V.   THE FOUNDATION OF OUR MORAL OBLIGATION  

In this discussion, I will use the terms ground and foundation as meaning the same thing.  Our obligation must be based on some good and sufficient reason.  Our moral obligation requires moral action.  Moral action is voluntary action.  Our obligation relates to intentions only, specifically our ultimate intention.  Our ultimate intention or our ultimate choice consists in choosing an object for its own sake.  That with the object that we ultimately choose, moral agents must be aware that we should always choose an object for its own sake and not because of its relationships. 
     The ground of our moral obligation, then, is that reason that belongs to the nature of an object, which leads us to conclude that we should choose an object for its own sake.  The reason that belongs to the object itself creates an obligation when this reason is created. 
     For example, the nature of the good of others is such that it leads us to conclude that loving our neighbor is something that everybody should do.

Let me make some comments concerning the ground, or the foundation of our moral obligation.

A     Strictly speaking, moral obligation extends to moral actions only. 

B     Strictly speaking, involuntary states of mind are not moral actions.

C    Intentions alone are moral actions. 

D    Basically, ultimate intentions alone are moral actions.  Our ultimate intention is choosing an object for its own sake, or for what is important in the object itself. 

E     Although our obligation strictly relates only to our ultimate intention, yet, we can say that our obligation does extend to our choices of the conditions and means we will use to secure that very important end.  Our obligation also extends to conscious decisions that we make to secure that end that is important all by itself.  As a result, we have different forms of obligation.  For example, we have an obligation to make an ultimate choice.  We also have an obligation to choose the known necessary conditions and means, and there is an obligation to willingly act. 

F     These different forms of obligation have different conditions.  For example, a condition of our moral obligation is that we must be moral agents.  We must have free will.  Our obligation to will the existence of the conditions and means to accomplish our end, or to willingly act to secure our end, not only requires that we are moral agents who have free will, but also requires that we know what those conditions and means are, and that we must do whatever is necessary, possible, and useful to use those means to secure our end.  

G    The good of God, and the good of the entire universe of created beings, and especially of moral agents, is important all by itself, and all moral agents are under an obligation to choose it for its own sake.  Complete, universal, and uninterrupted consecration to this end is the duty of all moral agents.  (Consecration; A serious devotion or dedication to a purpose; single-mindedness to accomplishing a desire or purpose.)

H    This consecration that God’s law really demands He revealed in the two great precepts laid down by Christ (Deut 6:5, Matt 19:19, Gal 5:14), and this love, when perfect, complies with the entire spirit of the law.  This love is right all by itself, and, as a result, loving God and our neighbor is always our duty and is always right in every possible circumstance; and no obligation that is inconsistent with this can ever exist, in any situation.  Reason and revelation agree in this: that the law of love is the law of right.  The law of love is the law of nature, and no moral law that is inconsistent with this can exist. 

I        Holiness, or obedience to moral law, or unselfish love is a natural and necessary condition of the existence of that blessedness which is an ultimate good to moral agents.  We should choose what is in our neighbor’s best interests for that reason.  That’s what it means to love our neighbor.  It wants what’s best for him.  The ground of our obligation to choose holiness, and to seek to promote holiness in others as a condition of the highest good of the universe, is the nature of that good all by itself.  The relationship that holiness has to willfully loving God and our neighbor is a condition of our obligation to choose holiness as a means to accomplish what is in our neighbor’s best interests.

J      Truth, and conforming our heart and life to all known and practical truths, is a condition and a means to promote what is best for others.  Our obligation to conform to such truths is universal because of the relationship that truth has to what is best for our neighbor.  If we truly love our neighbor, we will want to do what is best for him.  The importance of loving our neighbor, which is good all by itself must be the ground, and the relationship is only a condition of our obligation to manifest this love for others.

K     God’s ultimate goal is to promote the highest good of Himself, and to promote the highest good of the universe.  In all His acts and dispensations, His ultimate purpose is to promote this end.  All moral agents should have the same purpose in life as God has.  This is our duty.  Do you know what God calls our consecration to this intrinsically and infinitely important end?  God calls it virtue, or holiness.  That’s right.  God is infinitely and equally holy in all things because He does all things for the same ultimate reason, namely, to promote what is best for everyone and everything in the universe as a whole.   (The definition I am using of the word dispensation is: the act or system of distributing or giving out; an exemption from a law or obligation; a divine ordering of worldly affairs)

L     All of God’s moral attributes are really attributes of love or what I sometimes call attributes of unselfish benevolence.  Unselfish benevolence is love that unselfishly manifests itself.  It is an act of our will.  It is a willful love.  Benevolence, or true unselfish love is willing what is good simply because it is good; it is promoting good with no ulterior motive.  This love is not uninterested, but there is no supreme self‑interest in this love.  God’s benevolence is only love that exists and is viewed in many different relationships.  Creation and moral government, including both the law and the gospel, together with the infliction of penal sanctions, are only efforts of God’s love or benevolence to secure the highest good of the universe.  (Gospel: Jesus Christ’s [God’s] true message to the world; the good news that Christ was crucified for our sins, was buried, rose again, and was seen among men; a specifically true statement)

M   God requires, both in His law and in the gospel, that all moral agents should choose the same end, the same goal, that God chooses, and they should do whatever they can do to promote that goal.  This should be the ultimate reason for everything we do.  As a result, our entire obligation resolves itself into an obligation to love God by choosing or willing what is best for God, and loving our neighbor by choosing what is best for everything and everyone for its own sake, and to choose all the known conditions and means to achieve this end for its own sake.  

N    The importance that this end has is the ground of our obligation.  This is not only true for God but also true for all moral agents in all worlds.  The importance of that this end has all by itself makes it proper, or right, for God to require all moral agents to choose to love God and his neighbor for its own sake, and to choose it because it is important all by itself.  His reason for requiring moral agents to love Him and our neighbor for its own sake is not arbitrary.  

O    The fact that we already know in our hearts how important love is would impose an obligation on us to choose to love for its own sake, even if God had never required it (even if He had forbidden it, if such a thing could be possible).  Thus, unselfish love is everybody’s responsibility.  This unselfish love consists in willing what is best for God, or what I like to say, willing the highest good of God and His creation for its own sake, or in other words, in complete consecration to this good as our sole purpose in life.  I like to use the phrase, the highest good, because that phrase encompasses so much.  The importance of this good imposes an obligation on all of us to willfully love God and our neighbor for its own sake, and consecrate our whole being to promote this love. 
     Thus, our moral character belongs to our ultimate intention, and that the end we live for determines our character.  Virtue consists in consecrating ourselves to the right end, to the same end or goal that God is consecrated to.  This end is and must be, by virtue of its own nature, the ground of our obligation.  That is, the nature of this end is such that it compels our reason to declare that we should choose this end for its own sake.  This end is the good of others, and therefore unselfish love, or goodwill, is everybody’s responsibility.