SATURDAY'S SOUNDNESS: ETHICS...

EPHESIANS 4: 17...
So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;

Let us then, study ETHICS as pertinent to THE LORD, and HIS WORD, for deeper understanding:

NOTE: This is only part of the whole text on ethics; I have eliminated the first half which deals with THE OLD TESTAMENT, the old LAWS, Prophets, and so forth, NOT because it is less imperative than the latter, but for ease of reading, and understanding, especially to enlighten CHRIST JESUS' teachings... lw...

Jesus' Method...
Jesus did not abate the divine law's ideals, but he severely criticized Judaism's legalism as academic ( Luke 11:52 ), cruel (forbidding Sabbath cures, banishing the mentally ill and lepers from society), having wrong priorities, external in judgment, and burdensome ( Matt 23:23-28 ; Mark 7:14-23 ). It fostered self-righteousness and contempt for the weak and sinful ( Luke 7:36-50 ; 15:25-32 ; 18:9-14 ; John 8:1-11 ). Jesus did not legislate.

Nor did Jesus cite authorities ( Matt 7:28-29 ). He appealed to the common moral judgment, very often by questions. Even his assertions often ended with "He that has ears let him hear." Jesus assumes the capacity of the sincere to recognize truth when presented with it. Such consent of the enlightened conscience ensures that obedience is free, spontaneous, approving. 

The Kingly Father...
As in the Old Testament, so for Jesus ethics derives from a right relationship with God, rendering obedience filial. Yet not all live as sons; some are disobedient, wayward, lost. But God remains Father, and sonship remains available; the Father welcomes their return. In such a context legalism must wither, and the moral life gain new motivation, quality, and tone.

One implication of sonship is likeness: Resemblance proves relationship. The peacemakers, the merciful, those who love their enemies and persecutors, being as impartial and inclusive in their love as God is, those who do good, and lend, hoping for nothing againall are, and are recognized as, children of the father ( Matthew 5:9 Matthew 5:44-48 ; Luke 6:35-36 ). By this simple domestic simile Jesus initiates the supreme Christian ideal of Christlikeness, the imitation of God as beloved children, conformed to the image of his Son ( Rom 8:29 ; Eph 5:1 ).

Second, the language of sonship is relentlessly plural. Such brotherliness forbids insult, and criticism, though brotherly rebuke may be necessary ( Matt 5:22 ; 7:1-3 ; Luke 17:3 ). It requires initiative toward reconciliation and understanding, and ready forgiveness ( Matt 5:23-24 ; Matthew 18:21 Matthew 18:35 ), and, in any need, service as for Christ ( Matt 25:40 ). At all times the duty of brethren is to strengthen each other ( Luke 22:32 ). 

The Fatherly King... 
In God's kingdom the supreme law must be to love the King with the whole personality ( Matt 22:36-38 ). The kingdom's second law commands love toward whoever is near enough to be loved, with a transferred self-love that makes our wants the criteria for our neighbors' ( Matt 7:12 ; 22:39-40 ). Such love fulfills the whole law. Illustrations of its practical meaning are the cup of (scarce) water, visiting the sick, helping any mugged victim, clothing the naked, befriending the ill-deserving in prison, doing good, lending without interest. The nature of the King determines the law of the kingdom, a kingdom of love ( Matt 11:2-6 ; Luke 4:16-21 ).

Yet Christ's example of love includes sternness against evil enjoyed or inflicted; it sets high standards, warns of consequences, exposes hypocrisy, speaks of judgment. It is neither sentimental, soft, nor stupid, but a resolute moral attitude that seeks another's good, whether by gentle or ungentle means.

Jesus was a realist. To his mind, sinfulness was more, and more serious, than trespass against formal laws; it included sins of thought and desire, of neglect, of failure to love, and of sin against light ( Matt 5:27-28 ; 6:22-23 ; 12:35 ; 23:13-26 ; 25:41-46 ; Mark 3:22-30 ; Luke 10:31-32; 13:6-9 ). Life in God's kingdom, therefore, involves personal resistance, protest, conflict, and suffering, occasioned by loyalty to God in a godless world ( Mark 8:34-38 ; Luke 22:35-36 ). But the citizen of the kingdom will seek peace with all where possible, never returning evil for evil ( Matthew 5:9 Matthew 5:38-40 ).

In all situations the will of the King is to be the ultimate rule of life. And the King's will shall triumph in the end. Human beings may choose whether to live under God's reign or not, but he remains King. In parables ( Matt 21:33-43 ; 25:14-46 ; Luke 12:16-21 ; 13:6-9 ; 16:19-31 ) and numerous phrases the truth is made clear that people cannot trifle with God indefinitely. What is good news for the responsive is warning for the obdurate: The Father is King.

Even so cursory a review reveals how rich, varied, realistic, and practical is the ethical teaching of Jesus, and how directly it derives from the perceived character of God and from relationship with him. The good life is lived before God, by his help, in gratitude for his goodness; shorn of these religious roots, Christian values must die and Christian motivation fail. And all is illustrated, unforgettably, by the living example of Jesus, and therefore summed up in his "Follow me." 

New Testament Moral Theology...
Those who walk, live, and set their minds "according to the Spirit" find freedom, peace, acceptance with God, and constant renewal as sons of God ( Rom 8:5-17 ). This new, Spirit-ruled life is characterized by the absolute lordship of Christ over all attitudes and conduct ( Rom 1:3-4 ; 10:9-13 ; 14:7-9 ; 1 Col 6:13-20, ; etc. ). Human personality being "open" Godward, as well as toward social forces that corrupt, the soul united to Christ becomes the vehicle of the divine Spirit, by whose guidance and enabling it is made capable of otherwise unattainable virtue ( Rom 8:9-14 ; 1 Col 6:17-20 ; 2 Col 4:7-18 ). Paul presents a perpetually progressive ideal, developing constantly in its scope of love, its depth of consecration, and in likeness to Christ. Paul does not claim to have attained the goal, only to be straining forward at the ever-upward call of God in Christ, toward the stature of Christ, being by degrees changed "into his likeness" and "conformed to his image" ( Rom 8:29 ; 2 Col 3:18 ; Eph 4:13 ; Php 3:12-14 ).

Human ethics, based on philosophical, sociological or psychological premises, or intuitive responses to isolated "situations, " attain only a consensus of good advice acceptable to people already virtuous in intention. Such moral counsel lacks permanence, authority, and motive power. Biblical ethics, deriving from knowledge and experience of God but forged always in historical real-life situations, problems and needs, reveals unchanging absolutes, inarguable authority, effective motivation, and redemptive power. The Old Testament emphasizes that God's requirements enshrine the secrets of total human welfare; the New Testament points to the man Jesus Christ and his intensely human story as embodiment of the ultimate ideal. Thus biblical ethics prove more truly human in the end, enshrining the Creator's intention for his highest creatures.

R. E. O. White (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary)