Chapter 5
Living under Law and Gospel

1.	Where do most people get their ideas of what God is like?
From one’s own mind – their human reason and life experiences.  
2.	If their ideas of God turn out to be wrong, what are the consequences?
Eternal punishment in hell.

Two big truths of Scripture
1.	How did the descendants of Abraham find out what God is really like?
From holy Scripture – which is the same as today.
2.	Wherever God’s dealings with people are recorded in the Old Testament, we recognize two big emotions in the heart of God. Which are they? 
a.	Hatred of sin (Law)
b.	His love for sinners (Gospel)
3.	What terms do we use to identify these two big truths of Scripture? 
The Law and Gospel

God’s law
1.	In what way was the law God announced from Mount Sinai similar to other law codes that were followed by ancient civilizations?
Both kinds announce the standard of justice that says: “an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.”
2.	Name several ways in which God’s law was different from pagan law codes. 
Pagan law codes have many gods and tries to control behavior
God’s law code has one God; is saturated with grace; has a greater respect for human life; is more careful to safeguard human rights; protects the innocent and disadvantaged; and controls attitudes 

3.	How do you answer a person who says, “Majority opinion determines good and evil”?
God designed human beings and brought them into existence.  Thus he determines what is good and evil.  This is his world.  

4.	What does God demand by announcing, “No other gods”?
He demands that there be no rival to the glory, praise, and thanksgiving that is to be given to him alone.
Martin Luther wrote: “To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in time of need, that is what is meant by “god.”  To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him from the heart.”
5.	Describe a form of idolatry that may be much more insidious than kneeling in front of an image.
Self-love.  The act of making oneself their master and playing God.
Martin Luther also wrote: “Many a person imagines that he has God and everything he needs, provided he has money and property.  He relies upon these, boasts about them, and feels so immovably secure that he cares about no one.  He too has a god, that is the money and property to which he has given his heart.  One who has money and property has a sense of security and feels as happy and fearless as if he were sitting in the middle of paradise…

“Similarly, one who congratulates himself on his great learning, intelligence, power, special advantages, family connections, and honor and trusts in them also has a god, only not the one true God.  The evidence for this appears when people are arrogant, secure, and proud because of such possessions, but desperate when they lack them or lose them.  I repeat, to have a god means to have something on which one’s heart depends entirely…

“Besides this there is also that false worship, that height of idolatry, which we used to practice, which is still prevalent in the world.  It involves only the conscience of those who seek comfort and salvation in their own works and presume to capture heaven by putting God under the pressure of an obligation.  They keep a record of how often they have made donations, fasted, etc.  They rely on such things and dwell upon them, unwilling to receive anything from God as a gift.  Instead, they wish to earn everything themselves or merit it by works beyond the call of duty.  What is this but the worshiper actually setting himself up as his own god.”
6.	Would it be correct to say that the basic sin of Adam and Eve was disobedience?
No – their basic sin was rebellion.

7.	How were they tempted to “play God”?
They wanted to be his equals.  They acted as if they had the right to disagree with God.  They wanted to investigate or invent another word besides God’s.

8.	Maybe when you were a child you thought: “If only God hadn’t put that one tree in the garden, he could’ve avoided so much trouble.” Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?
He put it there so that Adam and Eve would have a way to worship God.  That opportunity to worship gave their life its fullest meaning.  Every time they walked past it and didn’t eat from it, they were expressing their love to God.
9.	What did Luther mean by calling that tree Adam’s and Eve’s “church, altar, and pulpit”?
It was where they exercised the truth that there was no rival in their hearts.  Every time they didn’t eat of it they were saying: “You, God, are first.”
10.	How might you and I be tempted to “play God”?
Answers will vary.
Some ways we might be tempted are: to choose my will over God’s (this of course takes many different avenues); we think we have the right to disagree with him, that one of his teachings isn’t quite right.

