What is sin?

Someone posted the following comment on our www.out4marriage.org (video link here):

Equal marriage encourages sin.
You should know that if you've read the Bible AND you are listening to God.
If being a sodomite isn't sinful, is fornicating?
If being a sodomite isn't sinful, is adultery?
What is sin in YOUR opinion?

This is my response:
To offer an overly simplistic answer to a complex issue:

Adultery is the betrayal of a committed marriage relationship and fornication typically refers to consensual sex between non-married adults. Neither deals with people actually desiring to love and commit to each other.
Surely, people who deny equal marriage to same-sex couples are - in fact - encouraging these behaviours, outside of committed loving marriage.

As far as I'm concerned, sin is deliberately acting in a way which harms others or harms your relationship with God.

Committing to love someone for life does neither of those ... however, pointing fingers at others & creating a distance between them and their Creator, does both of those.


Consider the words of Matthew 18:6-7:
Causing to stumble
6 ‘If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung round their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!

They then responded:
" creating a distance between them and their Creator "

Whatever I say doesn't create distance between a person and their creator but sin does. Christ died to close the distance between God and man but expects believers (and gives them the ability) to know what sin is. Your analysis of what sin is, is not correct.
Judging the behaviour of people who have no Christian profession is futile but those that profess Christ ought to be judged from within so they stop sinning.

To which I responded:
It does create a distance if your words cause them to abandon their faith because they believe that they are unwelcome.

I wouldn't want to be responsible for that. I would much rather affirm and include, and leave it to God to judge.

Romans 2:1-4
God’s righteous judgment

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

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It's interesting to me that the person will refuse to interact with references from Scripture when offered in defence of the LGBT community, but will happily quote them when wanting to condemn.  This is much more about a personal agenda that drives the use of Scripture, than it is about obedience to Scripture.