Letting the Bible Speak

"Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."

 - Revelation 22: 15

Since I last blogged actively, social media has become a firestorm of debate. One of the common themes is the use of Scripture, by political Progressives, to mock and vex Believers. They love to point out areas of "hypocrisy." They love quoting Scripture back at us: as in rules for treating women, and support for slavery, etc., found in the Mosaic Law. All of these are areas of fervent discussion, at another time.

But let's consider what the New Testament (i.e., Jesus Himself) says about certain matters that keep popping up. And I will take the approach at letting Scripture itself state the point, with as little elaboration as possible. The New Testament is used all the time, by the Left (the Christian, as well as the non-believing Left), to suggest, most prominently, that God endorses homosexuality by saying nothing about it, in the New Testament. (And not just homosexuality . . . our treatment of aliens, of the poor, etc., stands up poorly under any Scriptural test. We don't need pagans pointing that out to us).

Or, as a Christian college professor would say: "What does the passage mean? It means what it says! What does it say?"

I have isolated the above verse from the final chapter of the Bible. It's the final word, if you will. In fact, when debates arise over what the Bible says about this or that, redirect to Chapter 22 of Revelation. This is the closing arguments, if you will, of everything contained in all of the Old and New Testament books that precede it. It describes those that are not going to make it. And we all know what that means. Some say these are the people that end up in Hell. Others say they are the ones that will die forever, whatever that means.

So here it is again:

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Show this to your friends that gleefully point Scripture out to you. How to define "sexual immorality"? Well, we can define it using Scripture. Or we can just choose to take the most severe definition of it, and live.

And the same goes for murder, idolatry, and the practice of falsehood! It doesn't leave much wiggle room for any of us!

So that, God seems to be saying: "Look, yes it is true that you should not be sexually immoral. But I don't even want you telling little fibs!"

And notice who are not on the list: Drunks, thieves, the uncharitable.

At the end of it all . . . God wants us to go beyond just practicing real love and servant-hood to others. He doesn't want us just to refrain from being judgmental.

He wants us holy. Set apart. Different.