A rule is a specific instruction for a specific situation. Unfortunately, rules do not usually come with a description of the situation under which they apply or exclusions to indicate when they do not. God’s pattern is to provide universal rules with personal exemptions or exclusions. For example, the commandment “thou shall not kill” did not specify the difference between human, animal, and plant life, nor did it differentiate between self-defense, the application of justice, or murder. It did not come with a description of times when it did or did not apply, but when God told Moses to kill whole nations, he did not argue.
Rules cannot describe how to live like Jesus outside of the limits of their scope. A rule applied outside of the situation it is designed for will describe and lead to behavior different than how Jesus would live under those circumstances. In any case where the limits of rules apply, the purpose of the principle will be best served by behavior other than the rule.
Upgrading from rules to principles provides you with better tools to achieve the best possible outcome independent of the particulars of the situation. While rules describe optimal behavior in specific situations, principles describe optimal behavior across specific situations. While rules are useful and helpful in the endeavor to learn more about God’s character, greater progress requires that we transcend situation-specific rules through adopting and living by principles.1
Footnotes
- 1. Who arose beyond the limits of dependence upon human rules or finite statements of God’s law—which both have circumstantial and chronological limits of applicability and which are both limited in content and context—to the endless flow and breadth of eternal life, which has no limit in applicability or duration or content or context. The law appoints men as high priests in spite of their weakness. However, the word of the oath improves you beyond your weaknesses, making you an everlasting Son. (Hebrews 7:16, 28, Author’s Reflection) ↩