apostles and law

1. Lesson 11

2. Key Text:
“Therefore the law is holy,
and the commandment
holy and just and good”
Romans 7:12

3. Peter and John lived with Jesus for three and a half
years. They heard all His teachings. Then why didn’t
they say anything about the Ten Commandments being
cancelled? If they were, that was too significant to be
left out?
James and Jude were brothers of Jesus. They lived with
Him during His childhood and youth. They followed His
ministry. They also believed in Him when He died at
the cross and resurrected. So why didn’t they teach
that we must keep Sunday to honor His resurrection,
instead of the “Jewish” Sabbath?
Paul received revelation from Jesus, both in his way
to Damascus and during the three years he spent in
Arabia. When reading his writings, it sometimes
seems that the law was cancelled; nevertheless, he
states that it is not in other passages. Why?
None taught about that change, because Jesus never
did. He never cancelled the Ten Commandments or
asked us to keep the day of His resurrection.

4. “But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For
I have never eaten anything
common or unclean.”” (Acts 10:14)
If Jesus cancelled the law, then why
couldn’t Peter eat unclean animals?
Peter refused to transgress one of the
secondary commandments in the law.
What would have happened if he was
asked to transgress one of the main ones?
What did Peter teach about the law?
1 Peter 2:11-12.
He urged the
believers to fight
against the
“fleshly lusts”
(7th and 10th
commandments)
and to live a life
of “good works”
(that is, to obey
the law)
2 Peter 3:2.
He urges us to
obey the Old
Testament, the
teaching of the
“holy prophets”
(they emphasized
the 2nd and 4th
commandments)
and to keep the
“commandment
of the Lord”
(we already
discussed about
it in previous
lessons)

5. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if
we keep His commandments.”
(1 John 2:3)
John wrote about the commandments
and the good works in his five books.
John stated that love is the fulfillment of
the law.
“This is love, that we walk according to His
commandments. This is the commandment,
that as you have heard from the beginning,
you should walk in it.” (2 John 1:6)
“If you keep My commandments, you will
abide in My love, just as I have kept My
Father’s commandments and abide in His
love.” (John 15:10)
“By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God and
keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:2)

6. “The commission of a known sin silences the
witnessing voice of the Spirit and separates the
soul from God. “Sin is the transgression of the
law.” And “whosoever sinneth [transgresseth the
law] hath not seen him, neither known him” (1
John 3:6). Though John in his Epistles dwells so
fully upon love, yet he does not hesitate to reveal
the true character of that class who claim to be
sanctified while living in transgression of the law
of God. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth
not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love of God perfected” (chap. 2:4, 5).
Here is the test of every man’s profession.”
E.G.W. (Our Father cares, November 4)

7. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he
is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do
not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you
have become a transgressor of the law.” (James 2:10-11)
Obviously, James didn’t think the Ten
Commandments were cancelled.
On the contrary, James believed we would be
judged on the Ten Commandments; he called
them “the law of liberty” (James 2:12)
“But do you want to know, O foolish man,
that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20)
He stated that faith must go with works
(keeping the commandments)

8. “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked
out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God
into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Jude 1:4)
How can God’s grace
become licentiousness?
Teaching that those under the grace of salvation are no longer
required to keep the law may lead to that.
Jude put that doctrine on the same level than denying God and
Jesus Christ.
Jude didn’t write about the Law or the commandments, but his
letter is about being faithful to God and about the consequences of
transgressing the Law.

9. CANCELLED LAW
“Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified
by faith apart from the
deeds of the law.”
(Romans 3:28)
“For sin shall not have
dominion over you, for
you are not under law
but under grace.”
(Romans 6:14)
“Therefore the law was our
tutor to bring us to Christ,
that we might be justified
by faith. But after faith has
come, we are no longer
under a tutor.”
(Galatians 3:24-25)
CURRENT LAW
“Do we then make void
the law through faith?
Certainly not! On the
contrary, we establish
the law.” (Romans 3:31)
“What then? Shall we sin
because we are not
under law but under
grace? Certainly not!”
(Romans 6:15)
“Is the law then against
the promises of God?
Certainly not! For if there
had been a law given
which could have given
life, truly righteousness
would have been by the
law.” (Galatians 3:21)
Did Paul teach that the law is
cancelled or that it is still current?
Was Paul
confused about
the role of the
law? Or do we
misinterpret his
words?

10. For those who don’t understand the concept of justification by faith,
Paul may seem to be contradicting himself. In the same breath he
claims that the Christian is not under the law; yet the same Christian
is obligated to keep the law. The problem is solved when we
remember that God demands righteousness from those who claim to
be in relationship with Him. The standard of righteousness is His law.
However, when people measure up against His law, they fall short and
are therefore condemned by the law. If the law were the means to
salvation, then none would have any hope of eternal life. The hope of
the Christian is not found in the law but in Jesus Christ, who not only
kept the law perfectly but through God’s miraculous power allows
believers to share in His righteousness (Rom. 8:3, 4). The Christian can
now serve the law of God with a free conscience because Christ has
taken away the law’s condemnation (Rom. 7:25–8:2). The grace that
comes through Christ does not release us from the law but rather
compels us to obey it.
Keith Augustus Borton (Sabbath School Quarterly, June 8 2014)

11. “Paul had ever exalted the divine law. He had shown
that in the law there is no power to save men from the
penalty of disobedience. Wrongdoers must repent of
their sins and humble themselves before God, whose just
wrath they have incurred by breaking His law, and they
must also exercise faith in the blood of Christ as their
only means of pardon. The Son of God had died as their
sacrifice and had ascended to heaven to stand before the
Father as their advocate. By repentance and faith they
might be freed from the condemnation of sin and
through the grace of Christ be enabled henceforth to
render obedience to the law of God.”
E.G.W. (The Acts of the Apostles, cp. 37, pg. 393)

12. The problem is solved when
we remember that God
demands righteousness from
those who claim to be in
relationship with Him.
The standard of righteous-
ness is His law. However,
when people measure up
against His law, they fall
short and are therefore
condemned by the law.
If the law were the means
to salvation, then none would
have any hope of eternal life. The hope of the Christian is not found in the law
but in Jesus Christ, who not only kept the law perfectly but through God’s
miraculous power allows believers to share in His righteousness (Rom. 8:3,
4). The Christian can now serve the law of God with a free conscience
because Christ has taken away the law’s condemnation (Rom. 7:25–8:2). The
grace that comes through Christ does not release us from the law but rather
compels us to obey it.

13. CHRIST AND HIS
LAW
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