sin – Page 4

Are women more susceptible to sin and doctrinal error than men?

Posted on August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I mentioned earlier that there was a disruptive conversation/argument on Twitter this summer sparked by Dale Partridge concerning whether women can or should teach theology to other women. I dealt with that in my essay blog here, and also reposted Chris Hohnholz’ conclusion within it.

In my opinion this discussion is important because the conversation seems to be part of a growing segment of the faith, edging ever more to the fringe of the faith (and perhaps soon to creep OUT of the faith?) which is hyper-conservative and hyper-focused negative aspects on women. Not the feminist side but the reaction to feminists that is swinging the pendulum toward the extreme other end of the spectrum.

Some men, like Dale Partridge, and women, like Lori Alexander, (The Transformed Wife), harp on the fact that women are more susceptible to error than men, and that this is why men must lead.

This isn’t true. The hierarchy of men leading and women helping was established before the Fall of Man into sin. Eve was specifically created to be a helpmeet. Adam was told to work the garden.

The ever thoughtful, ever articulate, Chris Hohnholz rebutted this idea of women being more susceptible than men to doctrinal error. Here is his response to that erroneous concept being touted by unlearned people online:

Chris Hohnholz – Servant of Christ Jesus, @ChrisHohnholz

“Today’s #PointToPonder: In the Garden, Eve was deceived and transgressed. Adam was not deceived and transgressed. This is biblical truth. However, before you jump to making an argument about how the deception of Eve is characteristic of her being, thus consigning all women to being susceptible to deception, remember Adam was not deceived yet he transgressed.”

“Why is this important? Because some are saying that men are to lead because they are less prone to deception and were made, in their being, for such things. However, Adam’s transgression was willful and purposeful. In other words, he knew it was wrong and did it anyway.“

“Therefore, if women are susceptible, in their being to deception, men are then susceptible to rank disobedience and rebellion, in their being. Neither are by nature of their being, better for leadership. To assert otherwise is to commit a selective reading of Scripture.”

“Authority and leadership are rooted first and foremost in God who has determined our purposes and roles in accordance with His sovereign will. He has created us and gifted us uniquely for those roles and purposes. Yes, men are things women are not and women are things men are not. And it is a glorious gifting of God that it is this way. The question of what makes a person suited for authority and leadership is “What does Scripture command” not “What is the nature of our being”. So, let’s stop being cocky and attributing something to women that somehow makes them less and men more.”

—end Chris Hohnholz comment

I believe, sadly, that some of the people promoting this view enjoy making women less and men more. I believe this about Lori Alexander. Far from being an advocate of women, or a support for women, her comments seem to constantly berate women.

The other day Christian journalist Megan Basham @megbasham asked
@Phil_Johnson_ on Twitter about this new stance we are seeing pop up. She said,

“I’m trying to understand what’s happening in some circles right now. Overcorrection? New hybrid strain of sharia law and evangelicalism?“

I’ve seen an increasingly strict emphasis on modesty, a narrow interpretation of women must wear head coverings. As a result, more than one person has referenced in response to these highly strict, women-submission type comments, that what next? should we be wearing Muslim hijabs, and under sharia law? (“In Islam, Sharia Law refers to the divine counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow close to God”, says the CFC.) In fact, when Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife promoted something for women that went beyond the Bible (and lacked grace) a Muslim women ‘liked’ the comment and mentioned sharia law positively.

Sisters, when your comments about women bring to mind strict Muslim culture and you have Muslims who promote Sharia law approve your posts, it is time to step back and take a look at not only what you’re posting, but what you believe.

Women and men both have strengths, both have vulnerable points. We glory in the creativity and wisdom of God who made us to complement each other in our gender roles, and who also complement each other in our churches with the Spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has dispensed.

Please watch out for and reject this hyper-submission, extra-biblical narrow and negative view of women. Both women and men are precious to God, neither are less than the other and neither are more than the other. God is great and He loves us humans, all we frail, sinful, sheep.

theology

True Freedom

Posted on July 4, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Freedom can be defined in different ways and has been, at different times in history. But as we celebrate our freedom today, 4th of July Independence Day here in the US, we celebrate the fact that on July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, says History.com. We declared our separation from Great Britain, and from the oppressive taxes and micromanagement of the King’s governing of us. We wanted to be a free people.

