Distinguishing Both Right and Wrong

There are many ideas about right and wrong in the world and many religions espousing their own laundry list of laws that their people must abide by, usually involving the Mosaic Law.

Just before Paul listed the foundation of our faith that serves as "the milk of the word," he says: "Solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong." (Hebrews 5:14) Thus, only the seven foundation points mentioned previously, distinguishing right and wrong and “the fruitage of the spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) have any bearing on us as Christians.

Now that you know the foundation of the truth, you must "press on to maturity" by getting into the meat of God's word in order to "distinguish both right and wrong."

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: "According to the undeserved kindness of God that was given to me, as a wise director of works I laid a foundation, but someone else is building on it. But let each one keep watching how he is building on it. For no man can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood materials, hay, stubble, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire; and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one's is. If anyone's work that he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet, if so, as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) So it is important that we teach and learn how to build upon the foundation so that we learn properly how to distinguish right and wrong “until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man” (Ephesians 4:11-15)

Adam and Eve chose a path away from God in order to choose for themselves what was right and what was wrong, but we should not be like that. (Genesis 3:1-7) We should rely on Jehovah to show us the path of right and wrong through his word. We are neither gods nor perfect and therefore need our Creator's guidance to help us in this matter. By blazing our own path we are moving in the direction of Adam and of Satan and those angels who forsook their original dwelling place. (Jude 6) But let us instead move toward Christ who dwells with the living God.

Earlier in the letter to the Hebrews, Paul said: "For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) This goes beyond identifying the laundry list of bad deeds I listed last time that we need to repent from. By being acquainted with the word of God through the Scriptures, we can learn how best to distinguish right and wrong in all our ways. (Psalm 37:27) By doing so, the Scripture says, we build upon the foundation.

WHAT IS SIN?

What really is sin? Let us start with looking at the first sin in the garden of Eden.

Adam was made of the same flesh as all other living things on earth, which means without Jehovah's active renewal of Adam's life, Adam would be subject to the same deterioration and fleshly desires as any animal. (1 Corinthians 15:50) However, life beyond the natural corruption of death is a gift that God gives. (Romans 6:23) It is not an obligation on God’s part. Thus, in order to have indefinitely lasting life, Adam would be dependent upon God to maintain it. To qualify for this gift of life, he only needed to obey God. Adam, though, had not yet been tested in regard to perfect obedience as far as death.

There were many commands laid upon the man and his wife, including procreating, spreading their descendants out across the Earth, exercising loving dominion over the animals, cultivating the earth, eat only vegetation, name the animals, treat each other as their selves and exercise their respective roles as man and woman. (Genesis 1:28-30; 2:19, 23-25) These were all easy to fulfill. But before he ever taught man anything else, God told Adam, and later Eve, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad or they would “positively die”. (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:2-3)

When God set the rule upon them, was there any way to break that simple rule without being guilty regarding it? No. It was a single simple prohibition. It is not like God asked them to stop breathing. So if they ate it, they would be sinning without question. Indeed, though deceived, Eve bit into the apple for selfish gain. But Adam was not deceived and ate willfully, because he loved his wife more than God. —Genesis 2:18-22; Hebrews 10:26-27

Did this cause God to hate them? Of course not. But their disobedience led to their offspring being left in a state of imperfection. (Romans 6:12) But why was it necessary for mankind to suffer these things? In order that their seed could be sifted for those who would exercise perfect obedience, as well as freeing them from being “drawn out and baited by [their] own desire”. (Hebrews 5:8-10; James 1:14-15) For all mankind had to be taught obedience, not just Adam and Eve.

Why this sifting? Because what we currently have is what is a natural outgrowth of a mixing of disobedience in with obedience. The world of men, gifted with the powers of God, to create and to destroy, would create a world of destruction. (Romans 1:28-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-9) But thanks to God, he put into place a means of saving mankind from this condition, which was discussed in the previous post.

Thus sin is disobedience and a disregard of love for God and neighbor.

APPROVED BY CONSCIENCE

We go throughout our lives seeking approval from everyone else. (2 Timothy 2:4; Romans 14:17-18) Whether we sacrifice ourselves to help others or we simply try to make them laugh. However we try to do it, we seek approval through it. But when the approval fails to make us happy we often keep doing the same thing over and over for those little thoughts that someone is approving of us. (Matthew 23:4-7) But the thing is, no matter what great things we do and no matter who we impress, if we don't approve of ourselves, we will never be happy. (Romans 1:28-32) When we approve of ourselves, it doesn't matter what other people say, we are content and happy with ourselves. (1 Timothy 1:5)

