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When looking at the six principles discussed in this series, the one that seems to answer most questions for me is the Edification Principle. While I use this principle most often, it should not be used alone. Each of the principles should be used together to help us make biblically correct decisions. Though this principle often helps make the final decision on a matter.

Remember that when applying the principles of social ethics from a biblical perspective, you are only looking at items that God has not specifically banned in His Word. If something has already been prohibited in the Bible then you should not use these principles but simply obey God’s Word.

Edification Principle: Defined

God wants us to do that which will build us up as Christians. Many permissible things in life aren’t necessarily helpful to us as Christians. God does not prohibit us from listening to talk radio. But is what you are listening to helping you grow closer to Him? Or, is it possibly causing you to even question God’s Word and principles? The word edification means to improve a person morally or spiritually. You should look for activities that will build you up spiritually and morally.

Edification Principle: Clarifying Questions

• Does this activity help build me up as a Christian?
• Does this help my devotional life?
• Will my involvement in this activity help other Christians?
• Does this activity help my Christian testimony?

An activity may seem to be otherwise permissible, but is it helpful to your personal life? Will it be a help to other Christians? If not, then you should not be involved.

The questions are intentionally worded from a positive perspective. Obviously, if an activity will damage your testimony, or that of your church, then it is an inappropriate activity. These inquiries deal with the fact that the activity in question is obviously not wrong. The issue now is, is it the right thing to do? The Doubt Principle goes hand in hand with this one.

Occasionally I will find a book that captivates me (such as God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life). I will end up spending all my free time digging into the book. There may be nothing wrong with the book from a biblical standpoint. But, sometimes as I think about the previous few days I can’t remember when I last picked up my Bible to read it. I have traded my Bible reading time for the biography I am reading. This is when something that is certainly not wrong is also not edifying. It is not building me up as a Christian if it is keeping me from reading my Bible.

This can be true with any activity. Whenever you become obsessed with something to the point that it is begins to encroach on your godly habits and activities, it no longer passes the test of the Edification Principle.

Edification Principle: Biblical Basis

Romans 16:19 encourages us to be ignorant concerning evil things. God desires that we engage in activities that are spiritual and not even have an education in that which is wrong.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that there are activities that may be permissible, but they don’t all edify. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean that we should do it.

Edification Principle: Application

Try to think through your daily activities. Are they helping to build you up spiritually? If not, is there a way you can change the activity so that it can be edifying as a Christian? You may need to look at changing the activity.

One of my favorite activities is exercising. Particularly I like to run. Running and exercising are certainly beneficial to the body. But what about my spirit? There are things I can do while running to help build me up spiritually as well. Instead of listening to music or podcasts I could listen to preaching or an audio Bible. Do you always exercise with your music device? How about leaving it at home and spending time in prayer or memorizing Bible verses? You might be able to make your normal activities into spiritual ones.

The Edification Principle should be applied with any activity that you have already determined is permissible by using the other principles of social ethics.

In this series we are looking at six principles that will help us make ethical decisions. The daily application of these principles concern regular activities that we are involved in. However, there are larger issues where these principles can be applied. When making decisions for your family, business and government you can use these principles to help you know how to lead and cast your vote.

Doubt Principle: Defined

God requires that the Christian abstain from that which he does not reasonably know is right. Paul says that offending a weaker brother is sinful (Romans 14). It is reasonable to encounter times when you are unsure as to whether engaging in an activity will cause a weaker brother to sin. In those instances, Paul says that it is better to not engage in the activity. When unsure whether something is right or wrong, then you should err on the side of caution and not get involved (Romans 14:23).

Doubt Principle: Clarifying Questions

• Do I think this activity might be wrong?
• Am I certain the activity is appropriate?

Any time there is not an absolutely clear teaching in the Bible on an issue and you are struggling with whether something might be wrong, then the teaching of this principle is to avoid the activity. The activity might be perfectly fine. But the admonition in the Bible is that when there is an atmosphere of doubt then to do the activity would be sinful.

Recently I was reading a blog post where the writer asked if it was wrong for a Christian to flash their lights at other drivers on the highway warning them that there was a speed trap up ahead. There was a good deal of friendly debate over the issue. In some states, according to some of the posters, it is actually illegal to warn other drivers in this way. Others argued that warning fellow drivers is a “Christian thing to do” because it could save the other person from endangering others and from having financial problems with the ticket.

