New Testament Ethics

This post was written by Anthony Delgado on June 25, 2009

Unlike the Old Testament, which has an ethic focused on holiness, the New Testament has ethics that are bound by the characteristic of love. We are commanded to love God and to love all people. A love for people is a mere extension of a love for God because of His love for us. A love for people is often depicted by an act of love for the poor and needy.

God, in His infinitude, has a love for man. This love is for all men. Often the Spirit of God works through men to express God’s love, but there is a greater element. All that God has commanded is for the express reason of loving other men. If we obey God’s commands, then we are a witness to other men, that they might experience God’s love through grace. We are to be a light to the world so that other men will praise our Lord. Many of the commands, such as “love your neighbor” are very focused on other men. The teachings of Christ and of the apostles provide us with numerous ways in which by our deontological ethic, routed in God’s commands, we love other men for the purpose of loving God.

If we are going to act in accordance with the God inspired moral of loving men, then we have to identify a need to act upon. To provide something which is not needed is not love, since it is arguably conditional. Therefore, it is appropriate that so much teaching in the New Testament is focused on providing for the poor, the crippled, the sick, the widows and the orphans. It is an ethic not so different from the social ethics of the Old Testament, where there is a legal requirement to provide for the poor in various ways, such as gleaning.

It would seem that there is not a huge difference in morals between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is only the ethic, the model for those morals, which is different. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had the law and in the New Testament, a focus on love. In either case, there is a focus on loving God by loving His creation and for providing for people in need.

Related posts:

  1. Old Testament Ethics
  2. Not One is Holy
  3. Determining God’s Will through Divine Command Theory
  4. Code of Ethics Examples
  5. Limitations of Natural Law Theory
  6. The Great Commission–Matthew 28

I have been teaching Bible study lessons for many years now. I have a passion for teaching the Bible, God’s inspired word, accurately through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you have any question about one of my Bible study lessons you have read and would like clarification or just simply want to provide feedback (positive or negative) please e-mail me at Anthony at eInquisitive.com. It is not necessary to ask permission to use my material as long as you are not republishing it. Thanks so much for visiting eInquisitive. God bless you. ~ Anthony Delgado
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