For 247 years we have been enjoying the civic and political freedoms our Constitution has afforded us. But Christians know that the only true freedom is in Christ. Non-believers are slaves to their sin, there is no escaping the bondage to which they are joined. Believers are freed from our past sins, and freed from the power of sun as we progressively become sanctified, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus’ life, who died on the cross.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)

Christ freed us!

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1).

Slavery to sin is the worst slavery of all. But you do not have to be subject to its laws and its oppression. Repent, believe on the Son, and be free today!

theology

We walk, we stumble, but how do we deal with aftermath of a stumble?

Posted on July 1, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

What life in Jesus is really about, in truth, is our walk. We will fall. We will gossip. We may mentally lust. We might watch porn. We might be jealous and cut out a family member. We might lash out in anger, and not a righteous anger, either. We might drive drunk. We might, God forbid, stray from the marital bed. One of a million different sins could become public and embarrass us. What do we do? We repent.

But what is your reaction to the fall? To rising up again? Therein lay the difference. What happens after we fall?

When you fell, did you stay down? Did you lay there? Did you give up?

Did you say “woe is me, I fell, I’m not worthy of Jesus”? There are many people who and engage in continued public self-flagellation in false humility, like the Pharisees.

When you got up, did you then trudge? Paul says do not trudge but spring up and finish the race! Have joy. The race is a “good” race! It is a “good” fight!

Jesus knows we are faulty, that we will stumble, that we fail. But He is there to lift us up, the Spirit is there to encourage us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20). What awaits you when you arise is the Holy Spirit, there with hand extended, to help you immeasurably!

We all fall, the joy is in the getting up and finishing, knowing that Jesus forgives our sin, and throws it as far as the east is from the west! There might be consequences, there usually are, but joy is ours to possess.

Keep looking ahead to the finish line. A crown awaits. Our home in New Jerusalem awaits. Eternal joy awaits. Our Lord awaits. Get up, get up! Pilgrims, the time is short, our time here is shortening daily. Spring up and with all joy and energy, run to the finish line!

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)

Will you be able to say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” (2 Timothy 4:7)

theology

We all have a ministry

Posted on June 13, 2023June 16, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The past few days has been involved for me with discerning a false ministry, but one that has a quarter of a million followers. Her impact is huge and the negative reverberations of her well-hidden errors will go on to the undiscerning and naïve. For that I feel prayerfully grief-stricken and have a deep concern for young ladies in this ever-darkening culture over whom they follow and what dark webs they may get caught up in.

One thing that caught my attention that I have been pondering in the calming-down aftermath here in my little corner of the world, is humility and teachability.

The more popular a teacher grows, the more chance there is for him or her to become prideful. It’s just the way of human flesh. God knows this. It is exactly why He said for new believing men not to become leaders, due to the temptation to become conceited-

and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:6).

But the moment people start noticing our ministry is just the moment we need more humility.

So now I can hear the replies in your mind. ‘But I don’t HAVE a ministry!’

My reply to young ladies, married ladies, mothers, older ladies, is that we ALL have a ministry. It might not be codified. It might not have a name. It might not be a 501(c)3. But we do have a ministry.

you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5).

We are all priests, working for His name in the spheres in which He has placed us. No matter if the sphere is large or small, we work for His name, aware that our every move, our entire being, is for His name.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1).

The young unmarried woman is a ministry – by example – of her modesty and chasteness and eagerness to learn. The married woman is a ministry – by example – of her unity with her husband and presentation of her marriage as a parable of what the Gospel is like. The mothers are a ministry – by example – of literally presenting your bodies as a sacrifice of praise to Jesus who knit the baby in your womb. Raising children is a worthy calling for both the mother and father. The older woman is a ministry – by example – of ministering to younger women. Grandchildren. Ladies in church and elsewhere. Our own raising of children may be complete (if the Lord had granted it) but there are others to minister to, encouraging them in the admonition of the Lord and exhorting to share the beauty of Jesus.

