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By Paul J. Bucknell

Confidence in God's design for our lives including our sexuality leads us to study the given pattern in the scriptures and apply those patterns to our lives. Once we have some confidence in His design for our lives including our sexuality, then we need to study the given pattern in the scriptures and apply those patterns to our lives.

These patterns are God's cross-cultural principles for our lives. Our confidence will increase as we obey God's Word and observe the good that come from obedience. This is what Christian growth is all about. It is not static. The principles, however, do not change. Our confidence in God's Word enables us to live by principles found in the holy scriptures.

 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4  Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Hebrews 13:4
LIVING BY PRINCIPLES
RATHER THAN PASSION

God's Word  > observations > principles


LIving by principle rather than passion
We can see this more clearly in the diagram above. Our eyes observe the scriptures through numerous means including study, reading, preaching, meditating and memorizing. Through this study, we note different things we are or are not to do in a given situation. We agree to go by this instruction. His truth then dictates His will for our lives in that matter.
We take the heavenly principles from nature and the Word of God and apply them to our earthly lives. This is what Jesus meant in the Lord's prayer,
  "Thy kingdom come.
         Thy will be done,
            On earth as it is in heaven."
                     Matthew 6:8-15, NASB

This is the way His design is known and copied on earth. Part of His design is found in understanding ourselves as sexual beings. We should not think that this sums up our purpose or design in life. It is merely one aspect, though a very important part.

In our study, all of our points will reflect the principles which are found in the scriptures. If the principles are disagreed upon, then we should go back to the scripture and study its assumed position as well as its intended purpose.

There are some who would disqualify certain arguments because they are not culturally sensitive or time relevant (modern). We should realize that Jesus could make the same excuses as us but was willing to put Himself under the direction of the scriptures. The sexual part of our lives is more foundational than the culture and time issues. It is foundational because it has to do with our very make-up and existence. The introduction to this topic is given in the creation chapters of Genesis.

Gene Therapy
One example of the training procedure that we are using is gene therapy.

  1. #1 Eliminate as many bad cells as possible.
  2. #2 Good genes are taken from the good source.
  3. #3 Implant good cells among the bad ones.
  4. #4 Induce growth of good ones.


Eliminating the bad cells does not solve the problem. Good cells are needed so that the organ can properly operate. The success of the procedure will depend both on how well they have eliminated the bad and have inserted the good ones. How does this fit in with what is written above?

The new cells being created and implanted are generated by understanding and apply God's principles to our lives. Success depends upon how thorough we are in doing this.

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