Equal sins?
I have been studying different sins and puinishments in the Bible for the past few days, and I have some observations and some questions.
One argument I followed on here was whether we are lost and damned because of 1. the sin nature we are born with or 2. the committing of our first actual physical sin.
Jesus said, "28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit
Mark 3
It appears to me that niether sin nature or actual sin condemns us. Jesus said all of this can be forgiven. Only rejecting Christ is unforgivable. God's Grace and conviction is brought to us by the Holy Spirit. We cannot come to Christ without this conviction and influence. Therefore, if we reject the Holy Spirit, we are also rejecting Jesus, redendering us lost.
Martthew 12: 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.
Paul spoke against Jesus when he was persecuting Christians, and Jesus forgave him. But, had Paul rejected the saving Grace of God through the witness and influence of the Holy Spirit he could not have recieved this forgiveness.
My point here is that homosexuality won't send a person to hell, only rejecting the ministry of the Holy Spirit and thereby rejecting Christ will.
I do however believe it is Biblical for man to hold people acountable at different levels for different sins. And I believe that sexual sins are at the top. I also believe that the acceptance of homosexuality by our society today is a worse sin than the practice of it. There are many people that would never experiment with homosexuality if our society didn't condone it.
1 Cor 6: 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's
Paul makes it clear here that all other sins are commited outside the body, but sexual sins are inside the temple of the Holy Ghost. I would argue that stealing a pencil at the office (although sin) doesn't compare to defiling the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 6:23
For the WAGES OF SIN [is] death; but the gift OF God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
We all know this verse but I feel it is appropriate here. It is clear that all men haved sinned, and all men will die a physical death because of it. And it is clear that no distinction is made aboput the severity of the sin. We all sin, we all die, period.
But, God also established earthly laws to hold man accountable while he is alive here on Earth. And the punishment for different crimes are different depending on the severity of the crime.
Luke 12 47-48: 47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes
48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
It's clear here that Jesus taught that some sins are worthy of more punishment than others.
Exodus 22, God put in place a huge range of punishments according to the severity of the sin.
Leviticus Chapter 20, God places extreme punishment (death) on sexual sins.
It appears to me that although homosexuality is a forgivable sin, it is still deemed as one of the worse sins by God.
It also appears to me that only the sin of not accepting Christ will send a person to Hell.
It also apears to me that we all will die a physical death for our sins, but this physical death has nothing to do with where we spend eternity. The physical death is imposed on all men, but the spiritual death is only imposed on those that reject Christ.
So, in the end, the only sin that matters (because it is unforgivable) is rejecting Christ.
Am I reading these scriptures wrong?
As far as homosexuals go, yes I hope they all repent and turn to Christ, but in the meantime, I refuse to be "unequally yoked" together with them.
John