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Showing posts with the label temptation

Question: Is experiencing same-sex attraction itself sinful?

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Question: Is experiencing same-sex attraction itself sinful ? Do  Christians who experience same-sex attraction need to repent of their orientation, or only of homosexual action and lust ? First, this is not a question limited to issues of sexuality in general, or sexual acts and sexual orientation in particular. This question relates to the larger theological question of temptation and behavior. Every child growing into maturity recognizes the distinction between the temptation and the act.  Every criminal law system also understands the difference between the temptation and the act. Rather than imprisoning people for every criminal temptation, the law distinguishes between the temptation of a criminal act and the performance of a criminal act. Every parent understands that same distinction when raising children and when they look in the mirror. Therefore, Christians must distinguish between temptation and the performance of sin. Still, there is indeed something sin

If I am a Christian who experiences same sex attraction, will I become more heterosexual as I become more mature in my walk with Christ?

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Some Christians in this situation will discover an increased self-understanding of heterosexual orientation.  I know couples who have come together as husband and wife after one or both struggled with  same-sex attraction , and who found great fulfillment and joy in the gift of heterosexual marriage and the gift of children. But this should not be  the universal expectation.  Many other believers strive to be faithful to Christ and obey the Word  but experience no heterosexual pattern of sexual arousal . Progressive  sanctification through the Holy Spirit will come for Christians who  experience same-sex attraction, but that does not mean they will become  more heterosexual the more they grow in godliness.  Sanctification leads  us into holiness and out of sin. This is why sanctification may lead  an individual with same-sex attraction into holy celibacy, rather than  heterosexuality. Related articles The Heterosexual Questionnaire: 25 Questions for Straigh