Can I be saved

[JoeP222w]

Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved.

Steven Anderson is a heretic. Do not listen to him. He knows little to nothing of God's grace or mercy. Anderson only knows hate and only spews hate. And when anyone challenges him on it, he cries out, "I'm being persecuted!"

I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts.

If you hate your sin, God may already be working on transforming your heart. The unregenerate person does not hate their sin. You call homosexuality sin which consistent with the teaching of the Bible. It is only in Christ that you can find forgiveness. But forgiveness is not based in feelings or warm fuzzies. You must turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ. If what you say is true, that you hate your sin, you may be repenting already, but only you can answer that. But you must also turn to Christ and call out to Him for Him to save by faith alone, by grace alone, in Jesus Christ alone. There is forgiveness in Christ, but only if you abandon rebellion to Him and believe in Him.


1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, (10) nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.


Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:13-17 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (14) How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (15) And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" (16) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" (17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

 

[JoeP222w]

I PERSONALLY believe that you ( general) are born that way.

It does not matter what you believe, it matters what God has said. God says we are born into a sin nature. But sin can never blamed on God.

Romans 9:15-23 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (16) So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." (18) So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (19) You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" (20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" (21) Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (22) What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

 

[JoeP222w]

I am working on that.

You need to abandon your works.

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

[JESUS=G.O.A.T]

Am I wasting my time seeking God? I am a nonpracticing homosexual. I believe in scripture that calls sin by what it is. I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts. Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved. This is sad. But I will continue pray for his mercy. But I wonder if I am wasting my time.

My response: We are all born in sin and shapeth in inequity, you'rs happens to be homosexuality so no you're not wasting your time.

just like with anyone else just repent, be baptized in JESUS name and seek the holy ghost.


Trust me no matter what your sin is God can free you becuase who the son of man sets free is free indeed!!!!

My pastor used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day and sleep with a women on the side despite being married and gamble.


He followed the steps I mentioned to you that are in acts 2:38 and he's never ever done that stuff again. I had issues myself that I have never turned back to either. Trust me salvation works!





Also while you are working on salvation make sure to avoid temptations though. The bible says to lay aside every weight and sin that doeth so easily besets you. It helps to stay away from what triggers the sin or sets the mood for whatever it is whether it be murder or drinking or whatever.

 

[JoeP222w]

I believe that anyone 'can' be saved. The question is really will they choose to be saved?

Not from scripture. Dead men cannot choose to be saved.

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

 

[JoeP222w]

Of course you are saved.

You are not God, do not give someone false assurance that they are saved. You do not know who the elect are.

 

[dqhall]

Am I wasting my time seeking God? I am a nonpracticing homosexual. I believe in scripture that calls sin by what it is. I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts. Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved. This is sad. But I will continue pray for his mercy. But I wonder if I am wasting my time.

Celibacy is an acceptable status. Jesus was a celibate male, although some tried to dispute this. Paul wrote about his celibacy. To be tempted by sin or obsessed with sinful thoughts is a problem. One may repent of the sinful thinking to receive greater forgiveness.

One who thinks about robbing a bank is not as sinful as one who actually does it, yet neither one achieved the great glory with their thoughts and actions.

 

[FormerTweaker]

We all have different sins we struggle with. Sometimes God lets us struggle with them, sometimes he delivers us from our sinful desires completely.

In my case, I was a massive methamphetamine addict. I smoked about a half of a gram of good stuff daily, sometimes around a gram. I was obsessed with meth, it was my life. I craved meth and sex beyond all else. All day I'd be smoking meth and having cyber sex. Or doing other drugs. I even got into sex with a demon while doing drugs too.

Eventually, I stopped using illegal drugs and talking to or having sex with the demon. At this time, God removed my desires for drugs highly. I used to have my life revolve around them.

I haven't used an illegal drug in 1.5 years now. Before that i used them nearly daily in high ammounts from ages 18-25.

I barely have urges to use. I'd use them if God allowed it but since he doesn't allow us to break laws, I don't plan to. The Bible saying we have to obey laws made me plan to stop for good. I hardly even think about meth any more.

I used to crave drugs daily all day.

God decided to deliver me from desires to use very quickly when I started to seek Christ instead of a demon. Thank you Jesus. I'd be struggling if I still had urges.

He lets me struggle with laziness and lack of motivation to some degree.

