God is not against morality! He doesn’t rebuke the Laodiceans in Revelation 3 because of their morality. He rebukes them because they are trying to substitute morality for righteousness.

You may not be against plastic grapes! You may find them very attractive when arranged in a centerpiece. There is a place for plastic fruit, and some of the imitations on the market are quite convincing. But when someone adds plastic grapes to the fruit salad, you are sure to find them disappointing and distasteful. They are no substitute for real fruit.

God is not against morality! If you are living a moral life, you will stay out of jail. You won’t make oatmeal out of your brain. You will hold a job better. Your reputation and standing in the community will improve. Those around you won’t suffer the effects of your immoral behavior.

Morality has some real advantages, no question about it. But God’s rebuke to the Laodicean church is based on the premise that morality is never a substitute for righteousness.

Many who call themselves Christians are mere human moralists. - Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 315.

Notice that this is not describing those who call themselves human moralists. It’s describing ones who call themselves Christians, but who are not.

In the parable of the man without a wedding garment (See Matthew 22), we see the same principle. The man could have chosen to stay home from the wedding where his citizen’s dress would have excited no comment. The king invited him to the wedding, but didn’t force him to attend. The man’s problem was that he tried to substitute his own clothes for the robe the king provided and still make it in to the wedding.

The people in the days of Christ had perfected a religion based on morality alone. The Pharisee who prayed standing in the temple was a victim of morality as a substitute for righteousness. He was beating his own moral drum. He recited to God a list of the deeds that he felt would recommend him to heaven. He based his security on the fact that he didn’t do what the publican did. He was a behaviorist.

And he proved again that not only will morality fail to make you righteous, it can actually keep you from genuine righteousness.

God is not against morality! Read it in Steps to Christ, page 18.

Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart. - Steps to Christ, page 18

We shouldn’t discard morality, but we need to properly understand it. Morality is a result of righteousness. It is not a cause of righteousness. It is never a cause.

The genuine Christian will be a moral person. In seeking genuine righteousness, we need never fear that morality will be left out. It is possible to have external goodness all by itself, but it is never possible to have internal goodness alone.

When the heart is changed, the inevitable result will be a change of behavior. Righteousness will always make you moral.

If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law. Steps to Christ, p. 61.

God is not against morality! But he warns us against accepting morality as a substitute for righteousness. He invites us to accept, instead, the righteousness of Christ, freely given to all who come unto God by Him.