“A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God” (A. W. Tozer).
As we continue to think about ethics and how it is related to the concept of God, we want to take a look at the Ten Commandments and the Greatest Commandments in this light. Interestingly enough, we should not think of the Greatest Commandments and the Ten Commandments as only for Christians. These are moral obligations on each and every person who has ever lived or will ever live on this planet. The Greatest Commandments are the commands given by God that, as Jesus said, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40). All other commandments hang on these two and all other commandments are broken when these two are broken. As Jesus put them, “And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF'” (Matthew 22:37-39).
There should be no real argument that if there is one God and this one God who is the standard of morality has a Greatest Commandment, then anything less than keeping that command would be immoral. It should also be without argument that the God of Scripture is Spirit and has not a body like men. God can only be known, then, by how He has revealed Himself in Scripture and in nature to the minds and souls of men. It is also self-evident that to the degree that a man conceives of God is the degree that God will be loved and no higher. A low view of God without fail leads to a low degree of love if there is any love at all. A truly low view of God is actually a different understanding of God and so is a view that actually consists of a false God.
What happened to the Israelites over and over in their history? Their view of God spiraled downward and their worship and practices followed. In Isaiah 66:1-6 God corrected the Israelites view of Himself. They wanted to build a temple, but He told them that even the whole earth was His footstool. He looked at those who were humble and contrite in spirit and who trembled at His word. They had developed a shallow view of God and so they were worshipping a false God and that from the external actions. The view of God that people have determines their theology, ethics, and the worship that is done and if they are done at all. Once the Israelites fell into a shallow view of God, their ethics and worship both became despicable before God.
What was the problem with the Pharisees? Well, without going into the long list, we can simply say that they replaced love for God by rules and legalism. They were motivated to do their own rules in an effort to be righteous. They began to take oaths and then qualified their oaths in order to be able to tell lies and still claim to tell the truth. They thought that if they did not commit external adultery that they were pure. What they missed and were blinded to was the fact that God is to be loved from the heart. God is to be loved from the inner man and not just outward actions. All that the Pharisees did in their religious fervor was in fact self-worship as it was done for self and not God. Their theology did not have high view of God in truth and so their ethics became all about themselves.
True ethics begins with a love for God or true ethics does not even begin. All that a person does is judged, determined, and guided by what he or she loves the most. The chief love in a person’s life is either God or self. A person can refuse to lie and take great pride in being a truthful person. But the motive and driving force behind that person’s refusal to lie must be out of love for God or that person is committing idolatry in not telling a lie. All that a person does and all that a person does not do must be done out of love for God or it is sin. No one can love God unless one understands to some degree the truth of who God is. Without question God cannot be loved apart from an understanding of Him that corresponds to who He really is. As the book of Hosea sets out, “Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the LORD” (Hos 5:4). These people did not know the LORD and a spirit of harlotry was within them. They did not know God enough to even return to Him. This not knowing God led to deeds which hardened their hearts and darkened their understanding so that they could not return to Him. The failure to know God or to have shallow thoughts of God of logical and spiritual necessity leads to a total moral and ethical collapse. He who does not know God does not love Him in truth. He who does not love God in truth sins in all that he does and his ethics are not real ethics.
God Loves... Himself 
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