We all have work to do. We’re all in a ministry.

Now. I was also thinking of a certain someone in a ministry who said people are accusing her of the following: “I am even being called dangerous, legalistic, ungodly, and a false teacher.” She said people are saying those things of her. She is a person who does have a formal ministry. It has a quarter of a million followers, she’s been interviewed widely, she wields a great deal of influence.

None of that matters. None.

What matters is, are we ministering in such a way that the holy and spotless name of Jesus is being upheld by our teachings and our lifestyle? Ministry is about the outworking of doctrinal truths applied to our lives, in His name, for His name. Are we doing it well?

It does a person good to occasionally review one’s life, one’s ministry, one’s teachings. Are we still on the center line of doctrinal truth? Are we speaking and behaving in such a way that would bring glory to Jesus, or bring reproach to Jesus?

You know, we are told to examine ourselves, more times in the New Testament than we think.

2 Corinthians 13:5 – Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

Galatians 6:3-4 – For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.

2 Peter 1:10 – Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you;

1 Corinthians 11:28 – But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Matthew 7:5 – You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!

If we are told to examine ourselves so much for that variety of reasons, why ignore the fact that we are to examine ourselves when we are doing ministry? No! Let it not be so!

Let us all, those in formal ministry and those who quietly or informally minister, examine ourselves to see that we are doing and saying things that are pleasing to God. If people are saying to us or about us that we’re dangerous, legalistic, ungodly, or a false teacher the question remains: do we love Jesus first or do we love ourselves first? Our entire attention and focus must be on His name. If I am doing anything that is dangerous or false or legalistic, upon hearing such accusations, is my pride such that I never take the charges seriously and go examine myself fairly? Never let it be so!

Pride is the first sin and the most serious. It is the root of all other sins. God speaks in His word many times about pride. Here are a few,

Proverbs 8:13 – The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.

Proverbs 11:2 – When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:5 – Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

Proverbs 16:18 – Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

It is humbling to publicly repent of something done in sin or taught incorrectly in His name. It is humbling to eat crow. But pride should not be so strong that it prevents us from kneeling down and saying “I was wrong. Forgive me.”

I’ve seen some public teachers do it. Far from making me think less of them, I think MORE highly of them. I myself have been open about my mistake of following Joel Osteen at the start of my Christian life (before I had a blog, thankfully). Also of my newspaper eisegesis and looking at signs according to the news, early on in my blogging career. I was excited to finally have had all the answers in the Bible as to why the world was the way it was, and I’m not apologetic at that first rush of relief and joy and my worldview shifted so rapidly. But I am thankful the Spirit grew me out of that and I didn’t persist and become wayward in doctrine or hopefully not lead others astray.

If you are receiving congratulations for a job well done in ministry, great, but don’t let it go to your head. If you are receiving charges of falsity or error, stop, take a breath, consider the source, and examine yourself to see if it is so. The spotless name of Jesus is paramount to all we do in ministry, and yes we all have a ministry.

theology

‘The cheese shall inherit the earth’

Posted on June 6, 2023June 6, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote on my other blog yesterday about the food haul I scored at Kroger. I am trying my best to manage my budget with these ever-rising food prices. Since I’m so intolerant of processed foods I can’t cheap out or take any shortcuts with my menu. I have to cook everything I eat myself and it has to be fresh. I go thru copious amounts of fruit and veggies, and I try to find reasonably priced seafood and chicken. It’s getting harder.

One thing Kroger has is rotisserie chickens for sale. I like chicken if it’s already cooked and I can slice off my own meat, ensuring nothing texturally off is going to make me gag and turn away from chicken forever, lol.

The rotisserie chickens are getting smaller, I noticed, and the price is creeping up. They are $8 now. But when they mark them down to $4.25 and I have the $1.25-off coupon I feel like the Queen of the World when I can score a whole, cooked chicken for $3.

Lately I’ve been having tofu, eggs a that a friend in church gives away, and quinoa for my proteins, so I was ready for something more substantial. I was on the hunt for chicken!!

