Posted on 03/14/2010 11:31:29 PM PDT by OneVike
There will be many who will now automatically accuse me of claiming that those who commit adultery and other such immoral crimes should be stoned as the law of Moses commanded. However, what they fail to understand is that even under the Mosaic law, the death penalty was not the only requirement for the penalty of breaking the laws of murder, adultery, and other such crimes.
In 2Samuel chapters 11 and 12, we learn about King David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and we also learn about him having Bathsheba's husband Uriah killed because he refused to sleep with his wife. Well, under the Mosaic law the punishment that God required for such a sin was that of stoning. Both David and Bathsheba should have been stoned to death, but they were not. We can say that because David was the King is the reason he was not stoned, but we would be wrong. Fact is, God forgave David because of his broken and contrite heart. David wrote about this in Psalm 51, where it says;
Think about that, David was admitting that a sacrifice would not do, nor would any burnt offering be enough to hold back God's anger at him for his sin. What we can learn from this is that David knew he needed a change of heart to be forgiven. He understood that if God wanted him dead him and Bathsheba both would be dead, but in his heart he was truly remorseful and God, who can discern the heart knew it. So God forgave him of his sin.
Now let us jump forward to the day the Pharisees brought forward the woman caught in adultery, Jesus was supposedly caught in a dilemma. He could either agree to have the woman stoned and then suffer the consequences of those who were following Him to turn away from Him because they know that they too are guilty of similar sins that require as harsh or harsher a punishment. Or He could let her go and thus be in violation of the Mosaic law and thus prove He was not whom He claimed to be.
Well from the story of David, we know that God Jesus looks at the heart and not the actions and Christ is God, so what He did was use the Mosaic law to forgive her. So, knowing the heart of men, Jesus knew that the men who had surrounded her with stones in hand and ready to put her to death, also deserved such punishment. So He did what the law called for. He called for a witness who was innocent to cast the first stone. What what happened was one by one, starting from the eldest on down to the youngest, they all dropped their weapons of punishment and went away. Jesus looked at the woman and asked where her accusers were and she said she had none. Jesus told her, that he did not accuse her either. He did tell her however to, "go and sin no more" John 8:10-11
So, in the case of adultery that called for death by stoning, Jesus was strict to the letter of the law. However by telling her to not sin anymore He was letting her know that forgiveness comes with a change of lifestyle and this is what false teachers false to understand about the Scriptures. Any person who claims to be a Christian, but continues to willfully sin, is not a Christian. We are told by John;
However we are also told by John earlier in the same epistle;
So, we do sin as Christians, but not willfully and when we do sin we ask for forgiveness so that we can again get back into fellowship with our Christian brethren. What the false teachers are doing is leading many poor souls down the path of destruction by telling people to sin, and not to ask for forgiveness because Christ does not look at their actions as sin. All Christians come to Christ with a realization that they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we also learn that through the blood of Christ we are washed clean. However it takes courage to admit that the things we do which we enjoy are wrong, and that we must do our utmost to stop doing them as Jesus tells us. We can and do stumble and fall, but if we arrogantly continue to sin without remorse or guilt then we are condemned under the same law that God gave Moses, it is just that we are dead to the brotherhood of Christ until we repent just as the man who was sleeping with his fathers wife and Paul said to expel him from the church until he asked and gained forgiveness. 1Corinthians 5:1-6
Just like this man, the false teachers of our day needs to be expelled from the circle of Christianity and rebuked for their false teaching. We should not associate with them unless they repent, as Paul said. It is not the same as a person who never accepted Christ and we are attempting to reach them we are talking about those who have accepted the teachings of Christ but now are unrepentant sinning Christians who are actually twisting the truth of what the Scriptures teach. Until good decent Christians publicly rebuke those who hold Christ and His teachings up to ridicule the world will continue to look to the church with jaundiced eyes.
This is one of the reasons why Islam is growing so fast in America. Man's spirit wants and desires absolutes, and if they are not going to find them in Christianity, then they will gravitate to where the line of demarcation between right and wrong exists. Islam has a clear defined line of what they say is right and wrong. They also do not allow any secular governments to define what their religion teaches. Unfortunately to many people who are looking for absolutes do not see that kind of defined line in the sand in the Christian community and thus they gravitate to religious teachings that do. This is why so many flock to Islam and even Christian cults like they did in the late 70s to Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple.
So I would ask that anyone who considers themselves to be a Christian, to think long and hard when they are told by any one claiming to be a teacher of the Bible that homosexuality is OK because Jesus did not speak against it.
