Same Kind of Different (sin) as Me?
On the topic of sin in general, and sexual sin in particular, I began life as somewhat of a libertine at heart, became ultra-conservative, and am now one who tries to keep my mouth shut because I am the worst of sinners and the most ignorant of men.
Nonetheless, I’m writing a general treatise here because I think it’s worth mentioning if it bails others out. I hope it draws me back to Jesus, and does not subject me to His judgment. As I write I sense fear, so either the enemy does not want me to write this or The Lord is saying,
“Take heed as you’ve sinned in this area so badly and need to abandon this practice.”
Likely it is both.
To generally define high-level as I see it –
Masturbation: Self-sex
Pornography: Visual material intended to stimulate sexually
Fornication: Sex between unmarried persons
Adultery: Sex between persons when one or more is married
Homosexuality: Sex between persons of the same gender
All of these are defined as sin, or falling short, by the Bible as I understand it –
Genesis 38:8-10; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Matthew 5:27-28; Job 31:1-4
Ezekiel 16:35-43 *; 1 Corinthians 6:18
Mark 7:18-22; 2 Peter 2:12-14
1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Romans 1:18-32
(*I don’t believe this excludes men)
I guess my basic premise was that sin is sin, but scripture does not back that up entirely –
God says that He is no respecter of persons (with regard to salvation)
He also said, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
And, There is no temptation that has seized you, such as is not common to man
Finally, Jesus was tempted in every way but was without sin
However the Bible also says:
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
– 1 Corinthians 6:17-19
My initial premise is simply that we should not censure people because their sin is different from our own. I’ll stand by that statement. As to the idea that some sins aren’t worse than others, I think that is false, but I’ll leave it to God to “worry” about others’ sins as much as possible…
I don’t want to be judged, nor to be guilty of the same things.
I can also testify that a man and a woman enjoying mutual sexual intimacy in the bond of a firm marital commitment under God, can experience more pleasure, joy, and divine ecstasy, than any other type or sexual encounter. I have had illicit sex, and it simply does not fulfill nor provide as much enjoyment, further, it leaves a wake of discouragement and turmoil.
This article was inspired in part by viewing the movie The Imitation Game, as real-life code-breaker Alan Turing was a tortured youth who becomes a homosexual, and it becomes apparent that his shame around his twisted feelings, particularly in the oppressive climate of his era causes him to resort to reprehensible behavior.
I’m not advocating homosexuality, and feel our society has “gone too far in the other direction”, but in Turing‘s time, he’d no hope of reconciling his heart or solving his issues. Society was so frightened of his repulsive feelings that he killed himself by eating an apple laced with cyanide.
I don’t personally know the solution to this issue, but The Imitation Game helped me feel the plight of someone who was totally a prisoner in his own body. I guess we are all prisoners in our own way, but know the love of Christ can set us all free. He promises that if we confess He is God and believe His Father raised Him from the dead, we’ll be saved… period. But it is only His love and truth that make it possible.
Maybe we all have the ‘same kind of different’** (sins) as anyone else… may God’s grace & mercy be yours in abundance…
– FitzGerald Press
[image error]
(Safely Home: Artwork by Ron DiCianni)
(**title of blog post adapted from movie adaptation of book by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent)
