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| God's word reveals the best ethics and morals |
Oh,
how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long (Psalms 119:97).
Everyone
who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).
But
about the Son He says, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever...
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness” (Hebrews 1:8-9).
We
know that the law is good if one uses it properly (1 Timothy 1:8).
What
shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! ... So then, the law is
holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good... We know that the law
is spiritual (Romans 7:7-14).
If you
love me, you will keep my commandments. Whoever has my commands and obeys them,
he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
too will love him and show myself to him (John 14:15 & 21).
The moral commandments of
Scripture must be the standard for normative ethics. Biblical ethics are proscriptive
(what one ought not to do) as well as prescriptive (what one ought to do) of
normative human conduct, and should be the ground for our rule of law:
deontological. Deontological is obligatory inasmuch as it is the moral will of
God in real-life situations: explicit actions that are based on its broad
principals. Thus all persons are obligated to affirm and embrace the
commandments of God in establishing laws and in living their lives.
And
this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands (2 John 6).
Sources:
·
Old Testament (613 laws/commandments) New Testament (1050
laws/commandments).
·
Ten Commandments (The Decalogue).
·
Love God and Love your neighbor.
·
Golden rule: Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would
do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
·
Sermon on the Mount Matt. Chapters 5-7.
Law/Gospel – Works/Grace:
Distinct But Not Separate
And if by
grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is
no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace;
otherwise work is no longer work (Romans 11:6).
The predominant functions
of the moral law and God’s commandments:
I.
Restrain Evil.
II.
Reveal Sin/our Depravity.
III.
Assist in the sanctification of Christians.
One must not confuse and
commingle law and grace: God’s commands with God’s promises (Romans 11:6). The
law is not just the Old Testament inasmuch as the Old Testament contains law;
furthermore, grace is not just the New Testament for the New Testament contains
law. The law demands works and accuses. The law commands and demands. It’s what
God expects out of His creatures in our thoughts, words, and works. For it is
not the ten recommendations, it is the Ten Commandments. It is rigorous. The
law doesn’t say just do the best you can. God does not grade on a curve. The
final requires perfection or one does not enter heaven. It demands one hundred
percent, every moment, in thought, word, and deed. The good news is Christ has
expiated the transgressions against the law for His people by grace through
faith. The greatest good news is that Christ has made satisfaction for the
sins, the mistakes, and the commandment breaking of His people.
Morality may keep you out of jail, but
it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell (Spurgeon).
The Gospel has attained
and acquired for all Christians, without any works or merit on our part, the
forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ that avails before
God and provides eternal life. The law is written on our hearts and the Gospel
comes from outside us from God’s grace (Galatians 3:10-12). Scripture tells us
the law is everything that demands perfect obedience to God and pronounces
God’s curses on all transgressors (Romans 3:19). The law of God renders all the
world guilty before God’s holiness and reveals the knowledge of sin (Romans
3:20-23). How can one avoid Hell? Jesus taught that it is very simple, “Be
perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Do that every day
and live.
Recall what Jesus said, “It is harder for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than a camel to go through an eye of a
needle.” In that particular instance the disciples were very perplexed. They
said, “Lord who then can be saved?” Jesus responded by revealing to them, “With
man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Heaven is
infinitely beyond the reach of sinful men. Men need God to do the impossible.
And God has accomplished this through Christ and His vicarious death and
resurrection. It is all solely by grace. Deny Christ and it is impossible for
an imperfect man to be accepted into a perfect heaven. One must have their
imperfections and sins removed by the cross of God’s Son.
The nontheistic worldview not only commits epistemic
irresponsibility, it brings despair that grows in its claimants. The unbeliever
Byron screams in horror on his death bed as he hollers in delusion that his
bedspread is on fire. Voltaire rants and raves about being cursed and forsaken
and damned for his rejection of Christ during his last days. We have been
spared the horrible last words of the bombastic atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair
when her atheist partner murdered her and her atheistic grandchildren for some
cash. Yet her final utterances must have been filled with anguish. A man in
London heard a lecture on anti-theism and socialism. He went home and wrote
that the Bible was the greatest possible deception. Then he shot himself.
Without God, His love and law, man has no purpose and it’s easy for him to fall
into depression and despair. This leads to horror in death and eternity.
The grace of God freely gives peace to
believers and salvation freely given to the sinner (Romans 1:16-17, 10:15; Acts
20:24; Ephesians 1:13, 6:15). The law is distinct from grace but not separate,
there is a unity within the diversity. Distinct but not separate. Both the law
and grace are in the whole of Scripture. The two pertain to men and women and
must be taught side by side with distinction within the oneness of Scripture.
Christians are to uphold the law with zeal and with truth through the grace and
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Some contemporary
Christians believe the law is not to be upheld. They argue that we do not need
to obey the commandments in today’s dispensation. These are antinomians. Anti
means: against. The definition of noumos: Law. Hence an antinomian is
against the law. If there is no moral law, there can be no hell and no
punishment for lawbreakers. If the law is gone, you get rid of the absolute
standards of right and wrong. You also get rid of hell, and you get rid of the
need of the Savior too. If we are not lawbreakers we do not need to be saved.
The Life of a Christian
To live a life of
obedience before God you must:
1.
Admit that the flesh is weak (Matt 26:41).
2.
Repent. Turn from your sin and error.
3.
Pray for power and wisdom to overcome temptation and sin.
4.
Avoid instruments, places, people, and circles that tempt you and where you
previously fell.
5.
Keep your focus on Jesus, His Word, and His victory
(1
Corinthians 15:56; Hebrews 12:1-2).
The church of Jesus Christ
has plenty of programs, plenty of buildings, books, and trinkets. But what we
need most are trained, mounted troops of God. Soldiers trained for sudden,
daily charges against the gapping breaches in the enemy’s line opened daily by
the Word of God. The church has advanced through slow, pounding bombardments as
it has opened hospitals, orphanages, outreaches, and care centers. We must
become loving troops: enthusiastic, compassionate, and merciful. Exalting the
person of Christ our Prophet, Priest, and King should be our passion. He is the
unstoppable juggernaut of the church.
Christians must become
impassioned disciples to run with Jesus. Our moral duty is to put off all the
excuses, indifference, sloppiness, slothfulness, slouchiness, laziness, and sluggishness.
One can’t be a Christian sluggard. A Christian can’t afford to be droopy, duff,
or negligent, but diligent in obedience and worship. It is about honoring God
as God.
If you are weak and weary:
• Pray to God for power and grace.
• Praise and glorify God Almighty.
• Hence, if you are battle weary: Pray and
praise.
The Old Rugged Cross
Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he
shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved (Psalm
55:22).
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