Ensuring Non-Biblical Decisions Align with Biblical Principles
Scripture provides no explicit decision-making flowchart for matters it does not directly address, yet the biblical witness consistently emphasizes that obedience to God's revealed will must govern every sphere of life. The challenge lies not in the absence of biblical guidance but in the application of scriptural principles to circumstances the text does not explicitly name.
The Foundation: Undivided Allegiance
The biblical call to decision requires wholehearted commitment rather than compartmentalized obedience. Torrey's Topical Textbook identifies this pattern across the canon: decision in service to God means "seeking God with the heart," "keeping the commandments of God," and "following God fully" [1]. This stands opposed to "a divided service" and "halting between two opinions" [1]. The issue is not whether Scripture speaks to a particular modern question but whether the believer approaches every decision with the settled intention to honor God's character and commands.
Deuteronomy 17:11 illustrates this principle in judicial contexts, commanding Israel not to "turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you" [2]. While this passage addresses adherence to authoritative legal rulings within the covenant community, the underlying principle—submission to revealed standards without deviation—applies more broadly. The believer facing decisions outside explicit biblical prescription must still operate within the framework of biblical authority, not as one who stands outside it.
The Rule of Scripture as Canon
Paul's instruction in Galatians 6:15 refers to "this rule" or "canon"—a term John Gill identifies as "the canon of the Scriptures in general, which is the perfect rule, and only standard of faith and practice; according to which we are to walk, believe, and act" [8]. This establishes Scripture as the normative measure for all Christian decision-making. Where the Bible speaks directly, it binds the conscience absolutely. Where it does not speak directly, its principles, priorities, and theological framework remain authoritative.
The question then becomes one of application rather than invention. Calvin, commenting on Isaiah, notes that genuine godliness manifests in both tables of the law: "if any one discharge the duties of the first table, which are evidences of godliness and of the worship of God, he must then be brought to this standard, Does he act inoffensively towards other men? Does he abstain from every act of injustice?" [6]. The believer evaluates non-prescribed decisions by asking whether they honor God's character (the first table) and serve neighbor rightly (the second table).
Distinguishing Substance from Shadow
Hebrews warns against being "carried about with divers and strange doctrines" [7], a caution John Gill applies to teachings that multiply requirements beyond the gospel's simplicity. The apostolic pattern was to "leave the rites and ceremonies of the law" and "go on to a more perfect knowledge of Gospel truths" rather than treating preliminary matters as ultimate [4]. This suggests a hierarchy: some decisions involve core gospel realities, while others concern matters of secondary importance.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown observes that Old Testament symbols like circumcision were "designed but as outward symbols of a separation from the irreligious and ungodly world unto holy devotedness in heart and life to the God of salvation" [3]. Where such symbols become ends in themselves, divorced from the heart reality they signify, they lose their meaning. Similarly, decisions about non-biblical matters must be evaluated by whether they cultivate or hinder genuine devotion to God.
The Priority of Mercy and Justice
Hosea 6:6 establishes that God desires "mercy" (understood as "piety in general") "rather than sacrifice" [9]. This comparative construction does not abolish ritual but subordinates it to moral obedience. The principle extends to all decision-making: external conformity to religious practice matters less than whether one's choices reflect God's justice and compassion. A decision technically permissible but devoid of mercy fails the biblical test.
Ezekiel 44:24 envisions church leaders adjudicating controversies "about the doctrines of the Gospel, or modes of worship, or rules of discipline" [5], suggesting that communal discernment under Scripture's authority provides guidance where individual judgment falters. The believer does not navigate ambiguous decisions in isolation but within a community shaped by the same canonical rule.
