SDA Sabbath School Lesson 8-1st Quarter 2022-Jesus, the Mediator of New Covenant

[Richard Myers]

Lesson 8 February 12-18

Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant

Commentary in Navy                  Inspiration in Maroon

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Heb. 7:11–19; Heb. 8:10–12; Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 8:1–6; Exod. 24:1–8; Ezek. 36:26, 27.

Memory Text: “But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Hebrews 8:6

By living a perfect life, and then by dying in our place, Jesus mediated a new, better covenant between us and God. Through His death, Jesus canceled the penalty of death that our trespasses demanded and made possible the new covenant.
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It was a new covenant because Paul was speaking to Jews who at that time could not look past what happened when they were delivered from Egyptian captivity. They had no understanding of their religion when they came to Sinai and God gave them a sanctuary and His law. This was the old covenant that was not based on the everlasting covenant made in Eden as heard by Adam. That covenant had the very same promise as did the New Covenant. They both offered eternal life based on the suffering and death of Christ. The new covenant was new, but it was also the same promises as the oldest covenant made from the foundation of the Earth. The memory verse is critical to Seventh-day Adventists who misunderstand that the old covenant was not like the new or the everlasting covenant. It was just "obey and live." Nothing else, just obey and live, which they could not do.

Why the problem with many church members today in misunderstanding the old covenant? We want to protect the ten commandments which were given and Sinai and served as the foundation of the old covenant made at Sinai. But, the law while binding does not save anyone. It reveals condemnation when broken. Only when we obey the law with a heart fully given to God can we truly obey it. Otherwise we are like the Pharisees who kept it outwardly but were whited sepulchers rotten on the inside.

Their understanding at the time of Jesus was no better. They had perverted the gospel message so much that even the disciples of Jesus did not understand Jesus had to die in order for them to be saved. Saul of Tarsus thought he had eternal life because he was blameless regarding the law of God. "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." Philippians 3:4-6.

So it was with the Hebrews when Paul was writing to them that they might understand the "old covenant" was not that which saved, but a new covenant that was not based on the blood of animals, but on the blood of Jesus their Messiah and Savior. To them it was indeed a new thought and a "new" covenant. But, in reality the foundation of the new covenant was found just after Adam sinned. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. The new covenant was a better covenant than the "old covenant" made at Sinai because it had better promises, the same as the oldest covenant, the everlasting covenant made with man in Eden. It promised that if Jesus was bruised man would have an opportunity to learn to love Jesus more than the sin that caused His suffering  and death. In other words, Adam and his children (us) would be given the chance to be reconciled to God and to live eternally in a world without sin.

We find in both the new covenant and the everlasting covenant that in order to be saved, to be converted, we are dependent upon our Savior suffering and dying that the price might be paid for our redemption. Writing the law upon our hearts is the same as giving us a hatred for sin. When we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, then we will keep His commandments because we hate sin because of what it did and does to Jesus and His Word. When we sin today it brings reproach upon Him, His Word, and His church. 

This truth is explained in Hebrews 10:5-10, which identifies Jesus as having manifested the perfect obedience required by the covenant. It references Psalm 40, referring to Messiah’s desire to render to God total obedience: “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:7, 8, ESV). “In the original context this phrase [‘to do your will’] described moral obedience to the will of God. The author of Hebrews uses the phrase to show that the sacrifice of Christ fulfilled the will of God in providing an acceptable atonement, which the animal sacrifices had not provided.” — The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 460.

For Paul, this psalm acquired special significance with the incarnation of Jesus. Jesus embodied the obedience of the new covenant. He is our example. We have been saved, not only because of His death but also because of His perfect obedience.

Explain to your Sabbath School class what the perfect obedience of Jesus has to do with our salvation. Does it mean that we do not have to obey? Can we enter heaven with unconfessed and unforsaken sins?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 19.

[Richard Myers]

Sunday        February 13
The Need of a New Covenant

Read Hebrews 7:11-19.

7:11   If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 
 7:12   For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 
 7:13   For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 
 7:14   For [it is] evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 
 7:15   And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 
 7:16   Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 
 7:17   For he testifieth, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 
 7:18   For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 
 7:19   For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [did]; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 


Why was a new covenant needed?

According to Hebrews, the fact that Jesus was appointed priest according to the order of Melchizedek implied that a new covenant had been inaugurated. The old covenant had been given on the basis of the Levitical priesthood (Heb. 7:11, NASB). The Levitical priests acted as mediators between God and Israel, and the law excluded anyone else from the priesthood. The author concludes, then, that a change of priesthood implies a change of the law of the priesthood, as well as the change of the covenant (Heb. 7:12, 18, 19).

