Here is the link to the study/discussion material for this study:

http://ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/08d/less09nkjv.html

The key thought or purpose of this study is "To summarize some of the ways that the New Testament interprets the death of Christ."

Some thoughts from the top of my head.

1.Peter presents Christ's death as the means by which we are brought to God. I think this is 1 Pet. 3:18.

2.Paul speaks of Christ's death as the means by which Satan and his minions are defeated. He does this in a number of places. I'll mention two here, Col. 2, around vs. 15, and Hebrews 2:8 or 2:9 I think. This is probably the most common application of Christ's death. There are probably a couple of dozen texts in the NT which deal with this theme.

3.Paul speaks of Christ's death as the means by which God's righteousness and grace are revealed. He does this in a number of places. To name two, Romans 3 around vs. 23 and Titus 2 around verse 14.

4.Paul speaks of Christ's death as the means by which we are justified. Two places which come to mind are Romans 4, the last verse, and Romans 10, around vs. 10.

5.Paul speaks of Christ's death as the means by which we are reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5 deals with this theme in detail. This is similar to Peter's idea in the first item.

6.Paul speaks of Christ's death as a revelation of God's love. He does this in many places, but Eph. 3, the end of the chapter, where he speaks of the height and depth and length of breadth of God's love, might be the best example. Of course, Jesus spoke of this theme in John 3:16, where His death is the means by which a believer is born again.

Along this same line, Paul speaks of Christ's death in terms of Christ's giving Himself for us, or giving Himself for our sins, or even becoming sin for us.

7.Christ speaks of His death as the work of a servant, where He speaks of His death as a "ransom." This ransom was a means by which those in bondage could be redeemed. Other places speak of His death in terms of redemption.

8.Christ's death is spoken of in terms of healing. I think Matt. 8:17 makes a reference to Isa. 53. Peter also refers to Isa. 53, and presents this same idea of Christ's death as healing. In the Greek, the word "healing" and "salvation" were one and the same word, so this theme appears in many places.

9.Christ's death is spoken of in terms of His bearing sin, or being cursed, or becoming sin. This also looks to have an implicit reference to Isa. 53.

10.Christ's death is referred to as the fulfillment of the ceremonial law. It is spoken of in reference to His priesthood in detail in Hebrews.

Interesting in relation to this quote from the Sabbath Afternoon section of the study/discussion material:

Then there is this quote from Sunday's section:

And then there is the following that I reformatted, also from Sunday's section:

Thoughts on any of these last few posts and quotes?

Regarding 105019, everyone agrees there are many metaphors used to express Christ's death, and that no one metaphor is sufficient. A question to consider is if there is a metaphor around which the others should be gathered. Traditionally the penal substitution metaphor eclipses every other metaphor, and people tend to speak of that one to the exclusion of others. I think the Great Controversy view offers a more satisfactory way of "gathering together" the metaphors. I say "Great Controversy" because that's a term we are familiar with as SDA's; other churches know this motif in terms of "Christus Victor."

I think if one thinks in terms of what the problem is that needed to be solved, that all the motifs fall into place. For example, EGW wrote:



This speaks of the "whole purpose" of Christ's mission, which would certainly suggest that this purpose could be used as a motif around which other ideas could be grouped (after all, if "whole purpose" doesn't suggest this, what would?)

Regarding 150020, I mentioned this (#7).

Regarding 150021, this is also #7. Well, part of it is. The idea that human beings are slaves which were redeemed by Christ was mentioned. The idea that there is a debt involved that can only be paid by death, no Scripture is cited, unless Romans 6:6,23 was meant to be referenced in regards to this.

Romans 6:6 says:



The idea here is not one of a debt being paid by death, but of our old man being crucified with Christ that we might be freed from sin. Gal. 2:20 has this same idea.



This reminds I was going to mention Phil. 2:5-8, but forgot. Her comments here on Gal. 2:20 brings out the idea of Phil. 2:5-8, which speaks to the incredible condescension and humility of Christ, which climaxed in His obedience unto death. Of course, Christ's humility merely serves to reveal the Father's true character, because Christ did not His own will, but the will of His Father.



And this says nothing at all about a debt being paid be death either. Another version says, "Sin pays its wages: death." James puts it like this:



The thought expressed in Scripture is that sin results in death. Ellen White expresses the thought here:



Death is the inevitable result of sin.

Regarding the thought itself, that there existed a debt which could only be paid by death, I think that idea is sound, as expressed here:



EGW expresses a similar thought here:

I completely agree with this statement of Sunday's lesson, but Tom's view disagrees with it.

I appreciate the all encompassing life and death of Jesus. It gives God the legal right to ransom and redeem penitent sinners; it satisfies the just and loving demands of law and justice; and it serves to vindicate God's law and character.

The view I've been presenting is that sin is deadly. If sin were innocuous, as has been implied, *then* God could pretend it never existed, as it wouldn't make any difference if God took actions in regards to it or not. This assertion is completely false and unfounded, in regards to the view I've been presenting, since this view asserts that sin is *not* innocuous.



Sin is not innocuous, but has "fatal effects." The inevitable result of sin is death. So the assertion that God could pretend it didn't exist is absurd.