Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jefff@locus.com (Jeff Fields) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The Laws of the Old and New Covenants Message-ID: Date: 20 Mar 91 08:56:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Los Angeles, California Lines: 39 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [This is a response to Tim Arnold's posting. >God ... wants us to fill our correct role in his creation so >the whole of creation is renewed. We ignore his guidelines at our own expense >as well as at God's. That is why as a Christian I can boldly say that sexual >activity outside of marriage will lead to more suffering than if it is avoided >because God gave us his laws for a reason and I trust God's judgment better >than I trust my own. --clh] I understand and I agree that Christians are called into a life of obedience to God. I would extend this to say that God's grace is apparent to all who see the glory of God's creation and the love he has for his creation. To sin is to harm part of God's creation. There are guidelines, as you point out, in the Bible that are for our benefit. I disagree, however, with your interpretation of what scriptural guidelines we should follow to not sin. Leviticus and Deuteronomy are filled with legal definitions of sin. The letters of Paul are filled with injunctions against immorality derived from ancient Jewish tradition and his conversion to his faith in Christ. When I look to these sources, I am confounded by many rules that I believe in my heart are imperfect transmission of God's message. So, I turn to the words of Jesus when he sums up all the legal definitions of sin in three sentences. "Love God with all your mind, body, and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two laws, hang all the laws and the prophets." (Sorry, I cannot provide the chapter and verse.) I trust God's judgement more than my own, more than the judgements of the prophets, and the apostles, and church leaders. Because they were and we are imperfect creatures, our own judgements cannot be trusted without looking to God as the ultimate adjucator of sin. So, as I Christian I cannot boldy say that all sexual behavior outside of marriage is sin or will lead to more suffering than if avoided. I can say that sex without love does lead to more pain and suffering than if it were avoided. Any act that is committed for selfish reasons or is committed without love for God's creation inflicts pain and suffering and is therefore a sin. -Jeff Fields