Would it be possible for him to get into heaven?

All he has to do to go to hell is to "covet". He does not have to act on it.

Covet - "yearn to possess or have"

Yearn - "have an intense longing or feeling for something"

Entrance into heaven is dictated by your relationship with Christ, and whether or not you have faith in him, not by how little you sin. Having faith in Christ and being born again doesn't preclude you from sinning, but sinning as a Christian is often a symptom of your lack of faith in Christ.

Biblically, it is not a sin to be tempted, Jesus was tempted. Being attracted to someone could be the exception, because lust itself is a sin, so when you are attracted to someone you may be lusting, hence sinning. Lets say I'm tempted to get high and go on a bender. That in itself is not a sin, since it's just a temptation, but the fact that I'm thinking these things could mean there is a bigger problem rooted somewhere.

As someone who has and does struggle with previous addictions and sins, the answer is no, it doesn't "keep you out of heaven", but at the same time if you are not changing and becoming more like Christ, there may be greater problems there, since the more you become like Christ the less you will struggle.

How would you go about stopping yourself being attracted to a particular person/ group/ sex/ etc

I don't think this should be the entire focus. Obviously you don't want to abuse children, so this is an exception as you should probably seek help, but we can take another example for discussion.

We can examine homosexual attraction. The Christian view (or a popular one) is that you don't simply aim to "stop sinning", but you focus on having faith in Christ and being born again. Born again meaning that you "give" your life to Christ and decide to follow his will, and enter in a relationship with God. So you are dying to yourself, your flesh, and are made alive in the spirit, being born again and living for Christ.

In this view, Christ changes your character as you now walk in the spirit, and not in the flesh. You will naturally become more like Christ and your inclinations to sin will decline. Many will attest to this and will credit it to their victory over addictions, as I do.

So there is a subtle difference between simply not sinning, and being changed to not want to sin. Again, heaven is not about simply "not sinning" but faith in Christ which will result in you not sinning.

I can't speak for homosexual attraction, but many will tell you that they "changed" when they accepted Christ. Others will say they continued to struggle, but that they struggled a lot less. Still others say that nothing changed. Again, I can't speak for them, but I can speak of my struggle with addiction, and even though after many years of being sober, I relapsed and had to start from scratch, I can attest to Christ helping you when you put your faith in him. I'm actually giving a lecture on this tomorrow at a halfway home for addicts.

Are you suggesting that if you were married, I don't know if you are or not, that your faith in Christ will stop you finding other females attractive? Even if you are single are you saying that this stops you finding females attractive if they are attached in some way?

There are degrees of faith. If you are born again, and genuinely growing in Christ, then yes, your inclination to sin will decline. That doesn't mean that you can't mess up in a moment of weakness, or that you will be perfect, but only that you will change.

Many Christian guys do not struggle with looking at other women, but many do as well, it depends on the individual. I can tell you that IF you struggle with something that you do not want to continue in, and you become a Christian and ask for help in that area, you will have victory in that area, even if it takes you many years.

To even entertain an evil thought is an impediment to one's salvation. Somewhere in the New Testament referring to that which comes from the hearts of men; lusts, etc..., too lazy to look it up. Plans, machinations, thoughtful untoward desires, etc....

You can't escape, gotta work harder.

Think he was referring to eating "defiled" foods, that it's not what goes into your body that is evil, but what comes from your heart.

What did I say ? Do you think the heart and the head are disconnected?

The particular point of that passage is that eating "defiled" food does not defile you. I'm not sure what you mean by an impediment to one's salvation, that's pretty vague.

Yes, that's right; not vague but having some leeway. Its not my position to judge another but to point out that if an untoward thought is entertained it calls for work on the part of the thinker and this work is beneficial.

If I spend my life in hate , whether thinking or feeling or in actuality both as they cannot be separated then this, I have to work upon. I know the excerpt you're referring to (that was my referral) but it doesn't mean that I can only refer to it if someone is asking about eating defiled foods; too restrictive. Certainly the heart stuff is a pinpoint focus of the source of evil, food notwithstanding.

Bye the bye, my background is reincarnation and karma and therefore this type of difficulty is not as terminal as the one life peoples. Christ as the Lord of Karma. The individual man develops into a higher state from life to life.

Yes but my question was aimed at you personally. If you are in a relationship does your faith in Christ stop you finding other females attractive? Or even if you're single does it stop you finding other females attractive who are in (or may be in) a relationship? It can even be someone famous on tv or in a magazine (not the dirty kind )

Also, I'm not talking about ogling other women, looking to have a relationship with them or anything like that. I'm just referring to looking at someone and finding an attraction.

I can agree with that.

Not sure what you mean here, but Christians generally dismiss reincarnation for obvious biblical reasons.

You can find someone attractive and not lust over them or covet them. I can objectively see a good looking woman and know she is good looking, or I can look at her and fantasize over her.

