Module 3 - Christian Ethics
Module 3 - Christian Ethics
Desired Learning Outcomes: At the end of the module, the students would have:
1. explained the meaning, significance & Biblical basis of Christian ethics;
2. compared Christian ethics in relationship with the two Testaments;
3. summarized the criteria, standards, and methods of Christian ethics;
4. applied the most important Christian principles in their life;
Student’s Activity: List the things that are vital in your life and the things that are peripheral.
(optional)
3. Christian ethics assists people in determining their goals in life and help them realize these
goals. Normally, people make goals for their life. They work hard in order to realize these goals.
Christian ethics does not agree that the end justifies the means. The efforts toward realizing the
end should be coupled with the efforts towards developing good principle, right attitude and
acceptable way of life (Giles, 1974).
Student’s Activity: List 3 important goals in your life and the corresponding plan of action that
you will undertake to realize these goals. (optional)
Module 3.3. Christian Ethics in Relationship with the Old and New
Testaments
Module 3.3.1. Old Testament Ethics
Christian ethics is grounded in the Old Testament. The principles of the Old Testament
consist of the laws, and the character and nature of God. The laws gave Israel their standard of
what was right and wrong. The governing principle which is the nature and character of God is
summed up by the statement that the Lord was holy (Lev. 19:2). The holy character of God cannot
tolerate evil or sin. Therefore, if we wish to please God and guard our life from sin, we must live
in accordance with His nature and character.
The major contributions of the Old Testament to the study of ethics include: 1)
accountability to a monotheistic God; 2) humility, righteousness, and wisdom. It emphasizes social
responsibilities without diminishing individual’s accountability.
Concepts of God
1. God is Ethical. The ethics of God stresses the sacredness of human life. God does not want
human sacrifices. When Abraham was about to kill his son Isaac, to be sacrificed as a burnt
offering, God stopped his hands (Gen. 22:12). God’s ethics is to preserve human life. God was not
also happy when Manasseh sacrificed his own son in the fire (2 Kings 21:6).
2. God is Creator. Behind the interpretation of evil as the corrupted good is faith in God as
the Creator. Human beings and everything else in the world have been made by God. However,
as Creator, he is not responsible for what is wrong with us. He is not the source of evil that threatens
us. He is the only source of what is right with and about us (Rudnick, 1979).
3. God is Righteous. God is portrayed as righteous in the Old Testament. Because God is
righteous, he demands righteousness from all people. Righteousness is a moral and ethical
obligations of people in the society. It should be centered in the attitudes of the heart. Psalm 11:7
says “The Lord is righteous, he loves justice, upright men will see his face.”
4. God is Provider. El Shaddai or Jehovah Jireh is the name of God which stresses his
capacity to supply human needs. When the Israelites were hungry and thirsty, God provided them
with food and water. In one of the mountains of Galilee, Jesus also fed the hungry multitudes with
loaves of bread and pieces of fish (RE 2 Manual, 2005).
5. God is Justice. Justice is the property of law or measured by the standard of law. Since
justice is rooted in law, it easily develops the ethical conduct in accordance with what is lawful.
God emphasizes justice and upright living. He wants people to repent from their sins and to live
with what is just. “If a wicked man turns away from his sins he has committed and keep God’s
decrees, he will surely live, not die”(Ezekiel 18:21), (Landero, 2002).
6. God is Merciful. Mercy is used in the Old Testament to express the unique quality of God.
Mercy is reciprocal by nature. It is to the merciful that God will show mercy. “God will not show
mercy when he judges the person who has not been merciful” (James 2:13). The principle of
reciprocity is seen also in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us, as we forgive…” (Matt.6:12).
7. God is Savior. In the Old Testament God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptian slavery.
He saved the Hebrew patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he saved Moses and the slaves at
the Red Sea. He saved the thief who had a penitent heart at the cross of Calvary. The ethics of God
is salvation for mankind. He sent His only Son Jesus to save us from our sins.
8. God is love. The concrete love of God was seen in a manger. He concretized himself in the
form of human flesh and this human flesh is none other than His son, Jesus. His ethical action was
a transcendental one. He came down to identify with his loved people. Since God is love, he
challenged his people to love one another (I John 4:6-8), (RE 2 Manual, 2005).
Module 3.4.2. Standards or the Final Authorities for what is Right or Wrong.
What are the standards or the final authorities for what is right and wrong? There are only two
standards:
1. Jesus Christ. His life and his teachings are the standards of Christian behavior. Jesus
said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John
14:6).
2. The Word of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), (Tardo,2012).
2. Faith in God. We know that an experience is good, right, or fit according to the will of
God. The will of God is concretely expressed in the form of a human flesh, none other than His
very Son Jesus Christ. We can only discern God’s will if we have to relate our own life to Jesus
Christ through the workings of the Holy Spirit. The will of God is a matter of experiencing God in
life through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
3. Reason or Power of discrimination. When God created man in his own image it is
coupled not only with conscience or moral sense but also with reason. Man is a rational being. He
thinks and analyzes certain situations, implications of experiences before making moral decisions
(RE 2 Syllabus, 2002).
Module 3.5. Most Important Principle of Christian Life
Jesus’ ultimate purpose is to establish the kingdom of heaven in the human heart. The following
are the principles to live by so that the kingdom of heaven is present in everyone’s heart.
1. An abiding trust and faith in God in all circumstances. Even in the midst of great distress,
we are to continue in faith with God. A steadfast faith in Jesus Christ is the first and most important
principle in the Christian life. “Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith, for He who promised
is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). Phil 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
2. Sincerity and honesty before God and man. Christians are to be sincere, not hypocrites
who say one thing and do another. God hates dishonesty. One of the commandments given by God
to Moses says, “Do not steal” (Ex. 20:15).Let us be honest not only in the sight of the Lord, but
also in the sight of people (2 Cor. 8:21).
3. Genuine humility. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” To be
meek, in a sense, is to be humble. Humility is the acceptance to learn and to forgive. Matthew
looks upon Jesus himself as the true example of humility. Col. 3:12-13says, “So, as those who
have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
4. A forgiving and merciful spirit toward all. Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. It is not
an emotion you work on. The Scriptures tell us to love one another and love even our enemies.
Love overlooks the many faults of others. Let us not concentrate on other’s shortcomings but
instead to pray for them (Matt. 5:43-48).
5. An unqualified love for God and for your neighbor. When Jesus was asked by a Pharisee
what is the greatest commandment in the law, He said that the greatest commandment is to love
God with all his heart, his soul, and his mind. Then He further said that he should love his neighbor
as he loved himself (Matt. 22:36-40).Jesus gives us the two commandments on which all the others
rest. It is impossible to love God and not to love others. A natural outgrowth of loving God is
loving others.
6. Absolute loyalty, faithfulness, and obedience to the Word and will of God. As Christians,
we need to be faithful to the Lord. If we call him as our Lord and Master we have to obey him
(Luke 6:46). Not everyone who calls the name of the Lord shall enter the Kingdom of heaven; but
those who does the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21) (Tardo,2012)