This was a question by someone who wanted all these. I answered:
“Thanks for your all-important question. When we turn to the new life in Jesus, it also means that we turn away from the old life of sin. If I trust in Jesus, I do what He tells me to do—run from sin. If I refuse, it means that I don’t trust in Him but in my own judgments and thinking:
· If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)
· And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:3-6)
Nevertheless, we are all far from perfection, but when we fail, we must honestly confess our sins with the sincere intention to turn away from them:
· If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)
If we refuse, we are telling Him, “I know better than You.” And “I will not trust in your teachings but in my own inclinations.” We cannot do both—Jesus and practicing willful sin. Any sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage is sin:
· 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. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:26-28)
The life in Christ is one of sacrifice but of an eternity of joy. We all must choose either Christ or the immediate but temporary pleasures of this life.”
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