How does society determine what is right and what is wrong? In the United States we have a constitution and other laws based on the constitution that determine what is right and what is wrong. Under our constitution we have determined that certain things like murder, theft and assault are punishable crimes. Other nations and cultures will have different laws. In our own history laws regarding right and wrong have changed. At one point our nation considered slavery acceptable and now it is a crime to enslave another person. Our nation has also changed laws regarding marriage, who can vote and requirements to get a simple driver’s license. It is fair to ask the question; how should we determine what is right and wrong?

As Christians we believe the Bible is and should be the basis for all human laws of right and wrong. While that is a correct statement, it is not the full picture of the foundation to determine what is right. The Bible is God’s Word and the written / verbal expression of God, which reveals God’s righteousness, and by that revelation we can know what is right. God Himself is what is right! God is not just the conveyor of right or the source of right, He is righteousness itself, embodied in His very person. That means when God created the universe it was right. When God created you and me, it was right.

For us to understand what is right in 2026 we need to look to the Word of God as the communication that reveals to us the Righteousness of God. For example, we need to consider not just the fact that God created humans, but how he created us. We are created in His image, male, and female, for procreation and to manage the resources of this world for the Glory of God and to meet our needs. Each aspect of our creation has deep implications for what is right and wrong. Murder is wrong because we bear the image of God; it is an offense against God. Procreation is part of human’s prime mandate, and it is as obvious as the nose on your face that it requires both sexes to procreate. Humans do this as the continuation of God’s creation: pro . . . creation. That understanding directs our convictions of what constitutes marriage and a family. It is not subjectively based on emotion or a well-crafted doctrine. It is based on God himself!

On the Narrow Path, Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus makes the bold statement that he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets. When sin entered the world it not only brought our death, but it also separated us from God and with that our capacity to utterly understand God’s righteousness so we could determine societal rights and wrongs. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the law, making it possible for us to be right with God first, and then to live rightly with one another. Humankind can only rightly live with each other as we live under the righteousness of who God is. Join me this Sunday for a message titled, “Righteousness on the Narrow Path.”