What our Creator says about sexual immorality

We at The Refiner's Fire are not attempting to bash homosexuals or anyone else who is actively engaging in anything God considers "sin". People cannot help whom they are attracted to - but they CAN choose whether they wish to serve God, or not. The plain truth is: If you actively engage in sin of ANY kind, you are not on His path...and if you deliberately continue to engage in ongoing sin, you will ultimately be eternally separated from Him.

Our goal is to bring light what YHWH (Yahweh - The Creator) says via His Word (the Bible) concerning sexual sin; and Scripture says ANY sexual sin will result in eternal separation from Him ... and He says about homosexuality that it is "an abomination"....

Leviticus 18:22 - You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

That's a pretty strong word - "abomination." Unfortunately, today people like to pretend God has somehow changed His mind, and that - not only is it "okay to be gay," but God has even condoned homosexual marriage ... never mind that there is not one scripture to support that idea!

Because we are a Torah observant ministry, our goal is to "get really biblical" and just tell it like it is, without any "fluff" or pretence. So - let's get down to it:

YHWH expects us to "be holy because I am holy!" (Seen in passages throughout the Torah, the first five Books of the Bible, which is our only blueprint for moral, holy living.) Torah outlines exactly what YHWH expects of His people and why - and He even sent us His Son, Yeshua (our Savior's given, Hebrew Name) came to be our Final SIN Offering, who came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH and show us how to live according to His Father's Rules.

Contrary to popular belief, He did NOT come to bring a "new religion" or release mankind from Torah. He and all His apostles and disciples upheld YHWH's Divine Instructions in Righteousness, and that has never changed!

The Bible tells us there is NO SIN SACRIFICE for continued and deliberate sinning after someone has accepted YHWH/Yeshua:

Hebrews 10:26 For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, or raging fire that will consume the enemies.

Hebrews 10:29 Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the covenant which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God's grace! 30 For the One we know is the One who said, "Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay," and then said, "ADONAI will judge his people." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

Please re-read the above: If you are a born-again believer and you know what God considers "sin" but you continue sinning, anyway, then you do NOT have the Holy Spirit residing within, and you do NOT belong to God! This is not our "interpretation" of the Bible; it is what God said and Yeshua and His Apostles continued to reiterate.

2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is slave to whatever has defeated him. 20 Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled and defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness than, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them.

Matthew 23: (Yeshua said) 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

So, people, let's get BIBLICAL about this kind of nonsense and stop making excuses: One either belongs to God, or they don't! There is no in-between! Let's check out just some of the scriptures that command us to be holy:

Adultery:

Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery."

Sexual immorality:

1 Corinthians 6:9. Or don't you know, that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim? Make no mistake! Neither sexual sinners, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the corrupt, nor men who lay down with other men, 10. Nor the oppressors, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (Aramaic English New Testament)

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality....

Homosexuality and transgenderism:

Concerning transgenderism,and what people are calling "fluid sexuality" today (where they can decide "what gender they wish to emulate" on any given day). The first thing to keep in mind is that YHWH is not a God of confusion. When He created man, He made them male and female - two genders that are called to not only reflect the image and likeness of God, but to also represent Him in the stewardship of His good and wonderful creation (Genesis 1:28-29).

Male and female also reflect YHWH in the unity in marriage when they become "one flesh" (see Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19: 3-6; Mark 10: 6-9; Ephesians 5:28-32) and thus bring forth new life that will also reflect His Holy Image (character). When we are "fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," we spread God's image around the world (Genesis 1:28). To actively deny or reject this privilege by attempting to tamper with the gender HE assigned you, is not only a grievous sin, but it is also basically a slap in the Face of our Creator!

Genesis 1:27 So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them: God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it..." (CJB)

Deuteronomy 22:5 "A woman is not to wear men's clothing, and a man is not to put on women's clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI your God. (CJB)

Now to the growing problem of homosexuality, let's simply allow Scripture to speak for itself:

Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Romans 1: 22 Claiming to be wise, they have become fools! 23 In fact, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for mere images, like a mortal human being, or like birds, animals or reptiles! 24 This is why God has given them up to the vileness of their hearts' lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other's bodies. 25 They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshiping and serving created things, rather than the Creator - praised be he for ever. Amen. 26 This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; 27 and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion.

28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarreling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.

2 Peter 2: 19. And they promise them liberty while they themselves are the slaves of corruption: for, by whatever thing a man is vanquished, to that is he enslaved. 20. For if, when they have escaped the pollutions of the world by the knowledge of our Master and Redeemer Y'shua the Mashiyach, they become again involved in the same and are vanquished, their latter state is worse than the former. 21. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after having known (it), to turn back from the Set Apart Commandment that was delivered to them. 22. But the true proverb has happened to them: the dog returns to his vomit and the pig that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

Revelation 22:14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Many Christian pastors tell their flock that "it's okay to be gay" and they cater to the tired mantra, "We're born that way." We challenge them to think about this: Would the Creator purposely cause someone to be "born gay" only to then turn around and make their lives miserable by telling them their acts are "an abomination?"

Drunkenness

(Including drunkenness from drugs or any substance that clouds our consciousness):

Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

Galatians 5:21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 3:3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Titus 1:7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Lying:

Leviticus 19:11 "'Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other. 12 Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am ADONAI.