I stopped in after church and headed straight for the spot where the cooked chickens are kept.

But now I must digress for a moment. Before I was saved, I used to enjoy Monty Python, both the 1960-1970s TV show, and their movies. The film The Life of Brian tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as—and next door to—Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. It was one of the highest grossing movies in 1979, and is listed as one of the top 50 funniest movies. It was not without controversy, as you might expect. It was banned in several countries, it was picketed for blasphemy, and so on.

Me as a pagan, well, all that just made me want to see it all the more. There was one scene I remember and enjoyed the most. It was when a figure of the real Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount, distantly, and the people at the bottom of the mount in the back of the crowd had a hard time hearing it clearly. I remember it this way, though the actual scene in the movie is slightly different.

[Distant figure of Jesus saying] ‘The cheese shall inherit the earth’
[Crowd member] Aw, why should they get it?

I laughed. It’s just like us sinful humans, isn’t it?! To be jealous of what someone else has. Glad I’m not like that!

So back to Kroger. I’m pushing the grocery cart toward the chicken area, almost there, and just then I see a woman pulling away with three marked down chickens in her cart. WHAT?! Did she take all of them? Why should she get it?

I stewed and fumed.

Oh.

Wait a minute. I AM like that!

I talked myself down from the cliff. I decided to not think that she was greedy. I decided to think that maybe she has a large family. Maybe she has 2 friends who would appreciate the chickens. Maybe she is going to make chicken pot pies for the homeless.

I don’t know her deal, but I know my deal. The Bible tells us not to covet what others have. It also tells us to think of others above ourselves. It also tells us that God will provide. It tells us to rejoice with others. And more. So many verses I was breaking. I repented and asked the Spirit to turn my mind from my covetous anger.

God reveals sin to us and I thank Him that He revealed it immediately. I pray we recognize this reveal when it happens. I haven’t bribed anyone lately, I haven’t murdered anyone recently. I haven’t committed ‘big sins’ but I do commit sin. ‘Little’ sins are sins. Momentary sins are sins.

I can’t be SO focused on the deal that I overlook the people. If He’d wanted me to have the chickens, He’d have arranged for me to arrive 5 seconds earlier rather than 5 seconds later. Trusting that the Lord will provide is a big ask, but it helps to grow our faith. Apparently I have a ways to go in that department.

But how wonderful that we can repent to our Savior and He forgives us. How wonderful really, that He reveals our sin to us. How wonderful that He puts both big and little hurdles in front of us so we can grow in holiness.

As Jerry Bridges wrote in his fantastic book “Respectable Sins”,

“One of our problems, however, is that we neither think of ourselves as saints — with our new state’s concurrent responsibility to live as saints, nor do we think of such actions as our gossip and impatience as sin. Sin is what people outside our Christian communities do. We can readily identify sin in the immoral or unethical conduct of people in society at large. But we often fail to see it in what I call the “acceptable sins of the saints.” In effect, we, like society at large, live in denial of our sin.”

“[W]e can be orthodox in our theology and circumspect in our morality and yet tolerate in our lives some of the subtle “acceptable” sins we are discussing in these chapters. I believe that all of us have “blind spots,” character flaws, or subtle sins, that we are not aware of.”

Let’s keep our consciences sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading us to conviction of our sins. I’m not a super-saint. In this case I repented eagerly and immediately. Other times, the Spirit has had to metaphorically hit me upside the head with a 2X4 long after. But the main idea is, we should always strive to keep growing in holiness.

The Westminster Confession of Faith says of Sanctification:

1. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

2. This sanctification is throughout, in the whole man; yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part; whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

3. In which war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Sigh. Onward and upward. Only way to go.

The ‘weak’ in the verse is me, not the chicken

gonorrhea, jesus, robert a. j. gagnon, sexual sin

Sexual sins are worse. Here’s why

Posted on June 3, 2023June 3, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Sexually transmitted diseases at their basic root are a judgment from God in the way that all disease is a function of the decay the people who dwell on the earth experience as a general consequence of sin from the Fall.

