JoJo said:
What happens a lot, Dora? They plan on continuing in their sin? Or is it that they don't view homosexuality as a sin?
Now that's a very good question, JoJo. The Evangelical Lutherans now say that the Bible does not teach that homosexuality is a sin. And yet, they will not take the further step of allowing gays and lesbians to marry. But on the other hand, they are still teaching that it is sin to have sex outside of anything other than a marriage relationship. When trying to press for an answer to the obvious dilemma here, they retreat back into the "God loves and forgives". But, if it isn't sin, what is there to forgive?
I know that the Evangelical Lutheran Church is now going to be faced with allowing gays and lesbians to marry. Many are saying it will never happen and that marriage must remain between a man and a woman. But, if they say (and they do) that homosexuality isn't sinful as long as the two involved remain monogamous and committed, and if the two involved are in a state in which they can legally marry, how is it that the church will say, "Even though you are legally married, and even though it is still the teaching that one is sinning if one is not married, we are not going to recognize your marriage" ?
Naturally there is not going to be a logical and Biblical resolution to this dilemma, because the Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is sin.
See, the thing is, I could accept that homosexuals might think that they are not sinning, especially if they are in a church that is teaching it isn't sin,
if there wasn't a Holy Spirit that convicts one of sin. But we do have the Spirit, don't we. And when I see someone who emphatically states that they are a Christian and yet is also just as emphatic that homosexuality is not sin, I question it because I know that the Spirit within me is crystal clear on the subject. The Bible teaches it, the Spirit convicts and yet somehow there is a large and growing even larger segment of folks who claim to be Christian that denies the sinfulness of homosexuality.