Why I say no part 2.
We are all sinners. True. But most of us try to do better every day. We fail, and we get up and try to do better.
This is in response to those who mention sin as something that occurs in our lives. I agree. But to me I think there is a difference between sinning and planning to continue to sin. For example, as a child, I stole some paste from a jar. I felt horrible and vowed to never do it again.
Sometimes I tell a little white lie. 'Yes, that dress is pretty,'. But the bible tells us not to lie, so I try not to do it again. In other words, I think our entire lives we spend trying to do better. We sin, and we go to God asking for forgivness and strength not to do it again.
Now, sex outside of marriage is different. With this, some people plan it out: going to a certain place, dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way. It's deliberate.
If you're living with someone, you plan to do it often. Maybe some pray to stop, but I think most just do it, and accept it as okay.
I wish it were. But what scares me is what's in the bible:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 warns us, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Someone tell me how to take this. When I read it in my teens, back in the 70s, I thought, is this saying you're going to hell for doing something everyone does?
I sought guidance from the adults around me who explaine, we're all sinners. And some told me that it is a sin, don't do it.
I thought to myself. Well, I 'm going to live my life the way I want to. And then I remembered a friend of mine who died at 14. So what do I do if that happens to me? I wondered. What if I die at 14 and hell awaits me? What if I don't get to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness?
A thief hung on the cross by Jesus as he breathed his last breath. And Jesus told him that he would be with him in Heaven. So there is forgiveness if we have time to ask. But what if we don't?
Now, some may say I'm wrong. That I've taken the bible literally. That I've not looked at other quotes in the bible that says the same thing about other sins. I say to them, do as you please, but I'm not going to take a chance with my future by doing something that can easily be solved by marriage.
I like marriage. So given the choice between angering God and marrying the man of my dreams. Hands down I'm chosing the happily ever after scenerio. Even if God doesn't send me to hell for choising the former, I don't want to think about what He will do to me.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 & 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
This is in response to those who mention sin as something that occurs in our lives. I agree. But to me I think there is a difference between sinning and planning to continue to sin. For example, as a child, I stole some paste from a jar. I felt horrible and vowed to never do it again.
Sometimes I tell a little white lie. 'Yes, that dress is pretty,'. But the bible tells us not to lie, so I try not to do it again. In other words, I think our entire lives we spend trying to do better. We sin, and we go to God asking for forgivness and strength not to do it again.
Now, sex outside of marriage is different. With this, some people plan it out: going to a certain place, dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way. It's deliberate.
If you're living with someone, you plan to do it often. Maybe some pray to stop, but I think most just do it, and accept it as okay.
I wish it were. But what scares me is what's in the bible:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 warns us, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Someone tell me how to take this. When I read it in my teens, back in the 70s, I thought, is this saying you're going to hell for doing something everyone does?
I sought guidance from the adults around me who explaine, we're all sinners. And some told me that it is a sin, don't do it.
I thought to myself. Well, I 'm going to live my life the way I want to. And then I remembered a friend of mine who died at 14. So what do I do if that happens to me? I wondered. What if I die at 14 and hell awaits me? What if I don't get to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness?
A thief hung on the cross by Jesus as he breathed his last breath. And Jesus told him that he would be with him in Heaven. So there is forgiveness if we have time to ask. But what if we don't?
Now, some may say I'm wrong. That I've taken the bible literally. That I've not looked at other quotes in the bible that says the same thing about other sins. I say to them, do as you please, but I'm not going to take a chance with my future by doing something that can easily be solved by marriage.
I like marriage. So given the choice between angering God and marrying the man of my dreams. Hands down I'm chosing the happily ever after scenerio. Even if God doesn't send me to hell for choising the former, I don't want to think about what He will do to me.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 & 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
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