Divine Decision-Making: Finding God’s Will in Everyday Choices
Decision-Making is an integral part of our daily lives.
We make choices about the foods we eat, the books and magazines we read, the music we listen to, and the places we go. Often, these decisions are based upon personal preferences at the time. When we go out to eat, the choice of restaurant depends largely upon whether we would rather eat pizza, tacos, Chinese food, chicken, steak, or fish, and so on. Our preference in foods may even change from meal to meal.
Other decisions we make are more complicated. These decisions involve more than personal preferences. They also involve moral and ethical considerations. The family and cultural values we have adopted as our own help us make these kinds of decisions. For Christians, Christian ethics and biblical principles are also involved in making ethical choices.
When we make an ethical choice, we may choose to do something different than our friends or family members may do. Each person makes his or her own ethical decision based upon his or her own unique presuppositions. Presuppositions are self-evident truths. They are the principles and means by which we determine what is right and wrong.
Foundational Biblical Presuppositions
There are several foundational biblical presuppositions that are the basis for the ethical decisions we make. These self-evident truths guide us through the maze of determining the rightness and/or wrongness involved in our choices. They represent core values at the ethical center of our being.
The first of these presuppositions may be summarized in the statement, “God is the source of right.” Adjectives like “truth” and “righteous” describe attributes so characteristic of God that they appear in various names and titles of each member of the Trinity. Our God is “the true God” who stands unique from all other contenders (Deut. 32:4). Jesus described Himself to His disciples declaring, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit at work in our lives is called the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17). Even the word of God may be characterized by truth (John 17:17).
What is Right?
Elmer L. Towns
Our second presupposition is that the opposite of right is sin. The concept of sin is described in Scripture in several ways. According to the Bible, sin may be both active and passive. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Just as certain activities may be wrong, not engaging in right behavior may also be described as sin. Also, sin may be known or unknown. In our courts, a plea of ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse. In comparison, ignorance does not exempt us from moral responsibility in the area of sin.
People develop their own concepts of sin based on the moral values at work in their society. As the end of the twentieth century approaches, one of the core values of American society is that of good health. Our society believes in “survival-of-the-fittest” and is opposed to that which may be harmful to the health and well being of others. Lobby groups that understand this core value in American society have begun to change American behavior by appealing to their core value of health and well-being. Although churches preached against behavior like smoking and drinking, real social change was not affected until these groups appealed to the social conscience of Americans. Today, smoking in public places and driving under the influence of alcohol are strongly opposed in many American cities. As a result, these new laws are changing American behavior in a way the sin taxes never did. Christians concerned about other social and moral problems like homosexuality and abortion may not be able to change society until they can demonstrate how these activities impact our quality of life in a negative way.
Our third presupposition concerns God’ s motives in calling for ethical behavior. The motive of right behavior and attitudes is love. God cannot make principles to harm me. Nor can He cause principles to mislead me. He is, by nature, “a rewarder” who is more interested in our welfare than we are ourselves (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, God will not introduce principles to withhold me from that which is good. He does reserve the right to allow circumstances, His laws, and various trials to become part of our experience to mold us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28, 29).
The purpose of right attitudes and behavior is to glorify God. The first question asked in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is, “What is the chief end of man?” The correct answer to that question is, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.” Doing and being right is not an end in itself, but rather a means by which we accomplish the end of glorifying God.
Sometimes people talk about certain crimes as “victimless crimes,” meaning that although the behavior is regarded as illegal, no one is really hurt by them. In light of our purpose in life, the concept of a victimless crime is a misnomer. An activity like cursing may be viewed as a victimless crime by many, but cursing offends God who should be glorified. If the purpose of right is to glorify God, there is no victimless crime.
Fifth, the priority of right is people. God does what He does for people. The eighth psalm asks the question, “What is man?” (Ps. 8:4). The answer is that people are created beings, created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). Even after the fall of the human race, people retained that image of God. Violence against people is viewed by God as violence against God Himself (Gen. 9:6). When we understand this principle, it becomes obvious that people are God’s representatives on this earth.
A sixth basic biblical presupposition is the assurance that one can know what is right. God did not make people to be a tin soldier or sculpture. Rather, He made us with the intellectual capacity to think, analyze, and reason. Nor did God make us like an android, programmed to respond in a predetermined manner. God has also given us a will. This is a self-evident truth confirmed in the experience of every parent. They know experientially that even a two-year old can think and has a will. People are made in the image of God with personalities that allow us to think and respond independently.
God sustains this world by establishing specific principles by which it is governed. These principles of God are self-evident. We can know things to the degree that we can observe. All mankind is given some power of thinking and knowing. We accept the logical and reject the illogical.
Prolific author, college and seminary professor, and co-founder of Liberty University, Elmer Towns has written a second Teaching Series consisting of six profound books designed to stir your spirit and increase your biblical knowledge: Grandparents in the Bible; The Ten Commandments According to Jesus; 7 Indispensable Words for Effective Prayer; Habits of the Heart; When God Is Silent; What Is Right? Intriguing titles with even more intriguing content.
What Is Right? Biblical Principles for Decision-Making is a profound and in-depth examination of specific issues that are of great, even grave, concern for Christians today. What is right? Look no further than the Word of God that clearly addresses every life issue—including moral, social, spiritual, personal, racial, and relational.
This book is not a list of right and wrong behavior; rather, it presents biblical principles you can use to determine what is right. Methods change, principles never do. Part Two includes eight specific lessons to study individually and/or in a small group or Sunday School class setting. Additional resources are available to further explore the topic of What Is Right?
Christians can apply the principles of God’s Word to every situation—and do what is right!
