Sabbath, October 28, 2006

INTRODUCTION

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5.

“You are to give all,–your heart, your will, your service,–give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you must take all,–Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper,–to give you power to obey.” –Steps to Christ, p. 69.

UNDER DIVINE CONTROL

1. Over what does sin have dominion?
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

2. What change occurs when a person has died and been resurrected with Christ?
Romans 6:17-19 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

“The leaven hidden in the flour works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening process; so the leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted. A new standard of character is set up–the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the faculties are roused to action in new lines. Man is not endowed with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience is awakened. We are endowed with traits of character that enable us to do service for God.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 98, 99.

THE LAW EXALTED BY GRACE

3. Can the law free men from the guilt of sin? What only can bring help?
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

“The law reveals to man his sins, but it provides no remedy. While it promises life to the obedient, it declares that death is the portion of the transgressor. The gospel of Christ alone can free him from the condemnation or the defilement of sin. He must exercise repentance toward God, whose law has been transgressed, and faith in Christ, his atoning sacrifice. Thus he obtains ‘remission of sins that are past,’ and becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is a child of God, having received the spirit of adoption, whereby he cries, ‘Abba, Father!’” –The Great Controversy, pp. 467, 468.

4. Does the apostle preach a gospel free from the law?
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

“In the new birth the heart is brought into harmony with God, as it is brought into accord with his law. When this mighty change has taken place in the sinner, he has passed from death unto life, from sin unto holiness, from transgression and rebellion to obedience and loyalty.” –The Great Controversy, p. 468.

A LIFE DEDICATED TO SERVICE

5. What happens to our relationship with the law when we are under grace?
Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

“Paul had ever exalted the divine law. He had shown that in the law there is no power to save men from the penalty of disobedience. Wrongdoers must repent of their sins and humble themselves before God, whose just wrath they have incurred by breaking His law, and they must also exercise faith in the blood of Christ as their only means of pardon. The Son of God had died as their sacrifice and had ascended to heaven to stand before the Father as their advocate. By repentance and faith they might be freed from the condemnation of sin and through the grace of Christ be enabled henceforth to render obedience to the law of God.” –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 393.

THE WORK OF THE LAW UPON HUMANITY

6. Is there a significant difference between being under the law and being under grace? Romans 6:14. When does the believer pass from being under the law to being under grace?
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

“We have transgressed the law of God, and by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. The best efforts that man in his own strength can make, are valueless to meet the holy and just law that he has transgressed; but through faith in Christ he may claim the righteousness of the Son of God as all-sufficient.” –Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 363.

7. With what metaphor did the apostle Paul illustrate the position of one who is under the law? What holds this woman under dominion?
Romans 7:1, 2 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

“Paul had ever exalted the divine law. He had shown that in the law there is no power to save men from the penalty of disobedience. Wrongdoers must repent of their sins and humble themselves before God, whose just wrath they have incurred by breaking His law, and they must also exercise faith in the blood of Christ as their only means of pardon. The Son of God had died as their sacrifice and had ascended to heaven to stand before the Father as their advocate. By repentance and faith they might be freed from the condemnation of sin and through the grace of Christ be enabled henceforth to render obedience to the law of God.” –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 393.

DEATH TO SIN

8. According to the metaphor, when will this woman be free? Romans 7:2. How is this spiritual death accomplished? With whom is a new, intimate relationship now begun?
Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Romans 7:3-6 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS:

• Is it my duty to consecrate myself to God every day?
• Today, by whom am I allowing myself to be controlled?
• What does the law of God mean to me?