I realized the way our qualms or principles evoke reactions in others watching Gunsmoke. A common criminal who had stolen golden relics from a church went into a bar and when the prostitute saw them he said, "Don't you have any principles?" He retorted, "I have as many as you!" Next, he held up the bartender but noticed he was wearing a crucifix. He couldn't do it, but said, "You don't know how close you came to being killed." He later became a Christian.
Julian Huxley's Religion Without Revelation reveals how you can be moral and not believe in God. The New Morality or situation ethics justify wrongdoing but the Bible's teachings are immutable and rock-solid. We are to imitate that which is good and not evil. Without God morality is just consensus and if there is no judge or judgment day why not eat, drink, [and be merry] for tomorrow we die" like the Bible says? If you just want to be a nice guy or an ethical person, any [ethnic] religion will do, but this is for the seeker of God. For instance, Buddhism is so popular because you can be good without God. (Buddha was an atheist.)
What about the unlearned, unsophisticated person--does he/she have any discernment? We all have the ability to make value judgments by the moral compass God has given us. Like Jiminy Cricket said, "Always let your conscience be your guide." Martin Luther said it is neither right nor safe to go against conscience. But the conscience can be wrong if it isn't enlightened by the Word of God. Alexander and Hymenaeus ignored and rejected their conscience and thus made shipwreck of their faith: A word to the wise is sufficient.
Do not be confused that the Christian life is a philosophy or a code of conduct or system of ethics; one can lead a very moral life and still not be saved. Being a Christian is knowing Jesus personally and having a relationship with Him.
Why do universities that believe in relative morality (What's right for me) even teach ethics? Because it's good for business. Orthopraxy is the name for putting into practice what you believe and how correct it is, just like orthodoxy is right believing, orthopraxy is right doing. Everyone has a code of conduct, their own conscience, so to speak; even criminals have a prison code! But what I'm concerned with is the Christian perspective; that of perfection, which no one can satisfy. ("Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."). Perfection is the standard, the direction is the test.
Christians believe morality stems from God's immutable character and are therefore immutable and not arbitrary or changeable. James is the book dedicated to ethics because it's theme is the faith you have is the faith you show. "I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18). God has redeemed "a people zealous unto good works," (cf. Titus 2:14). The admonition to follow Christ is the decision every Christian has made and Paul has some insight when he says "Abstain from every form of evil." "By their fruit, you shall know them."
Nowadays people think ethics are relative (I believe in absolute moral values) and we can make up our own rules as we go along. I believe in absolute morality because it is the only system of ethics compatible with faith in a righteous and moral God. The statement, "All truth is relative" is itself relative and of no value and is a truth statement. Have you heard of the professor who introduced his class by saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One student replies: "Professor, are you sure?" He answers, "I AM sure."
I have heard it said that the summation of Christian ethics is to overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). Jesus made famous the Golden Rule: "Treat unto others the way you would have them treat unto you." This is an impossibly high ethic that no one has completed to perfection. "The Christian life is not hard, it's impossible"--only Christ has fulfilled it.
But the idea wasn't unique. The Jews had heard of the great Rabbi Hillel who said that you must not do anything to others you wouldn't want to be done in return--that this summed up the Law. Confucius was asked to sum up his teachings with one word and he did: "Reciprocity." Buddha's rule was called the Silver Rule because it was slightly easier and it was in the negative: "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." The Golden Rule was also in the Old Testament. In Obadiah, it says, "As you have done, so shall it be done to you." It's the highest ethic. This is the reverse of said rule. Solomon also had a word of wisdom that will suffice: "Do not withhold good to others when it is within your power." Solomon also said we should return evil for evil: "Don't say, 'I'll do to him what he did to me; I'll repay the man for what he has done.'" (Prov. 24:29). Americans mostly live by the Brazen Rule: "I'll do to him as he has done to me."
Finally, the famous physician Hippocrates said in his famous oath, "First, do no harm." Unfortunately, some people go by the Iron Rule: "I'll do to them before they do unto me, or might makes right." We want to go the extra mile and do some good, not just avoid evil. Faith is a verb that does good deeds. We are not saved by our good deeds, but we are not saved without them either--we are saved unto good works (cf. Eph. 2:10).
To sum up, Micah 6:8 is a good Old Testament paradigm of ethics: "He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (When my pastor asked me my philosophy in a verse, that was the one. The definition of the Christian life from Paul could very well be this: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, and yet not I, but Christ who lives in me, and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Thus the hallmark of the Christian is love as Jesus said to the disciples: "By this shall men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another. Soli Deo Gloria!
Julian Huxley's Religion Without Revelation reveals how you can be moral and not believe in God. The New Morality or situation ethics justify wrongdoing but the Bible's teachings are immutable and rock-solid. We are to imitate that which is good and not evil. Without God morality is just consensus and if there is no judge or judgment day why not eat, drink, [and be merry] for tomorrow we die" like the Bible says? If you just want to be a nice guy or an ethical person, any [ethnic] religion will do, but this is for the seeker of God. For instance, Buddhism is so popular because you can be good without God. (Buddha was an atheist.)
What about the unlearned, unsophisticated person--does he/she have any discernment? We all have the ability to make value judgments by the moral compass God has given us. Like Jiminy Cricket said, "Always let your conscience be your guide." Martin Luther said it is neither right nor safe to go against conscience. But the conscience can be wrong if it isn't enlightened by the Word of God. Alexander and Hymenaeus ignored and rejected their conscience and thus made shipwreck of their faith: A word to the wise is sufficient.
Do not be confused that the Christian life is a philosophy or a code of conduct or system of ethics; one can lead a very moral life and still not be saved. Being a Christian is knowing Jesus personally and having a relationship with Him.
Why do universities that believe in relative morality (What's right for me) even teach ethics? Because it's good for business. Orthopraxy is the name for putting into practice what you believe and how correct it is, just like orthodoxy is right believing, orthopraxy is right doing. Everyone has a code of conduct, their own conscience, so to speak; even criminals have a prison code! But what I'm concerned with is the Christian perspective; that of perfection, which no one can satisfy. ("Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."). Perfection is the standard, the direction is the test.
Christians believe morality stems from God's immutable character and are therefore immutable and not arbitrary or changeable. James is the book dedicated to ethics because it's theme is the faith you have is the faith you show. "I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18). God has redeemed "a people zealous unto good works," (cf. Titus 2:14). The admonition to follow Christ is the decision every Christian has made and Paul has some insight when he says "Abstain from every form of evil." "By their fruit, you shall know them."
Nowadays people think ethics are relative (I believe in absolute moral values) and we can make up our own rules as we go along. I believe in absolute morality because it is the only system of ethics compatible with faith in a righteous and moral God. The statement, "All truth is relative" is itself relative and of no value and is a truth statement. Have you heard of the professor who introduced his class by saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One student replies: "Professor, are you sure?" He answers, "I AM sure."
I have heard it said that the summation of Christian ethics is to overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). Jesus made famous the Golden Rule: "Treat unto others the way you would have them treat unto you." This is an impossibly high ethic that no one has completed to perfection. "The Christian life is not hard, it's impossible"--only Christ has fulfilled it.
But the idea wasn't unique. The Jews had heard of the great Rabbi Hillel who said that you must not do anything to others you wouldn't want to be done in return--that this summed up the Law. Confucius was asked to sum up his teachings with one word and he did: "Reciprocity." Buddha's rule was called the Silver Rule because it was slightly easier and it was in the negative: "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." The Golden Rule was also in the Old Testament. In Obadiah, it says, "As you have done, so shall it be done to you." It's the highest ethic. This is the reverse of said rule. Solomon also had a word of wisdom that will suffice: "Do not withhold good to others when it is within your power." Solomon also said we should return evil for evil: "Don't say, 'I'll do to him what he did to me; I'll repay the man for what he has done.'" (Prov. 24:29). Americans mostly live by the Brazen Rule: "I'll do to him as he has done to me."
Finally, the famous physician Hippocrates said in his famous oath, "First, do no harm." Unfortunately, some people go by the Iron Rule: "I'll do to them before they do unto me, or might makes right." We want to go the extra mile and do some good, not just avoid evil. Faith is a verb that does good deeds. We are not saved by our good deeds, but we are not saved without them either--we are saved unto good works (cf. Eph. 2:10).
To sum up, Micah 6:8 is a good Old Testament paradigm of ethics: "He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (When my pastor asked me my philosophy in a verse, that was the one. The definition of the Christian life from Paul could very well be this: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, and yet not I, but Christ who lives in me, and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Thus the hallmark of the Christian is love as Jesus said to the disciples: "By this shall men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another. Soli Deo Gloria!