WHO DECIDES RIGHT AND WRONG?
Is morality determined by God, society, or the individual?
TEXT B4 TRADITION — Read First. Conclude Later.
Who Gets to Make the Rules?
Something once considered wrong may eventually become acceptable to society. Something once considered acceptable may later be condemned.
But that raises an important question:
When society changes its opinion, does right become wrong—or wrong become right?
And who has the authority to decide?
Is morality determined by what most people believe? By government? By religious leaders? By our personal feelings?
Or is there a standard greater than all of them?
Rather than begin with our opinions, let's examine what Scripture says.
1. What Happened When People Decided Right and Wrong for Themselves?
Genesis 3:1–6
God had given Adam and Eve a command. The serpent challenged that command, and Eve considered whether the forbidden fruit was desirable.
Genesis 3:6 describes the fruit as good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
Notice what happened.
Something God had forbidden appeared desirable to human judgment.
The issue was not whether the fruit looked good. The issue was whether human judgment should overrule God's command.
The lesson: Something can appear desirable to us without being right before God.
Genesis 3 does not teach that every human judgment is wrong. It shows the danger of placing our judgment above what God has revealed.
2. Can Everyone Decide What Is Right in Their Own Eyes?
Judges 21:25
"In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes." (WEB)
This statement appears at the conclusion of a book filled with moral confusion, violence, unfaithfulness, and disorder.
The writer is describing Israel during a period when the nation repeatedly abandoned God's instructions.
But we should read the verse carefully.
The immediate statement concerns Israel's lack of a king and its resulting disorder. It is not a complete philosophical argument about morality.
Nevertheless, the larger book demonstrates the danger of a people who repeatedly reject God's covenant and follow their own judgment.
A society can sincerely approve of something and still be wrong.
Sincerity does not establish truth.
3. Does God Have the Authority to Define Right and Wrong?
Genesis 18:25
Abraham asks:
"Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?" (WEB)
Notice something important.
Abraham appeals to God's justice. He does not suggest that God may act unjustly simply because He possesses power.
Scripture consistently presents God's righteousness as part of His character.
Deuteronomy 32:4 describes God as faithful, just, and without iniquity.
Psalm 89:14 says righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Psalm 119:142 says God's righteousness is everlasting and His law is truth.
According to these passages, God's authority over morality is not merely the authority of someone stronger than we are.
God's judgments are righteous because God Himself is righteous.
This also guards against a misunderstanding: the Bible does not present goodness as whatever an unpredictable ruler might happen to command.
God's moral character is consistently described as righteous, faithful, just, and loving.
4. What Happens When People Exchange God's Standard for Their Own?
Romans 1:18–32
Paul describes people who knew something of God through creation but refused to honor Him as God.
Romans 1:21 says they did not glorify Him or give Him thanks.
Verse 25 describes them as exchanging God's truth for a lie.
And verse 28 describes people who refused to retain God in their knowledge.
Notice the progression.
The problem begins with humanity's relationship to God.
When people refuse to acknowledge the Creator, their thinking and conduct can become distorted.
Paul then describes a range of sins, including envy, deceit, arrogance, violence, and disobedience.
His argument is not merely about one controversial behavior.
It concerns humanity's broader tendency to reject God's authority while claiming the right to determine its own standards.
But we must remember Paul's next step.
In Romans 2:1–3, he turns toward those who condemn others while practicing wrongdoing themselves.
Paul does not permit the religious person to use Romans 1 as an excuse for self-righteousness.
Everyone must answer to the same God.
5. Doesn't Everyone Have Some Understanding of Right and Wrong?
Romans 2:14–15
Paul describes Gentiles who do not possess the Mosaic Law but sometimes do what the Law requires.
He says their conscience bears witness, and their thoughts accuse or excuse them.
This is important.
Paul does not teach that only people who possess a Bible can recognize moral obligations.
Human beings can recognize injustice, dishonesty, cruelty, and kindness even without knowing the written Law of Moses.
But conscience is not infallible.
A person's conscience can accuse him correctly, excuse him incorrectly, or be shaped by mistaken beliefs.
Compare 1 Corinthians 4:4, where Paul says that even though he knows nothing against himself, that does not justify him. The Lord is the one who judges.
