Fellowship With Known and Vital Error

Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin. Those who know and love the truth of God cannot have fellowship with that which is diametrically opposed thereto, and there can be no reason why they should pretend that they have such fellowship.

~Spurgeon, "A Fragment Upon The Downgrade Controversy"

Remember, Jesus said to beware of the leaven of Herod and the Pharisees; Paul said that a "little" leaven leavens the whole loaf.

Mar 8:15  And He was giving orders to them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 

1Co 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 1Co 5:7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

Gal 5:7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? Gal 5:8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. Gal 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. Gal 5:10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

Hath God Said? Any distortion of the Genesis Record Leads To A False Gospel

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"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). 
--- 
[by one man] 
There is no warrant in the New Testament for the heretical notion that “Adam” is simply a generic term representing the human race. He was “one man,” in fact “the first man” (I Corinthians 15:45). There were no pre-Adamite men, as some have alleged, and certainly no population of evolving hominids becoming Adam. In fact, Christ Himself made it clear that Adam and Eve were “from the beginning of the creation” (Mark 10:6, quoting Genesis 1:27). Adam was a real person, directly created and made by God, and so was Eve. The entire argument of Romans 5:12-21 becomes irrelevant if the Genesis record of the creation and fall of Adam did not happen just as recorded in Genesis 1–3, and this would mean there is no reality in the saving work of Christ either. Destroying or distorting the plain Genesis record undermines and eventually destroys the gospel of salvation. Such a devastating undermining of the Christian faith is surely not warranted by the fragmentary and self-contradictory fossil evidences that have been alleged to support the notion of human evolution. 
--- 
[death by sin] 
Thus there was no death before sin entered the world. The finished creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), with an abundance of food and all other provisions for man and the animals. There was certainly no struggle for existence, or survival of the fittest, for every creature was created fit for its own environment. When Adam sinned, God brought the curse of decay and death not only upon Adam but also upon all His dominion (Genesis 3:17-19). See also I Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 8:20-22.

~ICR Facebook wall

Encouragement For Battle-Weary Biblical Christians

For the Weary Soliders of Christ Jesus

To those who find themselves constantly fighting error in their church and those who leave because of because it, I want to encourage you in the Lord. You are not alone. Many of your brothers and sisters are fighting the same battle. It is exhausting. Its disheartening. We want so badly to just rest when we enter the Lord's house on Sunday, don't we? And yet, we often times can't. Be encouraged. The time is drawing near. He is with us, leading us into victory. Don't loose heart, but continue to fight the good fight. Don't compromise because you are tired. Gear up! Re-group! Let's continue to stand for truth.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

2Co 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Heb 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Isa 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Isa 40:30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
Isa 40:31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

* Reposted from 2006

Poison

 

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People have more discernment with physical food than they do with spiritual food. Which is more urgent?

The Death of Prince

Prince died, he was unrepentant concerning all the vile, Satanic garbage he unleashed. Please pray that his wicked influence would perish with him and that there will be an awakening in this nation which causes people to rejoice in Christ and not in soul destroying pop culture wickedness.

~Chris Nelson

Deeds That Please God

Deeds that please God are inextricably constrained to doctrinal Truth and true faith:

1Jn 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Genesis 1-3

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"Genesis 1-3 is not presented as poetical or mystical. It reads just like a historical record." -  Dr. Henry M. Morris III

Sodomy: there is no gene because it's a spiritual issue

Gen 1:27  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Gen 1:28  God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Gen 18:20  And the LORD said, "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 

Jude 1:7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

1Co 6:9  Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10  nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

There's a new "study" out as reported by the UK's Independent that claims in it's headlines that "half of all people could carry gay genes".

I suggest a couple of things. The most important thing when seeing these "studies" is that you shouldn't believe them because God's Word is clear that sodomy, like drunkeness, is a spiritual problem, not a genetic one. Truth is very simple.

Listen, you don't need to worry about science. Trust the Creator on this. Walk by faith. God would not create Man in His image with a  homosexual gene. He created Man "good", in His image,to be either male or female, and that the natural God-given pairing is male to female. (Gen. 1) Romans 1 is crystal clear. STAND ON THAT. Just as there is no evolution, there is no such thing as a worry gene, a sodomy gene, nor for that matter is there a "god" gene or an alcohol gene or a smoking gene or a pedophile gene. These simply don't exist. 