There were people completely convinced on each side of the argument as to whether it was right or wrong. Obviously in the states where there is a law against it, then the decision is to obey the law. According to Romans 14:5 whatever your decision on such an activity, you should be absolutely convinced that your position is the right one. Later in the chapter (verses 21-23) the Bible clearly says that it is sin to engage in any activity that you are not convinced is right.

The principle then is that you only do that which you are convinced is biblically correct. This is a principle that requires spiritual maturity and knowledge of the Bible. A principle like this should drive you to the Bible to find out God’s opinion on various matters. There are obviously daily activities that we are engaged in in which the Bible does not even touch. You need to ask the Lord to guide you in those decisions using these principles.

Doubt Principle: Biblical Basis

Romans chapter 14 is the basis for this principle. The whole chapter talks about our relationship with others. It even concedes that there are times when people can disagree on matters that aren’t prohibited directly in the Bible. They can come to two different conclusions and both be right.

The key verses in Romans 14 are verses 5, 21 and 23 when looking at the Doubt Principle.

Doubt Principle: Application

• Should a missionary drive a car or ride a bike?
• Is it appropriate for men to wear shorts?
• Should teenagers be allowed to hold hands?
• Should a missionary work in a large cities or smaller villages?

You can see where some of these questions aren’t even biblical matters.

Now that we have discussed four of the six principles in this series, I hope you are starting to see that God has given us clear teaching on how to make decisions. God does not need to create a law that says “thou shalt not” for everything that man may encounter through history. Using principles that are taught in the Bible we can see that God has given direction for our lives.

Social Ethics from a biblical perspective can help us make decisions on activities that the Bible does not expressly state as sin. Because the Bible was revealed for us over a long period of time, God did not create a list of rules that would dictate our actions in every possible situation. He revealed a few unchangeable rules regardless of time or place, but the rest of our decisions should be filtered through a set of biblical principles.

While I am discussing six principles in this series, there could be other principles that you can pull from scripture to help you better make decisions. I think you will find these principles will help you decide most questions you have in life.

Wedge Principle: Defined

God cautions us against anything that becomes habit forming or lends itself to further involvement which leads to sin. Of course godly habits are permitted. The caution is against activities that may not be wrong by themselves but may be formed into habits that control our lives inappropriately. A quick example of this is viewing television. Is a TV wrong or wicked? It can be, but not necessarily. What about watching TV 16 hours a day with a complete disregard for the wicked programming you may be viewing? You can see how one could lead to the other. The key is to keep the initial activity from forming a stronghold in your life so that you don’t delve into the depths of the other.

Wedge Principle: Clarifying Question

Will my involvement in this activity lead to possible sin in the future?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7:1 that “it is good for a man not to touch a woman.” Does that mean that men should never have any physical contact with a lady? Obviously not. Married men and women certainly have the right to touch their spouse as you can clearly see from further down in the same chapter. Through other verses in the Bible we can conclude that Paul is talking about inappropriate physical contact. The word touch used in this verse carries the idea of “clinging to, intercourse or cohabitation” (according to Strong’s Concordance). We can conclude then that the prohibition is not on any physical contact, rather it is on contact that is obviously sensual. This is consistent with teaching found in other parts of the Bible.

Using the question, will my involvement in this activity lead to possible sin in the future? and the information above, we will consider the question of holding hands.

Is it wrong for a dating couple to hold hands? At what point is hand-holding no longer satisfying to a couple of kids? Eventually the desire will be to engage in greater physical contact. Where does it stop? I submit that, according to the Wedge Principle, you will decrease your likelihood of progressing to obvious sin by never involving yourself in holding hands to begin with.

Wedge Principle: Biblical Basis

Here are some verses that help you see the principle of avoiding things that may lead to further involvement.

