It’s really very simple in the Christian life: we accept what God accepts and we reject what He rejects - our deeply-held beliefs should not be based on personal opinion, but on the Word of God. Now, there are areas to which the Scripture does not speak, and we can be grateful for the latitude. But, the Bible speaks to so many issues - either by direct pronouncement or by direct principles. In Mark 7 (ESV), we find these words of Jesus:
(20) “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Bible shows us what is good and what is evil. One of the Founders of our nation, John Adams, believed this. A recent CBN.com article relates:
Freedom, Adams believed, did not rest solely on man. Instead, he wrote in a letter to his cousin Zabdiel Adams, “It is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand ... the only foundation for a free constitution is pure virtues, and if this cannot be inspired into our people, in a greater measure, than they have it now, they may change their rulers, and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty” (June 21, 1776).
Twenty years later, Adams would clarify in his diary on July 26, 1796, that he didn’t just promote “religion” in general, or some undefined “morality,” but rather Christianity itself.
A quote by Adams is included from Wallbuilders: “The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.”
So, we should always train our hearts and our minds to think Biblically, and make decisions in accordance with Scripture.
The Gallup organization has released its annual study on Americans’ opinions on “moral acceptability” of certain behaviors. A summary on its website notes: “Americans' views of the moral acceptability of five of the 20 behaviors Gallup tracks annually have fallen significantly since last year, with each dropping between six and nine percentage points.”
Those 5 behaviors are:
* Cloning animals, which 27% find moral acceptable, down from 34% last year
* Sex between teenagers, at 35%, but down from 41% last year and 46% in 2022
* Having a baby outside of marriage, with 58% finding that morally OK, down from last year’s mark of 67%
* Gambling, at 57%, down 6 points from 2025, but having fallen from 70% in 2022, and
* Birth control, found acceptable by 83% of respondents, but dropping from its 2025 mark of 90%.
But, 74% find divorce morally acceptable and 65% say that having sex outside of marriage is OK. Gay or lesbian relations garnered 62% of respondents who said those were acceptable.
49% said abortion was morally acceptable - a 5-point drop since two years ago - with 41% saying it is not.
Less than one-third of Americans say pornography is OK.
Gallup’s “Bottom Line:”
Over the past two decades, Americans have grown generally more accepting of most of the behaviors measured by Gallup, which include those associated with sex, marriage, and certain medical and end-of-life issues. However, this trend toward more permissive attitudes has largely plateaued or pulled back in recent years, though acceptance levels on most behaviors remain higher than they were 25 years ago.
This does not point to a moral or spiritual revival, but overall, there are some behaviors against which the Bible teaches that have seen a decline just over the past year or the past few years. Does that perhaps - perhaps - mean that people are considering the moral implications of their choices? Again, hard to say.
What it does indicate is that there is way too much acceptance of behaviors that God rejects in our culture, even when taking into account some of these declines, especially in areas of sexuality. Two-thirds of respondents accept sex outside of marriage and a similar percentage affirm gay relationships. Just under 6-in-10 say that having a baby outside of the marriage relationship is acceptable behavior. And, about half of Americans believe abortion is an acceptable action. But only just over a-third of adults do not accept teens having sex.
Overall, there is a general acceptance of sexuality that the Bible rejects, leading to the attempt to overcome the consequence of such behavior through abortion. The deterioration of the family structure is seen as a result of the pursuit of this pervasive attitude that sexuality outside of the God-honoring boundaries that He has set, which are for our good and His glory. These numbers show that we have become a permissive society, no doubt. We can be challenged to speak and model Biblical truth.
We are called as Christians to judge righteously based on His Word, which Jesus said will judge us on the day we see Jesus face to face. John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.