LESSON III.—SABBATH, JULY 15, 1893
REVIEW QUESTIONS.—(a) How should we be fashioned? (b) Who alone can thus transform us? (c) Upon what conditions will he do it? Verses 17-21: "And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear; knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ; who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, which raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God." - How should we seek God? Note 1.
- What characteristic is here given of God?
- According to what does he judge?
- In view of this how should we live? Note 2.
- From what has God redeemed us? Note 3.
- With what price did he redeem us?
- How long has this sacrifice been effectual? Note 4.
- When was he manifested?
- Through whom do we believe in God?
- What manifestation of God's power has been shown in Christ?
- Why has God thus manifested his power? Note 5.
Verses 22-25: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently; having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth; but the word of the Lord abideth forever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you." - How had their souls been purified? Note 6.
- What feeling toward brethren did this produce?
- That we may grow and be confirmed in that love, what injunction did he give?
- Through what were they begotten?
- What is the character of this word? Note 7.
- How is the word contrasted with mortal man?
- From what scripture is this contrast quoted?
- What is this living word declared to be?
1. As Father.—This is the privilege of every soul of man, if it is of any. God is no respecter of persons. He loves all. Christ died for all, and by his death redeemed all. Everyone may, therefore, come to God through Christ. By faith in him we may become children of God, and have the privilege of coming to him as Father. We have the spirit of adoption, "whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Rom. 8:15. 2. In fear.—Not with a fear of impending judgment, not with the spirit of bondage, but the spirit of loving reverence. This is a fear lest we should offend, dishonor, or grieve one who is so great and good. 3. Manner of life.—In the common version it is "conversation." It means the whole course of life. Christ redeemed us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), soul and body, unto himself. We are not our own, we are bought with a price from all sin unto all righteousness. 4. Foreknown before the foundation of the world.—God knew it before kosmos (world) was brought out of chaos. God's "own purpose and grace" "was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 2 Tim. 1:9. God did not ordain the evil which would come, though he knew it. He could not have willing servants rendering willing service without giving man the awful responsibility and privilege of choosing between good and evil, life and death (Deut. 30:19; Prov. 1:29-31); yet his purpose was so arranged that all might be saved (John 3:16; Rev. 22:17). Man did not even lose by sin entering, for where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Rom. 5:20. Therefore, when man fell, Infinite Wisdom was not taken by surprise, for the redemption was provided in the sacrifice of his Son, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8); so while Christ did not die till 4,000 years after creation, he in will and purpose made the sacrifice in the beginning, and it was accepted as effectual in behalf of the world. He has therefore been a present dying Saviour as well as a mighty living God from righteous Abel to the present time. See Hebrews 11. 5. For your sake.—Christ was manifested "for your [our] sake," and God's great power was shown in his resurrection and ascension (Eph. 1:19-23), "that your [our] faith and hope might be in God." Yea, verily, "all things are for your [our] sakes" (2 Cor. 4:15). All that God has done in power, in wisdom, in love, are eternal pledges to us of what he will do for all who trust, till the last trusting soul is safe forever. 6. Purified in your obedience to the truth.—This text is a parallel to Acts 15:9, "purifying their hearts by faith." The faith is in the cleansing, purifying word (John 15:3); the obedience is the obedience of faith (Rom. 16:26) to the word or truth of the gospel. The cleansing power in the word is the Spirit of God. Compare with 1 Peter 1:2 and 2 Thess. 2:13. 7. The Word.—Christ is the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1-3), called this because through him all the Word of God has been given (1 Peter 1:11; 1 Cor. 8:6). That Word—the incorruptible seed from God—is spirit and life (John 6:63), living and powerful (Heb. 4:12); by it the material creation was wrought (Ps. 33:6, 9; John 1:3); by it man is recreated (Eph. 4:24), or cleansed (John 15:3), or begotten again (James 1:18). By that word are we fed (1 Peter 2:2), and built up and fitted for the kingdom of God (Acts 20:32). This word cannot fail, cannot die; its life is from above. Christ is in it. (See note 1, last lesson.) Note that the special portion of the word here exalted so truly is from Isaiah 40. WORD THOUGHTS.—"Without respect of persons" (v. 17), that is, God is not partial. Rank, wealth, station, do not affect him. "Redeemed" (v. 18) is found only in two other places in the New Testament, viz., Luke 24:21; Titus 2:14. It has the idea of a ransom price. "Without blemish" (v. 19), just as in the type, see Ex. 12:5; Lev. 22:20; in a physical sense, perhaps. "Without spot" (compare 1 Tim. 6:14; James 1:27; 2 Peter 3:14), in a moral sense. "Foreknown" (v. 20) not as in the common version, "foreordained;" "foreknown" is literal. Foreknown all the time, manifested at one time. "At the end of the times," that is, of the ages past, the fullness of time. See Gal. 4:4. "Obedience" (v. 22), from a word not known in classical Greek; in the Septuagint only in 2 Sam. 22:36, rendered by "gentleness" in the common version, defined by Young to be "a submissive hearkening." "Unfeigned," that is, not to play a part, not hypocritical, but "from the heart." "Of"—"seed," "through"—"word" (v. 23). The incorruptible seed, the origin and source of life, the word of God, the medium.