New Creation in Christ ­– the moral implications!

The celebration of Easter recalls that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplishes the redemption of all mankind from the consequences of sin that leads to everlasting death. Those who accept this good news and are baptised become a new creation in Jesus Christ, living in a way that leads to everlasting life.

Living the new life in Christ involves more than a commitment to worship, which, of course, nurtures and sustains one’s spiritual life. However, the new life must bear fruit in the moral dimension of Christian living. Thus, we must live virtuously to indicate that persons with restored human dignity perform deeds consistent with God’s will and avoid vice: misconduct, immorality, and ungodliness.

To ensure that our deeds are consistent with the new life in Jesus Christ, the three criteria that determine that a deed is morally good are to be considered: (1) the nature (the essence or kind) of the act to be performed – the act is called the object; (2) the particular act is being performed – the intention or subjective goal of the act; and (3) where, when, how, with whom, and the consequences of the act, that is, the concrete situation or circumstances in which the act is performed and the result.

Thus, an action is morally good if its object is good and not intrinsically evil. For example, the intentional killing of an innocent person and rape are examples of acts that are intrinsically evil. In addition, for an act to be morally good, the intention of the person must be good. If a person has a bad intention, even something that is objectively good becomes morally evil. Also, a good intention cannot make an intrinsically evil action good. Therefore, we can never do something wrong or evil in order to bring about a good. This is the meaning of the saying, “the end does not justify the means”.

The new life in Jesus Christ must be lived intentionally as obedient faith and not as an unconscious routine obligation or expedient actions without considering moral consequences. This life gives witness to integrity in public service for public trust; the practice of ethical business principles to strengthen market and consumer confidence; justice between employer and worker; professionalism by teachers and diligence by students in school; befitting service by our security forces; respect for personhood in family and community life to safeguard the sacred value of every human person; and honour and decency in other areas of social engagement.

The quality of the new life in Christ celebrated at Easter must be a beacon that does not give in to peer pressure and the status quo, rather with courage, strive to be genuinely upstanding. Therefore, while we remain subject to the limitation of human nature, we must live by faith, relying on God’s grace for as a new creation in Christ, our striving must declare with St Paul (Gal 2:20) “yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me”. Thus, by God’s grace, the Christian freely chooses thoughts and deeds that are in harmony with Christian morality, ordered to justice.

– Most Rev Kenneth Richards, Archbishop of Kingston