To start this out, I'd like to write a small introduction. It gives me no pleasure to be writing this. When I started Psalm 63 I never wanted to write articles that condemn one group of people nor hit of the time political issues. Recently the United States government, as well as many countries around the world has finally ruled that so called, “Gay Marriage” is protected by the Constitution. With a completely non-Christian view point, I would have to agree that it would be Constitutionly protected as would Hindu, Athiest and Muslim marriage. As a Christian, however I would stress the importance of having God at the center of your marriage.
So why write this article? Psalm 63 is not going to be a site that constantly rallies against homosexuality because we are a site that rallies against sin, and all sin is equal, be it homosexuality or coveting. But there's seems to be a lot of anti-Christian messages going around in the new “Equality” centric society. There's also a lot of confusion and misunderstanding among my fellow believers which is the most alarming thing to me and why I choose to write the article. I will do my best to civilly address this issue with the sensitivity it deserves, however not at the expense of the truth of God's Word as I think this is what is causing this confusion among Christians especially.
One final word. I will write this as though people have not read the other lessons at Psalm 63 but I am not going to try to prove that the Bible is the Word of God in this article. I have written why it is at Psalm 63 and conveniently enough, it is lesson 1. There's also a lesson on how the Holy Spirit works through God's Word and how He gave divine inspiration to the writers. If you are interested in learning more about Christianity I encourage you to check out those lessons, use our church finding suggestions and going to talk to someone way smarter than I'll ever be. Why do I say this here. I'm telling you right now that there is a God, and it is the God of the Bible and the Bible is His Word. If you're argument boils down to there is no God, then I have nothing more to say on the subject. But I hope you do understand that, even if you don't believe, that we are people who believe in a perfect higher power, and that we do as commanded so that we are not self serving, but serving of Him who is perfect and good.
That all said, let's address what the real issue here is. Confusion comes from a lack of understanding and ignorance. We can't ignore that those Christians who have an incorrect belief of where God stands on homosexuality comes from a lack of time with God's Word. The old saying of, “They know just enough to be dangerous,” fits these people perfectly. They may know that the Bible says something of homosexuality in a negative connotation but they seem to remember that it said Jesus loves everyone and to love their neighbor so pointing out something sinful couldn't be loving and beside isn't love what's behind a homosexual relationship anyways? Going to Church is a great start for any Christian. In fact, there are many Christians who can't seem to get that part right. Sunday School is great for children but it's over when you graduate school and catechism is only a few brief years. But we should also make sure that we're getting some form of Christian education on the side. Make sure to go to Bible study class, take adult catechism/Bible information courses every few years. If you have questions ask your pastor. Finally make sure you and your family have some form of at home Bible study. It's a good way to dive in to topics you've had confusion over but haven't been addressed with the concentration you've felt it deserves.
We've seen how ignorance has been dangerous. I wouldn't say that ignorance in this case damns, but think of how we could start living in a sinful lifestyle or encouraging others in a sinful lifestyle. Unrepentance can damn. The other thing as Christians is when another Christian challenges one of these misconceptions, or suppose they believe that the misconception is on our side as some may accuse me of. Then shouldn't it be our duty, no matter which side we fall on to be able to point to scripture and say, “See, this is what I'm talking about.” Then they could respond, “No you misunderstand, if you continue reading,” or, “if you see it referred to here, this is what they actually meant.” Then at least you have a knowledgeable dialog going where you are both well studied, using scripture as your argument and evidence.
Which leads me to my main point. You know who knows the Bible inside and out? Better than myself, better than you, probably better than any human ever, Satan. Satan has used scripture to twist scripture in allowance of this sinful lifestyle. Unfortunately for him, God knows this, so He left no loophole when actually used correctly. Let's start addressing these. The first argument you will see anywhere is this. The sin of homosexuality is first referred to in Leviticus 20:13, it reads: “13'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” Other translations use words like abomination. This seems fairly easy to understand. Homosexuality is unacceptable. And yes, let's address it right off the bat, no Christian is going to put you to death, this was a law established in the times of walking through the desert and building a promised city for God's people the Jews. And that last sentence is what gives Satan his foot in the door. Now people start to say, in Leviticus 19, it also says, “19...Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. 28Do not ... put tattoo marks on yourselves.” So Christians ought not to wear polyester blends or get tattoos?
