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Commentary on "In Spirit and in Truth"
Day 5: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - The True Worshipers
Overview
Today, the lesson asks a truly significant question. Who is true a worshiper? In John 4:23 Jesus says that true worshipers of God are those who worship him in ‘spirit and truth’.
Observations
Yesterday, we backed up to John chapter three and learned that you must be born again by having your dead spirit brought to life by the imputed indwelling of the Holy Spirit in order to join the kingdom of God. In-other-words, true worshipers are only those who are in God’s kingdom. This is something that we accept with ‘the faith of Abraham’ and is not supplemented by our own work or supposed perfection. We simply accept the gospel message of Jesus Christ and receive his promised gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who will then lead us into all truth.
The quarterly lesson diverts our attention from who are true worshipers by interjecting conformance to the law. This is Adventist ‘code language’ for obedience to the supposed eternal moral content of the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Covenant given to Israel. This ignores the fact that Israel lived under two covenants during the time of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. The first was the eternal covenant of faith given to Abraham, Gen. 17:19. The sign of this eternal covenant was and is circumcision. The other is the Mosaic Old Covenant which included but was not limited to the Ten Commandments written on stone, Ex. 31:12-17; Ez. 20:10-20. The sign of this covenant, which has been superseded and replaced by the New Covenant, was the fourth commandment.
The lesson then interjects some secondary nonsense by saying ‘Jesus here is calling for a balanced form of worship’ and uses 1 John 5:2 & Mark 12:30 as supporting references.
If we read 1 John 5:1 before verse 2, we learn ‘Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God’.
When we study the lesson references, we should understand that the very words Jesus is saying, not the Mosaic Law of the obsolete Old Covenant, is what we are to be in obedient to, Galatians chapter 4 & Romans 8:1-11.
Summary
- As redundant as it is to say so, it is important to understand that true worshipers are simply those who have been born of the Holy Spirit when they accept by faith that their sins have been totally atoned for and forever forgiven by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- It is wrong to claim that our supposed obedience to the Mosaic Law has any part in securing or maintaining our salvation when in fact no sinner has ever kept even a small part of this law, Romans 3:23.
- It is rather odd for Adventist to ignore the sign of the eternal Abrahamic Covenant of faith. Yet at the same time, claim adherence to Sabbath Keeping which is the sign of the conditional and obsolete Mosaic Covenant. This is in defiance of Jesus’ very words that the Holy Spirit, not Sabbath Keeping, is the sign and seal of the New Covenant.
- Sin is what prevents us from approaching God and worshiping him ‘in spirit and in truth’. True worshipers are simply those who have had their sins ‘covered’ and forgiven.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised August 22, 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
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 11
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 11
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 11
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