Walking in the Light: Keeping His Commandments

Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope


July 25, 2009
Larry R Evans

Introductory Reflections

According to one website Buddhism was recently named the best religion in the world. The award was given on July 15, 2009 by the Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS). The Director of this coalition said, “we could find literally not one single instance of a war fought in the name of Buddhism, in contrast to every other religion that seems to keep a gun in the closet just in case God makes a mistake. We were hard pressed to even find a Buddhist that had ever been in an army. These people practice what they preach to an extent we simply could not document with any other spiritual tradition." A Catholic priest made this comment: "As much as I love the Catholic Church, it has always bothered me to no end that we preach love in our scripture yet then claim to know God's will when it comes to killing other humans. For that reason, I did have to cast my vote for the Buddhists." (http://blog.beliefnet.com/onecity/meritdemerit-badge/) What about it? What kind of witness do we make about peaceable relations with our family, friends and neighbors? It isn’t necessary to pick up a gun to show hostility. It can happen driving down the freeway. This week’s lesson is all about embedding love and obedience within our discipleship – neither is complete without the other.

Reflective Quiz

1. If we have a relationship with Jesus the commandments aren’t as important. [1Jn.2:3-5] True or False?

2. We may infer from John’s encouragement to “know” that the Judgment will be a test of how much knowledge we have about Jesus. [1Jn.2:3-5; 5:13; 4:8] True or False?

3. The more we know about God the more we please Him. [Matt.7:21-23; 1Jn.4:8; 2:20-23] True or False?

4. Love=Obedience and Obedience=Love. [1Jn.3:21-24; Jn.14:15,21; 1Jn.4:12] True or False?

5. The commandments of God are elementary and are meant to get new Christians pointed in the right direction. [1Jn.2:28; 2:7-11; Rev. 12:17] True or False?

6. It is not enough for Jesus to be our Saviour, He must also be our Lord. [1Jn. 1:7; 2:6; Jn. 20:24-29] True or False?

7. “Love” is called the “new” commandment because it wasn’t named as being essential in the Ten Commandments. [Jn.13:33-38; 1Jn. 2:3-8; Lev. 19:18; Micah 6:8] True or False?

8. Being your brother’s keeper and hating your brother mean the same thing.” [Gen. 4:9; 1Jn. 2:9-11] True or False?

It is my plan to provide answers and class notes for selected questions later this week. If you have a preference which questions I address please let me know.

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