Lesson #7
p 29 -- Section #1 -- THE CONDITION OF MAN
Jeremiah 10:23 -- It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Isaiah 1:6 -- From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it.
Isaiah 64:6 -- We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
Note - The picture of man in the Bible can be summarized in the words of Paul - "all are under sin." (Romans 3:9) Because of this, "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10; Psalm 14:3) Further, resulting from this condition, all men face death. He has nothing in or of himself to remedy his condition. The need of man is a Saviour!
Section #2 -- THE ONLY SAVIOUR
Isaiah 43:3 -- I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.
Isaiah 45:21-22 -- There is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me and be ye saved.
Hosea 13:4 -- There is no saviour beside Me.
Acts 4:12 -- None other name under heaven ... whereby we must be saved.
Note - The only One who can save us is God. Jesus, Emmanuel - God with us - came as man's Saviour. (Matt. 1:21-23) In Him only is redemption. (Rom. 3:24) For us to even conceive that we can be a contributor to our salvation is blasphemy. To do so, I, a man, would be setting myself up in place of God, or equal with God. (John 10:33)
Section #3 -- THE INVITATION OF JESUS
Matthew 11:28-30 -- Come unto Me ... and I will give you rest ... Ye shall find rest for your souls.
John 6:37 -- Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.
Isaiah 1:18 -- Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Note - In Jesus, there is rest of soul - sins forgiven, cleansed - made white as snow. The condition is that we come to Him - just as we are - confessing our total dependence upon Him. This was
p 30 -- illustrated in the Hebrew sanctuary service. When the individual brought his sin offering, he placed his hand upon the head of the victim confessing his sin. (Lev. 4:29) The Hebrew word signifies the placing of his full weight upon the animal. On Jesus, my full and unconditional dependence must rest. What then has He done and will do for me?
Section #4 -- CHRIST FOR MY PAST SINS
Romans 5:5-8 -- The love of God is shed abroad ... Christ died for the ungodly ... . while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 3:23-25 -- Being justified freely ... . through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ... . through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of the sins that are past.
Note - The declaration of Christ's righteousness for my past life of sin is called justification. Because of this provision - the redemption that is in Christ Jesus - I can stand before God free from quilt, because I stand as if I had never sinned. He has justified me, accounted me righteous. This is freely given, freely bestowed upon all who come to Jesus. It is ours to accept by faith, believing what He says is true. Then I am to live no longer as a sinner, but ever conscious of that fact that I am only a forgiven sinner, rejoicing in His free grace. My sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus. (Rev. 1:5)
1 Peter 2:1-2 -- Wherefore laying aside all ... evil ... as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
Note - The experience of being justified - freed from our past sins - is often spoken of as a new birth experience; we become babes. Thus there lies before us growth. Grow in grace is the counsel given through Peter. What does this mean?
Section #5 --CHRIST, MY PRESENT LIFE
Galatians 2:20 -- The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.
Note - The Greek reads literally -"In faith I live in the Son of God." Jesus was the Word made flesh that we might know how to live in the flesh. (John 1:14) How did He live?
John 5:30 -- I can of my own self do nothing ... I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent Me.
Note - Here is the simple outline of what our present life should be, once we have come to Jesus to find rest. First, we must recognize that we are just as helpless to refrain from sinning as we were before we were justified. By seeking to know the will of God, instead of our own will, we can then perceive the way to walk. It is at all times true - whether before justification, or after - that the way that seemeth right unto a man, is the way of death. (Proverbs 16:25) Thus the Jesus perspective - not His will, but the Father's - is the way of life. (John 6:38)
Matthew 11:20, 25, 26 -- Then began He [Jesus] to upbraid the cities, because they repented not ... At that I time, Jesus ... said, I thank Thee, 0 Father ... Even so Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.
p 31 -- Note - From His human viewpoint, it looked another way, but Jesus was so completely yielded to the will of God, that even though He could not see it, He was willing to accept the Father's viewpoint. The life of Jesus is to be our example.
John 15:10 -- I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
Note - Sin has alienated us from God, but God has made provision for us to return to Him. He has pardoned our past life of sin, and given to us a pattern in Jesus for our present life. What more can love devise! To abide in the Father's love, we do as Jesus did, accept His viewpoint for life as revealed in His law, His commandments.
Section #6 -- GOD'S FURTHER GIFT
John 14:15-17 -- I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter ... even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.
Note - To those who are willing to live as Jesus lived, the Father bestows a special gift - the Holy Spirit of truth. But note, to receive this Gift, we must be willing to follow God's way as He has revealed it in His commandments. The world cannot receive it - the carnally minded (Rom. 8:7) - because they are not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.
