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“Compromised Morality”
21st Century Morality
No doubt the 21st century is a difficult age for those striving to be morally pure and faithful to God. Have there been times when it was more difficult to live faithfully to God than the 21st century? There have certainly been times when physical persecution was greater. Consider those faithful men and women mentioned in Heb. 11:33-38 who, “through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens…received their dead raised to life again…were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection…had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment…were stoned…were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword…wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”
But modern Christians face their own unique moral struggles that have only surfaced in the past few decades. There has never been a time when the mind and morality of the world was more easily accessible and tolerated. Television stations have grown into a cesspool of worldly wisdom, in which the family system, marriage relationship, and sexual bond are all subjected to modern concepts far from God’s intent. Hollywood is producing more films than ever before which promote foul language, multiple sex partners, alcoholism, illegal drug use, divorce, and a slew of other immoral behaviors. The internet has created an instantly accessible world in which compromised morality is simply a click away, and one may find an entire universe of enablers therein to support their habits and desires.
Aside from the media, people have changed, and the tolerance for immorality is growing every day. We may not have soldiers banging down our doors or sawing our family members in two, but rest assured that Satan is largely at work, and has indeed grown his empire on earth to epic proportions. He has reached the 21st century in his own sneaky way, and is surely comforted by the confidence that it is likely only going to get easier for him as the years go by.
Situational Morality
In the midst of such acceptance of immorality, it can be easy for us to come to the conclusion that compromising our moral standards is only natural and that God expects us to adjust our moral code based on the spiritual climate of the society in which we live. Wouldn’t God understand if we simply went with the spiritual flow of traffic in our age? Wouldn’t He understand if we made a few adjustments based on the modern standards of our culture? Doesn’t He expect His word to be changed and modified as the years go by? The simple answer is absolutely not!
While it is true that there were “times of ignorance God overlooked” (Acts 17:30), it is also true that God “now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (30-31). We should never let the immaturity of men in times past determine our level of spiritual maturity today. The Old Testament was written for our learning, so that we may see the consequences of sin and God’s dealings with men. Sin has and always will be abhorrent to God, and should be abhorrent to his people even today. Situational morality is unacceptable for mature Christians who are striving to obey His will!
The Plague of Sin
Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 1 John 2:2 reminds us that Jesus alone “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world”; The whole world needs Jesus Christ, because the whole world has fallen into sin. Yet Hebrews 4:15 says of Christ, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” All men sin, except for Jesus the Son of God. This is fact straight from scripture. Are we forced to sin? Do we have no choice in the matter? Are we doomed to be numbered with the rest who sin continually and constantly go against God’s call for morality?
Paul answers these question best in Romans 6:1-4: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Paul reminds us that our life in Jesus Christ is a new life. It is a life in which we have been made free of sin, and we should live in such a way that keeps us free of sin! God expects morality and purity from His people! He sent His Son to make such righteousness possible for a people who were sin stricken and lost without hope.
No, we are not forced to sin, but we will sin. We certainly have a choice in the matter, as God has given us freewill, but the fact is that we will all at some point choose to sin against Him. But Paul reminds us that in Jesus Christ we should never have the mentality which says, “Well, if the grace of Jesus is free to all, then I might as well sin so I can receive it!” Such thinking is terrible, and misunderstands the reason why Jesus died for men. He died so that we could be free from sin, not so that we could have license to continue in it! The entire theology behind many modern salvation doctrines (“once saved, always saved”) breeds such a mentality, and should be avoided at all costs.
Purity in an Impure World
Before we conclude that God will accept a change of moral code based on our modern spiritual climate, let’s remember that the New Testament teaches directly against such a concept.
In 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul wrote to those Christians, “Flee sexual immorality.” Paul’s letters were meant to be circulated throughout the churches of that time, and His teachings along with the other apostles were meant to last for all saved people who would look to the inspired word of God – Therefore, we benefit from such teachings, and we should receive this teaching today. The question is worth asking, “What is the point in trying to flee sexual immorality if our legs are tied?” Why would Paul ever tell Christians to make an effort to avoid sin, if they were doomed to continue in it? The concept that says we should adjust our morality based on modern climate is grounded in the mistruth that such purity is impossible or unreasonable to expect. But God says He expects this from Christians! Even in the 21st century, where sexual immorality is rampant and easily accessible, and temptations abound, God expects us to flee from it!
Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” May we never adjust God’s word based on the moral climate of our day. Let’s always remember that we are not of the world, whether it be the first century world, the 21st century world, or the centuries of the world to come! We are disciples of the Christ, the Son of the living God, who is the “same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)!
