The Lord Jesus Christ and His
apostles, especially Paul, all had to deal with
unpleasant situations in the affairs of man and his
society. The same is true today of His disciples,
and such awareness is essential to the success of
His people. Sin comes in various packages and with
various labels. The child-of-God's duty is to
unpackage, identify and expose sinful practices as
the truth of God's word reveals.
Paul went to Rome, sending a message
before him, conveying his purpose, his position in
God's scheme, and his view of the present condition
in which he found himself and others. To understand
and appreciate the specifics of Paul in this letter
to the Romans, we must share his vision and view of
the whole. The gospel was and is the power of God to
save all humanity, because therein is the plan of
God made known, revealed! The condition is
designated "by faith," and it is designed and
delivered to produce faith, an active faith. This
necessitates that he show the need of salvation for
all classes: Jews and Gentiles! Consequently, he
points to the Gentiles as having the need, because
they had rejected the opportunity provided them,
willfully turning from it. He pursues their downward
degenerating conduct to the degradation of their
minds and bodies to the depth of depravity which
ought to sicken the hearts and souls of all
observers (Rom. 1:18-32).
He points to the various sins which
were committed by them. Among the various sinful
practices, all of which are disgraceful, is the one
that we wish to deal with in this article:
Homosexuality. Read and re-read (1:16-32) and
then turn and read (1 Cor. 6:9-11). Then in
this long list of the most corrupt conduct, single
out this one and consider it for a while.
This sin is described in such terms
as to show God's view of it; its destructive nature
to the participants, and the shameful nature of the
society wherein it can be practiced with approval
are described. We challenge our thinking relative to
the very degeneracy which leads one to practice it,
the dishonor involved in it, and the distance the
disciples of the Lord must keep from it-proper
attitude and action toward those who practice it.
After a close view of the sinful practice, we then
call for an honest and noble response to the persons
involved in it.
Its Degeneracy
It is a move away from what one was
created to do, it is a downward, falling, sinking
below a normal state. God created male and female
(Gen. 1:27; 2:17-24). He did not create them:
Male-Male. Neither did he create them:
Female-Female. He did not create them: Man-Beast.
Therefore, we need to see that activity of a sexual
nature other than the two person-male and female
joined together in marriage approved by God and
man-is unnatural, unscriptural, and unsatisfying on
a lasting basis.
I. Un-Natural:
A. Homo-sexuality.
B. Beast-human-sexual-activity.
II. Natural: Hereto-sexuality.
III. Un-approved and consequently
unsatisfying:
A. Pre-marital sexual-activity.
B. Extra-marital sexual-activity.
Living together in marriage,
sexuality is allowed, approved of God and sanctioned
by decent social morals. It is productive in
reproduction and healthy to the participants and
beautiful, contributing to the well-being of members
of the human family. Yet, outside that relationship,
the offsprings produced by such are dangered, no
real provision can be made for such; guilt is in the
mind and heart of those engaged destroys the
immediate pleasure of all such activity by those
decent people; and those who do not sense a feeling
of guilt in such activity are past recovering. Such
activity is the subject of jokes, degrading
behavior, etc., but it is the ruin of character,
hope, and aspiration for many. We need to see it in
its real color, total and lasting effects, and
subtle deceptions.
Homosexual activity is the most
degrading of all unnatural acts (cf. Rom. 1:26).
First it is changing the natural use into that which
is "against nature"! Such is called "vile
affections," meaning dishonorable passion: Women
with women (v. 26) and men with men (v.
27)! Men left the natural use of the woman and
burned in their lust toward one another-men with men
working that which is unseemly!
They are said to be receiving in
themselves that "recompense" of their error which is
meet! That is a strong and serious statement. This
is the downward march of behavior-reaping, as it
were, according to what they have sown, but more!
Beloved, one cannot simply act in this regard and
continue to be "normal" and stable. You will be
progressing into degradation.
The evil practice was wide-spread in
the city of Sodom (Gen. 19:4-7). Acts are
called "sodomy," after the city known for it long
ago. Sodomites are spoken of in various places, but
always condemned by God (cf. Deut. 23:17).
