LGBT and the Inspiration of Scripture

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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​I had originally planned to just go straight into this text this morning, but as I thought about this over the weekend, I realized that there is a lot of confusion, personal feelings, and complicated relationships surrounding this issue. This is to say nothing of a relentless social media machine filled with a spectrum of people ranging from well-meaning but misinformed to malicious and misleading. 

I'm hoping that we can spend just one sermon sorting out some of this. 

This sin has been placed in the worst possible realm: politics. Politics cannot solve for this issue, and the only place that can is theology. So as we spend the next few minutes thinking about this, I would encourage you not to think in terms of personal experience or culture wars. Let's think about this like Christians, Christians who love our Savior and His Word and desire to communicate that to a lost and dying world. 

Some might say, "Well, why argue from the Bible? People don't believe in it! Wouldn't it be better to point to things we can all agree on like the example of nature, or human flourishing?" The problem with that argument is we surrender the only weapon we have for this problem. Affirming LGBT issues isn't a problem of logic. It is a spiritual problem. You aren't going to move people away from their sexual expression simply because birds and bees don't act that way. Arguing on anything except "Thus says the Lord" will eventually shown to be weak. 

The Lord is real. He has spoken to us in His Word. We and the rest of the world ignore this to our peril. This isn't so that we can own the libs but so that we can convert them to Christ. 

Let's begin by saying clearly that homosexuality is a sin. The action is a sin, and the taking that on as one's identity is a sin. 1 Cor. 6:9-10 clearly identifies the action as something that bars from heaven, yet the next verse tells us that such were some of you. It is something that not only needs to be left behind, but can. It is something that Christians no longer identify with. There are no lying Christians just like there are no gay Christians. There are just Christians who have been washed. They may struggle, but they are clean before the Lord if they have put their faith in Christ. 

Ok, with that introductory statement, let's go over a few things that people have argued at a popular level. There is no way to cover every crazy statement made online, but I think there are a few that we can look at that will provide us with some good additional teaching as well beyond this issue. 

One of the most common arguments that I have heard is, "Well, the condemnation of this is an Old Testament idea. And even in those handful of strikingly clear New Testament passages against this, Jesus never spoke against it. So since Jesus didn't say it, it doesn't matter for us today." This line of thinking comes from two places, a misunderstanding of the nature of the Bible itself, and red-letter Bibles. 

Let's talk about the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we find, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." What is that first word there? All! All of the Bible that we have before us comes from God Himself. Paul isn't writing his own opinion, He is writing the Words of God (2 Peter 3:16). So if Paul talks about homosexuality being a sin, it is the same as Jesus saying it. Jesus is God, all Scripture is breathed out by God, Paul is writing Scripture, ergo, Jesus is saying it. 

I lay some of the blame for this argument down on red-letter Bibles. These are the ones that put the words of Jesus in the gospels in red text. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, so don't feel bad if your Bible does this. Just think of it as an opportunity to remember the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture. I saw on the Babylon Bee that there is a new Bible coming out that has all the words of the Holy Spirit put in black text. All this to say, every word of your Bible is important. The words that Jesus spoke when He was on earth aren't any more holy or authoritative than the rest of the Bible. 

Speaking of the Bible, some may say, "Well, still, the clearest prohibitions against homosexuality are in Leviticus, but in that same book, people are told not to eat shrimp (Lev. 11), so why do you accept some parts of the Bible but not others?" Once again, this reflects a misunderstanding of the Bible itself. Lest we look down on the world for arguing this way, let us remember whose job it is to teach them. 

Yes, Leviticus condemns shrimp (to say nothing of bacon) eating and homosexuality. But the reason for why Christians are able with joy to eat these things is because of what is said in the New Testament. Acts 10 clearly lays out for us God's repealing of these laws. The laws were put in place to create a distinct people in the Jews. The Jews needed to be a separate people who wouldn't mix with the rest of the world's population (called the Gentiles) until the birth of the Messiah, who was to be a Jew. The promise that the ultimate descendant from Abraham's would be Jesus needed to be preserved. It needed to be clear that that promise would be fulfilled. So God made a lot of laws, clothing, washing, and yes, food eating, to keep them separate. Now that Jesus has arrived, that purpose is no longer needed. The food laws are repealed (Jesus Himself said so in Mark 7, not that Acts 10 isn't enough!), but the clear witness of the New Testament, as we have already covered, is that God still sees sexual perversion as that. 

There are some out there who make the argument that the great evil of Sodom wasn't actually carnal immorality but rather arrogance and lack of concern for the poor. Now, I can appreciate this argument because it at least comes with a Bible verse, specifically Ez. 16:49 "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." Look out, they've got a Bible verse! Worse yet, they've got a point! So what can we learn here? 

