Does The Bible Promote Prejudice
Still, some people would say that the Bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to its moral code are intolerant. The Bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded, they claim. Today we accept people of all races, nationalities, and sexual preferences. To them, rejecting homosexuality is the same as rejecting people of a different skin color. Is that comparison valid? No. Why not?
Because there is a difference between rejecting homosexual conduct and rejecting homosexual people. The Bible tells Christians to be respectful of all kinds of people. But that does not mean that Christians must accept all kinds of conduct.
Consider a comparison: Suppose you view smoking as harmful and even repugnant. What if you have a workmate who is a smoker? Would you be considered narrow-minded just because your view of smoking differs from his? Would the fact that he smokes and you do not smoke automatically mean that you are prejudiced against him? If your workmate were to demand that you change your view of smoking, would that not make him narrow-minded and intolerant?
Jehovahs Witnesses choose to live by the moral code set forth in the Bible. They do not approve of the actions that the Bible prohibits. But they neither mock nor mistreat people whose practices differ from their own.
God Will Not Let You Be Tempted Beyond What You Are Able
All people meet trials and difficulties in life, both in their physical circumstances and in their spiritual life. Not living according to ones innate homosexual orientation can require a huge sacrifice. But God blesses those who live wholly for Him. Nobody who has truly given up everything to serve God will regret it. He only wants the best for us.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Even though Gods Word may appear radical, God also loves each sinner, no matter who they are, what their background is, or what they have done. He loves each one of us more than we can comprehend. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins, and has shown us the way of escape.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.
Lie #: There Are Scriptures Affirming The Biblical Condemnation Of Homosexual Sex
The Truth: Many of the references to eunuchs in the Bible refer to homosexual men, not necessarily to castrated males. Jesus himself said: “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” The book of Isaiah holds one of the greatest promises to us. “To the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
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Debating Bible Verses On Homosexuality
Two evangelical authors offer conflicting interpretations about well-known passages on homosexuality.Related Article
The debate over gay marriage is not just taking place in the nations courts it is also a subject of intense discussion in the nations churches.
Matthew Vines, an openly gay, evangelical Christian and the author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, has been actively encouraging conservative Christians to re-evaluate their beliefs about homosexuality. He has engaged them in private conversations, in public talks and through the organization he founded, the Reformation Project.
He was recently invited by the Rev. Caleb Kaltenbach, lead pastor of Discovery Church in Simi Valley, Calif,, to talk privately with a small group of evangelical leaders to discuss what the Bible says about gay relationships. Mr. Kaltenbach is the author of the forthcoming book Messy Grace, which is about how he reconciles his conservative Christian convictions with his experience as the child of gay parents.
After the session, they were each asked to interpret some of the most cited verses relating to homosexuality in the Bible.
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman that is detestable.
Leviticus : 13 On Death Punishment For Homosexuality
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination they shall surely be put to death their blood is upon them.
After God delivered the Israelites from the hands of Pharaoh, God created many laws for them to live according to his will.
One of those laws was severe punishment if any man or woman committed the sin of homosexuality. If you are Gay, you shall die.
So, why dont gay men and women die from their sin?
Gods commandment to the Jews in the book of Leviticus instructed death for anyone involved in homosexuality. However, this is not applicable today.
This is because we have been set free from the law of Moses through Christs death. Christs death put away the curse of the law, and we are set free in liberty.
The law is not based on faith on the contrary, it says, The person who does these things will live by them.Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. Galatians 3: 12, 13.
However, this does not mean we can live in sin. Instead, we must live in ways that please God. If we indulge in homosexuality that does not bring praise to the body of Christ, we fall from his grace of eternal life.
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Slavery And The Scriptures
My move to Atlanta in 1994 gave me my first exposure to the remarkable colonial history of the East Coast. When people living in South Carolina speak of the War, they could mean the Civil War or the Revolutionary War.
It is a fascinating region.
With one exception.
While traveling in Charleston one day, my wife, Janet, and I came upon the slave trading warehouse, the place where slaves were brought to America on ships and sold at market. I can still remember the building and my revulsion upon seeing it.
