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| Volume 27 Number 10 October 2025 |
Page 16 |
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| Volume 27 Number 10 October 2025 |
Page 16 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Someone inquired, “What is the basis of man’s moral laws?” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says of “moral law” the following: “a general rule of right living, especially : such a rule or group of rules conceived as universal and unchanging and as having the sanction of God’s will, of conscience, of man’s moral nature, or of natural justice as revealed to human reason.”
Almighty God—the one and only God of the Bible—is the ultimate source of “moral law.” Without Him, there is no basis of moral laws!
God created mankind with a moral nature with the conscience to help steer him to what he believes is the right thing to do. The mind, though, must be made aware of and accept as true God’s rules so that the conscience can be helpful and lead to God’s approval. Saul of Tarsus, who had Christians arrested, imprisoned, beaten and killed, was a serious enemy of Jesus of Nazareth and His church before he realized Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and the Messiah. Once converted, Saul (Paul) became as ardent of a proponent of Christianity as he had been an enemy of it. Nevertheless, he conducted himself both before and after his conversion “in all good conscience” (Acts 23:1).
The Bible is the basis of man’s moral laws, and for people living in this third era of God-given religion—Christianity—the New Testament alone is the basis of moral laws (Hebrews 8:13; Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 3:6). We must turn to the divinely inspired Bible, with an emphasis on the New Testament. The Word of God—the Bible—is “a rule or group of rules conceived as universal and unchanging and as having the sanction of God’s will…” Further, God’s rules are natural and reasonable, made for the benefit of humans. For instance, it is not natural and reasonable to arbitrarily murder other humans or to steal from them. It is neither practical to kill off humans nor to steal their possessions and family members (e.g., wives). For one thing, such a stance would pit everyone against everyone else.
Of course, humans have a long history of violating God’s rules under Patriarchy, Judaism and Christianity (e.g., in the Garden of Eden, in Noah’s lifetime, King David, pagan nations, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, and Demas). First century Corinth was a prime demonstration of moral corruption (1 Corinthians 6:9–11). Romans 1:18-32 reads like a page out of today as mankind continues to flaunt the basis of man’s moral laws—Almighty God, who through the Bible did not leave us to our own imaginations and lusts.
What passes for morality around the world in our time is often either a corruption of God’s plan for man or outright antagonistic to it. Tribes, cultures and counterculture substitute for divinely-given laws every conceivable afront to God—our Creator and ultimately our Judge. Man continues to live as though there is not and has never been any basis for moral laws. Yet, man has built within himself a recognition of a moral feature and a conscience, both of which men and women routinely abuse. For humankind’s own earthly and eternal well-being, it must return to God—on His terms spelled out in the New Testament for everyone living today.
