April 1, 2004, Vol.4, No.7.
Two new articles every two weeks.
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us.
THIS ISSUE: "Homosexuality
According
to the Word of God" (see
below)
and "Genuineness of the
Gospel Accounts"
Homosexuality
According to the Word of God
by Keith Sharp
Woe to those who call evil good , and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)
The state legislature in Massachusetts is locked in a battle
over a constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage but
recognize same sex civil unions. This was after the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court declared gay marriage to be a constitutional
right. The mayor of San Francisco defied California state law
by performing thousands of same sex weddings. A mayor in New
York State followed suit until he was threatened with a felony
charge. Unitarian clergy in New York State defy state law to
continue the practice. Quebec just joined two other Canadian
provinces in declaring homosexual marriages legal. President
Bush has proposed a constitutional amendment banning same sex
marriages but accepting homosexual civil unions. In this article
I will not address political issues. Rather, we are examining
homosexuality as a moral issue. Does the Word of God condone
the homosexual lifestyle?
Homosexuality is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 19.
When two angels of the Lord came in the form of men to the house
of Lot in Sodom,
the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from
every quarter, surrounded the house. 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 know them carnally.' (verses 4-5)
 The
word "carnally" is added by the translators, having
no word in the original Hebrew behind it. Literally, the men
of Sodom wanted to "know" the two men. Did they just
want to get acquainted? If so, why did Lot implore, "Please,
my brethren, do not do so wickedly!"? (verse 7) Would it
be wicked to "meet and greet" them? Lot then added,
"See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man...."
(verse 8) Had they never met a man? Obviously, "know"
is here, as many times in the Bible, a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
For example, "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived
and bore Cain...." (Genesis 4:1) The men of Sodom wanted
to have homosexual relations with Lot's two visitors. God destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah for this sin, and we get our word "sodomy"
from this incident. The New Testament forcefully draws the lesson
for us:Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar
manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality
and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering
the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude verse 7)
The Law of Moses decreed, "You shall not lie with a male
as with a woman. It is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22).
The term "abomination" means "a disgusting thing."
(BDBG) The penalty for this sin/crime was death (Leviticus 20:13).
In Romans 1:18-31 the apostle Paul portrayed the Gentile abandonment
of the knowledge of God and their subsequent moral decay. He
might as well be describing modern Western society. He thus characterizes
the depth of depravity men will sink to when they reject God.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For
even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against
nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing
what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of
their error which was due. (Romans 1:26-27)
Regardless of whether it involves women with women (lesbians)
or men with men (gays), homosexual lusts are "vile passions,"
which are "against nature," and homosexual acts are
"shameful." The resultant diseases are "the penalty
of their error which was due." Ten years ago I moderated
for Jeff Asher in a debate in Denver in which a homosexual bishop
of the Metropolitan Community Church defended the homosexual
lifestyle. The bishop showed us a memorial book containing the
names of several hundred members of his congregation who had
died of AIDS.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the apostle Paul warns:
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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners
will inherit the kingdom of God.
The word "homosexuals" ("effeminate,"
King James Version) is used "of a boy kept for homosexual
relations with a man.... of a male who submits his body to unnatural
lewdness." (Thayer) "Sodomites" ("abusers
of themselves with mankind," KJV) refers to "one
who lies with a male as with a female." Thus, "homosexuals"
are those who take the female role in male homosexual intercourse,
whereas "sodomites" are those who take the male role.
Neither will inherit the kingdom of God.
In 1 Timothy 1:9-10 Paul lists sins that are "contrary
to sound doctrine...." Along with "murderers of fathers
and murderers of mothers, ... manslayers, ... fornicators, ...
kidnappers, .... liars," and "perjurers," he lists
"sodomites."
God has condemned homosexuality in every age.
So, what about same sex marriage? The divine rejection of
same sex unions emphatically answers the question. Furthermore,
in Matthew 19:5-6 the Lord Jesus Christ described marriage as
God ordained it as a lifelong union between one man and one woman.
The only exception is that one may divorce his/her mate for sexual
immorality and remarry (Matthew 19:9). For the disciple of Christ
that forever settles the debate over what constitutes marriage
acceptable to God.
Often when the sinfulness of homosexuality is pointed out,
the guilty plead, "God made me this way. I can't change."
That is not only a lie, it's an excuse which removes the hope
of heaven from those who accept it. After declaring that the
unrighteous, including homosexuals and sodomites, will not inherit
the kingdom of God, the apostle thus commended the Corinthian
Christians: "And such were some of you. But you were washed,
but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." They "were,"
past tense, homosexuals and sodomites. But now they "were
washed, sanctified," and "justified." To be thus
they had to "Repent ... and be converted." (Acts 3:19)
I am not "homophobic." I don't hate homosexuals;
I love them. I have for them a message of love and hope. God
didn't make you homosexual. He loves you and wants you to be
saved (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:3-4). You can change. You can repent.
You can be washed, sanctified, and justified. The Lord Jesus
did "not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
(Luke 5:32) We were all once condemned sinners. But those who
are Christians repented, came to Christ, and were made righteous
by His blood through divine grace. Why don't you do the same?
________________
Works Cited
Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius, Hebrew-English Lexicon.
Thayer, J.H., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
(For a more thorough study of this subject, I recommend
Out of the Closet, by Jeff Asher, a publication of Faith
and Facts Press.)
To download a radio program on this subject, click
here.
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