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Commentary on "Justification by Faith Alone"
Day 1: Sabbath Afternoon, October 15, 2011 - Introduction
Overview
The lesson this week discusses Galatians 2:15-21 where Paul explains justification by faith. The author does say, during the course of the week, that only what Christ has done for us counts as sufficient righteousness, that when we accept Christ by faith, His righteousness is credited to us.
On the surface, the words of this lesson sound very much like the gospel truth that we receive Christ’s personal righteousness credited to our account. The problem, however, is that this lesson is built on top of unstated foundational assumptions that warp how the words are understood.
The facts of our being born dead, of our spirits needing to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, of Jesus’ intrinsic life breaking the bonds of death and giving us eternal life—these are not explained, nor are they part of Adventist doctrine. The Adventist does not believe he has an immaterial spirit that is the essence of who he is and that is the defining part of himself: the part of himself that is born dead.
The first day’s lesson this week revisits Peter’s pulling away from eating with the gentiles and asks speculatively, “What did Paul actually say to Peter on that tense occasion?”
The lesson then indicates that the week will unpack the key words of the passage: justification, righteousness, works of law, belief, faith, and faith of Jesus.
Observations
This lesson manages to say very little while introducing the passage from Galatians that articulates how a believer is justified. Again, while the lessons this week do not refute that God credits Christ’s righteousness to believers, the author is not able to define “faith” nor “belief” in a way that reveals the heart of our response to the gospel. Moreover, the author keeps bringing the reader back to the idea that faith honors the law.
For Adventists, the lesson camouflages the power of the gospel because it does not explain the spiritual reality of Paul’s explanation of being justified by faith alone. Adventists still see faith as their own response to God’s grace, and they also see faith in Christ giving them the ability to life like Him—all without understanding or believing in the new birth the way Scripture teaches it.
Spiritual life and death are completely non-issues. Faith and works of the law are things that, to an Adventist, function in the mind and emotions and will. The spirit is missing.
Summary
- The lesson does not negate justification by faith alone, but it does not undo the Adventist worldview that causes the reader not to understand the spiritual significance of justification.
- Biblical justification occurs concurrently with the believer being born of the Spirit.
- Without understanding that one has a spirit and that it must be born again in order to be saved, the concept of justification is not “personal”. It is objective fact somewhere outside oneself, and its power is missing.
- This lesson introduces the power words of the gospel: justification, righteousness, belief, faith and works of the law.
- Without a biblical view of human nature and the nature of Christ, however, justification is reduced to having one’s slate wiped clean and being able to begin obeying the law as Christ did.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised October 16, 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.
Official Adventist Resources
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