The issue with the old covenant was that it could not provide perfection (Heb. 7:11). Paul is talking about the Levitical priesthood and its ministry (sacrifices, feasts, etc.). The animal sacrifices offered through them could not provide true, total cleansing from sin, nor access to God (Heb. 10:1-4; Heb. 9:13, 14; Heb. 10:19-23).

The fact that a new covenant was necessary does not mean that God was unfair with Israel when He gave them the old covenant. The Levitical ministry and the services of the tabernacle were designed to protect them from idolatry and also to point them to Jesus’ future ministry. Hebrews stresses that the sacrifices were “a shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1, NKJV).

Amen! But through a knowledge of the suffering and death of Jesus, Adam, Enoch, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, David, and Abraham were converted, transformed, and saved. The law did not save them, it was the knowledge of God's love, His grace that saved them. Thus, they were saved by the everlasting covenant wherein they understood that the blood of bulls and goats represented the suffering and death of the Son of God. Prior to Sinai and the establishment of the Hebrew sanctuary and its services, man was already sacrificing lambs and understood it was a shadow of the suffering and death of the Son of God. The sacrifices and its meaning was passed down from father to son, from the time of Adam to Sinai. The law was all this time being written on the hearts of all who loved the Lord their God more than sin itself as they beheld what was to come, the suffering and death of the Son of God.

By pointing them to Jesus, the sacrifices should have helped the people put their hope and faith in “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, NKJV; compare with Isaiah 53). This is the same point that Paul makes when he says that the law was “our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24, NASB) or that “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4, NIV).

In other words, even the Ten Commandments, as good and perfect as they are, cannot provide salvation (Rom. 3:20-28, Rom. 7:12-14). They provide a perfect standard of righteousness, but they do not provide righteousness, any more than looking in a mirror can erase the wrinkles of age. For perfect righteousness, we need Jesus as our Substitute.

Why can’t the law save us? After all, if we keep all the commandments, and keep them well, even flawlessly — why shouldn’t that save us?

It is impossible for all who are not dead to self to keep any commandment. It may be kept outwardly as did Saul of Tarsus, but for selfish reasons. Thus, it is not kept as God desires and demands. We must be transformed into creatures that love God and others more than the things of this world (sin). The old covenant demanded perfect obedience to all of God's laws, statutes, and judgments. It did not promise a Savior. It was "obey the law and live." We have already explained that as revealed in Eden, in order to obtain eternal life Jesus must suffer and die. His heel must be bruised that we may know of His love and thus hate the sin that caused His suffering and death. Keeping the law from the heart is only possible when we love God more than sin with all of the heart not 99%.

[Richard Myers]

Monday       February 14
New and Renewed

Compare Hebrews 8:10-12 with Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Deuteronomy 30:11-14, and Jeremiah 31:31-34. What does this teach us about the nature of the new covenant?

The promise of a new covenant in Hebrews refers back to Jeremiah. According to Jeremiah, God’s promise of a new covenant was, in fact, a renewal of the covenant that He had first made with Israel through Moses (Jer. 31:31-34). It could be argued, then, that Jeremiah 31 was not strictly speaking of a “new” covenant but of a “renewal” of the original covenant with Israel. In fact, the Hebrew word for new, hadashah, can have both the sense of “renew” and “brand new.”

The issue with the old covenant was that the people broke it (Heb. 8:8, 9). The covenant was not faulty; the people were. If Israel had seen through the symbols to the coming Messiah and put their faith in Him, the covenant would not have been broken. Yet, to be fair, there were many believers throughout Israelite history in whom the purposes of the covenant were fulfilled and who had the law in their hearts (Ps. 37:31, Ps. 40:8, Ps. 119:11, Isa. 51:7).

Yes, many were saved. But, it was not in harmony with the "old covenant" made at Sinai. It was "obey and live."  It was the original covenant made in Eden when God promised to transform Adam and his children, to cause them to hate sin. When man comes into this world, he is in need of transformation and a Savior, for man cannot save himself. We are evil by nature (fallen nature). But, that is not an excuse for sin, either for us or for Adam. God provided a remedy as revealed in Genesis 3:15.  "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

When we are born we are aligned with Satan and sin and at enmity with God. This is what it means to have a fallen nature. Refuse to be taught of erring man and study to show yourself approved of God. We do not come into this world in a neutral position. The promise in Genesis 3:15 is a promise to transform sinners into saints, to gain eternal life by trusting God with all we have and all we are. Yes, we can keep the commandments of God if we will learn of Him who gave all that we might live. It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour a day contemplating the life of Jesus, especially the closing scenes when we see His suffering and death. We are to be healed by seeing the stripes He took that belonged to us.