Also, realize that these studies are done with a HUGE bias, from the "scientists" themselves  (who reject Christ and Scripture), to their funding (agenda biased company). The scientists themselves, besides being spiritually dead and biased against Christ, are politically biased as well (they are products of our society and the world's philosophies). In other words, SCIENTISTS ARE NOT NEUTRAL. No man is. Ever.  Moreover, they are foolish, ignorant, and darkened in knowledge and understanding (Eph. 4). They deny the Creator, so of course they will deny sodomy as sin.

 

To take their word over God's is to commit treason. It is to echo with Satan "Hath God said?". Doubting His Word is to doubt Him. God is wedded to His Scriptures.

Also realize key terms like "may", "could", or "suggest" and even "associate" (that is not causal, btw) and necessitates there is no evidence to substantiate a solid causal conclusion.  Also without naming such a gene ever, now there's apparently more than one according to the media. Also, read this before you read those "news" articles.

Remember, God has already spoken. Homosexuality is a sin and is the result of a hardened heart against the Creator. Also, it is contrary to sound doctrine.

Rom 1:24  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Rom 1:25  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Rom 1:26  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 

Rom 1:27  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 

Rom 1:28  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 

1Ti 1:10  the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 

Has Your Conscience Been Smitten By God of Your Sin?

"As the Christian grows in grace, he has a clearer realization of what sin is—rebellion against God; and a deeper hatred of and sorrow for it. But to think that one may be saved by Christ, whose conscience has never been smitten by the Spirit, and whose heart has not been made contrite before God—is to imagine something which has no existence in the realm of fact. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor—but the sick" (Matthew 9:12). The only ones who really seek relief from the great Physician, are those who are sick of sin—who long to be delivered from its God-dishonoring works, and its soul-defiling pollutions."

~ Arthur Pink, "Present Day Evangelism"

The sermon on the mountain is about such things--those who are poor in spirit= spiritually bankrupt, mourn over their sin, are comforted by God's great salvation and they hunger and thirst for righteousness which they do not have in and of themselves--it is all of God:

Mat 5:3  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Mat 5:4  "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

Mat 5:5  "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 

Mat 5:6  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

True Faith Is Inseparably Constrained To Sound Doctrine

Scripture and the Triune God are inseparably constrained to each other. To ignore one is to ignore both. The Triune God is the Author of Scripture. Jesus said you do not love Him (agape is the proof of justification, salvation etc) if you don’t obey His word.

Joh 14:15  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 

Joh 15:10  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Faith is an assurance of confident expectation of God and His Word, and is based on evidence of those truths which is found solely in Scripture.

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

True faith is convinced by Scripture that God is the Self-Existent One, Creator of all things by the power of His Word:

Joh 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins."

Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."

Exo 3:14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 

Heb 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation

Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. 
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Joh 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 

Heb 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

2Jo 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

True faith is inseparably constrained to conviction and assurance of spiritual truth and spiritual reality according to the Word.

It is not constrained to falsehoods like evolution, psychologies and other doctrines of demons that the world teaches.

1Jn 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

True faith is inseparably constrained to the sound doctrine of Creation, that is to say, the conviction, assurance, and understanding of a literal six day creation just as God’s Word has said. This has to do with the very nature and authority of God.

Jas 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Eph 1:13  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation

Heb 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Joh 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.

To not have faith and understanding that God is Creator and made all things out of nothing in six literal days according to Scripture is to not be saved:

2Jo 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

2Th 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 
2Th 2:11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 

1Ti 4:1  But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 

1Ti 4:2  by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 

True faith is inseparably constrained to sound doctrine.

Desiring "A" God Attempts To Bully Biblical Christians Into Accepting LGBT In Their Churches Again

"The truth is that sin is sin, temptation is temptation, and “men who have sex with men” is listed right alongside greed, drunkenness, deception, and slander as worthy of exclusion from the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9–10). All equally damnable. Who among us is innocent?" ~Desiring A God ministries on "homophobia" in the church and he goes on to bully Christians into accepting sodomites and all of LGBTs in the churches and start loving them (because apparently we don't love).

