Man has an ability that separates him from all other physical creatures. If he chooses, he can stand outside of his feelings, emotions and even his own thoughts and examine them. However, instead of examining them, he often reacts to life and allows instinct or past conditioning to override the moment of opportunity he has between an experience and a response. Deference is the key to conquering this moment.
Author Steven Covey states what distinguishes us as humans is the ability to examine our own character, to choose how to view ourselves and the situations in which we find ourselves, and to control our own effectiveness. This is important because it implies that we can learn the art of ethical behavior and apply it to lifeâs circumstances. He says âWe are not our feelings. We are not our moods. We are not even our thoughts. The very fact that we can think about these things separates us from them, and from the animal world. Self-awareness enables us to stand apart and examine even the way we âseeâ ourselvesâour self-paradigm, the most fundamental paradigm of effectiveness. It affects not only our attitudes and behaviors, but also how we see other people.â
Covey is correct. Man has been given an ability that separates himself from all other physical creatures. Man can cognitively stand outside of himself, outside his feelings, outside of his emotions, even outside of his thoughts where he can examine and judge them before he chooses how to feel, how to emote, and how to think about an experience. Though man possess this ability, he often fails to exercise it. Instead, he reacts to life and allows his feelings, emotions, and thinking to define what he does and who he is. He allows instinct or past conditioning to short-circuit the God-given ability to take time, to step outside of the situation, view it, analyze it, and then choose how he acts.
This makes that moment in time between an experience and our response extremely critical, that moment in time when we can stop and choose. To defer (to put off action) and to restrain describe the actions required to capitalize on the moment between an experience and our response. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines deference as ârespect and esteem due a superior or an elder also: affected or ingratiating regard for anotherâs wishesâŚin consideration of.â Not only is deference a precursor to patience and humility, it is also the precursor of godly choice. Deference should be the motivating force behind all our choices, behind how we respond to all life’s experiences. We should not allow our feelings, emotions, and thoughts to define us.
When we look back over our pasts, we tend to summarize and measure the success in our lives by our past choices. However, what we may fail to realize is that life is not merely about the choices we make. It is also about whether we used deference before making those choices.
The concept of choice is introduced in scripture in Genesis 2: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . . .Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2: 8-9,15-17).
Two trees are mentioned by name in the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. These trees represent mankind’s choices in life. However, when we look closely at the two trees, there are not two choices contained in them. There are three. There is the choice of good, there is the choice of evil, and the choice of life. Discerning the difference between good and evil should not be too difficult. However, discerning the difference between good and life is not as simple. To clearly differentiate between what God calls “good” and “life” involves applying deference, and to whom and to what we defer to.
In Ecclesiastes 7:1-14, Solomon is discussing practical wisdom. It is not theoretical nor is it ideal. It is what works and what does not work in this world. Whether a person believes in God or not, they can gain from what Solomon writes in verses 1-14. When we get to verse 15, Solomon changes the tenor a bit and states a contradictory observation he has witnessed in life: “I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness. Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?” (Ecclesiastes 7:15-17).
Solomon addressed men who strove to live based upon a responsible conscience. A life based on discerning the difference between good and evil and choosing to do good. This is what he means when he says “just” men. That choice to do the right thing occasionally caused their premature death. On the other hand, Solomon witnessed men who either had no conscience at all or, even if they did, they still chose to do evil. They lived life only for themselves without any responsibility to their fellowman. Yet, they lived long lives in their wickedness. Solomon advises not to be overly one way or the other. To understand this paradox, we need to grasp the difference between choosing good and choosing life.
Paul addresses God’s judgements on the “just” and the “wicked” in Romans 2:1-13. First Paul addresses sinners. He states that God will judge without partiality all who are self-serving and practice evil. All who despise God and His goodness. Paul makes the point that this judgment pertains to all men, whether Jew and Gentile. We can parallel these people who practice sin, to those who choose evil from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Then Paul addresses those “without the law” who strive to do good: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Romans 2:14-16). Paul acknowledges that there are people who live and base their responses to life through their conscience. They have a discernment of what is good and evil. They defer their behavior to a law. They consider that law in their choices. Paul points out that God will not judge them as those who do evil but through both the veracity of and deference to that law.
Though we are witnessing the breakdown of both law and moral conscience in the world today, there are still good people who believe in and strive to live by law. Many people respect and esteem the constitutions and the laws of their nation. Many resident aliens swear oaths to be good law-abiding citizens of a nation. Many swear to die protecting those laws. God does take notice of them. His judgment of them will be made considering their deference. However, there is one key phrase in Romans 2:14 that we need to emphasize: “. . . these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, . . .”. Since this group does not have Godâs law, what law are they following? What is the source of that law?
Newberryâs Interlinear Translation is a word for word translation known as a literal translation. It takes the next Greek word and puts its equal there in the language. Most often it reads very oddly. Romans 2:14 from Newberry Interlinear: “âŚthese, law not having, to themselves are a law,”. They are a law. They decide, theyâve taken it upon themselves to determine what is good and evil. It is a law that they have devised on their own or they have allowed others to instill in them. Either way it is a law based on manâs knowledge. These are those who choose “good” from the tree of knowledge. But that law is not Godâs law.
When we apply what we learned from Romans 2:14-16 to Ecclesiastes 7:15-17, we can see that Solomon is not contrasting the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. He is contrasting the two choices of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He is contrasting the ways of those who decide for themselves, whether by their own law or that which is defined by manâs law. It is only in verse 18 that Solomon brings in the Tree of Life, not being flippant, but leading us to a proper perspective: “It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all” (Ecclesiastes 7:18).
It is interesting to note what the Bible Knowledge Commentary states about Ecclesiastes 7:16-18: â[Solomon] urged his readers not to be over-righteous or over-wise âlest they be confounded or astonished.â He meant they should not depend on their righteousness or wisdom to guarantee Godâs blessing because they might be confounded, dismayed, or disappointed like the righteous people whom Solomon had seen perishing in spite of their righteousness . . . Also the fact that God did not punish in some cases should not be taken as a license to sin. . . .Solomon closed his argument in this section by noting that it is good to follow both warnings and by recommending that one who fears God should avoid [both] extremesâŚdepending on oneâs own righteousness and becoming loose in oneâs living . . . [Solomon] advocated living life in the light of Godâs judgment.â
Solomon is saying neither choice is good, but that living oneâs life in deference to God and not one’s own law is the only way to avoid the pitfalls of the paradox that the world experiences. Those who defer to God allow Him to guide their feelings, emotions, thoughts. Their final choice in response to life experiences does not incur a penalty. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh [according to the tree of knowledge], but according to the Spirit [tree of life]” (Romans 8:1). Therefore, those who fear God defer to His Law and Spirit above all other law knowing they answer to Him for their choices.
We live in a world where the vast majority of people live and choose from the same line of a continuum between good and evil â The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, today the divide between those who practice good or evil is widening rapidly. Lawlessness and violence are escalating throughout the world. Mankind’s moral ethics and character have become whatever an individual decides they are.
“But the fruit of the Spirit [Tree of Life] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). We can choose to step away from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and begin to develop the fruit of the Tree of Life.
Bill Hutchison