The Kingdom Come

As my family returned from church today, there were many questions. You see, the sermon was on homosexuality and how it is no worse a sin than any other sin. I mean, the Bible does say sin is sin right (Rom 3:23)? This confuses many people because then who are we to say anything about anyone's sins; specifically homosexuals if we are equally sinful? I mean, what about the Bible verse of removing the board out of your own eye before trying to help another person remove a speck (Mt 7:2-5)?

The pastor explained like the typical modern evangelical pastor that we should befriend homosexuals ("gay" people) and understand their daily lives before we just bash them with verses of how they are sinners. After all, the pastor explained lying, gluttony, and gossiping are also sins.

What this pastor's sermon did is negate the Christian concept of accountability. Since it is not denied that all men and women sin; even daily, it would seem to make us hypocrites for ever pointing out anyone else's sin. Of course, this is typically the motive of liberals anyway, to make everything so relative that there is no distinction.

I began to explain to my wife and daughter that the Bible DOES call some sin ABOMINATION. Does this make these kinds of sins any worse? My wife pointed out that the pastor compared Leviticus 18:22 to Proverbs 6:16-20.

So doesn't that prove that lying is just as much an abomination as is homosexuality? No. Did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because it was full of liars? Or gluttonous fat people? No.

There are several problems when the topic of sin is discussed. First, it is an emotional issue and one that we can't discuss without it becoming personal. Immediately, a person will think you are simply trying to say you are better than someone else, if you claim there are degrees of sin. They may quote Lk 18:10-14 about the Pharisee and the publican (tax collector) praying and how the Pharisee prayed how he is better than other men. That is NOT what we are discussing here. As a Calvinistic Christian, I affirm that all men are sinners and yet we are restrained from being as evil as we COULD be; this is the definition of total depravity that all our being is touched by sin though we don't always sin as bad as we COULD.

Let us turn our attention to Jesus and how He instructed several people to "Go and sin no more" (John 5:14, John 8:11). Did Jesus really expect them never to commit any sins? Rather, there is a difference in sinning and being identified by your sin. Jesus was saying, no longer be identified by your sin. We aren't told if there was any specific sin-identification of the man in John 5, but the woman in John 8 was identified as an adulterer. In essence, Jesus was telling her, no longer be identified as an adulterer.

To continue, when the average Christian wakes up in the morning, before they have thought any thought or said any word, are they sinning? However, when an unrepentant murderer or an homosexual wakes up, they are immediately in a sin-identification. Does it mean the Christian will sin less during the course of the day? Probably not. However the difference is in the sin-identification.

This gets more to the heart of how Christians should interact with non-Christians and Christians who sin. When a non-Christian sins, our responsibility as Christians isn't so much to rebuke them for those individual sins, since their main need is repentance and belief in Christ Jesus. As they sin without being a Christian, they are merely doing what comes natural. However, the Bible instructs us to deal differently with people who claim to be Christians and who are sinning.

Matthew 18:15-17

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

1 John 5:16-17

If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

As you can see, especially from 1 Cor 5:9-11, there is an issue with people who identify with being a "brother" AND identify with BEING one of these other things. I really have no issue with non-Christian homosexuals any more than I have a problem with non-Christian liars. It is when Christians tell me I have to accept people who claim to be Christian and homosexual.

There is a lot more to unpack, especially as you read 1 John 5:16-17 which clearly shows a distinction between sin.
Further, Ezekiel 16:51-52 says:

"Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you."

God speaking of the sins Jerusalem is clearly making a distinction of their sins. So, next time a pastor attempts to make sin relative, I wish I could just get up and walk out since they are really making the Word of God relative and causing Christians to think they should never point out sin or else they are hypocrites. No wonder sinful identification is rampant even among the Church.