THE NEED FOR A STANDARD.
One reason so much deception exists is that people compare themselves to others or to a false standard. II Cor. 10:12b "but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." A person can honestly believe he is right and be totally wrong. Many people have the wrong idea of right and wrong, or good and evil. Even in the churches of today there are many different standards taught.
Imagine what would happen if a group of carpenters who were all working the same building used measuring devices that varied. The work of each would measure up only to his own standard, yet the whole project would be wrong.
Many who claim to be Christians are using a false measuring device to check themselves out. The work would meet their own standard, but the standard itself is wrong and deception occurs.
The moral law is the only standard of holiness that exists. It is the true standard of all right and wrong. It determines whether any being is righteous or evil, including God. This standard is eternal and has its foundations in God's uncreated intelligence.
For a proper understanding of the moral law, a person must understand that God is both an uncreated eternal being and a creator. He has many natural uncreated attributes or characteristics. These attributes exist out of necessity because they are part of God's uncreated eternal being. God has always existed; He has no beginning. God did not create Himself nor did He create any of His natural attributes. For example, God did not create His power. His power, like Himself, has no beginning. His power has its foundation in God's uncreated essence.
God has many uncreated natural attributes: some of these are:
1. He is an uncreated eternal being.
2. He has all possible knowledge. There is nothing knowable that He does not know.
3. He can be in all possible places at once.
4. He has all possible power. There is no greater power then God.
5. He has all possible wisdom.
6. He has a will and the freedom to make choices.
God is also a moral being who creates. The things He creates exist out of His free choice. Some people get upset when they hear that God has limitations. They fail to understand that God did not create any of His natural attributes. These attributes are part of God's eternal makeup and being. He cannot change the facts of these natural attributes any more than He change the fact that He exists. For example, God cannot change the fact that He has all power. He can choose how He uses His power but He cannot choose to have less power. God also cannot change the fact that He has all possible knowledge. He cannot choose to have less knowledge.
God has both moral and natural attributes. To help clarify this idea, study the following charts.
CHART ONE
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His natural attributes. --------------------------- God's free will |
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exists as a result of His free choice. |
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expression of His character. |
God's natural attributes exist out of necessity. God's moral attributes exist out of free choice. God's real value and worth are not judged just by the facts of His natural attributes. The fact that God is an uncreated eternal being and has all power does not give Him any praiseworthiness or value. What if God chose to use His power for selfish reasons or in some inappropriate way? It is what God chooses to do with what He has that gives Him true value and praise.
God is a moral being and He has created other moral beings because He wanted intelligent creatures that He could share His love with. God created man in His own image, after His likeness. Each person, like God, has both natural and moral attributes.
Man also has no control or free choice involved over his natural attributes. God has free choice and has created man with the freedom of choice. God has given man the ability to determine and create his own character, either good or evil. God has given each person the power and the freedom to create their own thoughts, ideas, and actions. Each person creates his own moral character. Every person has the freedom to become evil, rebellious and wicked or holy, obedient and righteous.
There are two types of law, physical necessity and free action. For example the law of gravity is a physical law. If you hold up a brick and then let go, it must fall. You will always get the same result no matter how often you do this. Physical law is a course or rule of action that has a fixed and certain result. There is no free choice involved and no other course possible. God's and man's natural attributes are under physical law because they exist out of necessity and not free choice.
The word moral has to do with right and wrong. Moral law is a course or rule of action. True freedom must involve choice. The choices any person makes are not fixed or certain. Freedom of action implies different responses to the same effects. The future resulting actions or choices of any free being are not certain or fixed. The result is uncertain because there is a choice involved. Even God Himself has more than one possible course of action. For right and wrong, or sin and holiness to exist there must be a free choice of at least two things. Each moral being must choose between supreme selfishness and supreme love.
God willingly and cheerfully chooses supreme love. He will never do anything selfish because He is more concerned about greater interests than just Himself. His main concern is the highest good of all His creation. He chooses to submit to the moral law because He sees its value and worth. There can be no holiness without free choice. God's holiness and love and character exist because of His free choosing. God is very personal and active. He has made many choices and will continue to make many more.