Idolatry:

Exodus 20:4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines "idol" as: 1. a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly: a false god; 2. a: a likeness of something b: obsolete: PRETENDER, IMPOSTOR; 3. a form or appearance visible but without substance; 4. an object of extreme devotion (a movie idol); 5. a false conception: fallacy.

Many believers insist "we're not supposed to judge" - but that is a misconception because they don't understand what "judging" refers to. One isn't "judging" unlesss they are using their own moral codes as measuring sticks outside of Torah. Torah should be our only Judge because it is the Word of God!

If someone has fallen off the path, we cannot stand idly by and ignore the sinner for fear of being guilty of "judging" them - especially the pastors, the supposed "men of God" who try to tell us sinning is "normal"! We MUST try to guide them back onto the path.

Whenever Yeshua haMashiyach (whom Christians call Jesus Christ) witnessed deliberate sinning, He didn't sit back and make excuses; He confronted the sinners - sometimes even engaging in physical action in order to make His statement (see Matthew 21:11-13) - and, He didn't hesitate to call the "men of God" hypocrites whenever He witnessed iniquity (see Matthew 6:2-5, all of Matthew 23, and Psalm 26:4-5 to mention just a few).

One of the main problems of today's lackadaisical churches whose leaders often don't practice what they preach, is that they believe Torah to be null and void. They believe "Jesus nailed it to the cross", without stopping to think exactly WHAT He nailed to the cross. He nailed our past sins to the cross (not future deliberate ones!); He nailed to the cross our certificate of debt for breaking the Law - not His Torah. And He even said so:

Matthew 5:17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? If not, then why have we decided that God's "forever" commands have somehow been superseded?

Many today insist that since we have God's Word "written on our hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:3 and Romans 1) it automatically makes them "holy". How can something that we've never learned make us holy? Today's church leaders don't teach Torah; they teach that, all that's required of us is to "believe in Jesus" who supposedly gives us carte blanche to do whatever we want, because we're already forgiven!

Many churches even teach that we no longer need to adhere to the Ten Commandments because believers in Jesus "have a higher calling." Unfortunately, the "fine print" in the Bible says otherwise! Yeshua said if we were "lukewarm" toward Him He would spit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16)! Furthermore, Hebrews 6 makes it perfectly clear that those who deliberately turn toward "the world" are holding our Savior up to public contempt:

Hebrews 6:4 For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), 5 and tasted the goodness of God's Word and the powers of the 'olam haba - 6 and then have fallen away - it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt. 7 For the land that soaks up frequent rains and then brings forth a crop useful to its owners receives a blessing from God' 8 but if it keeps producing thorns and thistles, it fails the test and is close to being cursed (Genesis 3:17-18); in the end, it will be burned.

Make no mistake: God loves us, and He knows as humans we are prone to falling from grace. Yeshua paid the sacrifice for our sins; however, that does not mean we can do whatever we want because God does draw the line on continuous, intentional sinning. He said so:

Leviticus 26:23 If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.

Numbers 15:30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has had contempt for the word of ADONAI and has disobeyed his command, that person will be cut off completely; his offense will remain with him.'"

Deuteronomy 7:9 From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. 10 But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.

Isaiah 66:24 "As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will never die, and their fire will never be quenched; but they will be abhorrent to all humanity.

Revelation 3:16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

Some final thoughts on "out of the ordinary" sex acts:

Without becoming too graphic, here is the bottom line: People who engage in "the back door" kind of sex are going totally contrary to the Bible. Not only do they run the risk of contracting infection and disease caused by the deadly e-coli bacteria, but they are guilty of touching the most unclean, bacteria-infested part of a human body!

Our Creator who gave us His Torah (divine instructions in righteousness) said a person was guilty of sinning when touching "human uncleanness" (which, until Yeshua's death on man's behalf, resulted in the killing of an innocent animal to atone for this heinous sin!). Just because we have soap and running hot and cold water today, does not mean this SIN suddenly became spiritually "clean".....

Leviticus 5:3 If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty.

Granted, most people probably couldn't care less about God, let alone bother to obey Him. But that is actually irrelevant in the grand scheme of things because there IS a Judgment Day when all of us (believers and unbelievers alike) WILL stand before Him to discuss our actions on Earth. The reason we can be sure of this is because hundreds of Bible prophecies have already come to pass (see Accurate Messiah Prophecies), and there are but a few more to go as four of the seven Biblical Feasts have already been fulfilled - with just three more left.

The thing is, in today's carnal world hardly anyone ever thinks about the fact that we have a Creator - YHWH - who commanded us ALL to "Be holy because I am holy!" (Seen throughout the first five Books of the Bible.)

YHWH has removed His Mighty Hand from this once Godly nation that is now fraught with immorality of all kinds. Not just from this nation, but the entire world, as evidenced by the many signs today.

Tamra wrote: "We would not be here if same-sex had begun in Genesis 1:27, 2:22-23, 1 Timothy 2:13 and Ephesians 5:30, which says: For we are members of His body and of His flesh and of His bones. Pray for this reawakening spiritual message to reach everyone's ears/eyes. May they all learn to walk like the Living Torah, Yeshua!"