Biblical Principles oppose Moral Relativism

by | Posted February 17th at 12:57am

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 NIV)

In our current culture, we have seen a huge shift away from biblical values – a shift which we are witnessing as the laws of the land rapidly change in Canada and the USA, as determined by the courts making decisions based on relativism, offering more choices to groups who demand change. Often, these changes begin in the USA and are soon seen in Canada.

The definition of a Relativist as per Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Someone who holds that nothing is simply good, but only good for someone or from a distinct point of view, holds a relativist view of goodness.

In the early days of the church after Christ’s resurrection, Peter declared to the spiritual leaders, “We must obey God rather than men,” despite strict orders from the Jewish Council. They said, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” (vs. 39)

I began reading the late Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, in the late 70s, found his Christian philosophy encouraging. History is repeating itself as Francis A. Schaeffer contended. We are moving deeper into biblical lawlessness. Philosophy has separated the influence of divine revelation, as found in the Bible, from man-made relativism. Schaeffer used Raphael’s painting of “The School of Athens” (c. 1510), a copy of which hangs in my home office, to illustrate the separation.

The painting of The School of Athens
Symbolically, the painting depicts two viewpoints, one looking upward toward God, the other viewing the lower academic sources as guidance developed by man. In Europe, this gravitation toward one or the other direction took divergent paths – the Reformation (God) and the Renaissance (man). Schaeffer traced moral relativism back to the Roman Empire. Pilate caved in to the Jewish leaders when they accused him of not being a friend of Caesar. Of the Christians, Schaeffer wrote:

They worshiped Jesus as God, as the infinite personal God only. The Caesars would not tolerate this worship of the one God only. It was counted as treason. Thus, their worship became a threat to the state’s unity during the third century and under Diocletian (284–305), when members of the higher classes began to convert to Christianity in greater numbers. 1

We see this occurring in society now when Christian views are advocated, and when they oppose or disagree with the choices of any group’s relative practices, which are condoned by the courts and widely popular with the masses. In Canada, the Liberal government has drafted Bill C-9, which, if made law, would classify certain passages in the Bible as hate speech, including Revelation 9:21; Jude 1:7; Leviticus 18:22; and, notably, Romans 1:24-25, 26-27, 28-29.

Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another…For this reason, God gave them over to dishonourable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones…Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error…Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done…They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity…They are… God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful.

As Christians, we need to be cautious not to be seduced into the world’s viewpoint, which is a distinctly opposite philosophy of life. “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition” (Colossians 2:8). Behind the worldview lies a philosophy contrary to the laws of God and Jesus Christ.

The Loss of Christian Principles
Christian principles are based on laws grounded in the love of God. We have seen many of them ruined, as the courts have now stripped the collective, inalienable right to the freedoms people have long enjoyed. The court’s rulings bypass any legislative basis for wider representation of the people. In the courts and in North America, the once cherished principles are evidently lost, perhaps forever in many areas, replaced by these:

The new rights stated above are based on the world’s deceptive principles and are not biblical. Isn’t it hypocritical that the US courts disallow prayer in the school when the founding fathers’ reverent practice of opening Congress with prayer is still carried on with a presiding Christian minister?

Today, religion is viewed as unacademic, even though many great universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge in England, began as Christian schools with a theological focus.

Apostle Paul noted regarding those not led by the Spirit of God: “When we were children, we were slaves to the principles of this world” (Galatians 4:3) Peter warned that that this conflict will continue: “Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute” (2 Peter 2:2) Peter warns of the impending judgement of God based on rampant lawlessness:

“…if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. (2 Peter 2:6-10 NIV)

In Sodom before this judgment, sexual immorality abounded. “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion”. (Jude 1:7) The lawless townsmen thought they could knock down Lot’s door to bring his guests out to gang rape (sodomize) them in the town square. Does this sound like something you might hear in the news today? The judgment began right there. The angels confronted them. They were all blinded, and the angels led Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah before the rain of fire that destroyed the towns. Jesus warned us that just before His second advent, the state of man’s lawlessness will be similar:

“Just as it happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:27, 28, 29, 30)

 It is noteworthy that Dr. Schaeffer contended that Christians are to blame for not speaking up when the issues were developing. This may be true in part. What is true today is that all Christians need to be aware of relative humanism as the most profound catalyst in a society, moving man to the Final Judgement, which will occur at the second advent of Jesus Christ in power and great glory.

We are witnessing more animosity from the relativists. Jesus warned of this: “Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.” (John 15:19, 20, 21 NLT) The apostle Paul’s warning makes sense today: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy…”

1 Schaeffer, Francis A. How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture (Crossway)

 

Article posted by Glen R. Jackman, founder of GraceProclaimed.org

Glen has optimized his eldership role to teach the full scope of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ without boundaries.
You can read his testimony.