Everything Is Permissible

"If God does not exist, everything is permissible." - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Morality comes from God. If not, then “morality” is either an opinion of man, or a lust justified by his intellect. Either way, this “morality” is man centered and not God centered so therefore most fallible.

God’s moral code was made simple in the Ten Commandments. It was a revelation to man, for until then he only had his intellect and passions as a guide. The Ten Commandments was God’s standard for man to live up to. First perceived as a physical restriction, then realized as spiritual guidance.

The greatest lesson learned by man about the Ten Commandments is that man can’t adhere to them for, as Jesus said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

Man will fall and fail. But recognizing this advances us forward to where God wants us to be, past a set of rules to follow and the physical realm and unto the spiritual. God wants us in a covenant relationship with Him, one in spirit and in truth, a relationship of love, trust and our dependence in Him. Our morality is made manifest through Him and not by paying attention to a set of rules.

In short, we become, rather than adhere.

“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Genesis 17:7)

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7).

We head towards what our heart and head focuses on. If it is God and His will then we will be on the path of righteousness and salvation. If it is our own wishes and desires then we will be on the path of sin, unrighteousness and damnation.

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it."

"But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it."

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20)

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Bill Hitchcock