Subject: how can we minister to homosexuals |
Bible Note: Dear Jeff, You wrote, "...how a person’s behavior effects how he/she stands before God..." I don't think I said that -- if I did it was a mistake. Bishop Ryle stated it better than I might ever do: "When I speak of growth in grace, I do not for a moment mean that a believer's interest in Christ can grow. I do not mean that he can grow in safety, acceptance with God or security. I do not mean that he can ever be more justified, more pardoned, more forgiven, more at peace with God, than he is the first moment he believes. I hold firmly that the justification of a believer is a finished, perfect and complete work; and that the weakest saint, though he may not know and feel it, is as completely justified as the strongest. I hold firmly that our election, calling, and standing in Christ admit of no degrees, increase or diminution... I would go to the stake, God helping me, for the glorious truth, that in the matter of justification before God every believer is complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)." We'd not say that a person's behavior effects their standing before God. Rather, a person's standing before God results in a specific kind of behavior. See Galatians 6:15. Think of it this way: The fruit does not effect the species of the tree. The species of the tree results in a specific kind of fruit. In addition, the old man is not stuck on a cross, yet still able to gasp for mercy. The old man must be crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) -- i.e., dead as a door nail! The man in Christ of 2 Corinthians 5:17 is not a reformed sinner, he is a new creation. In redemption, God kills the sinner and raises him to newness in life. In Him, Doc |