Sunday, June 30, 2013

Rom 1 reply, 38: On willful defiance of God, his creation order for sexuality and consequential sound principles of morality under false colours of law and "rights"

Given some recent triumphalism by those who imagine such to be progress,  it seems I need to explicitly address the recent US Supreme Court decisions which come on the heels of acts passed under false colours of law in the UK and France.

 First, let us be utterly clear on the designed intent of the manipulators pushing this agenda behind the scenes.

We need to know what is at stake.

 Matt Barber comments, aptly:
[The decision on] Windsor, presumes to invalidate Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), granting limited federal recognition to sin-centric and sodomy-based same-sex “marriage.” . . . .  As we’ve now seen in states that fancy mock “gay marriage,” for instance, the only way to force Christian individuals and business owners – such as bakers, photographers, innkeepers and florists – to lend their talents to sin-centered “gay weddings” is through the power of the police state. This amounts to a systemic, immoral and profoundly unconstitutional trampling of the First Amendment.

What follows will be a deviant-sexual-behavior-based “LGBT” suspect minority class with all the associated trimmings. In the eyes of government, Bible-believing Christians will be treated as modern-day racists. Any outward expression of the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic will be trumped by newfangled “gay rights” and deemed verboten. For all intents and purposes, Christianity will be criminalized. This is not mere speculation. It’s been the plan all along.

Case in point: Chai Feldblum, President Obama’s EEOC commissioner – a lesbian activist who supports “plural marriage” – has promised as much. She admits that progressives “want to revolutionize societal norms” and believes that “gay sex is a moral good.” She calls the clash between religious liberty and “sexual liberty” a “zero-sum game,” meaning someone wins and someone loses. Guess who loses? Feldblum has “a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.”
Notice, who this is speaking, a person chosen by the very president of the US hailed as a political messiah and applauded by so many of us in the Caribbean; chosen, to advance equality in the workplace. Whose agenda now proposes to instead offer Christians the choice of conscience or the means of eating bread.

The echo of end of days prophecy -- this is an obvious satanic dry run --  is blatant, so not at all surprising:

The beasts of Rev, with the Dragon
Rev 13:11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed . . . 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[e] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666. [All cites ESV]
The fire of Rome, AD 64. Christians, unjustly
blamed for arson, were put to death in horrific ways
In short, the spirit of Nero rides again, and would rob us of our souls under the false pretence that to object on principles of sound morality  to the perversion of sexual ethics is hate and bigotry tantamount to racism. Even as in the days of pagan Rome, Christians were deemed traitors and enemies of the state and people for refusing to bow before an idolatrous altar of Caesar and sprinkle salt in a flame, proclaiming as a test and proof of loyalty, "Caesar is Lord." Even, as Christians in Rome in AD 64 were unjustly blamed for the fire in Rome of July 18, and were hauled before unjust courts and put to death in horrific ways as enemies of humanity. 

So, it is again in prospect that if we will not bow to Caesar as he usurps that which belongs only to God, we are to be robbed of the means of daily subsistence under false colour of law backed up by slanders now revealed to be utterly deadly in intended effect. 

 He who would rob me of my means of subsistence, would rob me of my life. He who would rob me of my conscience instructed by the word of God would rob me of my soul.

 Thus lies nakedly revealed the dragonish, calculatedly ruthless spirit of our age.

 But of course, many would rise up to challenge the idea that homosexual behaviour is against the law of God, and others would try to argue that the God of the Bible is a figment of our bronze age imagination who we should discard as we progress to the new era of secularist utopia. 

Some utopia if you ask me, if this is a sample of what awaits us.