John 16:13-14 ; I John 1:5-7-- The Spirit of truth ... will guide you into all truth ... for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. If we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Note - The Christian life is a cooperative experience. We are guided by the Spirit who focuses the light of heaven - Jesus - upon our pathway. By this light we walk toward the original way of life God designed for us from the beginning. (Eph. 1:3-4) In the process, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews 10:15-16 -- The Holy Spirit also is a witness to us: This is the covenant ... saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.
Note - The evidence or the witness that we have the Holy Spirit is not a manifestation of some charismatic gift, but a way of life in harmony with the commandments of God, even as the life of Jesus was lived in harmony with God's design for His life.
Galatians 5:5 ; Romans 8:24-25 -- We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For we are saved by hope ... but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Note - The promises of God are sure and steadfast. He promises forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will guide into all truth. It we are willing, He will empower us to obey all His precepts. In His own time, and by His own method, there will be revealed in us that righteousness which is by faith. This is illustrated in the life of Abraham, the father of the faithful. To him, God made a promise. Even though Abraham and Sarah tried to fulfill that promise, it was not realized until they came to the place where they realized they couldn't. Then God did for them what they could not do for themselves.
Romans 8:9 -- Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
p 32 -- Ephesians 4:30 -- Grieve not the Holy Spirit ... whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Note - Jesus Christ lived the righteous life, and that life is to be revealed in each pardoned sinner who is willing to be guided by the light of the Word of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit. That Spirit then seals such a child of God unto the time when Christ shall come back to claim His own. If, however, I am not willing to be led by the Spirit for which Jesus has petitioned the Father, then I am none of His. Throughout the Christian walk, I must realize that I am dependent upon His righteousness for all things under all circumstances.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 -- I will raise unto David a righteous Branch. In His days Judah shall be saved, ... and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Lesson #7 -- QUIZ -- Matching (Place the letter [a] in the right hand column with text where it can be found.)
1. _____ Proverbs 16:25
a. -- The carnal mind is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be.
2. _____ Romans 3:23
b. -- The way that seems right to me ends in death.
3. _____ 1 John 3:4
c. -- I cannot be Christ's unless I have the Spirit
of Christ.
4. _____ Romans 8:7
d. -- Sin is the transgression of the-law.
5. _____ Romans 3:25
e. -- The witness of the Holy Spirit is a changed life
conformed to the law of God in the heart.
6. _____ Galatians 2:20
f. -- Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
7. _____ John 14:6
g. -- My past life is covered by the perfect life of
Jesus, when I accept Him as my Saviour.
8. _____ John 16:13
h. -- All have sinned.
9. _____ Hebrews 10:15-16
i. -- The Holy Spirit is sent to guide us into all truth.
10. ____ Romans 8:9
j. -- My life, after having been crucified with Christ
is lived solely by faith in and of Him.
Complete the following Bible verses, and mark where they are found:
1. -- "All our ____ are as ____ ____." Isa. _____ : ____.
2. -- For if when we were ____, we were ____ to God by the death of His ____, much more, being ____, we shall be ____ by His ____." Romans ____ : ____.
p 33 -- CONCEPTS FOR IN DEPTH STUDY
I. The Sin in Eden (Genesis 3)
1. -- Eve entertained a question regarding the word and authority of God (3:1)
2. -- Eve accepted a lie for the truth of God's word. (3:4)
3. -- Delusion and faulty judgment followed. (3:6)
Relate this anatomy of the beginning of sin in Eden with the following texts as they relate to man's redemption:
Proverbs 14:12; 16:25 [Twice repeated - for emphasis? How vital to our acceptance of salvation?]
Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 3:5-6; Revelation 3:18c; II Thessalonians 2:9-12.
Romans 8:6-7 margin [The Greek for "carnally minded" = "the minding of the flesh. Likewise for "spiritually minded" = "the minding of the Spirit."]; Philippians 2:5; John 16:13.
II. What is sin? (I John 3:4)
While sin is the transgression of the law, the one committing sin transgresses ALSO the law. What else does a person sinning do? Paul wrote - "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). There are precious promises in God's word by which we are to escape sin. (II Peter 1:4) Note the following: Jude 24; Deuteronomy 8:3 [Jesus claimed this promise, and observe what followed Matthew 4:2-4, 11]; 1 Corinthians 10:13. Now faith comes by hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17) Our failure to exercise faith leads to sin which is the transgression of the Law. This is why the victory is "through faith." (I John 5:4)
III. The Challenge of Protestantism to Catholicism.The salvation of man is by grace alone (Sola Gratia) through the exercise of faith alone (Sola Fide), and made possible by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Solo Christo). This revelation is to be found in the Bible, and does not need the creeds of the Councils to augment it. Thus the use of the expression - Sola Scriptura. See the following texts of Scripture upon which this is based: Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:24; Acts 4:12; and II Timothy 3:15-17.
Quiz Answers --
Matching- b. h. d. a. g. j. f. i. e. c. (1) righteousnesses, filthy, rags, 64:6 (2) enemies, reconciled, Son, reconciled, saved, life, 5:10