Quote:There is also a difference between judging and judgement. What you refer to as discernment is still judging.
May I point out that accepting that a person says they are gay is not ?'judging' - it is accepting what they say, or accepting who they are. Nor is saying ?'the bible says God hates those that engage in homosexual acts' judging - it is repeating/informing what the bible says. What ?'judging' is - is the judgement behind the words when the words are said (if said judgment exists).
If a person admits to homosexual acts, and I said "You have attracted Gods hate because you engaged in homosexual acts" that would be biblically correct (I just don't think the bible itself is correct here). There is no judgement, it is a statement of 'fact' based on the ?'word of God'. Judgement can occur in the attitude behind the words.
Quote:Sorry it took me so long to get back to you vikkor. No I don't observe the Sabbath. That commandment is not repeated in the New Testament. I go to church on Sunday.
Hey, no problem about the length of time. I've been rather busy. As for not being repeated in the NT - neither are the commandments not to lie, kill, sleep with another mans wife etc. Of course, I guess you could say those are repeated in the two greatest commandments given by Jesus (he did talk like the others were still valid).
From what you've written, would I be right to say that because you believe the NT to complete the OT, then any rules / commandments found in the OT must be repeated to still be valid?
I've heard the NT completes the OT saying before, but I've never actually seen (or asked for) the scriptural basis for it. If you know off the top of your head, I would be interested to know.
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As a point of interest relating to the line of questioning - there's a troublesome verse in Malachi (I think it's malachi) where the bible says "I am the lord thy God, I change not". It's troublesome when applied to many topics of change, in this case - the changing of laws. The only reasoning I can think of for a God that doesn't change, but changes rules is ?'the rules change, the principle does not'
which is
one of the reasons the principles of rules/laws is what has always truly interested me.
Read in conjunction with the above text, I'm trying to work out the basis for what you mean when you say ?'the laws are the laws' - because according to yourself, they can obviously change, and the ?'laws are no longer the laws', or ?'the laws are the laws, but can and have changed'. Presumably you mean "Only the NT laws are the laws" (I guess I'm also trying to comprehend your view against mine of 'the laws are the principles')
As for the change to the Sabbath day - the main argument I've heard for the changing of said day, in differing variations, is that it was changed to reflect Jesus rising from the dead. I've never found a particularly good answer from the people I've asked - it has always appeared to be based on texts that allow a wide degree of interpretation. Perhaps the NT completes the OT can provide a decent answer.
Quote:It doesn't matter what man or science says about homosexuality. I believe God's word. Homosexuality is wrong in God's eyes according to the Bible. But that is between the person and God, not me. The farthest I will go with it is to say what the Bible says about it. I don't treat people harshly because of their sexual orientation, etc.
Fair enough I guess, for it appears that, from yourself, no harm comes of such.