Here is an interesting comment and question from Sunday's study:

Though we know that the law is still binding, we also know that it does not, indeed cannot, save us. (See Gal. 3:21)

How then do we understand the relationship between law and grace?

Who was the Messenger who spoke to Moses and gave him the law on Mount Sinai?

“Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness . . . but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366.

Who was it that Moses, Aaron and the seventy elders saw sitting upon a glorious throne above Sinai?



John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him.

This is a very interesting discovery. For further study reveals that the God who revealed Himself in the Old Testament is the same God Who revealed Himself in the New Testament. It is Jesus Christ, who all through human history, is the link between mankind and heaven.

How does this knowledge influence how we think about God's law?

Christ is not only our Savior from the guilt and entrapment of transgressing God's law. Christ Himself gave that law

The law describes what God's children look like. Grace enables us to be God's children.

I would say that the law describes what God's children not only look like, but what they also act like. Grace enables us to be God's children.

Here's an interesting tidbit:

The law in Galatians is not a vital question and never has been. Those who have called it one of the old landmarks simply do not know what they are talking about. It never was an old landmark, and it never will become such. {9MR 183.2}

The great debate in 1888 was over that issue.

The message of righteousness by faith preached by Waggoner and Jones said the law in Galatians was about the ten commandments, and that law must lead us to Jesus.

The older men were very vocal in combating that idea, and said the law in Galatians concerned the ceremonial laws only, and any linking of them to the ten commandments would destroy the whole idea that the ten commandments were still binding on Christians.

EGW said the law in Galatians referred to both, and urged people to listen to
Waggoner and Jones, and that their message would not render the ten commandments as obsolete.

The quote MM posted was written to the older members who accused Waggoner and Jones of destroying the old land marks.

The law cannot make us into Christians on its own, no matter how zealous we try to keep it.
It is only as we come to Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to write that law in it's fullness of love upon our hearts that we start to look like and act like God's children.


What does it mean to "delight oneself" in God's law?
No one who sees the law as simply a list of don'ts delights in the law.
But when one sees Christ -- His character, His love, in the law, it becomes a joyful experience, and we desire to become more and more like Him.

From today's lesson:
Although it is true that we must set aside our own interests during the Sabbath (Exod. 20:9, Isa. 58:13), it should never be considered as a period of useless idleness. In His controversies with the Pharisees, Christ clearly pointed out that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:12, NKJV). According to rabbinic traditions, a sick person could be treated on the Sabbath if the situation was life-threatening. Likewise, if a sheep or an ox fell into a pit, it was permissible to pull the animal out on the Sabbath day to save its life. Wasn’t a person’s life more valuable than an animal’s? Unfortunately, Christ’s critics showed more compassion toward their own animals than to suffering human beings. They approved watering an animal, but not restoring a person.
Jesus also stated: My Father has been working until now, and I have been working (John 5:17, NKJV), referring to God’s work in favor of His creatures. Even on the Sabbath day He continues giving life and sustaining the universe (Heb. 1:2-3).
Jesus taught that we should not be legalistic when observing the Sabbath. To keep it means to rest from our own works (Heb. 4:10) and, even more important, to stop trying to work our way to salvation-which is impossible anyway. Satan wants to convince us to keep the Sabbath selfishly. If he cannot move us against the Sabbath, he will try to push us to the other extreme: legalism.
Though it’s easy to be legalistic about the Sabbath, others can be very lax in keeping it. How do we strike the right balance? Also, why must we be careful in our response to how others keep the Sabbath (don’t forget how the Pharisees viewed Christ’s Sabbath keeping)?

Is it ok to do these on the Sabbath:
"Marvel at God's creation" by going hiking, canoeing, swimming, skiing, etc.
"Help others" by visiting patients in the hospital, working in the hospital, feeding the homeless, raking an elderly neighbor's lawn, etc.
Eat at a restaurant
Pay a parking attendant to attend a church-sponsored convocation