In the Biblical definition
of sin, there are no degrees of evil. Some religions use a scale to classify
their sins. The Bible does not do this. To God, murder is equally as evil as
hate, and lust is the same as adultery (1 John 3:15; Matthew 5:28). There are no mortal and venial sins in the Bible.
It clearly states that unrepentant sinners will spend eternity in hell; however, anyone who repents of
their sins will be saved and spend eternity in God’s presence (Romans
3:23, 6:23).
God did not send Jesus to
condemn the world, but in order for us all to be saved by faith in Him (Romans
3:10). God does not throw anyone into
hell (Job 34:12). It is our unbelief
that sends us to hell and our belief that guarantees us a place in heaven (John
3:18). A believer will not live in a
sinful lifestyle (1 John 1:6, 3:9).
The Bible shows us clearly that God feels the same way about all sin. Take
homosexuality for instance:
Jesus
said about marriage: “And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He
who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ “and said, ‘For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh?’” (Matthew 19:4.)
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states,
“Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionist will inherit the kingdom of God. And such WERE some of
you. But you were
washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Timothy 1:10… “Yes, these laws are made to identify as sinners all who
are immoral and impure: homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, and all
others who do things that contradict the glorious Good News of our blessed God,
whose messenger I am.”
Hebrews
13:4… "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but
whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
Please notice, God does not
single homosexuals out. However, any kind of sexual immorality such as adultery
or rape is just as bad in God's eyes as homosexuality. In fact, God does not
distinguish between sexual sinners and thieves, drunks, slanderers, swindlers,
kidnappers, liars, etc. God does not single out any sin, or judge any sin by
degrees of evil. Sin is sin in God’s sight.
Now, in case you believe
that God does not care about a person’s sexual preference, here are a few more
verses concerning lesbian and gay behavior:
Leviticus 18:22 -
"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable."
(NIV)
Leviticus 20:13 -
"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done
what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own
heads." (NIV)
This
verse includes lesbians:
Romans
1:24-27 states, "Wherefore God
also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into
a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, Who is
blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their
women did change the natural use into
that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompense of their error which they deserved."
Jude 7 says, “And don't
forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men.
Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue
to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are
punished.”
However, the good news is
that anyone can be freed from any sin merely by repenting and by asking God to forgive
us and to break sin’s hold on us. The heart is deceitfully wicked
and only a person in deception follows what he/she thinks their heart says it
is okay to do (Jeremiah 17:9). Satan is an angel of light and
he will disguise himself and give us peace to disobey the plain truth of the
Word of God (2 Corinthians 11:14).
If we discover the customs
and original language of a Bible verse and still disobey it, because we feel
peace in our heart to do so, we are foolishly walking in disobedience. I want
to encourage everyone not to excuse any sin in your life. We do not condemn
anyone, we pray for everyone now and always to be set free from the law of sin
and death and for God to set us all free to live in the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus (Romans 7:21-8:2).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, the world is so
deceived and blinded by satanic perversion of truth (2
Corinthians 4:4). I pray for the eyes of
our understanding to be enlightened and for the scales to fall off our eyes, so
we can walk in Your truth (Acts 28:27; Ephesians 1:18). We pray for those who walk in sin to find healing
for the wounds in their soul that encourages these sins. We pray that we will
all walk in holiness and bring honor and glory to Your name.
Thought for the Day:
We
love everyone unconditionally and always will, but the Word of God is the
standard for our faith, beliefs and practice.
