Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · 

mo·ral·i·ty

noun

principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society.
plural noun: moralities
“a bourgeois morality”

History records for us the Borgia Family, descendants of a noble line, originally from Valenica, Spain, that established roots in Italy and became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 1400s and 1500s. The house of the Borgias produced two popes and many other political and church leaders. Some members of the family became known for their treachery.

I begin here with the world view of morality to highlight that treachery has often created a society that is overly influenced by leaders with a long history of controlling the masses while hiding from them their evil intent. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

This is the only verse where the word moral is found in the ESV and none at all in the KJV. They both offer an alternative answer to morality from Leviticus.

Leviticus 19

The Lord Is Holy

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Holiness is that quality or character of God which is separated from all things which if they were allowed to touch or even approach God, He would no longer be God..

Numbers 19:13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

God and God alone is the example of what is morally right, pure in essence and character.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In Christ we are all treated alike. In the OT economy it would seem the society needed rules that would find a way to be accepted and not outrightly rejected. A stubborn and stiff necked people had to be brought along slowly to see things God’s way. Here are some of those things I have a problem with if they are lived out in today’s society.

• Exodus 22:16
  Laws About Social Justice
  “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.
• Exodus 22:17
  If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.

Is it social justice if a man can take a girl’s virginity and buy his way out of trouble?

Deuteronomy 22:13-15 English Standard Version

Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality

13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate.

So parents have to have their daughters certified pure before a wedding but there is no test required that certifies a man is a virgin? Worse than that, I find this instruction to be harmful from Proverbs 6:26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, which is encouraging young men to give in to their lustful appetites rather than control them.

Now we have good advice in the later part of Proverb 6.

“27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?

28 Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?”

Followed up with bad advice.

“30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31 but if he is caught, he will pay”

So sin is OK as long as you don’t get caught? I think not. This is what we get when we allow society to determine what is moral. When society creates law, the law loses its purpose.