Biblical Ethics, Part 6 - What are Christian Ethics?

26^th May 2023

I hope we understand the vital importance of Biblical ethics. God our Creator knows the best way we can live, and has taught us in the Scriptures. It's our responsibility as creatures to trust and obey what God says. The church is uniquely able to do this. If we don't, we're failing not only our God but also the unsaved, who need the church to explain God's ethics to them. God's ethics are not just for God's people; they help everybody.

In every generation, there are particular points at which worldly ethics deviate from God's ethics. At the present time, the most obvious areas of difference are probably abortion, homosexuality and transgenderism. However, these are not the most important areas of Biblical ethics; they're just the ones where the world (and parts of the church) most obviously disagree with God in our culture and in our generation.

Jesus summarised Biblical ethics in this conversation:

Matthew 22v34-40
And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: "Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?"
Jesus declared, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Agape love, sacrificial love, which we considered in our recent studies of 1 John Chapter 3, is the basis of ethics. Of first importance is love for God, and of second importance is love for all other people. The clearest guidelines on how to love God and other people is, of course, given in the Ten Commandments, which are found in Exodus 20v3-17. They can be summarised as:

1. Do not acknowledge any gods but the Lord.
2. Do not worship any man-made representation of anything in heaven, on earth or below the earth.
3. Do not misuse the name of the Lord.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not give false testimony against another person.
10. Do not covet anything that belongs to another person.

The first three are about loving God. If you love the Lord your God, you will not think, speak or act in any way that gives credence to the idea that other gods exist. You will not worship a painting, a sculpture, a book, or anything else in all creation as if it were divine, because only God is divine. You will not use any of God's names disrespectfully or lightly, or claim His authority for any words or action unless God has truly spoken.

The last seven commandments are about loving humans:

• Look after your spiritual, physical and mental heath by taking one day off every week. Look after the well-being of others by not expecting them to work more than six days in a row.
• Respect your parents. They're not perfect, but they gave you life.
• Don't take anybody's life.
• Don't take anybody's wife or husband.
• Don't take anybody's property.
• Don't take anybody's reputation.
• Don't even think about it.

The Ten Commandments exist because to obey them is to love God and other people.

Outside the church, I think the first and second commandments, when they're considered at all, are thought of as intolerant, and opposed to multi-culturalism. The third and fourth are largely ignored. The fifth is honoured in some families but not in all. The sixth, seventh, eight and ninth are generally accepted, although there is some societal confusion around the seventh. The tenth is mostly ignored; coveting other people's wealth is considered by many to be an admirable political creed. But all ten are God-given because they're good for us. The church must live them and teach them for God, for ourselves and for wider society.

None of us is able to live perfectly. We've all broken God's Law and we all continue to do so, but we can be forgiven through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice. However, we all continue to have a responsibility to try to keep God's Law. God sends the Holy Spirit to Christians to help us, to change the way we feel and the way we think, as well as the way we act. The Holy Spirit grows His fruit in us, developing godly character which results in living more godly lives:

Galatians 5v22-23a
... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Christian ethics are God's ethics. Godly character is ethical character. Godly ethics require us to show love towards others, to remain joyful, to be peaceable, to be patient, kind, good, faithful and gentle, and to exercise self-control.

I'd like to mention one more very important aspect of Christian ethics. Jesus said :

Matthew 7v1-2
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

We're required By God to show godly attitudes towards all our neighbours, including those who hate both God and us, those who ignore God's ethics and those who persecute us for continuing to believe in them. We're also called to teach the truth, not only the Gospel but the whole Bible, including godly ethics.

How do we welcome those whose lives and ideas are quite contrary to God's ethics without compromising the message of the Bible? We'll think about that next time.