Often the Bible will start a sentence or chapter with the word “therefore”.  For example, Romans 12:1 “ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as  living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”.   This same pattern of following a doctrinal section of Scripture with a practical section is equally found in Ephesians 4:1 and Colossians 3:1.  I recently encountered the statement that theology and ethics are inseparable in the Bible.  That is, we cannot explain how and why people in the Bible lived as they lived until we understand why they believed what they did.  This is not merely true in the Bible, it is true everywhere.   It should never be a mystery as to why people are moral or immoral—it all goes back to what a person “believes” in their heart.  Matthew points out that what comes from the heart is not only evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19), but also evil deeds.

 

God Acts First

 

One thing that recently impressed me about God is that He does not simply call for blind obedience.  Often, the first thing that God does is not give orders, but rather He first does something.  Before God gives the Ten Commandments He first prefaces everything with:

 

When the Law is restated some 40 years later, four entire chapters are placed before the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5).  In these chapters Israel is reminded of what God had done for them (2:7,33; 3:2-3; 4:3, 7-8).  The order of Biblical events is important.  God did not send Moses back to Egypt with the Law and say, “Do this”.  Neither did God say, “Keep this Law and I will deliver you from Egypt”.   Rather, Israel’s keeping of God’s law was meant to be a grateful response to what God had already done for them.  Therefore, keeping God’s law is even far more than doing the right thing, rather should be a matter of showing our gratitude to God for our deliverance.

 

Romans 12:1 “Therefore”

 

This is precisely the Holy Spirit’s point in Romans 12:1.  In essence, God has spent eleven chapters making the case as to why we should love God and serve Him.  “In view of all that God has accomplished for His people in Christ, how should His people live?  Doctrine is never taught in the Bible simply that it may be known; it is taught in order that it may be translated into practice.  ‘If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them’ (John 13:17).  Hence Paul repeatedly follows up an exposition of doctrine with an ethical exhortation” (Romans F.F. Bruce p. 225). “Paul is not content that his hearers should know theoretically what it is (that is, the Christian-life); he wishes them to have experimental knowledge of it, to actually live it.  In fact, it has been for the purpose of making the exhortation of this section that all the previous chapters have been written, for no Bible doctrine is a barren speculation, but a life-root, developed that it may bear fruit in the lives of those who read it” (McGarvey p. 485).  

 

Morals are Rooted in God’s Character

 

The ethics revealed in the Bible are not arbitrary, rather they are rooted in who God is.  For example, I am offer my body as an ongoing sacrifice to God.  Why?  Because God offered Himself for us (Romans 5:6-8).  There are many places in Scripture where we are told to do something because God has already done it for us:

When we realize that God’s commands to us are rooted in His own moral character, it then becomes obvious that right and wrong cannot be situational or culturally determined, because situations or cultures do not define God’s own character.  If God does not change (Hebrews 13:8), and if He simply cannot be false or untrue (Titus 1:2), it becomes very clear that lying is not appropriate in any situation—for God never lies. This is why Israel was to have no other gods, because another “god” would result in a different ethic, in fact, even an image of God was forbidden because it would not be an accurate image.  “A false view of God would destroy the central foundation of ethics as well.  Only the living God of history could initiate, shape and motivate the moral lives of His people” (Wright p. 31).  

 

God’s Holiness

 

“Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).   I am impressed that God’s holiness is not something mysterious, but rather something very practical.  Christopher J.H. Wright notes that “Holiness is the biblical shorthand for the very essence of God” (An Eye for An Eye, p. 27). Such holiness has been demanded of God’s people in both Testaments (Leviticus 19:2).  And it is not mystical, rather it is very practical.  In the Old Testament it included generosity to the poor at harvest time (19:10), fair and speedy pay for workers (19:13), integrity in the judicial processes (19:15), kind behavior to other people, equality before the law for non-Jewish people, honest business dealing, respect for parents (19:3), respect for the property of others (19:11), protecting the reputations of your fellowman (19:16), sexual purity (chapter 18) and so on.   Therefore, God gives us two basic reasons “why” we should obey.  First, this is what God is like—imitate Him.  Secondly, this is what God has done for you already, and out of gratitude you should do the same for others.  As previously noted, the true God is not someone who simply sits in heaven and barks orders.  The moral “why” comes down to this:  “This is what I require of you because it is what I have already done”.  So when I command you to sacrifice (Romans 12:1), or put others first (Philippians 2:5), I am only telling you to live in a way in which I have been living.