I hope he will deliver you from homosexuality completely and give you heterosexual desires instead so you can enjoy marriage. I'll pray for you man. God can do anything with our desires and mold us how he wants. Sometimes he removes sinful desires completely.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin so if you can't be redeemed from your sin than neither can anyone else from theirs.

 

[singpraise]

You are not God, do not give someone false assurance that they are saved. You do not know who the elect are.

I never said I was God! You are not God either. I qualified my post by saying if he believes in Jesus Christ of course he is saved. You only copied one sentence out of context. Very unfair!

 

[Blade]

Am I wasting my time seeking God? I am a nonpracticing homosexual. I believe in scripture that calls sin by what it is. I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts. Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved. This is sad. But I will continue pray for his mercy. But I wonder if I am wasting my time.

You know I heard a TRUE story...well a few. This young man no place to go. His friend let him stay with them. One day at the table the friend asks him about Jesus? The gay young man says.. been there done that. The friend said ..no.. if you need someone to laugh with I will be there. If you need someone to cry with I will be there. If you need someone to get mad at hate.. I will be there. If you fall I will not judge you or condemn you. That young gay man is married with tons of kids.

I have more...true stories. You asked about SAVED. So you see this man, this son of man this savior this GOD that you are looking at.. He is looking at you. What you see is a GOD that ..does NOT judge you. He does not condemn you. He said.. ANYONE that is YOU also that comes to HIM He will in no way cast them out.

We say. Jesus I am sorry for my past.. my mistakes... I believe in you.. come into my heart.. be my lord and savior. <----THIS IS REAL! We DONT come to Jesus SINNLESS.. we are all..we were sinners. He died for YOU. Now.. your sin? JESUS IS REAL! You tell Him.. YOU talk to Him.. and ALL THINGS WILL BECOME NEW! You WILL wake up.. be going to school or work... and .. that SIN? That hunger that thing you cant seem to control.. its GONE... no its just GONE! He LOVES YOU! We are all FREE..it is ONLY when we give it up.. truly turn it over to Him...when we cant stop.. where that fire so to speak keeps burning and gets greater.. He puts it out..for good. KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW HE IS REAL! Right now.. you can simply TALK TO HIM! He DOES HEAR YOU! DONT go by how you feel.. Find what HIS word says and SPEAK IT!

Search the word for HIs promises..and speak them..fear.. NO.. God has not given me the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. Sad.. NO.. the JOY of my lord is my strength. That lust.. tell it to GO! in Jesus name.. and it HAS TO! But 1st.. know that He loves you so much .. run to Him and HE will NEVER EVER EVER EVER let you go..ever. Did I tell you..He will NEVER EVER let you go. And with Him.. those that know Him.. there is NOW no condemnation to them that are IN Christ Jesus.

So..all that to say YES! We all have something. Something of this world we have to die to. For some its not lust. Yet like lust.. that sin has keep them in chains. Making them know they can never leave. But what is the truth? Jesus came to set the captive those in chains FREE! So if the enemy is saying ..you can never leave, this will never go. Well satan can not tell the truth. He lies. So if the enemy is saying .. you will never change.. haha praise GOD! JESUS ALREADY DID IT! I cant say this deep enough..or with tears of joy.. He loves you so much and is SO REAL!

A woman caught in sin.. sex.. no worse no greater a sin then gay. Yet what did this GOD say? Where are those that accuse you? She said they are gone. He said...I do not accuse you either. Go and sin no more. They HAD the right to stone her in that day. But.. Jesus said.. which one of you is with out sin. This WORD cut to the heart. He show'd them their own heart. NO ONE on this planet is with out sin. JESUS, that lamb..for all the worlds sins from Adam to the last man.. took all that sin.. and paid the price. So.. you are free...go and sin no more. Do not ..we do not walk in sin.

But if we fall we confess our sins.. HE is faithful to forgive us of that sin and cleans us from ALL ALL ALL unrighteousness. When you ask JESUS to be your lord.. you are at that moment 100% righteous in GODS eyes! WOW right.. So ask Him in.. and REJOICE For if HE SIAD IT.>HE WILL DO IT! And whom the SON sets free they are free indeed. And it will in JESUS NAME all chance.

 

[JoeP222w]

I never said I was God! You are not God either. I qualified my post by saying if he believes in Jesus Christ of course he is saved. You only copied one sentence out of context. Very unfair!

James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

 

[singpraise]

Deleted.

 

[singpraise]

James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

That isn't what James 2:19 really says or means. You're being rather incoherent. You stated I am not God. I stated back I never said I was God and you are not God either. ??

