The Perfect Lawgiver

The Perfect Lawgiver

By Touching Lives 

“O LORD, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You.” 2 Chronicles 20:6

Several years ago, author and speaker Ravi Zacharias was speaking at the University of Nottingham, England. He tells the story of an exasperated student who insisted that God could not possibly exist because of all the evil and suffering in the world. Ravi asked him if they could explore that statement for a moment and the student agreed. “When you say there is such a thing as evil are you not assuming there is such a thing as good?” Ravi questioned. “Of course,” the student said. “When you assume there is such a thing as good are you not also assuming there is such a thing as a moral law by which to distinguish between good and evil?” Ravi continued. “I suppose so,” the student hesitantly replied. “If then there is a moral law, you must posit a moral law giver. But that is Who you are trying to disprove and not prove. If there is no moral law there is no good. If there is no good there is no evil; so I’m not sure what your question is!” Ravi concluded. The stunned student then quipped, “Neither am I. Can you please tell me what I should be asking you?”

What Ravi Zacharias was trying to help this student understand is that God gives morality its foundation. Without the existence of God, a question like, “How can God exist with all the evil in the world?” doesn’t even make sense. Without God there isn’t a good that’s always good and a bad that’s always bad. You don’t need God to believe there is a right and wrong and good and bad. You don’t need God to try and live according to what you think is right or wrong or good and bad. However, there is no rational basis to right and wrong or good and bad without God.

Without a perfect God, right and wrong simply becomes a matter of emotions, intellect, or opinion. This is where society is today. The more we take God out of the equation of right and wrong, the more we drift towards relativism – which is the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture and are not absolute. And as relativism reigns, sin becomes acceptable, and eventually not even considered sin anymore.

When you do what you feel is right, think is right, or what others say is right, you are on dangerous ground. There is a holy God that determines what is right and what is wrong. He hates sin and will not tolerate it forever. But in His grace He has offers forgiveness and restoration. The only way to truly know what is right or wrong is to know this God through His Son, Jesus Christ.