The moral law with its penalty has its foundations within the eternal unchangeable nature of God. It is established in His uncreated reason and intelligence. God did not create nor did He form the law. God cannot change the fact that supreme selfishness is evil and that it truly deserves punishment. God only declares and enforces the law. He cannot change or present a different law of righteousness. The ten commandments did not create man's duty to God and to one another. These commandments simply defined man's responsibilities because man had lost the right attitude and disposition of heart that Adam and Eve had in the garden before their rebellion.
God commands us to be holy and perfect like Him. I Peter1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
Matt. 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." These verses must relate to God's moral attributes, not His natural.
How could God ever expect a sinner to become holy as He is if His own holiness did not involve free choice? It is obvious that holiness and perfection are not part of man's physical structure or makeup. All holiness is moral in nature and is the result from a free choice. God's moral character is the result of His choice. God is perfect and holy because He chooses to use His natural resources in the right way and for the right reason. Man sins because he chooses to use his natural resources in the wrong way and for the wrong reason. Man sins when he violates his own reason and prefers his own personal interest over God's and others.
Some teach that God's love is one of His natural attributes. They compare God's love to water containing oxygen. They teach that just as water contains oxygen; God contains love. They also say that without oxygen, water cannot exist and that without love God could not exist.
This teaching does not give an accurate picture of God. Water does not have any free choice that it contains oxygen nor does it have any moral virtue. Love is a moral attribute and can only exist because of free choice. God's structure does not consist of love. What value or virtue could you place on God if He had to be loving because there was no other possibility? His love would be worthless.
God is loving and holy because He freely chooses and wants to be. God's love and holiness exist because of free choice, not necessity. If God's holiness and love were one of His natural attributes, then He could never be holy or loving.
God can command all created beings to love Him because of His moral attributes. The fact that God is an uncreated eternal being and has all possible power does not give Him any praise worthiness or value. What if God chose to use His power for selfish reasons? God's moral character is what gives God true value and praise.
The possibility for God to sin has to exist and must always exist because holiness depends on free choice. God will never violate His own reason nor will He choose to act selfishly. This would not remove the possibility that He could. God will always choose to do right because He is concerned about greater interests more than just Himself.
A penalty must always exist for any person who forms and creates his own evil character. The penalty for breaking the moral law is to spend eternity in hell. One reason this penalty is harsh is to show the value and worth of the law, and that breaking it is a crime that is very serious.
If you lived near a freeway and had young children, you would instruct and warn them not to go in the street. These instructions do not intend to place them under some heavy burden. You want to protect your children from harm. The rules do not prevent them from having real joy or fun. The law of God is like this; God loves man and wants to prevent his harm.
Deut. 6:24a "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive."
The law without a penalty would only be simple advice. Without the penalty the law would be meaningless. Like God's natural attributes, the moral law with its penalty cannot be changed. The moral law is the only rule that determines holiness or sin. Neither God nor man can repeal, alter or set this law aside.
God will for good reasons withhold the execution of the penalty but He cannot set it aside so that when a person sins they are not truly guilty and condemned. Sin must always be subject to the penalty of the law. God only pardons a person when he repents and believes.
You can see the importance of the moral law. It is the only true standard that determines all good and evil or holiness and sin. It alone declares if someone is good or evil. Either a person meets this standard or he does not. God Himself willingly chooses to submit to the moral law. It is the law that declares His holiness.
Study Questions.
1. Name the only standard used to measure all sin and holiness.
2. Explain the difference between physical and moral law.
3. Define moral law.
4. What are two basic truths about God?
5. Why is it important to know the difference between these two basic truths?
6. Is God's holiness a natural or moral attribute? Why? Does it matter? Why?
7. Name the requirement for sin and holiness or right and wrong to exist. Why?
8. Did God create the moral law? Can He change it?
9. What did the ten commandments do? Why were they necessary?
10. Can God set aside the moral law? Why?
11. Why was the law given?
12. What is law without a penalty?
13. Can God prevent real guilt and condemnation?
14. Why is there a penalty for breaking the law? Why is it so harsh?
15. What declares God's holiness and righteousness?
16. What Is sin? Can God sin? Why?
17. Why can God command us to love Him?
18. Why is God loving?
19. Is the teaching that compares God's love to water having oxygen correct?