What would you say?

[Phinehas2]

Dear stumpjumper,

I highly doubt they would say that since people with same-sex attractions generally call themselves, well, "gay". It's a pretty standard word actually.

Generally they may do but you asked ‘your’ child

Sure you can, actually. There are plenty of gay Christians that refute this above statement of yours so maybe you just haven't met any in real life.

So they must all be wrong then according to the reasoning and scripture I presented, so what is yours and their claim based on?

What rock do you happen to live under?

Sorry I thought personal remarks were not encouraged.

The passage you are using to show that none of us have any differentiation in Christ Jesus is being used incorrectly. I don't, all of a sudden, stop being a 33 year old heterosexual male, Lutheran, husband, father, free, American citizen because I am a Christian.

Hang on what do you mean ‘heterosexual’ male? There are no passages in the Bible referring to heterosexual males yet you include them in the dispute about the meaning. You seem to be disputing the meaning of scripture based on an assumption that isn’t scriptural. A fundamental theme throughout the NT is that Christians are in Christ, throughout Paul’s letters, in Acts and 1 Peter. Those in Christ are those who obey His commands John 14-16.

What St. Paul was saying was that in Christ Jesus these distinctions do not separate us and that God's love is for all of us regardless of our race, nationality, sex, etc.

Yes but not sexual attraction, we are attracted to Christ, Christ is all and in all.
Here is more of the passage
“1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

So, yes, you can be gay and be Christian.

Ah that’s different from being a ‘gay christian’

You can also be divorced and be Christian. You can also be female, a slanderer, a gossiper, etc and be a Christian.

Not really, these are ways Christians fall short, they can repent, the identity of Christians is in Christ not the sins they fall short in. ‘gay christians’ is therefore an oxymoron because same-sex attraction like adulterous attractions are what one falls short in.

Are you without sin, Phinehas2?

No, but Christ is. Are there any sins I do not admit are sins? Are there any sins you do not admit are sin, ah yes, same-sex sex. Are you without sin stumpjumper?

What is the Gospel?

The gospel of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps male/female union is one of our purposes, but God still creates straights and gays.

No He doesn’t, He created woman for man to be in union, I don’t see how that can be gay? How does that work then?

Gay people, then,

Hang on there is no such thing as gay people in God’s creation purposes, I am challenging your claim, you cant tell me gay this and that if I don’t believe it.

You can't pray with people you disagree with??

Well one could pray opposite things I suppose, I don’t see where Jesus or the disciples ever did that.

That's sad, really. Are you unable to pray with Christians of a different denomination as well?

Oh yes frequently, but what makes a Christian is faith in Christ, not belonging to a denomination.

 

[stumpjumper]

Dear stumpjumper,
Generally they may do but you asked ‘your’ child.

Why would your child not use the word "gay"?

Why are you are your children not capable of using the same terminology as the rest of us western English speaking people?

So they must all be wrong then according to the reasoning and scripture I presented, so what is yours and their claim based on?

There is no scripture that states that Christians do not commit sins and just plain old common sense would also tell us all that. Additionally, if you break one law you are guilty of all so why, exactly, is gay sex all of a sudden the ickiest and worstest of all sins and one which rules one out from claiming the Christian communion.

Are you without sin, Phinehas2?

Sorry I thought personal remarks were not encouraged.

Well I would really like to know where you live if you have never met a gay Christian and are unable to use the same words that everyone else uses such as "gay".

I mean, really, have you never met a gay Christian? You've never seen one on TV or what?

Hang on what do you mean ‘heterosexual’ male? There are no passages in the Bible referring to heterosexual males yet you include them in the dispute about the meaning.

There's no mention of Lutherans or Presbyterians either but, guess what, they exist too.

Yes, heterosexual males exist and they are men who have a sexual orientation through which they are attracted to women.

Not everything that exists is explicitly defined in the Bible.

Where you do you find cell meiosis or viruses referred to in the Bible?

You seem to be disputing the meaning of scripture based on an assumption that isn’t scriptural. A fundamental theme throughout the NT is that Christians are in Christ, throughout Paul’s letters, in Acts and 1 Peter. Those in Christ are those who obey His commands John 14-16.

