{"id":18720,"date":"2025-02-28T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/?p=18720"},"modified":"2025-03-25T22:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:47:04","slug":"empty-rhetoric-cannot-save-you-from-your-sin-a-critique-of-keller-hill-allberry-and-sprinkle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/article\/concise\/empty-rhetoric-cannot-save-you-from-your-sin-a-critique-of-keller-hill-allberry-and-sprinkle\/","title":{"rendered":"Empty Rhetoric Cannot Save You From Your Sin: A Critique of Keller, Hill, Allberry, and Sprinkle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>According to Augustine, only the Pelagians taught that \u201ca desire for sins is not a sin and is not something evil, though one does an evil action if one consents to its persuasion.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup> Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther\u2019s successor, argued that all the Church Fathers agreed with Augustine, teaching that evil in one\u2019s heart is sin, not a neutral reality.[2]<\/a><\/sup> The Protestant confessions agreed that original sin and all that it produces is morally culpable sin: Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Baptists.[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today, some prominent evangelicals use empty rhetoric to teach contrary to Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty Rhetoric<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, Tim Keller taught, \u201cHeterosexuality does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can homosexuality send you to hell?\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Editor\u2019s Note: Tim Keller\u2019s public comments on homosexuality are problematic; in some instances (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), he downplays the sinfulness of homosexuality<\/a>, and in other places, he is more clear<\/a>. This comment by Keller is a rhetorical move that does not clearly show what 1 Corinthians 6:9\u201311 teaches, namely, that those who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God (along with everyone who unrepentantly pursues the other categories of unrighteousness listed). However, as a member of the seven-person Presbyterian Church in America Ad-Interim Committee on Human Sexuality<\/a>, Keller did clearly affirm the sinfulness of homosexual desire <\/a>in the committee’s final report. We are grateful for his clear statements on this issue in the context of that report, and we wish that Keller had a clearer track record in his public comments on that issue.]<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Then, in 2014, Preston Sprinkle taught that same-sex attraction \u201cincludes a virtuous desire to be intimate\u2014in the David and Jonathan, or Jesus and John sense of the phrase\u2014with people of the same sex.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/sup> Today, he teaches that there is a pre-lust evil desire that is not even sin, and same-sex attraction falls in this category.[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Wesley Hill taught that same-sex attraction can be separated from same-sex sexual attraction. Same-sex attraction can be sanctified if turned toward godly same-sex friendship, but same-sex sexual attraction should be repented of.[7]<\/a><\/sup> He also argued that same-sex attraction is the pursuit of same-sex beauty.[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Sam Alberry taught that he \u201cexperiences same-sex attraction,\u201d an unwanted, unchosen, mere temptation that is not sin.[9]<\/a><\/sup> And in 2019, he taught that same-sex attraction is \u201cthe capacity to be attracted to people of the same-sex,\u201d which is not sin.[10]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exposing Empty Rhetoric with Empty Rhetoric<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each of these men utilize the same tactic to teach falsely: empty rhetoric, an eisegetical sleight of hand. It\u2019s easy to expose them if you use their rhetoric while substituting other sins that are less acceptable today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Keller, one could say, \u201cBeing male or female does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can transgenderism send you to hell?\u201d Or, \u201cHeterosexuality does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can \u2018pedophilic sexual interest\u2019 send you to hell?\u201d[11]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Sprinkle, \u201c\u2018Pedophilic sexual interest\u2019 includes a virtuous desire to be intimate in the Jesus and children sense\u201d (Matt 19:14). Or, \u201cEvery abusive act begins with a pre-abuse orientation or pre-abuse impulse that is not sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Hill, \u201cRacism can be separated into love for your own race and hatred for other races. Love for your own race can be sanctified if turned toward loving your neighbor, but hatred for other races should be repented of.\u201d Or, \u201cPedophilia can be separated into pedophilic attraction and \u2018pedophilic sexual interest.\u2019 Pedophilic attraction can be sanctified if turned to mentoring or helping children, but \u2018pedophilic sexual interest\u2019 must be repented of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Allberry, \u201cI experience murderous attraction and it\u2019s not sin if I don\u2019t submit to it.