A podcast listener named Luke writes,

and dear Pastor John, I want to first thank you for the

aspect of John podcast and for your obedience and love to the Lord.

One thing I have always struggled to communicate is the difference between the Old Testament law

and the fulfilled law after Christ. I have many atheist friends who press me here,

specifically when it comes to homosexuality. Why do we as Christians not believe practicing homosexuals

should be killed for their sin if that is exactly the prescription in our Bibles in Leviticus

chapter 20 verse 13. How would you answer this objection?

This is huge and absolutely crucial and we need an answer for it to those who ask, because

such a common response for somebody who has a smattering of knowledge or has just read that

there are these verses in the Bible like that. And it's not difficult to answer this problem.

It just takes a little willingness on the part of people to listen for a few minutes as we

describe the nature of the Christian Bible. So you have to ask for a few minutes.

It might be helpful to start with an analogy. I think right off the bat this might

be helpful. You might say to the person who's asking that question, suppose a book is written

for the military. And in chapter 1 it deals with how soldiers should relate to each other during

basic training stateside. Chapter 2 deals with how soldiers should relate to each other

and to their captured enemies on the battlefield. Chapter 3 deals with how soldiers should relate

to each other and to their captors if any of them is taken captive and in prison. And the

fourth chapter deals with how they should relate to each other and to the enemy if they are

infiltrated behind enemy lines. Would anyone accuse a soldier of disobedience?

If while he is captured as a prisoner of war, he obeys the instructions in chapter 3

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