Page 13 - Christ and Culture Textbook

What is the Basis of Biblical Living?

According to Charles Hodges, the will of God is the ultimate ground of moral obligation to all rational
creatures. No higher reason can be assigned why anything is right than that God commands it. This
means, (1.) That the divine will is the only rule for deciding what is right and what is wrong. (2.) That his
will is that which binds us, or that to which we are bound to be conformed. By the word “will” is not
meant any arbitrary purpose, so that it were conceivable that God should will right to be wrong, or
wrong right (Hodges, Systematic,1997, p 406)

Knowing the TRUTH should lead us to ACTION
The ultimate foundation for determining what is wrong or right is the character and will of God, which is
made known supremely through Jesus Christ and in Scripture. Let us learn to live according to the Bible.
Learning to live according to Bible is the goal of Christianity.
Christian life does not stop with a study of what is right or wrong, good or bad. It must proceed to learn
how to live the God intended life once it is known. Christian living springs from the doctrinal truths of
the Word of God. A Christian is not satisfied to know the good but choose the evil. We must strive to
relate behavior to the Gospel. It can readily be seen that Christian living has its source in the Scriptures.

The Christian life must be boldly lived out in a contemporary setting.
At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Basle came to a knowledge of the truth, but, afraid to
make a public confession, he wrote on a leaf of parchment: “O most merciful Christ, I know that I can be
saved only by the merit of thy blood. Holy Jesus, I acknowledge thy sufferings for me. I love thee! I love
thee!” Then he removed a stone from the wall of his chamber and hid it there. It was not discovered for
more than a hundred years.

About the same time Martin Luther found the truth as it is in Christ. He said: “My Lord has confessed me
before men; I will not shrink from confessing Him before kings.” The world knows what followed, and
today it reveres the memory of Luther; but as for Martin of Basle, who cares for him? (Paul Lee
Tan,1996, p.1272.)

 Culture will tell you that there is no moral facts
 Culture will tell you that there is no objective truth.
 Culture will tell you that what is good for another may not be good for the other.
 Culture will tell you that what is right and wrong is determined by culture.

Objective Morality
Norman Geisler defines objective morality as the following: “Morality deals with what is right, as
opposed to wrong. It is an obligation, that for which a person is accountable. An absolute moral
obligation is: an objective (not subjective) moral duty—a duty for all persons. an eternal (not temporal)
obligation—a duty at all times a universal (not local) obligation—a duty for all places. An absolute duty is
one that is binding on all persons at all times in all places.”

Objectivism is the only coherent view of morality. Only objectivism makes sense of our experience, of
our perception of society and laws, our intuition and guilt. It is the only view of morality that can be
lived consistently. And it points very strongly toward the existence of a transcendent, powerful, personal
God.

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