Key Moral Principles

Read and understand these set texts:

Leviticus 19:34; Luke 10:25-28

³⁴ The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God

(The Parable of the Good Samaritan)

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Exodus 34:6-7; 1 John 4:19-21

⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 Samuel 12:24; Ephesians 4:25-27

²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”^[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.

2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Timothy 1:5

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹² Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity^[a] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.

⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Matthew 6:14-15; Colossians 3:12-13

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

• Christian moral principles are based on God's laws regarding behaviour
• Christians attempt to obey certain rules laid down by God and recorded in the OT law and in the NT teaching of Jesus
• Jesus was often challenged by Jewish leaders about his attitude to OT law, and why his followers did not adhere to it more closely
• He was once asked by a Pharisee, a member of a sect devoted to the study of the law, 'Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?' Jesus replied: '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." On these commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' (Matthew 22:37-40)

• When he commanded his followers to 'love hte Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind', Jesus was echoing what had already been written in the OT Book of Deuteronomy (6:5): 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might'
• When he commanded his followers to 'love your neighbour as yourself', he was echoing the OT Book of Leviticus (19:18)
• Leviticus goes on to give a reason for this commandment: the Israelites are to welcome foreigners as fellow citizens and to 'love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt' (19:34)
• The two commandments are repeated in the introduction to one of Jesus' best known parables, the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
• 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?'
• 'What is written in the law'
• (Law commands people to love God and to love their neighbour as themselves)
• 'Do this and you will live'

• 'And who is my neighbour?'
• story of man who is attacked and robbed on road from Jerusalem to Jericho - 2 Jewish religious leaders pass without offering assistance, but a Samaritan (Jews - Samaritans enemies) stops, binds his wounds and takes care of him
• 'Go and do likewise'
• Obv for J that neighbour is everyone whom we happen to meet; friend or enemy
• In the Sermon on the Mount, J told his folowers that they had heard the old saying, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy'
• 'But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' (Matthew 5:43)
• To love G with heart, soul and mind is to recognise that everyone is part of his creation
• They deserve respect, and their needs and desires must be as highly regarded as one's own
• This is a Christian imperative

God's love as a potential model for Christian behaviour

• The basic model for Christian behaviour is the love shown for humans by God himself
• In both OT and NT, God is presented as a God of love
• In OT, in Exodus 34:6-7 there is a famous passage where G reveals himself to Moses and, in words attributed to God himmself, describes his own character, proclaiming that he is:
• Merciful: he does not punish us as we deserve;
• Gracious: he gives us what we do not deserve;
• Slow to anger: he is longsuffering, patient;
• Abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness; his love and faithfulness are unchanging;
• Keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation; his is an active love for the entire human race
• Forgiving inquity, and transgression and sin: he forgives all - inquity (our fallen nature) , transgression (deliberate and defiant revolt against his law) and sin (every wrong we do, accidental or otherwise);
• Yet by no means clearing the guilty: he is nevertheless a God of justice; his love includes correction, those who insist on doing evil will be punished;

• Visiting the inquity of the parents upon the children, and upon the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation; the consequence of sin is likely to be felt by the family of the guilty, but will be limited to three or four generations

• The NT teaches G's steadfast love and faithfulness was revealed fully in the life, and particularly in the death, of J
• Since God has so loved humans, humans must so love God
• In his First Epistle (4:19-21), John insists that it is impossible to love God without also loving other people
• Those who say that they love God, and hate their bro and sis, are liars
• If they do not love their bro or sis, whom they have seen, how can they love God, whom they have not seen?
• True love of God includes a love of humanity

• Christians have always considered themselves to be guardians of the truth
• 'Truth' - the ultimate meaning and value of existence
• They believe that the Bible communicates the truth about the nature of God, the Person of Jesus, the history of salvation
• In the OT (1 Samuel 12:24), the Israelites are commanded to 'fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you'
• The 'great things' he had done for Israel was to free her from captivity in Egypt and lead her through forty years in the wilderness to the promise land of Canaan
• In recognition of this, the Irraelites are called 'to serve him faithfully'
• The NT account of G's saving grace is even more dramatic
• Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, he has freed humans from captivity to sin and death and led them to a promised eternal life
• In recognition of this, Christians are called to put away their old, corrupt self and to clothe themselves with 'the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness' (Ephesians 4:24)
• Paul advises Christians to 'speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil' (Ephesians 4:25-27)

• It is all right, says Paul, for Christianns to feel angry
• But their anger must be directed against sin, and it must not be allowed to fester in the heart because that opens the door for the devil

• Bible teaches - bc made in image of God, have innate sense of right and wrong
• Able to view life situations in a moral or ethical light and judge
• This ability is called 'conscience'
• As Paul writes in his First Letter to Timothy (1:5), 'the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith'.
• Christians believe that their conscience is informed both by the Bible and the work of the HS
• When they violate the standards that they believe are expected of them, they experience guilt
• They are then to confess their sin and experience God's forgiveness
• If conscience is repeatedly ignored, one's sensitivity to moral issues becomes desensitised, and one goes along with things one knows to be wrong
• Conscience can also become overly sensitive, condeming the believer for normal human failures, and leading to false guilt
• The Christian's goal is to develop a mature conscience based on biblical teaching as illuminated by the HS
• The Bible is clear that believers must have their conscience informed by God's word
• Christians must therefore satisfy themselves that their moral behaviour satisfies their conscience and will not cause guilt

