NOTE: This blog is the 1st draft only. The final draft is expected to be available on Kindle and Nook in Summer 2011. Please email thebedkeeper@gmail.com with any corrections, typos, or comments you'd care to share. All emails will be considered confidential and not shared with any third party for any reason, provided they do not violate United States and/or International laws regarding stalking or threats of violence and/or death, etc.
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Sincerely,
Brian Anthony Bowen, Author
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As we recall God's prophecy to eunuchs in Isaiah 56:1-8, we'll remember that the lord gave eunuchs certain conditions to abide by in order to secure the promises He has offered us, and in this section, we'll talk about what "taking firm hold of His Covenant" means. Let's review that passage again:
1 Thus says the Lord: Keep justice, do and use righteousness (conformity to the will of God which brings salvation), for My salvation is soon to come and My righteousness (My rightness and justice) to be revealed.
2 Blessed, happy, and fortunate is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold of it and binds himself fast to it, who keeps sacred the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from His people. And let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths and choose the things which please Me and hold firmly My covenant--
5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better [and more enduring] than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it and who holds fast My covenant [by conscientious obedience]
7 All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God, Who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather yet others to [Israel] besides those already gathered.
So what does Scripture say that the New Covenant is? Well, Scripture says it better than I ever could, so for most of this section, I'm going to just allow God's Word to explain it to us in His own Words:
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [ ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:28
And He said to them, This is My blood [which ratifies] the new covenant, [the blood] which is being poured out for (on account of) many. Mark 14:24
And in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you. Luke 22:20
Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance. 1 Corinthians 11:25
8 For I tell you that Christ (the Messiah) became a servant and a minister to the circumcised (the Jews) in order to show God's truthfulness and honesty by confirming (verifying) the promises [given] to our fathers,
9 And [also in order] that the Gentiles (nations) might glorify God for His mercy [not covenanted] to them. As it is written, Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name. Romans 15:8-9
12 But the Law does not rest on faith [does not require faith, has nothing to do with faith], for it itself says, He who does them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [not by faith].
13 Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified);
14 To the end that through [their receiving] Christ Jesus, the blessing [promised] to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might [all] receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit.
15 To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, [if] even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed).
16 Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir). He [God] does not say, And to seeds (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons, but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to one individual, Who is [none other than] Christ (the Messiah).
17 This is my argument: The Law, which began 430 years after the covenant [concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot annul the covenant previously established (ratified) by God, so as to abolish the promise and make it void.
18 For if the inheritance [of the promise depends on observing] the Law [as these false teachers would like you to believe], it no longer [depends] on the promise; however, God gave it to Abraham [as a free gift solely] by virtue of His promise.
19 What then was the purpose of the Law? It was added [later on, after the promise, to disclose and expose to men their guilt] because of transgressions and [to make men more conscious of the sinfulness] of sin; and it was intended to be in effect until the Seed (the Descendant, the Heir) should come, to and concerning Whom the promise had been made. And it [the Law] was arranged and ordained and appointed through the instrumentality of angels [and was given] by the hand (in the person) of a go-between [Moses, an intermediary person between God and man].
20 Now a go-between (intermediary) has to do with and implies more than one party [there can be no mediator with just one person]. Yet God is [only] one Person [and He was the sole party in giving that promise to Abraham. But the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity was dependent on both]. Galatians 3:12-20
23 But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.
24 Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] and bears [children destined] for slavery; this is Hagar.
25 Now Hagar is (stands for) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem above (the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.
27 For it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband.
28 But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise.
29 Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also.
30 But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.
31 So, brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free [the supernatural]. Galatians 4:23-31
Hebrews 7
28 For the Law sets up men in their weakness [frail, sinful, dying human beings] as high priests, but the word of [God's] oath, which [was spoken later] after the institution of the Law, [chooses and appoints as priest One Whose appointment is complete and permanent], a Son Who has been made perfect forever.
Hebrews 8
1 NOW THE main point of what we have to say is this: We have such a High Priest, One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic [God] in heaven,
2 As officiating Priest, a Minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle which is erected not by man but by the Lord.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this [High Priest] to have some offering to make also.
4 If then He were still living on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are [already priests] who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law.
5 [But these offer] service [merely] as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, See to it that you make it all [exactly] according to the copy (the model) which was shown to you on the mountain.
6 But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one.
8 However, He finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says, Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, when I will make and ratify a new covenant or agreement with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day when I grasped them by the hand to help and relieve them and to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide in My agreement with them, and so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
11 And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of, and get acquainted by experience with) the Lord, for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more.
13 When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether.
Hebrews 9
1 Now even the first covenant had its own rules and regulations for divine worship, and it had a sanctuary [but one] of this world.
2 For a tabernacle (tent) was erected, in the outer division or compartment of which were the lampstand and the table with [its loaves of] the showbread set forth. [This portion] is called the Holy Place.
3 But [inside] beyond the second curtain or veil, [there stood another] tabernacle [division] known as the Holy of Holies.
4 It had the golden altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold. This [ark] contained a golden jar which held the manna and the rod of Aaron that sprouted and the [two stone] slabs of the covenant [bearing the Ten Commandments].