Let's address this. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 8 Paul writes in regards to eating food to prepared to idols specifically but in it he addresses that we know what is right or wrong and that eating something that has no sinful meaning to him should not concern him, as long as it does not cause his brothers and sisters to fall into sin. He goes on in chapter 10 to state that we can eat any meat(meaning Jews(now Christians) were given permission to eat pork and other animals forbidden before.) Jesus throughout His ministry challenged the teachers of the law on Old Testament laws. Let's address Jesus first. Jesus' main challenges were around two types of laws He was constantly accused of breaking. The first were Sabbath laws which were so strict they pointed toward humans not working rather than restful reflection of what God had done for them and the second were blasphemy laws due to He Himself calling Himself God which He was. But basically what Paul did there especially was undo a lot of those strict laws Jews had abided by for mellenia.
This is now another push open on that door for Satan. So now we can wear what we want, we can eat what we want, we can now marry who we want, right? The Holy Spirit knows everything, it's no surprise that He would have Paul make sure to address this counterpoint right away in chapter 10, Paul writes, “8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel. 11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 23"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.” It's worth noting that verse from Leviticus is located in a section of the Bible the church chose to label as Sexual Offenses. The same section that allows those Jewish customs to be broken make sure to address that any of the sexual sins Moses jotted down are still very much in effect.
So we've now shut down that argument, unfortunately the defense gets flipped on its ear. Paul says, Paul wrote, so who is Paul and why do we listen to him. More so, why are we quoting Paul and not Jesus? That is who we worship, right? Don't we say, God's Word, not Paul's word? Here's the thing. Jesus does not not have His own book of the Bible. Each book of the Bible has a human author who was given divine inspiration by the Holy Spirit to put in their books what God intended to teach us. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit and the reason we know this is that in Acts chapter 9 Paul, then called Saul, meets with Jesus who gives Him instructions on how he should start to preach at Damascus. Throughout Paul's writings he refers to things God showed him throughout his ministry. But the reason Paul's experience in Acts is so important is that it is written by Luke, who wrote his own account of Jesus life. Like I said, Jesus doesn't have His own book, we depend on Matthew, Mark, John and Luke to tell us what Jesus preached throughout His life. If we trust what Jesus said because of Luke, then we can trust what Paul says.
But I write about what Paul says, because Jesus doesn't ever say anything about homosexuality. It's true, in what we have from Jesus' life, there is no account of Him addressing homosexuality. And there's a good reason for it. Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ” Jesus ministry was spent preaching to His people for whom He was promised, the Jews. The Jews lived under the law as specified in Leviticus, to the point that they followed it so strictly Jesus had to remind them when they took it too far. So when Jesus died for the sins of the entire world and saw that His people weren't so keen on hearing the good news, Jesus then sent His disciples out into the world to preach the good news to the Gentiles, those who weren't Jews, and He went home to Heaven. So it's no surprise that Paul preaching to churches in Roman states to non-Jewish Christians that he may have to reiterate things from Leviticus that Jesus never would have had to address to the congregations that were listening to Him.
What's more is that Jesus never addressed homosexuality but He did address marriage. In Matthew 19 He says, “4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Jesus is quoting what the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write in Genesis at that first marriage blessed by God. Literally the only perfect marriage ever. In Genesis chapter 2, it says,
“18The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." 19Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Adam with perfect knowledge saw that there was a boy animal and a girl animal and saw that there was no such thing as a female human. God created female for Adam in marriage. It's no surprise that in Genesis it says a man will marry a woman, it's no mistake that in Matthew Jesus reiterates that marriage is a man and a woman. The Holy Spirit made sure to make sure the authors of these books and at the time they wrote about that God, Jesus and Perfect Adam make sure to say a man marries a woman. Paul writes marriages instructions in both Colassians and Ephesians for a man and a woman. In fact one of the main commandments of marriage is to be fruitful which can not happen without this form of marriage.
That all said, we can conclude that homosexuality is a sin and that it is a sin that still applies to lives today and that as Christians we have a definition of what God defines for marriage, an institution that He perfectly created for us. So we now know the Biblical basis for homosexuality as a sin and marriage but the world is still sinful and Gay Marriage is still legal so how do we, as Christians, address this. We treat homosexuals the same way we treat anything, with perfect love.
