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Commentary on "Garments of Splendor"
Day 2: Sunday, May 15, 2011 - Bring No More Futile Sacrifices
Overview
“The Cross is all the proof we’ll ever need as to how much the Lord wants us to have salvation.” [Teacher’s Quarterly, Page 90]
Problems
Here is the first example of what I referred to in the Overview section.
Isaiah 1-5 describes the horrible state of affairs existing among God’s people, Israel, at that time. It is amazing how closely 2 Timothy 3:1-5 parallels this passage! The lesson’s author rightly draws us to consider our worship today. How much of it is false? How much of it is the natural expression of Christ in us, our hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27)?
But the author stops at the cross by equating it with salvation. The cross is proof of Jesus’ victory over sin. The resurrection is the twin proof of Jesus’ victory over death and of His divinity (see Romans 1:4). These two “events” (according to human time) coalesce into the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given as proof (the down payment and seal) of our salvation.
The only way to stop bringing futile sacrifices is to walk by faith in this indwelling Holy Spirit. Nothing else will suffice, because all self-effort is sin. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (see Romans 12:1-2), not dead ones.
Summary
- Isaiah starts with a bang! The lesson’s author captures this well and points out our own tendency to mirror Israel’s failings.
- But the author does not go far enough, he stops at the cross. The cross is the source of our forgiveness, but it is not the source of our power for life. The Holy Spirit is that Power and is possible only in the context of the resurrection and Pentecost.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised May 2, 2011. 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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