I believe that racism is the greatest sin in America, the failure that keeps us from addressing our other failures. Racism makes crime in south Dallas a black problem and drug abuse in north Dallas a white problemwhen theyre allour problems.
Given our tragic history with racism, treating the subject of slavery in the Bible is a bit repugnant for us. However, a very common assertion regarding the topic of homosexuality and the word of God is that the biblical injunctions against this lifestyle are outdated, as is its acceptance of slavery. If we can prove that the Bible was wrong on the latter, we can believe that it is wrong on the former.
The issue of slavery in the Bible is a large and comprehensive subject, far more wide-ranging than we will consider in this article. Ill try to limit our study to the barest of essentials so we can relate it to the larger question that brings it to our attention.
Lusts And Sexual Immorality
Our sex drive is not a sin. But sexual desires outside marriage between a man and a woman are what the Bible calls lusts, and giving in to them is sin. This includes premarital sex, extramarital sex, giving in to impure sexual thoughts, and practicing homosexuality. This is described in both the Old and the New Covenants. Some of these verses are listed at the end of this article.
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Homosexuality: One Parishioner’s Perspective
Some Christians say that The Bible makes it clear that homosexuality is an abomination to God. As a Christian, I have to admit that until recently I had never thoroughly explored the Biblical position on homosexuality. I decided to review the topic of homosexuality in The Bible in order to get a better perspective on why some Christians find homosexuality so troubling. In my review, I found that the word homosexual does not appear in the Bible. The word homosexual first was used in the English language during the eighteenth century.
There are numerous descriptions in The Bible of what we now call LGBT behavior. These descriptions occur both in the Old and New Testaments. A surface reading of these passages would suggest to the casual reader that the Bible does in fact condemn such behavior. However, when these passages are read in context, it is clear that all negative connotations about these persons are always secondary to a more primary message.For example, Christians who feel that people of the LGBT persuasion are sinners, typically quote from the Old Testament book of Leviticus at 18.22: You shall not lie with a male as with a woman it is an abomination. On the surface, this verse seems pretty straightforward. However, if we are to have a full understanding of the verse, we must know the context in which the verse is written. The full context of Leviticus paints an entirely different picture of what this verse is intended to mean.
Abandoning Nature: Some Reasons Why Homosexuality Is Wrong
WARNING: This article contains sexually explicit language that may not be suitable for younger readers.Editor
Today homosexuality is considered by many people to be a normal and perfectly acceptable practice. It is, they say, a legitimate alternative lifestyle. The Bible, of course, says otherwise . According to the Apostle Paul, homosexuality is the behavior of those who have abandoned natural relations who have exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones .
That Scripture speaks to this matter ought to be enough, especially for those who accept the authority of the Bible. Unfortunately, not everyone bows to biblical authority. Does this mean, then, that we must remain at a perpetual impasse with those who disagree on the morality of homosexual behavior? I dont think so. I will argue in this article that we can establish the immorality of homosexuality from a purely philosophical perspective. I will offer, that is, an argument from natural law which echoes Pauls language in Romans 1 to the effect that homosexuality is an abandonment of the natural, created order, and for that reason is immoral. But first, I will briefly examine the evidence that homosexuality advocates have advanced in their attempt to show that homosexuality is not contrary to nature, but is in fact natural.
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Bible Verses About Gay In The New Testament
One might argue that the death of Christ has set us free from sin entirely. Therefore, since Christs death has abolished the laws of Moses, we may continue in sin without repercussions.
This is not true Walking diligently in the spirit is the only way to Have eternal life. This involves behaving like Jesus Christ and avoiding sin.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22
Here are scriptural quotes about Gays in the new testament.
Does The Bible Forbid Homosexuality
Gay-friendly clergy tend to use the terms love and acceptance interchangeably, claiming that we must love everyone, because we are all children of God.
It is certainly true that Jesus commanded us to love everyone, but it is not true that we are all children of God. And it certainly is not true that we must tolerate and accept evil behavior.