\u201d Or, \u201cHaving the capacity to be tempted to abuse someone is not sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these men taught or teach that, in our hearts, there is a pre-lust or neutral inclination that is aimed at sin, but is not itself sin<\/em>. Thus, instead of sending sinners to Christ to repent of sin at the root, they use rhetoric to take guilt away, which of course doesn\u2019t really take anyone\u2019s guilt away. Those who adopt such rhetoric never repent of sin at the root, which continually ensnares them in sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remedy for this false teaching is the same as it\u2019s been since the devil used empty rhetoric in the Garden, saying, \u201cDid God actually say?\u201d(Gen 3:1\u20136): hear God\u2019s word, believe it, receive it, and do what it says from our hearts, by the Holy Spirit through the Son to the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To rebut Keller, Sprinkle, Hill, and Allberry, consider Jesus\u2019s words in Matthew 5:27\u201330 and James\u2019s words in James 1:13\u201315:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exposing Empty Rhetoric With Scripture: Matthew 5:27\u201330<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Exegesis: Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Matthew 5:27\u201330, Jesus preached,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The context for Matthew 5:27\u201330 is Jesus\u2019s \u201cSermon on the Mount\u201d where he corrected the teachings of the Pharisees. His goal was not to abolish or correct the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17\u201320). None of the law will pass away until \u201call is accomplished\u201d (Matt 5:18).[12]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus fulfills the law through His correct teaching and perfect obedience from His heart. He is the goal of the law.[13]<\/a><\/sup> Thus, for Jesus\u2019 hearers to follow His teachings, they must uphold the law perfectly, every \u201cjot and tittle,\u201d exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matt. 5:19\u201320).[14]<\/a><\/sup> But only Jesus exceeds their righteousness; therefore, they must trust in Him alone to save them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exegesis: Comments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 5:27<\/strong>. In Matthew 5:27, Jesus said, \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019\u201d He quoted the Seventh Commandment to rebuke a Pharisaical teaching that only the outward action of adultery is sin, not the inward lust. The purpose of the law was not only to forbid the act of sin but also the inward desire to sin as is evident from the Tenth Commandment, \u201cYou shall not covet\u201d (Exod. 20:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 5:28a<\/strong>. Then Jesus said, \u201cBut I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent.\u201d He claimed greater authority than the Pharisees by rebuking any form of lustful intent, including one\u2019s thoughts.[15]<\/a><\/sup> His words must be understood on the backdrop of Him being the goal of the law. Jesus\u2019s standard is not the false teaching of the Pharisees, but perfect obedience to God\u2019s law from one\u2019s heart. He did not rebuke only mindful lust, but any form of lust, giving a standard that only He could fulfill in both teaching and obedient inclination, thought, and deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 5:28b<\/strong>. Next, Jesus contended that a man with lustful intent toward a woman \u201chas already committed adultery with her in his heart.\u201d Obviously, looking at a woman is not sin. But, to look at a woman who is not one\u2019s wife with sexual desire in one\u2019s heart is morally culpable sin. Using the same Greek words as the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, Jesus interpreted the Seventh Commandment against adultery by the Tenth Commandment against coveting your neighbor\u2019s wife.[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He exposed the condition of His hearers\u2019 hearts. They cannot fulfill the law because their hearts are evil. Only the pure in heart shall see God (Matt. 5:8). Even if they rebuke the lustful intent in their hearts, the fact that it sprang up from<\/em> their hearts reveals that they are not pure and cannot fulfill the law. Only Christ can, and only by God\u2019s grace through Christ can His disciples be morally pure in Him.[17]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 5:29\u201330<\/strong>. Finally, Jesus emphasized His point by arguing, \u201cIf your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.\u201d Christ exaggeratingly referred to eliminating the flesh that tempts: cutting out one\u2019s best eye, the source of an evil lustful gaze, and cutting off one\u2019s best hand.[18]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was even clearer in a similar passage in Matthew 18:7\u20139, when He tied the command against tempting to sin directly to tempting oneself. He said to cut off the flesh that tempts\u2014but that is no more radical than His warning to the man that tempts His disciples: drowning in the sea would be better for him (Matt. 18:6).