ArchivedOne sin greater than another?Alpha, does God consider one sin greater than another! Yes in as much as the earthly penalty for perjury is not as great as the earthly penalty for murder, adultery, and homosexuality. However, when dealing with the unsaved we need to remember that the eternal consequences of all sin is the same. You seem to think that eternal consequences are immaterial to the unsaved, yet you don't understand that as long as you lift one sin above another, especially a pet sin, you will only run into brick walls of justification. What I don’t understand about ever-straights and homosexuality is why you feel the need to emphasize this sin over others. Mankind can “repent” of sin without the power of God. Just look at the number of men and women who led promiscuous lives prior to marriage, quit smoking, are free of substance abuse, etc. Strength of character alone can lead a man to give up a life destructive habit, but strength of character alone cannot save anyone. BTW, you missed what I really wanted to emphasize in Barnes notes, which was: Also, no matter how “minor” the sin, practicing any sin quenches the Spirit and breaks fellowship with God so in this sense no sin is greater than another. I see a lot of emphasis on the sinfulness of homosexuality aimed at homosexuals who view the fact the Christians routinely ignore Lev 18:20 and Lev 20:10 as hypocritical. What sin did Jesus teach as being greater than any other? The only segment of the population Jesus took to task with specifics was the Pharisees. So if you want to say one sin is greater than another how about "hypocrisy"? After all hypocrisy has done more damage to the gospel than all the immoral acts in history. Talk to any ex-gay who has suffered discrimination at the hands of society, their family, or religion and they will tell you that hammering on this one sin is a major barrier to an open mind and acceptance of the gospel. Sexual orientation is more than a sex act. You don’t realize how many decisions you make based on your orientation until you change it. And these decisions are not about sex. Can you define heterosexual without referring to sexual attraction? I can assure you that when we receive the mind of Christ attraction is not always the first characteristic He deals with. In fact sexual attraction may be the last attitude that needs adjustment since sex is only the tip of the iceberg for most gay men and lesbian women. What does the Greek word for repent mean? It means a change of direction. A human being can turn left or right from any course and change their direction, but in order to truly repent they must turn from to world to God. So the best definition of repent is “turn to God” since you can’t successfully turn from a life of sin until you are led to God by God. This is why Jesus told us to preach the gospel. I keep asking this question on Christian message boards without ever getting a simple answer: “Where in the gospel is hammering on one sin taught by Christ, Paul, or the Scriptures”? Other than the Pharisees where did Christ address personal sin before He met individual needs? What are the personal needs for gay men and lesbian women? For the majority it is love, acceptance, and affirmation for them as human beings since it is the lack of these that are at the roots of homosexuality. Fulfill these needs in non-sexual ways and their minds will open to the message of freedom from the consequences of all sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Webmaster, I can add a paragraph about being given over to a “reprobate mind” is not the unforgivable sin since all who live in ignorance of the gospel have a reprobate mind and our command from Christ is to go into all the world and preach the gospel. |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame