The other day I was having a conversation with someone who was, in essence, asking for a list of things that were right and wrong for Christians to do. His contention was that since we believe that we must be obedient to God and live a life that is holy and pure that therefore, we must have a detailed list of things that were right and wrong, so that we wouldn’t make any mistakes and know precisely how to be obedient. Does the Christian need such a list in order to live right and be holy? Does obedience to God’s word demand such a list of things?
The first thing that we ought to consider in this regard is that God has indeed communicated to us things that are right and wrong in the Bible. But the Bible isn’t a right-and-wrong-list. The Bible records the history of God’s dealings with man. Within that history God reveals to us how we can live in a way that is pleasing to Him by giving us various different methods of comprehending right and wrong besides a list. As God records his history with man we find attitudes and motives, emotions and desires, and actions and consequences. By dealing with the whole of man’s situation instead of simply providing man a “laundry list,” God teaches us how to know good and reject evil. God often does this through examples of people, both good and bad, who had a relationship with God of one kind or the other. Through these examples, God exhorts us to follow the good (1 Corinthians 11:1) and shun the bad. The Bible’s central character, Jesus, provides us an example of how to live a perfectly obedient life and we, as Christians, are expected to follow Jesus’ example (2 Peter 2:21). In this way God gives us everything that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and for the man of God to be completely furnished to every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). We don’t need a comprehensive right-and-wrong-list in order to be pleasing to God.
Now, having said that, the Bible does have some lists of things that are right and wrong. These lists are found in various places in the Bible. Jesus gives us a good start on what is right and wrong in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. Paul lists several things that are sinful in the first chapter of the book of Romans. He then lists several things that are good in Romans 12. Galatians 5 contains two lists, one good, the fruit of the spirit, and one bad, the works of the flesh. Peter sets forth the Christian graces (good things) in 2 Peter 1:5-7 and then he enumerates several evil things in 2 Peter 2. Here are at least a few places where lists of both good and bad things are present in the Bible. For us to not do the good things (otherwise known as the sin of omission, James 4:17) or for us to practice the bad things (committing sin, 1 John 3:4) is to be guilty of that which is wrong and when we so act (or fail to act, as the case may be) we disobey God.
In contrast, sometimes God simply states a principle upon which he expects us to discern the right from the wrong. For example, the Bible clearly teaches that God’s people are to maintain self-control in their life (Titus 2:12, 1 Peter 1:13). If we understand what that means, then that excludes a lot of behavior that would be classified as not having self-control (such as doing drugs, gambling, and pornography, none of which are specifically forbidden in the Bible). The Bible also tells us that we need to have the attitude of humility (Matthew 18:4, James 4:10). If we have this attitude, then that attitude will exclude a lot of behavior that is arrogant and rude in nature (such as inappropriate gestures, language, or behavior). God uses principles to guide our behavior from a higher altitude than the “thou shalt nots” and we must respect those principles by understanding and adhering to them. Using principles, God doesn’t have to spell everything out for us; He expects us to be spiritually mature and make appropriate judgments concerning what is right and wrong (Hebrews 5:13, 14).
Finally, our attitude itself has much to do with whether or not we are going to live obediently. This is why the first commandment has always been to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). When we love God we will desire to keep his commandments and those commandments will not be grievous (1 John 5:3). We won’t see them as burdensome, but rather, as the response of a heart that loves God. The person who loves God doesn’t need a right-and-wrong-list; he knows, through diligent study of God’s word, how God wants us to live and his good attitude ensures that he lives that way. No, God’s requirement of our obedience doesn’t require that we have a comprehensive right-and-wrong-list. It simply requires that we love God.
If we were to, on our own, develop a list of things that are right and wrong and then require adherence to such a list from Christians throughout the world, then that would, in essence, be contravening the purpose of God’s word itself. Why? Because God gave us his word to fulfill this exact purpose, namely, to teach us right from wrong. As has been stated by others, there’s only three possible conclusions regarding any religious documents external to the scripture upon which someone basis one’s faith: it’s either something more than God’s word, in which case we don’t need it because we’re not to add to God’s word; it’s something less than God’s word in which case we don’t need it because we’re not to take away from God’s word, or it’s the same as God’s word in which case we don’t need it because we already have God’s word. God’s word is all that we need in order to know what is right and wrong (2 Peter 1:3). God’s word is all that we need to be his people (2 Timothy 3:16,17). And as God’s word, the Bible, “as is,” is wholly sufficient to meet our needs to know right from wrong and to obey it.