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Commentary on "Paul's Authority and Gospel"
Day 6: Thursday, October 6, 2011 - The Origin of Paul's Gospel
Overview
Today’s lesson looks at Galatians 1:6-9 and 11-24 and discusses why people tried to detract from Paul’s authority and how we know he received his commission from God. The lesson ends by asking how certain the reader is that he or she is called by God, how we can know for sure what God has called us to do, and why we must learn to listen to other even if we’re sure of our calling.
Observations
The Teachers Comments ask this on page 27: “Paul talks about a true gospel and false ‘other gospels’. Sometimes the difference is quite subtle. How can we know that we are guided by the true gospel, even when the false gospels sound plausible?”
This question betrays the fact that Adventism does not teach nor acknowledge the true gospel. While Adventism may say they affirm the gospel, they would deny, if pressed, that the simple gospel is the whole gospel.
Again, the pure gospel is stated clearly in 1 Cor. 15:3-4 as well as beingartriculated throughout the New Testament:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…
The reason the quarterly says false gospels may be subtle and hard to discern—even sounding plausible—is that Adventism adds to the gospel by requiring increasingly successful law-keeping, especially Sabbath-keeping. In addition, the Adventist worldview, shaped by EGW and the great controversy, changes the nature of man to purely physical beings who have no spirits. This alteration changes the nature of sin, salvation, and the nature of Christ.
Consequently, Adventists are confused by the true biblical gospel. When they are shown the definition of the gospel in Scripture, they mentally say, Yes, of course—and once we believe in Jesus, we’ll keep the Sabbath and honor the law to show Him we love Him.
The real gospel involves a dramatic consequence when one places faith in the Lord Jesus: they are born again, regenerated spiritually by the indwelling Holy Spirit who gives birth to their spirit (Eph. 1:13-14), thus transferring them from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved son (Col 1:13).
The Adventist “gospel” is described nowhere in Scripture, and it does not yield the new birth. In fact, Adventists do not understand the new birth except as a cognitive change in belief or a decision to accept the Adventist gospel and be baptized.
Finally, one can never be certain of his or her calling in Christ unless one repents and believes in the Lord Jesus, accepting the pure biblical gospel as the only “power of salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). If one accepts a false gospel, such as the Adventist gospel requiring law-keeping and a false definition of humanity, one is not believing in the Jesus revealed in Scripture or in the gospel revealed there.
The only way to know for certain that one is called is to believe in the Lord Jesus, in His death for sin, His burial, and His resurrection which broke death and redeemed us from eternal spiritual death. When we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, He testifies with our spirits that are children of God (Rom. 8:14). We KNOW when we are born again!
Summary
- Paul received his commission to apostleship directly from the risen Lord Jesus.
- Adventism teaches a non-biblical false gospel. It requires law-keeping and Sabbath-keeping.
- The true gospel is only hard to discern when one’s reality is warped by a false worldview and a false gospel.
- The only way to be certain of one’s calling is to repent and receive the Lord Jesus as Lord and Master and Savior of one’s life.
- The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are God’s children.
- The real gospel—Paul’s gospel—is summarized in three points: Christ died for our sin, He was buried, and He rose on the third day...all according to Scripture.
- No other practice or teaching is part of the “gospel”.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised October 4, 2011. 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.
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