The entire epistle of Paul to the Romans is dedicated to the proclamation of the gospel as the power of salvation, the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believer. 

The reason why the author is placing Christ's righteousness apart from knowing the truth as it is in Jesus may be found in the fact that in the Adventist understanding, Christ's righteousness may cover a believer today but not cover him at the final judgment due to his failure to carry the work of sanctification to perfection. There is no guarantee in Adventist theology that somebody who's justified today will be justified tomorrow. In the final moment it depends on man's ability, hard work, and perseverance to keep himself "in the faith". Works are essential in retaining salvation. In the biblical view of the gospel, God's power keeps the believers safe until glorification. If somebody is justified, he is already glorified; nobody is lost on the way (Romans 8:30).

In the introduction to today's lesson, Colossians 3:12-14 is quoted:"forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive". It's important to keep in mind that the Lord did not temporarily and conditionally forgive us, but He has completely and unconditionally forgiven us. Now, not after the investigative judgment, there is no more condemnation for the one who is in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1) . The fruit of the Spirit appears when this amazing truth is recognized: we are forever forgiven and united with Christ, and the Holy Spirit is our pledge of final salvation. 

 

Summary

1. The fruit of the Spirit is not considered part of the “defining truth” of Adventism.
2. The knowledge of Sabbath, of the dead “sleeping”, and what the Bible teaches about these facts and the related facts of Jesus’ fulfillment and the spirits of the dead going to the Lord is common evangelical knowledge.
3. “Knowing the truth as it is in Jesus” is not distinct from knowing “Christ’s righteousness covers believers now and in the final judgment.”
4. The truth about Christ’s righteousness is that it covers believers permanently; they cannot fall in and out of salvation.
5. There is no condemnation in Jesus for those who believe; we are forever forgiven and united with Christ, and that reality is sealed by the unmoving pledge of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

GO TO DAY 7

 

Copyright 2010 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised February 2, 2010. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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

Standard Edition Study Guide Week 6

Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 6

Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Week 6

Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings