11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The grace of God has been made available to us - we did not deserve to be recipients of God's love, but He sent His Son to earth to become a sacrifice for us, to pay the penalty for our sins for us. Even though we are beset by the desires of the flesh, we can strive to allow Christ's desires to be our desires. We are not, as Galatians 5 instructs us, to walk in the flesh, but to please God by walking in the Spirit. In the Spirit, we have the capacity to overcome the power of sin.
The Bible gives us this admonition as it sets up a clear picture of the spiritual battles we encounter; in 1st John 2, we can read:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
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The Bible gives us this admonition as it sets up a clear picture of the spiritual battles we encounter; in 1st John 2, we can read:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
In the fall of last year, a guy named Dylan Mulvaney, who had received notoriety on Tik Tok was involved in an event at the White House showing support for the transgender movement. At the time, the Daily Mail reported:
Dylan Mulvaney, who documents on the app her 'firsts' as a woman in a series she calls 'days of girlhood,' revealed that she and members of NowThis News were visiting the White House for an interview that will be made public on Sunday.
'I'm ready to step up and show trans people we're not going anywhere and that trans kids they deserve a fighting chance to be their true selves,' she says in the video posted Thursday, which has since garnered over 500,000 likes.
Let's be clear: Dylan is a biological male, so I would think that that pronouns used should be male.
The article went on to say:
Mulvaney recently faced controversy after many called for boycotting Ulta Beauty, which hosted her on the brand's 'The Beauty of ...' podcast on October 13.
The beauty brand, which has more than 1,200 stores across the country, was slammed by some women after she explained on the show that she plans on becoming a mother as a transgender woman.
Mulvaney said she 'wants to be a mom one day and I absolutely can,' adding that 'the narrative still has a long way to go'.
Well, Dylan keeps popping up, leaving a trail of controversy, including another brand snafu recently. The latest yielded a statement from the company, but some thought there was not an apology. Newsweek said:
The message itself did not mention the term "LGBTQ+" nor did it mention the LGBTQ+ community, but did call out others.
"We have thousands of partners, millions of fans and a proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere," Whitworth wrote in the statement.
At The Federalist, Hans Fiene had written:
A major reason Mulvaney has succeeded in growing his name recognition is the publicity he’s received from woke institutions. He got the red-carpet experience at the Grammys. Actress-turned-talk-show-host Drew Barrymore recently brought Mulvaney onto her show, knelt before him, and praised the beauty of his her-ness. The Biden administration gave him a sit-down interview with the president.
He doesn't mince words when he says:
Actual women celebrate the first anniversary of their womanhood on their first birthday, not when they’re 26. Dylan Mulvaney is a man, and no amount of cosplaying as a dead-eyed Disney princess can change that.Fiene goes on to say: "...if we want to love Dylan Mulvaney and others like him, we should follow the example of the God who is love, the God who reveals Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. That example is this: Speak the truth, call to repentance, and proclaim the forgiveness that awaits those who repent."
Likewise, Dylan Mulvaney is not beautiful. His female-minstrel-show antics are, in fact, hideous. They are reprehensible, a vile display from a man who clearly finds a kind of perverse delight in wearing femininity like a skin. Mocking God and His natural order is ugly.
Fiene contends:
For the sake of his mental health, his physical health, and his spiritual health, Mulvaney needs someone to tell him: “By putting on a woman’s dress, you have not turned yourself into a woman. You have turned yourself into an enemy of the God who made you a man..."He goes on to say: "Turn to Christ, and He will show you that the maleness of your flesh is holy and good, just as He will show you that femininity is a treasure to protect and defend, not an object to possess and pervert."
God has established an order, principles by which we should live our lives. And, to violate God's plan leads to negative consequences. It's really very simple, isn't it? But, to challenge God's plan for sexuality by engaging in behavior - heterosexual, homosexual, or transgender - that does not conform is an affront to His love and His Word. And, furthermore, we have the resources necessary, through the Holy Spirit, to live a holy life. It starts by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior and being born again, and continues as we begin the process of sanctification - being set apart for the glory of God.
That's Biblical clarity, which is a welcome relief in an era of confusion. But, it's been pointed out that we are at war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have tendencies to go our own way, to follow our own whims and errant ideologies. In the pursuit of the flesh, we block the operation of the Spirit; but the Bible tells us that if we walk in the Spirit, we won't satisfy the flesh - it's been said that whatever you feed is what wins out. We have to feed our spirits the spiritual nourishment of the Word of God, so we can discern good from evil and be built up so we can walk victoriously.
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