Morality and Ethics
“Behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it … They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.” Jeremiah 6:10b, 14-15a
The above quotation is from the prophet Jeremiah. He lived and ministered in the late days of the southern kingdom of Israel (Judah), and prophesied in and around the capital city of Jerusalem. He spoke powerfully for the Lord, and spoke against multiple false prophets. The false prophets went about speaking “peace” and “God’s blessing” over the people, while Jeremiah reminded the people that they had strayed far from God’s will and stood in eminent danger of judgment. Repentance and change were the answer, not proclamations of peace that further affirmed the degraded moral and cultural situation. There cannot be peace when a country lives in open rebellion against the moral will of the Lord.
I am writing to you today to help bring into focus a number of things that will be important for us this year as a church. Yesterday, our new president made repeated calls for unity and peace in our country. As followers of Jesus Christ, we should lead the way in love, humility, and being peacemakers. The world will know that we are true followers of Jesus by how we love one another (John 13:35). But there can be no unity between light and darkness (Eph 5:8), there can be no peace between good and evil.
We must keep clearly before us that the central figures of this new administration have run, and come to power, seeking a “new” morality. This is not politics, this is ethics. Ethics is the study of what is morally right and wrong. As Christians, we do not form our ethic (understanding of right and wrong) by majority popular opinion, we look to the Bible as God’s word. This is where the rubber hits the road of biblical authority, and we must truly decide who and what we believe.
We need to examine one precursor issue before looking at the main issues at stake. The leaders of this administration are passionately committed to evolution. They believe, and often speak about, new morals and new realities. They believe that humanity came about through progressive change, and that we are still progressively moving toward a higher state of existence. This, by default, means that an ancient religion like biblical Christianity is out of date and needs to be replaced. That is exactly what we should expect on many ethical fronts this year.
Contrary to evolutionary thinking, biblical Christians believe that the Lord created this world with purpose and specific ordained moral boundaries. We also believe that God does not change (Heb 13:8) and human nature does not change. The issues outlined are not new. They have been with humanity since ancient times. The ethical decisions of this administration are not “new,” but the opposite moral direction of God’s will. They call good evil, and evil good. They call light darkness, and darkness light (Isaiah 5:20). Similar to the time of the prophet Isaiah, we are in the midst of a reversal of the moral order.
I am asking you to consider the following issues. You must study the Bible and research the facts until you have come to a settled biblical perspective on these issues.
They are not going to go away, and the pressure to accept them is going to go up dramatically.
- Abortion: This administration is pressing for abortion to be accepted as a female healthcare “right.” They are openly and passionately pressing for abortion for any woman, under any circumstance, and paid for by government (taxpayer) funding. This is the systematic taxpayer funded killing of the unborn. This is a central pillar in their struggle to fundamentally change sexual ethics.
- Sexual Ethics: This administration fully embraces and celebrates open sexual relations of any sort between any combination of consenting adults. This is spoken of as “freedom.” The idea of biblical one man / one woman marriage is far in the past. This administration is pressing to change legal precedent across the board to make all forms of sexual expression a non-moral issue. When the Lord has determined that our sexuality is a major moral issue, these two paths are in direct conflict.
- Gender Identity: This administration is fully committed to the understanding that gender is self-determined (you decide where you are on a sliding gender scale), instead of the gender of each person being predetermined (decided by God). This administration is pressing hard for gender “equality.” This means the forced full acceptance of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, and any other variant of these gender categories that can be developed. Again, gender identity is being forcibly moved into the non-moral category, as if God has nothing meaningful to say about these things.
- Religious Liberty: This administration clearly places religious liberty secondary to abortion rights, sexual ethics, and issues of gender identity. This means that the free practice of religion is fine as long as it accepts these new ethical norms. If you notice, each category is specifically presented with positive language of “rights, freedom, and equality.” Biblical Christians will be painted as backward, hateful, repressive, un-American, and bigoted for preaching a biblical ethic. As this new morality is forced on churches and all sorts of Christian businesses (schools, hospitals, adoption agencies, etc.) our resolve will be tested. This is the same way Isaiah and Jeremiah were treated, and it must not surprise us.
To come full-circle, there can be no peace and unity over such serious issues of moral divide. These issues are of such significance, that to give them up is to give up biblical Christianity. Don’t be deceived, the destruction and canceling of biblical Christianity is exactly what is on the agenda.
However, take heart, the word of the Lord is true, pure, right, and stands forever (Psalm 12:6). The purposes of the Lord will prevail. Let’s be determined now to not give up this important moral ground, but in our standing, stand with the evangelical love of Jesus Christ. May the world see in us not only that these ways are right, but also that they are good.
May the Lord strengthen our discernment and devotion in these days,
Pastor Vic