Originally posted 11/12/24
This is a continuation of a series on Theology in the Church.
Theology Part 4
Theology Part 3
Theology Part 2
Theology Part 1
Sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin.
Ninety-four percent of Evangelicals believe this to be true. My first instinct is to always run to Scripture when I have a question. Everything we need to know about living our lives are within the pages of Scripture.
1 Corinthians 7:2 tells us, “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” Paul states here that sex should be only for marriage.
Hebrews 13:4, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” All physical sexual activities outside of marriage should be considered immorral.
Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
1 Corinthians 5:1, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.”
1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”
Abortion is a sin.
Ninety-one percent of Evangelicals believe this statement is true.
Abortion is a hot topic right now. There are many opinions on the matter. We won’t explore the reasons for abortions. As best as I can tell, our opinions are not included in the Bible. It would behoove us to look at what God’s Word says. As you read this remember one thing:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)
Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Exodus 21:22-25 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” If someone murders a pregnant woman, that person is also charged fo rthe murder of the baby.”
As always, if God says it’s wrong, I do not get to say that it is right. If you would like to read more, here a few good articles.
https://www.gotquestions.org/abortion-Bible.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/is-abortion-murder.html
God created male and female.
Ninety-nine percent of Evangelicals believe this to be true.
Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 5:2, “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.”
Genesis 6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.”
Leviticus 12:7 “and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female.”
Matthew 19:4 “He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,”
Mark 10:6 “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’”
My son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child. I was waiting for the blood test to arrive that would announce the sex of their baby. I was watching videos about the development of babies. In one of the videos, it stated that the sex of the baby is determined at conception. The blood test can be given as early as 6 weeks to determine the sex of the baby. If there is a “y” chromosome present in the mother’s blood, the baby is a boy. If there is only an “x” chromosome, the baby is a girl.
Gender identity is a matter of choice.
Evangelicals seem to be split on this issue. Fifty-nine percent disagree with this statement. I trust you have read the previous topic. Since Scripture confirms that God creates male and female, do we get to choose? Didn’t God already choose?
There is a condition called gender dysphoria. Many people use that condition to strengthen their argument. Gotquestions addresses this issue in an understandable way:
“This message is somewhat more difficult to apply, however, when the possibility of someone being born gender dysphoric is raised.
First, some who deny the validity of gender dysphoria declare, “God does not make mistakes!” and thereby argue that every person is the gender they were born with. While I absolutely agree that God does not make mistakes, I do not think this statement necessarily applies to the issue at hand. Birth defects are fairly common (occurring in approximately 3% of births, according to the CDC). Birth defects are not God making a mistake. Rather, they are evidence of the havoc sin wreaks on us, even in the womb. We are all terrorized, tortured, and corrupted by sin. For some, sin has a more physical impact. But, make no mistake, no one is free from the corruption of sin. None of us is perfectly what God created us to be. No, God does not make mistakes. But yes, God allows sin to impact us, and it is sin that causes so-called mistakes.”
You can read the entire article here.
https://www.gotquestions.blog/gender-dysphoria.html
Another article you might consider reading is https://www.gotquestions.org/born-wrong-gender.html
The Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.
Evangelicals are sixty-seven percent more likely to disagree. If I do the math correctly, thirty-three percent of them believe this to be true. I will start with Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” If you believe that Christ doesn’t change, then we must believe that what was wrong in Christ’s time is still wrong today. Quite honestly, one could use that reasoning for almost everything thing in the BIble that we do not like.
Let’s look at other verses talk about this topic:
1 Corinthians 6:18, “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 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 7:2, “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”
2 Corinthians 12:21, “I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”
Colossians 3:5,“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Jude 1:7, “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
God is unconcerned with my day-to-day decisions.
Seventy-six percent of the Evangelicals disagreed with this statement. Personally, the way you answer this question is based on the way you read the question. When I looked at this statement, I thought about day-to-day decisions that are unimportant. I don’t think God cares whether I have a hamburger or a tunafish sandwich for lunch. I am not sure if he is concerned about whether I get my hair colored today, tomorrow or ever. I don’t personally like this question because it isn’t clear.
What Christians should be most concerned with remaining in the will of God. Here are a few passages that discuss the will of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”
Romans 8:27, “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;”
1 Peter 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”
These are great articles about making life’s decisions.
https://www.gotquestions.org/decision-making-Bible.html
#faith, #Bible, #Scriptures, #Christian Women, #Discipleship, #theology