Every situation and every decision we make boils down to one thing – it is either right or wrong. Sometimes it is difficult for humanity to accept this and we try to justify what we know to be a wrong decision by claiming what we face was somehow in a grey area in between both right and wrong. We will sometimes cry that others should not judge us by what we have done but by the intentions of our heart, believing that as long as our intentions were noble then it excuses our acting on the bad decisions we’ve made. A quick glance at human civilization, particularly what is happening in the West today, gives many examples of what happens when we begin to cloud the decision-making process with imaginative grey areas, a departure for biblical absolutes, and a lack of moral clarity.
Each situation has but two choices
Earlier in my life I bought into a lot of the humanistic philosophies that teach there are no absolute morals and no absolute right or wrong. I believed what I had been taught in public school that each person is free to assign their own personal value system based on what is best for them. In 1988, while attending college, I had an emotional experience with the Lord; I do not call it salvation because I was anything but saved – something that I have heard others refer to as being a pseudo-Christian. I bought into the worldly logic that even in Christianity, there were those grey areas where there simply was no guidance found in the Bible for situations faced by people in our modern society. There are many Christians today that not only believe this false teaching, but actually excuse their sins by claiming that God didn’t provide any guidance to them (I could literally do a number of posts revealing God’s will for the specific “grey areas” that I have heard people discuss within the last six months).
A study of the Bible shows the nature of the two choices we face with every situation: 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 (Deuteronomy 30:19) and No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13). Every situation we face in life boils down to us making a right or wrong decision. It has taken me a while to understand this teaching found all through the Bible. With God, there are no grey areas; there’s simply right or wrong. The prophet Isaiah was led by the Lord to write, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD (Isaiah 55:8); it is easy to understand this once we get a good look at how we try to justify our failures and poor decisions and not to accept the simple truth that we made a wrong choice.
Right or wrong – a study in practice
A few days ago I was reading an article on CNN news about the ongoing social debates within our nation. The article was written about how the moral standards in America – what is considered as proper and inappropriate behavior – are rapidly changing. Issues such as abortion, alternative lifestyles, personal gender determination, gay and alternative marriages, and even euthanasia and right to life are being questioned. As I read the comments from those responding to the article, one thing became painfully clear – many wanted to blame God for the hardships in their lives. One female poster actually asked the question “where was God when I was planning my abortion?” Again, the verse from Deuteronomy comes to mind: 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 (Deuteronomy 30:19). Is it really that simple? Yes, it is. Every decision we make comes down to a very finite point – either our decision will bring forth life or death. Life simply is in obedience to the Lord, death is simply the results of rebellion.
Without becoming bogged down within the topic of abortion, there are some startling truths about abortion that society ignores. Under the banner of women’s rights, society has created an excuse and solution for an age-old problem. Although advocate for abortion will say that it must be available for cases of incest, rape, and the preservation of the life of the mother, statistics available through the Department of Health and Human Services and Planned Parenthood actually tell a different story. According to statistics, there were 1.21 million abortions performed in the United States in 2014. Of those, less than 1% (actual percentage was 0.067% or 187) abortions were because of rape or incest. The three most common reasons for abortions performed in 2014 were 1) 37% – less than ideal relationship status or personal convenience; 2) 21% – inadequate finances; and 3) 21% – not ready for the responsibility of parenthood. When Christians and other religious groups point to personal responsibility and refraining from premarital sex to avoid pregnancy, the world lectures and sneers at the suggestion. Instead, abortion is seen as a more responsible choice for the modern woman. In the end, the choice of abortion boils down to a choice between life and death.
Right or wrong – it is our choice
A while back I was reading from a book that has the collected writings of Andrew Bonar, a member of the Puritan clergy from back in the early nineteenth century. One of the concepts he was teaching is that we are a product of our own choices. Much of what we see as our failures or our successes in life are really based on the decisions we made when God provided us with choices. When we begin to see our lives as the results of the choices we have made and not random happenings or even as God intervening in our lives, God’s grace becomes even so much more magnified in the life of the believer. Now it becomes increasingly important to follow the pleading and the calling of the Lord: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). It is both eye-opening and comforting at the same time to know that in the past, I made decisions based on my understanding but I do not have to continue to make those wrong decisions now. As a child of God, I am free to come and reason with the Lord, to seek His guidance and wisdom before I make my decision.
Looking at my own life, I am where I am at because of the decisions – good and bad – that I made. There are also times in my life that I was simply shown mercy by the Lord in spite of my own short sightedness and stupidity. As recently as 2011, I have been impulsive in my decision-making and have not always sought the will of the Lord. The good thing is that I am a work in progress and God’s not finished with me.
