God Exists! He is the Moral Standard for all Humanity!
Ok, today we are talking about the 3rd argument for the existence of God! The Moral Argument for God’s Existence! Now before we get too far, I want to make it clear that these are ARGUMENTS For the existence of God, we will cover more about this next week, but ultimately and always a decision to believe will come down to faith IN God! I can speak passionately about this, not because I know all the facts or because I know all the details but because I Know Him! My deepest prayer and desire is that you will know Him too!
Today we are going to talk about the Moral argument for God’s existence! This argument, in my opinion, is most famous because of C.L. Lewis. I would Highly recommend Mere Christianity if you have not read it yet! This particular argument leads us to think about the universal moral code that can be found in all cultures among all people! This is really astounding if you think about it! Going back to the beginning of humanity, there has always been an almost innate sense of right and wrong. No matter what culture, what nationality, what land you may study or visit, you will find that all have a verbalized or non verbalized code of morality. Societies may emphasize or enforce this moral code differently, yet there is no denying that among all SANE people a moral law exists. There is a universal understanding somehow of right verses wrong. How do we explain that? Without acknowledging a Higher Power, designer, creator, how are we to account for this commonality among all peoples throughout all history? Why do we have a conscience at all? Why did the whole world fight back against Hitler and the atrocity of the holocaust? While some delusional individuals might try to say it never happened, no one in their right mind can ever defend it or justify that horrific attack against the Jewish people! Why? Because it was wrong! People cross culturally can agree on that! Why? Why can we agree that it is wrong to murder people? Why is it wrong to steal, to lie, or to cheat? Where have these morals come from going back to the beginning of humanity? If we think they just happened by chance, if we think they have just evolved within us, then there is no objective moral code and our deep intuitions about specific behaviors being emphatically wrong can and will eventually change! At that point anything can go! I have traveled to many countries in my life and no matter where I was, I have always found within the different cultures an understood knowledge of what is right and what is wrong!
This all-encompassing, objective, and consistent standard of morality points us straight to the existence of a Moral Creator who created us in His Image! We have an understanding of moral standards innately because our Creator IS the standard for morality! We Know we are to be truthful because God IS Truth! We Know we are to act with Love because our Creator IS Love! We know life is Not ours to take, because Life belongs to the One who made us! This morality we all have within us stems from the character of the One who created us! His Nature is binding on all of nature! The heart of His fingerprint is imprinted on all our hearts! The reality of moral laws point us to a moral lawgiver! I love what C.S. Lewis says on this subject. He explains to us that every single person in this world, whether or not they claim to believe in a moral code, they have most certainly appealed to it at many moments in their life! I have raised children and I will tell you that the appeal to a universal morality rears it’s head as soon as a human is able to communicate in Any fashion! Long before a child is properly taught moral code or beliefs they are already announcing how they have been wronged and in what way, especially if they have a sibling! A child is very aware if another has stolen from them and they will let you know that that’s not right. They are quick to point out if you have broken a promise - that’s not right! They will shout it from the roof top of another child has hit them on the head - that is not right! Not sharing - that is not right, and on and on we can go! Again, how do we know this from infancy? C.S. lewis famously asserts that to “complain that a stick is bent only makes sense in light of the concept of straight.” We would have no idea of a thing being crooked without having an understanding of what straight looks like! In the same way without a supernatural moral standard how would we ever define good and evil? There would be no understanding of evil at all without first knowing what Good is! The Bible tells us unequivocally that God IS GOOD! We were made in His image and so we have a created understanding of what is Good! Since God also gave us choice we had the ability to find out what evil was as well, and with Adam and Eve’s choice to go against what God had asked them to do, humanity fell, and through them all made the choice to go against God’s perfect and holy standard! This is why we needed a Savior and why God sent His son Jesus Christ! If there is no God, then there would be no standard of what is Good, what is right. We would all be making up whatever sounds good to each one of us at the time. There would be no universally held moral law. I believe, sadly, that is what many are trying to do today, however, follow that to its completion. It would be the destruction and the end of humanity. Because God does exist there is a known understanding within any reasonable human that certain behaviors are inexcusable. In the same way there is a known universal understanding that Certain behaviors are wonderful, needed, and sought after! We have this incredible moral code within us because we were made by intelligent design by a Creator who is Himself the standard for morality!
“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” - Romans 2:14-16
“The very existence of moral knowledge points to a moral being Who is universal, personal, and absolute. This describes the God of the Bible exactly. Those who deny the existence of absolute moral standards are in rebellion against God and their own conscience. These people still acknowledge that there are some things that are wrong for everyone, at all times, and in all places. These morals did not evolve, but are part of a holy God’s character, “…the standard of moral measurement in deciding what was right or wrong, good or evil, was fixed in the unwavering and impeccably holy character of Yahweh, Israel’s God. His nature, attributes, character, and qualities provided the measuring stick for all ethical decision” (Kaiser, p. 114).
For Further Study
Romans 2:14-16
Describe in your own words what this passage is saying.
How does this passage reveal that God’s Moral law is written within all humans?
How do our consciences also prove a Divine Moral standard?
How have you seen God’s Moral law obeyed within Non Believers? Within yourself?
How does a universal Moral Law point to a Divine Lawgiver?