[19]<\/a><\/sup> Whether temptation comes from within or without, Christ\u2019s followers must reject it in a radical way for the sake of rejecting hell as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To summarize, Christ rebuked His hearers\u2019 passive justification of the sin in their hearts.[20]<\/a><\/sup> By only declaring the outward act as adulterous, the Pharisees were passively declaring that lust in their hearts fulfills the law. Similarly, those who argue that only chosen lustful thoughts are adulterous, are passively declaring that \u201cunchosen\u201d lustful thoughts fulfill the law, exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, and imitate Christ, since He is the goal of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James 1:13\u201315<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Exegesis: Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another passage that teaches lawless inclination is morally culpable sin is James 1:13\u201315: \u201cLet no one say when he is tempted, \u201cI am being tempted by God,\u201d for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.\u201d To understand the context of James 1:13\u201315, one must understand James 1:2\u201312, that trials and tests come from God for our good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exegesis: Comments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

James 1:13a<\/strong>. James began his discussion of temptation with, \u201cLet no one say when he is tempted, \u2018I am being tempted by God.\u201d\u2019 Although God tests His people throughout Scripture, bringing them various trials (Abraham and Isaac in Gen. 22:1; Israel in Judg. 2:22), He does not give them the sinful temptations that come from their hearts during these trials. God\u2019s purpose for trials is always to strengthen their faith (Jas. 1:2\u20134); however, the purpose of inward temptation is always to kill the tempted.[21]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James 1:13b<\/strong>. Then, James further explained why God does not tempt: \u201cFor God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.\u201d Since God is perfectly good and holy, He cannot desire anything contrary to His nature. If being tempted by evil would compromise God\u2019s holy nature, then being tempted by evil would compromise Christ\u2019s nature and all humanity\u2019s natures as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James 1:14<\/strong>. Next, to further clarify the difference between God and sinful man, James wrote, \u201cBut each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.\u201d Mankind cannot blame God when they are tempted by sin because they tempt themselves. It is their fault alone. The word translated \u201cdesire\u201d by the ESV, epithymias<\/em>,[22]<\/a><\/sup> can have a neutral meaning, but when the context is negative, it refers to lust or \u201cfleshly, illicit desire.\u201d The context is clearly negative.[23]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James wanted his readers to know that God is not the source of their temptations, but their own lust lures and entices them. Tests and trials may be welcomed as joyous occasions since they produce \u201csteadfastness\u201d and eventual perfection (Jas. 1:2\u20134), but inward temptations only come from a sinful heart and end in death; they must be rejected as an enemy.[24]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James 1:15<\/strong>. Finally, James likened human development to the growth of sin from beginning to end: \u201cThen desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.\u201d James\u2019 point is not that sin only leads to death when \u201cfull grown\u201d or that temptation only leads to sin when it \u201cconceives.\u201d Sin always leads to death.[25]<\/a><\/sup> And sin, or self-tempting, starts in an individual\u2019s heart.[26]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James argued that individuals, not God, are responsible for sinful lust, thoughts and actions that end in death.[27]<\/a><\/sup> He wrote something similar in James 4:1\u20132: \u201cWhat causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.\u201d The word \u201cdesire\u201d (epithymeite<\/em>) in James 4:2 is similar to the word \u201cdesire\u201d (epithymias<\/em>) in James 1:14.[28]<\/a><\/sup> There was a war raging within his hearers, and their sinful desires were enemies of themselves and the rest of the church as well.[29]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to James 1:15, if one argues James implied that sinful desire is not sin, one must also argue he implied that sin only leads to death when it is \u201cfull grown.\u201d[30]<\/a><\/sup> But James\u2019 point was that inner temptation always leads to death if it is not repented from.[31]<\/a><\/sup> The picture is that of three persons, for temptation \u201clures and entices,\u201d \u201cconceives,\u201d \u201cgrows and dies.