Bill Taylor wrote to
Judy: You started out criticizing
what I had said about those who have
tendencies, but are not acting upon them.
You did that with these words:
People who have been made free in Christ no longer
have "those
tendencies" Jesus not only paid the price for our sin, he also gives us freedom
from the power of it in our lives when we come to Him with our
whole heart.
I then responded to you and asked that
you reconsider what you had said. Instead
of doing that, you pulled a switch on us:
I'm not saying that I
am never
tempted Bill or that I am not dealing with my own family stuff - that's just a fact of
life and God allows us to be tested. He also allows Satan to
come periodically to check our foundation so we
are forewarned. But I don't believe that after a genuine conversion
God leaves
anyone with uncontrollable tendencies
(unless they
want them).
Do you see how you change the dynamics of our conversation when you add a new
word to mine?
Hey Judy. Bill has a point here. You seem to shift in your
conversation here, making it difficult to track. Were you and Bill
saying the same thing all along?
jt: No I don't believe we have been saying the same
thing at all but this is what discussion is about isn't it?
My definition of grace is different from his. I
believe that grace is "the power to overcome sin so we are enslaved no
longer" I don't know why Bill would disagree with this since he is
always saying that everyone and everything was assumed in the incarnation and
only what is unassumed is unhealed. But for some reason (unknown to me)
it was offensive to him.
Do you see how it looks like you first held the position that Christians
lack any tendency to sin, but then redefined it later to mean "uncontrollable
tendencies"? It might help if you acknowledge that you did not
communicate your position clearly. I'm sure Bill is a little frustrated
in feeling like he is working with shifting sand.
jt: I have never believed that Christians or anyone
else lacks the tendency to sin - they can do it anytime they want to and
sometimes when they don't want to (Romans 7) - However, believers who are
in Christ and sitting under godly instruction must learn to take
every thought captive in obedience to Him, refuse darkness and walk in the
light. This applies to homosexuals as well because people who
continue in this aberration do not inherit the Kingdom. Making some kind
of distinction between tendency and
action is deception (see the Sermon on the Mount).
It's the pure in heart who are blessed and the pure in heart do not have
perverted tendencies hidden away in there someplace - a doubleminded man is
unstable in all his ways and this man receives nothing from the
Lord.
This is what I was trying to get across to Bill - I
am not saying anything that should be foreign to one who reads the Bible and
have not changed what I basically believe. Bill just doesn't hear
me. judyt
