I have quite a number of homosexual friends, especially from the goth and DDR communities, but I believe they're in a mentality of constant and unrepentant sin. If homosexuality is a sin, just like lying/adultery/idolatry, and it's continual, what does that say about the level of care about God? I'm with you on the 'hang out with sinners' bit. I can't stand people and communities which have 'sterile bubbles' around them. However, I think the right thing to do is to spur them to pursue purity and holiness before God, which involves casting off all sin. We can't keep living in the same sins over and over again and expect to get closer to God! Yes, God forgives, but we need to pursue living better and better for the One who really matters!
Good point about the continuing in sin. I may not have been as obvious in my statement of the rejection of sinful behavior. A Christian church should be devoted to the encouragement and fellowship with believers to repent and move away from sinful behavior and eventually reject sin through the assistance of God and His Grace. Romans 6:1,2
and if you don't have a bible handy try www.BibleGateway.com to find the passages (I suggest the English Standard Version).
Paul also talks about it in Romans 1:27. In both cases it is seen as an act of sin, but again i reiterate that we all sin. There are countless things out there that each of us has done that holds the same punishment as homosexuality. But also I believe that God works straight through crooked people. You do eventually have a choice, maybe not of who you are attracted to, but definately whether or not you pursue that desire.
But you've also got to state that this is according to your own denomination, not as a Christian in general. I, as a Lutheran, belive that Sin is a condition of being seperate from God, not an act that you can or can not commit. Please remember that there are vast theological differences between denominations and try not to lump all Christians together.
You make an interesting point about the condition of sin. And I do understand that in a pan-denominational sense there are some differences in opinions. Be it an action that causes a separation from God or a condition that is caused by original sin. I still think that the Bible nevertheless claims that homosexuality is an action that is not a part of Christian living. But all of man still falls into the category of sinner and your point of view of how that condition occured shouldn't affect that statement. So if all of man is in the state of sin, why do we feel that it is necessary or right to disclude one group of sinners?
I had not accounted for that difference and I appreciate your comments.
You and I've discussed this in the past, and I think you know my stance on it.
That said, I'm going to quibble about something else.
Divorce for "irreconcilable differences". I'd call lack of love "irreconcilable." And if marriage is supposed to be an institution based in love (disregarding the pairing of gender for the moment), what better reason is there for divorce? Especially in this day and age when we are not in the practice of arranging marriages.
On a side note, don't you find it odd that the Bible does very little to define love? And the types of love? Love of a child for a parent. Love of a married couple. Love of man for god. Etc.
Ramble ramble ramble. Gary was on the brickyard today, but I didn't get a chance to chat with him.
The main Biblical justification for divorce is sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9) though I have also heard some discussion about the ideas of abandonment and neglect. I'm looking for the verses concerning that, but am having a hard time at it, so I'll leave it at that point. In the commentary of the New Oxford Annotated Bible it comments that divorce was not unheard of in the Old Testament as you can see in the Biblical Law, but the most common causes for such was sexual immorality, and punishment of that offense was also very strict
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and if you don't have a bible handy try www.BibleGateway.com to find the passages (I suggest the English Standard Version).
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Paul also talks about it in Romans 1:27. In both cases it is seen as an act of sin, but again i reiterate that we all sin. There are countless things out there that each of us has done that holds the same punishment as homosexuality. But also I believe that God works straight through crooked people. You do eventually have a choice, maybe not of who you are attracted to, but definately whether or not you pursue that desire.
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I had not accounted for that difference and I appreciate your comments.
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That said, I'm going to quibble about something else.
Divorce for "irreconcilable differences". I'd call lack of love "irreconcilable." And if marriage is supposed to be an institution based in love (disregarding the pairing of gender for the moment), what better reason is there for divorce? Especially in this day and age when we are not in the practice of arranging marriages.
On a side note, don't you find it odd that the Bible does very little to define love? And the types of love? Love of a child for a parent. Love of a married couple. Love of man for god. Etc.
Ramble ramble ramble. Gary was on the brickyard today, but I didn't get a chance to chat with him.
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