Christian ethics sounds like a good thing to most Christians, but when we drill down into the implications, its danger becomes very apparent.
A man-made system of ethics will always fall short of the principles that can only be found in the Bible itself. Turn to Scripture to inform, instruct, and guide you.
1. It’s a Heretical Definition of Christianity.
It defines being a Christian as living by a certain set of man-made ethical standards. Everything from saving the environment to feeding the hungry. These are not bad things, but they are not the definition of being a Christian.
2. It Defines the Christian Community, otherwise known as the church, as anyone mildly willing to talk about Jesus.
The actions that the world associates with being a Christian have been completely separated from the theology which tells us what it actually means to be a Christian.
3. It Makes Scripture Irrelevant.
The Bible becomes a book of morality and ethical guidelines completely in the dark and ignorant of the redemptive STORY of Scripture which ALL centers on the person of Christ
4. It Teaches Our Young People to See Jesus as a Moral Leader
Our Christian schools often teach our children to ask, “What Would Jesus Do,?” instead of asking “What is Jesus going to do to ME if I continue in a false morality which only angers God because it is pseudo-faith.”
5. It promotes Man-made Sanctification that is not rooted in regeneration or justification but in human determination.
To be like Jesus is the goal because It makes you a better citizen, not because this is the righteous standard of God in which you have already failed according to Rom 3 and James 2 and because you CANNOT be anything like Jesus at all. He graciously offers to exchange his life for yours.
6. It Ultimately Denies the Doctrine of Total Depravity
It is the idea that people should really work hard to follow Jesus instead of what Scripture actually says. Eph. 2:3 says, “You were by nature children of wrath,” like the rest of mankind.
7. It Obscures the Biblical Gospel
You can take the Biblical gospel of Christ and the conclusion will be to live an obedient life as an act of love, but if you start with Christian Ethics, you will never find your way back to the specifics of the Christian faith.
8. It Reduces the Death and Resurrection of Christ to Insignificance
Christian ethics make the death and resurrection of Christ nothing more than incidental historical events which really have no bearing on your life whatsoever. Now Jesus is really just
reduced to a great man, a moral example, and someone we should really try to involve in our lives.
9. Worst of All, Jesus Christ Gets Diminished to Nothing More than the “Co-pilot in my Life”
After all, the reason Jesus exists is to help me live my life and to come alongside all my plans and my career and my code of ethics and to help me with all my problems. The Bible says that if you will not repent and acknowledge your helplessness in your sin, Jesus Christ is your problem.
A man-made system of ethics will always fall short of the principles that can only be found in the Bible itself. Turn to Scripture to inform, instruct, and guide you.
