Bible Lesson 7
Who Are We?
Humans Are Unable to Save Themselves
In modern, Western culture, we value self-help and independence. We even have a saying that “God helps those who help themselves.” But the truth is that we can’t help ourselves. We see in scripture and we see in our lives that for all our good resolutions, the ability to carry them all out is not in us. Thankfully, God helps those who can’t help themselves!
When Jesus spoke with the religious leaders of his day, he told them that it is not healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. He was implying that if a person can’t admit their own weakness and helplessness (their moral sickness), they would never seek the help of a Savior (or a doctor).
Original Sin, by Salvador Dali, 1941
An *asterisk indicates that the word has a special note. Click on it to see the note.
No Podemos Salvarnos
Efesios 2:12 (NTV)
En esos tiempos, ustedes vivían apartados de Cristo. No se les permitía ser ciudadanos de Israel, y no conocían las promesas del pacto que Dios había hecho con ellos. Ustedes vivían en este mundo sin Dios y sin esperanza.
Romanos 7 (NVI)
(18) Yo sé que en mí, es decir, en mi naturaleza pecaminosa, nada bueno habita. Aunque deseo hacer lo bueno, no soy capaz de hacerlo. (19) De hecho, no hago el bien que quiero, sino el mal que no quiero. (20) Y si hago lo que no quiero, ya no soy yo quien lo hace sino el pecado que habita en mí.
(21) Así que descubro esta ley: que cuando quiero hacer el bien, me acompaña el mal.
We Cannot Save Ourselves
Ephesians 2:12
In those times, you lived separated from Christ. You were not permitted to be citizens of Israel, and you didn’t know the promises of the covenant that God had made with them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
Romans 7
I know that in me, that is to say, in my sinful nature, nothing good lives. Although I desire to do good, I am not able to do it. In fact, I don’t do the good I want, but the evil I don’t want. And if I do what I don’t want, it’s no longer I who do it but rather the sin that lives in me.
Thus I find this law: when I want to do good, evil accompanies me.
1. Listen to the audio as you read along with the Spanish on the left.
2. Open the English translation, and read the two side-by-side, making sure you understand the Spanish.
3. Close the English, and listen to the audio again, reading along in Spanish.
4. Close the Spanish, and listen once more. Maybe shut your eyes, and just try to understand as much as you can.