Again, are you without sin Phinehas2?

Have you ceased to commit sins since you became a Christian?

Yes but not sexual attraction, we are attracted to Christ, Christ is all and in all.

So now Christians can not have sex (gay or straight) at all since we are "attracted to Christ"?

I'm pretty sure I can be bonded spiritually to others through Christ while still having sexual relations with my wife

Here is more of the passage

“1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Yes, we are to repent of our sins and seek to do God's will but, guess what, we will stumble.

We will stumble and fall down.

We will sin and many Christians will commit those sins that you listed. Many will commit other sins such as getting divorced, lying, being selfish, being self-righteous and unjustly condemning others, having anger in their hearts for others, even committing adultery and/or having sex outside or before marriage. And if you've broken one of the laws you have broken all of them...

Yes, we are not perfect but God's grace will raise us back up if we submit to and accept his help.

So, yes, you can be gay and be Christian.

Ah that’s different from being a ‘gay christian’ Not really, these are ways Christians fall short, they can repent, the identity of Christians is in Christ not the sins they fall short in. ‘gay christians’ is therefore an oxymoron because same-sex attraction like adulterous attractions are what one falls short in.

How is saying you can be gay and be a Christian different from saying you can be a gay Christian?

Can I not say that you can be a Lutheran Christian, a blond haired Christian, or a Greek Christian?

Why not?

No, but Christ is.

Indeed. And neither you or I are Christ Jesus.

Are there any sins I do not admit are sins? Are there any sins you do not admit are sin, ah yes, same-sex sex.

Actually, I have not stated that although I do believe that gay sex is not inherently sinful. I do believe that in many, many contexts it is, though. I do not follow a deontological ethical system so I would fundamentally disagree with your premises on what determines whether or not something is sinful.

I would also say that Jesus' teachings regarding ethics were much more virtue based rather than deontological which is what you are most other Westerners follow.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Chapter 22, Verses 34-40

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which isis like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
​

the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second
On the commandment to love hang all the law and all the prophets? If something as abstract and fluid as "love" governs all laws, how can you give me an exhaustive and unchanging set of commandments?

Are you without sin Stumpjumper?

Indeed not.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

No He doesn’t, He created woman for man to be in union, I don’t see how that can be gay? How does that work then?

That was one purpose listed in Genesis in regards to God's plan, yes.

If one of us does not fulfill that purpose are we no longer a part of creation?

Can celibate or infertile people not be a part of God's plan? Why?

Hang on there is no such thing as gay people in God’s creation purposes, I am challenging your claim, you cant tell me gay this and that if I don’t believe it.

Is our only purpose for life procreation and union between male and female?

 

[Texas Lynn]

They are not likely to say this, they would probably say they have same-sex attractions.

? There are parents who are under the impression their 16-year-olds have never had a sip of beer, too.

They cant be gay and Christian.

The above statement is an utterance which is most unfortunate and indicates the poster lacks basic understanding of both Christianity and sexual orientation. There is certainly no evidence whatsoever for this.

We here cant pray very easily because we don’t all agree with the word of God about this.

Prayer is not dependant upon political correctness.

 

[Texas Lynn]

So, yes, you can be gay and be Christian. You can also be divorced and be Christian. You can also be female, a slanderer, a gossiper, etc and be a Christian.

You can even be an arrogant and self-righteous hatemonger who seeks to harm LGBTs or others. The world is composed of all kinds.

No "Christian" is ever free of sin, just like no non-Christian.

No political faction can stead Jesus from others because he is not their exclusive property.

 

[Criada]

How about praying that God's will should be done in each person's life... and then leaving it to Him to let us know what that is?
Cos He will.... and us bickering is not glorifying Him in any way.
So maybe we all need to spend more time focussing on Him, and less looking at one another or ourselves.
I know I do!

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Stumpjumper,

Why would your child not use the word "gay"?

Because they know who they are in Christ, their identity is in Christ and not their sexual desires.

Why are you are your children not capable of using the same terminology as the rest of us western English speaking people?

Not so, so do many other western English speaking people.

There is no scripture that states that Christians do not commit sins and just plain old common sense would also tell us all that.

