Tag Archives: sin

Christian worldview

It isn’t just about love and hate, but about truth and lies and right and wrong

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The Left reflexively plays the hate card when dealing with LGBTQ issues.  Sadly, too many  Bible-believing people fall prey to the trick and it silences them.  But it isn’t just about love and hate, but about truth and lies and right and wrong.

Consider these four possibilities:

1. You believe homosexual behavior is a sin and you share what you think is the truth, as appropriate.
2. You believe homosexual behavior is a sin and you do not share what you think is the truth, as appropriate.
3. You believe homosexual behavior is a not a sin and you share what you think is the truth, as appropriate.
4. You believe homosexual behavior is not a sin and you do not share what you think is the truth, as appropriate.

Before you can talk of love and hate, you’d need to understand right and wrong — or at least the perception of it by those in question.

Options 1 and 3 would be be acting in love (defined in the sense of having people’s long-term best interests at heart and not in the worldly sense of pampering people). Options 2 and 4 would be acting out of hate, or at least selfishness or indifference.

So it if you think homosexual behavior is a sin and don’t speak the truth, then you are acting hatefully — even if you were wrong in assessing the Bible (which you wouldn’t be).

The Bible couldn’t be more clear.  Even non-Christians and two out of the three types of pro-gay theologians can see these truths:

  • 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms.
  • 100% of the verses referring to God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
  • 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
  • 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.

So even in some bizarre hypothetical where the Bible actually supported homosexual behavior and Leviticus, Romans, all the verses on parenting and marriage, etc. stated the opposite of what they do, it wouldn’t be hateful to describe LGBTQ behavior as sinful. It would only be hate if someone “knew” the Bible said homosexual behavior was acceptable and taught otherwise.

In the same way, it is loving to remove false teachers from the church when they are advancing falsehoods with pro-gay theology.  It is a virtue to protect people.

And it would be un-loving to reject people just because they struggle with a sin that isn’t a temptation for you.  If people recognize that homosexual behavior is a sin and aren’t teaching the opposite, they should be welcomed in church. You should be willing to pray for them and be friends with them.

The hate card assumes motives and judges the hearts of others.  In some cases it is probably accurate to define people as haters, such as with Democrat Fred Phelps and his “church.”  But it is a cheap trick to use it against everyone you disagree with — and especially right after all your other arguments have been exposed as faulty.

The real haters are those that know what the Bible really says yet value their own popularity over the physical, emotional and spiritual health of others. They would rather be politically correct than tell you the truth. That’s love of self, not love of others.

The truth sounds like hate to those that hate the truth.

Also see Responding to Pro-Gay Theology.

Bible, Christian worldview

Sins of the mind

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bible.jpgJohn MacArthur had a great sermon series dealing with sins of the mind.  A key theme was that these are the most dangerous sins, for there is nothing to keep you accountable to them except your conscience, and visible sins are always preceded by sins of the mind.

As Jesus outlines here, we are accountable to God for what do and what we think.

Matthew 21-22 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

 

Matthew 27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

 

His advice on dealing with sins of the mind:

  • Confess and forsake them
  • Refuse to entertain the thoughts — Job 31:1 I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
  • Replace the thoughts — Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
  • Feed on the word of God
  • Avoid evil attractions
  • Cultivate the love of God
I encourage everyone to consider their sins of the mind — greed, envy, lust, jealousy, anger, etc. — and apply those principles.
Bible, Christian worldview

Casting stones

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As nearly every Bible translation points out in the footnotes, the passage in John 8 about the woman caught in adultery isn’t found in the earliest manuscripts.  Therefore, it may not have been in the original writings of the Bible.*

It is a memorable passage and doesn’t contradict other doctrines, but neither does it add anything that isn’t taught elsewhere.  The problems start when people twist the passage to say things that aren’t there.  Here’s the text:

The Woman Caught in Adultery — John 8:2 – 11

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst  they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.  Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”  This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.  But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  Jesus stood up and said to her,”Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

If someone drew the conclusion that Jesus was once again clever and outwitted the Pharisees who were trying to trap him, that would be fine. Or that He upheld the law on capital punishment (you must have two witnesses). Or that He outed their hypocrisy in not bringing the man. Those would all be good.

The main misuse of the passage is by those who exclaim, “He who is without sin can cast the first stone!,” when trying to shut up anyone making a judgment they disagree with.  But as you may have noticed, that objection is self-refuting and ironically hypocritical: They imply that all judging is wrong, but they are judging you for judging.  But there is more.

Jesus was referring to real stones that would kill the person. Real stones thrown at a real person until he or she was really dead.  Criticizing someone else hardly rises to the level of killing him by stoning. Flippantly equating death by stoning with mere criticism is beyond hyperbole.

And even if Jesus said the part about not casting the first stone, it wouldn’t have meant, “Never say adultery is wrong!”  Note that the passage also says, “Go and sin no more.”

Those advocating the “judging = casting stones” view typically make all sorts of judgments, including advocating hate speech / hate crime laws.  But shouldn’t they be consistent and not judge anyone for anything, ever?