Disease is a fact of the wrath of God He is providentially using in this age. Judgment aside, sexual diseases ARE a consequence of wanton sexual activity outside the biblical confines of marriage.

There is a reason God set it up so that one man and one woman enjoy conjugal relations for a lifetime. Abandoning that opens a person up to sin, emotional decay, and physical disease. Remaining in a committed marriage with only one partner, or celibate if single, immeasurably decreases your chances of contracting such a disease.

In addition, Romans 1:18-32 describes God’s wrath against sexual sin and worse perversion.

So how does one avoid God’s displeasure in sexual sin, particularly when the culture is so immoral? Even insurance advertisements use adultery and lasciviousness to sell product! Well, the Bible says,

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18).”

Barnes Notes explains,

Flee fornication – A solemn command of God – as explicit as any that thundered from Mount Sinai. None can disregard it with impunity – none can violate it without being exposed to the awful vengeance of the Almighty. There is force and emphasis in the word “flee” φεύγατε pheugate. Man should escape from it; he should not stay to reason about it; to debate the matter; or even to contend with his propensities, and to try the strength of his virtue. There are some sins which a man can resist; some about which he can reason without danger of pollution. But this is a sin where a man is safe only when he flies.

Remember Joseph. He is our example here.

But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. (Genesis 39:11-12)

His faithfulness is such that He takes ALL sinners, no matter who confesses and repents. No matter what the sin. He is loving, just, merciful and kind. However, though He is those things, at the apocalypse He will unleash His wrath and anger, and render unto the unbelieving and sinning world the due consequences of their actions.

In case you missed it above, sexual sin, any sexual sin, (pre-marital sex, AKA fornication, homosexual sex, adultery, pornography, pedophilia, lust, and all other perversions) is worse than other sins because…here it is in 1 Corinthians 6:18 again.

And a word of caution to us all before the Second Coming takes place: FLEE from sexual sin, and that includes thoughts as well as actions. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” (Hebrews 13:4)

Jesus is GREAT and faithful to help us. You do not have to be a slave to any sexual sin. “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

Amen!!

—————————-

Further Reading

Is homosexuality worse than other sins?
For this reason, Christians are right to see homosexuality as an especially debase sin that displeases God. It is contrary to His good plan for marriage, and cannot reflect the purpose for which marriage exists—to represent Christ’s relationship to the church (Eph 5:31)

Is Homosexual Practice really No Worse than Any Other Sin?
“Christ’s universal coverage of sin through his death on the cross does not mean that all sins are equal in all respects but only that all sins are equal in one respect: They are all covered.”

theology

But…there are gay penguins, right?

Posted on June 1, 2023June 1, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

It’s ‘pride in one’s homosexual sin’ month. Mother gets a day but sodomy gets a month. Hm. That’s normal in a world where evil is called good and good is called evil, light is dark and dark is light, bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter, says Isaiah 5:20.

Sometimes when mentioning that homosexuality is a sin that needs repenting for, else the person practicing it will not inherit heaven, (1 Corinthians 6:9), the person defending it as natural appeals to nature. They say, ‘What about the gay penguins? Hmm? Hmmm?’

Tufts University asked that very question, recounting the unusual same-sex activity in a variety of species of penguins. Deutsche Welle (DW) of Germany also has an article stating “10 Animal Species that show How Being Gay is Natural.” There are many articles like this.

There are only two problems with appealing to nature when defending homosexuality: they suppress the truth that God trumps nature, and most importantly, nature (or the natural world) is fallen. It is under the curse of the fallen nature of things, the same as the rest of us. Any aberrant behavior AKA sin, is due to that fall.

In fact, the creation groans for release from its curse:

For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. (Romans 8:19-22).

You weren’t born gay. Homosexuality is not a natural state. Jesus can release you from this sin.

Appealing to nature as a defense of unnatural behavior fails, because the natural world is unnatural at this point. To be sure, seasons progress along their given lines, leaves change, tides sweep in and out, people are eating and drinking and marrying and living lives. A vast majority of the world looks normal. And it did before the Flood, too (Matthew 24:38). But we stagger under the fall of Man, knowing the very ground is cursed and everything that springs from it has the potential to be abnormal. Everything and everyone.

Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5).

All creation groans. All is under pain and disorder. All things share that curse in common misery. And what comes from disorder is more disorder, such as homosexuality.

The wages of all sin is death. This includes homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, other sexual immorality like fornication outside of marriage, lust, pornography, and adultery. Homosexuals who practice their sin will not go to heaven when they die, but are headed for hell to endure eternal punishment for their sin. Just like the rest of the unrepentant sinners.

But if you want to escape this reality, this sure ending, then you have the hope of the Gospel. Repent (turn away; repudiate) your sin of homosexuality and appeal to the Lord & Savior who died on the tree for this sin, enduring God’s wrath for it, so you will not endure the wrath for it. You will be washed clean, given pure robes to wear in this earthly life, and you will go to meet your Savior in blissful heaven when you die. But you must repent of it first.

If you do not want to repent of your homosexuality, you have the Law facing you. God will be your Judge. He will open the books, examine your life, bang that gavel, declare you unfit for heaven and sentence you to hell, according to His law. The wages of sin is death, this means death in hell. The punishment is eternal because you will have sinned against an infinite God.

Homosexuality in penguins is aberrant, and it’s definitely aberrant in humans. Repent, a Savior is waiting to take you out of that hellish life of diminishing returns and expand it in joy and freedom from that sin.

bible, God, holy, salvation

We are to be holy because He is holy

Posted on April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The section in 1 Peter 1 titled “Called to be holy,” especially verses 10, & 13-21. This blog entry is about sharing my thoughts of the parallels between 1 Peter 1:1-21 and Zechariah 3. Chapter 3 in Zechariah is a tremendous passage in a tremendous book.

Perhaps the reference Peter makes to the prophets of old prophesying about the grace of God can be seen in view here in Zech 3:1-5. Let’s see.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” 5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.”

My understanding is that Joshua the High Priest here is a picture of all Israel, called to be a holy (priestly) people before God and a light to the Gentiles. Now, I don’t want to spiritualize this passage or make it be about the Church.

In this vision, God was giving direct comfort and an explicit message to Israel, but there is a wider view that I think I as a NT believer after the cross can safely take in seeing the character of satan in this scenes and the character of God, because those things don’t change.

In looking at the nature of the uncleanliness of Israel in their sin … the words used here refer to their uncleanness as human waste of the filthiest kind. That is what “Joshua”/Israel was covered in. That is how God looks at sin. This is always instructive to see. Sin is not just ugly, but it is the worst sort of pollution. It’s absolute corruption.

The thought of standing before God in my own waste is a jarring enough picture. Satan is right to accuse Israel, they were filthy. They were idolatrous, blasphemous, and sinning upon sin. How does that old adage go? ‘When satan talks to us he lies but when he talks to God he tells the truth’. He is truthfully pointing out the sin that was staining Israel.

Satan accuses us New Testament believers also, including me. (Rev 12:10). I can imagine him standing next to Jesus saying, “Did you see that? She is filthy with sin!” Ow!

But the wondrous part is when I read in Zechariah that the LORD rebuked satan for pointing it out and making the accusation!! He reminds satan that He has pulled Israel out of the fire (and us too, after the cross, 1 John 2:1). How great is His mercy that despite our filth, He loves His chosen people (and by extension, us)! It is a tremendous, tremendous scene.

And then His mercy deepens by His decision to place clean garments on Israel. They truly are a people close to His heart aren’t they! And His Holy, Merciful nature is that He also put clean garments on us when we become justified. Perhaps I can say that as Peter says in verse 7, the faith that is “more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire” is this garment of salvation! The clean garments he places on us, and it is an amazing thing. Faith in His word He’ll cleanse us of our sin and have it remain so, forever, despite satan’s accusations.

“Robe of Righteousness”, by Lars Justinen

As Zechariah closes out the section saying that the LORD ordered that a clean turban be put on the High Priest’s head, we read in Exodus 28:36 that the turban had an engraving on it that said “HOLY TO THE LORD”.