A beginning, Theosophy: http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA009/...009_index.html

being attracted to x is different than recognizing that y is objectively attractive.

as a venn diagram, x and y would generally be partially overlapping sets, but not identical.

the important difference is that the first "attracted to x" is about you. "y is attractive" is a statement about the world or averaged preferances, not the speaker's. Only the first is relevant to this conversation.

That's fair. I think the thing in question here is what entails this attraction to be a sin. I can find someone attractive and do it immorally, or I can find someone attractive and not do it immorally. It's a fine line sometimes, when attraction becomes lust, and I'm not entirely sure where it is drawn, but there is a distinction, and I'm arguing that it is possible to not lust and find someone attractive, as per Husker's question.

Keep up the good work man

Thank you, it's a difficult thing to do, to be completely transparent and reveal your failures to a crowd of people, but if it helps just one person, it's worth it.

This is another clear example of fear culture that's inset deep within the core of Christian faith. What you seem to be saying is that you should subdue and crush any strong feelings and not embrace them. Obviously I'm not agreeing that if you get the urge to murder, you should probably fulfil the urge, but you're basing your judgement of homosexuality being not of God based on a ancient book where one of the many fundamental problems is: its ambiguity. It is so vague and self-contradictory on so many issues that it is useless as a moral compass. By the careful selection of passages taken out of context, the Bible can be represented as supporting any and every cause or standpoint you can care to name.

One day we will outgrow religion as we've outgrown our belief in and dragons and unicorns. One day we will just accept our mortality, and get on with the business of living and doing the best we can for others.

'Becoming more like Christ' pretty much just translates to 'Live in fear that if you do not change you will go to hell', imo.

Naked_, you've stayed clean because you want to live a happy and positive life and you know that you wouldn't if you kept using. It's so clear 'God's faith' or whatever you want to call it was just your subconscious telling yourself: YOU NEED SOMETHING TO KICK YOU IN THE ASS AND CHANGE FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND FOREMOST YOU.

That's one of the great (limited) uses for religious faith, it can inspire many to do the 'right' thing, the moral and righteous thing. Then again, on the flip side faith in doing something because you think it's right based on religious faith has caused many deaths and grief for families in our history.

The night is dark and full of terrors is not a way to live life
It all comes down to a good set of morals, then you don't need to have faith or pray, everything will sort itself out when we die. If nothing happens, nothing happens, if you go to heaven, great! Just don't live life in fear of doing something wrong that upsets a moral code that was written x,xxx years ago that would send you to the most horrible places you could possibly imagine. Children are scared of the Bogeyman, not big boys like us.

Even if he did act on his impulse, he could still get into heaven, as I understand it. Its not the size or depravity of your sin that counts against you. Someone who goes round raping and murdering is judged the same as someone who once told a white lie. If you believe in jesus ( whatever that means) then you are going to heaven no matter what. If you dont believe, then you are going to hell, no matter how good or bad you are.

There is a lot to address here. For starters, I would say that if you don't believe in the bible (which is an option) then you needn't believe that homosexuality (the act of it) is a sin. I disagree with you that the bible is vague on these things, it's very clear where the bible stands on homosexuality, but I agree with you that you need not believe it. You don't need to take the stance that the bible is ambiguous on homosexuality to not believe in the bible, I think that's a mistake. Questioning the legitimacy of the bible is one thing, but denying the simplest interpretation is somewhat biased.

Secondly, I've openly admitted that what I believe to be Jesus could be a self-defence mechanism created by my mind to fool me. This is a possibility, but it becomes less likely the longer I'm a Christian, and the more I learn about God. Nonetheless, the possibility still exists that I'm being fooled by some mechanism or other. There is also the possibility that Christ does in fact exist, and does in fact communicate and help those who trust in him, a possibility which you have already discounted.

For the record, I'm not saying you should do anything. When I wasn't a Christian I liked getting high, and if I discovered that God did not exist, I would live a lifestyle that revolves around drugs, and probably go to Vegas and recreate "Leaving Las Vegas". It's a legitimate way of life. If Christ does exist, then I think it's a waste of time and not beneficial, as there are more important things to focus on, since hedonism is incredibly selfish. No matter your lifestyle, I don't judge you or condemn you, I simply disagree with you because I do believe in Christ. If you do not believe in Christ, do what you think is right, I don't judge gay people no more than I judge my non-Christian friends. A buddy of mine struggles with Heroin, and I help him when I can, and yes I do present the Gospel to him because it helped me when I was struggling with addiction.

I've seen you say this before, and while the gist of it is more or less accurate, there are some references that suggest that not everyone is judged the same. For instance, speaking about a city where those who bring the gospel message are rejected, Jesus says, "I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."

It's no different than the numerous verses suggesting that people store up treasures in heaven. There does seem to be an idea that it's not completely equal.

Edit: Matthew 20:1-16 (The parable of the vineyard workers) Came to mind, not sure if you're familiar with it.

That would apply to everyone though surely, whether they are attracted to someone of the same sex, a different sex, or even children?

I should point out,I'm not trying to trip you up at any point here I'm just trying to discover if there is a difference based on who it is you find attractive. And if there is why that would be the case given we have no real control over who we find attractive.