The passage is also misused to oppose capital punishment in principle.  But again, Jesus upheld the law: If there had been two witnesses present, stoning would have been appropriate at that time.

Keep in mind that any criticisms of this post will be considered stone-casting on your part.  And you know how wrong that is!

* Skeptics like Bart Ehrman like to say that this passage and the “long ending” of the Gospel of Mark reduce our confidence that the original writings were the word of God, but they are really proof that the system works.  Based on the work of textual critics on literally thousands of ancient manuscripts, we can be very confident about what the original writings said.

Bible, Politics, Sexuality

Another reason to like Herman Cain

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Be sure to click the link and watch the short video so you can hear how he responds.   Herman Cain Speaks Bluntly: ‘I Believe Homosexuality Is a Sin … Their Choice’.

In an interview on CBS News:

“I believe homosexuality is a sin because I’m a Bible-believing Christian, I believe it’s a sin. But I know that some people make that choice. That’s their choice.”

Woo-hoo!  A politician who can give a straight answer and not apologize for it.  Oh, and he gets the Bible right, too:

  • 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms.
  • 100% of the verses referring to God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
  • 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
  • 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.

It is not. That. Complicated.

And I like his Libertarian edge.  He isn’t out to demonize gays or restrict their relationships, he is just stating the biblical truth.  And he is smart enough to know that the people who will vilify him for saying that weren’t going to vote for him anyway!  I wish other Christians weren’t so gutless in denying those truths.

I really hope Cain does well.  I’d love to see him on the Republican ticket somewhere.  (Having said that, I’ve been very impressed with Pawlenty lately.  The knock on him was that he was boring, but he has been bold and clear thus far.)

More from Stacy McCain:

Cain is trying to focus his campaign on jobs, the budget and economics — these are his strengths, as a business executive — but he necessarily gets asked by reporters about all sorts of issues. A key factor in Cain’s appeal is his plain-spoken nature and, when asked about homsexuality, he stated (a) his personal belief as a Christian, and (b) his libertarian understanding that people have to live their own lives according to their own choices.

For two decades at least, gay activists have used the “born that way” argument in an effort to gain civil-rights protection for homosexuals, attempting to make sexual preference a hereditary factor analogous to race. So Cain’s remark about sexuality as a “choice” is likely to offend gay activists as much as his remark about “sin.” But I think it’s important to grasp the libertarian sense in which he uses “choice.”

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The UCC’s leading marketing tool: Encouraging sin

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GISS-web-nb

False teacher Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie “proudly” notes that a Majority Of Americans Support Gay Marriage and he is thrilled that the world and the UCC are in sync.  It is so repulsive to see their blasphemy in claiming to speak for God in contradiction to his revealed word.  And to make their tagline into a gay pride flag is even worse.

As Pastor D.L. Foster noted:

Educate yourself. The gay church is an abomination. Jesus was judged, accused, rejected, persecuted and wrongly convicted, yet he did not sin. Nothing justifies sin. And to build a church on your sin and teach others against the will of God is terrible and should never be sanctioned.

The only good news is that they aren’t even trying to pretend to trust God’s word.  This is just wild, drunk, running through the streets naked kind of apostasy and blasphemy.

Is it any surprise that the UCC keeps shrinking?  They work so hard to conform to the world, but the world just chalks that up as a victory and ignores them.  Why join a group that just tells you what you already “know?”

 

 

Romans

Romans 1

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rom-1.jpgGreetings!

I encourage you to read this chapter very closely.  I refer to often as it has such relevance to our culture and to contemporary issues.

Paul packs a lot into his opening.

  • He was specifically called to be an apostle (one who saw Jesus and carried his message).
  • He is Jesus’ servant.
  • He is sharing the Gospel foretold in the Old Testament.
  • Jesus has two natures: Human and divine.
  • Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
  • Jesus came for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
  • More!

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

Do we display the kind of faith that is worthy of being reported around the world, or even around the block?  Are we serving God with our whole hearts and spreading his Good News?

11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

No matter how strong our faith is, encouragement is vital.  There are many times when I’m weighed down and someone will come along with an encouraging word to pick me up.  When I see other people living out their faith it inspires me.  You are not alone!

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.

16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

V. 16 is powerful.  In light of eternity, why should we be ashamed of the Gospel?  The world hates the Gospel, because it convicts them of sin.  The Gospel is for everyone.  There is no other path besides Jesus.

This next section, which I put in bold, speaks volumes about why everyone should know there is a God.  Note how it says that, “God has made it plain to them . . . God’s invisible qualities . . . have been clearly seen . . . so that men are without excuse.”   People who think they’ll claim ignorance when facing God at their death are horribly mistaken.

God has revealed himself to us in his creation.  He takes it very seriously when people mock that and completely ignore him.  Deep down even atheists know there is a God, but they “suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

Theologian R.C Sproul said, “Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself.”