 Let me make clear in reply, first, the foundation of rights as understood by those who began the modern democratic experiment, by way of showing the matches that are being played with here. Let us call to the witness stand, first the US Declaration of Independence of 1776 in its pivotal second paragraph:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security . . .
Likewise, the same John Locke whose thoughts are ever so deeply embedded in the above, when he set out to ground the principles of liberty, cited "the judicious [anglican canon Richard] Hooker [in his Ecclesiastical Polity]" as follows in his Second Treatise on Civil Government, Ch 2 Sect. 5:

. . . if I cannot but wish to receive good, even as much at every man's hands, as any man can wish unto his own soul, how should I look to have any part of my desire herein satisfied, unless myself be careful to satisfy the like desire which is undoubtedly in other men . . . my desire, therefore, to be loved of my equals in Nature, as much as possible may be, imposeth upon me a natural duty of bearing to themward fully the like affection. From which relation of equality between ourselves and them that are as ourselves, what several rules and canons natural reason hath drawn for direction of life no man is ignorant . . . [[Hooker then continues, citing Aristotle in The Nicomachean Ethics, Bk 8:] as namely, That because we would take no harm, we must therefore do none; That since we would not be in any thing extremely dealt with, we must ourselves avoid all extremity in our dealings; That from all violence and wrong we are utterly to abstain, with such-like . . . ] [[Eccl. Polity,preface, Bk I, "ch." 8, p.80, cf. here. Emphasis added.]

Our rights are an endowment of the inherently good and wise God, our Creator, who has made us in his image, and in so doing has made us equally human, but distinctly male and female. Consequently -- this is so obvious from our basic biology and requisites of natural justice -- a man may leave the household of his mother and father and cleave to his wife, becoming one flesh so that from the act of marital union the next generation may come and be nurtured. 

Society must respect this creation order if it is to be sound and stable. 

If society instead sets out to undermine this or substitute a demonically perverted counterfeit, the consequences are bound to be utterly destructive. As, we are seeing all across our civilisation today; through a long train of abuses and usurpations consistently pursuing a common design of perversion presented under false colours of rights and equality.

So, let us be utterly clear on what the scriptures have to say regarding such perversion (cf. .the PS below on why I freely say such):
Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant[a] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David[b] according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord . . . . 

 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[e] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”[f]

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
The gospel and the scriptures that communicate it to us are authenticated by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead with over five hundred witnesses, not one of whom could ever be shaken.

It is worth pausing to read here on in context, and to  watch here, to flesh this out:

 The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel from Slaves4Christ on Vimeo.
In the context of that authentic good news of God's mercy, if we refuse forgiveness and transformation through regeneration, we must face his just wrath at our willful, sinful rebellion. For the decisive evidence that points to God as the foundation of reality is all around us, but too often we choose to turn from it and suppress it. Thus, we spin out of control both intellectually and morally. Under the first, we tend to substitute images made to look like creatures and myths presented under the false name of knowledge, for the evident truth of God stamped in nature and in our own hearts and minds. For the second, our corrupt minds and benumbed consciences lead us to go into all sorts of destructive sinful behaviour, including sexual ones, and including perversions of sex.

 Such things are utterly incompatible with salvation by being forgiven and transformed by God through the grace that is in the prophesied, fulfilled, crucified and risen Christ.

 However, there is hope as we can see from this excerpt from a letter to Christians in a city that was notorious even among pagans for its decadent immorality:
1 Cor 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
So, whose report will we believe and whose authority will we obey?

 The apostles, challenged and threatened by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, answer for all serious Christians in all ages:
Acts 4:18 So [the Sanhedrin] called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

And again, shortly after, in the face of the threat of death for daring to disobey the authority of the Council that was dominated by some powerful but patently corrupt and abusive men:
 Acts 5: 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

So, let it be clearly known to one and all, if it comes to the choice being put before us, we will obey God rather than men usurping that which belongs only to God. 

Even, in the threat of impoverishment, slandering of reputation, and even starvation.

And let those whose agenda implies that, understand that by threatening slander, livelihood and conscience, they show themselves to be following not the right or rights, but instead evil, pure unadulterated evil. Let them beware, therefore, of Him with whom they trifle and before whom they shall stand in eternal judgement.  END
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PS: It may be useful to observe the following references taken from the RH column of this blog, to document specific views and to answer to typical questions and objections:

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