Commentary on "Expounding the Faith"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 3: Monday, August 2, 2010 -God Seeking Humanity

 

Overview

“…one who has been justified and retains that status will be protected when God’s wrath finally destroys sin at the end of the age.” (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide; July, Aug, Sept, 2010, Page 68, emphasis added)

“…Paul seems to be emphasizing the fact that whereas Christ died, He rose again and is alive forevermore (see Heb. 7:25)” (Ibid, Page 68, emphasis added)

 

Observations

How would a person lose his or her status of justification? By sinning.

If this happened, what would it mean? That Jesus failed; that his death on the cross was insufficient to deal with sin once and for all.

The lesson triumphantly proclaimed that justification is an already accomplished fact on Sunday, and then promptly takes away that triumph by making justification a conditional, iffy, transient thing. You either are justified or you are not. Pick one. Don’t hedge your bets.

Worse, the use of the words “seems to be emphasizing” nearly ruins one of the most powerful statements of God’s grace ever written.

Romans 5:10, as explained in my comments regarding the Introduction section, is as bold an assertion as can be made. My paraphrase: If you think Jesus’ death on the cross was powerful, for it provided reconciliation once and for all; imagine how powerful his resurrection was, for by it you are saved!

This bedrock statement of the Christian faith is lost on those who cling desperately to behaviorism as their claim to salvation. Oh yes, Jesus did it all, but “all” wasn’t enough. God requires that I behave, or else everything Jesus did goes for naught. What a pitiful god! What a pitiful savior!

This is not a criticism of Seventh-day Adventism, per se. (Although the SDA belief system is one of the worst examples, at least it is explicit. You know exactly what you’re choosing to believe.) Every religion in the world holds to some form of this maintain-your-salvation-by-works approach.

Such belief is bankrupt. It has no hope to offer, no victory, no grace, no faith.

On the other hand, taking Paul at his word does just the opposite. Sin absolutely has been defeated – in Christ. Eternal life is ours – in Christ. Because of what he accomplished by his death and resurrection we know that what is promised in Revelation is absolutely true. The Lamb wins! This is our hope, and it is the basis of our faith. Everything else pales into insignificance in light of Jesus.

 

Summary

1. If this section was intended to instill confidence regarding the initiative God took on our behalf, it failed. Instead of moving from victory (Jesus’ death) to victory (his resurrection) we get weasel-words and oblique conversations about God’s wrath.
2. What Jesus accomplished is true – and the only source of our hope – or it is false – and we should ignore it completely.

 

GO TO DAY 4

 

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