But does God equalize all sin? Scripture says that there are various sins and various levels of punishment. Moreover, sodomy is highly offensive and is actually the rock bottom of human depravity according to Romans 1 and Genesis 19.

Gen 18:20 And the LORD said, "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is EXCEEDINGLY GRAVE.

God destroyed entire cities for their sodomy which btw, included children and old people. To equalize all sin is reject the righteous justice of God (reflected for example, in the Law--murder was NOT equated with rape or stealing). To be tempted by the same sex shows an extraordinarily dark heart b/c it goes against the very nature God has given us as males and females and our order of being attracted to the opposite sex. Sodomy is rebellion against HIS order. Sodomy is absolutely of a particular wickedness.

Sodomy is a perverted desire and cannot biblically be sanitized as a mere "struggle" like someone struggling to not eat chocolate. God labels it for what it is: perverted passions and unnatural (that is, NOT according to nature--His created order). 

Romans 1 labels homosexuality as: lusts of their hearts, impure, dishonorable passions, consumed with passion, unnatural, contrary to nature.

This beating the sheep into false guilt and false hatred, perverting the natural and right reaction of disgust for sodomy is becoming the war cry of Desiring A God ministries, particularly their sodomite-in-residence, Nick Roen. 

The enemy might try to be subtle, but it's not undetectable. The downgrade of Desiring "God" (or Desiring A God) and today's Calvinists is obvious. Folks, this article is nothing but an attack on what should be a normal response to such hideous sexual perversion, along with trying to divorce what is a NORMAL and RIGHT reaction (perversion should disgust and anger us as it does God), from a mere "definition of marriage". This is a clarion call by Desiring "God" yet AGAIN, to affirm homosexual Christians AND embrace them in the church...something church discipline is supposed to weed out. Total rebellion against God and incrementalism of accepting sodomy (they bought into the lie that sodomy comes by way of DNA which is wholly UNbiblical and unsubstantiated by any true science and it will never be proven b/c it is at heart, a SIN issue, a SPIRITUAL issue--Romans 1). Between white guilt and homophobia, Desiring A God ministries is quite the tool for demonic doctrine and practices now.

In the article Roen makes some audacious, unbiblical, and awful assumptions:

"Simply put, homophobia means a fear of homosexuality and, more specifically, homosexual people. And while it is not the same as loving, biblical opposition to certain behaviors or beliefs, this fear-based attitude often leads to unhelpful stereotypes, prejudice, and even cruel mistreatment."

Honestly consider your own heart in the following examples:

• Is your belief that same-sex sexual activity is sin based finally on solid biblical exegesis? Or is it really based on the fact that you don’t understand how someone could be attracted to the same sex, and this unknown seems to you just plain creepy?
• Is your opposition to so-called same-sex marriage based on a principled biblical definition of marriage? Or is it more influenced by a fear that same-sex couples might signal the unraveling of comfortable cultural norms and usher in the end of a once-pristine “Judeo-Christian society”? Or maybe your fear is more that one such couple might move in next door, and you might actually be pressured to befriend them?
• Does your opposition to homosexual practice include the ability to lovingly welcome LGBT people into a Sunday service or other gathering with other Christians? Or does opposition for you mean that you wish they would just stay away so you aren’t made uncomfortable by their very presence?
• In standing for Christian sexual ethics, do you encourage and support those SSA believers within the church who are striving to remain faithful to biblical teaching by welcoming them into full participation in church life? Or does standing for biblical sexuality mean that they can come to church, but they can’t grow in influence or serve the body through teaching, and they should probably stay away from the youth group?
   End quote.

The subtle attacks are there. Presuming people are fearful (using an example of a man who actually was indeed attacked by a sodomite). Straw Man argument. Unless you want to rightly say we are to fear in being associated with such heinous sin; fear in compromising and becoming desensitized to such perversion. That kind of fear is biblical. Here is how Jude puts it:

Jud 1:22  And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 

Jud 1:23  save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 

"Is your belief that same-sex sexual activity is sin based finally on solid biblical exegesis? Or is it really based on the fact that you don’t understand how someone could be attracted to the same sex, and this unknown seems to you just plain creepy?"

