Believers; why do many continue to sin and believe that they will be saved through the grace of Jesus?

Question

I won’t say that they can’t be saved; only God knows for sure who will be saved and who will not.
I haven’t read every text ever written but I have read and continue to read the Bible and Qur’an and have yet to read anything that supports the argument that gay Christians can continue to practice homosexuality and be saved by the grace of Jesus.
Those of you that read the Bible; know that Jesus said in the book of Matthew; chapter 5,verses 17-20:
17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
All believers; especially the more scholarly, of whom I am NOT; i.e. Ministers, Rabbis, Reverends, Imams, et al, MUST make it known throughout the community of all believing folk that it is not OK to continue sinning of any kind, under the belief that the sinner will be saved by the grace bestowed upon Jesus.
Grace is for those that confess their sins and then try not to sin anymore.
Grace is not for you to continue sinning.
I don’t like the term gay Christian either.
Jesus was neither gay nor Christian; those of you who believe yourselves to be anointed, i.e. Christian or like Jesus the Christ; the reference to Christians that are gay is not true.
No Scripture read by me makes any reference to followers of Jesus practicing homosexuality or any other sin.
When someone in the gay community can show and prove any Scripture that God says that the practice of homosexuality or any other sin is OK, then I will accept their lifestyle.

Answer 1

Jesus said we are forgiven and to go and sin no more. Not continue sinning. By Gods grace we are forgiven and it helps us to go and sin no more. God Bless.

Answer 2

You are comingling law and grace. Can't comingle new and old covenants...that's where you get contradictions that are confusing to non believers and believers (homosexual or otherwise).

If you think just because your a christian then you stops sinning, then you have yourself deluded.

I can see where you'd get that if you are reading the Bible and the Quran. The Bible indicates that grace came through Jesus Christ, an END to the law of the Old Covenant.

Rom 10:4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

The teachings of Jesus in the gospels are pre cross.

Jesus was a jew, followed jewish law and taught under the law but fortold of the coming of a new covenant made with His blood.

Where there is a change in the priesthood, there is a change in the law.

2 new laws....
Love God
Love your neighbor.

THEREFORE....gays can be christian if they are in Christ, but I would question their motives to identify themselves as "gay". Like all of who they are as human beings is tied up in their sexuality. A gay christian, I would imagine, would identify himself as a christian, caught in a sin. Anyone can be in error, even gay people and christians.

Answer 3

Just a point here, Bible says:

"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10.

SO, dont pick on the homosexuals, there sin is equal to a lie, a simple lie. If you want to TEACH the word of God to all, as God wanted, teach the whole thing. Liars, and homosexuals are guilty of the same sin, one is no worse than the other.

Answer 4

I disagree with you 100% there. The Leviticus passage that is against homosexuality is in a section describing what the JEWS are not supposed to do, which is very clear if you read the whole section. The Genesis story of Sodom and Gomorrah doesn't say ANYTHING about homosexuality, and is about rape and inhospitality, evidenced by NUMEROUS other Bible references, including one I believe by Jesus HIMSELF. And the writings of Paul, who I believe was a very spiritual man, are nothing but THAT; writings of a MAN, and a homophobic one at that.

And since there are SEVERAL references to POSITIVE representations of homosexual relationships in the Bible, one of which was ALSO by Jesus himself, I tend to believe otherwise. The way to be saved is through the grace of God by accepting Jesus as your savior. AS for what YOU are doing here, it is EXACTLY what the Pharisees were doing in Jesus's time: Read what YOU wrote in your question in verse 20. Maybe you should reconsider whether YOU are saved!

And finally the most convincing argument that I believe can be made. Science is showing that homosexuals are not choosing to be homosexuals, but are MADE that way, despite whatever you want to believe. AND GOD DOESN'T MAKE JUNK. If God made me this way, he certainly wouldn't condemn me to hell for what he did! The God I believe in is not that petty, not that cruel, and that he wants us ALL with him in heaven.

EDIT ADDED:

Thanks for your response to my answer Uncle Daddy. I would like to explain further, but for some reason when I reply, yahoo is telling me: "Your email did not go through because the recipient\'s email address has not been confirmed" I will try again later in case the problem is with Yahoo

Answer 5

Even Paul had trouble with following the Lord at all times.
Maybe you should be looking to logs in your eye before digging out their splinters. Remember judge not lest you be judged and He also cautioned we would be judged by the ruler we use to judge others. You just don't know what they are thinking or have been through ect.. Maybe God in His infinite wisdom is dealing with some other fault at that time. Also when we are trying to do the right thing the devil sends us ways to sin like worrying about what your brothers in the Lord do as long as they do not have a church office of some kind and are leading others astray.
God Bless You.

