Biblical Ethics: The Golden Rule

Covenant theology, Dispensationalism and NCT share a common core--in that any given Christian ethical theory must be both expositionally and philosophically consistent with Biblical exegesis. But when serious ethical reflections and questions are raised this commonality breaks down. For example, which particular commandments apply to contemporary Christians? Is lying ever permissible? Is war ever permissible? Answers to such questions from a specific theological position will have significant theological and philosophical implications. 

Let's examine one case example.

From most exponents of NCT the particular commandments that apply to everyone is the law(s) of conscience.

 Let's take the stipulated laws of conscience and deduce their corollaries.

(1) Any given person should, in all states of affairs, love God with all his/her heart, soul, mind and strength.

(2) Any given person should, in all states of affairs, love his/her fellow man/woman as him/herself. 

By command (1) we deduce

(a1) A priori knowledge of Trinitarian monotheism. 

(b1) A priori knowledge of love, goodness, sacrifice and personhood.

(c1) A priori knowledge of qualities and quantities (e.g. quality and quantity of love).

Likewise, from command (2) it entails:

(a2) A priori knowledge of the Imago Dei with intrinsic value/worth.

(b2) A priori knowledge of moral equality.

The Laws of God

In my view there are two types of laws God has legislated: Covenantal (relative to a covenant, people, place and time) and Trans-covenantal (objectively binding independent of any covenant, people, place and time). The former is particular; the latter is general. The way this is cashed out is that sin can refer to a description or a prescription; but for any formal connotation, it refers to any violation of God's commands in state, disposition, (i.e. internal/intrinsic) and act (i.e. external/extrinsic). 

God legislates the law as an expression of his nature, will (i.e. Revealed will/approves or secret will/aim), and character. God is not bound by any laws, since a law entails a lawgiver; rather, He is goodness itself. However, God can issue commands to be bound to them ( i.e. Covenants, promises). Kant provided a helpful distinction between following a rule and acting in accordance to a rule. We are obligated to follow God's laws. God naturally is morally perfect and good thus acts in accordance to the issued laws. 

Evangelism and the Ten Commandments

There is a great emphasis on the Ten Commandments in evangelism. The Ten Commandments are preached to give particular examples of sin that might show a person's need of forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. But should New Testament believers use primarily, if at all, the Ten Commandments as the standard of righteousness for gentiles and specifically New Testament believers? If so, why? The common answer is since the Ten Commandments are God's eternal moral law. The problems I see with this answer are: (1) it seems deep on the surface but underneath shallow; it does not seem to take seriously the continuity and discontinuity of the covenants, (2) it presupposes the tripartite division of divine law as moral, civil and ceremonial, when all of God's laws are moral in nature, (3) all of God's words either, written directly or indirectly, spoken or written, carries the same inerrant, inspired, infallible, authority, (4) it does not deal with the texts in the NT that seem to suggest a change of covenant (Jer 31:31-34) and law (1 Cor 9:21; Heb 7:12). Likewise, parsimony would suggest that, perhaps, the eternal law of God is simply the two commandments to love God and our fellow man.  Indeed, the Ten Commandments may be found in these two commandments, but one cannot from these two commandments extract the Ten Commandments. Theses laws are not clearly transitive.