Understanding how someone can be attracted to the same sex (a wholly perverted desire) isn't the issue and since Roen brought it up, no, how can a normal person who's heart isn't hardened to such an extent possibly understand something so utterly grotesque? It's worse than creep; it's abominable, grave, and unnatural sin.

Next Roen states:

"Is your opposition to so-called same-sex marriage based on a principled biblical definition of marriage? Or is it more influenced by a fear that same-sex couples might signal the unraveling of comfortable cultural norms and usher in the end of a once-pristine “Judeo-Christian society”? Or maybe your fear is more that one such couple might move in next door, and you might actually be pressured to befriend them?"

There we go again with the "fear" attack. His subtle attack is indeed on the unchanging order of morality, marriage, family, and society.  The worldview of the homosexual activists has indeed already changed not only our society, but our churches and Roen's a glaring example. What's wrong with hating such changes away from a biblical worldview, anyway? That should indeed be our grief. We shouldn't accept it as ok, normal, or neutral.

The presumption by Roen here too, is that sodomites WANT to befriend Christians. They want nothing of the sort once you identify yourself as a biblical Christian and as you stand firm on the Truth (and you don't even have to mention sodomy---other issues come up which will divide--their politics, psycho-heresy, Post-Modernism, pragmatism, healthcare, personal responsibility versus socialism--take your pick--that will cause the great divide to be clearly marked out--I know, I've lived through this very thing in my extended family).

Furthering his diatribe to justify his own perversion, Roen continues:

"Does your opposition to homosexual practice include the ability to lovingly welcome LGBT people into a Sunday service or other gathering with other Christians? Or does opposition for you mean that you wish they would just stay away so you aren’t made uncomfortable by their very presence?"

First of all, Roen's view of the church is way off. The churches, by very definition are the eclessia, the called out ones gathering together for worship of the triune God in spirit and in Truth. Church discipline is to weed out those in unrepentant sin--which sodomy is.

Considering that these are people who are attracted to the same sex, a perversion of desires, showing a dark heart of rebellion, they're attraction is going to exist. Who wants to be on that end of the perversion? It's  disgusting. 

Why should the church accept rebels, especially those who claim Christ? Such people are already buying into psychology which is another prohibition by God. Eph. 4 states that we are to reject the thinking of the unbelievers and their worldview and their impurities, not accept them.

Col 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 

Eph 4:17  So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 

Eph 4:18  being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 

Eph 4:19  and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 

Eph 4:20  But you did not learn Christ in this way, 

" Or does opposition for you mean that you wish they would just stay away so you aren’t made uncomfortable by their very presence?" Roen lobs at us. Well, think about this. Is he not trying to make US feel uncomfortable? Is he not trying to sanitize sodomy (soften it and relabel it as "SSA") and condemn biblical Christianity? And could it not be that the discomfort is normal because sodomy is so abnormal? Couldn't it be that the discomfort is from the fact that rebellious sinners are in our midst, and 1) likely they are here to spy out our biblical views and practices, ie criticize and test our biblical stands, 2) that they are sodomite activists here to push their views on us despite our statement of faith and preaching from the pulpit, or 3) they might act out on their perversion, 4) they are about to create a division between "us" and "them" - something Roen is involved in doing, by virtue of their identity and twisted lusts? The billy club wielded at Christians by sodomites is an evil one. Some of us know what the nature of all of this is: spiritual warfare. Biblical Christians don't want the enemy of Christ dwelling among us because they are not of Christ nor in Christ. They are dividers, instigators, activists. Why seek out a church when you know they won't agree with your wicked desires? There's only one answer: to beat them into acceptance of their wickedness and thus change the church.

