Bible Study Guides – “That Ye May be Clean From all Your Sins Before the LORD”`

December 16, 2000 – December 22, 2000

MEMORY VERSE: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil.” Isaiah 1:16.

STUDY HELP: The Great Controversy, 413-422.

Introduction

“…we have fixed our minds upon the exceeding great and precious reward; and, in order to obtain it, we must have a perfect character. The angels of God are watching the development of character. Angels of God are weighing moral worth; and we are to obtain a fitness here to join the society of sinless angels. Do you expect that when Christ comes He will give you that fitness? Not at all. You must be found of Him without spot, without blemish, or wrinkle, or anything like it. Now is the watching and trying time. Now it is the time to obtain a preparation to abide the day of His coming, and to stand when He appeareth.” Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

“That Your Sins May be Blotted Out”

  1. What promise do we have that the Lord will blot out our sins? Isaiah 43:25.

NOTE: In the typical service, the forgiveness of sins was offered daily, as the sinner who had transgressed God’s Law confessed and repented of his sins. The blotting out of sins took place only on the Day of Atonement.

“All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life.” The Great Controversy, 483.

  1. When are God’s people to be free of all their sins? Leviticus 16:30.

NOTE: See The Great Controversy, 485.

  1. When did Peter look forward to as the time of the blotting out of sins? Acts 3:19, 20.

NOTE: See The Great Controversy, 611, 612.

“As a Thick Cloud”

  1. How does the Lord describe the blotting out of sins? Isaiah 44:22.

NOTE: “Those who have delayed a preparation for the day of God, cannot obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any future period. The righteous will not cease their earnest, agonizing cries for deliverance. They cannot bring to mind any particular sins; but in their whole life they can see little good. Their sins have gone before hand to judgment, and pardon has been written. Their sins have been borne away into the land of forgetfulness, and they can not bring them to remembrance.” Signs of the Times, November 27, 1879.

  1. What work does Peter say is needed on our part if our sins are to be blotted out? Acts 3:19, first part. (Compare Joel 2:12, 13.)

NOTE: “The conditions of obtaining mercy of God are simple and just and reasonable. The Lord does not require us to do some grievous thing in order that we may have the forgiveness of sin. We need not make long and wearisome pilgrimages, or perform painful penances, to commend our souls to the God of heaven or to expiate our transgression; but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy. Repentance includes sorrow for sin, and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.” The Faith I Live By, 127.

“The Fast that I Have Chosen”

  1. How does Isaiah explain the purpose of the Feast of Trumpets? Isaiah 58:1. (Compare Joel 2:1, 15–17.)

NOTE: “If ministers who preach the gospel would do their duty, and would also be ensamples to the flock of God, their voices would be lifted up like a trumpet to show the people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins. Ministers who exhort sinners to be converted should distinctly define what sin is and what conversion from sin is. Sin is the transgression of the law. The convicted sinner must exercise repentance toward God for the transgression of His law, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle gives us the true definition of sin. ‘Sin is the transgression of the law.’” Review and Herald, March 4, 1875.

  1. What solemn question is asked of those who will live to see Christ’s coming? Malachi 3:2; Revelation 6:17.

NOTE: See The Great Controversy, 311.

“He Shall Purify”

  1. How is the work of God’s judgment pictured by Malachi? Malachi 3:3, 5.

NOTE: “Here is the process, the refining, purifying process, to be carried on by the Lord of hosts. The work is most trying to the soul, but it is only through this process that the rubbish and defiling impurities can be removed. Our trials are all necessary to bring us close to our heavenly Father, in obedience to His will, that we may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. God has given each of us capabilities, talents to improve. We need a new and living experience in the divine life, in order to do the will of God. No amount of past experience will suffice for the present, or will strengthen us to overcome the difficulties in our path. We must have new grace and fresh strength daily in order to be victorious.” God’s Amazing Grace, 311.

  1. What does Peter tell us about this work of purification? 1 Peter 1:22.

NOTE: “God has a people upon the earth who in faith and holy hope are tracing down the roll of fast-fulfilling prophecy and are seeking to purify their souls by obeying the truth, that they may not be found without the wedding garment when Christ shall appear.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 307.

“Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets, and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.’” Early Writings, 71.

“Men that Wait for Their Lord”

  1. What counsel does Jesus give to those waiting for His coming? Luke 12:35–38.

NOTE: “It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of the atonement who receive the benefits of His mediation in their behalf, while those who reject the light which brings to view this work of ministration are not benefited thereby.” The Great Controversy, 430. (See also page 427.)

  1. What warning does the Lord give? Matthew 24:44.

NOTE: See The Great Controversy, 425.

  1. What promises are made to those who will participate in the work of preparing themselves for the coming of Christ? Joel 2:28–32. (Compare Daniel 12:1.)

NOTE: “’There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.’ Daniel 12:1. From garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains and deserts, from the caves of the earth and the caverns of the sea, Christ will gather His children to Himself. On earth they have been destitute, afflicted, and tormented. Millions have gone down to the grave loaded with infamy because they refused to yield to the deceptive claims of Satan. By human tribunals the children of God have been adjudged the vilest criminals. But the day is near when ‘God is judge Himself.’ (Psalm 50:6). Then the decisions of earth shall be reversed. ‘The rebuke of His people shall He take away.’ Isaiah 25:8. White robes will be given to every one of them. (Revelation 6:11.) And ‘they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord.’ Isaiah 62:12. Whatever crosses they have been called to bear, whatever losses they have sustained, whatever persecution they have suffered, even to the loss of their temporal life, the children of God are amply recompensed. ‘They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.’ Revelation 22:4.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 179, 180.