A Moral Code
God has established (Ps. 119:89) and given humanity a moral code. This moral code is pure and must be obeyed. Disobedience to it has consequences.
In Daniel 9:9-11, we read:
9 “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws, which He set before us by His servants, the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, refusing to obey Your voice. So, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against Him.”
Just as we have a driving code—traffic laws and regulations governing vehicle operation—God has given us a moral code. God’s moral code is His law, His Word. It defines how to live in relationship with God and our neighbors. As Jesus stated in Matthew 22:37-40, all the Law and the Prophets depend on two commands: loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Reflecting on Scripture, we come to realize that God's moral code is, in fact, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself—the Word.
But let’s be practical: Who can fully obey God's moral code? According to Scripture, no one (Rom. 8:8).
In 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, we read:
30 “And because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”
As believers, our only reason to boast is that Christ in us is our obedience to the moral code. He has obeyed it on our behalf; He is our righteousness. When we abide in Him and yield to His Spirit, Christ becomes the expression of the moral code through us.
In other words, believers are in Christ, and Christ is their wisdom from God—their righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is the very essence of the Christian life. When a believer fully surrenders to Him, Christ lives through that person, allowing the moral code to be expressed in his or her life (Galatians 2:20). When Christ reigns in a believer, the moral code is displayed through him or her—it becomes a life of faith in God (Hebrews 10:38).
Since God demands obedience to His moral code from all humanity, and we have seen that only those who have Christ can fulfill it through Him—because without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5)—anyone who has not received the Lord Jesus Christ will face God’s moral code in judgment and suffer the consequences. The wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).