Who claimed there was?
An identity in Christ is one in Christ in which there is no same-sex union, so ‘gay christian’ is an oxymoron. As Colossians 3 says,
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Well I would really like to know where you live if you have never met a gay Christian and are unable to use the same words that everyone else uses such as "gay".

It would be interesting if you have ever been in a proper church where the truth is know and preached. I have met plenty of Christians who have same-sex attraction, but they are Christians, not ‘gay christians’ which is an oxymoron.

There's no mention of Lutherans or Presbyterians either but, guess what, they exist too.

But Lutherans or Presbyterians can be male or female which God created, as in Genesis 2 affirmed by Jesus NT teaching as in Matt 19, Mark 10, Eph 5 etc. I am asking you about your ‘heterosexual male’ there is no mention of heterosexual in the Bible, it’s a modern concept.

Yes, heterosexual males exist and they are men who have a sexual orientation through which they are attracted to women.

that’s the modern human idea, its not God’s as in His Biblical testimony. God created male and female to be united, if you think heterosexual fits that ok but homosexual doesn’t. J

Again, are you without sin Phinehas2?

I haven already answered that question this remark is for you to address so I will repeat it
A fundamental theme throughout the NT is that Christians are in Christ, throughout Paul’s letters, in Acts and 1 Peter. Those in Christ are those who obey His commands John 14-16.

So now Christians can not have sex (gay or straight) at all since we are "attracted to Christ"?

Again, the gay/straight idea is a human idea and not God’s, God created male and female to be united faithfully. That or celibacy (Matt 19, 1 Cor 7) That is the choice for Christians.

We will sin and many Christians will commit those sins that you listed.

Many will commit other sins such as getting divorced, lying, being selfish, being self-righteous and unjustly condemning others, having anger in their hearts for others, even committing adultery and/or having sex outside or before marriage. And if you've broken one of the laws you have broken all of them...

No we don’t live by laws we live by faith. Yes of course we as Christians will fall short but as our righteousness is in Christ we can repent and receive the forgiveness He has made available.

How is saying you can be gay and be a Christian different from saying you can be a gay Christian?

In the very way you have said, a Christian is someone whose identity is in Christ, our lives are hidden in Christ (Col 3) We are in Christ and He in us when we obey His teaching. Christian is the identity in Christ, gay is the falling short. Of the dead old self which we put to death and we are being renewed. We cant have an identity in our old selves if are old self identity is dead and our new identity is in Christ where there isnt any gay and straight.

Can I not say that you can be a Lutheran Christian, a blond haired Christian, or a Greek Christian?

Not really and besides Lutheran, blond haired and Greek are not sinful desires.

Indeed. And neither you or I are Christ Jesus.

But Christ is, and it is in Him whom Christians have their identity, not in their own sexual attractions.

Actually, I have not stated that although I do believe that gay sex is not inherently sinful.

Ok so why did you say Christians sin then, what you mean is they sisn according to what you think is sin.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Chapter 22, Verses 34-40

how can you give me an exhaustive and unchanging set of commandments?

Very easily, read what the law was. The law includes a man shall not lie with another man as with a woman. So that’s the law and that’s loving God and loving ones neighbour; so a man having sex with another man is neither loving ones neighbour nor loving God.
In addition Christians don’t live by the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the law.

That was one purpose listed in Genesis in regards to God's plan, yes.

Ok good, so He created woman to be with man in the beginning and Jesus affirms it so many years later. So as I said how does gay fit in? How does gay work ?

If one of us does not fulfill that purpose are we no longer a part of creation?

f? Where did you get the if from? Jesus affirms that I the beginning God created male and female to be in union. Are you male or female? If so then you are a part of creation. If one is in a union and its man/woman then one is in the purposes of God, if one is in a same-sex union one isnt in the purposes of God.

Can celibate or infertile people not be a part of God's plan? Why?

The key is they can avoid being aganst God’s plan and in a same-sex union.

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Texas Lynn,

? There are parents who are under the impression their 16-year-olds have never had a sip of beer, too.

Well Stumpjumper asked the question of ‘your’ children, you speak for your own.

The above statement is an utterance which is most unfortunate and indicates the poster lacks basic understanding of both Christianity and sexual orientation. There is certainly no evidence whatsoever for this.

actually as I have given scriptures and reasoning as to it and you haven’t hopefully anyone reading this will see that is just your opinion which lacks any understanding of Christianity.

