The Layers of Law
Galatians 5:1
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Greetings
God be with you on this fine day my brothers and sisters.
We seem to be in a constant struggle between moral relativism and pharisaical dogmatism. But fear not, for I have created a solution that will completely end all strife and disagreement within the Church!
Just kidding.
Seriously though. This is a problem that has existed from day one, and it will never be remedied until Christ Himself comes (through the Rapture) and publicly condemns Infant Baptism.
Okay, now I’m really serious…
Recently, I have been dwelling on how we as people process the world in which we live (aka worldview). Everyone has a worldview and it seems that we are all in a competition as to who can share their worldview the quickest and loudest. Some would see us living under a Marxist regime, while others would have us live under their favorite flavor of Theocracy (not the band, though that would be interesting).
All of these intellectual sides have at least one thing in common though, they all want to define good and bad behavior though morals and ethics, and usually enforce them by government law.
Galatians 3 (ESV)
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Morals and Ethics
“Morals” and “ethics” actually come from two different languages (Latin and Greek respectively), and one could say that they describe essentially the same concept. But we today have taken both words and use them to describe different “aspects” of the same concept.
Secular groups would separate these two concepts by two levels, individual and community. You have personal morals and have societal ethics. However, I believe that we as Christians can go deeper than that. On our moral core, we lay a much stronger foundation for right and wrong than simple philosophy. Ultimately, while philosophy can use an extraordinary amount of logic, it is still subjective in the end and not authoritative. Only revelation from a Deity can have the authority to determine what is truly right and wrong.
John 6:68 (ESV)
68 “Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,'”
Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy
So we as Christians can use the Word of God for a firm foundation of moral statutes, but we have a problem. God doesn’t say anything about technology in the Bible, or smoking, or immigration policy.
What do we do?
We humans naturally take our moral statutes (along with logic) and create moral principles (societal ethics). Societal ethics are essentially building structures of practice that rest on the foundation of morality. We use them to determine what good and bad behavior “looks like”. Another word for this is “convictions”. Yes, we will have many worldview principles that are simply based off of logic and experience, but we as Christians should ultimately base our core ethics on what is “right” not “smart”.
Finally, we humans take from these ethics, and instill some of them into government systems to become judicial statutes (law). We then put punishments in place for anyone who breaks these laws. Under this, we enforce our societal ethics in our businesses, organizations, and (most intimately) our households.
The whole world falls logically into place now doesn’t it? What? No? I guess not. There are problems that have proven themselves over the course of all human history to naturally occur. We don’t always back up our moral statutes with authoritative Scripture (it’s usually just human tastes and traditions). We take our moral principles (ethics) and instill them as statutes. And then we are consistently tempted to take all of our ethics and instill them into government law. This is not only the byproduct of being human, it’s the byproduct of being a fallen human.
However, I believe that God has given us the means of working (sorting) though our worldview. I don’t think there is any better place in the Bible that displays this sorting (and the problems involved) than in Romans 14.
Romans 14
1 “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”
There are many other verses that describe the different aspects of our quandary.
Matthew 22:15-22
15 “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.”
Matthew 15:11 (ESV)
11 “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
When we really look through the Bible, we see these separations of laws. But the practice of sorting through one’s worldview has never seemed to be popular. However, I believe that there is a deeper aspect to consider. I believe that the root of many of these blurred boundaries is pride…simple, unadulterated pride. We love to control others, it’s as simple as that.
James 4:1 (ESV)
4 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
Many church denominations love to use this next quoted catchphrase when dealing with doctrine. “In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” I believe this is not only logical, but Biblical. And this system that I have just given is, for no other purpose, than to help systematically sort out your worldview. Is this system perfect? No, nothing we humans create can be, but I hope it’s useful when living in a very diverse Church. Should we condemn heresy? Absolutely. But what about everything else? Maybe if we had a little more sorting of our worldviews, we would have a little more respect for each other’s.
In Summary,
Moral Statutes
Can be drawn from an authoritative source
Foundational beliefs about what is right and wrong
Synonym: Absolute
Typically grounded in secular philosophy or religious texts
For Christians it must be able to be directly referenced in Scripture.
Moral Principles
Non-authoritative
Synonym: Convictions
Synonym: Societal Ethic
The real-world practice of carrying out what you believe is right and wrong.
Judicial Statutes
Public Law
Household Law
Business/Organization Law
Synonym: Legislation
Violations incur punishments
And so now (using this systematic worldview) I would ask three questions:
Are all of my Moral Statutes backed up by actual Scripture?
Are my Moral Principles firmly identified as such (in all charity), and not as absolute statutes with which to rule over another person?
Are only the NECESSARY moral principles established as Judicial Statutes to protect everyone’s Life, Liberty, and Property equally in our society (on every level)?
Again, this will not end all strife in the Church or outside, but it may be enough of a foundation for everyone involved to check their own heart and see where they really stand when it comes to determining and proclaiming what is right and what is wrong. I wish you well as you develop a systematic worldview.
Peace be with you brothers and sisters.
Photo attributions:
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay