Conscience and Same Sex Marriage

Conscience definition:

“The inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.”

 Same Sex Marriage is an Unjust Law 

 1. It is unjust to God who created male and female and united them in marriage as a provision and protection for the human family. “This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. ² He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”  Genesis 5:1-2 (NLT)

 2. It is unjust to the unique and special relationship designed only for a husband and wife. Their relationship is personal, intimate and a covenant of trust and love which they share together. “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” Genesis 2:24 (NLT)

 3. It is unjust to children who deserve and need the unique qualities that come from a father and mother in the relationship of marriage and family. “Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. …...” Malachi 2:15 (NLT)

 4. It is unjust to society in which Biblical individuality is defined by gender through which a person develops their unique personality as a boy or girl in the process of growing into a mature man and woman. To ignore or reject these distinct realities is the corruption of the normal life God intended for the particular roles of men and women.

Romans 1:26-27 (NLT)
    ²⁶ That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. ²⁷ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

5. It is unjust to a true follower of Christ who is determined, in good conscience, to be obedient to the Word of God and the moral values it advocates. It is not unlike the situation Peter and John faced in defending their faith and conscience before the Sanhedrin who were the ruling power and authority of their nation.

The Apostles Peter and John were arrested and hauled in front of the Israeli Supreme Court, Leaders and Rulers. They commanded them to virtually violate their conscience and faith in Christ and to obey their authority as the ruling Council.

Acts 4:18-19 (NLT)
     ¹⁸ So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

Acts 5:28-29 (NLT)
     ⁸ “Didn’t we tell you never again to teach in this man’s name?” he demanded. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.

 Decisions of conscience based on the Word of God are always superior to the laws of man, including the Constitution of the United States. When the Word and will of God come into conflict with human laws and traditions God’s laws are always preeminent!  It is not a matter of letting our conscience be our guide but rather the Word of God informing, influencing and guiding our conscience.

Thus we are obligated and committed to say with the Apostles: ““We must obey God rather than any human authority.”  And the Constitution of the United States of America supports such freedom of conscience in the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…...”

Romans 9:1 (NLT)
     With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.

 Reformer Martin Luther spoke in good faith and conscience at the Diet of Worms:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves-I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen.”

“Man Between God and the Devil” (English edition Yale, 1989), Reformation scholar Heiko Oberman

Deep Darkness

Jesus said:
     ²² “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light.
²³ But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” Matthew 6:22-23 (NLT)

This statement by Jesus describes the consciences of those involved in the harvesting and selling of baby body parts. It is tragically ironic that they think they are so enlightened in their minds and yet their souls are actually in darkness.

How deep is that darkness? It is beyond sensitivity, mercy, understanding or compassion for the baby, even when its heart is beating while it lays on the table struggling for life.

How deep is that darkness? They sort through severed baby body parts without hesitating, cringing or caring the least bit that what lies in that dish before them is a person in its infancy, mutilated for of all reasons, base inhuman evil profit.

How deep is that darkness?  Words nearly fail to describe the intensity of that darkness so dense, so degenerate, and so deplorable that it defies human logic and the basic instinct of human love.

What does that darkness do? It exposes the wickedness and depravity of the human heart. Here’s what God says:  “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ¹⁰ But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”  Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT)

The only answer to the darkness is God’s light or truth. His light, if heeded, will bring conviction, conversion, cleansing and forgiveness from all sin. Jesus reminded Paul of his and our mission: “¹⁷ ….. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’ 

Acts 26:17-18 (NLT)

Here is the truth: “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’ John 8:12 (NLT)

We can do something about the darkness, let the light shine!

 

 

When Does Human Life Matter?

 

 

George Will’s summation of Plan Parenthood’s view of the unborn: “The abortion industry’s premise is: At no point in the gestation of a human infant does this living being have a trace of personhood that must be respected.”

God has a different view!!!

Job 10:10-12 (NLT)
   ¹⁰ You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. ¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. ¹² You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.

John Frame, in the book Medical Ethics, says this:     “There is nothing in Scripture that even remotely suggests that the unborn child is anything less than a human person from the moment of conception.” John Frame, Medical Ethics (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1988), p. 95.   Job 31:15 (NIV)    15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?   Dr. John Ankerberg & Dr. John Weldon      “Anyone familiar with recent Supreme Court history knows that two years before Roe v. Wade, in October of 1971, a group of 220 distinguished physicians, scientists, and professors submitted an amicus curiae brief (advice to a court on some legal matter) to the Supreme Court. They showed the Court how modern science had already established that human life is a continuum, and that the unborn child, from the moment of conception on, is a person and must be considered a person, like its mother (95:19, 29-30). The brief set as its task, “to show how clearly and conclusively modern science — embryology, fetology, genetics, perinatology, all of biology — establishes the humanity of the unborn child” (95:7).           For example, “In its seventh week, [the preborn child] bears the familiar external features and all the internal organs of the adult. . . . The brain in configuration is already like the adult brain and sends out impulses that coordinate the function of other organs. . . . The heart beats sturdily. The stomach produces digestive juices. The liver manufactures blood cells and the kidneys begin to function by extracting uric acid from the child’s blood. . . . The muscles of the arms and body can already be set in motion. After the eighth week …. everything is already present that will be found in the full-term baby” (95:13-14). This brief proved beyond any doubt scientifically that human life begins at conception….”   “What difference does it make that human life begins at conception? The difference is this: If human life begins at conception, then abortion is the killing of a human life.” When Does Life Begin? By Dr. John Ankerberg & Dr. John Weldon Published by ATRI Publishing Copyright 2011   Human Life Matters to God Matthew 18:14 (ESV)     “…..it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”   Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NLT)    5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb….”   “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” And this includes from the moment of their conception!   All human life matters to God. Life in the womb matters to God and life outside the womb matters to God. From conception to the cradle to the grave. There is not a time in which human life does not matter, especially to God, the author, creator, sustainer and giver of life.  Consequently those who terminate a baby’s life process, development and birth will have God to answer to.   In Proverbs 6:16-17 (NLT) God speaks of seven things He hates and one of them is: “…..17 hands that kill the innocent,   Matthew 18:10 (GW)    10 “Be careful not to despise these little ones. I can guarantee that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father, who is in heaven.    Here is our motivation, hope and prayer:   2 Timothy 2:25-26 (NLT)    25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.

Quotes Worth Sharing

General Douglas MacArthur warned in a speech to the Salvation Army, December 12, 1951, stating: "History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster."

In view of our present national moral collapse MacArthur’s words echo the Holy Scripture which says: “Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34 (NLT)   Further, this stern warning: “The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge all godless nations!” Obadiah 1:15a (NLT)

The principle of God’s grace and judgement come from the same holy and loving God, who will both hold people and nations responsible for their sin, and offer forgiveness to those who repent and trust Him. General MacArthur was right:  “….. either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster."

 

Benediction

2 John 1:3 (NLT)
     ^“Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.”

Father in this verse you give us the source, substance and standard of your benediction on our life. You are the source. Grace, mercy and peace are the substance. Love and truth are the standard. It is when we live in your love and live out your truth that your benediction rests on us.   

So Father, may we be mindful of what the Apostle John wrote:  “…let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ¹⁹ Our actions will show that we belong to the truth…” 1 John 3:18-19 (NLT)

Then Father your blessings will overflow in our lives and bring benediction to others.

We thank you Father for all you give us through your Son, Jesus.

Amen