In my book on Christian Ethics, I mentioned that the moral position behind the Golden Rule spoken by Jesus – “All things . . . that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them,” is found behind similar statements by other religious teachers and philosophers. This is not surprising…it seems intuitively like a good way to live; but the rule in Christianity differs, as seen in the Apostle Paul’s command, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you,” (Ephesians 4:32). The kind, tenderhearted forgiveness (tacitly found in the Golden Rule) that Christians are supposed to demonstrate comes from our model – Jesus. We are to emulate Jesus in this not because He was God in the flesh (which He was) but because God – on the basis of Jesus’ redemptive work – forgave us. We can be kind and tenderhearted on a level that Jesus was because He was a man completely submitted to His Heavenly Father and this is how the Heavenly Father desires and empowers us to live our lives. This moral rule then is different than any other found from the lips or pens of humans. Emulate Jesus as an example of how all of us who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and adopted into God’s family can also live.
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For His Glory,
Jim