The Last Bridge

    Let me begin by saying that we start with the Holy Bible. This is the alpha and the omega of our life study. And allow me to state emphatically that either you believe that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God or you don’t. If you don’t then read no further. If you are not drinking in the word of God then you are drinking in poison. And we all know what the end result of drinking poison is. If, on the other hand, you are willing to hear me out then by all means: read on.   
    To begin with we must start with the premise that we are all sinners. We are all sinners but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to sin! My inclination could be to steal or to lie or to cheat; it doesn’t mean I have to! One can call himself a glutton but that doesn’t mean he has to behave that way. He can resist the urge if he chooses to. He doesn’t have to give in to his particular predilection. He can choose not to. He does not have to sin!
    Homosexual behavior is constrained by the same rules as any other sinful behavior. One is not compelled to behave that way except by one’s sinful nature. Now to those who decry the idea that homosexuality is sinful behavior, please see paragraph one then drink your own poison or continue to read. For those who believe that they are “born that way,” let me say I heartily agree with your premise: you are indeed born that way, just as we all are born sinners. But unlike race or ethnicity we can choose to follow our sinful natures into dark territory or we can choose not to. We are only compelled to follow our proclivities as far as we are “willing” to go. This is the concept of free will.
    Liberum arbitrium, or freedom of choice, is the ultimate human freedom. No matter what other freedom we may aspire to we ultimately make our choices based on whatever inclination we are currently under the power of. There are those who will say that some choices are not in fact choices at all but compulsory actions taken under duress. But we still are charged with the making of that choice regardless of the particular compulsion. Even under the threat of death we will either give in to the conditions set forth to save our lives or we will resist . . . to the point of death. Sin is the point of spiritual death. And those who choose to resist God face spiritual death.
    Sin is any transgression against God, whether it be deliberately lying or stealing, murder of any kind, sexual sin in its various forms, or any of a myriad of other transgressions against our heavenly Father. Yes, homosexuality is numbered among those behaviors we call sin. And we know from scripture that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The death we speak of here once more is spiritual death. Again, the very belief in spiritual death rides on the fact that one either believes in the Bible or one doesn’t. If at this point you can still say you don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God then why are you still reading this?
    The allure of sin is well known. In its most heinous form it presents us with the greatest pleasure our dark human hearts and minds can imagine. And then, once we have experienced the sweet almond taste of cyanide on our tongues the poison courses through of spiritual blood streams. No one ever said that sin was painful to begin with; if it were, no one would ever sin! No, at first we experience delight in whatever behavior our debased characters are inclined to, then, perhaps not immediately but eventually, we reap the very harvest we have sown - spiritual death.
    Warning sinners of their impending fate is not hate speech or bigotry. Calling for sinners to repent and accept the Lord, Christ Jesus as their savior is not a phobic reaction as has become the mantra of the day. Certainly there has been enough of this unproductive name-calling from both sides. Name-calling has never effected a lasting positive change. If any real dialog is to take place it must take place without the demagoguery and histrionics that have thus far defined the war of words. But the two sides cannot possibly come to any real understanding unless they come to an agreement on what sin is and what sin is not. If the holy Bible, the very word of God,  is not the measurement by which we can define sin then how, I ask you, can sin be defined? And that is the last bridge we come to. Will we use it to communicate truth or error because salvation comes only on the wings of truth, never error.