Yep! There're some interesting posts here for sure!
I'll sum up as briefly as I can and can happily provide all the scriptural references if need be. But it is obvious that many here are not familiar with teh Bible and could benefit by actually reading it in order to understand the various positions taken.
Briefly, - The OT contains a huge amount of info on many and varied subjects, but here we are mainly concerned with the Mosaic Law given to the nation of Israel consisting of eventually some 600 or so laws. It was exclusively for the Israelites and helped protect them from influence from the surrounding nations as well as caring for the physical health of the people.
The Law had another purpose, too, which was explained by Paul who called it, "our Tutor leading to Christ", and that it's purpose was in order, "to make sin manfest", (without laws to break, there is no sin, obviously), and finally to show that one cannot earn salvation by works of law - it was humanly impossible to perfectly keep the Law, so the nation was condemned by it.
Upon the death of Christ, the Bible says that he "blotted out the handwritten document against us, by nailing it to the Torture Stake". Combined with the fact that as the nation of Israel had rejected and killed the Son of God, thereby were in turn rejected by God, Chrstians are "no longer under Law, but under the grace of Christ" because Christ fulfilled the Law. So the Mosaic Law no longer applies, such as observing the Sabbath and the various animal sacrifices, the prohibition on certain foods, and so on.
Jesus Christ did, though, reiterate certain laws and principles which are binding on Christians and even went further than the literal Law in some instances, for example he said, "The Law says you must not murder, yet I say to you you must not hate your brother." He said, "The Law says you must not commit adultery, yet I say that any man looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery in his heart". (Scriptures paraphrased for brevity).
Another point I'd like to make is the criticism Wolf has recieved by some regarding his marriage. Notwithstanding he is not a Christian, (though demonstrating better Christian qualities than many who do claim to be such!), he is a married man and nothing in Scripture specifies that for a marriage to be "real" in God's eyes one must be married by a clergyman. The Bible standards are simply that one should restrict sexual relations to the person one is married to.
According to the scriptures, homosexuality is included, and indeed specifically mentioned separately, as fornication and the NT clearly says that "those who practise such things will not inherit the Kingdom." Now your personal beliefs can agree or disagree with God's standards, just don't try to say that God has a different standard. The "Christian thing to do" is to abide by Christian standards.
My opinion here, is that each person is free to choose for himself his course of life, though I encourage each one to understand that this freedom brings with it the fact that one is therefore responsible for the consequences, ie: you are free to jump off a tall building, but don't think you can do so without suffering the consequences.
If one chooses to follow the Bible, then do so, or conversely you can choose not to. What irks me, is when people choose not to, but then try to justify their course by misquoting it or claiming they can disobey God and still be "saved", or that God doesn't really mean what He says. Kinda like trying to have your cake and eat it? Like saying "I can jump off this building and God won't let me die".
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Originally Posted by bane
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