Judges 21:25 (NIV) 25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
John 17:13-21 (KJV) 13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Moral absolutes are objective laws for right living that apply to all people, all times, and all places under all circumstances. They are necessary for the survival of a society. To say there are no moral absolutes is to believe there are no real rules.
We have often failed to live up to the moral rules. We have often disagreed about what the rules should be. Rules are objectively real. Values are subjective. But, there is a Creator God who has a plan and design for human life. God allows plenty of room for values, but has set down some laws that are right. The rules are right because they are from God. They may appear wise or foolish. They may appear hurtful or helpful. They may appear restrictive or permissive. But appearances are deceiving.
Thy word is truth, Jesus affirms, whether known or unknown, obeyed or ignored. All of that may sound like the old legalism and perhaps would be except that the words were spoken by Jesus. Thy word is truth, and thy word is Jesus. Can you feel the difference when the words are said, thy word is truth, and “thy word is Jesus?” Before the rules are laws, they are a person. We understand what is right by looking and listening to Jesus. We understand what is loving by looking and listening to Jesus. We understand what is just by looking and listening to Jesus, to the Jesus present in Scripture and presented to us through the Church.
I have given them thy word, and the “them” is us, fumbling, bumbling people like you and me who fit right in with the people Jesus called to His side and then who are sent to represent Him and His truth.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 26, 1992
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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