In the letter to the Romans, Paul said "For whenever people [not under the Mosaic Law] do by nature the things of the Law, these people although not having law, are a law to themselves...Their conscience is bearing witness with them and between their own thoughts, they are being accused or even excused." (Romans 2:14-15) Later in that letter, Paul spoke of his conscience bearing witness with him in holy spirit. (Romans 9:1) Later still he said: "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is defiled in itself; only where a man considers something to be defiled, to him it is defiled." (Romans 14:14) So whatever 'marks the conscience as with a branding iron' (1 Timothy 4:2) is what accuses us, and we will be judged based on those things that we accuse ourselves in. (Romans 2:16)

But just because we refuse to feel guilty about something does not mean we think it's right and will not free us from judgment. (Hebrews 3:7-11) When we do things, we should weigh the pros and cons of our actions. (Proverbs 21:5; Luke 14:28) Who will benefit? (John 11:49-50; Jude 16) Does it hurt anyone in an unrighteous way? (Ezra 4:22; Even just their feelings?) Is it right and just? (Psalm 106:3) Does it give consideration to others? (Hebrews 10:24) By training ourselves with Scriptural examples of right and wrong, we can learn to more accurately distinguish right and wrong. "Become imitators of me," Paul said, "even as I am of the Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1) By doing that, we can be sure we are on the right track, keeping in mind that we are not executors of justice, but are "strangers and temporary residents in the land." (Hebrews 11:13)

To the Corinthians Paul said regarding food from markets that have the possibility of having been sacrificed to idols: "making no inquiry on account of your conscience." (1 Corinthians 10:25-29) This means that we are guiltless if we do something in innocence without knowledge of anything bad on our part. (1 Kings 22:34; Matthew 12:7)  If we find out later, then we should still feel no guilt as our knowing now does not change the status of our innocence regarding the event, and it is covered by Christ's sacrifice just as the burnt offering by Job covered the sins of which his sons were not aware. (Job 1:5) What matters is what is before us, not what is behind.

If we do things that we know to be wrong, then we cannot approve of ourselves. (Genesis 4:21) Therefore, happiness is intrinsically linked to our ability to make decisions that we ourselves approve of. (Psalm 1:1) That's where the Bible comes in. It teaches us the right way to do things, and when we do them, we approve of ourselves and we are confident God approves of us, and we are happy. (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17) But when we fail to do things we approve of, we can remember that Christ's ransom sacrifice cover's our mistake, and we can have our conscience freed from the burden of guilt caused from our bad decision of which we ourselves cannot approve. (Hebrews 9:14) So what is important to God isn't that we do what he wants us to do without question, but that we do things that God and we ourselves can approve of through a Bible-trained conscience, which results in perfect obedience. (Romans 6:17) Since we do not know what is right all the time, we turn to the Scriptures for guidance on what is right and then when we do that; we approve of ourselves and we are happy, and we are even happier because we know that God approves of us. (Romans 4:8)

So when the Scriptures declare that we should be happy, they mean that we should be happy because we approve of ourselves. Before God can approve of us, we must approve of ourselves. So we must seek the approval of our conscience and then God can approve of us.

EXERCISE LOVING KINDNESS

Are there special circumstances that might excuse the doing of a sin once? According to the Scriptures, there are. For instance, Rahab was considered righteous for her lie to protect God's servants, but if she had lied simply because it is her habit or out of maliciousness or just covering over her own error, she would have only condemnation. Her lie did not bring anyone to harm, but instead through faith she saved the lives of God's servants for the accomplishment of God's will. (Joshua 2:1-24) By faith God's servants executed God's judgment against the nations that occupied the land, killing all. By faith Rachel did not honor her father on account of his scheming and his greed, but took his little idols as a dowry and thus Laban was reproved. —Genesis 30:25-31:53

But do not let these examples excuse your loose conduct. For these upheld the promise that was due the entire earth. By their actions they beat back the devil. (Matthew 25:41-46) But do not presume to think that your sin should somehow bring about the fulfillment of the promise. (Romans 3:7-8) But if ever a moment comes when your lack of action would dishonor God's name, defy God's will, deny his spirit, oppose his sovereignty or jeopardize his people, then your action may be counted in your favor regardless if it is normally counted as sin. (Proverbs 21:12) For no matter what it is you do, "do all things for God's glory." (1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33) For by protecting our brothers and insuring God's will, we can have special dispensation through our conscience. However, we must carefully weigh such decision, not disregarding our conscience. (1 Peter 3:16) So sin isn't truly the breaking of a rule, but is a violation of the love of God or neighbor. (Matthew 22:35-40; 23:23-24)

