It always surprised me when, in the course of defending their position, the GLT movement always demanded that “they were made that way.” Insisting that God made them gay and there was no way that He could possibly judge them for being that way since He created them that way.
The conclusion that I have come up with is: THEY’RE RIGHT! They WERE made that way. King David, in his Psalm (51), wrote to the Chief Musician when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone to Bathseba, and declared:
And in sin my mother conceived me.”
Bam…there it is!
The argument made against the evangelicals goes on to state that if they are going to consider homosexuality as a sin, what about divorce? Wow, that’s wonderful that they are thinking like that! And they are absolutely correct… God hates divorce too!! As revealed by the prophet Malachi in chapter 2 verse 16:
“ For the LORD God of
Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospel, the nineteenth chapter goes on to speak of marriage and divorce in light of man’s legalistic challenge:
3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made[a]them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’[b] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?[c] 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”
8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality,[d] and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
10 His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
So, again, they are correct in their challenge to evangelicals that divorce is a sin leading into adultery and death.
In fact, in today’s day and age, man has, over and over again “pulled an Eve.” What does that mean? It simply means that mankind uses the same EXCUSE for sin that Eve used to justify her sin when she agreed with the serpent on the challenge: “Did God really say…” (Genesis 3:1)
It is interesting to note, that Jesus didn’t put up with mankind’s challenge. Not only would he defend the commandments, but expound upon them saying:
· If you look upon another with lust in your heart – You are guilty of adultery
· If you hate someone – You are guilty of murder
Sounds like we’re pulling an Eve again!
Moses shares God’s opinion on the matter in Leviticus 18:22:
“22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”
Hum, that sounds rather specific and he goes on to describe it’s seriousness in Leviticus 20:13
“13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”
Stop right there. That’s the OLD testament; we are not living under the law!
Okay, the Apostle Paul again makes it clear in his letter to the church in
“9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
That’s a pretty extensive list…did anyone find themselves listed there? I sure did.
And what of
So just because mankind makes something “legal” doesn’t mean that God stops calling it sin. It is a heart condition! And it’s fatal!!
Jesus tells us in Mark’s Gospel the tenth chapter and eighteenth verse:
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
Again, He goes on to challenge the young man’s heart who was trying to “get right” with God but was pursuing riches of this world instead of laying down the idol of “wealth” and pursuing God with “All his heart…”
19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
We often forget the first and second commands, placing so much of life and “stuff” at the top of our list and above God. Sorry friends, that’s sin too!
But, you say, the Bible was written by men, and, like the founding documents of this land, are living and change with the times, as does the meaning and intent of the scriptures.
Well perhaps some of the customs and traditions, but certainly not God’s commands as He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So my Gay, Lesbian and Transgender friends, you are right! You were made that way. And I, as a heterosexual male, was made the way I was made. Both of us sinners in need of a savior. Instead of lusting towards another male, I lust towards another female and it’s called adultery. Sin is sin. My divorce, sin again, is also called adultery. Man I am a mess!
The Apostle Paul shared our same struggles, as a man, in the flesh. Romans chapter seven describes his battle and comes to this conclusion:
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
For those trying to “pray away the gay” in their life, I suggest this counsel given to Paul by God in 2 Corinthians chapter 12:
8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In short, His grace is enough! My suggestion? Surrender. Acknowledge you are a mess like me and there is nothing, apart from Jesus the Christ, that will ever make you right with Him in this life. As His Spirit comes upon you, He will give you the strength each day to pick up your cross and follow Him. It’s a long road, but together we can make it.
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