Deuteronomy 12:30, Matthew 5:27-35, Romans 16:19, 1 Corinthians 6:12, Ephesians 5:12

Wedge Principle: Application

The Wedge Principle can be seen in the case of abortion. Previous to the Roe v. Wade decision of the Supreme Court in 1973 it was legal for a woman in 14 states to have abortions because of rape and/or incest. The Roe v. Wade decision established federal laws on when an abortion could be performed. The number of abortions increased dramatically following that decision. Consistently since 1988 the number of abortions performed in the US due to rape or incest has been 1%. Where there is a risk of death to either the mother or the child, abortions are performed 6% of the time (of course virtually 100% of the time the baby is killed in the abortion process). The other 93% of the time an abortion is performed because the child is unwanted or inconvenient to the life of the parents. How did we go from allowing abortions in cases of rape to having over 1,000,000 children killed every year in the US through abortion? This is an example of where we did not heed the Wedge, or sometimes called the Slippery-Slope Principle.

Other applications:

• Is 16 years old too young to be dating?
• Should men be alone in a car with a lady?
• Is it permissible to play violent video games?
• Should a Christian have Internet access?
• Is it appropriate for a 13-year-old child to be on a social network?

I think this principle takes some spiritual maturity to know how to apply. You don’t want to go as far as to say that you will never go outside your house because it might lead to sin; however, you can also argue that you limit your risk of seeing and doing something inappropriate if you are not around other people. The application of the principle depends on the person as well. People who are not at all tempted by cigarette smoking can be a great witness to their co-workers by participating in a work related activities away from the office. However, if the temptation to smoke when hanging out with unsaved co-workers is too great for someone, they should abstain from any unnecessary contact that might tempt them into an activity they know is wrong.

Some of the biblical principles of social ethics stand on their own, but don’t forget to apply as much of God’s Word as you can to any decision you make. The Wedge Principle may not give you enough information to make a wise decision by itself. Spend time in the Bible while looking at some of the other principles for direction from the Lord.

As we think through social ethics from a biblical perspective, we need to be careful and not confuse God’s absolute laws with His biblical principles. God’s laws are to be obeyed as stated and not filtered through our own justification. However, there are many things that God did not include in His Word. In those cases we are given a set of principles that we can apply to give us direction in making decisions.

Offense Principle: Defined

The Bible teaches that we should be willing to abstain from anything—even if the activity isn’t itself wrong—for the sake of another Christian. The Offense Principle states that we should put aside our own desires and activities if doing the activity would cause a stumbling block in the life of a weaker brother.

When thinking through this principle it is important to understand who a weaker brother is and what it means to offend them. First look at the concept of offend. The Greek word used in Matthew 5:29; 18:6 and Romans 14:21 for offend is the word σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō or skän-dä-lē’-zō). According to the Strong’s Concordance this word is a metaphorical word that means to place a stumbling block in someone’s way which causes them to fall. In other words, to entice someone to sin. Paul says in Romans 14:21 that we should not do anything that may cause a weaker brother to fall into sin because of our action.

Offense Principle: Clarifying Questions

Will participating in this activity cause a weaker brother to sin?

The question now becomes, who is a weaker brother? A weaker brother would be a new or immature Christian who is humbly seeking the truth. This is not someone who has a personal agenda, but someone who honestly wants to learn God’s Word and grow spiritually.

I remember when I was in high school there was another teen who had recently been saved and was hungry to learn anything about God and His holiness. My friend concluded that since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, we should not drink any beverages like Coke because of the chemicals they contain. As more mature Christians, we decided that we would not drink any Coke-type products when we were with him. Is drinking Coke sinful? No. Yet we choose to abstain from drinking carbonated beverages around our friend while he tried to grow into a stronger Christian. However, when we were away from our weaker brother we still drank carbonated beverages. The outcome was that within a couple of weeks he also determined that they were not necessarily wrong and he lifted his personal ban.

There will always be people who try to preach their own agenda and make everyone around them feel guilty. The Offense Principle is not intended for those situations. The Bible’s teaching is clearly that we should abstain from any activity that would cause a weaker brother to sin.

Offense Principle: Biblical Basis

Again we can look to the key passage on biblical decision making, 1 Corinthians 8-11:1 to help us with this principle. In 1 Corinthians 8:9, 10 Paul is talking about eating meat offered to idols. He has already concluded that it is fine for a Christian to eat this meat. However, he says in these verses that just because it is non-sinful to eat the meat, you should still abstain if it might cause a weaker brother to sin.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 and 24 that we should be concerned with the welfare of other Christians around us.

Other verses which support this principle are Matthew 5:29; 18:6; Romans 14:21 and James 4:17.

