EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY - Morality from the inside out

EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY - MORALITY

THE BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?

EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?

GOD - MAN
Is Jesus really God?

RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?

SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?

TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.

SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.

FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?

GUIDANCE
How does God guide?

REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.

BORN AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?

SAVING FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven

ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?

TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?

MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.

THE CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the new millennium.

PURPOSE
How can I find a great purpose for living?

IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of God.

SELF-ESTEEM
How can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.

LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.

THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.

Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.

Morality from the inside out

The first thing that happens when we turn in repentance and faith to Jesus is that he forgives our sins and accepts us fully. The basis for this is that another, Jesus himself, has already taken upon himself the penalty for those sins. The Bible calls it being "justified". This is a legal term that means we are acquitted of all the charges against us. However, that is only half the story. The second thing God does is literally to come and live within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. His Spirit is united with our human spirit. This is called being "born of the Spirit" (e.g. John 3:5) or simply receiving the Spirit (e.g. Galatians 3:14). We are now sons and daughters of God, adopted into his family.

"It is what goes on inside us that determines the true value of our outside acts"

Jesus constantly emphasised that God is not just concerned with outward behaviour, but also with what goes on inside us, who we really are. This was in sharp contrast to the morality of the Pharisees who tended to focus on outward rules of behaviour, rules about such things as circumcision, keeping the Sabbath and dietary regulations. Outward rules of behaviour always act as boundary markers, excluding those who don't observe such rules or who have other rules. Jesus, instead, concentrated primarily on inward thoughts and motives - matters of character. For Jesus, it is what goes on inside us that determines the true value of our outward acts. This tends to put us all in the same boat, as we all have problems here!

In describing the person who is blessed by God, at the beginning of his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus mentions qualities that mainly have to do with inner attitudes and motives (Matthew 5:1-12). He declared that we could commit murder and adultery by our inward thoughts without committing the deeds (Matthew 5:21, 22, 27, 28). He spoke of those who "honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Mark 7:6). He declared, "What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God" (Mark 7:20-23). Again he said, "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit...You cannot pick figs or grapes from thorn bushes. Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts. Bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. Your words show what is in your hearts" (Luke 6:43-45).

Most of us are pretty good at putting on a reasonable show on the outside. But what we really are is determined by what is on the inside! It is obvious that if our morality is going to be acceptable to God it must begin on the inside. God comes in the person of his Spirit for this very purpose - to begin a radical make-over job, beginning on the inside. This means that as I begin to grow in my relationship with God through Bible reading, prayer, learning to trust and obey him, and fellowship with others on the same journey, I will become conscious of changes. New desires will replace old - a new love for God and desire to please him, a new concern for others. Old habits will begin to drop off and new ones form. The Bible says, "God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled" (Galatians 5:22, 23). These are qualities that Jesus exhibited perfectly in his own flawless character.

This transformation doesn't happen overnight. The process will continue till we die, and it depends on our co-operation. But it is God's doing - transformation from within. The day will one day come when God will "present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 24). In that tremendous day of resurrection the process will be complete and we will be seen to be the perfect handiwork of him who died and rose again for our salvation. "We will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is" (1 John 3:2). Claudio Taffarel is a Brazilian soccer player who made the finals of the 1994 and 1998 World Cup. Describing the effects of the realisation that Jesus had died for him, the confession of his sins and his efforts to follow Jesus' teaching, he said:

The verse in the Bible: 'Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,' really spoke to me. My commitment to Jesus Christ didn't bring big changes at first, but as I looked at myself, I realised that I was gradually changing from the inside.

So true morality is made possible, both by the grace of God by which we are accepted undeservedly into his family, and the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit within. Grace provides the motivation, the Holy Spirit the power.