Sunday School Lesson
(Continued from Page 2)
The Ethiopian eunuch began
with a study of the Scripture
and reached, not belief, but con
tusion. (Acta 8:30-31) When
Philip preached to him "the
food new* of Jesus," his confu
aion disappeared , and he be
lieved.
S. Thus the Bible takes its
place at many different points
tn the experience of different
people. It may enter at the be
ginning to raise a question in the I
pursuit of which the questioner I
comes to a new grasp of the
truth. This is what happened
to the Ethiopian eunuch. It may
enter at the end to confirm or
ungird a commitment already
more than hall made. This is
./hat happened in Beroea.
James shows us still another
way in which the Bible may be
used. It holds a mirror before
us in which we may see what
we are really like. This self
knowledge confronts us with a
decision. We may be moved by
the self-revelation to decision
and action, or we may walk
away and forget the sdf-por
trait.
The passages agree that the
Bible aims at producing obed
ience to the will ol God. This is
not forced obedence but the
obedience ol a free man, volun
tarily deciding and freely ac
cepting the responsibilities aris
ing from his decision. The New
Testament understands that this
obedience Is reached not by an
effort of will but by a faith
commitment to Jesus Christ.
The Christ embodies and exem
plifies in his person and teach
ing the whole intention of God.
Therefore, faith is obedience,
and obedience faith.
What the Scripture Say* to Ul
From our study of the bibli
cal passages we may isolate live
keys to understanding the Scrp
ture.
1. A History of Salvation. The
entire Scripture L? history ? not
world history but the history
of God's saving acts. In the Old
Testament this salvation is di
rected to a particular nation.
Salvation is thought of funda
mentally in political terms ?
deliverance from the domina
tion of foreign rulers and new
life in a restored land.
However, in laying bars
Israel's sin and describing bar
coming salvation the Old Testa
ment writers frequently broke
out of their nationalism. This la
particularly true in their an
alysis of the nature and need
of man and in the hope of a
new life that they held out to
him. The New Testament ac
cepts this description of human
nature and proclaims a hope,
not put off to the future or ex
pressed in national terms, but
breaking into the present of
every man in Jesus Chrst.
2. Promise and Fulfillment
(Continued on Pags I)
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