(Leviticus 20:10-26) ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 12 If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 13 If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 14 If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst. 15 If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. 16 If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
17 ‘If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. 18 If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20 If there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21 If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.
22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. 23 Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them. 24 Hence I have said to you, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. 26 Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Dr. Christopher Yuan of Moody Bible Institute shares his journey and testimony of how God changed his gay lifestyle and sexual identity into a new identity in Christ. Some people, after becoming Christians, are delivered from their sexual temptations/tendencies, while others like himself are not; but knowing that God says it is wrong, and knowing that God cares, chooses to remain abstinent.
While Yuan is open to marrying - a woman - if it is God's will that he should get married at all, he has written books and speaks about "holy sexuality and the gospel" and how we should focus on God. Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could be married! Our purpose in life is not to get married, but to be free from sin, and live in God's will - to practice God's will in every aspect of life. So in that light, as a man, it is not any better to lust after a woman than to lust after another man. Both are wrong.
Some people need rules. Some people will even add rules, as if there aren't enough. God gave us laws so that we could see how sinful we are and how impossible it is to live up to them - NOT to push us down - but for us to realize that we need Jesus in our lives! That we need saving!
As our Lord and Savior, Jesus sets us free from sin and the law. Jesus sets us apart, making us holy in His eyes, and changing us from the inside out. Jesus gives us spiritual peace, joy and purpose. Jesus brings us to the "promised land" and gives it to us as an inheritance for all eternity.
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