I believe homosexuality is a sin as well. But the questions asked are valid.
Todd
MY RESPONSE:
Hello Todd,
Thank you for that clarification. I am thankful that you hold to the Bible's view of homosexuality and lesbianism being sin. That is all too rare.
You asked, "Did you even read the article?" Yes, I read the article carefully. Jeff’s article says:
“One of the lesbian women who now serves in our church”
–Is she a lesbian woman or is she a born again woman? You cannot be both. If she is a lesbian woman, how is it that she is serving in his church? 2 Cor 6:14-16 “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?”
“She is a radically different person and her transformation was unmistakably the work of God’s Spirit. But apparently the Holy Spirit is not interested in transforming her sexuality yet, and I find that worthy of note.”
–This is contra-Holy Spirit (“born again”), contra-Bible, contra-repentance, and contra-Gospel. The heart of any lesbian’s sin is her lesbianism. The Lord Jesus did not talk to the serial fornicating woman at the well about her vanity, lies, or lack of love for her cat. He went to the heart of her sinful heart, confronted her with her many live in lovers, and called her to repent (John 4). If she would not have repented she would not have been saved. Do we have the same Gospel as Jesus? Will we exercise the same Gospel ministry as Jesus? Or will we invite unrepentant lesbian women into the church as sisters in Christ, who do not have to give up (repent of) their lesbian perversion “just like” the early church Gentiles didn’t have to give up shell fish? That is what Jeff Cook is proposing.
“I hear from those in other churches that gay men and women coming to faith and clearly stepping into a life of discipleship and sanctification are likewise not experiencing God transforming their sexual preferences. So how should we read this?”
–We should read it in the light of God’s Word, and conclude that they are not yet saved or “born again.” We should conclude that “such were some of you” (1 Cor. 6:11) has not yet taken place. 1 Cor 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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.”
“In the early church, the Jewish Christians became convinced that God desired to save Gentiles through faith in Christ alone, because they saw the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of the Gentiles. The common understanding of conversion in the first century was that one needed to physically change—to be circumcised and give up certain foods in order to be acceptable to God. But the early church shifted its perception of this entire group of people, not because of the Bible (the Bible was clear that all males needed to be circumcised and eating shellfish was a no-no), but because they saw the work of the Holy Spirit bursting forth from the lives of these Gentile believers.
After seeing the Spirit’s work, they changed the rules of inclusion.
I do not have a clear conviction from Christ on this point, but I wonder if that same lesson is being offered to the American Church, who so clearly sees the Holy Spirit alive and awake in some of our gay friends. I wonder if empirically we might make the same move as the first Christians who disregarded the many verses on circumcision and food laws, disregarded traditional mores, and embraced the present activity of God’s Spirit in their midst as authoritative.”
-This is a crafty slight of hand, diversion of the eye, “don’t you look at the Bible,” look over here at this hand where the false “Holy Spirit” (Jeff’s idol) is doing a new work totally contrary to Holy Spirit inspired Scripture. It is a call to go with the flow of the non-holy “Holy Spirit,” which just happens to flow with the homosexual agenda rampant in our culture. It is another “Holy Spirit” (idolatry) and another Gospel, which is not another (Gal. 1:6-9). If the genuine Holy Spirit was “so clearly… alive and awake in some of our gay friends” they would no longer be gay, because the real “new creation,” “born again” power of the Gospel spoken of in 1 Cor. 6:11, “such were some of you,” would be their new Holy Spirit empowered reality.
“I think if we did, we would not only begin to see God in new ways, we might gain many new sisters, many new brothers—just as the early church did.”
-If we did what Jeff? This is a call to throw off Biblical morality, repentance, and the Gospel. Come as you are, stay as you are. This is a LGBT friendly unholy spirit. It is friendly now, but they will remain at enmity with God under His wrath. This is a LGBT false gospel. It is inclusive now, but will exclude them from Heaven forever. Jeff Cook’s article is dangerous to the church and to the souls of men and women who must repent and believe the Gospel to be saved.
What do we do with people who are at different levels of sanctification? We preach the Word to them like Jesus. That Word includes strong, repeated, NEW TESTAMENT, instruction about sins of all types. Some of these sins are mentioned more than others due to their destructive nature. Sexual sin is one of them. And yes, people are fallen and struggle with temptations of all kinds. But a failure to preach the Word clearly, concisely, thoroughly will result in people who “just aren’t bothered by that particular sin”, even those God mentions over and over (sexual sins). Repentant people when tempted wrestle privately due to their new shame God has given them about their sin. Unrepentant people don’t have that gift from God yet and need to hear the Word about that sin. Bold, comfortable sinning should prompt the minister to reevaluate his preaching, not reevaluate the Holy Spirit. To then say the Holy Spirit has changed and clearly FORBIDDEN BY GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, life-destroying sins are now akin to Israel’s shellfish restrictions is bizarre.
I just got into a discussion with a young man on FB over this very issue. He claims to be “well-versed in the Bible” and used the shellfish argument with me as well. Sadly though, this young man does not by his own admission believe in the inerrancy of the Holy Scripture. He said it was “WRITTEN BY MAN IMPERFECTLY TRANSLATING THE WORD OF GOD.” And therefore cannot be trusted. He also sited the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a parable, not an actual event. He said, “Unless you can find me the scripture that explicitly defines marriage as one man and one woman you will continue to be a bigot who uses religion incorrectly to justify their intolerance.” Interestingly I have heard these same arguments from my Atheist nephew.
I agree with you, Pastor Chuck that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is clear about what it is teaching. Why would anyone, especially a pastor, want to exclude gay people from that list, to repent of their sin? Because it is unpopular or they are afraid of being called a bigot, when an eternal soul is at stake? That is not loving or even sensible in light of 1 Corinthians 1:18… how can we who know the truth keep silent?
I see what you are saying, but Jeff Cook isn’t merely talking about an ongoing Sanctification process that we might debate over. He goes on to suggest that we abandon the concept that homosexuals and lesbians need to repent at all. He suggests that we should view homosexuality and lesbianism like OT dietary restrictions for shell fish that simply didn’t apply to the new Gentile believers in the early church. He is clearly encouraging us to entertain homosexuals and lesbians coming as they are and staying as they are, as being the new wave of the new work of the Holy Spirit that overrides what God’s Word so clearly says (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
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4/6/13 9:30 AM
