WHAT IS ETHICS? I BELIEVE THAT A GOOD DEFINITION WOULD BE, "A SYSTEM SETTING FORTH STANDARDS OF RIGHT CONDUCT. HERE IS ANOTHER DEFINITION, THE DISCIPLINE DEALING WITH WHAT IS GOOD, AND BAD, AND WITH MORAL DUTY, AND OBLIGATION. HERE IS MY LAST DEFINITION, "A GUIDING PHILOSOPHY. BELOVED OF GOD, WHO SHALL BE THE FINAL JUDGE OF WHAT ACTS ARE GOOD OR EVIL? I BELIEVE THAT GOD SHALL JUDGE NOW, AND IN THE RESURRECTION, WHAT IS GOOD, OR EVIL. JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN, AND EARTH HAS GIVEN US A BOOK CALLED THE BIBLE, THAT IS A STANDARD TO LIVE BY. AND HE BY THIS STANDARD, SHALL DETERMINE WERE YOU SPEND ETERNITY. THE BIBLE IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD. JESUS CHRIST SAID THESE WORDS WHEN TEMPTED OF HE DEVIL.

Mt:4:1: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mt:4:2: And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

Mt:4:3: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Mt:4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

NOT ALL MEN SEE THINGS IN THE SAME LIGHT, WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT IS GOOD, MORAL, JUST, OR RIGHT. FOR EXAMPLE CHRISTIANS BASE WHAT IS RIGHT, JUST, AND MORAL BY THE NEW TESTAMENT. IT IS ONE THING TO BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF MEN. BUT, IT IS QUITE ANOTHER THING TO BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD. WE, AS CHRISTIANS USE THE OLD TESTAMENT AS HISTORY, AND PROPHECY, AND FOR ADMONISHMENT. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THERE WAS ONLY ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD. READING FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS,

Gn:6:1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

Gn:6:2: That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Gn:6:3: And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Gn:6:4: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Gn:6:5: And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gn:6:6: And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Gn:6:7: And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Gn:6:8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

NOAH WAS RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD.

Gn:7:1: And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (KJV)

HOLY CHILDREN, IT IS WRITTEN, THAT NOAH DID ALL THAT GOD COMMANDED.

Gn:7:5: And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him

IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR NOAH ALL OF HUMANITY WOULD PROBABLY HAVE PERISHED. WE, AS CHRISTIANS, USE THE BIBLE, THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD, AS THE AUTHORITY UNDER CHRIST. AND, WE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD, AND THAT IS BY FAITH. FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS FOR OUR SALVATION, AND FAITH IN THE BLOOD HE SHED ON CALVARY'S CROSS, FOR OUR REDEMPTION. GOD INSPIRED THE APOSTLE PAUL TO RECORD THESE WORDS ABOUT RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Rom:3:20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Rom:3:21: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Rom:3:22: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Rom:3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom:3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Rom:3:25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Rom:3:26: To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Rom:3:27: Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Rom:3:28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Rom:3:29: Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

Rom:3:30: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

Rom:3:31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

HOLY CHILDREN, I BELIEVE THAT IT IS GOING TO TAKE PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS, TO MAKE HEAVEN YOUR ETERNAL HOME. WHEN A MAN PLACES HIS FAITH, AND HIS TRUST, IN THE LORD JESUS FOR HIS SALVATION. AND, PLACES HIS FAITH, AND TRUST, IN THE BLOOD THAT CHRIST SHED ON CALVARY'S CROSS FOR HIS REDEMPTION. THEN, GOD, THE FATHER, ALLOWS THAT MAN TO DECLARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST; FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS. WHEN WE DECLARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST WE DECLARE A PERFECT RIGHTEOUS. WE, THE ELECT OF GOD, DO NOT DEPEND ON OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, TO SAVE US FROM THE WRATH TO COME. BUT, WE DEPEND ON THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH GOD IMPUTES TO US BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. SAINTS OF GOD, THERE ARE MEN THAT THINK THAT THEY ARE RIGHTEOUS IN THEMSELVES. THAT THEY HAVE LIVED A GOOD ENOUGH LIFE TO MAKE HEAVEN THEIR HOME. BUT, NO MAN HAS LIVED SUCH A GOOD LIFE THAT HE CAN BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD. WE, AS SAINTS OF GOD, CALL THAT SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. IN THESE VERSES OF SCRIPTURE JESUS IS SPEAKING,

Lk:18:9: And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Lk:18:10: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

Lk:18:11: The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Lk:18:12: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Lk:18:13: And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Lk:18:14: I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

HOLY CHILDREN, ARE WE AS CHRISTIANS OBLIGATED TO KEEP THE LAWS OF MAN? YES, WE ARE COMMANDED TO OBEY EVERY ORDINANCE OF MAN.

