|
Church Education Resource Ministries |
|
|
|
|
||
Homosexuality is the subject of one of the most heated and controversial debates in our society. The church seems to be divided on its views of homosexuality. Many liberal denominations are very openly embracing it, while many conservatives are not. There are different extremes of interpretation between the Protestant liberal and conservative denominations regarding the subject of homosexuality. Some liberal churches ordain homosexuals into the ministry, while on the opposite extreme there are churches that would never allow a homosexual to enter the church. While if I were a pastor I would never ordain or allow a homosexual to work in the ministry, I would allow them to enter the church to get a chance to come to repentance so they can be forgiven from their sins and come to a everlasting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Churches that deny homosexuals entrance to their buildings are denying sinners the chance at salvation. But regardless, there are many churches that hate homosexuals.
I’m sure you all have read stories of hate acts against homosexuals by some so-called Christian pastors. Fred Phelps is a very well known infamous Baptist pastor who preaches a message of hate geared at homosexuals. He’s no doubt the biggest anti-homosexual advocate in the world. Often unbelievers think that all Christians think like Fred Phelps, and this is simply not true.
Pastor Fred Phelps http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/phelpsbio.html It's tragic that Fred does not know the
gospel according to Jesus, because if he did he would have read the
verse that says to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39 "And the
second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"). Because of Fred's example and poor
representation of Christians I can understand why many homosexuals are
hostile towards us, and I really do not blame them.
My argument against the sinful Godless act
called homosexuality will begin in the Book of Genesis where this sin
is first addressed. Sadly, some incorrectly believe that homosexuality
is first mentioned in Leviticus and therefore conclude
that this sin does not transcend or extend beyond the moral Law of
Moses. There are many laws of Moses which are no
longer practiced by most evangelicals today. For example, in the Law
of Moses there are a half dozen dietary laws. There are some foods
that God forbade and others that He did not. Most evangelicals today
no longer practice these laws (except Seventh Day Adventists). I
use this as an example because many of the supporters of homosexuality
claim that since it is first mentioned in
the Pentateuch (Gen-Deut) then homosexuality like all the other laws is
no
longer active. They only use this argument because they have failed
to read the entire scriptures and cannot see that homosexuality was
FIRST addressed in Genesis. Homosexuality is not only one of the many
social laws
but goes far beyond the social and into the moral realm which
transcends the book of the Law and is addressed in the New Testament
as well. Dietary laws do not transcend nor extend beyond the book of
Moses, and nor are they mentioned in the New Testament. As a matter of
fact,
Jesus on several occasions declared all foods to be clean. One such
passage is
Mark 7:19
"'For it doesn't go into his heart
but into his stomach, and
then out of his body.' (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods
'clean.')" (NIV)
Passage #1
Gen 19:5-8
(NASB)
"...and they called to Lot and said to him, Where are
the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may
have relations with them. But Lot went out to them at the
doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, 'Please,
my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now behold, I have two
daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring
them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to
these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my
roof.'"
(NIV)
Genesis 19:5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you
tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
Genesis 19:6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door
behind him
Genesis 19:7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a
man.
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.
But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the
protection of my roof."
In the Bible this is the first time that the sin of homosexuality is addressed. Both the NASB & KJV avoid using the word sex in verse 5, while the NIV as clear as day uses the word. The Hebrew word being used in the above to translation to the English word for relations is yada (Strongs 3045). This word appears some 800+ times in the NASB Old Testament. The word basically means the same as the word "sex" as mentioned in the NIV.
In the passage above, the two men that the people of Sodom so desperately wanted to have sex with were two angels that were not of this world. They are first mentioned in chapter 18 appearing to Abraham. These men come to Abraham to reveal to him the judgment they will carry out on the city of Sodom because of its great wickedness. No question homosexuality was one of the many sins that earned its sentence. It was not the only sin, but perhaps the most severe of them.