Sin and divine justice
1.	In what way is God’s idea of sin different from the idea most people have?
Many people have this concept of sin (we need to be careful that we don’t adopt it): That sin is just a mistake, an oops, only bad if we do it, but our thoughts aren’t a big deal; certainly none of it is worthy of punishment.
God’s idea is simply this: sin, whether in the heart, mind, or acted out with the body is rebellion against God - and rebellion earns punishment

2.	Complete the sentence: God is more interested in our _heart/attitude________ than he is in our actions.

3.	What Hebrew word pictures are used in the Old Testament to describe sin? 
(3 answers)
a.	To become guilty
b.	To miss the mark
c.	To rebel

4.	How does Adam’s and Eve’s rebellion affect your life today?
In every way – just consider these effects of sin
-	Now we are born into this world sinful.  We are enemies of God and outside his family.  This sinful nature which we inherit is enough to condemn us.
-	Now we can’t help but commit heinous and terrible actual sins
-	As a result of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, we now deserve physical and eternal death
-	Now we must deal with pain, sickness, suffering, sadness, and the like.
-	Even all creation was affected by Adam and Eve’s rebellion
5.	Agree or disagree: When a baby is born, he or she is neither bad nor good; the child chooses between the two as he or she grows up. 
Disagree
6.	How does the Bible describe the nature with which we were brought into the world?
It describes it in many terms.  It describes our hearts as completely blackened with sin.  That we are enemies of God, dead in sin, and blind to spiritual truth.  

7.	Do we still have that nature?
Yes
8.	What evidence of the rebellion of Adam and Eve will you see on tonight’s evening news?
Murder, corrupt government, natural disasters, death, disease/sickness, etc.
9.	Some people have difficulty understanding God’s anger over sin because they confuse it with the anger of a human being. What is the difference?
The difference is that God has the right because we are his creatures.  In addition, God’s anger is perfectly fair, just, and even-handed.

10.	Read Psalm 5:5, and supply the missing verb in this sentence: God _hates____ sinners.

11.	Read John 3:16 and Romans 5:8, and supply the missing verb in this sentence: God _loves____ sinners.

12.	Can both of those statements be true? How can hatred and love coexist in God?
a.	Yes, both statements are true
b.	They just do – and we will see, the only place we can reconcile both of these statements is at the cross of Jesus, the Son of God

God’s solution
1.	In addition to his holy law, what other message did God announce to the descendants of Abraham?
The Gospel!  He told them there was a remedy to their sin and rebellion.  There was a way for them to be spiritually rich instead of bankrupt; a way to be spiritually happy, instead of God’s enemies; a way for them to have eternal life instead of death.
2.	What was the problem that faced God as he set out to rescue a sinful world?
His holiness could not simply overlook rebellion and sin, so he couldn’t just say, “I am God Almighty.  I can do anything I want.  I hereby decree that the sinner is saved.”  The problem he faced was how to reconcile his absolute hatred against sin and his incredible love for sinner.
3.	If God cannot ignore our sin and if he cannot lower his standards, how is it possible for him to forgive sin?
He provided the solution in a principle of substitution – his Son Jesus.
4.	Would you want a God who changes the rules and makes exceptions? Why not?
a.	No
b.	Why – because who’s to say he wouldn’t change the rules again
5.	What was the solution God found to the problem that faced him?
He provided the solution in a principle of substitution – his Son Jesus.

The substitution principle
1.	Illustrate the principle of substitution from the Old Testament.
We see it in the ram as substitute for Isaac
We see it in the Passover Lamb
We see it in the regular animal sacrifices that were part of the daily worship life of the Jews
We see it in the Day of Atonement (bull for high priest; goat for people; scapegoat)

2.	How did Christ, God’s substitute, satisfy God’s demand for perfect obedience?
Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience.

3.	How did Christ, God’s substitute, meet God’s threat to punish disobedience?
Jesus died innocently under God’s curse.

Only one solution
1.	Jesus Christ has told us, “Anybody who wants to know the truth about God will have to come to me to get it.” In view of that, what’s ahead for anybody who looks for God apart from Jesus Christ? 
They simply will not know the truth; and not knowing the truth bars one from eternal life.

2.	How does the benefit of Christ’s work become ours?
By faith – a faith worked by God

3.	Martin Luther said, “We can climb to God the Father only on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.” What significance do you see for yourself in that statement?
Answers will vary.  But the significance is this: “Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus!”

4.	What difference in your life does God’s verdict: “I pronounce you innocent!” make for you today?
Answers will vary.  But it simply makes all the difference in the world!