Here is the link to the study and discussion material for Lesson #14 (4th Quarter 2011): Boasting in the Cross

Here are some study helps: Study Helps, Lesson 14

There are some very good things in this week's lesson. Let's take time to take a closer look.



This is a good summary of what I've been trying to emphasize all quarter. True religion, or true Christianity, is not based on external behavior. The outside can look great while the inside is awful. The inside is what counts.



While our obedient behavior is not the root of our Christianity, it most certainly is the fruit. The new creature does not wallow in the old creature's sty.



If we can all understand this point, that makes the quarter worth it for me.

Faith and good works go hand-in-hand. They are inseparable. To speak of them separately as if they can exist independently misses the mark. "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."

Yes, faith and works go hand-in-hand. The lesson this quarter was pretty clear on that, I thought.

But while they cannot be separated, they must be distinguished. To think that they are one and the same is wrong. They go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same hand. One hand always leads the other hand.

Thursday's section, that you quoted from I really like, but for this reason.
The lesson may not be that accurate in that closing statement that you excerpted: simply put, there is an experiential element to justification by faith - missing this point makes you think that the new creation isn't part of justification, somehow.

What would it be part of, then??? How can it be a metaphor for justification but not part of justification???! The lesson author contradicts himself, m'thinks, after making such a monumental breakthrough in the quote I supplied above.

Pardon and regeneration go side by side in justification, and neither of them is ahead of the hand of sanctification! As we are pardoned, we are renewed by the Spirit of Jesus - receiving the mind of Christ, and so we are able to live the sanctified life by the Spirit. The new creation is how we live by faith, not ahead of or behind other parts of the gospel.

It is God's direct action, to change us inside and renew our minds, as we accept Jesus So, justification by faith involves all these changes, both for us - pardon, and in us - recreation. Justification happens to us and not just for us.

Behaviour improves are nothing more than living that new creation, recreated daily, living daily, by the Spirit. There should be no disputing over whether we behave better or why: for, the love of God in put inside us, and so we are.

Just some quotes for now.


The sinner accepts Christ by faith, not works, and he is justified at that moment.


In contrast, sanctification is not the work of a moment. It requires a lifetime of long persevering effort and obedience.

The former takes a moment, while the latter takes a lifetime. They do not happen at the same time.

And that is the verse that the quarterlies seem to purposely avoid. I don't remember seeing it in any of the lessons this quarter (but there were a couple of lessons that I missed). The trend is to base the entire philosophy on Paul, and avoid any other new testament writer like James or Peter.

I think that is unfair to the scripture to avoid the obvious balancing text when treating on a subject as important as this.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Faith without works is dead, i.e. not "faith."

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

They both happen at the same time. Newborn believers begin perfectly justified and perfectly sanctified. But sanctification isn't static or stagnant. It involves "perfecting holiness" (2 Cor 7:1) "more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov 4:18). "This sanctification is a progressive work, and an advance from one stage of perfection to another." {ML 250.4} Jesus demonstrated this truth as He grew from childhood to manhood. The idea that sanctification also involves gradually outgrowing sinful habits is unbiblical. Sanctification has nothing to do with becoming less and less sinful and everything to do with growing in grace and maturing in the fruits of the Spirit.

Faith and works are so interrelated it is pointless to address them separately or independently. There is no such thing as faith without works for the simple reason faith without works is not faith - it is something entirely unrelated to faith. We can no more be justified without good works than we can be justified without faith. Since faith and works are inseparable it stands to reason justification and sanctification are inseparable and must necessarily, therefore, happen simultaneously.