From: Don Winterstein (dfwinterstein@msn.com)
Date: Wed Jul 16 2003 - 10:21:31 EDT
Burgy wrote:
>I am uncomfortable with drawing "All things are permissible" that far,
Don. We are too imperfect. When you write: "... that a sanctified
Christian motivated by agape would not do such things... ." it brings to
mind those 19th slave holders, many of whom were "sanctified Christians,"
who nonetheless had the mind set that a black skin meant "type of animal"
and so saw no sin in their treatment of the Negro men and women that
served them. I've read some of the sermons and articles of that time. I
recognize in the speaker/writers fellow Christians, motivated by agape,
who yet justified conditions that today we look upon in horror.
When Paul wrote those words ("All things are permissible..."), he was addressing a situation where people who considered themselves Christian were behaving in obviously unchristian ways. So his emphasis was on the clause that followed: "...not everything is beneficial." So people who perhaps thought they were sanctified Christians motivated by agape were clearly sinning; and this means that external guidance is often necessary in practice.
However, here we are trying to establish principles rather than to correct practices. So the question I wanted to consider was whether there is any act whatever that is in itself evil, if it is done by a sanctified Christian motivated by agape. Those who abused slaves may have felt they were not sinning, but that would be because they misunderstood agape, and Paul the apostle would definitely have criticized their behavior.
So the question remains as to whether any act done by a truly sanctified Christian truly motivated by agape is in itself wrong. We're talking about _in principle_ here, rather than in practice, because in practice anything and everything can be sinful.
Paul does not dispute "all things are permissible...", but he implies that the principle can be readily abused. The ultimate question, then, is whether the NT unambiguously makes any act necessarily wrong if it is done by a truly sanctified Christian truly motivated by agape. I would like to think it does not.
However, Jesus' comment on divorce (Matt. 6) that I cited earlier seems to imply a special case--although one that many contemporary Protestants seem to officially ignore in practice. Jesus seems to be implying that there's something about a marriage bond that makes sin inescapable for a divorced woman and for the husband of a previously divorced woman. I can't think of any other such clear-cut case; and this one seems inconsistent with Jesus' usual emphasis on compassion to the point of disregarding the letter of the law. Hence I wonder whether Jesus may have been misquoted.
Don
----- Original Message -----
From: John W Burgeson
To: dfwinterstein@msn.com
Cc: asa@calvin.edu ; pastorcraigpeterson@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: Sin?
Don wrote, in part: "Here's a thought: Why not approach Christian
morality from the words of Paul in I Corinthians 6 & 10, "All things are
permissible for me..."? That is, under the NT law of love, no act of any
kind is intrinsically sinful if it is done by a sanctified Christian and
motivated by agape. This would not be to say there are no intrinsically
sinful acts, but that a sanctified Christian motivated by agape would not
do such things. Intrinsically sinful acts would be any that could not be
done in fellowship with God. ... In any case, such a principle of
Christian morality would provide a useful basis for drawing conclusions
about relations among homosexuals. That is, if the relationship was
between sanctified Christians, and their sex acts were motivated in part
by agape, they would not be sinning. "
I am uncomfortable with drawing "All things are permissible" that far,
Don. We are too imperfect. When you write: "... that a sanctified
Christian motivated by agape would not do such things... ." it brings to
mind those 19th slave holders, many of whom were "sanctified Christians,"
who nonetheless had the mind set that a black skin meant "type of animal"
and so saw no sin in their treatment of the Negro men and women that
served them. I've read some of the sermons and articles of that time. I
recognize in the speaker/writers fellow Christians, motivated by agape,
who yet justified conditions that today we look upon in horror.
We learn so slowly ...
Peace
John Burgeson (Burgy)
www.burgy.50megs.com
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