Wednesday, February 17, 2010

What if I am wrong?

In a conversation I was having recently I was asked what will happen if I am wrong about sexuality and whether it is a sin. It took me a little while to mull over this and come up with a theological response. I could have said I truly believe that God has shown homosexuality to be a part of the beloved creation and not a sin, but I felt that would be a cop out response and I wanted to respond in a way that offered something to think about and chew on. After some time of praying and thinking and this is what I kept coming back to.

Romans 3: 22-24 says “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 2:16 says “yet we know a person is justified not by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by doing the works of the law.”
Galatians 2:21 says “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”
John 5:24 says “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes in the one who went me has eternal life and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Mark 10:45 says “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

So what does all that scripture mean? Well it means that we are all sinners and no matter how hard we try to adhere to the law we will always fail and be sinners. Gay or straight, we are all sinners. Christian or not we are all sinners. No matter how much we seek out perfection it will be just beyond our reach because have sinned and therefor fall short.

Galatians 2 speaks beautifully about the law and how our justification not from the law but is in Christ. You see redemption is the free gift offered to any who would receive it and there is no limit on it. See Christ came and gave his life so that all might believe in him and receive that redemption.

Then you turn to the gospels and see that Jesus himself says that he came to bring redemption to all who would hear and believe and for that cause was willing to go as far as to give his life for us.

So what happens if I am wrong? Well nothing, because I have placed my faith in the creator of the universe and as such have faith that redemption has been given to me because I believe. John Wesley once said“Faith, therefore, is the "necessary" condition of justification; yea, and the "only necessary" condition thereof”. This means that by faith were we are redeemed. So if I am completely wrong (though I must say I do not believe I am) that is ok because I have the assurance through faith in Jesus Christ that I will be redeemed. After all it is not about whether I sin or not but whether I accept the saving grace that comes from faith in Jesus Christ. To put it simply it is not about what we say and do but where we place our trust. I for one place my trust at the feet of Jesus and in the one who created us all and loves us all.

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