22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
22:5 Women are not to wear men's clothing, and men are not to wear women's clothing; the Lord your God hates people who do such things.
This was the law that was given to Moses by God. But now let's look a little further down the same chapter in Deuteronomy 22: verses 8-9 and 11-12.
8: When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
8: When you build a new house, be sure to put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you will not be responsible if someone falls off and is killed.
9: Thou shall not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds; lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
9: Do not plant any crop in the same field with your grapevines; if you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes or the produce of the other crop
11: Thou shall not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.
11: Do not wear cloth made by weaving wool and linen together.
12: Thou shall make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
12: Sew tassels on the four corners of your clothes.
These are the laws of the times, the law that God gave Moses. Yet, how many of us put railings around the roof of our houses? But it's the Law ... God's Law.
Also, we plant all sorts of various seeds in our gardens, whether it be a vegetable or flower garden. This also is against the law of God. According to the laws in the Old Testament, we are breaking the law to plant corn and beans in the same garden.
What about the clothes we wear that are made of many different blends of natural and synthetic fibers? How many of us go around with tassels hanging from the four corners of our jackets and coats? Yet, this was God's law.
Can someone take one verse of scripture out of context and fit it to his purposes while ignoring the rest of the chapter? I think not.
These quotes are in the exact same chapter as the one about wearing the clothes of the opposite sex. Does someone who does not have tassels on his clothing or a railing around his roof have a right to judge someone who is wearing clothing of the opposite sex? Again, I think not. (This topic was covered by Drs. Powell & Mauger at the 1992 Southern Comfort convention).
Of course, all of this is actually irrelevant to transsexualism. If your brain tells you that you are female although your body is male, (or vice versa), and you wear the clothing opposite your biological sex, then you are wearing the clothing that is congruent with your gender ... you are not wearing the clothing of the opposite sex.
But still, let's look further. Since these laws were written in the Old Testament, are we still expected to follow them? Or did the advent of Christ change the way we should think about the laws of the Old Testament?
In John 1:17 we read:
17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
17: God gave the law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
Galatians chapter 3 talks about the purpose of the Law and salvation. We read in Galatians 3:11, 17-29:
11: But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith
11: Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the law, because the scripture says, Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live.
17: And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that should make the promise of none effect.
17: What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel promise.
18: For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; But God gave it to Abraham by promise.
18: For if God's gift depends on the law, then it no longer depends on his promise. However, it was because of his promise that God gave that gift to Abraham.
19: Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to, whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
19: What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham's descendant to whom the promise was made. The law was handed down by angels, with a man acting as a go-between.
21: Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid; for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
21: Does this mean that the law is against God's promises? No, not at all! For if mankind had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it.
22: But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
22: But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe.
23: But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
23: But before the time for faith came, the law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed.
24: Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
24: And so the law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through Faith.
25: But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster
25: Now that the time for faith is here, the law is no longer in charge of us.26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus
26: It is through faith that all of you are God's sons in union with Christ Jesus.
27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ
27: You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.
28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither Male nor Female: For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
28: So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between Men and Women: You are all one in union with Christ Jesus.
29: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
29: If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.
Does this not say that we are no longer saved under the law, but rather through faith in Jesus Christ? Does it also not say that whether we are male or female, we all belong to Christ and therefore, are heirs to all the promises God made to Abraham? Could this possibly be any clearer? Matthew 7:1-2 states:
1: Judge not, that ye be not judged.
1: Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you.
2: For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
2: For God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.
I Samuel 16:7 tells us:
7: But the Lord said unto Samuel, look no on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
7: But the Lord said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as man judges." Man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.
It is my opinion that God loves us all unconditionally and that the only real requirement is that We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since starting the Montgomery Institute fourteen years ago, we have seen many new people come in blaming God for their misery, but God does not cause misery. Everyone has something to deal with. Problems are a part of life.
I, myself, am disabled and spend most of my time in bed. Instead of asking God, "why me?", I have learned to ask myself, "why not me?" Many, many people get seriously ill. Why should it skip me? Why would I consider myself exempt from problems that others have? It's just the percentages, and I just happened to be one whose number case up. I have a problem. So do you! So why waste valuable time worrying about why this happened, or why it happened to you? Instead, put your energy on solving the problems and dealing with what you have. It changes things for you ... it really does.
I've seen these same people who came to us cursing God go through the program, deal with what they have, and come through the experience as happy people. Many have gotten surgery and almost all of them are active in churches. All claim that dealing with these issues has brought them closer to God.
I hope you have found something of value in this article. At least you have actual verses of scripture to back up the fact that what you are doing is not against God.
Nikka, shake it off. It ain't that serious.
Bliss' game.
@ the deliberate sabotage