The need for forgiveness

• Forgiveness is a prominent theme in the teaching of Jesus
• In his Seron on the Mount (Matthew 6:14-5), he told his followers that if they do not forgive, they themselves will not be forgiven
• It is this idea that lies behind the petition in the Lord's Prayer, 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors' (Matthew 6:12)
• On another occasion, when Peter asked him, 'how often should I forgive? As many times as seven times?'
• 'Seventy-seven times' (Matthew 18:21-22)
• The answer suggests that forgiveness is not easy. People who have been wronged do not naturally overflow with grace and mercy. Nevertheless, Christians must spend a lifetime forgiving
• Paul echoes Jesus' teaching. For him, the model for Christian forgiveness is the forgiveness freely granted to sinners by God
• In his Letter to the Colossians (3:12-13), he writes 'Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive'

• Forgiveness is therefore a conscious choice that Christians must make through a decision of the will motivated by obedience to God
• They believe that forgiveness sets them free from all feelings of anger and hurt that previously constrained them

Whether love of neighbour is the most important moral principle in Christianity

• All C - love of neighbour v imp moral principle!
• J taught and illustrated in his parables, demonstrated by example during his life on earth in the assistance he gave to the suffering and the bereaved, and the sympathy he showed to marginalised and those in need
• J said: 'In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law...' (Matthew 7:12)
• This Golden Rule sums up his ethical teaching
• Other writings in NT -
• 1 Corinthians 13; Paul declares 'these three  remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love'.
• The same word agape is used.
• Alternatively, 1 John 2:10 states, 'Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble'.

• However, there are many important moral principles in C such as care for the poor and needy, those who are oppressed and those who suffer
• The imperative to give to less fortunate is also important as is the guidance offered by the Ten Commandments
• The issue is, can C really perform the above w/o 'love of neighbour'?
• NO! Love for neighbour, drives other moral principles

• Argues J followers called to love all God's people
• In so doing, they not only make the world a better pllace but they also find their own fulfilment
• To be loved, they must love. To be respected, must respect all. To be forgiven, they must forgive. Wish to not be judged, must not judge others.
• In addition, J wanted his followers to reject selfishness and seek the welfare of their fellow humans, whoever and wherever they may be
• This universal love is at the very heart of his teaching
• Thus, his followers believe that to practise this love is the work that God has given them to do on earth

• Another argument; in J's teaching, the love of neighbour comes second to the love of God
• First 'moral' imperative is to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with al your soul, and with all your mind'
• How can this be 'moral', one asks?
• This argument states that Christians believe that the difficult task of loving their neighbour is not only something that they can do by themselves; can only be done when they are united to God in love
• Thus, the true love of neighbour cannot be accomplished w/o loving God!

• Therefore, impossible to love people in all their imperfections unless one is united in love to God who created them as his children
• Equally, it is impossible to be united in love to God w/o loving the men and women that he has created
• For Christians, loving G is made visible in a sacrificial loving of others
• In this sense, love for neighbour is transformed into the supreme moral imperative for Christians

Conclusion...

• Could be argued all moral principles in Christianity emanate from the love for God and are expressed initially through an imperative to 'love your neighbour', but also extends to other moral principles of Christian life
• In this sense, love of neighbour is the most important moral principle in Christianity in so far as it reflects the love for, and of, God

The extent to which God's behaviour towards humans is the basis for Christian morality

• C often base their morality on what they know of G and his behaviour towards humans
• Exodus 34, G revealed himself to Moses as merciful and gracious, long-suffering and patient, active in his love for Israel, forgiving and just
• The OT depicts God's relationship with Israelites as one of loving faithfulness (Hebrew chesed)
• In addition to this, God's behaviour towards humans can bee seen in the legal directives of the Torah in terms of the treatment of strangers in Leviticus 19:34:
• 'The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born
• Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.'
• In addition, the basis of Jesus' 'Greatest Commandment' is found in Leviticus 19:18, 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.'
• Also, Christians believe these attributes of G were fully revealed in the NT in the life, and particularly the death, of Jesus
• John 3:16: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.'

• In addition to this, since God has so loved humans, humans must so love God
• True love of God includes a love of humanity
• As JOhn says in his First Epistle, 'we love because he first loved us'
• The appropriate way to respond to God's love is therefore to show love for humans by keeping his commandments
• 'The love of God is this,' says John, (1 John 5:3), 'that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome'.
• The commandments, however, include not only the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites through Moses, but Jesus' interpretation of them and, in particular, those issued by Jesus himself during his earthly life
• The example of God, in the form of Jesus, is of paramount significance
• In Jesus, it could be argued that we see the exemplary model of unconditional and sacrifical love
• As Jesus was fully God then the actions he performed must become the basis for Christian morality
• He accepted all, forgave the sinners, welcomed the outcasts and cared for the weak and sick

• Indeed, some Christians would say that all that matters is trying to live and treat others as Jesus did
• But it is not easy always to follow Jesus' example and teachings
• After all, Jesus challenged his followers to leave home and posessions and 'take up their cross'
• Very few people have responnded in full to this challenge
• Nevertheless, with the assistance of the HS, as demonstrated explicitly in Acts, Christians aim to live a life that is shaped by the message of the Gospel and transformed by the love of God so that they may act as a force for good in the world, advocating the rights of all people to peace and social justice
• In conclusion, Christian morality could be argued to be directly and explicitly influenced by God's behaviour towards humans