Scripture repeatedly refers to children of the Devil:
No one born of God commits sin for Gods nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother .
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your fathers desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies .
Anyone who has seen cursing, blaspheming homosexuals simulating sex at a Gay Pride parade, or has read their hate-filled screeds against the Catholic Church, should have no problem discerning whether they are children of God or spawn of the Devil.
Of course, homosexual persons are to be loved and respected, and homosexual tendencies are not sinful if they are not wanted. But homosexual activity is immoral and absolutely anti-biblical.
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A Homosexual Person Deserves To Be Treated With Dignity And Respect
He or she is acting out a lifestyle that many of us understand to be unbiblicalbut so are any of us who practice slander, gossip, heterosexual lust, or egotistical pride.
So-called gay bashing is always wrong. Any action or attitude that demeans a person or makes them less valuable is the opposite of the grace and unconditional love of Christ.
How To Please God Despite Having Same
The Bible says: Dont be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. To kill wrong desires, which lead to wrong actions, you need to control your thinking. If you regularly fill your mind with wholesome thoughts, you can more readily dismiss wrong desires. While you may struggle greatly at first, it can become easier. God promises to help you to be made new in the force actuating your mind.Ephesians 4:22-24.
The same struggle is faced by millions with heterosexual desires who wish to conform to the Bibles standards. For example, those who are single with little prospect of marriage or who are married to a partner who is unable to function sexually choose to control their sexual urges despite any temptations they might face. They are able to live happily, and those with same-sex urges can do so as well if they truly want to please God.Deuteronomy 30:19.
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What About The Argument That Homosexuality Is Inherited
If this is true, at least for some, how can such activity be wrong?
God made me this way is a typical testimony. A very brief response would be that the connection between genetics and homosexuality is tenuous at best.
Where research has seemed to indicate some physical propensity toward homosexual orientation, others in the field have refuted such a conclusion. It is widely believed that alcoholism can be an inherited genetic propensity, but no one would therefore endorse its practice. While this is a very unfortunate analogy regarding homosexuals, it perhaps illustrates the fact that not every genetic tendency should be endorsed .
Homosexuality In The New Testament: Romans : 26
The first is Romans 1:26-27: Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
At first reading, Paul seems clearly to consider homosexual activity to be unbiblical. But there is another way to interpret the passage, suggested by those who support homosexuality as a biblical lifestyle.
In their reading, Paul is addressing the issue of heterosexual men and women who choose homosexual activity, which is unnatural for them. If this is true, Pauls statement bears no relevance to those who consider themselves homosexual by innate or natural orientation.
Is such an interpretation the most objective way to read the text?
No, for two reasons.
First, Paul describes homosexual acts themselves as shameful lusts , indecent acts, and perversion . To suggest that his descriptions relate only to the decision to engage in such activity by heterosexuals is to strain the Greek syntax beyond its meaning.
One can conclude that Paul was wrong, that homosexual orientation can be natural and its sexual expression therefore natural relations. But one cannot argue on the basis of this text that homosexuality is biblical, for Pauls scriptural words clearly state the opposite.
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What Does The Bible Teach About Same
The Bible defines marriage in Genesis 2:24 as a union between one man and one woman. Jesus Christ upholds this definition of marriage in Matthew 19:5, as does the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:31. Any and all sexual activity which takes place outside of this context is treated as sinful, what Jesus calls sexual immorality in Mark 7:21.
Further to this, same-sex practice is specifically highlighted as sinful a number of times in Scripture. In Gods Law, for example, condemnations of same-sex practice are given in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Further references are made in the New Testament. For example, in Romans 1:24-32, amid echoes to the Genesis creation account, both male and female same-sex practice are treated as sinful. Further references to the sinfulness of same-sex practice can be seen in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10.
The Scriptures are, therefore, consistent in their prohibition of same-sex sexual activity, across different periods of salvation history and within different cultural settings. Although the Scriptures are clear on sexual ethics, they also tell us that the prospect of forgiveness and eternal life is held out for anyone who turns from sin and puts their faith in Christ , no matter how they may have fallen short of his good design for sex and marriage.