{"id":574,"date":"2016-06-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-05T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=574"},"modified":"2016-06-04T22:02:54","modified_gmt":"2016-06-05T03:02:54","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-christian-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/2016\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-christian-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about Christian ethics?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cI have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.\u201d Galatians\u00a02:20<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To live by Christian ethics is attempting the impossible, for it is a premeditated plan of deliberate behavior to be assiduously followed in every situation, using Jesus Christ as the model. It is a plan to be like Christ in His perfection (Colossians\u00a01:10). Though perfection is beyond our reach until we reach glory, it is still required of every believer because our Father commanded it: \u201cBut as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, \u2018Be holy, for I am holy\u2019\u201d (1\u00a0Peter\u00a01:14f). Every believer, of every age, needs to man-up and heed the call to Christian ethics. A biblical, wise, and intentional system of Christian ethics will inevitably cost you, sometimes dearly, but you will always gain an incalculable benefit by attempting to live pleasing to your Master alone (Joshua\u00a024:14). You will possess a conscience that is clear, a growing trust in God, and the ability to rest upon divine promises and be assured of His approval.<\/p>\n

Noah Webster defined ethics as \u201cthe doctrines of morality or social manners; the science of moral philosophy, which teaches men their duty and the reasons of it; a system of moral principles; a system of rules for regulating the actions and manners of men in society.\u201d Ethics is all about the philosophical structure from which thinking and actions hang. The world\u2019s standards of ethics seem to go only as far as professional ethics, while Christian ethics go a great deal further. For a Christian, ethics must arise from divine revelation. Psalm\u00a0119:105 declares, \u201cYour word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herein lies the challenge: A believer must studiously look to the Word of God first and set aside every habit, every feeling of affront, every customary expectation of society, every worldly bit of wisdom that does not square with the plain dictates of Scripture. God calls us to a higher standard of thinking and behavior. Our Lord stated in Matthew\u00a022:37ff, \u201c\u2018You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u2019 This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Christian ethics is a premeditated framework for your civil behavior among men, it is chiefly occupied with the practical outworking of the second part. Jesus concisely illustrated the second commandment in Matthew\u00a07:12: \u201cTherefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.\u201d This is called the \u201cGolden Rule.\u201d Our treatment of others and placing their spiritual interests above our own earthbound interests is meaningless without the first and great commandment to authentically love the LORD your God. Only such a love is capable of the high bar of truly Christian ethics. How else is Christ to live in you? How else is your life lived by faith in the Son of God (Ephesians\u00a02:8\u201310, Titus\u00a02:11\u201314)?<\/p>\n

I firmly believe every believer must build a biblical framework upon which to hang his every action. Do not take your sense of bearing from your peers, from society, or most other believers. Let Christ be your \u201cnorth star.\u201d A good place to start is the simple list of Ten Commandments, tried and true throughout the generations. The first five are like the \u201cfirst and great\u201d commandment and the last five fulfill the \u201csecond\u201d commandment. Just swearing off murdering, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting is a good beginning.<\/p>\n

Another good study is to search out what God says He \u201chates\u201d in Scripture. Proverbs\u00a06:16\u201319 lists seven things. (An additional one is found in Malachi\u00a02:16.) Proverbs is a very good place to regularly haunt in your devotions since Solomon does a good job of unpacking the concept of \u201cjustice\u201d which is a hallmark of a godly man. Micah\u00a06:8 says, \u201c\u2026What does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?\u201d Man\u2019s definition of justice is rarely God\u2019s, or so it seems these days. God is meticulous in His standards of honesty and justice (Leviticus\u00a019:11, Proverbs\u00a011:1, 20:23).<\/p>\n

Hidden away in every corner of the Bible are ethical instructions. For instance, in Leviticus we learn to pay our debts as soon as possible (19:13) and to not take advantage of others (25:39). In Deuteronomy\u00a015:13f we are taught the responsibility of generosity. In Colossians\u00a03, Ephesians\u00a06, Titus\u00a02, and 1\u00a0Timothy\u00a06, ethics in the workplace are taught. Romans\u00a012:9ff presses the believer to give preference to others before himself and he is taught another key principle of justice, to treat everybody equally (Romans\u00a02:11). 1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a06 teaches that Christians ought not to sue one another.<\/p>\n

The Bible is uncannily harmonious in its ethical instruction. Matthew\u00a05:37, among other passages, teaches that \u201cyour word is your bond\u201d just as Psalm\u00a015, \u201cHe who swears to his own hurt and does not change.\u201d Only with such high-quality ethics is Christ adequately represented before a lost and watching world. Prayerfully build and diligently practice your Christian ethics framework. Trust and obey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.\u201d Galatians\u00a02:20 To live by Christian ethics is attempting the impossible, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}