Offense Principle: Application

This principle primarily deals with activities that are not questionable as to whether they are right or wrong. If something is sin, then you shouldn’t do it. The issue here is knowing when to abstain from non-sinful activities for the sake of others.

You may know a new Christian who concludes that any music composed by a non-Christian is evil music. Your friend honestly wants to grow in the Lord. If he gets into your car while you are playing music by Beethoven (who may have been a Christian but reportedly did not go to church), would you still play the music? Is there any question in your mind as to whether or not Beethoven’s music is sinful? You may not personally have a problem with listening to a certain type of music, but if it causes your weaker brother to sin (and he would be sinning if he believed it was wrong and listened to it anyway according to Romans 14:22 and 23) then you should abstain.

This principle can help you make decisions not on whether something is right or wrong, but whether you should participate in the activity in certain situations. Do you have another situation in which you wonder if this principle applies? Leave a comment below and allow us to discuss it.

God has given us various principles in His Word that can be applied to help us make godly decisions in our lives. These principles should be used when the Bible does not specifically state whether an activity is right or wrong. However, you should avoid applying these principles to that which God has already prohibited or approved in His Word. Using biblical principles to justify an activity that is expressly prohibited will cause confusion.

Association Principle: Defined

God has told us to abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Something might, in and of itself, not be wrong; however, we are told in the Bible that we should not even do the things that would make others think we might be doing something inappropriate.

Association Principle: Clarifying Questions

• Will this activity require you to associate with that which is evil?
• What is the present dominant association of the activity?
• What does society immediately associate with the given activity?

While God’s Word never changes, the associations of activities change. A simple example of this is playing cards in the United States. There was a time when cards were only associated with gambling. The dominant association of cards for both the world and the church was with an activity that has its roots in greed and laziness—both of which are sins that the Bible condemns. But there is nothing inherently wrong with pieces of paper which have numbers and pictures on them.

Today if you saw a mom, a dad and two kids playing cards there is really no association with gambling. The present dominant association with cards today is an activity that people play at family reunions where no money is involved. This is an example of where an activity and its association has changed over time. There was a time when playing cards would have been wrong for a Christian, but those days are gone (though they could come back).

Do people still gamble with cards? Absolutely. However the present dominant association with cards today is not with the activity of gambling.

Thinking a bit further through the example though, there may be a time and place where playing a game of Go Fish isn’t appropriate. If I were visiting my friends who live in Las Vegas, I would abstain from playing Go Fish (or any card game) in a public location. Playing with my family at the family reunion down by the lake is different from playing with a group of men at a coffee shop in Las Vegas.

Association Principle: Biblical Basis

A key passage on biblical decision making is 1 Corinthians 8:1 through 11:1. Paul goes into great detail on applying ethical principles when deciding what is appropriate or not. Was it wrong for Paul to eat meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8)? There was no difference in the meat before and after it was offered. If the meat was fine to eat previous to being offered, then it was fine to eat afterwards. The idol does not change the meat in any way. However, the present dominant association at the time was that eating the meat put your stamp of approval on the activity of idol worship. Eating the meat was strongly associated with the idols. Therefore, out of principle, Paul said that he would not eat the meat (1 Corinthians 8:13).

Here are some passages that help us understand the Association Principle. 1 Corinthians 5:11-13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 and Ephesians 5:11, 12 talk about our associations with people. Disassociating yourself from evil things is discussed in 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1; Romans 14:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22.

Association Principle: Application

Here are some activities you can run through the filter of this principle. Using the other biblical principles in this series, you can make your own decision about these activities.

• Should Christians go to the movies?
• Is it OK for Christian men to have facial hair?
• How long is too long for a man’s hair?
• How short is too short for a lady’s dress?
• Is it appropriate for you to play cards where you live?
• Should a Christian go to an office Christmas party? At a bar?
• Would you go to a restaurant that bills itself as a “Bar & Grill”?

We know that the Bible is a book of absolutes in the matters it discusses, but there are always new activities that we need to evaluate according to God’s principles. Some of the above activities would probably never change, however the present dominant association in your culture may be different than what it is in mine.

What other questions do you think the Association Principle can help answer? Do you have a question about one of the biblical principles of social ethics that you want to ask? Leave a comment below.