Morality
Dr. John K. Mathew
Morality is the quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct or a system of ideas that fall into these same categories. Therefore, morality describes the principles that govern our behavior. Without these principles in place, societies cannot survive for long.
In today's world, morality is frequently thought of as belonging to a particular religious point of view, but by definition, we see that this is not the case. Everyone adheres to a moral doctrine of some kind. At the same time, there are a few ethical problems that divide people. Those questions are:
Are ethical standards and moral values absolute or relative?
Do universal moral values exist?
Does the end ever justify the means?
Can morality be separated from religion?
Who or what forms the basis of ethical authority?
Morality and ethics certainly have different meanings for different cultures, but as for Christians, the Bible provides a theoretical framework through which a Christian morality takes place. Or in other words, the absolute basis of Christian ethics is God and his character. According to George R. Knight, "There is no standard or law beyond God. Law, as it is revealed in scripture, is based upon God's character. The major attributes of God, as depicted in both the Old and New Testaments are love and justice. Love may be seen as a summary of the law, while justice defines its content. Biblical history is a glimpse of divine love and justice in action, as God relates to a self-willed world in the midst of sin".
Carl Henry has aptly said that, 'Christian ethics is an ethics of service'. The most basic spelling out of this ethic is found in Christ's two great commandments: love to God and love to man and so that the essence of Christianity and Christian ethics is a death - crucifixion - of self, pride, self-centeredness, and self-sufficiency, and new birth in which we act upon a different set of principles because of our new relationship with Jesus Christ. It should be noted that the ethical ideal of Christianity is not an improvement of the self through a secular model of self-improvement. It is rather an ethic interrelating with the converting factor of the Holy Spirit. The question is shall we yield to the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit?