The Biblical Articles: The "Therefore" Variation

Now let us look at a New Testament variation of the theme. The thing that you can't escape as you read the New Testament is the fact that these Christians were concerned about one another primarily because they believed that God was concerned about all of them. It was because of God's love, made known to them in Christ, that they felt impelled to love one another. "We love," one of them says, "because he first loved us" ( I John 4: 19). God loves us, therefore we must love one another. It would be absurd to talk about loving God if you did not also love your brother:

If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also ( I John 4: 20, 21).

Jesus observes the same order of priority. The first commandment is to love God. The second commandment -- just like the first, he tells us -- is to love your neighbor. You are to love Joe Doakes (against whom you may happen to have a grudge at the moment) because: a. God loves you, and you must "pass on" that love to others;

b. God loves Joe Doakes (even though you may find that hard to believe) and you must not refuse to love one whom God loves; and

c. If you love God and wish to do his will, his will is crystalclear on this particular point.

There is no way of wriggling out from under that demand.

We now begin to see why New Testament ethics can be called "therefore" ethics. Again and again we find that a long passage about God will end with a "therefore," which goes on to point out how the belief in God leaves you saddled with all sorts of ethical demands. Here are a few examples.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes eleven long, difficult theological" chapters, explaining to the Romans what Christian faith is, who Jesus Christ is, what he has done for men, and so on. Straight theology. And then what? Chapter 12 begins, "I appeal to you therefore, brethren," and Paul gives a long list of attitudes, practices, and characteristics of the way in which Christians are to act -- things like:

Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Bless those who persecute you.

Live in harmony with one another. Repay no one evil for evil.

And the word "therefore" is the pivot of the entire argument. Because all these things that I have been writing to you about (for eleven chaptersl) are true, Paul is saying in effect, therefore this is the way in which you must act.

The same thing happens in the letter to the Ephesians. The first three chapters expound the work of Christ upon the cross. And the fourth chapter begins,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ( Eph. 4: 1-3)

And the writer continues with advice about the way life is to be lived because of what God has done in Christ. The ethics are dependent upon the faith.

An even more striking example of placing ethics squarely in the context of what God has done is found in Paul's letter to the Philippians. He finds it impossible to separate religion and ethics, and they are woven together inextricably.

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross ( Phil. 2: 3-8).

You will notice that in this striking passage, Paul has been giving ethical instruction, stressing humility and warning against selfishness and conceit. But how do we know what this "humility" is like? We find our answer at the very heart of the gospel -- in the staggering humility of Christ, who was in the form of God himself, and yet set that aside that he might take the form of a servant. An assertion of what Christ has done (the heart of Christian faith) is also an assertion of what we must do (the heart of Christian ethics). God has acted in this way toward us, therefore, we are to act this way toward our fellow men. The two cannot be separated.The same fact comes out clearly in the experience of Paul on the road to Damascus (see Chapter 8). Here he finds himself confronted by God. And he asks two questions: 1. Who are you, Lord?

2. What shall I do, Lord? ( Acts 22: 8, 10)

First, he must know who this God is who confronts him. And when he does know, then he must do something about it. Since God is that kind of God, Paul seems to be saying, therefore, I must find out and do whatever he commands me to do.

These examples make clear that in the New Testament ethics are "therefore" ethics. They represent what we must do because of what God has done. They represent our action in response to God's action. It is all summed up in the statement, "If God so loved us [by sending his Son], we also ought to love one another" ( I John 4: 11).