{"id":50267,"date":"2017-03-30T19:53:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=50267"},"modified":"2022-07-21T19:57:51","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T00:57:51","slug":"how-can-the-scriptures-apply-to-me-arent-we-called-to-love-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-scriptures-apply-to-me-arent-we-called-to-love-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"How can the Scriptures apply to me? Aren’t we called to love each other?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Hello,<\/p>\n

I was raised Catholic. After trying out a couple of religions, I’ve come back to the Catholic Church. I also see myself closely identifying as a pansexual. I read in Romans what it says about homosexuality, but it states things that I am not, so how can the word of God say things that are not true about me? Is it that concept of guilty by association? Since I see myself as partly homosexual, why those terms are attached to me?<\/p>\n

Jesus taught love, I’m not trying to be perverse, but aren’t we called to love each other? I mean the full embodiment of love is marriage. And if I decide to marry of the same sex, why is that wrong? Is it merely due to the inability to bear offspring?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I am not a Roman Catholic and I don’t teach Roman Catholic doctrine unless it happens to match what the Bible teaches.<\/p>\n

To claim to be pansexual means you are willing to have sex with anyone, regardless of gender or behavior. The verse you should consider is “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither\u00a0fornicators<\/strong>, nor idolaters, nor\u00a0adulterers<\/strong>, nor\u00a0effeminate<\/strong>, nor\u00a0homosexuals<\/strong>, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:9-10). In a biblical view of sin, we are talking about what a person does. What a person desires to do is called lust and what a person might think about doing, but rejects, is called temptation. A fornicator is someone who has sex with another person, to whom he is not married. An adulterer is someone who has sex with a person who is married to someone else. The effeminate refers to people who allow themselves to be used for homosexual sex. Homosexuals are the people who use another person of the same gender to have sex.<\/p>\n

The reason these things are wrong is foremost because God said they are wrong. Your personal preference doesn’t enter into the equation. Some people like to steal, and others like to get drunk, but their preference doesn’t make stealing or drunkenness acceptable.<\/p>\n

God states that certain actions are sins because they intrinsically cause harm. For example, see\u00a0Don’t you dare change my mind, but why is homosexuality bad?<\/a>\u00a0for a number of reasons why homosexuality can cause harm. Similar arguments can be made about fornication and adultery. Love is not about encouraging people to cause harm to themselves and others. Nor is love about sex as you are trying to twist it to mean. Love is wanting the best for the person you love (I Corinthians 13:4-8).<\/p>\n

Regardless of the craziness in this current world, marriage is defined by God, not man. From the beginning marriage is between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24). “And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate<\/em>” (Matthew 19:4-6). Since it is God who does the joining in marriage, He will not join people involved in sin. Thus, two adulterers cannot marry because their union is sinful. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery<\/em>” (Matthew 19:9). For the same reason two homosexuals cannot marry because their union is also sinful.<\/p>\n

No one will stop you from ruining your life here on earth and from rushing headlong into hell. But if you realize that God is offering you freedom from the sins of this world and eternal life with Him, then it is to your advantage to give up all your sins and submit to God. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal<\/em>” (I Corinthians 4:17-18).<\/p>\n\t

Response:<\/h2>\n

Thank you, Jeffrey, for clearing this up for me. When you explain it as such, it makes sense.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hello, I was raised Catholic. After trying out a couple of religions, I’ve come back to the Catholic Church. I also see myself closely identifying as a pansexual. I read in Romans what it says about homosexuality, but it states things that I am not, so how can the word of God say things…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[35,65],"class_list":["post-50267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-homosexuality","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18160,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-roman-catholic-priest-attempts-to-defend-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":0},"title":"A Roman Catholic priest attempts to defend homosexuality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I found your article concerning homosexuality and the Bible, under the title \"Is homosexuality condemned in the Scriptures?\" I would like to clarify something, and perhaps provide a new perspective. You stated that \"the reason that the Bible doesn't mention \"gay love\" is that such a thing does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26822,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-you-bashing-the-roman-catholic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":1},"title":"Why are you bashing the Roman Catholic Church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just had a question for you. I was browsing your web site (which is very nicely made, I might add) and I saw a question and it was answered about\u00a0what is wrong with the Catholic Church. It seemed to me that what was answered was mostly bashing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18531,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/catholics-venerate-mary-they-dont-worship-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":2},"title":"Catholics venerate Mary, they don’t worship her","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Allow me to begin by saying that I am not a member of your congregation. Please attend to your own flock before this is taken into account. I am a practicing Catholic that believes strongly in building character through criticism. I also do my best to apply this in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-concerns-about-the-catholic-churchs-teachings-on-celibacy-for-priests-womens-status-in-the-church-and-the-condemnation-of-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":3},"title":"I have concerns about the Catholic church’s teachings on celibacy for priests, women’s status in the church, and the condemnation of homosexuality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Perhaps I can ask you about one more thing that troubles me.\u00a0 I have always been rooted in the mercy of Jesus and his compassion toward others.\u00a0 I will call attention to behaviors but do not pass judgment on others.\u00a0 That said,\u00a0I recently came back to more fully embracing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9549,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-you-hear-that-the-catholics-voted-away-limbo\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":4},"title":"Did you hear that the Catholics voted away limbo?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would just simply like to thank you for the time and research you put into studying what the Catholics believe and using Scripture to refute it.\u00a0 I didn't really know a lot about the Catholic religion until I attended an event where a Catholic man did some basketball\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18769,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-some-good-passages-to-use-to-prove-that-we-should-not-call-catholic-priests-father\/","url_meta":{"origin":50267,"position":5},"title":"What are some good passages to use to prove that we should not call Catholic priests “father?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am thinking of some verses to refute Catholicism, and the \"father\" thing came up. Would Matthew 23:8-10 be a legitimate argument against calling a Catholic priest \"father?\" Answer: \"But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}