How Should I Live in This World?

How Should I Live in This World? — Biblical Wisdom for Ethical Decision Making

Everyone wants to do the right thing. The problem is knowing what the right thing actually is.

We live in a world of increasingly complex moral questions — questions about how to treat others, how to handle our money, how to respond to injustice, how to navigate competing loyalties and difficult dilemmas. And in the midst of all this complexity, the voices offering answers are louder, more confident, and more contradictory than ever.

Where does the Christian turn? On what basis do we make our decisions? Is there a fixed, reliable, and authoritative source of ethical guidance that cuts through the noise and points clearly to the right way to live?

In this concise and carefully reasoned booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul — one of the most respected and beloved Reformed theologians of the twentieth century — answers with conviction: yes. The Bible is the supreme source of ethical guidance for every human being in every situation.

The Bible as Ethical Foundation

One of the most important clarifications Sproul makes at the outset is this: the Bible does not contain a specific command for every situation we will ever face. It does not tell you which job to take, which person to marry, or how to vote in every election. But what it does provide — with remarkable clarity, depth, and authority — is a set of timeless principles that, when properly understood and faithfully applied, give the Christian a reliable framework for navigating every ethical dilemma they will ever encounter.

This distinction — between specific commands and governing principles — is crucial for anyone who wants to think clearly about Christian ethics. And Sproul unpacks it with the theological precision and pastoral accessibility that characterised his entire ministry.

Wisdom for the Dilemmas We Actually Face

How Should I Live in This World? does not stay at the level of theory. With wisdom and thoroughness, Dr. Sproul brings biblical principles to bear on several major ethical dilemmas — the kinds of real, pressing moral questions that Christians encounter in everyday life and cannot afford to answer carelessly.

This practical focus makes the booklet immediately useful — not just a theological exercise but a genuine guide for moral decision making in the specific situations that challenge believers today.

What This Booklet Will Help You Do

• Understand why the Bible is the supreme and sufficient source of ethical guidance for the Christian life
• Learn how to distinguish between specific biblical commands and broader governing principles — and how to apply both
• Develop a consistent, biblically grounded framework for making ethical decisions in complex situations
• Apply clear biblical principles to major ethical dilemmas you face in your personal, professional, and public life
• Think more carefully and confidently as a Christian moral agent in a world of competing values and voices
• Grow in your ability to articulate and defend a Christian ethical position to others around you
• Approach difficult moral questions not with anxiety but with confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture

Who Should Read This Book?

How Should I Live in This World? is ideal for:

• Every Christian who wants a clear, reliable framework for ethical decision making rooted in Scripture
• New believers who are learning how to apply the Bible to real life situations for the first time
• Students and young adults navigating complex moral questions in college, university, or the workplace
• Pastors and teachers looking for a concise, trustworthy resource on Christian ethics to recommend or use in teaching
• Small groups and Bible study groups wanting a short, discussion-rich study on how Christians should live in a complex world
• Anyone who has ever faced a difficult moral decision and wondered — what does the Bible actually say about this?
• Christians in India navigating the unique ethical challenges of living faithfully in a pluralistic, rapidly changing society

About the Crucial Questions Series

How Should I Live in This World? is part of the Crucial Questions series from Ligonier Ministries — a collection of short, accessible booklets by Dr. R.C. Sproul addressing the most important questions Christians face about their faith and life. Each booklet is designed to be:

• Short and accessible — readable in a single sitting yet substantive enough to genuinely inform and challenge
• Biblically grounded — rooted in careful attention to the teaching of Scripture
• Practically applied — consistently connecting theological truth to real life decisions and situations
• Freely available — offered as a resource to the wider church in keeping with Ligonier's commitment to making Reformed theology accessible to all

The entire Crucial Questions series can be viewed and accessed at Ligonier.org/freeCQ — making these booklets an outstanding and affordable resource for personal study, church distribution, and small group use.

The Right Thing — Found in the Right Book

In a world that increasingly looks to personal feeling, cultural consensus, or political ideology to answer its ethical questions, the Christian has something far more reliable: the Word of God. Not a book of rules for every situation, but a book of principles — deep, wise, enduring, and sufficient — that equips God's people for every good work.

Dr. R.C. Sproul spent his life pointing people to that book. How Should I Live in This World? is a brief, brilliant example of what that looks like — and a reminder that for the Christian, the answer to every ethical question begins and ends in the same place: the Bible.

These free resources are offered by special permission of Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship founded by Dr. R.C. Sproul. All rights reserved. The entire Crucial Questions series can be viewed here: Ligonier.org/freeCQ