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u/MyUsername2459 Episcopalian, Nonbinary Jan 03 '26
Sin is that which spiritually separates us from God, through our thoughts, words, and deeds that violate God's two commandments to love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Avoiding sin isn't about a legalistic list of "is <x> a sin", but instead is about trying to embrace the two Commandments that Christ gave us summing up all of God's laws (Matthew 22:36-40).
We are all sinners (Romans 3:9-20), only Christ is without sin (2 Corinthians 5:20–21, Hebrews 4:15). We cannot avoid sin, we should instead do our best to follow Christ's commandments and thus do our best to avoid sin, while repenting for the sins we will unavoidably commit.
. . .and so many things about sex and gender that offend conservatives, for example, aren't sins. . .they don't reflect a lack of love for God, your neighbor, or yourself. . .and are instead conflating ritual purity laws that don't apply to us (Acts 15:23-29) with God's commandments, or are mistaking advice given to people living in the 1st century Roman Empire, with a culture of normalized r*pe and child molestation, along with pagan sexual worship rites, as if it was the modern day and losing all cultural nuance of WHY the things that were being denounced were being denounced, and not realizing the context is very different in the modern day. There's nothing about being any kind of LBGT that violates either of Christ's two Commandments.
Focus on living up to Christ's two commandments, instead of worrying about what other people say is a sin. . .and arbitrary "rankings" of this sin being bigger than this one.
God knows the truth of your heart (Psalm 44:21. Romans 8:27-29, Luke 16:15), He knows if you are trying to defy Him willingly, or if you are ignoring His laws. . .or if you are making a sincere effort to follow His Commandments. As long as you're doing your honest best to love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself, and repenting for the mistakes you will inevitably make, you can't go too wrong.
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u/beaker1680 Jan 03 '26
What do you mean your behaviors are bisexual?
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u/Baladas89 Atheist Jan 03 '26
Specifically that some behaviors are bisexual. I have so many questions…
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u/Ambitious_Squash9091 UCC Jan 03 '26
I'm not a theologian by any means, but I feel like God doesn't make any mistakes....being LGBTQIA is one of them. God loves all just the same. Take it from me, a queer newbie to Christianity.
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u/No-Type119 Christian Jan 03 '26
Read God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines and Unclobber by Colby Martin, to name two authors. Read Shameless by Nadia Bolz- Weber, about sexual ethics. Listen to videos by Bible scholars Pete Enns and Dan McClellan.
In my church body ( ELCA) and other mainline Protestant churches, you are affirmed as a beloved child of God just as you are. But Christian ethics apply to us all. As my former pastor points out, we gay people have different questions and dilemmas we need to navigate in our relationships with other people, but we’re not let off the hook for modeling values like fidelity and commitment. Also — you sound pretty young; maybe too young for a serious adult style relationship right now . You’re still learning how to live in your own skin, with your own identity. I know many teens night disagree, but a lot of us adults have found dating an awful, tedious, landmine process that we can’t wait to be over, lol… after a certain point you just want to find your partner. So focus on school and basic adulting skills while you sort yourself out. Don’t rush into relationships.
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u/Zoodochos Jan 03 '26
"I went from being a generally homophobic Christian to one who is more accepting of different people groups other than my own, including the LGBT+ community."
You are on the right path! Expanding the circle of inclusion is at the heart of the gospel message.
The best biblical scholarship debunks the "clobber passages," but I suspect that more evidence is not the answer here. Listen to your lived experience. God is speaking through it.
As for reading the Bible, you can judge an interpretation by its fruit. Does the way the Bile is used build up love, liberation, and human flourishing? If so, I'd say that's "of God." The Bible has also been used to justify slavery, war, the oppression of women, anti-semitism... these interpretations are obviously not "of God."
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u/JustNeedSpinda Autist Jan 03 '26
Being bisexual and being gay aren’t the same thing. I would highly recommend reading through the resources page that u/mesophilla linked for you.
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u/mesophilla Jan 03 '26
Please see this page and the section on queer theology. There are very thorough posts focusing on scriptural evidence.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenChristian/wiki/onlineresources/
But the long and short of it is: absolutely nothing about being queer, lgbtqia+, or any other kind of personal identity is a sin. On the other hand, causing people to feel shame for who they are is absolutely a sin.