"As I Have Loved You"
Chapter One
Introduction
The "Problem" in Christian Ethics
Having delved into the realm of Christian ethics for the past few years, this author has concluded that a serious problem exists in the traditional approach to obedience. The problem is this: from a functional and practical standpoint, Christian ethics has been more oriented around Moses than Christ. Many formally correct things have been stated in ethical treatises, but most presentations manifest no sensitivity to the movement of redemptive history from a reign of law to a reign of grace (John 1:17). It is as though nothing ethically significant really occurred with the coming of the prophet Moses looked forward to in Deut. 18:15-18.
The historical roots of the problem in Christian ethics could be viewed from several angles. For our purposes here, the change that took place in 323 A.D. when Constantine began to rule the Roman Empire is of the utmost importance. From this point onward visible Christianity increasingly took on an old covenant cast.
Unfortunately, this old covenant orientation continued unabated in critical areas during the development of the Reformation and then later in Puritanism. In the period of 1520-1660, many books on Christian behavior (ethics) appeared. Given the fact that Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were essentially theocratic in their outlook, it is no wonder that the ethical outlook of this period was couched in the Old rather than the New Testament.
The basic problem of traditional Christian ethics-which takes on a Mosaic flavor, and is not sensitive to the flow of redemptive history--is illustrated in the following remarks by Puritan Samuel Bolton:
While you are in the wilderness of this world, you must walk under the conduct of Moses. . . . The law sends us to the Gospel that we may be justified; and the Gospel sends us to the law again to inquire what is our duty as those who are justified.1
Christ is not functionally central in this approach to ethics. In the final analysis, Christ ends up serving the law.2
Our ethical starting point is of critical importance.
In what follows, it will be exegetically established that the Lord Jesus stands as our ethical reference point. In light of the past old covenant orientation of much Christian thought, this study is significant because it calls for a re-orientation of our ethical stance. It calls for us to start with Christ, not Moses; to see our obedience as flowing out of the new, not the old covenant. Further, we shall see that all of this vitally colors our whole outlook on and approach to sanctification.
Traditional Christian thought has asserted that Christ is our salvation, but has virtually passed by Him for help in the realm of ethics: He can save us, but the law must tell us how to live; He has cut a new covenant with His blood, but the new commandment flowing out of that redemptive event has no radical consequences for our ethics. The New Testament will not sustain this traditional approach.
The purpose of this study, then, will be: (1) to see the centrality of Christ in Christian obedience through an examination of relevant biblical texts, (2) to evaluate the historical approach to ethics in light of the biblical data, and (3) to spell out some crucial practical implications for Christians in light of the centrality of Christ in ethics.
As we work our way through the biblical and historical materials, the following contributions will emerge:
1. The information from the New Testament Will reveal a need for us to take seriously the movement of redemptive history from old to new covenants. We must avoid a "flat Bible" approach which for all practical purposes negates the radicality of Christ's incarnation.
2. The ethical structure of the New Testament will reveal that indeed we must view Jesus Christ as our starting point both for salvation and obedience. This may sound elemental, but hardly any justice to this dimension will be discovered in the traditional treatments of Christian ethics.
3. The historical material will reveal the old covenant orientation of the past, and the need to recover a new covenant orientation in the future.
4. Combining the biblical and historical data, our structural and practical approach to Christian obedience will be clarified and sharpened.
In the course of this study, the following questions should have Scriptural light cast upon them:
1. How is Christ central in the Old Testament?
2. What was Christ's relationship to the law?
3. Has mankind always been "under law?"
4. Does the believer's obedience focus on Christ or the law?
5. What is "the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2)?
6. How did the apostles use the law in their preaching?
7. What is the ethical pattern that emerges in the New Testament?
Definition of Terms
Used in the Study
Most of the terms used in this study are not technical, or are defined in their context. But the following biblical and historical words will be given some definition.
Law
Whole books have been written dealing with this word as used in the Bible.
It can refer to the entire Old Testament (Rom. 3:19), to the making and
maintaining of the old covenant (Gal. 3:17), or to the idea of "principle"
(Rom. 3:27). In this study, the word "law" will usually refer to that covenantal
administration which lasted from the Mt. Sinai law-giving until the coming
of Christ (Rom. 5:13-14; Gal. 3:17). When "law" is considered as that which
is binding, it must be linked concretely to the covenant that is in
force.
Covenant
Covenant is not an abstract term, but refers to some- is
"cut" in history. It can be remembered and thing that celebrated. Covenants can be unilateral or bilateral. The former
is promissory and depends on God's fulfillment of the conditions for blessing;
the latter is conditional and depends upon the obedience of the
subjects.
Redemptive History
Sometimes called "salvation history," this refers to that special history
flowing from Gen. 3:15 that culminated in the appearance of Christ in the
fullness of time. Redemptive history takes place within the framework of
general human history, but is differentiated from it because it is related
to God's revelatory purpose in Christ.
Constantinianism
Around 325 A.D., emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the religion
of the Roman Empire. This action set in motion the mistaken practice of
identifying Christ's kingdom with a territory (paralleling Israel's specialness
among the nations). This gave rise to the idea of a monolithic state religion.
Thus was begun the institutionalization of a "Christianity" informed more
by the old covenant than the new.
Delimitation and Limitation of the Study
This study limits itself to issues related to the critical area of an ethical starting point. Hence, this study is concerned to isolate the materials necessary to build a framework of Christian ethics, not to deal with the many particulars which an ethical system must address.
With reference to the biblical data, this study deals only with some of the Gospel materials, and the teachings of Paul. Concerning the historical data, ethical treatments since the Reformation--with special attention to the Reformed tradition--are considered.
The chapters which follow pursue the centrality of Christ in ethics in this manner:
Chapter Two shows that the Old Testament focuses on the person and work of Christ.
Chapter Three delineates Christ's relationship to the law during His earthly life.
Chapter Four demonstrates that Christ is the starting point of Christian obedience.
Chapter Five seeks to trace the concept of law in the history of mankind, with special attention to the Adamic, Mosaic and Christian eras.
Chapter Six outlines Paul's Christ-centered ethic with an overview of crucial texts in his epistles.
Chapter Seven interacts with several representative ethical traditions in light of the biblical material.
Chapter Eight unfolds some of the practical implications of an ethic which has Christ as its starting point.
Chapter Nine summarizes the structure of the Christcentered New Testament ethic.
1) Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom (London: Banner of Truth, 1964), pp. 76, 71.
2) Werner Elert, Law and Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967), p. 8, 47.