While the new covenant is a renewal of the old covenant, there is a sense in which it is, indeed, new. Jeremiah’s promise of a “new covenant” did not simply envision a renewal of the conditions that existed before the exile, which had been broken and renewed several times because the nation had lapsed several times into apostasy. And that’s because the people were simply unwilling to keep up their end of the covenant with God (Jer. 13:23

When given to them, they had no ability to keep the law. They were ignorant of their need of a Savior. It is true that in the sanctuary and its services was revealed their Savior, but it would take time for them to learn of His love. Thus, the old covenant was at the time just "obey and live." God gave them this covenant that they would see their inability to keep His law. Thus, the old covenant was not able to give life. They had the promise of eternal life given in Eden, but they were ignorant of it. It was not the failure of the people that required a new covenant, it was to teach that Genesis 3:15 had been fulfilled on God's part. The blood of the slain Lamb was sufficient that all might gain eternal life if they would fulfill their part. What is our part? What must I do to gain the eternal life Christ has made possible? What is the first and greatest of the commandments? "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." Mark 12:29,30.

Again, it is by beholding Him that we are changed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18). It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour a day contemplating the life of Christ. Thus, we shall be transformed into His image (character).


Thus, God promised to do a “new thing” (Jer. 31:22). The covenant would not be like the covenant that God had made “with their fathers” (Jer. 31:32). Because of the unfaithfulness of the people, the promises that God made under the Mosaic covenant were never fulfilled. Now, in virtue of the guarantee given by the Son (Heb. 7:22), God would fulfill the purposes of His covenant. God did not change His law or lower His standards; instead, He sent His Son as a guarantee of the covenant promises (Heb. 7:22, Heb. 6:18-20). This is why this covenant does not have curses. It has only blessings because Jesus fulfilled it perfectly, becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).

Read 2 Timothy 2:13.

Let's put the verse in context:

 2:11   [It is] a faithful saying: For if we be dead with [him], we shall also live with [him]: 
 2:12   If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]: if we deny [him], he also will deny us: 
 2:13   If we believe not, [yet] he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 
 2:14   Of these things put [them] in remembrance, charging [them] before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, [but] to the subverting of the hearers. 
 2:15   Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

What can we learn from God’s faithfulness to His people and to His plans as we consider our relationships with others and our plans?

It is His faithfulness that causes us to love Him supremely. He suffered and died in my place. Thus, if we suffer for His cause, we shall not only be with Him for eternity, we shall have love, joy, and peace in this world no matter what happens to us. We believe His promise that ALL things that happen to us, work for our good!

[Richard Myers]

Tuesday          February 15
The New Covenant Has a Better Mediator

Read Hebrews 8:1-6.

Hebrews Chapter 8
1Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;2A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.3For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: why it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:5Who serve to the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount.6But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Why is Jesus a better Mediator of the covenant?

The Greek term mesites (mediator) derives from mesos (“middle”) and denotes the one who walks or stands in the middle. It was a technical term that referred to a person who fulfilled one or more of the following functions: (1) an arbiter between two or more parties, (2) a negotiator or business broker, (3) a witness in the legal sense of the word, or (4) one who stands as a surety and, thus, guarantees the execution of an agreement.

The English term “mediator” is too narrow a translation for mesites in Hebrews because it focuses only on the first two or three uses of the Greek term. Hebrews, however, emphasizes the fourth function. Jesus is not conceived as “mediator” in the sense that He settles a dispute between the Father and humans, or as a peacemaker who reconciles parties in disaffection, or as a witness who certifies the existence of a contract or its satisfaction. Instead, as Hebrews explains, Jesus is the guarantor (or surety) of the new covenant (Heb. 7:22). In Hebrews, the term “mediator” is equivalent to “guarantor.” He guarantees that the covenant promises will be fulfilled .

