The alternative to having moral absolutes is either total hedonism – everyone does whatever he wants, or standards imposed by dictators or politicians – the politically correct. Moral absolutes can only come from our Creator God who, logically, knows what is good and right for his created species.

Our secular Western society has followed the path of rejection of God with his moral absolutes and is trying out the other options. As time goes by, the results of these options is causing a lot of confusion, both in society and in the personal lifestyles of numerous people. The problem is that while humans can discern what is good and evil – we have that moral capacity – we are unable, without Heaven’s aid, to determine what are absolutes that apply to all people everywhere. Yet clarity here is a profound human need, for it is bound up with feelings of guilt which may or may not be authentic, and which can cause serious psychological health issues.

It seems that our bodies and consciousness are fashioned in such a way that we feel guilt when our conscience tells us we have transgressed our own personal moral code. No-one likes to feel guilty! It is an unpleasant emotion – and yet it is universal. Whatever may be our understanding of good and evil, we know when we have contravened our own moral standards. This raises the issue as to how to deal with this bad feeling. Some repress such disturbing thoughts, and press on regardless, but that leads to hardening of the heart and inability to wisely judge between right and wrong. Others are overwhelmed with self-condemnation and remorse; their self-image goes through the floor, and they suffer psychologically, unable to forgive themselves. So how to deal with guilt is a major concern for many people, as psychologists can testify.

This is especially the case with sexual misconduct, which takes many forms. If we have no clarity about moral absolutes here, we flounder in all kinds of guilt feelings with the attendant psychological pain and confusion.

This morning I read in the Bible the list of sexual sins that God prohibited in Leviticus chapters 18 and 20. It is quite an impressive and detailed list of forbidden sexual acts. Some, including homosexual acts, are described as “abominations” in God’s eyes. Others proscribe sex between close relatives. But what struck me was who was giving these absolute prescriptions. At the beginning of each chapter, it says, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them…” In other words, these were not merely human ideas coming from the prophet Moses: he was told by the Lord God, the Creator of sex (!), how this special gift of sexuality was to be properly experienced. When God uses the word “abomination”, that indicates a serious misuse of the sacred gift of sexuality.

Back in the beginning, when God made man in his own image (Genesis 1.26-28), he made them “male and female” and encouraged them to have sexual relations so as to “be fruitful and multiply”. God instituted the family by creating a wife for Adam and presenting her to him (Genesis chapter 2). These facts are the basis for justifiable moral absolutes. God, who created us in his image, serves humanity in providing such clear moral guidance that prevents our guilt if we follow his law. To depart from those guidelines, to disobey the “Maker’s instructions”, is to bring upon ourselves the terrible discomfort of real guilt before a holy God to whom one day we will have to give account.

Clive Every-Clayton