Highest Law

What is sin? A trespass, a missing of the mark. There are other words you may use. You could say it is the breaking of God’s law. So what laws in particular? We could start with the Ten Commandments, those are good. But I want something more basic, for argument’s sake.

Let’s talk about the law of lying. Now, we know it is not good to tell lies. Many lives have been lost as a result of a lie. Wars have been fought, families ruined and people cheated out of their life savings as a result of lives. Much evil has happened in the world simply because people would not tell the truth. If you have had the experience of being lied to and eventually finding out, you know how grievous it is to be a victim of that.

So it’s clear then, that if we believe in a God who is good, then we who worship this God should not lie. And already you might have seen where I’m going. Are there no instances where it would be wrong not to lie?

You are in a country ruled by a dictator. He is cruel. A journalist, by bravery or foolishness, speaks out against him, calling him rather unsavory names in the national paper. He does not take kindly to this. The journalist goes into hiding shortly after. You hear of this from afar. You too do not agree with what the dictator does, his acts are not godly after all. Then one night you hear a knock on your door. It’s the journalist. He’s begging for you to shelter him, if only for a night. You agree. While you feed him upstairs, there is another knock at the door. Uniformed men are going through the neighborhood, you know what they are looking for. When they come to ask you ‘Is the criminal (for that is what he is by the state) in this house?’ what would be your answer?

It’s obvious, isn’t it? Excepting for your lack of courage in the face of danger, you would lie. Even if you didn’t, you would know that it’s the right thing to do.

But see what has happened. You have quite easily agreed to break this law of not lying and therefore, sin. And in general, I think that the sort of individual who is already so concerned with not lying for the fear of God would be the same person to lie so quickly in such a case.

Why? Is it a rationalization of an evil thing? Or shall we simply say, ‘Well, God understands.’ Yes, God understands, but isn’t it better we do as well? What we have really done is submit ourselves to a higher law than the law of speaking the truth. In this case, the law is to preserve another’s life from being unjustly taken.

And who sets these laws and the order of priority they take in our lives? Well, the materialist would say societal evolution. These are simply values that human communities the world over have found to be more convenient for living together over time. Having found the best way to survive as a group, parents then teach it to their children and so on.

This is a joke.

Because we are looking to society to define what good and evil are. According to that view, the reason you take in that journalist is because you and your neighbors, along with the majority of the country, agree that the dictator shouldn’t take the journalist’s life. But all that means is you are going with the majority opinion. And if that opinion changed, then by the same principle you would have to change as well. If your neighbors decided it was wrong for you to lie to save a life, then it would be.

If a majority of Americans decided slavery was once again moral and right then it would be. That’s society deciding it for you. You can’t comment on it.

One more example, let’s speak of survival. If you are traveling through the frozen tundra with a group of people. Among you is an old woman. She’s slow she’s weighing down the convoy. And the longer you take to cross this path, the more likely it is that you will not survive. It sounds like a Netflix series already. The choice optimal for survival is to abandon this old lady. Why stop there though? Why not kill and eat her? You’re running low on supplies anyway. What? Too harsh? Well, it’s alright if everyone agrees to it, right? I mean that’s society cooperating for survival. Do you flinch at this? And again you might that’s just my upbringing informing my decisions, society has brought me up a certain. Ok. Then don’t judge another who does it. In fact, make no judgments at all. Do not judge the politician who lies, the banker who steals. Do not judge the murderer or the rapist. Judge not, for you refuse to be judged.

Our moral instinct, conscience if you will, comes from God. This is the only rational explanation for one man being right in a sea of wrongs. It is pure folly to say we came up with good and evil for ourselves.

So God has given us morals. He tells us not to lie, for example. But then this law is trumped in favor of another. What does this mean? Are all the laws not valid?

See you in the next one.