I think a better term to use than unrepentant would be willful disobedience. I know that some people may take these meanings as synonomous, but I do not think so.

The difference is that with unrepentant, someone else is defining that status for another person vs. willful disobedience (ie, grounds for discipline) when the other person has agreed with them about the sin, but then makes a deliberate decision to stay put in the sinful practice.

Yes, our public, doctrinal stand is one thing, but the thing that I appreciate nonetheless about Chambers and Exodus is that they're on the front line, they're taking the rounds and speaking one on one into people's lives about the scriptures. I pray that Chambers will adjust fire and get back in line with the clear teaching of the Word on this issue, and continue to minister personally, one on one, to people in a life-changing way.

If parachurch organizations like Exodus (rightly) want to help people long term, robust theology is a must. As John Frame teaches, theology is about helping people.

I've pulled together Frame's thoughts on the subject here: http://wp.me/p30a1-130

The fact is that Alan Chambers is not a pastor. Very few, if any, of the men and women who lead Exodus are. They are people who have come to this issue with their own personal experiences and knowledge of the subject of homosexuality. That's not a bad thing, but such experience must be bolstered by theological rigor and pastoral understanding.

This current controversy is very troubling to me. Alan Chambers and Robert Gagnon are two figures that I have had such admiration for.

I'm troubled by what Chambers seems to be saying about unrepentant sin not getting in the way of relationship with Christ. But I also don't completely track with Gagnon. He appears to have abandoned the Reformed idea of Perseverance.

Jeff -
i think i understand where you're coming from. I would want to begin at the reality that the Christian life is not to be a solitary one (just 'me and Jesus and my Bible). When we are in loving community with other brothers and sisters, THEY are often the ones who can pint out sin in our lives that we don;t see. You're quite right - our hearts are deceitful and wicked, and so that is why we need others to hold us accountable and elders to maintain church order and discipline.
As for the repentance issue: i would direct you to II Cor. 7 to begin. Here, Paul gives a description of what worldly sorrow and godly sorrow towards sin looks like. One of the most obvious signs of true repentance is that it leads toward actual change of behaviour; not instantaneous by any means but in that direction. The false repentance of many "looks" sorrowful on the outside but real change never follows or is not sustained. Another sign of true repentance is a change of attitude towards the sin. A heart that understands it has offended a holy god and is bringing disgrace upon the Name of God by it's actions feels godly, true sorrow that leads to true repentance; one that merely feels sorry b/c they were caught and have to bear the penalty for their actions, probably still doesn't see their sin as God does. there are many more but that's a beginning anyways.
As for dying with"un-repentant sins" i'm not sure of you're meaning. If we are truly born again, all sin is covered by the blood of Christ whether we've confessed it yet or not, otherwise Christ's sacrifice for sins - once and for all - was not sufficient. That said, the one who is truly regenerate will not take such a teaching and say, 'hey - i can do what i want and God's got me covered' (see Romans 6) but will have an attitude towards their sin that is repentant (though never perfect). A great example of this would be David: called a "man after God's own heart" who we all know sinned wickedly in ways many of us never will (and those are just the one's Scripture tells us about!). And yet, in Psalm 51 we see what's David's attitude was towards his sin and towards God and so that is why he could be called this.
Anyways, hope that helps some. God's peace bro.
W.

I agree with Burke here that this seems to be more of an issue of salvation than of biblical sexual ethic. It's mystifying to understand how anyone true believer could believe that steadfast pursuit of unrepentant sin could go hand in hand with a regenerate heart (1 John 3). Again, unrepentant sin here is obviously the issue as we all have remaining sin. It is the hearts' attitude towards that remaining sin that reveals whether or not a heart has the Spirit indwelling or not.

This whole idea of "unrepentant sin" has troubled me since I was a kid. How does anyone really know what's even in their own heart, since the Bible says it's deceitful and wicked? What about all the sins that we aren't even aware of, or are only vaguely aware of? We could not repent of those. And how 'repentant' does one have to be to "count" as 'repentant'? Is it a matter of being sorry? Is it just giving it the ol' college try at trying to stop? What about all the arrogant/proud Christians we all know who don't seem to be making much of an effort at humility? I do think there is a problem when we don't even call something a "sin" -- but then again, what about all the gluttons in our country? I'd love to hear a pastor really rip into a six-week series sure to offend all the fat people who are obviously not trying harder than homosexuals to give up their sin (did my word "fat" bug anyone?)...or materialism, and on and on....Maybe it's ok if one just acknowledges that they need to quit eating so much, even if they dont' ever get a handle on it?

I am not trying to excuse "un-repentant" attitudes and behavior, but then again, it seems to me that every Christian dies with at least some "un-repentant" sins. What happens to them? What about the guy who's yelling at his wife as he gets in a fatal car accident? Folks at my old church used to try to scare us youth by telling us that we sure didn't want to be caught in some sin when Jesus comes back....I've truly never understood this concept. Our old youth volunteer used to say, Well, we all sin, but some people have a "lifestyle" of sinning, so the occasional sin is OK, but if it turns into a lifestyle, you're in trouble. Oh, yeah? What about his lifesyle of greed? And as Tim Keller pointed out, nobody considers themselves to be greedy - it's always somebody else with more money that's greedy, and we're just trying to provide for our families.

We wouldn't need such para-church organizations at all if the main church was doing its job to actually love and bear the burdens of the homosexual. It's not just para-church ministries with poor theology, but also Reformed churches who say one thing (that IS theologically correct) and behave a different way (that is NOT theologically correct).

Can you summarize the Zane Hodges view? Is it essentially "once saved always saved" that views repentance as an unnecessary "work"?

I do vaguely recall a James Boice sermon from Romans 10 that touched on Hodges' view, but don't know if I have that quite right. If I recall, he also mentioned Charles Ryrie among the group that espoused that view.