Jesus is our Mediator, Intercessor, or Advocate. Why do we need someone to mediate for us? Because when we sin, we ought to die. Jesus stands between God and us when we sin. He pleads His blood just as the priest did in the Hebrew sanctuary. The blood of bulls and goats does not save anyone, it represented what Jesus was doing for the Jews if they were  truly repentant. The suffering of Jesus for our sins gives Him the right to forgive our sins if we repent. This is the mediation taking place in the Most Holy Place today in the heavenly Sanctuary. This will soon cease and Jesus our High Priest will never forgive another sin. How can this be when He had promised His covenant promises will be fulfilled? Share the answer with your Sabbath School class. Many do not believe they can stop sinning.

Christ’s death makes the institution of the new covenant possible because it satisfies the claims of the first covenant with Israel (and even with the first humans in Eden), which had been broken (Heb. 9:15-22). In this sense, Jesus is the guarantor who took upon Himself all the legal obligations of the covenant that had been broken. In another sense, Jesus’ exaltation in heaven guarantees that God’s promises to human beings will be fulfilled (Heb. 6:19, 20). Jesus guarantees the covenant because He has shown that God’s promises are true. By resurrecting Jesus and seating Him at His right hand, the Father has shown that He will resurrect us and also bring us to Him.

Jesus is a greater Mediator than Moses because He ministers in the heavenly sanctuary and has offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for us (Heb. 8:1-5, Heb. 10:5-10). Moses’ face reflected the glory of God (Exod. 34:29-35), but Jesus is the glory of God (Heb. 1:3, John 1:14). Moses spoke with God face to face (Exod. 33:11), but Jesus is God’s Word personified (Heb. 4:12, 13; John 1:1-3, 14).

Yes, Christ has satisfied the demands of the covenant for obedience. In this light, what is the role of obedience in our life, and why is it still so important?

Why was it necessary for Jesus to come to this world a helpless baby subject to the weakness of humanity to fight the battle of life as we must fight it at the risk of failure and eternal loss? Satan says that we cannot obey His laws. Is he right? Since Jesus paid the price for our sins and obeyed the law, do have to obey it also? What are the conditions that we must fulfill so that Jesus can save us?  What did Jesus say we must do in order to have eternal life?   Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Matthew 22:37.

[Richard Myers]

Wednesday        February 16
The New Covenant Has Better Promises

We may be tempted to think that the new covenant has “better promises” in the sense that it has greater rewards than the old covenant had (a heavenly homeland, eternal life, etc.). The truth is that God offered the same rewards to Old Testament believers as He has offered us (read Heb. 11:10, 13-16). In Hebrews 8:6, the “better promises” is talking about different kinds of promises.

The "new" covenant was Paul's term to compare it to the "old" covenant given at Sinai. The promise was the same for both the old and the new in that it promised eternal life. The new covenant was the same as the covenant made between Jesus and His Father before the foundation of the Earth was laid. It is the everlasting covenant that provided man a period of probation to learn of God and to trust Him with the whole heart. It ha.d conditions for man and for God. Read it in Genesis 3:15. Jesus fulfilled His part, His heel was bruised. What is man's part and how was the promise for us phrased in Gen. 3:15? What does hating sin and Satan have to do with eternal life? And the Old Testament involved more than the "old" covenant. Abraham, Daniel, and Elijah were saved the very same way we are, by the blood of Jesus (by grace). Genesis 3:15 reveals that grace. The new covenant had better promised than the "old" covenant made at Sinai. The old covenant did not promise a Savior, it was just "obey and live." The new covenant promised a Savior who would save us by His grace and ministry of it.

The covenant between God and Israel was a formal exchange of promises between God and Israel. God took the initiative and delivered Israel from Egypt and promised to lead them into the Promised Land.

Compare Exodus 24:1-8 and Hebrews 10:5-10. What are the similarities and differences between these two promises?

The covenant between God and Israel was ratified with blood. This blood was sprinkled both over and beneath the altar. The people of Israel promised to obey all that the Lord had spoken.

“The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been, — just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents, — perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 62.

God satisfies the absolute demands of the new covenant for us because He gave His own Son to come and live a perfect life so that the promises of the covenant might be fulfilled in Him, and then offered to us, by faith in Jesus. Jesus’ obedience guarantees the covenant promises (Heb. 7:22). It requires that God gives Him the blessings of the covenant, which are then given to us. Indeed, those who are “in Christ” will enjoy those promises with Him. Secondly, God gives us His Holy Spirit to empower us to fulfill His law.