In verse 11 the men strike the homosexual offenders outside with blindness. I have no idea if the blindness was temporarily or permanent, but my guess would be permanent. The angels were not afraid to use their power and knew that sin must be punished. God today in his grace no longer blinds homosexuals, but one day the judgment will come.
Another similar
passage--
Judges 19:22-23
"While they were enjoying themselves,
some of the
wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door,
they shouted to the old man who owned the house, 'Bring out the man
who came to your house so we can have sex with him.' The owner
of the house went outside and said to
them, 'No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest,
don't do this disgraceful thing.'"
When I read about Sodom and its homosexual activities I create a modern comparison between Sodom and San Francisco. One semester when I was at Simpson University, a friend of mine showed me a video tape series on homosexuality and the entire focus of the videos was San Francisco, which is believed to be the capital of the homosexuality sin in the USA. Growing up in that area I could very much relate to the horrific graphics of homosexuals I saw on my tiny TV screen. To go into a little of the gore the videos portrayed: I saw both men and women sun bathing naked; I saw some having sex out in public; I saw the sick and twisted homosexual parades (These are the parades were many homosexuals are convicted to dance nude, and sadly some of the local churches in San Francisco are convicted to join them).
In some parts of San Francisco it seems okay to walk around nude and to have sex in the open. I can imagine Sodom being like this and why The Lord destroyed this city. Certainly San Francisco will one day be destroyed. Her condemnation is coming rather quick if she does not repent, but for know she is under God's grace, and his grace will one day run out.
The second passage that I will focus on comes from the book of Exodus.
Passage #2
Exodus 22:19
"Anyone who has sexual relations with an
animal
must be put to death." (NIV)
There are probably not many people who wish to have sex with animals today, but I there is a small faction of sick, twisted, people that enjoy this sinful act. I know this because sometimes when I search the web or check my email I unfortunately have to witness both men and women having sex with animals. Sadly, in the day of sexual immorality that we live in it's very difficult not to be exposed to such filth. A simple web search is too often all it takes to get exposed to these acts.
In Exodus there are a ton of social
laws that if violated carry the penalty of death. The act of sleeping
with an animal was not the only sin that would lead
to death, and I by no means am saying that it was the worst of all
social law violations, but I mention this to address those reading this
message who enjoy having sex with animals. You see, back in the Old
Testament anyone caught having sexual relations or intercourse with
an animal was to be put to death. Period. Often this was done by
stoning, certainly a much more painful way to
die than lethal injection, wouldn't you say? People today do not know
how good they have life, and how badly they need God's moral guidance
in their lives. If society was still under a theocratic system with
God in charge and the consequence for such sin was death, then the
population would probably be drastically smaller.
But no, God has chosen to forgive people of their sins, and that includes homosexual offenders. I want every homosexual that reads this to understand that it is not too late for you to turn from your wickedness. It is not too late to turn to the light. But do so while there is yet time, for one day you will be punished for your sins.
Passage #3
Leviticus 18:22-23
"You shall not lie with a male as with a
woman; it
is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal and so make
yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an
animal to lie with it: it is perversion." (ESV)
I heave heard of some fundamentalist Christians that use this passage as a weapon against homosexuals. I am a fundamentalist, so you are probably thinking that I am just like every other fundamentalis. This is anything but the truth and I for one do not condone hatred of homosexuals. Certainly, those who preach it are not speaking the truth in love. Jesus said that second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. It does not take rocket science to figure out that those who speak to homosexuals with such hatred are by no means loving their neighbor as themselves, for they certainly would not condemn themselves to hell as quickly as they do homosexuals! Jesus also said that all men would know that they were mhis disciples by their love. I believe it is necessary to show love for the homosexual sinners, but hatred for their sin. So many in the church today get confused about what it means to love, and homosexuals can't separate their sin from themselves, so they believe that anyone who calls their sin as the Bible calls it, is hating them.
