Our Sunday School class is in the second part of a great series called "Tough Sayings of Jesus," authored by Michael Kelley. The study explores some of the more complex, and oft-misunderstood, concepts in the Bible and applies them to our lives. I have been thoroughly impressed with the study and am further challenged with every lesson. Lesson 4 was particularly interesting, and I wanted to an excerpt with you. Those interested in purchasing the study for their own church or small group study can obtain the materials from LifeWay Christian Resources. (And yes, my hubbie works at LifeWay, but I honestly love the study and would recommend it absent his connection. ; )
The passage below set off a light bulb in my mind. So often, church leaders (and by virtue of trickle down, church members) view Scripture as a list of rules. As Michael Kelley points out in the Lesson, that is all wrong. That makes us no better than the Pharisees. Rather, the Scripture is intended to bring us in touch with Christ. From that, our nature will conform to the Scripture, solely because of what Christ did on the cross. Enjoy the passage, but better yet, get the study and dig in yourself!
To Fulfill
. . . . [The section begins by describing that Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it.]
"Enter Jesus, who declares that the law is not deficient. It is not lacking. It does exactly what it has always been meant to do -- to serve as a container for the filling that God would provide in the form of Christ. The law was never intended to be the means by which people make themselves acceptable to God; it was always meant to point people to Jesus. For through Him comes the filling."
2 comments:
Allison - Thanks for your kind words about the study - I'm thrilled you guys are enjoying it. I think the whole "fulfill" thing is a great concept, and one that more than anything points to Jesus as the absolute centerpiece of the Bible, even the Old Testament. Very cool. Anyway, thanks for picking it up and working through it.
Michael Kelley
Iagree, I think that these 2 studies have been awesome (although I've really not gotten to participate much at all in this one) I tell people all the time about it. I just love having the chance to understand these scriptures that I often just "skip over" because I don't understand them or think I don't WANT to understand them b/c they don't make sense to me. We're going to be visiting a life group at a church up here and I've already been touting this study to some people I've met in the group. HOW COOL that the author left you a comment!!! :)
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