From What Is The Gospel Response to Prop. 8? :
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International:
I believe that God is calling his church to a place far above the arguments surrounding what is sin and what isn’t. We cannot avoid the glaring scriptural truth that there is, and will always be, a right way and a wrong way concerning just about everything we can imagine. And, yet, I believe that our attitudes towards people (internal and external) are just as important as our positions on the issues at hand. So, when I first saw the news that Prop. 8 had been overturned, my very first thought was, “Dear Lord, please let the Christians who speak in response to this share your heart and not their judgment.”
We should respond with 100 percent grace and 100 percent truth. As Christians, we must constantly be sharing God’s best for people. He created us for a lot more than we, as humans, tend to settle for—in every area of our lives. Because gay marriage is less than God’s best for relationship, we need to equip to minister to those who will choose it and later realize it might not have been the best decision. I firmly believe that if we had spent as much money, time, and energy battling for people’s hearts as we did fighting against their agendas, the gay rights battle would look very different today.
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Prop 8. Decision Imminent – Life Goes On Regardless of “Winner”
About Randy Thomas
Wow…well said!!!
Wow…well said!!!
Randy, I agree totally with what Alan said. Call it coincidence or Godincidence but God has been speaking to me about that and other matters of sin in the last week. I hadn’t even heard there had been a decision about Prop 8. But this is what God is showing me. When we accept Christ as our Savior, it is a done deal. His death paid the price for all our sins. God has given us His Word, the Bible, and I believe every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit. But Christ also said He came to set people free. And He talks about the prodigal son. I have been the dutiful son, the one who stayed but who was angry and unforgving inside. Steve Brown in his Scanadalous Freedom podcast series speaks about freedom–how we believers are free to do anything we want, and I mean anything. God is no longer angry with us.So say a person living in a gay lifestyle truly accepts Christ as His savior. Once he does that, he is given the righteousness of Christ. He is saved period. Now suppose he continues in that lifestyle. He is still saved. He did nothing to earn his salvation in the first place. The problem comes when we saved sinners begin trying to revise the Bible to make it say what we want it to say. If a person living in a gay relationship admits what he is doing is wrong and continues in the relationship there is a chance that he will repent. As Romans 2 says, it is God’s kindness that leads to repentance. As you realize He love you so much, there may come a time when you leave that relationship because you see how much He loves.you. But even if you don’t leave your partner, you are still saved and loved by God. Does that make sense? I kind of think that is what Alan may have in mind.
Randy, I agree totally with what Alan said. Call it coincidence or Godincidence but God has been speaking to me about that and other matters of sin in the last week. I hadn’t even heard there had been a decision about Prop 8. But this is what God is showing me. When we accept Christ as our Savior, it is a done deal. His death paid the price for all our sins. God has given us His Word, the Bible, and I believe every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit. But Christ also said He came to set people free. And He talks about the prodigal son. I have been the dutiful son, the one who stayed but who was angry and unforgving inside. Steve Brown in his Scanadalous Freedom podcast series speaks about freedom–how we believers are free to do anything we want, and I mean anything. God is no longer angry with us.So say a person living in a gay lifestyle truly accepts Christ as His savior. Once he does that, he is given the righteousness of Christ. He is saved period. Now suppose he continues in that lifestyle. He is still saved. He did nothing to earn his salvation in the first place. The problem comes when we saved sinners begin trying to revise the Bible to make it say what we want it to say. If a person living in a gay relationship admits what he is doing is wrong and continues in the relationship there is a chance that he will repent. As Romans 2 says, it is God’s kindness that leads to repentance. As you realize He love you so much, there may come a time when you leave that relationship because you see how much He loves.you. But even if you don’t leave your partner, you are still saved and loved by God. Does that make sense? I kind of think that is what Alan may have in mind.