Passage #4
Leviticus 20:13
"If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman,
they
have both committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their
blood is on their own hands." (HCSB)
Again, more condemnation for those who practice homosexuality. Note that when I say condemnation I am not implying this with a mean spirit. The Bible is the authority and very clearly condemns this sin. The Bible does not condemn sinners alone, but without forgiveness for their sin they are condemned already. The Israelites were living under a theocratic system and God alone was in charge. When God is in charge he makes the rules and he decided that homosexual offenders would be put to death.
There are many more passages in the Old Testament condemning homosexuality but for the sake of time and space I will skip right ahead to the New Testament, which I feel more qualified to address.
Passage #1
Romans 1:24;26-28
(NASB)
Romans 1:24
"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts
of their
hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among
them."
Romans 26-28
"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. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper..."
(NIV)
Romans 1:24
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another."
Romans 26-28
"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural 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 indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."
The above scriptures teach three things about homosexuality--
a) Homosexuality is a sin that will
be punished very severely.
b) Practicing homosexuals will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
c) There was a time when God got so fed up with the sin of sinners,
he just allowed the homosexuals and others to continue to live in
their sin, and without any of his providence.
I address from the NIV here because I believe it to be the most clear English translation or paraphrase with this passage. The NASB may be more true to the original text (I know this because I use an interlinear Bible), but the wording in a word-for-word translation like the NASB does not sound as clean in the English, at least in my opinion, as the most conservative of all the dynamic free translations--the NIV.
Looking at the context of the passage we see that from verse 18 through the end of the chapter it deals with God's wrath against mankind. Homosexuality as addressed in the passage is not a natural sexual relation, and anyone with common sense can figure this one out. There is no homosexual gene, no matter what anyone says, and no one is born into a lifestyle of homosexuality. Every man has a choice to follow God or to follow the devil, and sadly many follow the devil. Those that argue in favor of a homosexual gene have not properly understood the science of their argument and have not properly understood scripture, which makes it as clear as day that a homosexual gene is not possible.
Since the beginning in Genesis chapter 1, God created man to be with woman and woman to be with man. But because of the great disobedience of man to follow the will of God, he has given man over to his immoral and unnatural lusts. One of his lusts is the sexual intercourse with other men, only through a depraved mind as it says in verse 28 that God gave them over to a depraved (sinful) mind. It says this only because these men did not find it necessary to follow God, so as a consequence to their disobedience God gave them over to such a sinful mind. One of these sins resulting from such a depraved mind is the exchanging of natural sexual relations with unnatural ones. The unnatural relations are clearly homosexual activities. So my question for the liberal Christians reading is this--
How can you who claim to hold the Bible as the final authority and the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) still believe that God would allow homosexuality in his church? How and where in the Bible does it say that homosexuality is okay? Have you never read Romans? If you believe that homosexuality is okay then it is safe to say that you are not even saved.
Passage #2
1 Corinthians 6:9
Note that some translations below include the word homosexuality while others do not.
(KJV)
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
with mankind..."
(NASB)
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals..."
(NIV)
"Do you not
know that the wicked will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral
nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders..."
(ESV)
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually
immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice
homosexuality..."
I personally like the way the ESV translation has this verse worded. It says in plain English that men who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God. The KJV is very confusing because it has words like "effeminate". All too often confusion is the end result of reading the original KJV translation. I do not know if it's my reading comprehension abilities, or the Elizabethan English that I have a hard time understanding. I am not alone in my reading comprehension issues with the KJV.
1 Corinthians 6:9 lists a number of sinful lifestyles whose practitioners will not inherit the kingdom of God. It implies that neither the sin nor sinners will be in the kingdom of God. The list is by no means exhaustive, but I believe the main categories of sins are addressed here. Homosexuality is among these sins and those that live this sin will not live in Heaven. Sadly, all the Rainbow Baptists and liberal Christians will not enter Heaven if they continue in their sinful and God-absent lifestyles.
