And of course, it is also true that if we only look at existential aspects of ethical questions, we rarely come to right conclusions regarding normative and situational issues. Listen to the way the author of Hebrews makes this point in Hebrews 11:6: Unless our attempts to seek God's blessings are founded on faith, we cannot please God, and therefore cannot be rewarded by him. Each approach provides a different way to understand ethics. The correct response to God’s work is biblical ethics. But beginning in verse 14 of the same chapter, he threatened horrible curses on them if they did not obey his every word. Even well-meaning Christians are all over the map when it comes to ethical and moral living. We look back to what God has done, sending his Son, uniting us to Christ, and placing his Spirit within us. Along with the situational and the normative perspectives, the existential perspective is a necessary tool for us as we seek to make ethical judgments.Scripture contains many examples of this approach to ethics, such as in 1 John 3:21, where the apostle wrote: His point was that as redeemed people, our hearts are in tune with God's character, and if God's love abides within us, we will be able to intuit what is right and what is wrong. God commanded that people behave and believe in a certain way, and his authority alone obligated all people to conform to this moral standard. God's moral standards hold us accountable in our actions, in the thoughts and inclinations of our heart and in our very natures. From a biblical perspective, every law is still binding on followers of Christ. Biblical Metaethics The Bible is clear that language is meant to express truth (Proverbs 12:17). Universalism 11. One of the chief ways God shows his approval for what is right and good is by bestowing blessings. Nevertheless, this is the only conclusion we can draw based on the awful judgments he threatens against those who turn against him. But this time ethics has reached its highest peak with the triumph of good (1 Cor. When we pay attention to God's blessings and curses, we find that the ethical aspect of many texts becomes clearer. First, we will notice how it draws attention to God and his blessings. This view is crucial for ethics. Besides stressing its importance, Scripture underscores the practical purpose that ethics serves. Ethics differs from morals and morality in that ethics denotes the theory of right action and the greater good, while morals indicate their practice. In fact, he taught that these attitudes actually violate the same commandments that forbid the sinful actions. Ethics is: In one way or another, every theological discipline and subject deals with God's blessings on good and curses against evil. Paul argued that by living holy lives, they would obtain eternal life. He began his teaching career at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and later became a founding faculty member at Westminster Seminary California, where he taught for more than 20 years. And for the same reasons, we are compelled to condemn as sinful, evil and wrong those things that oppose his nature. 4:17–24), private behavior and public morality (James 1:27), personal piety and communal justice (Jer. And third, we will take note of how Christian ethics goes beyond mere actions. The Bible does include moral teachings and descriptions of the moral life of believers in Yahveh and in Jesus. Attach a tilde (~) to the front of a word to omit results containing that word. Paul's statement of this doctrine is perhaps the clearest and most succinct in all of Scripture. Clearly, then, it is an integral part of biblical revelation. In Romans 14:23, he wrote: Actions must flow out of saving faith if God is to be pleased with them as good works. 19:5; 1 Pet. The first concerns the validation of our Christian identity. The susceptibility of Christians to erroneous teaching is clear in Scripture (I Timothy 1:3-11, 4:1-5; II Peter 2:1-22). Normative refers to the fact that God's Word is the norm or standard for ethics. Unbelievers do not love God they are hostile to him. As we have seen, the Bible defines good works as those that are done with the right motive, by the right standard, and for the right goal. 12:1ff. These people emphasize the dictates of Scripture. And we must also know the facts of a situation before our conscience can rightly point out our responsibilities. 3 central reference of Christian ethics is God Himself, who is the source of all moral requirements. Consider first how our definition focuses on ethics as a matter of God and his blessings. And as a result, they can never be motivated by love for God. Third, God's moral standards hold us accountable in our actions, in the thoughts and inclinations of our heart, and in our very natures. 5:20) and says that right belief must express itself in right action (James 2:14–26). And as we have already seen, things that do not merit reward are not good in God's eyes. And it is a description of sin as that which is foreign to the nature of God. Nevertheless, the Westminster Confession of Faith rightly does not let the matter rest at this point. It exists for the people of God. So we see, then, that Scripture affirms our consciences and the leading of the Holy Spirit as valid means to determine what is right and wrong. conceptualisation of ethics as encompassing (1) technology and society (2) engineering and society, and (3) ethical reasoning, and with outcomes related to an understanding of the inter-relationships between technological development and the welfare of individuals, society, and … It often seems counterintuitive to many believers that we place relatively equal emphasis on all three of these factors. Often, the terms"ethics"and"morality"are confused and used as synonyms; However, there are Certain differences between these. Nevertheless, 5:5; Gal. But, why is this? Justice and Rights 13. But the point is that God threatens these curses against those who refuse to obey his commandments and despise his covenant relationship. Ethics (or Moral Philosophy) is concerned with questions of how people ought to act, and the search for a definition of right conduct (identified as the one causing the greatest good) and the good life (in the sense of a life worth living or a life that is satisfying or happy). We are doing ethics from the normative perspective when we look to the Bible to tell us what to do. For this reason, if we are to please God, it is not enough that our actions and attitudes be morally good. In addition to focusing on the breadth of the subject of ethics, our definition addresses not only behavior, as is common in many ethical systems, but also the attitudes and natures of individual persons. This series on Making Biblical Decisions is the first in our course on Christian Ethics. Approaching ethics from the situational perspective involves noting the relations of means to ends in God's economy, asking questions like: What are the best means of achieving God's purposes? So, in effect we are suggesting that moral decisions can be made properly only when all three directions are taken on any given issue. Moreover, the Bible condemns those who subvert ethics by calling good evil and evil good (Isa. In light of this passage and others like it, we are obligated to see God's nature as the standard and model of goodness and rightness. From the outset, we see here that the Westminster Confession rightly admits that there is a sense in which unbelievers do things that God commands. As we have already said, only believers, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, can do works that God rewards with blessings. This definition will suffice as a basic orientation toward ethics, but in these lessons, we are not as interested in the broad study of ethics as we are in the particularly Christian or biblical view of ethics. As the people of God blessed with the Word of God, we must receive God’s ethical instruction in full submission and wisdom. As we use the term, ethics it is not just a branch of theology; it is an essential aspect of all theology and all Christian living. Here the Confession is speaking of God-given, saving faith that remains and grows within believers. We constantly feel ourselves pulled by a variety of influences, many of which do not recognize God's authority and do not care for His goodness. 3:14–17). When it comes to ethical judgments, they tend to ask questions like: What is my attitude? Jesus demonstrates this principle in his teaching on loving one’s enemies (Matt. We see this principle in action innumerable times through the Bible. I guess the older I get, th… The four principles of health care ethics are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. And in fact, these three criteria for good works correspond to the emphases we have just mentioned. His appeal was to the words of the Law that God had delivered to his people through Moses.The apostle John also adopted the normative perspective when he appealed to God's commandment as the basis for belief and behavior in 1 John 3:23: Again, God's Word was the basis for behavior. 13:1–3; James 2:8; 1 Pet. We might say that they look first at the fact that good works can only be done by good persons. They are not good enough to please God, or to earn the blessing of salvation. 2:9–12). Scripture addresses this aspect of our being in Romans 8:5-9 where Paul wrote: In short, all unbelievers "exist in accordance with the flesh"; their natures are evil, and therefore their actions and attitudes are also evil.