5 Above [the ark] and overshadowing the mercy seat were the representations of the cherubim [winged creatures which were the symbols] of glory. We cannot now go into detail about these things.
6 These arrangements having thus been made, the priests enter [habitually] into the outer division of the tabernacle in performance of their ritual acts of worship.
7 But into the second [division of the tabernacle] none but the high priest goes, and he only once a year, and never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins of ignorance and thoughtlessness which the people have committed.
8 By this the Holy Spirit points out that the way into the [true Holy of] Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former [the outer portion of the] tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing,
9 Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable (a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper.
10 For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of what these things foreshadow--a better covenant].
11 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,
12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?
15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance--since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.
16 For where there is a [last] will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,
17 For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 So even the [old] first covenant (God's will) was not inaugurated and ratified and put in force without the shedding of blood.
19 For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of slain calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself and all the people,
20 Saying these words: This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the [sacred] vessels and appliances used in [divine] worship.
22 [In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.
23 By such means, therefore, it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be purified, but the actual heavenly things themselves [required far] better and nobler sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].
27 And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment,
28 Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.
Hebrews 10
1 For since the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come--instead of fully expressing those things--it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars].
2 For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin.
3 But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for],
4 Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.
5 Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];
6 In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight.
7 Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God--[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.
8 When He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings--all of which are offered according to the Law-
9 He then went on to say, Behold, [here] I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order [as a means of expiating sin] so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter) order.
10 And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).
11 Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away--
12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
13 Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.
14 For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
15 And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]. For having said,
16 This is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding),
17 He then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more.
18 Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus,
20 By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh,
21 And since we have [such] a great and wonderful and noble Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,
22 Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.
23 So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.
24 And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,
25 Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.
26 For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward].
27 [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God].
28 Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?
30 For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people.
31 It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!
32 But be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle,
33 Sometimes being yourselves a gazingstock, publicly exposed to insults and abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship and making common cause with others who were so treated.
34 For you did sympathize and suffer along with those who were imprisoned, and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge and consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession.
35 Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.
36 For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.
37 For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay.
38 But the just shall live by faith [My righteous servant shall live by his conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him.
39 But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul. Hebrews 7:28-10:39
Taking firm hold of His Covenant
For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it. Matthew 19:12
1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Keep justice, do and use righteousness (conformity to the will of God which brings salvation), for My salvation is soon to come and My righteousness (My rightness and justice) to be revealed.
2 Blessed, happy, and fortunate is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold of it and binds himself fast to it, who keeps sacred the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from His people. And let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths and choose the things which please Me and hold firmly My covenant--
5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better [and more enduring] than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it and who holds fast My covenant [by conscientious obedience]
7 All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God, Who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather yet others to [Israel] besides those already gathered. Isaiah 56:1-8
Deliberate Sin
Now here's where some GLBT folk may cringe, because I understand how many people have been purposely persecuted with Scriptures, but as a minister of the Gospel it is still incumbent upon me to address this portion of Scripture as well;
26 For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward].
27 [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. Hebrews 10:26-27
So what does that mean to a GLBT oriented person? Well, first I would say it means exactly what it means...but there are some conditions that must be met first.
1. We must have received the Word of God, and had it accurately taught to us.
2. We must have been given the opportunity to confess our sins and accept Jesus as Lord
3. We must recognize there is a difference between "deliberate sin" and "sins due to human weaknesses and temptations.”
I think when it comes to the sin issue, many Christians just dismiss all same gender expressions out of hand, saying that if a person even identifies as being gay that they are already in sin. But I don't.
Instead, when ministering to the Body of Believers, I remind people that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I remind them that even "deliberate sin" can be forgiven. What really matters to God is what is in our hearts.
Secondly, I also review Scriptures that tend to illustrate that marriage is an option that God gives all believers, whether gay or straight. In other words, I truly believe that living a "sin free" lifestyle is impossible for both gays and straights. But there are measures we can take to strive to live holy lives, such as faithful marriage to one partner or celibacy.
This can seem restrictive to many, and I admit there are some difficulties, and many people fail from time to time, including heterosexual people. But that doesn't mean we should not try. The Holy Spirit of God will move upon our hearts to convict us of sin without anyone pointing our sin out to us. As one pastor said, "Once you become a Christian, you can sin all you want to, but you will never enjoy it again."
I found this statement to be very true. But there is such a thing as being so restrictive that it too can lead into sin. As discussed in Chapter 5, Paul recognized that going without sexual gratification can be a difficulty that all Christians must learn to endure at some point. Fortunately, with the Spirit of God living inside of us, this does not have to be as burdensome of a struggle as some people may assume it to be.
So what's a gay person to do? My advice, based on the Word of God is to commit to celibacy, or commit to finding a marriage partner who is also a believer. Someone you can count on to keep the marriage bed undefiled. Someone who is striving to live a holy life even as you do. But that can be hard to do in today's society when the church is so insistent that the Word of God never prescribes marriage for same gendered couples. But that should not deter us from living our very best for God.
As far as the passage quoted above from Hebrews, though I also want to bring some balance to it, and show that even the holy men of old had struggles with sin of some sort or the other. As Paul said,
14 We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.
15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [which my moral instinct condemns].
