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Commentary on "Trust Not in Deceptive Words": The Prophets and Worship
Day 7: Friday, August 26, 2011 - Further Study
Overview
The last day in this week doesn't bring anything significantly different from the previous days' lessons. It's more like a summary with a practical slant, a few questions which almost repeat what was asked previously, only with different words.
Observations
The question is, where is the hope that the readers will not fall into the same traps into which Israel fell? Will learning lessons from Israel's example be enough to keep them from going astray?
If readers received the biblical messages used in this lesson, they will quickly realize that the moral lessons which the author tries to emphasize at the end of this week are pious advice having a form of godliness, but without power. As long as Adventists will cling to the paradigm of the old covenant, they will follow in the steps of the people of the old covenant. The solution is not to improve morality—trying to use time in a proper way, or refusing to bow before modern idols, but a thorough change of paradigm, a true transition from the "ifs" of the old covenant to the sure "Yes" promises of the new covenant which are rooted in Jesus Christ's redemptive work, His full and final atonement made on the cross, His spotless obedience, His righteousness imputed—credited to the believer.
Embracing the new covenant will involve a radical abandonment of the framework of the investigative judgment doctrine that keeps people locked in a pre-advent time, before the cross, before the solid rock on which Christianity is based—Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God's fulfilled promises. Even if abandoning the Adventist paradigm is painful, the alternative is more painful. The failure of the old covenant people is enough proof that this path is a dead end road. In contrast, the road of the new covenant is more than an open road. It is a sure road, because Christ is the way to God. He said "I'm the Way". What more can a sinner expect from a holy and loving God?
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised August 24, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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Official Adventist Resources
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