1Pt:2:13: Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

1Pt:2:14: Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 1Pt:2:15: For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

THERE ARE MULTITUDES OF MEN, THAT BASE WHAT THEY BELIEVE IS RIGHT, MORAL, AND ETHICAL, ON THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE. THEY BELIEVE, THAT THEY CAN BE RIGHTEOUS BY KEEPING THE LAW, THAT GOD GAVE TO MOSES' ON MOUNT SINAI. THEY BELIEVE THAT IF THEY KEEP THESE LAWS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS, THAT THEY WILL BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD. LET ME REFRESH YOUR MEMORY READING FROM THE BOOK OF

Ex:20:1: And God spake all these words, saying,

Ex:20:2: I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Ex:20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Ex:20:4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Ex:20:5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ex:20:6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Ex:20:7: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Ex:20:8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex:20:9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: Ex:20:10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Ex:20:11: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ex:20:12: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Ex:20:13: Thou shalt not kill.

Ex:20:14: Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Ex:20:15: Thou shalt not steal.

Ex:20:16: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Ex:20:17: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

SAINTS OF GOD, BY THE SYSTEM OF LAW THAT GOD GAVE TO MOSES' NO FLESH SHALL BE JUSTIFIED IN THE EYES OF GOD. FOR THE LAW OF MOSES' HAD TO BE KEPT TO THE LETTER. NOT EVERY WORD, BUT EVERY LETTER.

Rom:7:5: For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Rom:7:6: But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

BELOVED OF GOD, A PERSON COULD KEEP THE WHOLE LAW, AND OFFEND IN ONE POINT AND HE WAS GUILTY OF THE WHOLE LAW.

Jms:2:10: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (KJV)

SAINTS OF GOD WOULD I BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD IF I KEPT THIS COMMANDMENT. HONOUR THY FATHER, AND THY MOTHER? IF ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE I HONOURED MY FATHER, AND MY MOTHER. I WOULD NOT BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD. WOULD I BE RIGHTEOUS IF I OBEYED THIS COMMANDMENT. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY? IF I REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, AND KEPT IT HOLY ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE, I WOULD NOT BE RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD. IF I COULD HAVE BEEN MADE RIGHTEOUS BY KEEPING THE SABBATH, THEN CHRIST IS DEAD IN VAIN. CHILDREN OF LIGHT, UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES' FIRST CAME TEMPTATION, IF A PERSON YIELD TO TEMPTATION THEN CAME SIN, AND THEN CAME THE CURSE, AND THEN DESTRUCTION. BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN, CURSED IS THE MAN THAT KEEPS NOT THE WHOLE LAW.

Dt:27:26: Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. (KJV)

CHILD OF GOD LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES' ALL ISRAEL WAS REQUIRED TO TITHE. THEY WERE REQUIRED TO PAY TEN PER CENT OF THEIR INCREASE TO THE LEVITICAL TRIBE FOR THEIR SUPPORT. LAW IS AN EXACT SCIENCE. IF A MAN WAS ONE PENNY SHORT, OR ONE GAIN OF CORN SHORT OR ONE LAMB SHORT ON HIS TITHE HE WENT UNDER THE CURSE, OR A SENTENCE OF CONDEMNATION. ALL ISRAEL WENT UNDER THE CURSE. IN THESE VERSES OF SCRIPTURE GOD IS SPEAKING TO THE SONS OF JACOB, AND HE SAYS THESE WORDS.

Mal:3:8: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Mal:3:9: Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS INSPIRED OF GOD TO RECORD THESE WORDS CONCERNING ISRAEL RIGHTEOUSNESS BY TRYING TO KEEP THE LAW.

Rom:10:1: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Rom:10:2: For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

Rom:10:3: For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Rom:10:4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Rom:10:5: For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Rom:10:6: But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above.)

Rom:10:7: Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

Rom:10:8: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Rom:10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom:10:10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

THERE ARE OTHER MEN THAT BASE WHAT IS GOOD, ETHICAL, AND PROPER ACTS ACCORDING TO WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. IT MAKES A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENT IN A MAN'S ACTIONS TO DIFFERENT SITUATIONS ACCORDING TO WHAT SYSTEM OF ETHICS HE BASES WHAT IS GOOD, AND WHAT IS EVIL ON.