Answer 6

We are all Human. Following the Gospel of Jesus is a growing process, not an instant 'fix-all'. Acceptance and understanding about sin or any other subject requires understanding. There is a wealth of knowlege about homosexuality in medical research along the lines of behavioral studies in the field of human sexuality. For example, Doctor Drew, the host of Love Line, has stated repeatedly how sexual abuse of children can change their sexual orientation. His opinion is based on proven medical evidence. In fact he states that early childhood abuse of any kind changes a persons brain physiology permanently. Jesus' translation of the Law is to 'Love your neighbor as yourself' and he includes our enemies as our neighbors. Are homosexuals our neighbors? Yes, they are. I am not homosexual but I was abused as a child and I understand profoundly the ramifications of such abuse. After you have done some more study on sexual orientation and the effects of child abuse, read those scriptures again. They will take on new meaning. Grace and Sin were both redefined by Jesus as was the concept of Law. My opinion is that homosexual behavior stems from an acting out of sexual abuse and that is something that we need to deal with. Honesty and open lines of communication along with a ton of understanding are what is required by religious folks. Beating someone over the head with the Law does no good at all. There are some who disagree with me saying that some are born gay. I challenge them to review the medical data. I have yet to meet any such person.
Many Christians will quote the writings of the Apostle Paul and certain Old Testement Scriptures. I agree with those passages but then I have an understanding of homosexuality which many folks do not. It therefore becomes important for Bible thumpers to also review the medical data and read those scriptures again. They will take on new meaning as we look deeper into this issue.
In order for anyone to have a true walk with Jesus, there needs to be complete honesty. So, lets all be honest about ourselves and our experiences and let the healing begin.
Peace.

Answer 7

I agree with the basic premise of your "question", Paul addressed this in Romans 6,

Rom 6:1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 Let it not be! We who died to sin, how shall we still live in it?
Rom 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the resurrection,
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be nullified, so that we no longer serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For the one that died has been justified from sin.

Yet, as believers, we still have a sin nature and will sin.

1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
1Jo 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us the sins, and may cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jo 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

As believers, who are the elect and called of God, the work on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of all our sins, the work was done. When we sin, we ask forgiveness in order to acknowledge our sin before God and restore fellowship with Him. The work of forgiveness was already completed on the cross. I do agree that someone who willfully lives a sinful lifestyle and will not repent of it, probably was never saved and not part of the elect.

Answer 8

Endurance means the ability to last or to remain, this does not mean "works"! Look it up in the dictionary and see this word has nothing to do with good works. Question with Boldness has it right where he said faith will naturally motivate a person to do works, or it initiates a person to do good deeds but not because works is necessary for salvation, but because this person has a natural tendency to show kindness to the elderly, the sick and the poor! In Matt. 28 Jesus did not say to the disciples "Get to work, or you're not saved!" There are those who are severely handicapped in this world, and those who lie in the hospital bed who are in a coma or who can't move or speak. The JWs say works is salvation, so those JWs who are incapable of any kind of works throughout their entire lives have to put up with the JWs who go to their bedside and explain away the Watchtower version of "faith without works is dead"!

Answer 9

First of all, the context of your source verses are in the context of non-believers. Christ was saying that ALL sin is enough to be worthy of the penalty, that there s no one small sin that is okay. Therefore, all need salvation ,because any one of these sins takes you out of fellowship with God.

To say that you sin in ANY way affects your salvation MUST mean that your works are involved, and you can work your way into a right relationship with God. The question then arises: What did we need Christ for? The answe is that our salvation is by faith in Christ alone, and none of our actions (either righteous or sinful) have anything to do with it.

Paul H- be careful who you call an idiot. Your understanding of the text is wrong, too. It says "judge not lest you be judged ACCORDINGLY". The meaning is not to judge peopl by your own standards, and to only use God's standard to judge yourself or others. If it is okay for you to judge someone by your own extra-biblical standard, they are within their bounds to judge you according to their own extra-biblical standard. In Matthew 18 Jesus made it very clear that we are to approach our brothers and sisters that are way out of bounds according to God's standard.

Answer 10

The only perfect person on the Earth was Jesus. Have you tried to be perfect, its impossible, so trying not ot sin is an impossiblity in a world of sin, unless you are jesus. A person can however get saved and be forgiven. After that a person can continue to profess their sins when they pray, ebcause we do notbecome perfect, but we are regenerated every day and become more like jesus everyday. i wish it would not take a lifetime to become like him, but the process is not going to be a quick process.

Answer 11

Well I am a recently converted Catholic and through Christ i have come to realize that there are things in this world that I will never understand, but I still have to accept. Jesus loved everyone. Repentant or not he loved each man and woman as his family. Homosexuals may not be permitted to take the eucharist, but they are still to be respected and loved as people. We are all made in God's image after all even if we don't behave like it.