 

The Right Imitation

 

One thing that impresses me about the Bible is that when we are told to imitate Christ, we are told to imitate what matters. For example:  We are not commanded to practice carpentry, wear seamless clothing, constantly be on the move, have men follow us as disciples, worship in a synagogue, eat with tax-collectors, or teach in parables.  Our daily life-style is not dictated by how many times ate, washed His hands, took a bath, how He tied His sandals and so on.  Rather, we are told specifically what matters (Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 2:5; 1 Peter 2:21ff)

 

His Ways

 

“A favorite picture to describe this feature of Old Testament ethics is that of walking in God’s way---as distinct from the ways of other gods, or of other nations, or one’s own way, or the way of sinners.  You observe what God has done and how, then you try to follow suit” (Wright p. 27).   I find a huge contrast between the Bible and our modern culture.  So many people read the Bible and say, “No one can live this way”.  I find that attitude to be at completely cross purposes with what God says.  Not only does He want us to “do” the right thing and abstain from sin---He actually wants us to become “like” Him in the way we think and what we value.  God’s expectation is nothing less breath-taking than for us to reflect the very heart of God’s character in our own character (Deuteronomy 10:12).  Jesus taught exactly the same thing (Matthew 5:48), when He noted that any “love” that is less than the type or quality of love that God Himself shows is unacceptable.

 

“Remember”

 

The Bible frequently stops and provides either a history lesson or a historical overview of the past for the purpose of explaining the moral reason why.  For example:  “Do not oppress an alien”.  Why?   “You yourselves know now it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). If you brought a fellow Israelite you were commanded to let him go free in the seventh year. Why?  “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.  That is why I give you this command” (Deut. 15:15).  In the New Testament, Jesus based His teaching on forgiving others on the fact of how much God as forgiven us (Matthew 18:21-35).   In the Old Testament, apostasy often happens for the precise reason that God’s people “forgot” what He had done for them, and thought either that they had done it themselves or other gods had done it (Hosea 13:4-6).  The same is true in the New Testament.  Unfaithfulness always follows ingratitude (Romans 1:21; Hebrews 10:32-39; 2 Peter 1:9).  

 

Ethics and History

 

Right and wrong are not simply concepts that float around, move this direction then that direction, shift with the times or even exchange places from time to time.  The Bible presents a God who has acted in history, done something, and as a result we are to live a certain way.  Why should I pick up my cross?  Because God bore His!  

 

Perfect Balance

 

Throughout the Bible God is pictured as ruling, “in control” and bringing about His plan (Isaiah 44:28).   Yet this does not lead to “fatalism” where human ethical freedom and responsibility is eliminated.  For example:  In the story of Joseph, we find it a story of human choices, some evil, some good, and at no point in the story is anyone forced to act contrary to their own freewill.  Joseph’s brothers freely sell him, Potiphar freely purchases him, Potiphar’s wife freely tries to seduce him and Joseph freely resists.  Yet, in all these choices, God brought about His intended purpose (Genesis 50:20).  On the other hand, human freedom is not allowed to degenerate into relativism, as though everything were determined by the immediate situation, with no absolute truth or prior principles governing anything.  For example:  When King Saul enters a cave in which David and his men are hiding (1 Samuel 24), the circumstances “seem” ideal for David to rid himself of this enemy.  He is even encouraged by his men, and David knew he was going to be the next king.  Yet David did not take Saul’s life because there is a higher ethic than what is “convenient” or “easy”.  It is the sacredness of one anointed by the Lord.  This is a good example of how no situation is ever big enough to define what is ethical, only God’s character can determine that.  Therefore, let us revel in the fact that the ethics we are told to live by are “real” and will always be real.