Lastly Roen says:

"In standing for Christian sexual ethics, do you encourage and support those SSA believers within the church who are striving to remain faithful to biblical teaching by welcoming them into full participation in church life? Or does standing for biblical sexuality mean that they can come to church, but they can’t grow in influence or serve the body through teaching, and they should probably stay away from the youth group?" [bold, my emphasis]

Sexual ethics? Let's be clear, deviant sexual desires are SINFUL and rebellious  and spiritual in nature, not a mere moral issue to theorize about, and therefore by definition no biblicalChristian and no Christian church can support such a thing. Nor can we support such a community of rebels. Remaining faithful to biblical teaching necessitates starting with Genesis which clearly states that God created all things in six literal days by the power of His Word, that God created humankind as either male or female and that they should be attracted to each other and that sexual activity is to remain solely within biblical marriage. Further biblical teaching states that sodomy is so grave that God destroyed entire cities for it; that Jesus upheld that righteous judgement; that God condemns sodomy throughout all ages and throughout all Scripture and throughout all cultures, as see in the patriarchs (Genesis 19:1-28) - In the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13) - In the Prophets (Ezekiel 16:46-50) - In the New Testament (Romans 1:18-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Jude 7-8).  Remaing faithful to biblical teaching would necessarily then accept the Word, not argue against it, or get angry against it's declarations (James 1:19,21) that psychology, a philosophy is a doctrine of demons (James 3:15; 1Tim. 4:1-2), that sodomy and it's desires are sinful, and that evolution is false.

Why would we want rebellious people who are full of perversion and darkness want to influence the sheep? Moreover, why would the sodomites seek to do so? I appeal to my points up above numbers 1-4. The fact that he admits they want to be involved and influence others merely states my point. And my concern.

There is something else that I want to point out, as I have done so in other articles upon this topic. Scripture makes it clear that once we are born again by God, that is, given a new heart, made a new man in Christ, we are no longer identified with the old man, the enslaved man, the rebel against Christ. Rather we are now submissive under His kingship, we identify as saints, those who have new hearts, a renewed mind, understanding of biblical truth, a new will, new desires, and the indwelling HOLY Spirit who convicts us of our sin and causes us to walk in righteousness as we abide in Christ and the Word.

Be fearful of Him who WILL cast both body and soul into hell; He is the all-knowing, all-seeing God who does in fact see your perverted, rebellious, enslaved heart. Moreover He hears you slap HIS holy name onto such perverted desires, mocking and blaspheming HIS holy name and He is not to be trifled with. You ought to be fearing the Living God.

1Co 6:9  Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, 1Co 6:10  nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

1Co 6:11  And such WERE some of you.  BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  [Note that the identification is no longer with any of those sins like homosexuality, but solely with Christ--we are now saints, set free from the bondage of sin.]

Jude 1:7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Most "Christians" today use humanity as the sin-equalizer, rejecting the particular sins God has set forth as especially egregious. This itself is sinful, and ignores the severe warning of those who either commit sodomy or defend it. It treats such a sin and desire as a medical issue just like the lie of "alcoholism", claiming it's genetic (it is not). Therefore such a view by "Christians" makes the sodomite of the heart, a person who is enslaved to that unnatural, perverted sin a matter of the physical instead of the spiritual.. It denies God's judicial verdict of such a heinous crime against HIS holiness and HIS law. And it rejects true agape love that tells the sodomite of his enslavement to sin and it's just wage of death, as well as the only hope OUT of it which is by salvation in Christ alone (this means abandoning that sin altogether, which is what we do in Christ--we are, after all, more than victorious in HIM).

Such articles as Desiring A God is pumping out by Nick Roen, denies the Holy Spirit's victorious work in breaking the enslavement of sin as well as identifying with Christ in His life, death, resurrection, Who set us free from the bondage of wickedness and sin, causing us to say no to ungodliness (which by the way, starts in the heart/mind) (Titus 2:12).  

"The truth is that sin is sin, temptation is temptation, and “men who have sex with men” is listed right alongside greed, drunkenness, deception, and slander as worthy of exclusion from the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9–10). All equally damnable. Who among us is innocent?" Roen also states.

No, not all sin is equal before God. But all sin is equally wicked before the thrice holy God.

It must be stated that homosexuality is a heinous crime against God. It is first of all, a sexual sin, and secondly, it violates natural law to a great degree. Homosexuality (together with pedophilia, beastiality and necrophilia etc) are considered extremely debased sins (cf Rom. 1:24-27), worse in degree compared to other sins like theft. Now of course, we admit that all sin is sinful before God. Yet there are graduations of sin. For example, it is definitely better to lust than to engage in rape, although both are sinful. Likewise, it is better to covet than to commit a robbery. The failure to understand that there are horizontal graduations of sin is what gives us the generic "evangelical" eisegesis of Mt. 7:1, and the false idea that no one can judge sins (yet ironically they judge the one who judges as committing a worse sin). It gives rise to the specter of the sinner coming before God and praying, "Dear Lord, I thank you that I am not a judgmental person like those Pharisees. I sin openly and proudly, since I know that your blood covers my sin, unlike those self-righteous, narrow-minded and bigoted people."