The first thing we have to make sure of is that we do not preach the acceptance of any sin. If your church teach homosexuality isn't a sin, you should address what the Bible has to say. The second thing is we don't want to participate in acceptance for that matter. First of all, we ourselves don't want to say that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle for Christians. I think we ought not participate in any type of festival of gay pride or a marriage of a homosexual couple. Politely decline, as you would not attend a service at a mosque or some other pagan temple.
The problem with Christians and homosexuals and their supporters unfortunately stems from the Westboro Baptists who coined the phrase, “God Hates Fags.” Unfortunately people don't understand that they do not reflect Christianity as they do not preach the truths of the Gospel and are actually categorized as a hate group by some organizations. We need to clear our last misconception that God doesn't love homosexuals. God loves the world. God loves all people. God does not love sin and does not stand for it. God loves murderers but hates killing. God loves thieves but hates stealing. God loves me but hates my shortcomings. God forgives all sins, including homosexuality. Here's where the problem arises though, for sin to be forgiven, it must be repented. I have no doubt that there are men who lustfully look after other men, and that is sin that, although may cause that man to stumble from birth to death, can be forgiven, and it's a lot to ask a non-believer to give up love because he can't find a love interest that suits his Lord for the rest of his life, but unfortunately that appears to be the only option right now. It's just a sin, that no matter how often they fail needs to be constantly put back behind them, much like the own lust after women that aren't my wife can trip me up. I've lusted, I've repented, and I've put it behind me... again. I hope it doesn't happen again, like any sin, but I have a bad feeling about my road to perfection.
But we should love our homosexual neighbor, we should live Christ-like lives as examples in front of them. We help them in times of trouble. We offer them charity. We assist them in times of need. We do everything we would for our Christian neighbor so that when should they want to insult your religion due to their sinful nature, feel foolish as you only do Christian good around them making for very little to criticize. Also, do not judge them. Obviously telling someone they're going to Hell makes for poor conversion, however, should they ask if they are living in sin with concern teach them about their sin, and what Jesus has done for them and how to honor Him. Also in regards to judgment, only God should judge those outside the church. It should be no surprise that non-Christians have a different set of morals from us, therefore we can not judge them as those who been taught the same and therefore must be judged by God. But should someone in your church live openly and proudly in homosexuality it is our job to address their sin so that they may be set back on a path to righteousness. Should they not repent then the church should handle them, more than likely through excommunication so they can see the severity of their sin. I also want to tie this back to the original note about those who have misconceptions about homosexuality who identify as Christian. Should you address their confusion and they still insist on disagreeing with scripture then it's also up to you to let them know that they are now disregarding God's Word and the dangerous path that heads down.
One last misconception held by Christians and Athiests both is how could a loving God send people to Hell and/or why would He give a person such a sin to deal with? We live in a sinful world. God lets us know that not only can we not live a sin free life as we constantly fall short, we are born with sin, handed down from generation to generation. Some people have been given the sin of homosexuality to deal with, I have a myriad of sins that I struggle with hourly. People are born into poverty, into war torn countries. Some live through destructive earthquakes and unspeakable criminal acts. Some people struggle with sins that seem beyond their control. A single mother worries about the pile of bills rather than putting her faith in God. A man is the forth in a generation of alcoholics and he won't be the one who bucks the trend and another person struggles to want to pay taxes to that government that just keeps making poor decisions. It's no surprise that there's a form of lust that seems to be out of control of the person who struggles with it. So why God do this, we look to Job 38, Job was a man who God had taken everything from, so when Job asks, why would a loving God do this, God answers, “1Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? 3Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” God goes onto ask these things of Job, and the thing is, like Job, we can answer none of these things. God is beyond our comprehension, the struggles He gives us is for our own righteousness.
God is in control of your life, irregardless of your faith. He sets on the path to righteousness, He sows the seeds of faith. The reason non-believers can try to trip us up with scripture is because God has made His Word available to them and they chose to set it aside. Instead we should use His Word and His Law and His Gospel to build each other up, helping us through sinful struggle so that we each may find favor in His sight when we finally meet our Judge face to face.
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