Well, first, yes, Sodom was also arrogant and didn't care about the poor. As one scholar points out, sins don't typically occur by themselves. In fact, to think of homosexuality being the only sin of Sodom wouldn't be faithful to Romans 1. The central sin of Sodom is idolatry, worshiping something else other than God, themselves (Phillips, 645). Idolatry is the root, and sexual sin is the rotten fruit. 

All that being said, are we saying that this perversion *wasn't* occurring in Sodom? No. Jude 7 clearly tells us that it was sexual immorality. 2 Peter 2:7-8 tells us the same. Romans 1 also tells us that this sort of sin is a sign of being judged by God for severe idolatry. It in itself is an abomination, but this obviously isn't the only sin at play here. 

Let's take a couple more here, and these are moving into more of the slogans that we see everywhere today. If you don't think about them too hard they seem perfectly logical, but even short slogans are based on some understanding of truth.  

For example, let's take "Love is love." This is saying that love is valid no matter who the members are in that relationship from a gender perspective. This is one of those arguments where if you leave the Bible behind you aren't actually equipped to deal with this one. Saying "love is love" basically means that there is no actual definition for it. It is abandoning any sort of authority and that is precisely the problem! The best you could say in response would be, "Who are you to define what love is," and they could say the same back to you. 

However, if we look to the scriptures, we can see what love actually is, and it isn't warm fuzzies. It isn't a feeling, really, at all. It is an action. True love points people to Christ, and anything that would hinder this process is by definition not love. 

Let's take a look at one more, from that theological powerhouse, Lady Gaga, "I was born this way, so I can't change." The first half of that statement actually is correct. We are all born sinners. But the second half isn't true. As Kevin De Young once said something to the effect of, "Yes, you were born this way, but the good news is that you can be born again another way."

Some of us will find a greater proclivity to some sins rather than others. For some, that is going to be same-sex attraction. For others, it is going to be lying, or anxiety. I have never struggled with same-sex attraction, but I have struggled a lot with anxiety and fear. While it has gotten less and less in my life, I still deal with anxiety and have to seek the Lord for help with that. For others, that is going to be Same Sex attraction. There are some who have been completely delivered from it, and there are others who see progress, but it is still a fight. But the fact that they opposed these desires at all and seek God's help in fighting against them, that should be celebrated an encouraged. A desire even without acting on it is still sinful. Coveting is the desire to steal, as Butterfield reminds us. But the Lord can forgive coveting, and He can forgive disordered desires, as well. 

Let me close with an encouragement to you if you are a Christian who wants to reach out to your neighbor or family member who confesses a homosexual identity, or maybe you are here today and this is your struggle. Let me start by reminding all of us that this identity isn't true. It may be what they think, it may be what they practice, but that is not who they are. It is the sin they struggle with. As Rosaria Butterfield put it recently in an interview (which you can find here: https://www.christianpost.com/news/rosaria-butterfield-gives-advice-for-witnessing-to-gay-friends.html), "Learn to hate your sin without hating yourself." Don't identify yourself with your sin. Yes you are a sinner, but you are not that particular sin. Hate the sin, and then run to the Christ Who will rescue you from that sin. While it is a serious sin, it is not a sin that puts you beyond the reach of God. Remember 1 Corinthians 6, "such were some of you." This can be something that Christ puts behind you. 

Also remember, Christian, what you are calling the person who identifies this way to do. Those who have been wrapped up in this lifestyle are called to walk away from more than just a sexual act. They are often leaving behind friends, lovers, their culture, their very (in their mind) identity. So welcome them into your lives; they are going to need it. Be patient with them. Your job is to love them and point them to Jesus. Let God handle the effect of that and the timing of it. If the Lord should bring them to Himself, then welcome them into the Christian world. Welcome them into marriage, if the Lord should bring the right person into their lives. Again to reference Butterfield, Lifelong celibacy isn't the only future for the ex-homosexual. The creation mandate is for everyone! The full Christian life is for everyone. Welcome them into the pattern of worshiping Christ and serving His people. Yes, the storms of temptation may rage, but remember who is in the boat. Christ died on the cross for the sin of homosexuality. He deserves to have the good news proclaimed to the homosexual practitioners He died for. And since you don't know which ones they are, I guess you'll just have to evangelize all of them. We must be honest and tell them that one cannot live this lifestyle and be a Christian at the same time. They need to repent, but we need to give them the glorious good news that Jesus can help them do so. 

In summary, we don't need to rage at them. We don't need to lie to them. We don't have to be scared that the truth of the gospel will irreparably harm them if it is presented in love. If they know where you stand, you don't have to restate it every meeting. If you've lied to them, then you need to repent and give them the gospel. God is sovereign in His salvation. Rest in that. Lift them up in prayer. Talk about it when it lends itself, and pray for their soul. You just never know what God will do.