~Daniel Chew

We're sinful, thus prone to yielding to temptation and entertaining sinful desires. Believers are forgiven, thus have a new nature, and are able to 1) resist the temptation to have sinful desires and 2) repent when we choose not to resist. Christ, although tested as we are, resisted temptation and did not sin, either in thought or deed. All these temptations are "such as are common to man", per James. Homosexuality is not in this category.  It is an abomination that arise only in the hearts of those who are wholly in rebellion against God and have thus been " given over" to such desires.  It is not just "a sin" that any believer will be prone to be tempted to. A born again person now has a new heart that more than acknowledges God, but worships and loves Him. This is not the case of sodomites according to Romans 1.The problem comes when homosexuality/"SSA" is moved out of its rightful context in Romans 1, into the context of James, or Matt 5.

I'm tired of people making humanity the trump card that equalizes sin and demands respect for sodomy and its participants. The thing about "humanity" is that our human nature is dead in its sins and trespasses and is naturally hostile and rebellious against God (Rom. 1, 3, Eph.2). It is precisely because of man's sin that some choose sodomy. Respect for a person being a human being is limited in scope and application. I suggest reading the Old Testament and Revelation to see how much emphasis God places on these people He made in His image and whether that affected His judgement against them or deflected His holy wrath.

Gen 18:20  Then the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave

Jude 1:7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Ignoring the heinous crime of sodomy which is ultimately against God because it's His law that is being violated, professing Christians minimize the gravity and the consequence of certain sins.

Homosexuality

Sodomy isn't confusion in the mind of a person. It is outright rebellion against God's creative order.

The Truth

Psa 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 
Psa 145:19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Joh 17:17  "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

Joh 4:24  "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 

Eph 4:20  But you did not learn Christ in this way, 
Eph 4:21  if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 
Eph 4:22  that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 
Eph 4:23  and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 

Eph 4:24  and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 

God does not hear all prayers nor is He near to all people. Neither can just anyone worship Him--it must be by a new spirit, through the Holy Spirit, and in the Word of Truth.

The Centrality of the Word

If you doubt God's Word, beginning with the Beginning or with the End, you will doubt His Word in between. How can you be sanctified then? Where will you get wisdom,knowledge and insight?

Joh 17:6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your WORD.
Joh 17:7 "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;
Joh 17:8 for the WORDS which You gave Me I have given to them; and THEY RECEIVED THEM and truly UNDERSTOOD that I came forth from You, and they BELIEVED that You sent Me.

Joh 17:14 "I have given them YOUR WORD; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Joh 17:17 "Sanctify them IN THE TRUTH; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.
Joh 17:18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be SANCTIFIED IN TRUTH.

The Word the disciples received was all the doctrines Christ taught which included:

Creation by His Word
Who the Father is
Who Jesus is
Who the Holy Spirit is
Jesus' deity
Jesus' salvation
Jesus' lordship
Jesus' resurrection
Jesus' glory
Jesus' exclusivity of salvation
Man's total depravity
Warning against the leaven of Herod and Jews (a little IS deadly)
Our new creation and identity in Christ.
Put off the old man
Knowing the Word
Obedience to the Word of Christ.
His return to gather the saints
His return as Judge over all the earth in a final battle (Day of the Lord)
Destruction of heaven and earth
How a church is to be/not be (like in Rev. 2-3)
Morality and warnings against homosexuality
God's wrath
Marriage
Literal Heaven and Hell
Church discipline
Giving
What love is and how to love
How to worship God
Promises of and how to view trials, insults, and persecutions
Nature and object of hope
Worry
Trust

Dealing With Sin As If It Is Physical And Not Spiritual Is Unbiblical

To think that there is such a thing as "mental illness" or  homosexuality is in part due to DNA or just physical things, necessarily means one doesn't need to deal with such as spiritual issues, but rather deal with these matters according to the flesh. Yet what God says is this:

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
2Co 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
2Co 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Romans 1 and Phil. 4 says these are indeed spiritual issues. 

