In our society today, we have blurred the line between morals and ethics, and have tried to make the two synonymous. But that is not the Truth. Morals deal with "what is," the current reality or state of affairs. Whatever a majority of a given population or sub-set of that population is doing at a given time is moral for that group. Morals change. As an example, at one bleak time in our nation's history, it was moral to own slaves.
Ethics, however, deal with "what ought to be." Ethics is the standard, the plumbline by which we are to judge whether or not something is good or right or True. Ethics transcend mankind, and they do NOT change. If a majority of people in a given society engage in ethical behavior, then morality for that society will line up with what is ethical.
But it is part of our baser human nature to not want to be told when we are wrong. It is why denial is such a universal human condition. The irony is that the very presence of denial is part of the proof of the existence of this ethical standard. After all, if there is no magnetic North, then North becomes whatever I want my compass to say it is. I don't need to defend my decision or actions to anyone.
But picture life in such a world. My friend moves 3 hours away, and then calls up and invites my family to stay with him for a while. He gives me directions to get to his house, and my family and I set out. Ten hours later, we still haven't reached his home. Since in this world, there is no magnetic North, my friend and I are completely free to decide what North, South, East and West mean for us individually, without any external constraints. The problem is that without a transcendent, external standard, my friend and I have lost any ability to communicate directions to one another, and there is no guarantee that we will ever be able to find one another again.
Sadly, this is what many in our society are attempting to usher in. They view ethical standards, grounded in the unchangeable Truth of the Word of God, as burdensome and narrow. What they fail to realize is that it is the very existence of this ethical standard that allows us to come together and have a dialog. You can deny that a standard exists, but that does not make the standard disappear.
But for the sake of argument, if everyone in our society suddenly agreed that there is no ethical standard, we would be plunged into anarchy, because everyone would simply do whatever was right in his own sight. Children who were abused would have no advocate, no protection, no recourse, no justice. Because in order for anyone to determine that their abuser's behavior is "wrong," there must a way to determine what behavior is "right." In this imaginary, standard-free society, might makes right, and there would not be a thing that anyone could do to stop it.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Redemption in His Blood
Eph 1:7-8a NASB In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace [8] which He lavished on us.
This verse makes it clear that our redemption does not come from within ourselves. We cannot pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, dust ourselves off and present ourselves to God as worthy of entering Heaven. No, our redemption is "In Him."
More specifically, our redemption is "through His blood." While it may offend our modern, sanitized sensibilities, the process of bringing forth life is a messy business. That is true whether we speak of our physical birth into this world, or our spiritual re-birth into the family of God through Jesus.
As we push through the spiritual birth canal, the indescribable power of the blood of Christ completely surrounds and covers us. We are immersed in it. There is no part of our being that is not touched by His blood, so when we come out of the birth canal, we appear spotless and blameless before a holy God.
There are two significant differences between the two births. First, physical birth is a long process that can take many hours. But since Jesus lives in eternity, our spiritual birth happens in the instant that we acknowledge our sin, recognize our need for a Savior, and accept the gift of salvation that only Jesus is qualified to offer. Second, on the physical level, we had no input into whether or not we would be conceived or born. But on the spiritual level, every person must make that choice.
Imagine the pains of childbirth. Now multiply that pain billions of times for every person, from the beginning to the end of human history who has ever been conceived and concentrate it down to a period of hours. In a very real sense, this is precisely what Jesus went through in His scourging, crucifixion and death. He was going through the pains of childbirth for the entire human race, to give us all the opportunity for new life.
Since Jesus paid the price for the sins for ALL of humanity, EVERY person will pass through this birth canal. Tragically, there are many who will needlessly arrive stillborn into the Second Death. This will be by their own choice of spitting in the face of Jesus, by spurning the gift that it cost Him everything to provide. But not one person suffering an eternity in hell will be paying for their sin. They will be suffering the consequence of this one decision to spurn Jesus' gift.
If Jesus was willing to go through that agony for us, then those of us who know Jesus as our Savior must we must be willing to step out of our comfort zones to passionately, urgently, gently, genuinely and lovingly share the Truth of this gift with everyone we meet.
Kevin E. Ness
#TheTruthJustIs
This verse makes it clear that our redemption does not come from within ourselves. We cannot pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, dust ourselves off and present ourselves to God as worthy of entering Heaven. No, our redemption is "In Him."
More specifically, our redemption is "through His blood." While it may offend our modern, sanitized sensibilities, the process of bringing forth life is a messy business. That is true whether we speak of our physical birth into this world, or our spiritual re-birth into the family of God through Jesus.
As we push through the spiritual birth canal, the indescribable power of the blood of Christ completely surrounds and covers us. We are immersed in it. There is no part of our being that is not touched by His blood, so when we come out of the birth canal, we appear spotless and blameless before a holy God.
There are two significant differences between the two births. First, physical birth is a long process that can take many hours. But since Jesus lives in eternity, our spiritual birth happens in the instant that we acknowledge our sin, recognize our need for a Savior, and accept the gift of salvation that only Jesus is qualified to offer. Second, on the physical level, we had no input into whether or not we would be conceived or born. But on the spiritual level, every person must make that choice.
Imagine the pains of childbirth. Now multiply that pain billions of times for every person, from the beginning to the end of human history who has ever been conceived and concentrate it down to a period of hours. In a very real sense, this is precisely what Jesus went through in His scourging, crucifixion and death. He was going through the pains of childbirth for the entire human race, to give us all the opportunity for new life.
Since Jesus paid the price for the sins for ALL of humanity, EVERY person will pass through this birth canal. Tragically, there are many who will needlessly arrive stillborn into the Second Death. This will be by their own choice of spitting in the face of Jesus, by spurning the gift that it cost Him everything to provide. But not one person suffering an eternity in hell will be paying for their sin. They will be suffering the consequence of this one decision to spurn Jesus' gift.
If Jesus was willing to go through that agony for us, then those of us who know Jesus as our Savior must we must be willing to step out of our comfort zones to passionately, urgently, gently, genuinely and lovingly share the Truth of this gift with everyone we meet.
Kevin E. Ness
#TheTruthJustIs
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