Prayer is not dependant upon political correctness.

Nor is the word of God and it was the word of God to which I referred, not political correctness.

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Criada,

How about praying that God's will should be done in each person's life... and then leaving it to Him to let us know what that is?

Well we should pray that God's will be done in all our lives except that if someone decided that for example paedophilia was God's will, we should be praying for them. One has to know what God's will is to pray for it to be done in other peoples lives. We do know what God's will is concerning relationships.

So maybe we all need to spend more time focussing on Him, and less looking at one another or ourselves.

Amen my point as well.

 

[stumpjumper]

I haven already answered that question this remark is for you to address so I will repeat it
A fundamental theme throughout the NT is that Christians are in Christ, throughout Paul’s letters, in Acts and 1 Peter. Those in Christ are those who obey His commands John 14-16.

So, by implication, you are claiming that you do not sin, then.

You claim to be a Christian and then you go on to state that only those who "obey His commands are in Christ".

Are you really without sin, Phinehas2? Do you really obey all of the commandments? If not, how can you claim that only those who obey his commandments are Christian if even you fail to do so on occasion.

No we don’t live by laws we live by faith. Yes of course we as Christians will fall short but as our righteousness is in Christ we can repent and receive the forgiveness He has made available.

You are contradicting yourself. If you and I "fall short" and break one of His commandments, then by your previous statement we are not Christians because Christians are those who are in Christ and obey His commandments.

Not really and besides Lutheran, blond haired and Greek are not sinful desires.

They are still labels that apply to people, though. Why are some labels acceptable and others not?

Ok good, so He created woman to be with man in the beginning and Jesus affirms it so many years later. So as I said how does gay fit in? How does gay work ?

That may be one of our purposes but there are already many who do not fulfill that purpose that are working towards God's kingdom on earth and are, of course, a part of creation.

It would be interesting if you have ever been in a proper church where the truth is know and preached. I have met plenty of Christians who have same-sex attraction, but they are Christians, not ‘gay christians’ which is an oxymoron.

Lutheran Churches are "proper", BTW. And you might as well say that "Blond Christian" is an oxymoron as well...

 

[stumpjumper]

Additionally, for the sake of argument, I am assuming in this thread that "gay sex" is sinful.

 

[LightHorseman]

I mean, really, have you never met a gay Christian? You've never seen one on TV or what?

Phineas is under the impression that anyone who disagrees with his own personal understanding of scripture is not a "real" Christian. To be a real christian, you can't do anything that Phineas disaproves of and your Biblical interpretation has to be exactly the same as his.

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Lighthorseman,
As many here agree with me its not just Phinehas. Most Christians in the world know you are under deception on this issue for the scriptural reasons stated.

 

[jamielindas]

Dear Lighthorseman,
As many here agree with me its not just Phinehas. Most Christians in the world know you are under deception on this issue for the scriptural reasons stated.

No Phin, there are plenty of christians that read the same scriptures and get something different out of it. There are plenty of christians that follow christ's teachings of compassion and love that do not get the same hard lined conclusions that you.
Why is this so difficult for you to understand?

 

[Phinehas2]

Dear Stumpjumper,

So, by implication, you are claiming that you do not sin, then.

I I am asking you to address what the scripture says, don’t ask me, discuss what the cited scripture says.

You claim to be a Christian

I am a Christian, discussing whether people are Christian or not is against the rules.

and then you go on to state that only those who "obey His commands are in Christ".

Nope. I cited John 14.
For example John 14:23 “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

No we don’t live by laws we live by faith. Yes of course we as Christians will fall short but as our righteousness is in Christ we can repent and receive the forgiveness He has made available.

You are contradicting yourself. If you and I "fall short" and break one of His commandments, then by your previous statement we are not Christians because Christians are those who are in Christ and obey His commandments.

Its no contradiction as Jesus also teaches us to repent. Repentance is for falling short But yes as you saw with Mercyburst’s recent testimony, many things we used to do wilfully and with self justification we now do so slipping up to temptation and knowing its wrong.

They are still labels that apply to people, though. Why are some labels acceptable and others not?