CORRECT YOUR BROTHER

It is common for people to confuse discretion with convicting. Personal judgment is the ability to determine what you or someone else has done is wrong. (Romans 2:1-2) "Judging others", on the other hand, is when you declare that someone else is not living up to your standards of right and wrong. To say "this person took what does not belong to them" is merely identifying that the object was taken, but to say "this person has done wrong by stealing" is a condemnation. (Matthew 12:1-8) When someone says "don't judge me," they have determined that you are condemning them for their choice, often when you have never made such condemnation. To say "look out brother, that your anger does not mislead you" is not the same as saying "your anger is bad." Each of us needs to learn this distinction so that we don't condemn someone just for calling something what it is.
Christ instructed, however, that when you see your brother, under the same moral code, do something wrong, it is important that you "lay bare his fault between you and him alone." Thus, don't call them out in front of others, but make it intimate, helping them to be comfortable with what you have to say to them. When you do this, season your words with salt so that you may "gain your brother." (Matthew 18:15; Colossians 4:6)

CORRECT YOURSELF

But we want to guard against making our own or someone else's conscience callous. (Hebrews 3:13) Instead we should work to make our conscience sensitive, (1 Corinthians 8:7-13) but not so sensitive that we never have any joy, and not so that we are always feeling guilty nor that if we feel guilty, it is so strongly felt that it threatens to tear us away from God's tender mercies, just as Paul said to the Corinthians: "Kindly forgive and comfort, that somehow such a man may not be swallowed up by his being overly sad." (2 Corinthians 2:5-7) But at the same time, we don't want to use our freedom as an excuse for loose conduct, (Jude 4) as willful sin can put us in opposition to God. (Hebrews 10:26-30)
God wants us to be happy, and only when we are resistant to correction will he let us experience the full effect of our sin on our lives, and only so far as repentance (But God does not himself try anyone). (James 1:13) Then when we repent and turn away from our wrong course, we can take comfort in knowing that we are forgiven, and be reassured by "the God of all comfort" through the Scriptures by reading a text that reminds us that we are forgiven. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Romans 15:4)
If someone tells you that you did something wrong or bad, you should know that they may not be trying to condemn you. They may simply be trying to correct you in a spirit of mildness. (Galatians 6:1) And when you retort with "don't condemn me" to someone with whom you share the Christian moral standards, it shows that you are condemning yourself, because you think you will be or should be punished for whatever it is you did. It is your own disapproval of yourself that is speaking up, and you should recognize it if you don't want to lose sight of your spirituality. Guilt resonates within us as a tuning fork. By tuning the instrument of our conscience, we can be as pleasing as a harp playing a melody.
If the person tells you that you have done something wrong, but you do not believe you have or perhaps they live by a different moral code than you do, then there is no benefit to accusing them of condemning you. The best course of action is to simply hold back your response and maybe, without condescension, thank them for informing you. After all, in the same way as you believe that they have no right to condemn you, what right do you have for condemning them for condemning you? You are no better than they, are you? This will also demonstrate the spiritual qualities of peace, long-suffering, mildness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) There are different value systems in the world and we need to be respectful of that if we want them to respect ours.

THE LAW OF LOVE, NOT MOSES

Now when turning to the Scriptures to help us determine right and wrong, we should know that we are not under the Law that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Law shows us that we are incapable of fulfilling every commandment perfectly, thus highlighting our sin. (Romans 3:20) It was made, as Paul said to the Galatians, for making sin manifest. (Galatians 3:19) In the letter to the Hebrews Paul said: "Certainly, then, there occurs a setting aside of the preceding commandment on account of its weakness and ineffectiveness. For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in besides of a better hope did, through which we are drawing near to God." (Hebrews 7:18-19) Later, he continues with, "'Look! There are days coming,' says Jehovah, 'and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant.'...In his saying 'a new' he has made the former one obsolete. Now that which is made obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing." —Hebrews 8:8, 13
In accord with this, he said to the Romans : "By means of [Jesus'] flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples [Jews and people of the nations] in union with himself into one new man and make peace; and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself." —Ephesians 2:15-16
As he said to the Colossians, the result was that: "He kindly forgave us all our trespasses and having erased the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us; and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the stake." —Colossians 2:13-14
Thus, in determining right and wrong there is only one law that a Christian is under, and that is the law of love. If we exercise a pure, loyal love in our decisions, we will be fulfilling the law as Paul says. (Romans 13:8-10) We can learn how to show love by considering the source of love, God. Love means fidelity to God, family, mate, friends, brothers, mankind, and even those who oppose us. (Matthew 5:43-48) By making all our decisions based on love from a Bible-trained conscience, we can make good decisions and weed out those things in our personalities that lead to bad decisions. By doing so we will also be at peace with ourselves knowing that we are doing the right thing at all times, freeing us from guilt, becoming blameless.(1 John 3:19-22)