\u201d[32]<\/a><\/sup> He described the life cycle of sin where lust can only produce according to its nature: sin and death. Therefore, James\u2019 point is to encourage his hearers to repent of the source of sin and death in their lives, their lusts. If Christians stop the sinful desires before they can conceive, they stop sin from harming them and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James concludes this section with James 1:16\u201318, reiterating his point from James 1:2\u201313 that only good and perfect gifts come from God to man, not inward temptations to sin. Lust is not God\u2019s gift to man; rather, tempting oneself is solely the work of sinful man. Inner temptation is always lust, and is therefore, always sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jesus in Matthew 5:27\u201330 taught us that any sexual impulse towards another man\u2019s wife is adultery. God not only requires holy actions but holy hearts as well (Matt. 5:8). Jesus taught us to respond drastically to inner temptations (Matt. 18:7\u20139), not to label them as \u201cpre-lust,\u201d \u201cneutral,\u201d or \u201cnot sin.\u201d They are lust from root to fruit, seed to deed, according to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, James taught us that though trials come from God for our good, our hearts produce lawless desires that lure and entice us to mindful sin and death. The beginning of sin is not pre-lust, but lust. And these lusts can only produce what is according to their nature: sin and death. They are not neutral, and they cannot produce holiness or anything that pleases God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to the empty rhetoric of Keller, Hill, Allberry, and Sprinkle, any lawless inclination in our hearts is lust, we are responsible for it, and only Christ can save us from it. But the first step in repenting of these lusts is to agree with God that they are sin. We must call the seed of sin \u201csin,\u201d like Jesus and James do. Only then will we begin to turn from and starve the lust in our hearts until it is put to death (Rom. 8:13; Col. 1:12\u201317).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty rhetoric cannot take your sin away, but Christ can. Will you repent and believe in Him? Or will you trust in empty rhetoric to take your sin away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n






<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

  1. Augustine, \u201cUnfinished Work in Answer to Julian,\u201d in Answer to the Pelagians<\/em>, 3, part 1 \u2013 Books, vol. 25 of The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century<\/em>, ed. John E. Rotelle, trans. Roland J. Teske (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1999), 427. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  2. Philip Melanchthon, \u201cThe Apology of the Augsburg Confession,\u201d in The Book of Concord: or, The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Henry Eyster Jacobs (Philadelphia: General Council Publication Board, 1916), 81\u201382. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  3. See Jared Heath Moore, \u201cOn Concupiscence, The Roman Catholics Rejected Augustine and The Reformed Tradition Followed Augustine<\/a>,\u201d in A Biblical and Historical Appraisal of Concupiscence With Special Attention to Same-Sex Attraction<\/em> (PhD dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2019), 77\u2013129. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  4. Robert A. J. Gagnon, \u201cRev. Tim Keller\u2019s Disappointing Comments on Homosexuality (with Postscript)<\/a>,\u201d September 14, 2012. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  5. Preston Sprinkle, \u201cIs Same-Sex Attraction Sinful<\/a>?\u201d December 1, 2014. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  6. Preston Sprinkle, \u201cSexuality,\u201d in Upside-Down Kingdom Bible<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 31. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  7. Wesley Hill, Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015), 80\u201381. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  8. Hill, Spiritual Friendship<\/em>, 80\u201381. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  9. Sam Allberry, \u201cOur Desires, Our Selves: An Interview with Sam Allberry<\/a>,\u201d Modern Reformation<\/em>, August 21, 2015. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  10. Sam Allberry, \u201cIs Same Sex Attraction a Sin?<\/a>\u201d RZIM HQ<\/em>, April 18, 2019. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  11. The current American Psychiatric Association\u2019s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders refers to pedophilia at its root as \u201cpedophilic sexual interest,\u201d and it says that it\u2019s not a disorder. American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders,<\/em> 5th ed., (DSM-5) (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2022), 793. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  12. Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1\u201313, <\/em>Word Biblical Commentary 33A, ed. Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 106. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  13. David L. Turner, Matthew,<\/em> of Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament<\/em>, ed. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 164. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  14. Hagner, Matthew 1\u201313,<\/em> 106. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  15. William Perkins, The Workes of that Famovs and Worthy Ministry of Christ in the Univerfitie of Cambridge, M. W. Perkins, the third and last volume<\/em> (London: John Haviland, 1631), 54. Also, see John Calvin, Commentary on the Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke<\/em>, vol. 1 of Calvin\u2019s Commentaries<\/em>, trans. William Pringle (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 290\u201391. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  16. Turner, Matthew<\/em>, 170. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  17. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew\u2019s Gospel<\/em> (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1964), 226. Also see Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Hand-Book to the Gospel of Matthew<\/em>, ed. Frederick Crombie and William Stewart, trans. Peter Christie (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1884), 130. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  18. Hagner, Matthew 1\u201313, <\/em>120\u201321. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  19. Turner, Matthew<\/em>, 438. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  20. Hagner, Matthew 1\u201313, <\/em>121. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  21. Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, of The Pillar New Testament Commentary<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 72\u201373. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  22. Barbara Aland et. al., eds., Novum Testamentum Graece<\/em>, 28th<\/sup> <\/em>rev. ed. (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Biblegesellschaft, 2012), 686. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  23. Moo, The Letter of James<\/em>, 74. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  24. Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell, James<\/em>, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 67. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  25. Ralph P. Martin, James, <\/em>Word Biblical Commentary 48 (Waco, TX: Word Books Publisher, 1988), 36\u201337. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  26. Dan McCartney, James<\/em>, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 106. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  27. Moo, The Letter of James<\/em>, 75. Moo writes, \u201cThe most we can say is that James, like other Jewish and Christian authors, wants to place the responsibility for temptation and sin squarely on the shoulders of each human being.\u201d \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  28. Aland et. al., eds., Novum Testamentum Graece<\/em>, 691. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  29. Moo, The Letter of James<\/em>, 181. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  30. Aland et. al., eds., Novum Testamentum Graece<\/em>, 686. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  31. Martin, James<\/em>, 37. \u2191<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  32. Martin Dibelius, A Commentary on James<\/em>, ed. Helmut Koester, trans. Michael A. Williams (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 92\u201393. \u2191<\/a><\/p>
    <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Is mere homosexual desire in itself inherently sinful?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Is it possible for a desire to constitute morally culpable sin? Despite the words of some evangelicals, Scripture says yes.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,12,1968,38],"tags":[766,956,653,823,57,129,102,493,2025,2011,677,474,1746,122],"scripture-reference":[],"post_folder":[],"ppma_author":[2021],"class_list":["post-18720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-concise","category-february-2025","category-theme","tag-adam","tag-anthropology","tag-body","tag-christ","tag-christ-as-center","tag-church-history","tag-gospel","tag-morality","tag-original-sin","tag-responsibility","tag-scripture","tag-sin","tag-soul","tag-theology"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Jared-Moore-Sin-Article-scaled-e1740707603389.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-13 11:45:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":2021,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"jared-moore","display_name":"Jared Moore","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Jared-Moore-Author.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Jared-Moore-Author.jpg"},"author_category":"","job_title":"","church_city_state":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","church_site":"","user_url":"","description":"Jared Moore<\/b> (PhD, SBTS) has served in pastoral ministry in a Southern Baptist context since 2000. He pastors Cumberland Homesteads Baptist Church in Crossville, TN. Jared and his, wife, Amber, have four children. He is also the author of The Lust of the Flesh: Thinking Biblically About \u201cSexual Orientation,\u201d Attraction, and Temptation.<\/i>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18720"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19240,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18720\/revisions\/19240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18720"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-reference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-reference?post=18720"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=18720"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=18720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}