16 Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it.
17 However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
19 For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul].
21 So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands.
22 For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].
23 But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].
24 O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?
25 O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25
And as John said,
4 And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete].
5 And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way].
6 [So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both] speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel presents].
7 But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].
9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].
10 If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us [the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts]. 1 John 1:4-10
Finally, we have to remember that we will have times of testing, trials, and temptation, but we will also have times of triumph in Christ Jesus. I have found that most GLBT people turn away from God because of unloving messages regarding our "sin", and in the face of so much persecution from well meaning Christians, we often develop one of 5 attitudes.
1. We decide that we will never live up to the requirements that Christians say are necessary in order to be saved so we go to one extreme and engage in promiscuity and chance sexual encounters, thinking, "well, I'm going to hell anyway, so I may as well enjoy it." We leave the church, run away from God and His people, and never hear the salvation message in its entirety and in context with the rest of the Scriptures. (This was my attitude for many years).
2. We decide that the only reasonable thing to do is to just believe all of the Scriptures except those which cover same gender expressions. This can alter and weaken our faith in God because it weakens the Word of God to something we can live with. Rather than trying to study what the Scriptures actually say concerning same gender expressions and to whom they were actually written to, we assume that everything we have heard is true and absolute and applies to modern day GLBT people, without really giving it a second thought, hoping to be included in the congregation, and to be acceptable to God. Once we do study the Scriptures though, we find that there is a way (albeit very narrow) in which to be both Christian and gay, and remain faithful to God's Word.
3. We develop self-loathing attitudes, lie about who we are, get married to a person of the opposite sex, and then engage in the very sins that Leviticus admonishes us against, by engaging in adultery on the side in order to express our sexuality in its natural (and I believe God-given) form. (not all GLBT people engage on the side like this, but many do at some point throughout their marriage).
4. We commit to celibacy, and throw ourselves into "church work" in order to "feel holy" and to "feel useful" to God, and because we know not the Scriptures, think this is the only viable path for us spiritually. (While this is a viable path, it can often lead to overwhelming sexual temptations that violate God's people, such as priests, pastors and preachers who then prey upon young people in their congregation as their sexual temptations give way to sin, when all the while, they could have simply understood the Scriptures better, and either chosen celibacy free from temptation, or chosen to marry a person of the same gender and as Paul said, avoid "burning in our lusts.")
5. We develop self-loathing attitudes that cause us to enter "change therapies" under the false hope that our sexual orientation can be changed with enough faith, enough prayer and enough Christians quoting Scriptures to us. While there are a few people who have gone on to report success in changing their sexual orientation, it has been my experience that orientation cannot be changed, even if behavior can be. Unfortunately, many have found these therapies to cause more harm than good, and can cause many people to either give up on the process, and develop attitude #1 or attitude #3 (neither of which is honest) nor follows God's Word. These therapies are known for causing people to run faster away from God than anything, because of the undue pressure applied by well meaning Christians who think they are doing God a favor by trying to force one of His Children into a life they were not born to be in. It can cause people to become so discouraged so as to leave the church and never again return to God.
These are just some of the attitudes that develop because of traditional Christian teaching, but they are the most often recurring that I have found in ministering to God's people over the last 5 years. One thing I think is very important is to realize how the church herself actually causes people to stumble with her instruction of the Law.
Thank God He gave us a better covenant! Thank God He cleanses us from all unrighteousness! Thank God there is a better way to view traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality that will actually improve not only the lives of GLBT people, but also the lives of all members of the Body of Christ, as we all help God's House become a House of Prayer for ALL People.
This was not easy for me to share, and I know there will be some people who disagree with me on both sides of the issue, but I share what I have found to be true in my own life and ministry in hopes that it will help to continue a dialogue that helps us all realize that
God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. John 3:16-17
Make no mistake; I DO believe the Scriptures count homosexual expressions as sin, but I also see them ALWAYS set within the context of idolatry, adultery and/or rape. In Leviticus, they are couched within prohibitions against sacrificing children to the fire god, Molech. In Romans, we see it couched within prohibitions against worshiping false gods represented by images of birds, reptiles and four footed beasts. In 1 Corinthians, we see them couched in the setting of a preacher who was pimping his position as a leader and not only prostituting the Body of Christ, but also in metaphorically violating Jesus Christ Himself. In Leviticus, we see man shall not lie with man as with a woman, indicating that those being spoken to were obviously engaged in sexual relations with BOTH genders.
In Romans, we see the people being addressed had "exchanged the natural function of the opposite sex," indicating again that those being spoken to were obviously engaged in sexual relations with BOTH genders. At no time though, do we see anything in Scripture that prohibit loving expressions between members of the same gender in a faithful, lifelong committed marriage relationship between two consenting adults who are not related to each other. So while I indeed agree that Scripture prohibits SOME same sex expressions, I do not see any clear prohibition against ALL same gender expressions, the same as I see Scriptures condemn MANY heterosexual acts without forbidding heterosexual acts confined to a faithful, lifelong, committed marriage relationship between two consenting adults who are not related to each other.
