The Christian Message

Sunday School Lesson, March 19, 2017 Renewed Call to Repentance (2:12–17) Before such an invincible army the nation’s only hope was to turn immediately (“even now,” v. 12) to the Lord in repentance. This section contains two formal appeals for repentance (vv. 12–14, 15–17). The first concludes with a motivational section (introduced by “for,” vv. 13b–14). A. An appeal for a sincere change of heart (2:12–14) 1. the appeal (2:12–13a) 2:12–13a. The Lord Himself urged the people to repent with genuine sincerity (cf. with all your heart and rend your heart and not your garments ) accompanied by fasting and weeping and mourning . Repentance is the desired outcome of the Lord’s judgments (cf. Deut. 4:30; 30:1–2; Hosea 3:4–5; Amos 4:6–11). 2. the motivation (2:13b–14) 2:13b. A recognition of the nation’s relationship to the Lord her God and of His gracious nature should have motivated His people to repent. The expression “the Lord your God” was well known to Israel (...

Sunday School Lesson, March 12, 2017 In chapter 1 Paul discussed God’s eternal plan in choosing those who are predestined to sonship and the fact that all believers on earth and in heaven will be brought together under Christ the Head of the church. Chapters 2–3 explain the execution of this eternal plan by showing how God makes sinners saints and then places them into the church, Christ’s body. In 2:1–10 Paul discussed how sinners who deserve nothing but God’s wrath can become trophies of His grace. 1. the old condition: dead to god (2:1–3) At the outset it should be noted that the grammatical subject of this long sentence (vv. 1–7) in Greek is “God” (v. 4) and the three main verbs are “made … alive with” (v. 5), “raised … up with” (v. 6), and “seated … with” (v. 6). The object of each of these verbs is “us,” that is, believers (vv. 5–6). Thus the main assertion in verses 1–7 is that God has made believers alive, raised them up, and seated them with Christ. All the other cl...