Yes but they aren’t sinful desires and it was sinful desires we were talking about.

That may be one of our purposes but there are already many who do not fulfill that purpose that are working towards God's kingdom on earth and are, of course, a part of creation.

Or not concerning this issue, which is what we are discussing. I asked you how gay works with man and woman union not that might be one of our purposes when there obviously aren’t any others.

Lutheran Churches are "proper", BTW.

And it looks like to me they recognise same-sex unions are contrary to scripture. So if you are in one you aren’t listening.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

Christians have different opinions based on their reading of the Bible on a host of theological issues. If we don't agree about the nature and necessity of baptism, the nature of the Lord's Supper, and the nature of salvation, why should homosexuality be different?

 

[jamielindas]

There is no scripture that states that Christians do not commit sins and just plain old common sense would also tell us all that. Additionally, if you break one law you are guilty of all so why, exactly, is gay sex all of a sudden the ickiest and worstest of all sins and one which rules one out from claiming the Christian communion.

worstest of all sins! ha, that's nice

I agree. There are many many many sins outlined in the bible. Many of them more numerous and more stringent than the sexual prohibitions listed. In fact, I'd hazard to say there is more in the bible about sacrifice, than about teh gay sex. Not the point though.

Why have so many christians fixated on this issue?

What would be the difference if you're child told you they were an atheist?
Is being gay worse than being a atheist? Is gay marriage worse than non-believing in god? Why is atheism legal, but gay marriage is not?
Have more people disowned their children for being gay or for being atheists?
Has anyone ever disowned their own child for wearing cloth of two fibers? for not performing a sacrifice correctly?

 

[LightHorseman]

worstest of all sins! ha, that's nice

I agree. There are many many many sins outlined in the bible. Many of them more numerous and more stringent than the sexual prohibitions listed. In fact, I'd hazard to say there is more in the bible about sacrifice, than about teh gay sex. Not the point though.

Why have so many christians fixated on this issue?

Thats an interesting question, and there are several theories, all of which I believe have some grain of truth to them, however, in the most general way, there are some people who don't feel it is enough for them to be true to their beliefs, but rather that they have to be seen to actively be vilifying people with different beliefs. This is true for any sufficiently large group of people with a common belief, some of them will want to persecute others for being different. Its a lot easier to point out the flaws in others than address your own, you see. And the reason why homosexuality is so often targeted? Usually because its one tht the targeter can fairly safely distance himself from. Although, of course, this occasionally backfires rather spectacularly, as Ted Haggard can tell you.

Other contributing factors why homosexuality is targeted as the worstest sin:

People condemning homosexuality don't really believe there is anything wrong with it, but they want to appear to fit in with their contemporaries

People have been raised in an environment where homosexuality is pointed out as "wrong", and people will go to great lengths to continue believing what their parents or other respected authority figures tell them, despite contrary evidence.

The absence of a specific "head" of the family unit (i.e. male husband) is confusing to people who lack the self assurance to understand that some people are capable of making their own spiritual and ethical decisions for themselves, and don't need to have the titular head of the household making such decisions for them

 

[jamielindas]

The absence of a specific "head" of the family unit (i.e. male husband) is confusing to people who lack the self assurance to understand that some people are capable of making their own spiritual and ethical decisions for themselves, and don't need to have the titular head of the household making such decisions for them

This is a very interesting point. My roommate recently read something regarding feminism, homosexuality, and individuals that seemed to make a similar point.
As society tends towards the direction of individualism, constructs like 'head of the family unit' or even a stringent or consistent family structure start to disappear. People are free to form bonds, build families, and live their lives in any way that works best for them and their loved ones (if they so choose to have loved ones). It's a shift of responsibility and focus to individual determinism.
Men can be stay home dads and women the bread winners. Single parents become more common. People can skip having children all together. Sex can be safe and fulfilling outside of marriage. men and women can stay single all their life if they wish. (this is not to say these things didn't every happen in the past, the just weren't the norm)
There are assumptions that can be made when society and all its elements take on a specific form. When that is no longer true, many things are called into question. It requires more thought and more action on the of the every individual. This can be scary and confusing to people, particularly those people who maintained the most power and authority in the previous constructs.

