On March 1, 2019, The United Methodist Church made history when
it voted against a plan that would have paved the way for gay “marriage” and
clergy (LifeSiteNews). However, this
has caused a rift within the UMC. A university church senior pastor John Elford
claimed that:
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“It creates a second-class citizen in the
church. It’s like you’re not a full Christian, and you can’t do all the things
that the rest of us can do. We think that’s wrong.”
Well, a refusal to repent of sin carries serious consequences,
as Jesus had warned:
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And he answered them, “Do you think that these
Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they
suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed
them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived
in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise
perish.” (Luke 13:2-5 (ESV)
If Jesus called sinners to repent, shouldn’t we! Isn’t that
the most loving thing that we can do? It would seem that justifying their
refusal to repent is the most heartless thing we could possibly do if we
believe in Jesus and that the ultimate good is to be united with Him.
It’s not just about LGBTQ. It’s about refusing to repent of
any sin. It’s to tell Jesus, “I know better than you how to run my life.” He
certainly gives us this freedom, but love should warn about the great
consequences:
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For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable
passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are
contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women
and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts
with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans
1:26-27)
It seems that sexual sin carries a greater penalty than
most. Elsewhere, Paul explained:
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Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a
person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins
against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were
bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)
Following Paul’s logic, we cannot glorify God if we refuse
to repent of such sin. To take it a step further, a church that encourages such
sin is particularly deserving God’s wrath. Their leadership should know better.
To encourage sin is to be an enemy of God:
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You adulterous people! Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a
friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to
no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that
he has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:4-5)
Even our silence in the face of church compromise is sin:
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So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails
to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)
Therefore, Scripture instructs us to “Take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
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