Col 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Heb 4:13  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 

Eph 4:17  So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18  being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 

Devotion to Christ and His Doctrine: science sets itself up against the Truth

To even consider that sin is the result of the physical, that is, to accept even partially, "science's" claim that sodomy is due in part to DNA is to have started to wander from the simplicity and purity of biblical Truth and to become persuaded by "plausible" arguments that have set themselves up against Christ.

Col 2:2  that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 
Col 2:3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Col 2:4  I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 

2Co 11:3  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 

2Co 11:4  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. 

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 

2Co 10:4  for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 

2Co 10:5  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 

Which God Do You Have In Your Mind?

"The sinner’s ignorance and unconsciousness of his enmity against God are due to the false conceptions which he entertains of His nature and character. If he were better acquainted with the God of Holy Writ, he would be more aware of his hatred of Him. But the God he believes in is merely a creation of his own fancy. The true God is ineffably holy, inflexibly just. His wrath burns against sin and He will by no means clear the guilty. If mankind likes the true God, why is it that they have set up so many false gods? If they admire the truth, why have they invented so many false systems of religion?"

~ Arthur Pink, "The Doctrine of Man's Impotence"

Unity On Truth, Not Priority of Doctrines

The way in which ‘one’ is used does not speak of priority, but singularity. This distinction further upholds the necessity of unity under a common corpus of truth, common Lord, and common baptism. Paul’s intent was not to develop 'primary' truth, 'primary' Lord, and 'primary' baptism, as if secondary aspects of these eternal realities exist. His aim was not to triage or categorize levels of dogma and devotion, but to command singular devotion to indivisible truth, founded upon the Indivisible Lord. (Ref. Ephesians 4:4-6)

~Doron Gladden

We Must Look At These Things Spiritually

I'm finding lately that more and more "Christians" are looking at things from a man-centered, worldly law-of-the-land view, instead of the biblical view. 

To portray a woman who desires to kill her baby as a mere victim or accomplice and not a murderer is to ignore Jesus' own words about murder in the heart. Within aborting a baby is unbelief, self-idolatry, sexual immorality, anger, hatred, feminism, etc. To ignore the reality which is defined as truth as God has set forth in Scripture (and vice versa: truth is the reality that God has set forth in Scripture), that these things are spiritual in nature, is to miss the devastation and guilt of sin according to God.

*Abortion and **politics are spiritual in nature. To look to man's law to define reality and then deal accordingly is going to miss the ultimate issue as well as the best way to not only view these things, but how to deal with them. While righteous laws are tools of God in which to rule a nation temporarily, they are still man-centered and do indeed fluctuate with the current culture and will only have a temporal impact at best. The Jude isn't a man in a black robe sitting in a court. The Jude is God Himself, who judges not only man's actions, but his heart as well.

*For the record, both T"G"C's Joe Carter and Al Mohler both think women are not the murderers of their babies, but really just victims.

** 

When false teachers (Kenneth Copeland, Glenn Beck, and Mike Bickle) are pushing a man as anointed by God for president, that is to say, when Satan is pushing such a man to lead this country, it is clear this is a spiritual issue. When a candidate uses God, the Bible, Christianity,the pulpit, claims of words from God, and the churches to gain votes, asks for or is involved in prayer on his behalf or on the behalf of this country, it is a spiritual issue. When a candidate is immoral, lies, is underhanded, it is a spiritual issue. When a candidate accepts and parades around heretical or compromising leaders that support him as a means to gain votes, it's a spiritual issue. When a candidate who is involved in or uses Word of Faith/dominionists it is a spiritual issue. When a candidate is of a false religion like the RCC or LDS, it is a spiritual issue. When a candidate doesn't fear God it is a spiritual issue. Such candidates do not honor God in leadership and therefore earn His wrath. God demands all kings,rulers, etc to fear Him and follow Him. To GOD it is all a spiritual issue.

Isa 45:18  For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else. 19  "I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a waste place'; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright. 

God Never Changes

Mal 3:6  "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 

Where has the courage of godly men gone?

Where has the courage of godly men gone?

~ Dr. Henry Morris III