Monday, November 06, 2006
Speaking on the terms: Deviant and Sinful...
Note: This is an argument, a debate. I felt it was neccessary because so many people have a problem distinguishing between the term sin and how it relates to words like love and hate. My argument is not against homosexuals. And if my behavior were judged according to Biblical standards, I would fail far worse than anyone I know. I am confident about one thing, it is a grevious sin against God and man for a Christian to mistreat another because that person's behavior appears sinful.
So I hope everthing I write on this subject is passed through the prism of respect and love. I stand in judgement of no one.
The fact that homosexual sex exists is not an adequate defense for its acceptance in our society and certainly not the Church. The fact that there are Christians who agree with the biblical view that says homosexuality is deviant and sinful, yet are tempted to engage in homosexual behavior- and may even stumble- is no defense for legitimizing homosexuals within our society or the Church. You may know a lot of good people who are homosexuals, so do I, but they are not adequate evidence that homosexuality is any less deviant or sinful.
Many people believe homosexuality is more than a behavior because homosexuals do not choose- or cannot help who they are attracted to- and, therefore, it is physically unnatural for a homosexual person not to have an active, homosexual sex life. They reason that the biblical Jesus, who is said to be a loving God, would never condemn a homosexual for simply acting out how he or she was created. And if that is true, it follows that most Christian churches and any members that believe their church's teachings about homosexuality as sin, are tragically mistaken.
Some of those people take it a step further by saying that traditional Christian teachings regarding homosexuality are not only a mistake, they are evil. They use terms like "hate speech'' or bigotry to label any biblical teachings that condemn homosexuality as sinful.
If all those people really believe that logic is true, then they must also believe that the bible teachings on most all sexual behavior and marraige is, at best, irrelevant. Biblical law condemns alot of heterosexual sex outside of marraige, and since heterosexuals are bound by the same natural laws as homosexuals, any teachings linking sex with sin must also be wrong. And for that matter, many of the actions the Bible labels sinful must also be mistakes... if Jesus is truly a loving God.
Those folks who believe that much Biblical law is a sad mistake, must logically believe that Jesus came to redeem the really bad people... the liars, murderers, thieves- the people who commit the big, "universal" sins. For those of us who don't make a practice of doing the really "bad things," Jesus simply came to show us a better way to live. "I haven't murdered, stolen, cheated or lied, so He need not have died for my sake."
Actually, the Bible teaches us that it is the law, God's written word, that makes us aware of what is sin in the first place. This is important, because people who have so many problems with the law condemning actions and behavior as sinful, that they themselves see no harm in, or they find is contradictory to their idea of laws that would come from a loving Jesus Christ, are rendering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's death on the cross irrelevant. The law cannot redeem us. Romans 3:12:"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." The Bible teaches that Jesus died for our sins, so that we will not suffer the eternal consequences of our sins.
Therefore, a Christian who believes and teaches that homosexuality is deviant and sinful is simply repeating the Bible and, in most cases, repeating this truth in love... perhaps more so if he or she is a believer in Christ who longs for homosexual sex. However, the person who claims to speak for Christ by condemning any part of the law cannot, in any manner, be doing so truthfully.
I have no problem with folks who don't believe in Jesus as God regarding the Biblical laws as some big mistake. I take exception to people who, in the name of Christ, constantly attempts to belittle or change Biblical law. They are the ones claiming Jesus as something He is not . To wit, consider what Jesus actually said in Matthew 5, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
So I hope everthing I write on this subject is passed through the prism of respect and love. I stand in judgement of no one.
The fact that homosexual sex exists is not an adequate defense for its acceptance in our society and certainly not the Church. The fact that there are Christians who agree with the biblical view that says homosexuality is deviant and sinful, yet are tempted to engage in homosexual behavior- and may even stumble- is no defense for legitimizing homosexuals within our society or the Church. You may know a lot of good people who are homosexuals, so do I, but they are not adequate evidence that homosexuality is any less deviant or sinful.
Many people believe homosexuality is more than a behavior because homosexuals do not choose- or cannot help who they are attracted to- and, therefore, it is physically unnatural for a homosexual person not to have an active, homosexual sex life. They reason that the biblical Jesus, who is said to be a loving God, would never condemn a homosexual for simply acting out how he or she was created. And if that is true, it follows that most Christian churches and any members that believe their church's teachings about homosexuality as sin, are tragically mistaken.
Some of those people take it a step further by saying that traditional Christian teachings regarding homosexuality are not only a mistake, they are evil. They use terms like "hate speech'' or bigotry to label any biblical teachings that condemn homosexuality as sinful.
If all those people really believe that logic is true, then they must also believe that the bible teachings on most all sexual behavior and marraige is, at best, irrelevant. Biblical law condemns alot of heterosexual sex outside of marraige, and since heterosexuals are bound by the same natural laws as homosexuals, any teachings linking sex with sin must also be wrong. And for that matter, many of the actions the Bible labels sinful must also be mistakes... if Jesus is truly a loving God.
Those folks who believe that much Biblical law is a sad mistake, must logically believe that Jesus came to redeem the really bad people... the liars, murderers, thieves- the people who commit the big, "universal" sins. For those of us who don't make a practice of doing the really "bad things," Jesus simply came to show us a better way to live. "I haven't murdered, stolen, cheated or lied, so He need not have died for my sake."
Actually, the Bible teaches us that it is the law, God's written word, that makes us aware of what is sin in the first place. This is important, because people who have so many problems with the law condemning actions and behavior as sinful, that they themselves see no harm in, or they find is contradictory to their idea of laws that would come from a loving Jesus Christ, are rendering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's death on the cross irrelevant. The law cannot redeem us. Romans 3:12:"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." The Bible teaches that Jesus died for our sins, so that we will not suffer the eternal consequences of our sins.
Therefore, a Christian who believes and teaches that homosexuality is deviant and sinful is simply repeating the Bible and, in most cases, repeating this truth in love... perhaps more so if he or she is a believer in Christ who longs for homosexual sex. However, the person who claims to speak for Christ by condemning any part of the law cannot, in any manner, be doing so truthfully.
I have no problem with folks who don't believe in Jesus as God regarding the Biblical laws as some big mistake. I take exception to people who, in the name of Christ, constantly attempts to belittle or change Biblical law. They are the ones claiming Jesus as something He is not . To wit, consider what Jesus actually said in Matthew 5, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
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