WashedBytheSon
Active Member
I am not going to go around this circle again. nothing has changed from the last go-round.
I don't see any point in continuing to argue whether or not it simply "condemns homosexuality," or if Paul is saying something more universal and more profound. (Titus 3:9)
Regardless, we are told, repeatedly, not to focus on the other person's sins but on our own. Matthew 5:17-48; Matthew 7:1-5; Romans 1:18-2:3; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; James 2:8-11 I'm sure that we could find many more if we try.
Does this mean that we can't instruct or counsel others? Of course not, but there are Biblical principles governing these activities.
You are wrong. That is exactly what it means.
[bible]Romans 4:1-15[/bible]
[bible]Galatians 5:1-5[/bible]
Not quite:
[bible]Romans 6:1-14[/bible]
We become more Christlike by allowing His grace to work within us.
[bible]Romans 6:15-18[/bible]
We are not slaves to sin and to the law which condemns it. We are slaves to Christ's Will.
Adultery, prostitution (the main type of fornication in Biblical times), and incest have an immediate, negative impact on families and society -- in the form of broken homes and destroyed lives. The Bible explains this in various teaching verses, and more importantly, it shows the devistation it causes in its histories (for example David and Bathsheba, or Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom). The general case against fornication is in Acts 15, where it is one of four sins specifically retained from the Holiness Code.
On the other hand, neither Leviticus 18:22 nor Leviticus 20:13 give a specific reason for the ban on "man-lying." The framing verses at the beginning and end of those chapters explain that the laws within are given to keep the Children of Israel separate from the nations and from their gods. In other words, it says that they are part of the Holiness Code. Those laws in these chapters that are also moral laws are repeated elsewhere, with explanations and illustrations as I noted above.
Every time "homosexuality" has had the same kind of immediate, negative impact on families and on society as adultery, prostitution, and incest, it was not due to the mere fact of homosexuality, but because there was also adultery, prostitution, or incest.
There are four verses that speak of the holiness code ban on "man-lying." And there is Romans 1:26-27 and a claim can be made for Jude 1:7 (with a likely parallel in 2 Peter 2:6). I will start a new thread examining Romans 1:18-2:3 this weekend if I can find the time. I'll look at Jude and 2 Peter after that.
I would not phrase it so venomously or (for reasons already given, invoke "the law"), but basically this agrees with what Paul writes in Romans 6 (quoted above).
But I don't claim that. Just because homosexuality is "legal" (absent comingling with immorality) does not mean I claim that it is right for everyone, or right under any circumstances. I am Guided by Romans 14:
[bible]Romans 14:16-23[/bible]
[bible]Romans 14:1-3[/bible]
If we aren't arguing whether or not homosexuality is condemned, then what are we arguing about? I understand that works alone do not save, and I never said that they did. I know that faith saves. However, are we to ignore the commands of God and say "I believe in Christ so even if I willingly live against His laws, I'm saved"? We don't have freedom to do what God's law forbids (Romans 6:1, 15 ; 8:4) because we have grace. We are saved no matter how often we falter because we have grace. That does not mean it is ok to do things that God says is wrong. Paul teaches often that we are to be like Christ. What is Christ like? Well, for one, He is sinless.
There are sins that do not have immediate negative impact, but they are still sins. We are still to try to be holy, and to be like Christ, as I said before. Christ didn't speak out against or contradict the law Our Father laid down, He encouraged following it and rebuked the Pharisees for not upholding it and instead relying on their own traditions. Again, I am not saying we are under the law, but also, that does not mean it is to be ignored.
The law is still good and holy, it brought sin and death because no one could live up to it word for word because of the weakness of flesh. The law couldn't save, Christ does. The ceremonial aspect of the Mosaic law has been set aside (Col. 2:14-17). Although believers aren't in bondage to the law anymore, the law still reflects the moral character of God and His will for His creatures. Anyway, the point is, we shouldn't be going directly against what He says is wrong, and our moral code does come from the Old Testament even if we are not enslaved to it.
There is nothing in the Bible that says homosexuality is not condemned. Marriage is a God-given covenant, and it is to be between a man and a woman. Anything else (homosexuality, fornication, etc) is wrong. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise in scripture, which is essentially what we are talking about.
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