Now that we know what we are talking about when we discuss morality, how do those make us better disciples?
Nuggets
- Our morality increases from the sanctification process.
- Our morality is a reflection of our faith.
- Our morality is our faith expressed through love.
- Our morality is contingent on the grace of God.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
We’ve covered a lot of ground in the devotions in this series. Being a moral person is important, but what does it mean? How do we use them to grow closer to God?
The last devotions in this series are going to tie it up. I am not saying how many there are going to be because these two topics look intense. We will leave the connections and the application to whenever all the topics have been discussed. So, endings might be a little abrupt.
We are back to Manton’s sermon entitled The Moralities of Christianity to give us the framework of our discussions. Let’s see what we are to do with the morality we have found.
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Let's Put It into Context
“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things” (Phil. 4: 8 CSB)
The definition of moral, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Morality, then, is “a doctrine or system of moral conduct.” When it is the plural form — moralities — it is a “particular moral principles or rules of conduct.”
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Our morals determine our character. Character, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
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Morality Enforced through Sanctification
“for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5: 9 CSB)
Our morality increases from the sanctification process.
Morality is a system of conduct where we determine right from wrong. Isn’t that what the Sanctification Road is teaching us — right from wrong? Good from evil?
The Holy Spirit is the one who is teaching us. Manton said that, according to these verses, the Spirit is teaching us to walk in the light. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives.
Tillotson had a narrower definition of walking. He said it was “…a metaphor which signifies the outward conversation and actions of men.”
I can see that. Those are the visible aspects of our lives.
God does expect our relationships with Him to be visible to others. They have to be able to see what we believe. But that stems from the inside and touches on the how aspect.
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Glossary
The Sanctification Road is bathed in the light of Jesus. We are in it because we are now children of God.
What we are learning as we navigate our roads is what makes up “… all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5: 9 CSB). Think about it.
- Good, in the biblical sense, is the workings of God within His people.
- Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments.
- God’s truth is faithfulness that leads to godliness.
The fruit — or rewards — of our walk as children of God are that God can work within us to build a solid relationship that leads to godliness.
That leads to Him. Remember, Jesus said He was the Truth (Jn. 14: 6).
Glossary
Still, that isn’t an exhaustive list of fruits. We get a larger list of fruits of the Spirit in Galatians.
These morals come from one thing — obedience to God through faith in Jesus. If God isn’t at the core of the our morals, the only reward we will receive for doing them is here on earth.
Yes, worldview people can be what they define as good. But being a good person isn’t good enough.
Manton put it this way. He wrote, “The world is most capable of knowing and approving these things, … for all our goodness, justice, and truth must come from love and obedience to God, and faith in Christ, as their true and proper principle, or else they are but moral virtues, not Christian graces.”
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Note, Paul said “… all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5: 9 CSB). It is a packaged deal. We don’t get to choose the goodness and pass on the righteousness part. If we do, we are passing on the God part.
The package deal has to become our character. Paul wasn’t talking only about the acts that we do. We can do something for a variety of reasons — none of which have God as the focus.
Boston called them interwoven. I love that! Think of the foundation that builds when the three areas are braided together.
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God wants to change us all the way down to our core — our hearts. We can’t do this by ourselves. Just as we can’t self-discipline alone, we can’t change our inner beings without God. We need God through the Holy Spirit.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
Morality Enforced through Principles
“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Rom. 7: 4 CSB)
Our morality is a reflection of our faith.
Woo, hoo. Hebrews 11: 6 showed up again. We’re going to slide right around that since we just talked about it.
Verse Commentary
Okay. It is cold and dreary here. My sinuses are draining, so my head is pounding. I read this verse and went, what? But I thought the laws shows us God’s character!
Yes, they do. But they aren’t the end-all, be-all. The law won’t save us. Just being a good person who follows the rules won’t save us.
The outward walk without the inward faith means nothing to God. Oh, it may mean something to the worldview people, but the worldview is temporary.
Morals have to be grounded in faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
Remember, we just said that, if our morals don’t come through our submission to God, they are just worldly morals, not Christian graces.
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love” (Gal. 5: 6 CSB)
Our morality is our faith expressed through love.
What I see Paul saying here is that the law does not save us. We could keep all the laws perfectly and still miss heaven. Spurgeon said that faith is more than just a rote memorization of the laws and commandments that make up the morals.
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It isn’t about what we do or don’t do. It is about what Jesus has done for us. It is about God designing the Plan of Salvation so there would be an acceptable way for us to be restored to Him.
It is also about the laws and commandments changing our character to be like God’s. We have to expand the morals to make them graces.
I have to process what Maclaren said. He wrote, “Religion is the harmony of the soul with God, and the conformity of the life to His law. Obedience must be the obedience of a man, and not of his deeds only; it must include the submission of the will and the prostration of the whole nature before God. To be godly is to be godlike.”
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Our intent of coming to God should be so that we become in harmony with Him. It shouldn’t be what we gain — or think we should gain. It isn’t just fire insurance.
It isn’t just the knowledge of God and what Jesus has done for us. It is having the faith to believe we could never be restored on our own because it is more than who we are and what we do.
We should come to God in order to become like Him. He is different than we are, and we need to be like Him. We want to be obedient and following His laws and commandments.
But it is more than what we do or don’t do. When we submit our will to Him, we truly become like Him.
God is love (I Jn. 4: 8). When we become like God, we love. How do we get there?
When we focus on the greatest commandments, we go a long way to getting there. “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk. 12: 30-31 ESV).
Look at what Maclaren said. He wrote, “Love to God is no idle emotion or lazy rapture, no vague sentiment, but the root of all practical goodness, of all strenuous effort, of all virtue, of all praise.”
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Love is the root of virtue. God is love. God is the root of virtue.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age” (Ti. 2: 11-12 CSB)
Our morality is contingent on the grace of God.
We are moral people because grace teaches us to be holy. Manton wrote, “It teaches by way of direction what duties we ought to perform, and so it makes use of the moral law as a rule of life.”
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God through His grace encourages us. The laws are no longer threatening but instructive.
Remember at the beginning of this devotion, we said that what we are learning as we navigate our roads is what makes up “… all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5: 9 CSB). We are taught that through grace.
We are taught to live “… a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age” (Ti. 2: 11-12 CSB). The King James Version tells us to live a sober life, being a person of moral character. Graham wrote, “It denotes soundness of mind, as well as temperance regarding the indulgence of the appetites.”
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God will use His grace to guide us to where He wants us to be. He will use our Sanctification Roads to grow us to be more like Him.
Father. You want us to walk as Your children so that You can work within us to build a solid relationship that leads to godliness. That is what we want, too. Help us to live “… sensible, righteous, and godly …” (Ti. 2: 11-12 CSB) lives so that we can have Your moral character. Amen.
What do you think?
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