the christian’s relationship to morals

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The Christian’s Relationship to Morals

Romans 12:1-5

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Romans 12:1-5

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service

of worship. …”

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Romans 12:1-5

“… 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and

perfect….”

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Romans 12:1-5

“… 3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has

allotted to each a measure of faith. …”

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Romans 12:1-5

“… 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same

function, …”

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Romans 12:1-5

“… 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually

members one of another.”

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What Is The Reason For What We See?

• Sin is not looked upon as sin anymore–When you compare the shows from

yesteryear, you come up with a totally different set of morals.

–In comparing the shows from the different time periods it is easy to discover the difference in morals.

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Sin is not considered sin

• During the 40's and 50's the institution of marriage was still respected by most people. –Abortion and single-parenting was

equally almost non-existent–Drinking and gambling were looked

down upon as unproductive, no good, and sinful.

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Sin is not considered sin

• During the 40's and 50's the institution of marriage was still respected by most people. –But look around you today, Sexuality is

rampant, Abortion has become a form of birth-control, homes that remain intact are almost non-existent.

–Drinking and Gambling have become a disease, not a sin

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• There has been a general relaxing of attitudes toward morality.–"allow Lutherans to look favorably

on the development of a sexual relationship between a married person and someone other than his marriage partner." (Louisville Courier Journal July 3 10, 1970)

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• There has been a general relaxing of attitudes toward morality.–"Every man must decide for himself

what is right." –"any act -- even lying, premarital

sex, abortion, adultery, and murder -- could be right depending on the circumstances.“ Joseph Fletcher

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• Certainly this nation and society was not perfect, but sin was not glorified, glamorized and condoned by the majority of the people.–More so, even though much of this was

going on, it was not presented in such a daily format as Television

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• Just as Christians do not remain static - they continue to become better as they allow God's word to work in their lives;

• so do sinners become worse and worse

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2 Timothy 3:13

“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse,

deceiving and being deceived.”

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• Obviously, then, we cannot determine morality from the standards set by men,

• So how are we to determine what is morally right and good, so we can be pleasing to God.

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What is Morality?

• "What is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after." - Earnest

Hemingway –Is this our standard of morality?

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What is Morality?

• Webster:–(a) "of or relating to principles of right

and wrong in behavior: Ethical.

–(b) Expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior.

–(c) Conforming to a standard of right behavior.

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What is Morality?

• Should we use these definitions in determining morality?–One of the best places to go to

illustrate this is 2 Samuel 13:1-13

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister

whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David loved her. …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 2 Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made

himself ill, for she was a virgin, and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything

to her. …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 3 But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and

Jonadab was a very shrewd man. …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 4 He said to him, "O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning

after morning? Will you not tell me?" Then Amnon said to him, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother

Absalom." …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 5 Jonadab then said to him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say to him,

'Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and

eat from her hand.' " …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see

him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make me

a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand." …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 7 Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, "Go now to your

brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for him." …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.

…”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 9 She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, "Have everyone go out from me." So everyone went out

from him. …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the bedroom, that I

may eat from your hand." So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her

brother Amnon. …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 11 When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her,

"Come, lie with me, my sister." …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 12 But she answered him, "No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do

this disgraceful thing! …”

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2 Samuel 13:1-13

“… 13 "As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the

king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

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"for such a thing is not done in Israel"

• Leviticus 18:9

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Leviticus 18:9

“The nakedness of your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's

daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall

not uncover.”

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"for such a thing is not done in Israel"

• Leviticus 18:9–It is against God

–We must understand there is a standard of behavior

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"As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach?"

• This was against another human being, made in God's image.–Genesis 1:26,27

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Genesis 1:26,27

“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth,

and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." …”

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Genesis 1:26,27

“… 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created

him; male and female He created them.”

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Matthew 25:40

“The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of

Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'”

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Matthew 25:45

“Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did

not do it to Me.'”

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1 Corinthians 8:12

“And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their

conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”

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"As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach?"

• This was against another human being, made in God's image.

• Consideration must be given to others, not just self.

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"And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel"

• It was a sin against himself–1 Corinthians 6:18

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1 Corinthians 6:18

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own

body.”

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"And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel"

• It was a sin against himself–1 Corinthians 6:18

• There must be self-control

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What is Morality?

• C.S. Lewis used the analogy of a fleet of ships or an orchestra to illustrate these principles.–All must be headed for the right port - a

common goal–Must be kept in proper relationship -

must not collide–Each must be in good sailing condition -

good repair.

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What is Morality?

• Morality, then seems to be concerned with three things.–Fair play and harmony between

individuals.–Harmonizing the things inside each

individual.–The general purpose of human life as a

whole; what man was made for.

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• The Christian’s Relationship to Morality

• The Christian must be a morally good person, but not just by the world's standards.

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Christian must be morally good by God’s Standards

• Turn our attention first and foremost toward heaven.–Matthew 6:33

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Matthew 6:33

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will

be added to you.”

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Romans 12:1,2

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service

of worship. …”

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Romans 12:1,2

“… 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and

perfect.”

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Isaiah 55:8,9

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,"

declares the Lord. …”

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Isaiah 55:8,9

“… 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than

your thoughts.”

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Matthew 7:21

“Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father

who is in heaven will enter.”

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Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His

commandments, because this applies to every person.”

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• We must treat others right …

• We need to ask "will it be harmful to others?"–1 Corinthians 8:8-13

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1 Corinthians 8:8-13

“But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. 9 But

take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block

to the weak. …”

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“… 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's

temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things

sacrificed to idols? …”

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“… 11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12 And so, by

sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is

weak, you sin against Christ. …”

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“… 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat

meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”

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Philippians 2:3,4

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind

regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look

out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

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• We must keep ourselves "fit" for the Master's use.–1 John 2:15-17

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1 John 2:15-17

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father is not in him. …”

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1 John 2:15-17

“…16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes

and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

…”

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1 John 2:15-17

“… 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the

will of God lives forever.”

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Proverbs 14:12

“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

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Luke 9:62

“But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and

looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."”

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James 1:27

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to

visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained

by the world.”

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Christian must be morally good…

• All these are included in the 1st and 2nd commandments–Matthew 22:36-40

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Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

…”

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Matthew 22:36-40

“… 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as

yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law

and the Prophets.”

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Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. …”

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Matthew 5:13-16

“… 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15

nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the

house. …”

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Matthew 5:13-16

“… 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father

who is in heaven.”

the christian’s relationship to morals

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