Such was found among the false worshippers (1
Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7). Such
is called defilement (Lev. 18:22; 20:13).
Notice what happened to Lot and his
family in that city, (2 Pet. 1:6-8; Gen.
19:15-26). He had "pitched his tent toward
Sodom" (Gen. 13:12-13). He was thinking about
the gain of material worth; he lost his family, all
but two daughters. Friends, that type of society and
community surely will vex the spirit of all
righteous persons, as such did Lot long ago (2
Pet. 2:7-8). May all recognize the "filthy
conversation of the wicked" in all such practice,
and cry out against it as long and loudly as
possible.
Its Destructive Nature
I certainly do not claim to know all
the factors that go into making a person engage in
homosexual activity. As with all sinful activity, I
know that I must love the participant while I hate
the "false way" and consequences of his practice.
Yet, I know at least one thing about the behavior:
It is learned! One is not born with it, practicing
such. Also, to approve and encourage such is to harm
rather than help the person; approval is produced
either by a lack of understanding or concern for the
person's eternal and immediate well-being. I have
read many stories of people who practiced such, and
I have yet to find one that is well adjusted in
other aspects of life and conduct who practices
homosexuality. The person involved knows that such
is considered to be "abnormal" by the majority of
the people in society. Also, I feel, that most of
them actually recognize that such is an abuse of the
body-theirs as well as the other person engaged.
The thing that troubles me most,
however, is that their soul will be lost (1 Cor.
6:9-11). It is plainly stated, and if one
accepts the Bible as stating the truth, there is
just no way they can get around the plain, simple,
emphatic statement!
The Disciple's Distance From Those
Who Engage in Such
God so loved the world-meaning the
wicked and lost people-that He gave His only
begotten Son to die that all who would come to Him
could and would be saved (Jn. 3:16). This
demonstrates the attitude that the disciples of
Christ must have toward this person as well as all
other sinners (1 Pet. 2:21f). We must love
the person as we love our self (Mt. 22:37-40).
We cannot lose sight of that fact, but we must keep
our senses and affections clear from distortion,
which some evidently are not doing!
God and His Son demonstrated
love-both in a positive and a restraining way. Jesus
came to save from their sins, not in them (Mt.
1:21). To leave man wallowing in the corrupt
practices of falling humanity would actually do him
no good at all. But to lift him up and forgive him
and motivate him to clean up his life, demonstrated
power and wisdom and sanctification such is the
essence of the Word of God.
Many people saturated with the wisdom
of this world, claiming to be born by the spirit of
God, proclaiming an abundance of humility, fail to
see the restraining aspect of Jesus' love. The
scriptures say: "have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them" (Eph. 5:11). That means that the
disciple cleansed from his corrupt past by the blood
of Christ must keep his distance. No, the passages
are not speaking specifically of homosexual
behavior, but they are speaking relative to all
un-scriptural behavior; such is the work of
darkness!
Friends, to give an alcoholic more
liquor is not a sign of love and care; telling a
sick person that they are not sick and, thus, are
not in need of medical help is no sign of
understanding and a brotherly atttitude; giving a
drug addict what he wants is not helping him. A real
friend is one who will tell you what is wrong and
help him get what he really needs. This is the case
relative to love, understanding, and concern for the
homosexual person. Let us be enlightened by God's
word, moved by our concern to help the sinner, and
willing to go to them and try to lead them to the
Lord. Let us not be so repulsed by this behavior
that we will judge them as untouchables, because
some who were of such character did respond to the
preaching of the gospel (1 Cor. 6:11, 9-10).
Yes, beloved, homosexual behavior is
repugnant, very distasteful to me. I am convinced
that it is such to the Lord. Yet, there is a remedy:
(1) for people to know the un-naturalness of the act
and to accept the Lord's declaration of the same;
(2) for all to know that the Lord is able to lift
one out of his fallen state and give him a new start
and provide the fuel by which energy can be
generated to keep him moving toward heaven all the
days of his life. This message must be understood,
believed and told. Are you accepting? Activated?
Many souls may depend on it, including ours.
Truth Magazine XXIII: 19, pp. 316-317
May 10, 1979 |