1st clip "2020 Q1 Lesson 6: From Arrogance to Destruction (Feb. 8)" Seven Levels of Moral Development
LEVEL 1 - Reward and punishment
• Right and wrong is determined by whoever holds the power to rule by threat of punishment and hope of reward. Mercy (failure to punish) is seen as being weak, rather than moral.
• Satisfaction Theory - summarized as: God said don’t do something, but when we disobey, this offends him. In his justice, he responds with angry vengeance to execute the disobedient to satisfy his outrage. But then Jesus stepped in between to become humanity’s substitute. Thus, instead of killing man, God killed his Son in our place and is now satisfied that his honor and justice are preserved.
LEVEL 2 - Marketplace exchange
• Right and wrong is determined by an agreement between two parties, also known as quid pro quo – “I’ll do something for you if you do something for me.” At this level vengeance is a moral duty.
• Ransom Theory - summarized as follows: Because earth and humanity are now the legal property of Satan and under his control, the devil claimed legal rights to this earth and the lives of the descendants of Adam and Eve. Therefore, God struck a bargain with the devil to exchange the life of Christ for the lives of the rest of humanity.
LEVEL 3 - Social conformity
• Right and wrong is determined by community consensus, for example, when a child says, “But everyone else is doing it.” Right is deemed right by the approval of peers.
• Governmental Theory - summarized as follows: In order for everyone to be convinced that God is fair and right in dealing with sin and sinners by inflicting torturous punishment, somebody has to pay the price. That somebody is Jesus, because he’s the only one who could pay that price to get mankind off the hook.
LEVEL 4 - Law and order
• Right and wrong is determined by a codified system of rules, impartial judges, imposed punishments, and respect for authority. Right is getting a proper pay or reward for good work, and proscribed and inflicted punishment for breaking the rules.
• Penal Substitution Theory - summarized as follows: Jesus died to pay the legal penalty the law demanded and the heavenly judge imposed. The law must be kept. Man broke the law, thus justice demands and requires the imposition of the proper punishment. Someone had to be executed to pay the legal penalty. Jesus became our substitute and was executed in our place by God the Father (as the righteous judge) to pay that penalty. In doing so, the integrity of the law is maintained and sinners can be pardoned, but only if they claim the legal payment made by Jesus.
LEVEL 5 - Love for others
• Right is determined by doing what is in the best interest of others, realizing people have value in who they are irrespective of the rules. Wrong is determined, not by a checklist of rules, but by not doing what is actually helpful and beneficial for another.
• Moral Influence Theory - summarized as follows: Sin separated us from God and corrupted our hearts, so that we no longer trusted God, but God loved us too much to let us go, so Christ’s death was the means to reach us with his love and restore us to trust in him.
LEVEL 6 - Principle based living
• Right is understanding the design protocols and principles upon which life is constructed to operate and intelligently choosing to live in harmony with them. Right is not doing something because a rule says to do so, but because it is understood to actually work this way.
• Recapitulation and Christus Victor Theories - summarized as follows: Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is understood to be the only means to fix what sin had done to God’s creation. When mankind sinned, the condition of humankind was changed, placing it out of harmony with God and his design for life. Humankind was now held in bondage by their own condition of sinfulness (carnal nature), their terminal state (death), and the lies about God told by Satan. Christ came to break these three powers and fix what sin has done to this creation. Thus “he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” 2Cor 5:21.
LEVEL 7 - Understanding Friend of God
• Those at this level not only have love for God and others (Level 5), not only understand God’s design protocols for life (Level 6), but also understand God’s purposes and intelligently choose to cooperate in fulfilling their role in His purposes.
• Healing Substitution Reality - summarized as follows: The plan of salvation is understood to have a deeper and broader intent than just the redemption of the human species. Both level five and six are true: God’s character of love has been misrepresented, His methods of truth, love, and freedom have not been fully understood, so God had a larger purpose than just the salvation of humankind; He was also solidifying the unfallen beings in loyalty to His design methods and character of love.
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