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Commentary on "From Slaves to Heirs"

RICK BARKER

 

Day 5: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - The Privileges of Adoption

 

Overview

In context, Gal 4:5-7 is part of a continuing discussion about the nature or role of the law relative to a New Covenant believer. Specifically, this section discusses how believers become heirs in order to continue the comparison between the child heir who is under the guardianship of the law until the time comes that he is an outright heir, free from the management of the guardian. Believers are fellow heirs with Christ through our adoption by God. These specific verses address that process of adoption.

 

Observations

The lesson starts strong by pointing out the idea that redeem means to "buy back". Many popular SDA teachings on Christ's atoning death downplay or outright deny that His death was paying a price for sin. Christ's death is more than an example of how far God is willing to go to save His people. It is more than a demonstration of the depth of God's love. It is more than restoring the relationship (you may have heard the false characterization of at-one-ment with God). There was a price that had to be paid. The covenant of the Law required that sin be paid for through death. Christ's death paid the price that the Law required.

The lesson quickly comes off the rail when it chooses to introduce four things from which people need to be freed. The passage is clear about redeeming "those under the Law". To introduce redemption from things other than the Law is ignoring the verse itself and the surrounding context. But even worse, the lesson introduces a concept that it reads into Scripture. It states that the redemption that is needed is not from being under the Law, but only from the condemnation of the Law. This is one of the two main changes that SDAism has to make to the passages here in Galatians in order to maintain its doctrines. First, change the statements referring to the Law to become statement referring only to the condemnation of the Law. This way SDAs can hang on to guardian that, as grown children, they should no longer be under. Second, SDAs change the statements about the Law to refer to the ceremonial laws. Interestingly these two changes are contradictory to one another. No one needs to be redeemed from the condemnation of the "ceremonial" law. It is the "moral" law that condemns, not the "ceremonial". Now in fact there is no such distinction of the law found in the Bible. It is a man-made distinction that didn't start for centuries after the time of Christ.

The discussion of adoption is a solid discussion. But it ignores the implications of being an heir. It also ignores a consistent New Testament theme surrounding this adoption. The New Testament repeatedly talks about adoption or inheritance in combination with the indwelling Spirit (Rom 8:15-17; Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:21-22; 2 Cor 5:1-5). Yet the entire SDA lesson quarterly ignores the indwelling Holy Spirit as the guarantee and seal of our inheritance. Could it be that this clear Biblical teaching doesn't quite fit with SDA theology? If the indwelling Holy Spirit is God's seal promising our inheritance, as Scripture says, then how can the Sabbath be God's seal as SDAism teaches?

The lesson ends with a question that illustrates just how poorly the SDA authors have understood the central message of Galatians. The book of Galatians is about the supremacy and adequacy of faith; along with the foolishness of thinking that our works and efforts can improve what we already have through faith ("O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? … Let me ask you only this:  Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh"). Compare that with the question that is focused on our works and efforts: "What can you change to bring about this closeness?" If you are a born-again believer, you have that closeness, even if you don't feel it every day. You can't do anything to become "more" His child. The premise that your status as a child of God depends on what you do, or on what actions you might change actually denies that Christ has paid the price and redeemed us.

 

Summary

A relatively decent lesson fell apart in the final discussion questions. The works-oriented SDA gospel that focuses on what you can change and what you can do differently in order to bring about a closeness to God is revealed in these questions. No matter how many good statements SDAism has about grace and salvation by faith there is always a big "but" that is waiting to be added to the Gospel. And that big "but" always involves our works.

 

GO TO DAY 6

 

Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised November 2, 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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