an OT or a NT problem?

I keep hearing people misrepresenting the bible. That is to say they will take it out of context and they will use only the parts that suit their needs. For example, the other day I got into a discussion with a family member. Not a close one but still family. She claims to be Christian. I do not really know where her faith really lies but her actions and beliefs run counter to what the bible teaches in MANY areas. The Bible tells us that we should protect and help people who are weaker and less capable, people like children or widows. It also indicates that we are a life from the moment of conception. (You knew me when I was in my mother’s womb… Job) That means that abortion should be a big Christian no no. But she supports abortion. The bible tells us in the new and old testaments both that sexual immorality must be avoided (any union between anyone other than a marital relationship between one man and one woman being the standard.) But she supports (or has no problem with) teenage sex, Gay sex, Gay marriage, Divorce, premarital sex, and for all I can tell extra marital sex and promiscuity of all other types. In our argument she basically seemed to be trying to say that all things are allowable… but, I fear her reasoning was faulty. Her viewpoint was that we do not punish people like it says in the Old Testament anymore so those laws do not hold us anymore. So I tried to explain to her the problem with that view. But she cut me, and the conversation, off. I suspect she did that about when I started making sense to her. She could not be reasoned with because she holds her viewpoint and nothing must interfere with it. So here is my point. The Old Testament contains all of the rules by which God expects us to live. (Deut 5) If we fail to follow his laws we are sinners. But no one was, or is, able to follow all of those. Indeed the book of Romans says, in Chapter 3 verse 23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The bible tells us that God is the same forever. He is unchanging, always the same. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Revelation 1:8 “‘I am the alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” The real issue here is do we still have to follow the old rules? The answer is not a simple yes or no… the thing is that Jesus said he came not to replace the law and the prophets but to fulfil them. That is the law still applies BUT the penalty has been paid. SO we need to try to be good followers of God and that means being obedient. Then the law becomes, not so much a law as a guide for how to live it lets us know how bad we are so we know how much we need his saving grace. Romans 3:20 “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. But no one can follow all of the laws in part because of our sin nature. So the price of sin (Death) is paid. But it is more than that. As a Christian I know and accept that there are going to be people who do not want to follow my God. And that is fine. I will not hurt them or threaten them or anything. I do know they live in sin, and I will warn them against their sin. But that is as far as I go. If they choose to go without accepting my Savior that is their option. It is part of the free will that we all have. BUT if you claim to be a Christian then you ought to be following some certain guidelines. Romans 1: 19 – 20, “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Obvious huh? God has made it plain for all of us to know and we have no excuse (that goes for both saved and sinner I think) BUT… Romans 1:21-27 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God or gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” But HERE is the real kicker to this… “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Hmm there it is! The best argument I can think of for how God feels about sexual Immorality IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Not the Old Testament. So why is this a real problem? Well the thing is we have to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior or eventually the penalty of our sins WILL come to us, Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew And then for the Gentile; but glory honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile.” And again Romans 3:23 FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished –“ You see? The penalty of our sins are withheld for a time… but why ought this to be? What does Romans 3 say next? 26 “he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” God loves us and we can either accept it or reject it. God already made his position plain. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The question is, now that you know all this what do you intend to do with it? If you claim to be a Christian and support the idea that Homosexuality is something to be encouraged then you need to get before God and have a serious talk. Read your Bible and KNOW the truth. If you are not a Christian but you want to feel God’s acceptance then become a Christian. If you want nothing to do with Christians, God or Christ then simply ignore us all and keep going the way you are. But if you are going to try debating Christians about their faith then you need to stop taking the bible out of context and you need to read up on what you are going to debate. Finally, if you are a totally for Christ 100 % HooRah Christian, you need to read God’s Word, learn it, memorize it and then, when people try to mislead you, you can point to the scripture and verse and say Nope this is what God REALLY has to say about it.