Replacing Israel’s filth stained garments, and after the cross, replacing the Church age believer’s filth stained garments, is to me the most incredible act in the entire universe. Is this what the angels think also, and is why they long to look into such things? (1 Peter 1:12). I dare to speculate perhaps so.

As we read further in the 1 Peter 1 chapter, the upcoming verses 13-15, the call of Peter for us to be holy is contrasted by this scene in Zechariah of the grace and mercy of God, who cleans His children of our own excrement, calls us holy, and gives us the garments to prove it so. Though the scene in Zechariah is discrete to Israel, I can use that picture to extend it through the cross to understand that He rebukes my accuser, cleans me of my filth, places on my head His name, and ordains over me the call to be Holy. We are to be holy because He is holy (Lev 11:44).

Understanding where I came from and what God has done for me through Jesus, and seeing the scene described so graphically in Zechariah helps me want to adhere fervently to the call of Peter to be holy for His sake- and not mine.

God is so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

theology

Thoughts on the Christian school shooting

Posted on March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a 28 year old woman from Nashville, packed herself with two assault-style rifles, a handgun, and lots of ammunition, drove to a Christian school, parked, and exited her vehicle. She shot out the glass on the side doors to the school. Entering the hall, she looked for people to kill. And kill she did, slaying a substitute teacher, a custodian, the head of school, and three nine-year-old children.

She apparently identified as a boy. She was a biological female, but preferred to think of herself as a male. She used he/him pronouns on her now defunct social media, and gave herself the name Aiden. She also dressed as a male, including a tie.

This tells us that she was on the far end of sin. As Romans 1:18-32 describes the process of deepening sin in both an individual and a society, we see that Hale was toward the end of the sin-spectrum, having a mind so futile she couldn’t figure out her own gender.

When a person is that deep into sin, Romans 1:28-31 says,

“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;“

Hale’s choice to look a 9-year old in the face and shoot her dead, along with 5 others before being killed by police herself, is evil. But sin is something that is inside each one of us.

I want us all to understand something.

In a sense, we are ALL capable (before salvation) of such evil deeds. Hitler might be seen as an anomaly but he wasn’t unusual. Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Timur, Bloody Mary, Lenin, Stalin, Idi Amin…all just as evil. History is littered with ruthless, evil leaders possessing a penchant to kill.

As for run-of-the-mill individuals, ABC News states that “There have been 131 mass shootings with four or more people wounded or killed so far in 2023.” John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, the Hillside Strangler, Skid Row Slasher…and I could go on with naming serial killers and murderers.

King David was a murderer. So was Saul/Paul.

We learn other things about murder in the Bible. For example, we learn that murder is a crime authored by the devil himself. John 8:44 says the devil is a murderer. And murder is basically authored by Satan.
John MacArthur, “Who is a Murderer?“

Hale’s decision to mass murder isn’t a fringe event (thanks to police’s swift action or there would have been many more victims, said the Metro Police Chief). Murder is a sin that is sadly in each one of us. The very first human-to-human crime was … murder. Cain slew Abel.

We tend to think sin is an abstract. We like to think it’s something that can be handled. We toy with it. We indulge sin, sometimes for a long season. Post-salvation, we respect the Bible’s stance on sin, but do we, really? Do we understand how strong sin as a force is?

Even Christians tend to overlook some sins. Ligonier Ministry wrote: “Have you ever found yourself so caught up and concerned with the rampant sinfulness of our culture that you forget about the subtle sins in your own heart? If so, Jerry Bridges has written a book for you. Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate (NavPress, 2007) takes aim at the sins many Christians consciously or unconsciously consider “acceptable” behavior.”

NO! Sin is powerful and a HUGE PROBLEM.

If we are saved, there is blessedly one direction we will go- and that’s toward sanctification, holiness, Christ-likeness. We resist the sin that is in us, every day, a little more. The Holy Spirit sees to that. But just as we cannot fathom how much the Lord loves us, we cannot fathom how evil sin is.