I pray that those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Recently there has been a slew of false teachers running around telling the world that Jesus did not condemn homosexuality so it is not a sin. Well my message today is about this topic.
Please allow me to direct all my ping list subscribers to a special message I have written for you and my non Freeper followers. Follow this link for the message, I appropriately call it Gone Fishing.
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Exactly. What the liberal “Christians” or adherents of the “Gospel of Social Justice” would have you believe, is that Christ was a radical, a feminist, a revolutionary, etc. and that He loves you so much that He just accepts you “just as you are”, i.e. not requiring any change of heart. Yes, He does accept everyone, but he expects a willing change of heart and not a “big tent” bunch of whacked out followers, who drag His name and message through the mud.
In 2 Peter 2:21 I believe this is specifically what Peter is referring to when he says “...like a dog returns to it’s own vomit...”
Here is what J Vernon McGee had to say.
J Vernon McGee summarizes this section in his unique pithy style
In this chapter Peter has dealt very definitely with the apostasy that was coming into the church through false teachers who were creeping in and teaching false doctrines, teaching that which is contrary to the Word of God. Peter says that they pervert the truth of God, and they do it for their own advantage. These false teachers exalt themselves instead of exalting Christ. They do not use the Word of God except for a few little proof texts that more or less clothe their teaching with a pious halo. They use big words which are counterfeit words. They try to impress people that they are very intellectual, and they are interested in making money. They claim that they can change people. I know that I will get into trouble by saying this, but I think you ought to examine very carefully anyone who claims to have a supernatural power to heal or to perform miracles. Another thing that sometimes identifies a false teacher is that he is living secretly in lust and sin. You and I cannot fight these false teachers; Im not attempting to fight them; Im just trying to expose them. But one day God is going to expose them, and He is going to judge them.
I’d rather have not seen the photo...ewwwww!
Nice article, but there oughtta be a rule about posting homo photos.
I love listening to McGee. You are right about his unique pithy style.
As for the homo pic, I really needed a visual for those who may still be in denial.
Sorry, no offense meant. LOL....too funny
Those liberal preachers need to be careful. The good book also states that they will be held to a tougher standard then an ignorant nonbeliever.
I find the syntax of this sentence confusing! I think that what you wanted to write was:
Except for the ceremonials ones (which Jesus repealed), all of the Mosaic laws are still in force.
Further:
However, what they fail to understand is that even under the Mosaic law, the death penalty was not the only requirement for the penalty of breaking the laws of murder, adultery, and other such crimes.
That should read:
However, what they fail to understand is that, under Mosaic law, the penalty for murder, adultery, and other such crimes was not merely death, but death by stoning.
Hope you don't mind my pointing out a few flaws in an otherwise cogent, worthwhile essay.
Regards,
Okay, I’m a little confused. Is it okay to stone adulterers, or not?
Well, obviously NOT if Jesus stands there and tells you NOT to (unless you are without sin, i.e., without even the tendency to sinfulness, which no one other than Christ was).
Regards,
BTTT
The Matthew 5 passage appears to well confirm Christ came to fulfill the law. Through faith in Christ, when we confess our sins directly to God through faith in Christ and the Cross, we also have forgiveness of sin.
I don’t see any error in your quote of OneVike’s post.
Maybe I don’t understand your meaning. Is there something we as fellow believers can understand here to exalt Christ, rather than lowering Him, which you want to point out?
Thanks, it does work better and I will take your advice and use your corrections on my blog.
Cvenger & Fee, thanks for the defense and good clarification to those who were were either confused about the way I wrote it, or wrong in their interpretation of Scriptures.
We must all stand together, because those who are with us are fewer in number then we realize. I posted this exact message on a Christian blog and it was removed by the editor of the site because many of the so-called Christian members of the site objected to the content of the message.
Great post and right on target. Many thanks and blessings.
Scripture does make clear homosexuality is a sin. Even without scripture the natural order of things attests to this. Life begats life...homosexuals cannot create children by their un-natural actions. Comman sense. additionally it causes confusion and a host of other damaging effects not only to the participants but to families, friends and society in general. Again...comman sense.
However, “reprobate minds”...(and homosexuality does affect the thinking processes)...see life and reason thru their sexual addiction lens. They will also and do excuse, cover and justify their behavior in order to continue it without a sense shame or being outcasts. Their consious has been “seared” like a hot iron.
Thanks for the ping!
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