Pages 504-505 … Disobedient LOVE
Thereafter you ask, “Can a person love God and disobey His Word?” … My Friend, this question the Bible itself answers with a resounding – YES! And this is especially true if we – like you & yours are publicly wont to do – equate “His Word” with every single verse in the entire Bible …
After all, in various locations throughout its texts the Bible supports – among other grave injustices – slavery (see Exodus 2:7 & Ephesians 6:5-9), animal cruelty (see Genesis 9:2 & Leviticus 11:1-47), the denigration of women (see 1 Timothy 2:12 & 1 Corinthians 14:34-35), genocide (see Deuteronomy 7:1-2 & Joshua 10:40), unjust warfare (see Numbers 31:2, 1 Samuel 15:3 & Joshua 4:13), bigoted racism (see Numbers 25:1-13 & 2 John 1:10), religious intolerance (see Exodus 22:20 & Deuteronomy 13:6-10), rape (see Deuteronomy 22:28-29 & Judges 21:10-24), sex slavery (see Genesis 19:8 & Judges 1:12-13), and infanticide (see Exodus 12:29-30 & Numbers 31:17-18) … And as such, it is appropriate for us to now ask: Can we still love God and disobey those portions of His Word as well? Can we love God by denouncing slavery, even though He supports it? And can we love God by condemning animal cruelty, even though He encourages it? And can we love God by supporting equality for women, even though He degrades it? And can we love God by fighting for world peace, even though He rejects it? And can we love God by standing for racial justice, even though He violates it? And can we love God by affirming those of faiths other than our own, even though He condemns them? And can we love God by openly supporting acts of selfless Kindness over acts of brutal violence, even though He so often refuses to do the same? … Well, I say YES WE CAN! Otherwise, our lives would be devoid of both morality & meaning, and our God would be a God not worth worshiping at all!
And as I have stated on many occasions in this very thread, the Bible itself agrees with this stance; noting quite clearly that we must test its Scriptures to see which ones are truly from God (see Luke 12:57, Romans 2:14-15, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 John 4:1 et al) … and that we must give preference to the New Testament whenever its passages seem to be in conflict with the Old (see John 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:14-15, Hebrews 7:18-22 & Hebrews 8:6-13 et al) … and that above all everyone (especially Christians like yourself) must give preference to the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospels over everything else in the Bible (see 1 Corinthians 3:11 & 2 John 1:9).
And so, all this begs the all-important question:
What DOES Jesus say therein …
What DOES Jesus say in the Gospels?
*Well, for starters he says that to truly Love his Father requires truly Loving him (John 14:21), and that to truly Love him we must abide by his commandments (John 14:15).
*And he explains quite clearly what his commandments are – that we are all to remain humble (Matthew 18:3-4), that we are all to forgive unendingly (Matthew 18:21-22), that we are all to refrain from judging others (Matthew 7:1-2), that we are all to be kind towards all our enemies (Matthew 5:44-48 – in your case, including homosexuals; see Luke 10:29-37), that we are all to care for the downtrodden (Matthew 25:31-40), and that we are all to sacrifice our own well-being to further the Peace & Joy of others in the world (Matthew 16:24) … And frankly, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that publicly denigrating homosexuals violates all of these spiritual laws!
Of course, even though you & yours are violating Jesus’ commandments in your disrespectful treatment of homosexuals, there is no need for you to worry about these very serious transgressions, as neither God nor Jesus Christ will ever condemn you for such sins (see John 5:22 + John 8:15 + John 12:47) … The Word of the Bible condemns your actions, of course (see John 12:48), and yet you too will reap only what you sow, and not one ounce more (see Luke 6:38 & Galatians 6:7-8), for – at least according to Jesus Christ – his Father is merciful (Luke 6:36) and forgiving (Matthew 6:14 + John 5:22), and the embodiment of perfect, limitless, unconditional LOVE (Matthew 5:48 + 1 John 4:18)!
Would that you & yours would all choose to heed the call of Jesus Christ and treat others similarly – even homosexuals …
Amen … Let it be so!
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