JayJayDee said:
I disagree. As an apostle chosen by Christ, he had all the authority he needed to write what the Holy Spirit directed him to record. (2 Tim 3:16)
Sexual sin was still a very important topic of discussion by NT writers. (Col 3:5; 2 Pet 2:9, 10; Mark 7:21-23)
Paul also wrote...."But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and the sexually immoral and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This means the second death.”
I don't think we are left in any doubt about how God feels about these things....do you?
Sorry I missed this earlier. Right, but among Christians in general Paul's authority has been debated constantly down through the centuries. Secondly he does appear to waffle on the Law and is sometimes talking about other things like something he calls Law of Sin and possibly another kind of Law in addition to laws and covenants of the Jews.
For the references you mention notice he says in Col 3:5 "Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." which does not focus upon sex. 2 Peter 2:9-10 doesn't specifically highlight sex, either. Mark 7:21-23 is about how evil comes from the heart and is not obtained from an outside source. It has no focus upon sexual sins either.
On the contrary, Paul is clear and unequivocal in his condemnation of sexual sin.
He is equally vocal about idolatry. All sin is serious but some sins carried the death penalty. The law was specific about what penalties applied to which sins.
I'm not the last word on this and respect your opinion, but I would partly disagree. He is very much against idolatry but is softer on sexual things, because he understands that these come due to the weakness of the law in the flesh. Idolatry is a much bigger problem, and that is because its not merely about stone statues but about the seduction of Christians by other systems, other powers, other ways of life. He himself complains of the war of the law of sin within himself, and he says it fights against the law of the spirit.
With Paul sex is about as bad as wasting time, just doing nothing at all. He would have you diligently working all the time. By all reports that is something you JW's do very well, and I think you understand how much easier it is to stay busy and stay out of trouble when you are with a group of people who are busy doing something. I'd much rather be doing something good than just sitting around trying not to sin, and it is easier to stay busy with other people. Perhaps one of the biggest problems Christians have today is that they are lonely.
Jesus did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it. He was sent exclusively to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel". So it was to those Jews who had lost their way through bad shepherding that Jesus was sent, initially. Paul upheld all the teachings of his master and unlike his fellow apostles, he was an educated man who was used in a mighty way to preach to people of the nations, as well as to his fellow countrymen. He contributed more to NT scripture than any other writer.
He is merely repeating what the law in Leviticus had stated all along. Homosexual activity has always been a sin to the Creator for all the reasons already stated.
Well that is a difficult interpretation to follow. Possibly it is too advanced for me, and also I have seen a lot of debates about it. I'm fairly sharp but when comes to arguments about wayward shepherding I'm mostly focused in the present and am more concerned about the present state of things. I think that the Jews are fine and don't need our help, and I think that we (inclusive of you and me and a bunch of other people but not you in particular) are in dire straights and turmoil. Things aren't right, and things aren't great.