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Decision — Necessary to the service of God -- Lu 9:62. Exhortations to -- Jos 24:14,15. Exhibited in Seeking God with the heart. -- 2Ch 15:12. Keeping the commandments of God. -- Ne 10:29. Being on the Lord's side. -- Ex 32:26. Following God fully. -- Nu 14:24; 32:12; Jos 14:8. Serving God. -- Isa 56:6. Loving God perfectly. -- De 6:5. Blessedness of. -- Jos 1:7. Opposed to A divided service. -- Mt 6:24. Double-mindedness. -- Jas 1:8. Halting between two opinions. -- 1Ki 18:21. Turning to the right or left. -- De 5:32. Not setting the heart aright. -- Ps 78:8,37. Exe”
- Deuteronomy “Deuteronomy 17:11 (BSB) — according to the terms of law they give and the verdict they proclaim. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you.”
- Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 2:28: he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, &c.--In other words, the name of "Jew" and the rite of "circumcision" were designed but as outward symbols of a separation from the irreligious and ungodly world unto holy devotedness in heart and life to the God of salvation. Where this is realized, the signs are full of significance; but where it is not, they are worse than useless. Note, (1) It is a sad mark of depravity when all that is designed and fitted to melt only hardens the heart (Rom 2:4, and compare Pe2 3:9; Ecc 8:11). (2) Amidst all the inequalitie”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 6:3: And this will we do, if God permit. That is, leave the rites and ceremonies of the law, which were the rudiments, or first principles of the Gospel, and go on to a more perfect knowledge of Gospel truths; and, not lay again as the foundation of the ministry, or insist upon them as if they were the main things, even the above articles of the Jewish creed, especially in the, way and manner in which they had been taught and learnt: the sense is, that the apostle and his brethren, in the ministry were determined to insist upon the more solid and substantial parts of the G”
- Ezekiel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ezekiel 44:24: And in controversy they shall stand in judgment,.... When any controversy arises among the saints concerning civil things, this shall not be carried into a court of judicature, of the men of the world; but it shall be brought before the church, and there heard, tried, judged, and determined; the ministers of the word there presiding, who shall give the definitive sentence, and stand to it, and abide by it, Co1 6:1 and when any controversy arises about the doctrines of the Gospel, or modes of worship, or rules of discipline, they shall rise up, discuss the point, det”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, Vol. 1, section 7.37: not they fear God. We might, indeed, be deceived, were it from the second table only that we formed our judgment about the godliness of a man; but if any one discharge the duties of the first table, which are evidences of godliness and of the worship of God, he must then be brought to this standard, Does he act inoffensively towards other men? Does he abstain from every act of injustice? Does he speak truth? Does he live in the exercise of kindness to his brethren? This is the reason why Christ pronounces mercy, judgment, and faith, to be the”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 13:9: Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines,.... The word "divers" may denote the variety and multitude of other doctrines; referring either to the various rites and ceremonies of the law, or to the traditions of the elders, or to the several doctrines of men, whether Jews or Gentiles; whereas the doctrine of the Scriptures, of Christ, and his apostles, is but one; it is uniform, and all of a piece; and so may likewise denote the disagreement of other doctrines with the perfections of God, the person and offices of Christ, the Scriptures of truth, the anal”
- Galatians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Galatians 6:15: And as many as walk according to this rule,.... Or canon; meaning not the canon of the Scriptures in general, which is the perfect rule, and only standard of faith and practice; according to which we are to walk, believe, and act; but either the doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, the subject of this epistle, the truth the apostle had been explaining, vindicating, and confirming; and which to depart from, is going out of the way of truth; and an abiding by it, is walking in it; and is a good rule and standard, by which to distinguish between t”
- Hosea (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hosea 6:6: mercy--put for piety in general, of which mercy or charity is a branch. not sacrifice--that is, "rather than sacrifice." So "not" is merely comparative (Exo 16:8; Joe 2:13; Joh 6:27; Ti1 2:14). As God Himself instituted sacrifices, it cannot mean that He desired them not absolutely, but that even in the Old Testament, He valued moral obedience as the only end for which positive ordinances, such as sacrifices, were instituted--as of more importance than a mere external ritual obedience (Sa1 15:22; Psa 50:8-9; Psa 51:16; Isa 1:11-12; Mic 6:6-8; Mat 9:13;”