To teach the standards of moral conduct that adorn the gospel and insist that our hearers heed them is neither legalism nor pharisaism but plain apostolic Christianity.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 35
And what is gospel morality? We could answer from, say, the apostle Paul’s letter to Ephesus, where he speaks of what we have been taught by the gospel, contra to the old way we used to live. But, seeing that the apostles’ teaching was based on the teaching of our Lord, we need to ask, “What morality did Jesus teach?”
The answer to that question is simple: the very same morality he taught on Mt. Sinai to Moses: keep the law, which is summarized in the words, “Love God and love your neighbour.” This is why Paul tells us in Romans that the Spirit has been given to us so that the righteousness of the law - which we had avoided and broken - might be fulfilled in us.
Jesus was not a legalistic or a Pharisee. He came to save us from our sins, viz. our transgression. Why? Lots of reasons. But one main reason, per Ephesians 1, is simply that he loves us. It’s all about love. Any doctrine that is against the law of God is all about hate. It ends in death.
And what is gospel morality? We could answer from, say, the apostle Paul’s letter to Ephesus, where he speaks of what we have been taught by the gospel, contra to the old way we used to live. But, seeing that the apostles’ teaching was based on the teaching of our Lord, we need to ask, “What morality did Jesus teach?”
The answer to that question is simple: the very same morality he taught on Mt. Sinai to Moses: keep the law, which is summarized in the words, “Love God and love your neighbour.” This is why Paul tells us in Romans that the Spirit has been given to us so that the righteousness of the law - which we had avoided and broken - might be fulfilled in us.
Jesus was not a legalistic or a Pharisee. He came to save us from our sins, viz. our transgression. Why? Lots of reasons. But one main reason, per Ephesians 1, is simply that he loves us. It’s all about love. Any doctrine that is against the law of God is all about hate. It ends in death.
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