This article comes from a discussion with one of the team regarding the Australian Rugby player Israel Folau's controversy in his post saying, “Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him.”
Fundamentally if we do as we wish, we will hurt others. If we do as we wish at all times we are likely to alienate others. To repent means 'to turn around', to stop doing a thing that may hurt ourselves and others, to form a new way and make new paths and patterns in life. If a person can never say to themselves that their path is wrong, they have no power to make a new and better path. Further, in relationships, repenting is part of acknowledging how healing it can be to admit a wrong and to stop doing something that is hurting others. Repenting towards God, to cease from a sin, is a powerful way to change our path in life for good, and it can be very dramatic!
Israel Folau's post was a paraphrase of a Bible quote: He was referencing 1 Corinthians 6. The list of sinners noted on his post were: “Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolaters.” We will not go into the theology of hell here (see here) as our focus is on the concept of sin and the power of repentance. Let us take the first item there - Drunkenness. The early part of the last century saw a powerful movement of repentance via Temperance, that turned many a life from a cycle of violence and poverty to useful citizens. It is not a hidden fact that Alcoholism leads even famous and talented people into lives of distress and poverty. Here is a list of famous people who died of alcoholism https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-died-of-alcoholism/sirsinister?page=2
“Alcohol use kills 88,000 Americans a year (more than twice as many killed by opioids) and kills over 3 million people a year worldwide. Drunk driving causes hundreds of thousands of accidents and kills over 10,000 Americans a year. Nearly 200 years of research have shown that the use of alcohol contributes to increased rates of poverty, domestic abuse, neglect of children, sexual assault, and general criminal activity… The United States loses over 253 billion a year due to the social, medical, and economic damages of alcohol.” theodysseyonline
The Bible is clear when it comes to drunkedness that whereas wine is to make the heart merry, alcoholism is sin worthy of death. The Priests (Lev 10:9) and Nazarite (Num 6:3) were not to drink any wine at all. The wisdom of the Bible says,
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. (Proverbs 23:21)
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; (Eph 5:18)
The
law of the Bible went further in calling for the death penalty of a
drunkard son who would not repent.
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
Why did the law have such a harsh provision? The key is what
the Apostle Paul says, “the law is not of faith: but, The man
that doeth them shall live in them.” (Gal 3:12). The law is a
guide to a good life, to reduce early death. If the US could
eliminate drunkenness it could prevent the deaths of over 88,000 per
year, and reduce the hundreds of thousands who sorrow.
The Covenant in Christ, goes one step further and actually asks more than the Law did, as it asks the servant to watch for his coming and be sober at all times.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (1Thess. 5:7-9)
The servant of Christ may drink wine if they wish, but they have lost their salvation if they be found drunken! Israel Folau is Biblically correct to say Drunks need to repent to obtain salvation.
Israel Folau listed third Adultery as a sin requiring repentance. There is no law against Adultery in most western countries. However, in the 10 Commandments of the Law of Moses, it is listed between murder and theft, both of which are crimes punished by imprisonment.
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:13-15)
Again marital fidelity turns out to be a matter of a good, long and happy life ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Fidelity was listed first as a predictor of a failed marriage psycnet.apa.org. Trust and honesty was reported as the key factors aifs.gov.au which speaks to the fourth point Israel Folau raised.
If
a Christian may think that Christ has a softer attitude than the law
of Moses, they may wish to listen to his commandment: Listen!
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt 5:27-29)
Christ says don't even look at a woman to lust, or in pornography, as that is adultery and by doing so you go to hell. Better to take out your eyes than do that. At this point for most people the Law of Moses is looking very attractive by comparison. But Christ is not making a law, rather he is explaining what our attitude must be. We must so abhor Adultery we would not even go near it to think it. It is again a higher standard than the Law, and one most will fail to meet, but the point of it is that it is not what we do once or twice but what we think in our hearts always! There is a huge difference between a serial adulterer who never cares as to the consequences and someone who, though they know it is wrong, fails once in their life, such as King David did, and repents.
Christ did not condone Adultery. He called it a sin.
They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:4-11)
There may be more to the situation, but what is clear is
that Jesus considered what she had done was a sin. A sin she was
forgiven for, that she had to repent of and never do again.
So let us come to the key sin that calling for repentance from cost Israel Folau his job: homosexuality. It is among the sins the God of the Bible calls both an abomination (Lev 18:22), and promises that their blood will be upon them (Lev 20 :13). So let us be honest and ask the question, as we can with drunkenness, does it harm people? Is avoiding this sin going to give a longer healthier life? There was in the past a strong correlation between those who died young of AIDS and homosexuality, and it hasn't been eliminated. It is well known that the lifestyle choice, or bias to such a lifestyle, brings a much higher risk of suicide (Wikipedia). We examine the issue Here here. We concluded that if a person has an ongoing lifestyle of sin, it is a way of life to death. One act may be a different matter. There may well be consequences in this life, in any case, let alone how it may affect the hope of eternal life, but this is not a matter for Christians. The matter is that they are not under the power of sin, but living a life in general in a way that pleases God, with the attitude of mind free of being servants or slaves to these things.
In the matter of Drunkenness there is a clear benefit in repenting. There is much evidence that finding a life in Christ is a powerful way to stop cycles of alcohol or drug use. Let us ask people who have left the lifestyle of homosexuality and repented in seeking the God of the Bible-
About 200 repentant recently rallied in Washington under the banner of Freedom: 2 of whom had survived the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, and as a result repented. One had repented based on a prayer regarding their injuries.
Angel Colon explained that the true meaning of deliverance and freedom is being able to look at temptation in the eye and say, “I don’t want you, I want Jesus. That’s how you know you are free,” he added. “Our identity is not in our sexuality; it is in Jesus Christ.”
Luis Ruiz, said that like many of the people participating in the March the reason why he was there is ultimately because he had a "mother and a father that never compromised the Gospel. They prayed and prayed and believed not in my situation, but in my destiny, my identity found in Christ Jesus. It wasn’t a ‘gay to straight’ thing,” said Ruiz, “It was a ‘lost to saved’ thing.”
The group marched around the Washington Monument, across the Constitution Avenue to the Ellipse, and back, chanting, “The Lion of the God of Judah is roaring, he’s roaring, to set the captives free.” lifesitenews
They were free before surely? They weren't truly free as they felt trapped by their own desires. Y'shua puts it this way,
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:32-36)
The Apostle Paul put their experience of feeling trapped as slaves this way.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants (slaves, doulos = bond) to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18)
These 200 found they couldn't change to do something else, they felt trapped- some may never feel trapped as they know they can change- but these people felt trapped, as bound slaves to things which were not helping them be successful in their lives. Those who wallow in feeling a victim can never be successful. Yet they find that in seeking a relationship to God in Christ they feel freed from their own patterns of thought, and have new patterns where they can repent and thereafter live in a state of forgiveness and freedom from guilt of all wrong / harm to others.
Sen. Bob Dixon is an American Republican politician currently serving the Missouri State Senate. Dixon's campaign issued a statement touting his faith in God and support for traditional marriage.“I have put the childhood abuse, and the teenage confusion behind me,” said Dixon, who has a wife and three children. “What others intended for harm has resulted in untold good. I have overcome, and will not allow evil to win.”
David Kyle Fosterprofessor, television producer, and the director and founder of Mastering Life Ministries,“Perhaps my personal witness to change can be of some help. I have been changed in many and varied ways over the past 32 years after seeking the Lord at the age of 29 to deliver me from a bondage to homosexuality, pornography and other sexually addictive behaviors. After 10 years of active involvement in the ‘anything but gay’ homosexual lifestyle, Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me and has set me free from what statistics show to be a death-style lain upon the foundations of profound brokenness….My identity has been completely transformed.”
Donald Andrew "Donnie" McClurkin, Jr. (born 1959) is an American gospel singer and minister. Due to the sexual abuse of his earlier years, he had struggled with homosexuality, “I’ve been through this and have experienced God’s power to change my lifestyle. I am delivered and I know God can deliver others, too."
Dennis Jernigan…singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music, “This statement will probably produce a lot of controversy, but this is how I think of myself: I do not consider myself a recovering/former/ex gay. I consider myself a new creation. The slate of my mind is being erased and the old thoughts are being replaced with new thinking. What I have discovered in the process is that when I change my thoughts, my attitudes change. When I change my attitudes, my behaviors change. When I change my behaviors, my perspectives change. When my perspectives change, I see life from a vantage point that homosexuality NEVER afforded me.”
www.josephnicolosi.com/collection/celebrities-who-have-left-a-gay-lifestyle
This last testimony is one that many who read the Bible daily and let it transform their mind understand. The ability to adopt a perspective which is above and beyond all other forms of human thought is a sword, a knife, that allows dissection of all forms of foolishness. The servant of Christ simply sees further than any devotee to any variety of human thought.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
and
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:98-100)
Hear the 200 or so who speak of their new-found freedom! What have they found really that they didn't have before? They speak of a transformational meaningful two-way relationship in Christ which is above and beyond all human relationships.
People have a choice, either to wallow in the mud of human forms of thinking and behaviour or to mediate and keep the precepts of God to step up to see further. There is something more powerful than merely a good life in keeping the ways of the God of the Bible.
But there is more Homosexuality is in fact a sign of a society that has abandoned service to a God, or seeking God's ways to elevate the human above all! The Apostle Paul wrote to those who knew well the sexually free life of the Romans,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:18-32)
We see the steps laid out: first the person serves and loves the creature more than the Creator, whether they seek to do this or live among people who do this doesn't matter, as “be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1Cor 15:33). They then become fools as they become vain, or without depth, in their imaginations, thinking things of no worth relating to their 'self esteem'. https://biblefocus.net/living-word/Life-advice-self-esteem/index.html
If we think first of God's law and place the God of the Bible higher than any other, we have no issues with self esteem, as we do not care what others think! If they think others thoughts are more important than God's opinion of us, they are made by God to have these issues. Yes indeed! Some will seem to be 'born gay' or to have become homosexual naturally. According to Paul it is a direct interference of God in the form of a Curse!
The issue identified by our team member regarding Israel Folau's sacking was a core one: it was crime worthy of losing ones job to call on people to repent. What will the world look like if nobody can ever step back and consider their way? The end of the matter, is the power of repenting allows us to daily chose a right life style. Does the Creator know what is best for His creation? He doesn't change. What was an abomination will always be an abomination. Can humans invent things? Yes. Will it go well if we do invent things? Consider those who feel trapped, as bound slaves to their desires, even if all about them encourage them that they are 'normal', and there are 'no consequences'? There was Sodom. They didn't listen to Lot. They were proud. They didn't repent. They can't even find the stones of that city. The power of repenting from a way of life of ongoing sinning to a way of life of seeking God's approval, is to change a life heading into a dark muddy abyss eventually into unknowing darkness of eternal oblivion in death into an eternal life of glorious light, wiser than the ancients.
Fundamentally, any pain in life now is possible to bear if there is Eternity of good to look forward to, but if there is nothing but bondage and pain now, there is nothing. The light of the hope of the eternal perfect relationship of unity in Christ, in thought and attitude, is the power of repenting. Our choice. May you chose life.
For more see The blind man see s- the water of life and the power of the Word fo God