James 2:19:

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

King James Version (KJV)

 

[Sav3dbyHim]

Am I wasting my time seeking God? I am a nonpracticing homosexual. I believe in scripture that calls sin by what it is. I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts. Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved. This is sad. But I will continue pray for his mercy. But I wonder if I am wasting my time.

You are NOT wasting your time!God LOVES all of us. Straight or gay, but it is YOUR first step to change your ways and let Jesus Christ help you. God has a gift for us to receive and we can start over with Him, no matter how far we are! it is called grace! By grace YOU can be set free! the devil just wants to steal, kill and destroy! do not let him win. God is the only answer for us! Find a church where you are comfortable in and let God lead you. Once YOU call onto Him, He will never forsake you.

I will pray for you! Xoxo God bless!

 

[Hawk Flint]

Am I wasting my time seeking God? I am a nonpracticing homosexual. I believe in scripture that calls sin by what it is. I hate my sin. I struggle with lust, but I do not act on my lusts. Pastor Steven Anderson does not believe gays can be saved. This is sad. But I will continue pray for his mercy. But I wonder if I am wasting my time.

God's Law is what defines sin for us, and sin is the breaking of the law of God (Romans 7:7). Homosexuality is a sin according to that law. It is considered a sin in the New Testament as well. So turn from it and from your lust.

Does God ever say, "Seek me in vain"? No. No one can come to God except through Christ (who is the Word of God made flesh John 1:14) and no one can come to Christ unless God draws them to Christ. Whoever comes to Christ will never be cast out by Christ. No one and no thing can pluck anyone from Christ's hand because God is greater than Christ and from God's hands no one can take us. If we are in Christ's hands we are in God's hands, for Christ is being used by God to save us.

God has drawn you to Christ not to leave you, but to save you. God has led you to faith in Christ, and that means that whatever Christ said you believe. Christ taught the Law of God entirely and instructed men to practice the Law of God. He came to call the sinners, not the righteous, to repentance. Repentance is a turning from sin (or breaking the Law of God, see Romans 7:7) and a turning to God in faith.

But why do we repent? Well if the breaking of the Law of God is sin, then the opposite of sin is practicing the Law of God. But why do we turn to the Law of God? The Word of God (which is Christ, see John 1:14) tells us that our ways are evil and our ways condemned us. We believe this, and look to God for a way out of punishment. We are in bondage to Sin before coming to God. But then God provides a way out of punishment: faith in Christ, the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit led us to Christ by showing the truth of God's Word and then causing us to believe it. God's Word condemned us according to the curses in Deuteronomy that come upon the disobedient. But then the Spirit shows us the way out: Christ. We come to Christ and the Spirit causes us to believe in Him.

So we can see that our faith tells us that our ways are evil and condemned us. Would it then make sense to continue in those ways? What you believe in tells you that those ways are wrong!

God's ways are ways that won't condemn us, therefore it only makes sense to change our ways to God's ways. God's ways are revealed in His Law. The righteous practice righteousness according to John, and God's ways are righteous. This means that those who are righteous will be practicing righteousness, not that practicing the law of God is what makes us righteous. Only those who have faith are righteous, and that faith proceeds, produces, and includes works of the law. Those who practice the Law of God (or the "Torah") demonstrate that they truly believe, showing their righteousness by their obedience that comes from faith. So the works are are part of our faith, not a separate part.

Now compare, "I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:26-27),

And,

"This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yehowah (the Lord): I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jeremiah 31:33)."

Once we come to faith, we are made free from Sin and thus made free from death. So I say, as Paul said, by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, and you will live. For sin leads to what? Death. But faith as defined above is the means by which we obtain grace. Grace is what saved us; God used faith as a means to grace, otherwise faith becomes a work and we have something to boast about.

"Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, asks Sovereign Yehowah? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their evil ways, and live?" (Ezekiel 18:i forget). God brought you to Christ to save you, and your faith must include turning from the things that lead to death. I am not trying to teach a works based salvation, and I realize that this seems like it. What I'm trying to say is that if you turn from evil and seek grace you will not be condemned. This goes for everyone-no exceptions.

It is not wrong to think that men are handsome, but if you do things like thinking about or looking up men and it causes you to lust, then you sinned. If this happens, cut it off. It is better for you to lose some Internet searching ability or thoughts than to keep them and go to hell.

As long as you in faith turn to God for grace and repentance, there is forgiveness for anything.