PRACTICE MAKES IMPERFECT

Interestingly, it is not usually the doing of a single sin that puts our salvation at risk with the judgment coming upon evildoers. It is the practice of sin that ruins our way with Jehovah. (1 John 3:4-8) "Practice" means repeatedly doing the same thing. If you have taken a misstep, this is not "practicing" the sin, but is merely a single event that can be forgiven easily and Christ's sacrifice covers it for you as long as you approach the throne of loving kindness in his name for forgiveness of sin, but if you are in the habit of repeating the sin, then you are sinning willfully and are near to destruction. (Hebrews 10:26-31)
The necessity then becomes to take measures to stop the pattern of sinful behavior. But unfortunately, when we want to stop we are left with a void. Here's how Paul described it to the Romans: "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good; for ability to wish is present with me, but ability to work out what is fine is not. For the good that I wish I do not do, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice. If, now, what I do not wish is what I do, the one working it out is no longer I, but the sin dwelling in me." (Romans 7:18-20) So we can want to stop sinning all we want, but because we have no other way, it keeps coming back to us. In actuality, it is guilt and the continuing in our habits that always brings us back to the same sin. So before we get to the solution, let us consider how to change our habits.
Habits are hard to break, but the reward is great to us who break the habit of sinning. In order to break a habit, you must replace it with another habit. Paul said to the Ephesians: "you all should put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; but that you all should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God's will in true righteousness and loyalty." (Ephesians 4:22-24) To have the new "force actuating your mind" requires that you make a conscious consideration of what you can do in the place of the sin you are so accustomed to. The habit which actuated your mind before must be replaced or you have done nothing to break the habit and the void will only fill itself with what it is used to.
Paul gave several examples of how to replace old habits: "Wherefore, now that you all have put away falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor. Be wrathful, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state, neither allow place for the Devil. Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need. Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your all's mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers." (Ephesians 4:25-29) Once the habit is broken, though, we have conquered the sin in the flesh. (Romans 7:25) But this instruction goes even further.

BECOME DOERS OF THE WORD

Jacob (James), the brother of Jesus, said: "Become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning." You see, we humans have a tendency to say that because we feel bad about the condition of the world that we have a good heart, but the reality is that thoughts can't save us. Jacob went on to state: "If a brother or a sister is in a naked state and lacking the food sufficient for the day, yet a certain one of you all says to them: 'Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,' but you all do not give them the necessities for body, of what benefit is it? Thus, too, faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself." (James 2:14-17) In a saying common today, "practice what you preach." Do you say someone needs help? Give them help. Do you think you are good? Then do good.
Of course this is not always easy. We often have to make plans to do so and then take decisive action. It is the decisive action that is difficult to motivate ourselves in, described as "the sin that easily entangles us". (Hebrews 12:1-3) We can easily get distracted with worldly concerns and may even find them weighing on our attempts to change bad habits. It just takes so much effort to make change happen. In the letter to the Ephesians we read: "So keep strict watch that how you all walk is not as unwise but as wise, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked." (Ephesians 5:15-20) So we can make all the plans to do right that we want, but if we don't take action, then we are showing our comfort with the status quo. Do you not take care of the needs of your pet? Of how much more worth, then, is your salvation. Do you not expect your children to correct their course so that they do not repeat their errors after you chastise them? Then correct your own course as befits repentance. We should even take this a step further.

BECOME AN EXAMPLE

Which is better? To be made a bad example or to be shown to others as a good example? Hopefully you should want to be seen as a good example. Earlier I pointed out that everyone wants to be loved and appreciated, to be approved by others. Though approving of ourselves and being approved by God are paramount, we can stretch our fine conduct even further so that we become a fine example to the congregation and thereby get a more tangible approval and making our happiness complete. (Philippians 3:17) Just as Paul instructed Timothy: "Keep on giving these commands and teaching them...become an example to the faithful ones in speaking, in conduct, in love, in faith, in chasteness. While I am coming, continue applying yourself to public reading, to exhortation, to teaching...Ponder over these things; be absorbed in them, that your advancement may be manifest to all. Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you." —1 Timothy 4:11-16
However, as Jesus said, according to Matthew: "Take good care not to practice your all's righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you all will have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens." (Matthew 6:1-8) Rather, by being so preoccupied with doing good things that your doing good cannot go unnoticed, then you will be spoken of kindly by others and made an example of doing good to the congregation, an example that others may aspire to. By your example you may elevate the spirit within your congregation and maybe to the entire congregation of brothers and sisters throughout the world. (Romans 1:8) By knowing that we have influenced others toward good we can have a joy that far surpasses the approval of men.

So keep these things in mind when considering the Scriptures and what God disapproves of. These things are guidelines meant to train our consciences and to make us sensitive to ways to show love through our actions at every opportunity. As you carry forth to completion, consider also the construction of your faith.


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