 

[LightHorseman]

This is a very interesting point. My roommate recently read something regarding feminism, homosexuality, and individuals that seemed to make a similar point.
As society tends towards the direction of individualism, constructs like 'head of the family unit' or even a stringent or consistent family structure start to disappear. People are free to form bonds, build families, and live their lives in any way that works best for them and their loved ones (if they so choose to have loved ones). It's a shift of responsibility and focus to individual determinism.
Men can be stay home dads and women the bread winners. Single parents become more common. People can skip having children all together. Sex can be safe and fulfilling outside of marriage. men and women can stay single all their life if they wish. (this is not to say these things didn't every happen in the past, the just weren't the norm)
There are assumptions that can be made when society and all its elements take on a specific form. When that is no longer true, many things are called into question. It requires more thought and more action on the of the every individual. This can be scary and confusing to people, particularly those people who maintained the most power and authority in the previous constructs.

Also very scary and confronting to the people who have been brought up to accepth their subjugation to others... if you spend you life allowing others to make your decisions for you, because that is the right thing to do, I imagine it would be very confronting to see people going about making decisions for themselves, especially if no immediate deleterious effect is apparent from such independence

 

[stumpjumper]

Dear Stumpjumper,
I I am asking you to address what the scripture says, don’t ask me, discuss what the cited scripture says.

The passage is a call to follow Christ and live by the law of love, yes. If you really want to talk about that passage then let's talk about what Jesus' commandment is within:

John 15
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.
​

Two things:

1.) What comes first? Grace and Jesus' action in choosing us or following Christ's commandment to love?

2.) What is the new commandment and what exactly about being gay makes one unable to follow that commandment?

I am a Christian, discussing whether people are Christian or not is against the rules.

I am not saying you are not a Christian. That seems to actually be your forte. I accept people at their word when they say they are Christians.

I am simply asking you whether or not you obey all of the commandments as you said only those who do are actually in Christ.

Nope. I cited John 14.
For example John 14:23 “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

And, even there, the commandment was to love one another and care for others more than ourselves. Loving one another selflessly can certainly be done by gay people...

No we don’t live by laws we live by faith. Yes of course we as Christians will fall short but as our righteousness is in Christ we can repent and receive the forgiveness He has made available.

First, forgiveness comes before repentance. Did Zacheus repent first or was he first declared loved and forgiven and then he repented?

The passage is pretty clear on that one.

Secondly, you are arguing for works salvation here with your soteriology. We are saved by grace through faith unto good works. Our works proceed from the grace through which we are saved not the other way around.

Third, your focus on following the commandments is important but your conclusions are faulty. We are saved to do good works and follow Jesus' commandments not the other way around.

How about some good old Martin Luther for ya: Luther's preface to Romans

Its no contradiction as Jesus also teaches us to repent. Repentance is for falling short But yes as you saw with Mercyburst’s recent testimony, many things we used to do wilfully and with self justification we now do so slipping up to temptation and knowing its wrong.

So you can fall short and repent of your sins but gay people can not?

I would say many things to that the first of which is that people can and do repent for sins they continue to commit. Repentance does literally mean turning from one's sins and feeling remorse for committing them but many people after repenting fall right back into the very sins they have committed.

Additionally, divorce is much more strongly prohibited (if you are talking about mentions within the Bible) and only allowed for cases of adultery and perhaps abuse if going from the Bible but there are a great many divorced Christians. For them to truly repent, should they be forced to remarry?

How exactly do you completely repent from having an abortion or committing adultery as well? What's done is done in that regards.

Thirdly, the argument could be easily be made that gay sex is not a sin at least inherently. The argument would follow both that love covers a multitude of sins and that committed unions between people of the same sex is not necessarily prohibited within the Bible, etc. I don't intend to follow that line of reasoning within because this thread is mainly geared towards what we would say to those who are gay that have come out as gay within the framework that gay sex is sinful.

The fact of the matter is that, quite simply, people can be repentant of sins that they continue to commit. Alcoholics can be extremely repentant after a bender even though many will stumble again. Someone who displays anger and malice for others may feel sorry when they regain their composure but they will very easily do the same thing again in the near future. I think you get the picture.