Thanks for clarifying. It makes a lot more sense now!

I still have a lot of questions, but at least I’m not looking at this from my narrow-minded and limited perspective anymore.

I told a friend in an email that I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, as far as understanding this goes.

@adam: Thanks for using the Bible in your comment! It gives me something to hold on to. Sometimes, when everyone gives their input, it seems like you end up with a bunch of opinions, but you are still left with the question, “What does the Bible say?” I honestly don’t have a strong enough mind to come up with stuff on my own. I need a crutch to help me think and form ideas…that’s right Nietzsche, I’m weak-minded! And what better crutch than the Words of God Himself (the Bible)? Anyway, now I am challenged to look at a section of scripture that I haven’t looked at before in this question.

The letter of the law says, “Don’t murder.” But Jesus said, “Look at the spirit of the law! If you’ve been violently angry at your brother you’ve already committed this sin!” (Adam Paraphrase)

The letter of the law says, “Don’t committ adultery.” But Jesus said, “Look at the spirit of the law! If the adulterous behavior was in your heart, you’ve already done it in my eyes!” (Adam Paraphrase).

With that in mind . . .

I believe it would be accurate to say that the letter of the law says, “Don’t look at another man’s wife naked.” But Jesus would probably say, “Look at the spirit of that law! Don’t lust after her!”

If there is a situation where an action is sometimes sin for one person and not a sin for another person (besides a specific word from God) I think we should strip down the components of the action and say, “What about this is sin?” The “What about this” will be sin for anyone. But the same action (i.e. watching an action movie) will not cause the same sinful reaction in two people.

I think you’re missing the point. Why do you have to ‘prove’ anything? If you think you have to ‘prove’ you aren’t sinning, you probably are.

This goes back to Gungor’s Black and White chapter (haven’t read it yet). You are asking for a black and white religion, which Christianity isn’t. Christianity doesn’t give you a black and white answer for every situation. (It does in some, but not ALL.)

our actions are subjective. our heart is not.

Oh, and one other thing…I was a part of that conversation, and have since started my own.

Anyway, on to my comment.

If it doesn’t honor God, why choose to do it? I agree that not everything that honors God has “Jesus” stamped all over it…take eating food, for instance. God created food for my sustenance, but also for my enjoyment. So, as long as I’m not putting the food before God, I should be able to enjoy it, and enjoying it honors God, because that’s what He created it for: my enjoyment.

I would even go so far as to say that if something doesn’t honor God, then it is sin…because at that moment, I have chosen to put something before God in my life. With that in mind, how does watching wanton violence honor God? How does looking at naked women, other than my wife, honor God? Why would I even choose to look at naked women (with the exception of doctor’s and morticians) unless I intended on lusting?

I totally agree with what Adam said in his original post: “Our holiness starts with our heart, not with our actions.” But, this newer explanation gives me way more questions than I already had! It seems to say that as long as I can prove that what I’m doing doesn’t involve sinful actions, than I can do anything I want! If I’m truly in a relationship with God, and allowing Him to mold me, am I really willing to work that hard to prove that I’m not sinning? Shouldn’t I be fleeing the very appearance of evil? I realize that we can’t legislate morality, and I’m not condoning that, nor am I trying to build “fence laws” (Ed Gungor’s book, Religiously Transmitted Diseases). But why get as close to sin as possible without actually doing it? Shouldn’t I be running the other way as fast and as hard as I can?

I’m not upset, and I’m not trying to be disagreeable, but these are honest questions that I have, and it seems that very few people are willing to discuss them.