MORALITY AND FAITH

The morality of any person or of a society is determined by the standard of conduct to which it appeals. Apart from some standard, there can be no convictions of right and wrong. When a society, such as ours presently, is experiencing moral chaos, it reflects the people's lack of adherence to a noble standard of conduct, notably the Bible, the word of God. There is a relationship between faith and morality which is worthy of our exploration.

The word "walk" is used in Scripture to refer to the whole of one's conduct, behavior, or manner of life (Ephesians 2:2, 10; 4:1,17; 5:2,8; 15). Of both Enoch and Noah it is said they "walked with God" (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). That is a divine commentary on the uprightness of their manner of life. God called upon Abraham to "walk before me and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1).

Using faith in the sense of conviction (cf. Hebrews 11:1, ASV), it should easily be apparent that one's "faith" affects his "walk." Genuine conviction begets a courage to act in a way becoming the conviction. Paul explained that he was able to endure the many trials that abounded in his ministry because he possessed the spirit of faith of which the psalmist wrote, "I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak" (2 Corinthians 4:8-14). His belief "that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you" begot within him a courage to stand and not lose heart in the most difficult of circumstances. He considered what he endured as a "light affliction" borne by a perishing outer man while the inner man enjoyed daily renewal as he looked to the "exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (vs. 16-18). Verily, what one believes affects his walk, his conduct, whole manner of life. In Paul's case, what he believed about God ("He who raised'), Christ ("the Lord Jesus Christ"), and the hereafter ("will also raise us") affected his walk. Just as surely, your or my conviction about God and life to come will be the determinants of our manner of life. If I don't "believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6), my life will show it. The downward spiral of ancient Gentile society and why it occurred is shown in Romans 1:21-31. They knew God but ceased to glorify Him as God. Nor were they thankful. The resulting gross moral degeneracy is vividly described.