Austin Bible Church
Morality is defined as the right conduct and excellence in practice and function of the Laws of Divine Establishment. Conformity to the Laws of Divine Establishment is by your own volition. Morality for the believer is Bible doctrine regarding duties and responsibilities toward divine establishment based in information derived from Bible doctrine.
Morality is the divine institutions operative in the heart of the unbeliever’s frame of reference, conscience, and viewpoint. Morality for the believer resides and originates in the right lobe of the soul or heart via the filling of the Holy Spirit. Morality pertains to your character, conduct, motivation, and ethics. Morality applies to the entire human race, believer and unbeliever. Rom. 8:2-4.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:2-4, NASB)
Morality and Christianity
Christianity is not a system of morality, but a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Morality is a byproduct of Christianity. The believer’s permanent position in Jesus Christ gained at salvation whereby the Baptism of the Holy Spirit places the believer into union with Jesus Christ (Positional Sanctification) describes Christianity. Morality is not Christianity, but a part of it. Morality results from the believer’s spiritual growth. Eph. 5:3.
“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;” (Ephesians 5:3, NASB)
While God's plan of grace is not a license to sin, nor does the Bible condone anti-law thinking. Morality does have a part in the spiritual life, but it is not what makes the believer spiritual. If the unbeliever can do it, it is not part of the Christian way of life. The believer should live in the spiritual life and be moral. The unbeliever can only be moral. Since the unbeliever can be very moral, this cannot have any spiritual connotation. In the spiritual life, morality is a result not the means of living the Christian way of life.
The Dynamics of Christianity
Morality has no dynamics. The dynamics of Christianity are found in the filling of the Holy Spirit and an edification complex of the soul filled with epignosis Bible doctrine. 1 Cor. 5:17; Acts 1:8.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB)
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."” (Acts 1:8, NASB)
Morality, even in believers, has no dynamics in and of itself. It cannot save or manufacture spirituality. Dynamics is found in the filling of the Holy Spirit and the application of epignosis Bible doctrine in the edification complex of the soul.
Christian morality is in the soul. Anything the unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life! Why? Christianity is a supernatural way of life. Morality cannot change man on the inside, only epignosis Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul and the filling of the Holy Spirit can do that. Hence, morality cannot provide either salvation or spirituality. Don’t confuse means and results. Rom. 12:2.
“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.” (Romans 12:2, NASB)
The maturing believer achieves the true dynamics of the spiritual life that includes morality. However, while the spiritually mature believer is moral, Christian dynamics of the spiritual life enables them to exceed morality.
Limitations of Morality
No one is saved because of their demonstrated morality. Titus 3:5; Gal. 3:2; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16.
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, NASB)
“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2, NASB)
“because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20, NASB)
“nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16, NASB)
Acts of morality cannot cause the filling of the Holy Spirit. Only confession of sin to God the Father can cause the filling of the Holy Spirit. Acts of morality cannot advance the believer spiritually in the Christian way of life, only the intake and application of Bible doctrine via the filling of the Holy Spirit can do this.1 John 1:9.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
Acts of morality do not glorify Jesus Christ if the believer is out of fellowship. The believer can only glorify Jesus Christ while filled with the Holy Spirit.
Morality and the Human Race
Morality is absolutely essential for the orderly function of the human race under the divine institutions. Morality is bona fide and stems from respect for authority for keeping the laws of the land and of the family unit. Morality respects property, the rights of others, and the privacy of others. See category on Divine Institutions.
Therefore, morality is for the entire human race because it makes the divine institutions function smoothly. For example, unbelievers are to be legally married to unbelievers, they are not to live as animals. It must be understood that morality does not save! Thus Christianity is not a morality, but a living, dynamic relationship with God the Father, in Christ the Son.
Morality and Human Good
Morality must be distinguished from human good. Human good is religion, asceticism, trying to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, or going through rituals to gain brownie points with God. It is phony, hypocritical, critical, socialistic, and snoopy. Human good covers all of these with a veneer of being nice, sweet, and patronizing. Human good proceeds out of the area of strength of the old sin nature and is never acceptable to God.
In the unbeliever, morality and human good can overlap. For the believer, anything done while filled with the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit controls the soul is by definition, divine good. In this case, morality is divine good because of the production of the Holy Spirit. What makes the difference in the believer between morality and human good is the source - the old sin nature controlling the soul or the Holy Spirit controlling the soul.
The human good that comes from the old sin nature is inconsistent and often becomes a facade for the hidden sins which are the worst mental attitude sins and sins of the tongue. Parents should teach children what morality is and the principles regarding the divine institutions.