I hope this helps. If you want to talk with me about what I've said let me know. Also know that I'm not trying to place a burden on you at all. If this does I'm sorry, that's not my intention.

 

[Toro]

Good thing Stephen Anderson is not God.

Sin is sin, doesn't matter what form it takes.... it is all detestable in the eyes of God.

Anyone screaming "God hates gay" or anything of the sort is spouting nothing but their own hatred from their heart.

Does God HATE the sin of gay? Absolutely.
Does God hate the gay person? NO.

Anyone screaming that your sin is worse than their own needs to first remove the plank from their own eye.

Yes, it is sin and needs to be dealt with.... but it is NOT a sin that is unforgivable.

Just continue following Christ with all your heart pursuing Him above all else.

 

[miamited]

Not from scripture. Dead men cannot choose to be saved.

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

HI joe,

That post makes no sense. Paul is telling the believers in Ephesus that they were once dead. Was he merely wasting his time writing to them? After all, dead men cannot choose to be saved.

Go with what you've convinced yourself is the truth.

God bless you,
In Christ, ted

 

[miamited]

We all have different sins we struggle with. Sometimes God lets us struggle with them, sometimes he delivers us from our sinful desires completely.

Hi FT,

I am also a former drug addict. Some 20 years clean now. Praise God! All the glory and honor belong to Him and He alone is worthy of such praise. However, another important point that I would like to make about sinners who come to know the Lord with some great sin in their life, is that God can use that very sin and trial to share with others caught in the same whirlpool of desperation. I can share with drug addicts about how Jesus helped me. The redeemed homosexual can share with other homosexuals about how Jesus helped them.

We often are more compliant with those that we know really understand and have experienced our problems. Many drug addicts, certainly not all, are more willing to listen to someone who has stood in their shoes in the very same spot where they are now standing.

God bless you,
In Christ, ted

 

[St_Worm2]

Hi IAMANOBODY2015, the good news is, YOUAREASOMEBODY to Jesus

I'd also like to echo the very important phrase that 2-3 have already pointed out to you in this thread from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,

"Such WERE some of you....."​

One of the signs that we really are Christians is that we love Jesus more than we love/desire our sin and our old, sinful lifestyle (which I believe can be clearly seen in your choice to be celibate, for instance ). As Christians, we are given a new "nature" and made into wholly "new creatures" in Christ (Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Unfortunately, our old nature (what the Bible calls "the old man/old self" .. Ephesians 4:22) remains as long as we are alive on this side of Glory, and it is against our "old man" that (our new nature/new man) struggles. This is one of the reasons why the "struggle" is so important, because by it we can see that we are "in Christ", and that we act 'against' our new nature whenever we sin.

I've never heard of Pastor Steve Anderson before, but from what I can see on the Internet, he seems like he has some issues of his own to work through, so I wouldn't pay attention to what he has to say (though you might choose to pray for him, yes ).

Look, the Lord told us that He came to save sinners, not the "righteous" (Mark 2:17), IOW, He saves the wicked/ungodly among us (Romans 4:5), not those who believe that they aren't.

I won't sugarcoat it, sexual sin is one of the most pervasive kinds of sins there is (both hetero and homo), and one of the most difficult to battle against. As such, it is one of Satan's favorites to tempt God's children with, so keep taking your sinful thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and hand them over to Jesus to deal with (and continue to repent and ask for forgiveness whenever you fall back into sin, in either thought or deed).

Remember too that "temptation" is not sin, we just need to be careful to turn our minds from the temptation as soon as it occurs, again, immediately taking all those kind of sinful thoughts "captive" to Christ. Always remember this wonderful verse as well, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and always look for that provided "way of escape" from your temptations, especially when Satan (and/or your "old man") keeps shooting those flaming arrows at you one after another

Yours in Christ,
David
p.s. - If you are a Christian, don't let Satan beat you down by convincing you that you are not (another one of his favorite ploys BTW .. 1 Peter 5:8). Rather, remember God's commands with a promise that if you, 1) "submit to God" and 2) "resist the devil" ... "he will flee from you" .. James 4:7 Our salvation and God's love for His elect is first and foremost a "fact" (FAR more than it is a "feeling"), so if you are tempted again and again, and/or if you fall back into sin, ask for forgiveness, repent, and KNOW that you have been forgiven .. 1 John 1:9 (then get up and get going on your walk with Him again, just as He intends for you to do ).

"To the one who does not work, but believes in
Him who justifies the wicked, his faith
is credited as righteousness"
Romans 4:5​