Politicians these days are classifying all sorts of things as "moral issues." One politician recently announced the stunning news that global warming is the world's "most serious moral issue." Christians need to rethink the definition of the word moral as used in today's language. The issue of global warming is clearly a political issue unless we mean that political and moral issues are now one and the same. Apparently, many politicians think that every ax they can find to grind is a moral issue. To begin with, the word moral is not even found in the Bible so we must forget the false notion that the word moral always relates to religious or Christian principals.
The unique words used in the Bible for right conduct and bad conduct is righteousness and sin. Righteousness, is used 295 times in Scripture and refers to conducting one's life in accordance with the Divine standard of rightness and goodness.
There is a good example in Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." To seek the God, who created Heaven and earth and to understand the standards of right and wrong, He has established can more accurately be broadcast as the world's most important moral issue. A politicians idea of moral issues is often nothing more than a cause to promote which might result in political gain. According to the Bible, beginning with the first commandment, nothing pleases God more than that men should seek Him and nothing provokes Him more than that men should ignore Him.
What is righteousness or right conduct anyway and where is an example of it in a world of imperfect human beings? We know that, as hard as we try, we do not always conduct ourselves as we ought and the Bible clearly states that there is not a single solitary human being that is perfectly righteous. But, there is very good news. Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate in a human body was perfectly righteous. His life on this earth is the supreme example of goodness and excellence. It was for this reason, His death on the cross was accepted by the Father as the sacrifice sufficient to pardon the whole human race of past sins and unrighteousness.
The key word in this verse, however, is seek. It is only on the basis of sincere seeking and searching out of Christ's teachings and subsequent obedience to them that God pardons unrighteousness and credits the seeker with perfect righteousness. This pre-approved righteousness is Divinely credited to the honest seeker even though he is yet maturing in the standards of moral conduct and character that pleases God.
n Gene Holman is a member of the Carson Valley Ministers' Association.
