Ethics can be defined as a grouping of established truths that become readily apparent to us as we evolve and grow in life. It is this writer’s opinion that Christian ethics follows this same principled clarity with the added element of the absoluteness of the Almighty God included within its framework. In Genesis chapters, two and three, the fall of man allowed a new humanistic and sinful ethical model into the world which God created and has continued to challenge God’s standard of ethics since this time.  

   To begin with, if we step outside of the structured settings of the Bible briefly, we can see the humanistic reasoning behind each philosophical ethical theory. For example, Aristotle principles his beliefs under the ideology which man could better himself through his own doing under Natural Law Ethics. “Aristotle believed that this design is discoverable through human reason, that by careful investigation we can find out why things are the way they are and what purposes they serve”(Jones 45). Another example of how man believed he could better himself through his own ethics is illustrated during the Reformation Era in Europe in Thomas More’s Utopia and Erasmus’ Praise of Folly. In Prasie of Folly, the author specifically focuses upon the level of foolishness that each man required to have happiness across society. In a similar fashion, More’s work zeroed in on the certain behaviors and habits of men surrounding politics. While both works sparked reform among society at the time, their central focus upon man himself automatically eliminated God from their perspective ethical equation. In the works of Martin Luther however, we learn that he fought for reform in the Church of Europe at the time, and he strived to put Christ first. Under the lens of Christian ethics otherwise known as God’s Holy Word, we can see the man cannot better himself by looking at the New Testament. Romans 3:23-27 (the King James Version) states, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith”(Holy Bible ). To enumerate, the apostle Paul is declaring here that everyone is incomplete without Christ, but God has provided a way for us to be forgiven for our wrongdoings through Him if we choose to believe in Him. This entirely refutes the logic of humanism and introduces faith in Christ as the fundamental justifier of all things. “The Christian euangelion (gospel) is the universal message of God’s saving grace through faith in Christ”( Knowing Jesus Ministries 411). With all of these elements in mind, it is this writer’s submission that it is faith in God that provides us with the will to become a better person than we were the day before which generates our knowledge of determining that our actions are either moral or immoral. It has been said, that hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we learn from our actions after they have taken place. 

   Ultimately, there is proof of this learning after the fact phenomenon under the umbrella of God’s ethics in the Old Testament when God confronts Job. In Job 38, God reveals His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience to Job in order to confront Job’s frustration. Job 38: 1-3 (the King James Version states, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me”(Holy Bible ). An argument can be made here that during this chapter in Job that God was challenging humanistic reasoning by asking Job a series of questions with the intent to humble Job before God. As human beings, we need to realize there is faith in every fruit God gives us which comes through painful lessons of learning His ethics. There is faith in patience, fear, trust, responsibility, courage, humility, discipline, commitment, contentment, suffering, love, and many others. John 15:5 (the King James Version) states, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (Holy Bible , 1997). Our identities in Him need to be in sync while engaging the Bible so we are able to obtain and use the gifts/fruits of the Holy Spirit to help others through faith in Christ as they strive to follow God’s ethics in a surefooted manner. 

Works Cited

Knowing Jesus Ministries. “Illustrated Bible Survey.” Hindson, Ed. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2017. 35.

Holy Bible . Thomas Nelson Publishers , 1997.

Jones, Michael S. Moral Reasoning: An Intentional Approach to Distinguisihing Right from Wrong . Dubuque,IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 2017. 03 September 2018.