We often hear laws should change with the times, are a matter of personal choice, and that no one should have the right to impose his or her standards or values on others. If there is no eternal truth, then questions of right and wrong are merely a matter of preference. We would be free to determine our own rules, and could change them whenever we please to fit our current desires and preferences, making us the sole judges of good and evil.
In The Varnished Truth: Truth Telling and Deceiving in Ordinary Life (1993), David Nyberg, professor of philosophy of education at the State University of New York, Buffalo, promotes the view that all truth is relative. He believes we should accept alternatives to being fully truthful, stating: “To live decently with one another, we do not need moral purity, we need discretion.” Professor Nyberg views deceit and self-deception, if discreetly used, as valuable contributors to social stability. He has no objection to “white lies” if they achieve what he would consider a compassionate or noble result.
In contrast, Sissela Bok, in Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life (1989), addresses the prevalence of lying and deception in law, family, medicine and government. She takes our society to task for allowing “little white lies” to be accepted as normal behavior, challenging us to examine the effects of lying on individuals, relationships and society.
Those who reject God exists and His revealed standards of behavior generally refuse to face up to the sobering implications of the view that man is the sole arbiter of right and wrong. They contend human nature is fundamentally good and humans are progressively evolving into more ethical beings. However this view doesn’t correspond to reality when we consider the number of armed conflicts throughout history and even in the 20th century.
Although the situation is rapidly changing, for years the foundation of many Western nations’ legal code was the Bible, which presents the view that basic truths are eternal. According to the Scriptures, God determines right and wrong. King David expressed this biblical point of view when he said: “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160).
Jesus Christ expressed the same conviction. Shortly before He was crucified He prayed for those who would faithfully follow Him: “Sanctify them [set them apart from the rest of the world] by Your truth. Your word is truth…And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:17 and 19). When He was on trial for His life He told Pontius Pilate: “…for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” (John 18:37, NRSV).
The Bible is God’s revelation to mankind and is clear about what God expects of human beings. Jesus explained the two great, overriding principles when He told a lawyer who asked Him: ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus answered, ‘”You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets'” (Matthew 22:36-40).
All questions about relationships and values fall into these two categories, reflecting our attitudes and actions toward God and each other. Discernment comes from understanding how to wisely and appropriately apply these timeless laws and principles, which teach us God’s perspective. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV).
