Bible Question:

Are you familiar with the primal questions? What is the historical response to, “How is human responsibility understood in relation to the divine?” Morality and ethics is the answer.

Bible Answer:

No, I am not familiar with a category of questions by this title. I am not sure if you only asked a question or if you asked the question and also gave an answer. But God has an answer for your question, “How is human responsibility understood in relation to the divine?” God’s answer has two parts:

For the non-Christian

Every man and woman has one major, priority responsibility to God,

These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.  John 20:31 (NASB)

And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:23-24 (NASB)

Mankind’s responsibility is not about morality or ethics. God is going to hold us responsible for what we are going to do with Jesus Christ. What does God mean by “believe in the name of His Son Jesus?” The answer is as follows:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, . . . in which also you stand . . . unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time . . . 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 (NASB)

What is our major, priority responsibility? It is honestly believing that Jesus died for your sins and then wanting and trusting Him to forgive you. Now if we doubt this is a responsibility, John 3:18 says this,

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of [Jesus]. John 3:18 (NASB)

Our responsibility is clear. We must believe! God has commanded that we do.

For the Christian

Every Christian does have a responsibility for “morality and ethics” but only as it agrees with God’s standards. God is not interested in morality or ethics as taught in some college classroom or as presented in some text book. God does not care about Socrates or Plato. Listen to God’s standard of “morality and ethics,”

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 (NASB)

God’s code of morality is found in Matthew 22:37-39,

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.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB)

This is the ultimate responsibility for a new Christian. This responsibility includes the will of God. A study has been prepared on this topic called “Seeking God’s Will“.

Conclusion:

“How is human responsibility understood in relation to the divine?” The answer starts with trusting in Jesus, and ONLY Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins and not in your morality and ethics.

Suggested Links:

Searching For God
What is Lordship salvation? What does the Bible teach?
What is the role of man and God in salvation?
Predestination and Human Responsibility
In Love He Predestined Us
Elect According To The Foreknowledge of God the Father
If you are not chosen then does it really matter when you die?
Does the Bible teach that Christ died for everyone or just the elect?
What is the role of man and God in salvation?
Who are the elect or the chosen in salvation?