God’s Wrath Against Mankind

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Note how it repeats God “gave them over . . .” three times.  Consider how fully our society has turned sexual morality upside down.  It calls evil good and good evil.  Homosexual behavior is not only accepted but glorified.

This is one of the clearest passages denouncing homosexual behavior as sinful.  Some will try to read something into the text that simply isn’t there and claim that this was only about temple prostitutes, but there are many reasons that is wrong, starting with the fact the text doesn’t mention temples, prostitutes, or temple prostitutes.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 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.

Some pro-gay theologians try to spin verses 26-27 to mean that it is only a sin to act outside your “normal” preferences – that is, if you are naturally gay then the sin would be to have heterosexual sex.  If that sounds ridiculous to you, it should.  The original Greek means natural function, which of course would mean male/female relationships are the norm and homosexual relationships are sinful.  See Responding to Pro-Gay Theology for more information.

Romans 1 shows how the world is upside down and how people suppress the truth in unrighteousness and reject God, even though He is seen through his creation.  Then Paul offers exhibit A as an example of people rejecting God’s created order: Homosexual behavior.

28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Before people grandstand on the sin of homosexual behavior, they should note the other things Paul listed as being seriously wicked: Envy, greed, deceit, arrogance, heartlessness, disobedience to parents, etc.  Trust me, if you re-read the list you’ll find yourself in there somewhere!

People know better, yet they shake their fists at God anyway.  I thank God that He took me from rebellion against him to faith in him.  It is only by his grace that I am a believer.  I pray that many people will read his Word, be convicted and turn to him for forgiveness and salvation.

What parts of this chapter stood out to you and why?

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False teacher preaches on sin?!

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It was amusing to see Chuck write about sin.  This is the guy who can’t even persuade his wife (an atheist) that there is such a thing as sin against a real God.  But the rest of us should totally listen to what the “Reverend” has to say, right?  (I’d give Chuck a pass on that if his theology was Reformed, but it isn’t).

As usual, Chuck is more about petty and inaccurate political statements than about true theology.  He can’t help but blame President Bush for something, even though Obama is completely responsible (relative to Bush) for the BP mess.  Here’s the truth that Chuck ignored:

The BP exploration plan, their drilling permits, the National Environmental Protection Act exemptions… and the blowout…. all occurred under the current Administration. Someone has to be blamed, not even the media are blaming Bush for this, so someone in the Administration has to be the stuckee.

Read that carefully, and remember that Obama was the largest recipient of BP donations.

Chuck makes the same mistake that many people do and equates 2 Chronicles 7:14 with the U.S.  I’d think a “Reverend” would know better, but here we are.

He uses a straw man that implies that anyone for drilling thinks we should just rape and plunder the environment.

In his long post he wrote about sin but didn’t mention the remedy for sin once: Jesus.  Go figure.  No, wait, don’t go figure — Chuck doesn’t think Jesus is the only way to salvation (even though the Bible teaches it at least 100 times), so why would Chuck need to reference Jesus?  It might offend non-Christians.

How about this bit of theology?

The only way to reconcile with God, though, will be to stop this madness and act like the true stewards we are called to be. God is calling us to stop acting like adolescents and act like grow-ups should: with responsibility, with justice in our hearts, and a mature understanding of the difference between right and wrong.

The only way to reconcile with God is through Jesus.  It is a sure sign of a false teacher to say anything else.

Chuck has no understanding of basic right and wrong: He is pro-abortion.  He fully supported the health care bill that included taxpayer-funded abortions.  He can’t see the clear teachings of the Bible that homosexual behavior is sinful — or he ignores those verses just as he ignores others he doesn’t like.  So why listen to what he says on the environment?

Run, don’t walk, from false teachers like this.

Christian - misc., Favorites

“Everybody’s a sinner . . . except for this guy.”

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One of my all-time favorite lines from The Simpsons was when Homer complained about how expensive his Bible was. He goes on to say:

And talk about a preachy book! Everybody’s a sinner . . . except for this guy.

See the video here!

I know the writers weren’t trying to make a serious theological statement. It was just a funny line unrelated to the plot. Homer’s character is so dumb that he sometimes makes profound statements without knowing it. Upon further review, it accurately summarizes much of the Gospel message.

As Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are all sinners in the bad things we do, say and think and in the good things we should do but don’t. Romans 6:23 is the ultimate bad news / good news verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Death, in this context, means eternal spiritual death. We are spiritually dead until we accept the free gift God has given us and “confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9).

When Homer refers to “this guy,” he means Jesus, of course. As Homer notes, Jesus committed no sins. He was God in flesh who lived the perfect life in our place and who took the punishment we deserved to reconcile us to Him.

Many believe that “good people” go to Heaven, but the Bible couldn’t be more clear in disagreeing with that. It only took one sin to get Adam and Eve kicked out of the original paradise on earth. And even if being 51% good would cut it with God, we are kidding ourselves to think we are achieving that mark (I know I’m nowhere close to that). If you think you are a good enough person to get into Heaven on your own, try this link.