The moral Imperative—II - Chambers, Oswald
(i.e., a law universal and binding on every rational will)
Why Should I Do What I Ought to Do?
Authority in the final sense must spring from within. To begin with, we are educated by means of authority on the out side thou shalt and thou shalt not; but that authority does not treat us as men. The ultimate aim imbedded in all external authority is to produce a standard of authority within ourselves. The authority our lord obeyed was an internal authority, not an external one, that is, his inner life and the life he exhibited were one and the same, and the purpose of all external authority is to bring us there. We only realise the moral law when it comes with an if, that means, i have the power not to obey it.
We imagine that if we obey authority we limit ourselves, whereas obedience to authority is not a limitation but a source of power; by obeying we are more. Naturally we are built to command, not to obey; man was originally constituted by god to have dominion and god said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion . . . (genesis 1:26); consequently there is the natural desire to want to explain things, because everything we can explain we can command. Spiritually, we are built not to command, but to obey. Always beware of the tendency to want to have things explained; you may take it as an invariable law that when you demand an explanation in connection with a moral problem it means you are evading obedience.
1. Authority and humanity conditional
The first standard of authority the bible reveals is the authority of innocence, a conditional authority (see genesis 2:1617). Innocence means the absence of legal guilt. As long as Adam obeyed god he was in this state of innocence; god placed him in an external setting so that he might transform his innocence into moral character by a series of choices. It was to be a natural progress of development, not from evil to good, but from the natural to the spiritual. This Adam failed to do; the temptation came take dominion over yourself, and ye shall be as god; he took dominion over himself, and by so doing lost dominion over everything else, and the disposition of sin my claim to my right to myself, i will do what i like became the inheritance of the whole human race. Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world . . . (Romans 5:12 RV). Children born of natural generation are not innocent in the same way that Adam was innocent, neither does the innocence of a child contain conditional authority; the innocence of regeneration alone corresponds to Adams innocence.
Some people maintain that innocence should be the only standard of authority; the Right disposition, development along this line would have been all right; but we quickly find out that there is something drastically wrong, the disposition of sin is at work, this opposing principle which is not true to human nature as god created it. It sounds very delightful to talk about the innocence of children and living the simple life; but try it in actual experience, and you will find it works out the wrong way every time. Authority based on innocence soon becomes ignorance, not ignorance of ourselves, but a determined being without the knowledge of god, and ignorance quickly corrupts into iniquity (see genesis 34).
Another standard of authority is that of con- science, or the inner light what Socrates called the presiding demon, an ungetatable, indefinable spirit which gives liberty or check to whatever a man feels impelled to do. Every man has a conscience, although every man does not know god. If god had never made known his demands we might have said that every man was a law to himself whatever i think is right according to my own inner light, must be right. As soon as a man becomes a law to him- self he begins to do what he likes, and if you teach development along the line of obedience to a mans inner light, what about the man who is born with damnable tendencies where will it lead him? To a moral pigsty. The final standard of authority must be one that can be owned by all men.
2. Authority as happiness corrupt
Happiness is the portion of a child, children ought to be thoughtless and happy, and woe be to the people who upset their happiness; but if you take happiness as the end and aim for men and women you have to make its basis a determined ignorance of god, other- wise men will, like job, remember god and be troubled (see job 23:15). Read the seventy-third psalm, it is the description of the man who has made happiness his aim he is not in trouble as other men, neither is he plagued like other men, he has more than heart could wish; but once let his moral equilibrium be upset by conviction of sin and all his happiness is destroyed. The end and aim of human life is not happiness, but to glorify god and enjoy him for ever. Holiness of character, chastity of life, living communion with god that is the end of a mans life, whether he is happy or not is a matter of moonshine.8 happiness is no standard for men and women because happiness depends on my being determinedly ignorant of god and his demands. Whenever the spirit of god disturbs a man, he brings him back to the decalogue. The point is that anything that relieves us from the individual responsibility of being personally related to god is corrupt. Immorality will produce happiness very quickly the duration of the happiness is another matter; if you go on doing wrong long enough you will be happy doing wrong and miserable doing right therefore quit doing right! Immorality may be physically clean, but at its heart is this thought all i am concerned with is the happiness of the greatest number, and i don’t care anything at all about god. Once remove personal accountability to god and you will get immorality, whether it is bestial or not is a matter of accident. The bible talks very unvarnishedly, it calls things by the hideous names that belong to them (e. G. , colossians 3:5; Galatians 5:1921). Beware of being cute enough to detect immorality only in a moral pigsty, learn to detect it in your own spiritual imaginations.
3. Authority as holiness correct
The commandments of god exhibit not his consideration for man, but his authoritative demands of man. Man has to fulfill gods laws in his physical life, in his mental and moral life, in his social and spiritual life, and to offend in one point is to be guilty of all (see James 2:10). Until we realise that god cannot make allowances, the gospel has no meaning for us; if god made allowances he would cease to be god. All through the bible the authority of gods law is unflinchingly revealed, together with mans responsibility to meet its demand; but the problem of problems is how is it going to be done? When a man reads the teachings of Jesus he is obliged to say, yes, that is right, but his teaching destroys my peace; i believe that is what i ought to be, but where am i going to begin?
Holiness is the agreement between a mans disposition and the law of god, as expressed in the life of Jesus. According to the bible there are only two men, Adam and Jesus Christ; both came into the world directly by the hand of god, innocent. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, did what the first Adam failed to do; he transformed innocence into holy character. The law of god was incarnated in Jesus Christ, he walked this earth in human guise and lived the perfect life which god desired. Never think of Jesus Christ as an individual, he is the federal head of the race; he not only fulfilled all gods demands, but he made the way for every imperfect son of man to live the same kind of life. Jesus Christ does not put us back where Adam was, he puts us where Adam never was: he puts us where he is himself; he presences us with divinity, viz. , the holy spirit. The meaning of the redemption is that any man can be regenerated into the life jesus lived and can have the holiness of god imparted to him, not the power to imitate his holiness, but the very nature of god . . . That we may be partakers of a works out magnificently on paper or in thinking, but it does not work out in practical life. If we were all born with the His holiness. Holiness is the characteristic of the man after gods own heart. The holiness which god demands is impossible unless a man can be re-made from within, and that is what Jesus Christ has undertaken to do. Jesus Christ does not merely save people from hell: thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins, i. E. , make totally new moral men. Jesus Christ came from a holy god to enable men, by the sheer might of his redemption, to become holy. Ye shall be holy: for i the lord your god am holy.