The Issues of Ethics

One thing I love about Australian culture is the high value placed on volunteerism and being involved in the local community to make a positive impact.  For over a century in Australia, scripture teaching has been provided in public primary schools.  I have been delighted over the last year and a half to volunteer to teach one class a week at a local school.  While scripture teaching is available to all students, parents are free to have their child "opt out" of these classes.  I am in agreement with this policy.  As much as I believe in the power, truth, and necessity of scripture for life, I respect the rights of parents to choose for their kids.  May God use the children who attend scripture to positively live out the scriptures before their classmates in obedience to Christ - a far more powerful and persistent influence than I could ever wield.

In recent years there have been additional options provided, such as "philosophical ethics."  It has been put forth as a secular alternative to scripture with the slogan, "Just Think About It."  Truly, this is the desire of all who teach scripture as well.  Christian apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias has an aptly named radio program called, "Let My People Think!"  I do not view any tension between scripture teaching and philosophical ethics as in any way being in competition with one another, as if "anything you can do I can do better."  The fact is, the worldview and philosophies of scripture and ethics are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  From a biblical perspective, the approach of ethics saddens me for many reasons.

The basic claim of scripture is it is the divinely inspired Word of God.  It is the unchanging truth of an unchanging God who created all things, loves His creation, and created man in His own image.  He holds forth absolutes concerning the fall and subsequent sinfulness of man, the consequences of sin being death, and He has demonstrated His love for all by sending Jesus to be the Saviour of the World.  Through Jesus alone does man find eternal life and the power to live life now in the way that pleases God.  God has revealed Himself, and man can have a relationship with the God who created and loves Him through faith.  The Bible teaches us only God is good, and man despite his best efforts is futile and lost.  Man needs God, and that is a critical problem in ethics.

Since anything good comes from God, anything "good" (by the scriptural definition) must come from God.  Anything "good" therefore in the philosophies of men has been borrowed from the Bible and repackaged.  Ethics appeals to the supposed good found within people which God's Word says does not naturally exist, nor is it fostered through the efforts of the flesh (Ps. 53:3).  Even if the right thing is done, it can be performed with the wrong attitude.  Philosophy is powerless in itself  to provide the actual means, motive, or ability to do the good which only comes through the Holy Spirit empowering a person to do so.  The very nature of a secular approach to ethics suggests man can be good or do right without God.  Humanistic ethics denies the necessity of repentance, spiritual regeneration, and salvation.  It substitutes man's wisdom (which the scripture deems folly) for God's wisdom - the true wisdom from above.  Instead of mere behaviour modification, God desires to transform us from within by His grace.

The scripture says in Colossians 2:8-10, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."  God is not like a man, and God's wisdom is not like man's wisdom.  The Bible is a spiritually discerned book, and we can only implement the truth into our minds and lives by the power of God who dwells within born-again believers.  Most men will proclaim their own goodness, and there is a rare man who sees his faults and acknowledges them.  Without the power of Jesus Christ, however, no man has within him the power to change himself or earn forgiveness of sin.  Jesus Christ is the Way, Truth, and the Life, the wisdom from above who powerfully transforms all who trust in Him!

So the question which must be asked is, has scripture teaching been reduced to ethics or an exercise in behaviour modification?  Or is an opportunity been provided to experience the truth of God's Word and a life of faith in Christ so the change comes from within?  One of the expressed purposes of scripture teaching in New South Wales is for children to hear the scriptures from people who personally exercise faith in their lives.  Information is important, and a relationship with God far more important still!  If scripture is ever reduced to focusing on sharing information or addressing behaviour, it is sorely missing the point.