If our God asks us to lead a moral life, it is reasonable to expect that He will tell us what He means by it, and how we are to go about living it. God has not disappointed us.
Approaches to morality
There could be two ways to define morality. One way would be to spell out in detail all of the things that are forbidden, and in what circumstances. Then we would need the positive side, detailed instructions on how we should act in a given situation. In other words, we could be given a rule-book. In all circumstances, we could look up what we should and should not do. As long as we did exactly what the book said, we would be living a moral life.
The second definition would not spell out specific rules, but instead would formulate general principles for our behavior. It would augment the principles with examples of right and wrong behavior in relation to these principles. With this approach, we would not consult a rulebook; we would work out on our own what behavior is consistent with the principles we had been given.
Law and grace
God has done it both ways. He did it the first way to show us that it just won’t work and then did it the second way in order to give us hope.
The Law of Moses approximates a rulebook. There are several lists of things that must or must not be done, foods that can or cannot be eaten and things that are clean or unclean. Without doubt, the average Israelite was “unclean” almost his whole life. And this was the purpose of the law. It was a “schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ” (Gal. 3:24). In addition to teaching us about sin, it teaches us that we are sinful and unclean. People consistently found the rulebook did not save, it only condemned. Thus, if they were perceptive, they would realize the need for salvation by grace through faith.
The great principles are summarized in Romans 3:20-25 (RSV):
“No human being will be justified in his sight by works of law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
Being under grace instead of law does not release us from the necessity of being moral, but it does put it in a different light. We know from the start that we will not live perfect lives (which must not be used as an excuse for sin); but we know that, in His grace through Christ’s sacrifice, God will forgive our sins, He will count our faith for righteousness. By identifying ourselves with Christ, becoming part of the Christ community, his righteousness covers our sinfulness.
Rules vs. principles
Obedience is indeed asked of us — obedience to God’s principles, conformity to His character and His will. And it is probably inevitable that people will come along and say, “This is precisely how to live by these principles, and if you don’t do it this way, you’re lost.” The Pharisees were like this. So were the Puritans who helped found the United States and some of what they taught is still present in our culture. Some people feel they must have a set of rules to live by; they also feel the obligation to make others conform to their rules. Unfortunately, Christadelphians are not immune to this sort of thing.
The same thinking troubled the early ecclesias. Here is the Biblical response:
“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you still live as if you belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations – ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’…according to human precepts and doctrines? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:20-23 RSV).
Rules and regulations appear to promote what is right, but ones we contrive are human in origin and cannot correct the real problem, human sinfulness. Only God’s grace can do that. To avail ourselves of that grace we must obey, not with a superficial obedience to human rules, but with a deep and heartfelt conformity to divine principles. Jesus showed us how this was to be done. Rules work only on the exterior; principles work on the heart, and by controlling the heart, they keep our behavior in control also.
Responsibility
This puts a great responsibility on the individual, which is exactly where it belongs. Some people like to tell others what to do, but you cannot allow them to run your life for you. Some people like to be told what to do, but you cannot shirk your responsibility that way. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
This is not to say that we should ignore the elders of our ecclesia or our parents. They have a wealth of experience that a younger person lacks. When this treasure is offered to us, we are foolish to refuse it. However, “Because I told you to” is not a sufficient answer to the question, “Why should I do this?” If you are really willing to listen, no parent who is also trying to serve God will refuse to explain why he feels you should act a certain way.
The main point in fulfilling your individual responsibility to apply principles is that you should try to do what is right, not what will please you at the moment.
Decisions
A true believer will always be in the process of making decisions about how to live. False Christians try to escape the responsibility of decision making. They do this in one of two distinct ways. They rationalize their way through doing anything they want to or they take someone’s set of rules and follow them. Both are human solutions and cater to human weakness.
We are given a principle: love your neighbor. That does not tell us specifically how to behave, we have to work that out ourselves. Clearly, to intentionally cause harm to our neighbor goes against the principle. But do we fulfill the principle by doing nothing? Positive action is required; what that action will be must be your decision. You must base your decision on what you know about the teachings of Scripture and examples of right behavior.
In case it hasn’t already occurred to you, you will be at a loss unless you have a good working knowledge of what Scripture does teach, how Jesus lived and what God really does. That means study. Not just a once-over-lightly reading once a year, but some real searching for answers to the problems that life hands us. That means work. Now you know why some people are content to accept someone else’s set of rules.
Your own rules
If every life situation required a deep study, you would not get anywhere. You need something a bit handier. That something can be your own personal rule. This is not something you pick up from someone else, but a product of your own study of the Word. In your study, you will come to conclusions (otherwise it would not be worthwhile), and you will make decisions on how you feel you must behave in a certain situation in order to uphold God’s principles. This can be a rule by which you live your life. But beware! There are two dangers here. One is that you will decide to force your rule on someone else. The other is that you will decide you know it all and will become frozen into one way of thinking, giving yourself no room to grow and mature further. Both of these dangers will increase as you grow older and you do know more. But never, never will you know it all, nor will anyone else, until knowledge is perfected in the Kingdom of God.
Conscience
Jiminy Cricket’s advice to “let your conscience be your guide” is next to useless if you only have a vague idea of what conscience means. However, if you are aware of what your conscience is and if you mold it by the principles of God, his advice is absolutely right. We have no inborn conscience; there is no “little voice” built into our heads that tells us what is right. Everyone has a conscience, but it consists of what we were taught about right and wrong as children, plus what we have learned later as thinking adults. If our conscience has been formed by rules or principles that are wrong, then it will guide us the wrong way. So it makes sense to find out what is right, by study of the Word, and to absorb it so deeply that it becomes our conscience. Then we may let it be our guide. It will not fail us. We have moral consciousness as a gift from God and, when rightly trained by the Word, it will lead us the right way unless we overpower it with our own desires: “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith…By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith” (I Tim. 1:5,19).
Let your aim be that of the apostle Paul, not those other persons.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One