Duke:
I know this is sounding like a semantics game, but it really is not. I am trying to the best of my ability to describe some of the fundamental core tenants of Christianity, which I realize you are not understanding (and may not).
Duke wrote:
Exactly. I wouldn't love him any less. I'd try to help him get counseling or whatever. But if he couldn't straighten himself out, eventually I'd quit paying his debts and bailing him out of the pokey.
That's because you don't know how to love unconditionally (and neither do I). So eventually, your "love" would end because you were tired of being taken advantage of, and you wanted something in return (change, thanks, pat on the back, whatever). That's not God. He IS love, and He loves unconditionally.
Duke wrote:
If you're automatically forgiven for sin just for mustering up some remorse, why is there sin?
No one is "automatically forgiven for mustering up some remorse". That would still be a works salvation. I am forgiven because someone else (who was qualified, because He was perfect) paid the cost. I can't earn it, no matter how much I do good, or act remorseful.
Duke wrote:
It seems to me the goal is to stop sinning, even if imperfect humans may not be able to achieve that goal.
No. The goal is a relationship with God (beginning now, not when I die). Ultimately, one tiny lifetime of less than 100 years is rather insignificant no matter how big the impact in the scale of eternity. 10,000 years from now, all my good deeds will be long forgotten. My relationship with God will not. That doesn't give me license to do wrong. I strive to do right, but I rely on Someone other than myself.
Duke wrote:
So it is still considered wrong to be homosexual even if you are forgiven for your flawed inability to stop yourself from being gay. And that's the fundamental issue I have with the entire concept.
Just as it is considered wrong for me to pursue my own sexual sins (or other types). Where Mr. Phelps fails is that he fails to recognize his own similarity with the "fags" he seeks to condemn. So, he shall be judged by the same measure that he judges others (their inability to be perfect, instead of their reliance on the One who is perfect).
