I hope to
provide you with some food for thought by pointing you to the Scriptures on
this controversial topic that has been in much debate especially over the past
several decades. In our culture of late,
the homosexual lifestyle has been
promoted in our media as acceptable and, in fact, quite natural behavior. Many claim that a person’s sexuality is
determined by nature, not by choice.
From a Christian perspective, this would infer that God designed some
people in their mother’s womb to be homosexual.
That is quite a claim!
Culture changes all the time.
While our culture seems to cater to homosexuality today, this has not
always been the case. Check out this
video regarding homosexuals from the 1950s produced by the Inglewood California
Police Department - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehsg2UIMnHM. Talk about a 180 from what goes on in
California today!
While culture is always changing, the Bible does not change. In fact, the author to the Hebrews writes
this of Jesus, “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
It is an undeniable fact that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior. Levitical law states clearly, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies
with a female; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22).
The New Testament includes homosexuality as a sin deemed immoral (1
Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:9-11).
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he includes a vivid description of the
depravity of humanity engaged in sexual sin, especially homosexual sin, which
is just as applicable for us today as it was nearly 2,000 years ago -- “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of
their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among
them. For they exchanged the truth of
God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen. For this
reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the
natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men
abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward
one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own
persons the due penalty of their error.” (Romans 1:24-27)
This Scripture passage describes homosexuality as “degrading,” “unnatural,”
“indecent” and an “error.”
Now to imply that God made a person a homosexual would literally imply
that He is the author of sin for that individual and quite a hypocrite because
His word clearly condemns homosexuality and labels it sinful. In the words of Paul regarding our God, “May it never be!”
So why are some people homosexuals?
Due to the depravity of humanity from our inherited sinful nature, from
birth each of us has a natural bent to do wrong, not right (Isaiah 53:6, Romans
3:10-12). We each have our own sinful
vices that appeal to the lusts of our flesh and separate us from God. Check out this laundry list of sins – “Or do you not know that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves,
nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the
kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Paul did not mince words.
God did not make us sinners. We
are doubly sinners, not only by inheritance from the fall of Adam, but also by
choice (Romans 5:12). On that basis, one
could state that homosexual tendencies were inherited from the fall of mankind
and are chosen by people through the natural lusts of their flesh.
The ugly truth about our sin problem is hard to admit, but admitting that
we have a problem is the first step toward the salvation we ultimately
need. Salvation is offered freely to us by
faith in Jesus Christ! (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9)
However, sin is sneaky and deceptive.
It is very much a part of who we are in our fallen condition (Ephesians
2:1-3). As we engage in our sins, we
grow accustom to them and often comfortable with them. Naturally we begin to justify them in our
mind often times by saying that everyone else is doing them too and they feel
right or make me happy. When we see
others openly engage in sin whom we love, we are pressured to compromise on
what we believe to be true about sin.
Societal pressures also seek to change our beliefs in the name of acceptance
and tolerance. Paul said this in Romans
1:32, “and, although they know the
ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they
not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Our society pushes this today and portrays
the sinful as acceptable. Their message
is clear - “There is no absolute truth.
Everyone can decide what is true for them. Don’t judge, just love and accept others the
way they are.” However, the Bible
stresses that sin enslaves us and brings us death. Rather than freeing us and giving us life,
sin actually kills us and ultimately keeps us separated from an intimate
relationship with the very God who made us!
It is apparent that our culture has adopted the mindset of the
Israelites in the days of the judges – “In
those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own
eyes.” (Judges 21:25) The problem
with that mindset is clearly stated by the words of Proverb 14:12 – “There is a way which seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death.” It
may seem right to let each person do as they please and not have standards of
morality based upon an ancient historical religious book, but in the end, God’s
word will hold true and those who live by His word will be blessed while those
who fail to heed His word will be cursed.
Genesis is clear that from the very beginning God’s design for humanity
was for man and woman to be together in a marriage relationship (Genesis
2:18-24). In other words heterosexuality
is the only sexuality chosen by God! Eve
was created by God out of Adam as the “helper
suitable for him.” (Genesis
2:18) God did not make another man for
Adam. He made a woman. This was His design. This is some of the clearest evidence that
God’s intention all along was for marriage to be between man and woman. I didn’t have to choose to be
heterosexual. God designed me that
way. If anything, I have to choose not
to be homosexual. I also have to choose
to not be an adulterer, rapist or pedophile.
Another aspect missing within the homosexual relationship is the
possibility of procreation. God’s will
for human beings within the context of marriage is to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) This is simply impossible between
homosexuals. Thus, God’s will is not
accomplished in the homosexual relationship.
Finally, I also want you to think about other sins that are culturally condemned
such as murder, rape, theft, etc. What
if a person claimed that they were naturally born to be a murderer? That murdering others felt natural to them
and to do anything else would go against who they are as an individual. This is clearly silly and we would rightfully
agree that such an individual should be locked up for the betterment of
society. You see that just because something
feels right or natural to someone does not make it right! God’s word provides a standard of morality
that the world hates! The world says, “What
right does God have to tell me how I have to live my life?” The answer: He has every right just as He is
your CREATOR and has the power to give life to you and take it away whenever He
so pleases.
The real issue is that people do not want to call homosexuality a
sin. If people are born naturally as homosexuals
then they can’t help themselves and they have a rationalization. However, if homosexuality is a sin then those
who engage in homosexuality have a serious problem especially with God.
Critics of Christians who stand on the truth of Scripture, which says
that homosexuality is unacceptable and unnatural, are deemed intolerant,
bigoted and homophobic. The media pushes
the homosexual agenda with the goal of creating a more enlightened culture that
is tolerant of almost anything except the biblical Christian worldview. The world system is heavily influenced by
Satan. The flesh within each of us
desires naturally to confirm itself to the world. Even the President of the United States of
America has come out in support of same sex marriage. This is the America we live in today. The world’s message is, “If it feels good, do
it. Obey your thirst!” Our flesh is appealed by this message because
it helps us justify our own sinful behavior.
Everyone else is doing it so it must be okay. But as Christians we must get our truth from
the Scriptures, confronting ourselves with the truth about what is sin. Paul wrote this, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and
perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2) We all
need transformation and only God can do it in us as we submit to Him. We must renew our minds daily so we can fight
the good fight and go against the tidal wave of this world trying to shape us
into its corrupted mold.
In closing, as Christians we must make a choice to believe the Bible
over the culture. Cultural changes occur
all around us and the moral fabric of America has been ripped to shreds over
the last century. We can choose to be conformed
to this world which is easy and natural or we can be transformed supernaturally
by the renewing of our minds daily through a living relationship with Jesus
Christ that consist among other things of letting the Scriptures shape our
worldview. In doing so, we will have a
much better shot of remaining obedient to God, receiving His blessing and
living in accordance with His will. God
bless you and may the truth of God’s word transform your life!
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