Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Sexual sin Message-ID: Date: 16 Jul 90 06:43:22 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 55 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article zds-ux!bjstaff@uunet.uu.net writes: >Is ongoing, heterosexual, premarital sex (fornication) any less sinful than >ongoing, homosexual sex? Is ongoing, heterosexual, extramarital sex (adultery) >any less sinful than ongoing, homosexual sex? I understand that at one time > >Brad Staff >...uunet!zds-ux!bjstaff Let me tag along on Bert's posting here. Some folks out there know me already. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and out of that love would not deliberately try to harm anyone in word or deed. However, I also know that I must stand for what God says and not the philosophies of man. And please no new Mishnas. That said, here are my thoughts. It seems to me that we Christians tend to rank sin. That sin is greater than that one over there. We will stomp all over one sin and pass lightly to the side of another. In the process, we send out very confusing messages to the world about us. Fact is, sin is sin is sin. Sin acts as a barrier between us and God. Sin keeps us from God. Further, it is important to notice how Jesus dealt with sin and sinners. He never once made any sin acceptable. He never once ranked one sin as greater than another. Most of all, He loved sinners; He loved them in the ultimate manner by dying for us (we are after all, sinners). I am convinced that homosexual activity is wrong and that it is a sin. But then so is adultery, pre-marital sex, stealing, murder, greed, coveting, and many more. I find no basis to rank sins. Let me say it again, sin is sin is sin. Sin separates us from God. Some say that in certain passages a particular sin or sins is marked out. But what puts this in proper perspective for me is realizing that sin, any sin, will keep one out of heaven, unless you repent and turn your life over to Jesus Christ. That is the meaning of salvation. Ranking sin pushes people away. I don't want to push them away. I want to bring them into the church where they can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ; where they can hear the good news that there is a way to be reconciled to God; where they can hear about how to have peace, the peace that passes all understanding. Church is not some country club of the self-righteous. The sinner is who Jesus came to find and save. Or put another way, the healthy have no need of a doctor, only the ill do. And John reminds us that when we say we have no sin, we are liars and God is not in us. Christians are sinners as surely as are the lost. The difference is that we are saved by grace. It is an act of God's will and decision that allows us to be saved. That act is seen in Jesus Christ who came and died for us. Without that sacrifice there would be no way to be reconciled to God. Grace and Peace, Gene