Page 27 - Biblical Ethics Course

For Christians, an even greater incentive to explore biblical ethics is the fact that ethics finds its foundation
in God himself. Biblically speaking, it is God, as Creator of a morally ordered universe, and as an absolutely
perfect being, who is the author of morality. It is God who endowed the creation with norms and standards
and holds its inhabitants answerable to him. In biblical terms, then, ethics is not a human invention. It is
rooted in God himself.

The source of Ethical Standards

According to the Bible, God supplies ethics with not only its source but also its anchor. This
anchor is found in the worldview that emerges from the story of salvation that God tells in
his Word. This worldview says that God created us in his own image (Gen.1:27). Therefore,
the ultimate foundation of ethics is the character and will of God, which is made known
supremely through Jesus Christ and in Scripture. Christian ethics may be thought of as the
philosophy of human conduct as it is determined by Divine conduct. It is a systematic
explanation of the moral example and teaching of Jesus applied to the total life of the individual in society and
actualized by the power of the will of God for human action. Let us learn to live according to the Bible. Learning
to live according to Bible is the goal of Biblical Ethics.

Christian ethics does not stop with a study of what is right or wrong, good or bad. It immediately proceeds to
learn how to live the good life once it is known. Conduct is merely an outward expression of character. Ethics is
as much a study of character as it is of conduct. Christianity is largely responsible for the inwardness of an act
being good is prior to doing good.

The Importance of Biblical Ethics

Ethics has twofold purpose, first to define the “Highest good,” and second to declare the principles of Human
action required to attain this goal. At the very outset of creation, God himself introduced ethics when he
repeatedly declared his own work “good” Genesis 1 and proceeded to give Adam and Eve responsibilities to
fulfill Gen.2:15-19 and standards to live by. Then, after rescuing Israel from bondage and choosing her as his
special possession (Ex. 19:1–6). God began his relationship with the elect people by giving them an ethical
charter to govern their behavior toward him and among themselves ( Ex.20:1-17). This basic code was expanded
in the rest of the first five books of the Bible, the Torah (meaning “law” or “instruction”).

Centuries later, when Jesus appeared on the scene to usher in the climactic phase of redemptive history, he too
started out by issuing an ethical manifesto to provide guidance for the conduct of his disciples (Mathew 5-7). At
the heart of Jesus’ ethic is the call to love God and others (Mark 12:28-31), a call that resounds through the rest
of the New Testament (1 Cor. 13:1-3; James 2:8; 1 Peter4:7-8, 1 John 4:8)

When we come to the final moment of salvation history, with the establishment of the new heaven and the new
earth Revelation 21-22), we hear the ethical note once again. Along with this brief overview of ethics in the
biblical story line, the importance of ethics is further highlighted by the high value God places on the ethical life.
The Bible condemns those who subvert ethics by calling good evil and evil good (Isa.5:20) and says that right
belief must express itself in right action (James 2:14-26). It matters immensely to God that we believe
rightly and live rightly. Christians need the light and perfect guidance from the Scripture to live life that glorifies
God. It is especially imperative that we understand Biblical Ethics in order to give sound moral guidance to those
we lead.

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