In response to...
(https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/two-minute-clip-homosexuality-every-christian-should-watch)
"...Although they knew God... they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened... Therefore God gave them over in the DESIRES of their hearts to impurity...
...and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind..."
(Romans 1:21, 24-28)
Acknowledging God while acknowledging "I am gay CANNOT be.
"So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth."
(1 John 1:6 NLT)
A person who has not taken "every thought captive to make it obey Christ"
(2 Cor. 10:4-5) is YET living in spiritual darkness.
I would say to this gentleman that he has gotten his interpretation of the gospel skewed.
The gospel is this...
"...God declared an END to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, WHO no longer FOLLOW our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit."
(Romans 8:3-4)
Where this gentleman has gone wrong is that he still THINKS homosexually... i.e., he continues to identify himself by his sinful attractions.
"Those who are dominated by the sinful nature THINK about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
SO letting your sinful nature control your MIND leads to death.
But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace."
(Romans 8:3-6)
This man, if he were a true follower of Christ, ought not to have had any gripe with the Synod. His 'issue' is a lack of peace within himself and with others as a result of an unyielded mind. He has chosen rather, by his own will, to control only the behavior of his body.
Identifying with sin should NEVER become condoned by the church, as it is being done by LGBT individuals who claim God's grace. Rather than identify with Christ, who Himself did not consider the true state of His being as something to 'cling to' (Phil. 2:5, 6), these individuals refuse to surrender their minds and yet 'cling to' a gay identity.
"Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, THROW OFF your old sinful nature... which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your THOUGHTS..."
(Ephesians 4:21-24)
To continue to identify as gay IS self-condemning.
To identify oneself as a gay Christian IS exalting one's shame.
How can calling oneself a gay Christian be any different than saying something like the following?
"I am an angry Christian"
"I am a Christian drunkard"
"I am a Christian drug dealer"
"I am a Christian terrorist"
"I am a greedy, covetous Christian"
These are all oxymorons and we know it.
Paul mourned the 'morons' of his day...
"For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction... they exult in their shame, and they THINK about earthly things."
(Philippians 3:18-19)
We, as Christians, MUST rather...
"Keep thinking about things above, NOT things on the earth... put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil DESIRE..."
(Colossians 3:2-3, 5-6)
The desire itself IS sin!
It MUST be confessed as such, or there can be no deliverance.
Jesus' "But I say" verses of Matthew 5 confirm that God's intention through Jesus was to rescue our minds and thoughts back to Himself.
The wisest counselor in history once said,
"Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.
Remove perverse speech from your mouth...
Let your eyes look directly in front of you and let your gaze look straight before you.
Make the path for your feet level, so that all your ways may be established.
Do not turn to the right or to the left; turn yourself away from evil."
(Proverbs 4:23-27)
To permit gay emotions within oneself...
To verbally identify as gay...
To speak in support of gay sympathies...
IS a wide and meandering path of obscurity.
There is no freedom in Christ where a Christian drags behind him admissible sinful thoughts and identities.
If you desire peace within yourself and within the church...
"Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above..."
(Colossians 3:2)
"So we... rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen..."
(2 Corinthians 4:18)
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things... And the God of peace will be with you."
(Philippians 4:8-9)
"Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your MIND..."
(Romans 12:2)
Being INTO anything that displeases God IS self-condemning.
The 'no condemnation' part of Christianity is only for...
"...those who are IN Christ Jesus...
The outlook of the flesh IS death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
(Romans 8:1, 5-8)
The Law of God concerned the deeds done in the body.
The Law of Christ concerns the state of the mind.
"...Lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful DESIRES, to be renewed in the spirit of your MIND."
(Ephesians 4:22-23)
The writer of Hebrews adds this,
"...IF they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
BUT as it is, they aspire to (to direct one's hopes or ambitions toward) a better land, that is, a heavenly one.
THEREFORE, God is not ashamed to be called their God..."
(Hebrews 11:15-16)
Horrifying is the thought that God would be ashamed of any person who calls Him their God.
When the Holy Spirit possesses and controls you, He CHANGES you.
"...The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you...
You will be changed into a different person.
After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you...
God gave him a new heart..."
(1 Samuel 10:6-7, 9 NLT)
When you are IN Christ, He makes you new from the inside out.
"...So that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart...
...If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; what is old has passed away..."
(2 Corinthians 5:12, 17)
Temptation is from the devil. If temptation is resisted, the devil will flee...and with him, the temptation.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
(James 4:7 KJV)
A person who is always angry in his heart, but never shouts has not been delivered from sin.
A person who covets others' things yet never steals has not been delivered from sin.
Jesus says...
"For out of the heart come evil thoughts..."
(Matt. 15:19-20 AMP)
God is in the business of changing hearts.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings...
Heal me, O Lord , and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise."
(Jeremiah 17:9-10, 14 KJV)
Temptation to sin is NOT sin.
Adopting sinful thoughts IS sin.
Why should any Christian identify himself by the temptation with which the devil torments him?
"We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.)"
(Romans 6:6-7)
God's grace, according to Strong's, is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life".
Can the reflection of the grace of God in a mind remain gay?
A gay mind is a mind yet enslaved...a mind yet in sin.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
(Romans 6:1-2 KJV)
A gay 'Christian' has NOT put on the full armor of God.
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand...
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
(Eph. 6:11-17)
When we have NOT filled our minds with heavenly thoughts...
When we have permitted a pet temptation to define who we are...
We allow the devil a foothold in our life and we grieve the Holy Spirit.
A gay thought is a temptation...not sin.
A gay mind is the devil's stronghold.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds.
We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ."
(2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
"...Their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them, on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus."
(Romans 2:15-16)
"...So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!"
(Matt. 6:23 AMP)
A gay mind is not merely a tempted mind, but an unchanged mind...a mind with unseen and yet sinful attractions and affections.
"He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But whoever confesses and turns away from his sins will find compassion and mercy."
(Prov. 28:13 AMP)
If you've labeled yourself gay, you have not turned away from sin, but adopted it.
God CAN free His child from sinful desires and affections.
"Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save,
Nor His ear so impaired that it cannot hear.
But your wickedness has separated you from your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear...
Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness..."
(Isaiah 59:1-2, 7)
God has made a way for the repentant heart to be forgiven.
Christ removes our confessed sins as far as the east is from the west.
However, sin that we have adopted and claimed as ours acts as a barrier between us and God.
"If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it], The Lord will not hear [me]."
(Psalm 66:18)
WE must abandon evil thoughts.
WE must resist temptation.
"Let the wicked leave (behind) his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord , And He will have compassion (mercy) on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon."
(Isaiah 55:7)
Many of the people I know that struggle with this, and are fighting daily for victory, do not label themselves as gay or gay Christians. However, in order to confess their sins one to another and allow people to help them carry the burden, they have to label it as something in order for fellow man to understand—whether they say they have homosexual tendencies or they are same-sex attracted, or so on and so forth. So, if someone says they are same-sex attracted but is fighting and continually repenting of their sin ... it seems like what you are saying should apply to any sin struggle at any time and not just the issue of homosexuality—a Christian glutton, a Christian luster, a Christian liar, a Christian thief, etc., etc. However, so many people struggle with those things, even if they are fighting for victory and continually repenting. So, how do we go about labeling the struggle for the sake of those keeping us accountable without going against the word of God and creating oxymoronic statements?
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