But if a person isn’t saved, the direction they will always go will be deeper in sin. That’s the other direction. Sometimes the Lord calls some of them home before they reach the level of evil murder. But remember, Jesus said that,

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. (Matthew 5:21-22).

Jesus is saying that yes, murdering a human is bad. Slaying a body is breaking the Law. But the human heart harbors such evils (Galatians 5:20-21) that we can’t even know (Jeremiah 17:9). Yet, the scope of God’s commandment not to murder isn’t restricted to solely the fleshly demise at the hands of another. The commandment not to kill encompasses more that just that. It concerns the glory of God, divine judgment, God’s holy character, and a person’s inner attitudes. John MacArthur explains the Matthew 5:21-22 verse,

And that’s why Jesus goes on in verse 22, and says this, “But I say unto you – ” Let Me tell what God really meant by that word in Exodus. Let Me give you the right interpretation. “ – whosoever is angry with his brother… “Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Jesus simply says, it isn’t the issue of murder alone, it’s the issue of anger and hatred in your heart. You cannot justify yourself because you don’t kill. Because if there’s hatred in your heart, you are the same as a murderer.

Allowing sin to linger causes problems for the saved person-

If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; (Psalm 66:18).

Sin is evil! We are all sinners! It is heinous to think of Audrey Hale gunning down sweet little children. Our minds recoil from that. Our hearts grieve over acts like that. But do our hearts and minds mourn and recoil over the 2 biggest sins in history? Sins worse than shooting a small child? Such as: Adam’s rebellion in the Garden, and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus?

If our mind hates that sweet innocents like the 9 year olds in Covenant Christian School were killed by Hale point blank, what about life in a perfect earth, personally knowing God, dwelling in a state of innocence, yet choosing to disobey God? What about a man like Judas, living with Jesus, seeing all his miracles, absorbing all His teaching, for three years, yet selling the most perfect and beautiful person in the universe, for money? Does our mind recoil from THAT?

This is why we all need the Gospel. We all need it, pre-salvation and even after salvation. Sin is THE most pervasive and most evil force upon the earth. Not gravity, not solar flares, not magnetism, SIN.

Do.Not.Underestimate.It.

Our hearts might be angry with a mass shooter of children, but our hearts should also ache for the sins we ourselves perpetrate. The respectable ones, the subtle ones, the overt ones. All of them. Jesus came to die for us so that we might be saved from His just wrath.

Audrey Hale wrote to a friend just before she shot up the school. She said she wanted to die. She said she’d see her friend in another life. Audrey Hale did die that day. Police shot her. She died, but sadly, her pain didn’t end then. It only began.

I grieve over the unsaved living in this ever-deepening cesspool world of sin. I grieve over their death and headlong plunge into hell and torment forever. Such was I before grace came. Be grieved or even angry over evil. But aim your anger over the true culprit: sin. Such were some of us- angry, confused, emotionally disturbed. And drunkards, addicts, homosexuals, liars, filthy beasts. The Gospel is the answer.

THANK YOU Jesus for living on earth as God-Man, a perfect life, and unjustly dying and rising again. Thank you for solving the world’s worst problem- sin and our separation from You. Thank you for giving us a right worldview and hope and peace.

Share the reason for the hope that is within us. No doubt Audrey Hale had been given the Gospel. Her parents were devout. Audrey Hale rejected it. Some will reject. But some won’t. And so we persevere, sounding forth His GOOD NEWS, until the Lord comes back –

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10)

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Kay Cude poetry: The Character of Sin

Posted on March 5, 2023 by elizabethprata

Right-click to open larger in new window. Published with permission

Artist’s Statement:

I was compelled to say something that spoke encouragement for “the saved to continue on,” even while recognizing and knowing the true character of sin, the taste and its aroma. Our efforts to reach the lost becomes harder each day; the news-media ridicules Christ’s redeemed, and with deceptive words, demands we not speak Gospel Truth. But we must “continue on.” I must keep fresh in my mind that previous centuries of the lost hated Christ, and that this present century of the lost will hate us (even as we the “saved” seek their rescue).