Christ has satisfied the demands of the covenant; therefore, the fulfillment of God’s promises to us is not in doubt. How does this help you understand the meaning of 2 Corinthians 1:20-22? What wonderful hope is found here for us?

1:20   For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 
 1:21   Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, [is] God; 
 1:22   Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 
 1:23   Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. 
 1:24   Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. 

Christ has satisfied His part of the demands. Sadly, most of Israel did not do their part and were lost. Today when we look around, we see that many are called, but few who call themselves Christians, choose to do their part. And, even in His remnant church Jesus speaks to us as Laodiceans who do not know we are miserable wretched, poor, blind, and naked.....as a people. Thus, while the promises are precious, the demands in the "new" covenant require more than the obedience of Jesus and His sufferings in our place. We must be transformed into His image, reflecting His character to a world soon to perish. This we may do if we will love the Lord our God with all of the heart, mind, and soul.

[Richard Myers]

Thursday        February 17
The New Covenant Has Solved the Problem of the Heart

Compare the new covenant promises of Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26, 27. How are they related?

The first covenant document was written by God on tablets of stone and was deposited in the ark of the covenant as an important witness of God’s covenant with His people (Exod. 31:18, Deut. 10:1-4). Documents written in stone, however, could be broken; and scrolls, as Jeremiah had experienced, could be cut up and burned (Jer. 36:23).

But in the new covenant God now will write His law in the hearts of the people. The heart refers to the mind, the organ of memory and understanding (Jer. 3:15, Deut. 29:4), and especially to where conscious decisions are made (Jer. 3:10, Jer. 29:13).

This promise did not simply secure access to and knowledge of the law by everyone. It also, and more importantly, was to bring about a change in the heart of the nation. The problem of Israel was that their sin was engraved “with a pen of iron,” “with a point of diamond … on the tablet of their heart” (Jer. 17:1, NKJV). They had a stubborn heart (Jer. 13:10, Jer. 23:17); therefore, it was impossible for them to do the right thing (Jer. 13:23).

Jeremiah did not announce a change of the law, because the problem of Israel was not the law but the heart. God wanted Israel’s faithfulness to be a grateful response to what He had done for them; thus, He gave the Ten Commandments to them with an historical prologue expressing His love and care for them (Exod. 20:1, 2). God wanted Israel to obey His laws as an acknowledgment that He wanted the best for them, a truth revealed in their great deliverance from Egypt. Their obedience was to be an expression of gratitude, a manifestation of the reality of their relationship.

The same is true today for us. Jesus’ love and care in dying for us is the prologue of the new covenant (Luke 22:20). True obedience comes from the heart as an expression of love (Matt. 22:34-40). This love is the distinguishing mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. God pours His love on us through His Spirit (Rom. 5:5), which is expressed in love (Gal. 5:22).

If ancient Israel was to love God, even without the understanding of Christ’s death, why shouldn’t we love God even more than they did? How does obedience make manifest the reality of that love?

It is true that we ought to love God more, but have you seen an Enoch in our day? Why not? Why does the church remain in a Laodicean condition and why when there was a prophet in the church there were few who were even converted? "The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they were buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ."  Vol 6 Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary; pg 1075. Since we have the blazing glory of God revealed on the cross, what is wrong? Are we any different than Israel of Old?

What was the first covenant written on?  It was the promise to give man a hatred of sin which we do not have when we come into this world. We are at enmity with God and aligned with Satan and sin. So, it really was God's promise to give us new hearts spoken to Satan right there in the Garden just after sin entered the world.

[Richard Myers]

Friday        February 18

Further Thought: “If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, ‘I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.’ Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience — the service and allegiance of love — is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture says, ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ ‘He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’ 1 John 5:3; 2:4. Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience. …

The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan’s delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you.

No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 60, 64, 65.

Discussion Questions:

    Think about the statements of Ellen G. White above. What does the fact that the closer we come to Christ, the more sinful we will appear in our own eyes tell us about how we must not let the realization of our own defects cause us to give up faith in despair?
    Dwell more on the idea that the law is being written in our hearts. What does that mean for the spiritual life of a Christian? How could understanding and experiencing this truth help us avoid the kind of “obedience” that is really only legalism, obedience that has been called “dead works” (Heb. 9:14)

It would be good if the lesson would explain what seems to many  reading that there is a contradiction here. If the law is written on the heart, then are we obedient? If obedient, then what are the "defects" that remain in the life? Let one of our scholars explain what appears to be a conflict but is  not. Otherwise many go away without understanding.