Choose Better Five Biblical Models For Making Ethical Decisions – T David Gordon

And indeed, when the Israelites insisted that Samuel appoint a monarch for them, so that they could be like the other nations, God perceived this as a rejection of his kingship (see 1 Sam. 8). Their desire to have a mixed, or blended, theocracy, in which Yahweh ruled alongside a visible, standing monarchy and military, was an implicit rejection of God’s theocratic design for Israel.

Nonetheless, God’s laws and covenant did not change, and his laws remained theocratic. The laws of Moses still required Israel to be a “holy” people, dwelling in a “holy” land (see Lev. 19:2; Ps. 78:54). All the inhabitants of this land, within this holy theocracy, were obliged to obey the laws of the land and were protected by the same laws, even the stranger within the gates (see Ex.

20:10; Deut. 5:14). And, because the entire society was to embody the reign of God, blasphemers faced capital punishment (see Lev. 24:16). Yet when Jesus arrived on earth, he expressly stated that his kingdom was non-theocratic. His kingdom was “not of this world” (John 18:36), and he urged his followers to render to God what was God’s and to Caesar what was Caesar’s (see Matt.

22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25), an impossible distinction within a theocratic society. Therefore, in this second area also, we would expect that those covenant stipulations related to the Israelite theocracy would surely not continue into the new covenant, since the new covenant is non-theocratic. We see an example of this in 1 Corinthians 5, where “a man has his father’s wife” (5:1). In the Israelite theocracy, such an act was a capital crime: “If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them” (Lev.

20:11). But Paul does not require the death penalty for either party—rather, he requires that the man be excommunicated (5:5). Further, there is implicit evidence that this individual is eventually restored to the church (2 Cor. 2:5– 11), an impossibility under the theocratic law that would have executed him. In the theocracy, the covenant people had the authority and the responsibility to execute certain categories of offenders; in the non- theocracy, the covenant people do not have this authority.

And indeed, Paul does not appear to teach that the civil magistrate ought to execute such people either—rather, it ought to punish evildoers in a general, moral sense, not in a theocratic or religious sense (see Rom. 13).6 Third, the Sinai covenant administration included blessings and cursings of a temporal and conditional nature.

When the Israelites committed themselves to the covenant, six tribes were required to shout from Mount Gerizim the blessings of the covenant, and six tribes were required to shout from Mount Ebal the cursings of the covenant (see Deut. 27).

Professor T. David Gordon is a gifted New Testament scholar and teacher. His new book provides five very helpful concepts that can help the believer to understand and apply biblical teachings in daily living. I am glad to see this book in print and commend it to pastors, seminarians, and church leaders who wish to deepen their knowledge of Christian faith and practice.

—John Jefferson Davis, Senior Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Choose Better is a gift to the individual Christian and the church community at large. T. David Gordon has provided an accessible and applicable model for Christian decision-making. Much of the literature on ethical systems and models for choice-making are helpful to the academy but leave laypeople scratching their heads as to how to apply them in real life.

Not so with Choose Better! This is a fabulous contribution to the field of ethics and an invaluable resource to professors and pastors alike. —Evan Lenow, Author, Ethics as Worship To my knowledge, this book is without equal as an explanation of the God- given tools in Scripture that help people to make good and better choices. I have taught these tools to my congregation, and I have used them when helping people make serious choices.

God has used Dr. Gordon to explain these tools in a thoughtful and practical way that should be extremely helpful to thinking Christians everywhere. One good biblical idea can transform a life, but in this book there are five great biblical ideas that have transformed my life and my ministry. May God help us all to make better biblically informed choices with this book. —Stephen Migotsky, Pastor, Jaffrey Presbyterian Church, Jaffrey, New Hampshire My first exposure to Dr. Gordon’s five models was in the late 1990s when he taught the material in adult Sunday school in the church I planted, Amoskeag Presbyterian Church.

I was impressed with the biblical breadth of his ethical proposal. The Reformed find an emphasis on the law to be a refreshingly concrete guide to the Christian life—but it is not the only guide.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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