Toward An Approach to Christian Ethics

By Dennis H. McCallum

Endnotes:

Rom. 2:14-16
Rom. 1:20. This is also the probable thrust of the passage in Jn. 16:8-11, which states that humankind will be "convicted" concerning their sin and concerning problems with their present and future relationship with God.
Justice and Equality are two key values associated with natural law.
Norman Geisler, "A premillennial View of Law and Government", Biblioteca Sacra, Vol. 142, No. 567 (July-Sep., 1986).
Bruce Kaye, "The New Testament and Social Order", in Law Morality and the Bible, Bruce Kaye and Gordon Wenham Editors. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1978) p. 99,112.
This is because "The New Testament sees the Old Testament realities of the land, the nation, the kingdom, and the temple as fulfilled in Christ." Bruce Kaye, Using the Bible in Ethics, (Grove Books, 1976) p. 15.
Richard N. Longenecker, New Testament Social Ethics For Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), pp. 21-28.
So, Richard N. Longenecker, Social Ethics, see note # 7 above.
In 1973, author-teacher Jon Braun began to develop the argument that Christians should be unified with the whole Body of Christ, which, he pointed out, included all Christians from all ages. Therefore he and his colleagues began to combine study of church history with their study of the Bible. However, the history was not just studied for the sake of understanding historical development, but with the view that it would be arrogant to think that we knew better than the saints of former days.
This proved to be a slippery slope for the group which continued to move toward the logical extreme of this view, eventually forming the Evangelical Orthodox Church. This group is a startling case of theological drift, because it is made up of former Baptist, Swedish Covenant, Lutheran, and other Protestant pastors and former staff from Campus Crusade for Christ, all of whom today wear the habit of priests, and view themselves as Eastern Orthodox bishops. They have taken freely from the storehouse of church history, and today practice the veneration of saints, Mary, and of icons as means of growth. Such a progression, erroneous in my view, seems to flow naturally from the logic of the position originally taken.
For the one of the best expositions of this point, see Richard N. Longenecker, "The Pedagogical Nature of the Law in Galatians 3:19-4:7," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 25, (1982) pp. 53-61.
"A Usus didacticus or normativus," the "tertius usus legis", or the third use of the law, as it is called by reformed theologians. This is the use whereby the Christian, having been regenerated and enabled by the Holy Spirit, is no longer aversive to the law, and in fact can and should follow it completely excepting only the ritual portions of the law which have been fulfilled by Christ. See Louis Berkof, Systematic Theology, 4th Edition, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's Co., 1939,1941) pp. 614,615.
II Cor. 3:6-11; Gal. 3:24,25; 5:1,3;
Rom. 4 and Gal. 3 contain extensive arguments to this effect. See also, Gordon Wenham, "Grace and Law in the Old Testament", in Law Morality and the Bible.
See Heb. 8:13 in context. Even here though, the author of Hebrews realizes that, "when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also." (Heb. 7:12). Thus it is both the ritual and moral law that is rendered "obsolete" by the work of Christ.
The argument is sometimes made here that the difference in view is that the Holy Spirit enables the believer to obey the law. However, this argument, admitted by all, is irrelevant. The question that must be answered is what the word "released" means. See wrongly, Ranald McCauley and Jerram Barrs, Being Human: The Nature of Spiritual Experience, (Downers Grove, ILL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978) pp. 91,92.
This statement comes from Martin Loyd-Jones, Studies in The Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 1
Having cited evidence from the gospels, Wenham concludes,"It is therefore quite appropriate to describe the message of Jesus so far as the relationship of grace and law is concerned as a type of covenantal nomism rooted in the Old Testament." Gordon Wenham, "Grace and Law in the Old Testament", in Law Morality and the Bible, p. 20.
See Martin Loyd-Jones, Studies in The Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 1 Chapters 18,19. Compare Bahnsen, who admits that his entire thesis stands or falls on the meaning of Mt. 5:17-20. Theonomy and Christian Ethics Expanded Edition, (Philipsburg NJ: Presbyterian and Reformation Publishing Co., 1984) pp. 213, 215, 217, 218, 312, 314, 317, 318,
Gal. 4:4. Nixon (speaking from the reformed tradition) attempts to interpret this verse as primarily teaching that Christ was born under ritual law. Neither could we agree with his definition of "fulfill" in Mt. 5:17 as meaning "give full meaning to." Yet Nixon's conclusions are quite useful. See Robin Nixon, "Fulfilling the Law: the Gospels and Acts", in Law Morality and the Bible, pp. 56-62.
Since the law is included with sin, self, and "the world" as something that we have died to, a nomistic outlook would be considered fleshly in the theology of Paul. Compare Gal. 2:20;6:14; Rom 6:11;7:6.
Gordon Wenham, "Grace and Law in the Old Testament", in Law Morality and the Bible, Bruce Kaye and Gordon Wenham Editors. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1978) p. 11.
Gordon Wenham, "Grace and Law in the Old Testament", in Law Morality and the Bible, p. 11.
Robin Nixon, "Fulfilling the Law: the Gospels and Acts", in Law Morality and the Bible, p. 79.
Interestingly, this sacrificing of self for others lies beyond what can be determined from natural law. It fits therefore, uniquely into the realm of Christian ethics. It cannot be expected from non-Christians, and therefore should not be demanded from them.
Arthur F. Holmes, Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions, (Downers Grove IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1984) pp. 79-98.
Rom. 13:4; 12:19. It would be a serious mistake to confuse the biblical concept of discipline with the idea of justice. There is no element of justice in discipline, which looks entirely to the future well-being of the recipient. Justice calls for retribution for the past, regardless of the effect on the recipient (e.g. Hell).
For instance, compare "Sojourners" magazine with "The Moral Majority" newspaper.
A single example will suffice. Prohibition during the 20's is a benchmark example of religious misdirection. Gonzales says that during this period, "most protestants--liberal and fundamentalist--were united in one great cause; the prohibition of alcoholic beverages." Also, he points out that much of the evil influence of alcohol was attributed to the influx of Jews and Catholics. Thus at a time when little was being done about the real social ills of race and poverty, the church was busy battling something that is not even necessarily wrong according to the Bible. Justo L. Gonzales, The Story of Christianity Vol. 2, (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1984) p. 374.
H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, 1951) p. 52
It would only be fair to point out that many monastic orders have eschewed this defensive posture in favor of an aggressive one which addressed perceived cultural need-- most notably the Jesuits and Fransciscans.
See the omission of the Levite and the priest in the parable of the good samaritan. Significantly, it is likely that they were unwilling to touch someone who might be dead, as doing so would interfere with their service at the temple. Lk. 10:30-37; Lev. 11:25,27

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