1 Corinthians 6:9 does not teach that those who have committed individual homosexual acts and later repent are doomed to hell. If this were the case then this would be a contradiction of verse 11, which claims that some were homosexual offenders before they turned to the truth. I address this because there are some that infer that committing the sin once will land them in eternal separation from God. This argument is flawed and does not take the entire scripture into context. Needless to say, it probably originated from the liberal Christianity side.
The Greek word for Homosexuals (NASB translation) is arsenokoitÌs (Strongs 733a). This Greek word is listed only twice in the NASB New Testament and both times the proper rendering is the word homosexual. Surprised? The other occurrence of the word I will be discussing next.
Passage #3
1 Timothy 1:9-10
"...understanding this, that the law is not laid down
for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and
sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their
fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually
immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers,
and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine..." (ESV)
Note- The NIV, KJV and NKJV do not use the word homosexuality in the verse above.
Taking a look at my interlinear Bible, it appears that the word homosexual is in the original Majority Texts. The liberal Christians may disagree, but then again they do not view the scripture as God inspired.
The law that Paul mentions here is not for those that are godly but for the ungodly. Those that continue in their sin should take note.
The first 4 sets of sinners correspond to the first four 10 commandments.
The next 6 sins correspond with the remaining commandments. Homosexuality is again mentioned and this is yet another passage that very clearly condemns homosexuality.
Passage #4
Revelation 22:15
(NIV)
"Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic
arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone
who loves and practices falsehood."
Looking at the verse in the original context we see that in verse 14 the city John is writing about is in Heaven. Those that practice evil will in no way surround the holy city, because they will be in the Lake of Fire as mention in Revelation 21:8.
(KJV)
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death."
The list of sins mentioned in this passage is neither exhaustive nor in any order. It does make it very clear, however, that those who live a lifestyle of sexual immorality without repentance will not inherit the Kingdom of God. I cannot say it any clearer, and sadly even though the Bible does make it as clear as day that homosexuality is a sin that will not inherit heaven, many Liberal Christians and homosexual advocates will not hear these words. They will not hear because Satan has robbed them.
2 Corinthians 4:4
"The god of this
age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
I hope that this is enough for the critics of
the Bible to see the light and truth about homosexuality, for
it cannot be any clearer that God hates it as sin. I
want every homosexual that reads this to understand that it is
not too late for you to turn from your wickedness. But do so while
there is yet time, for
one day you will be punished for your sins. Knowing the
above to be true, and if you are a conservative evangelical believing
in the "verbal plenary view of interpretation" you will see 2 Timothy
3:16 as literal, and will interpret the above verses pertaining to
homosexuality to indicate that this is indeed a very serious sin.
But
then how to approach homosexuals is another matter. We can't be like
Fred Phelps, but we can be like Jesus who comes to set the captives
free. Homosexuals are people too and needed to be treated as
such. Fred Phelps's divisive, unbiblical attitude has led many
homosexuals to believe that all Christians are as hateful towards
homosexuals as he is, which is very far from the truth. Many
Christians do not preach a message of hate towards homosexuals. I
remember once working with a homosexual at a computer sales/support
job I had for summer 2002. Anthony had really experienced nothing but
hatred from so many Christians and Catholics that he was very
skeptical of me after he learned that I was a saved and sanctified
follower of Jesus. When the time came for me to leave this job
and return to school, Anthony told me that I was unlike any
Christian he had ever met. I was not bent on attacking and condemning
him, but was very interested in loving him in the same way that Jesus
loves the world.
John 3:17
"For God did
not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
So I believe that the only way to approach homosexuals is to love them, as I did with Anthony in 2002. Jesus loved me in such a way (only far more powerful) and we need to love others likewise.
|
© Church Education Resource Ministries Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in anyway other than to correct minor spelling and grammar errors. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. And exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Church Education Resource Ministries. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Wolf © Church Education Resource Ministries. Website www.cerm.info. Email: johnw@cerm.info. |