Conscience is a witness to moral responsibility, not the final authority that determines morality.
6. Can the Majority Make Something Right?
Exodus 23:2
God instructed Israel not to follow a crowd in doing evil or distort justice by siding with the majority.
This instruction occurs in the context of legal justice.
It directly warns against allowing popular pressure to corrupt what is right.
The principle is clear: the number of people supporting an action does not determine its righteousness.
History repeatedly shows that entire communities can approve of injustice.
But we should apply the principle consistently.
A minority opinion is not automatically correct simply because it is unpopular.
Neither popularity nor unpopularity proves moral truth. Evidence and the proper standard must determine the conclusion.
7. Can Human Traditions Replace God's Commands?
Mark 7:6–13
Jesus rebuked religious leaders who elevated human traditions in ways that set aside God's commandments.
He quoted Isaiah's warning about people honoring God with their lips while their hearts remained far from Him.
In Mark 7:13, Jesus says they were making God's word void through their tradition.
This is particularly important for Christians.
A practice does not become God's command merely because religious people have followed it for centuries.
But neither should we reject a practice merely because it is traditional.
The question is whether it agrees with Scripture.
Human tradition must be examined by God's word—not God's word rewritten to defend human tradition.
8. What Is the Greatest Moral Obligation?
Matthew 22:36–40
When asked which commandment was greatest, Jesus answered:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (WEB)
He then identified the second:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (WEB)
Jesus said the Law and Prophets depend on these two commandments.
This reveals something essential about biblical morality.
God's commands are not merely a collection of arbitrary restrictions.
They concern our relationship with God and our treatment of other people.
But love must not be reduced to approving everything someone wants to do.
Romans 13:8–10 explains that love does no harm to a neighbor and fulfills the Law.
Biblical love seeks another person's genuine good.
Sometimes that requires kindness and encouragement.
Sometimes it requires warning, correction, or refusing to participate in wrongdoing.
And those corrections must themselves be expressed with love.
9. Does God's Standard Give Christians Permission to Condemn Everyone Else?
No.
Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of God's glory.
Matthew 7:1–5 warns against hypocritical judgment. Jesus tells us to deal with the beam in our own eye before attempting to remove the speck from another person's eye.
Notice that Jesus does not say the speck should never be removed.
He says we must first examine ourselves.
Galatians 6:1 instructs spiritually mature Christians to restore someone caught in wrongdoing with gentleness, watching themselves lest they also be tempted.
Therefore, believing that God establishes right and wrong does not authorize arrogance, cruelty, or self-righteousness.
We can believe that an action is wrong while treating the person involved with dignity and compassion.
Truth does not require hostility. Love does not require surrendering truth.
10. How Can We Know Whether Our Moral Conclusions Are Correct?
2 Timothy 3:16–17 says Scripture is useful for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness.
But knowing that Scripture is authoritative does not mean every interpretation we make is automatically correct.
We must still read carefully.
Before declaring that God approves or condemns something, we should ask:
What does the passage actually say?
Who was being addressed, and why?
Is the instruction universal, or does it concern a particular covenant or situation?
Have we considered the surrounding verses and other relevant passages?
Are we drawing a conclusion that follows from the text, or merely repeating what our culture or religious tradition has taught us?
This is especially important when applying Old Testament laws to Christians living under the new covenant.
Not every command given to ancient Israel is automatically a command to the church.
Respecting God's authority requires us to interpret His word correctly, not merely quote it.
So, Who Decides Right and Wrong?
According to Scripture, God is the ultimate moral authority because He is the righteous Creator and Judge.
Human conscience can recognize moral obligations. Families, communities, and governments can make rules and administer justice.
But none of these possesses the authority to turn evil into good simply by changing its opinion.
And Christians must be careful not to confuse God's moral standards with their own traditions, preferences, or interpretations.
The Bible's claim is not that Christians are always right. It is that God is right—and Christians, like everyone else, must submit their judgments to Him.
That leaves us with a second question:
If God determines what is right and wrong, can society ever rewrite morality?
That is the subject of our next study.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
Next Study: CAN SOCIETY REWRITE MORALITY?
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