Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



Within Internet Christian newsgroups and other local and worldwide message networks, next to the topic of EVILution and Creationism, homosexuality and lesbianism is probably one of the most hotly-debated topics of our current time. While some of us may sit on the fence regarding other issues, this is one controversy where most of us have taken a definite stand. Whether we are in support of or against this aspect of human behavior, when it comes to expressing our viewpoint, we can become quite impassioned about it. Because of this, as happens with many other electronic dialogs, we stop listening to each other, we put up our defenses, and we attempt to yell louder than the other person in order to get our point across. In the long run, no one has learned anything, and both parties walk away with the same views they held before the conversation began.

Because of these factors, whenever I do have the time to participate in such discussion groups, I usually pass right over such messages, as I simply don't wish to get caught in the crossfire of the debating parties. Of course, this is not to suggest that I don't have an opinion on matters pertaining to human sexual behavior; I most certainly do; however, I don't wish to share it in that kind of a hostile environment. Thus, I have written the following series in order to share my current perspective on this most controversial of issues.

To begin with, for the sake of clarity, in this article the terms "homosexual" and "homosexuality" are used to denote any form of sexual activity between two males; whether it be kissing, petting, masturbating, anal sex or oral sex. The terms "lesbian" and "lesbianism" are used to denote the same activities except between two females. In both cases, these terms are used to imply that this is the primary sexual preference of those persons who engage in such activities, even though they may become involved in "heterosexual" activity on a limited basis; that is, sex with a person of the opposite gender. In this case, it would probably be more accurate to describe them as being "bi-sexual".

In discussing this issue, before we can even approach the actual topic of homosexuality and lesbianism, we need to overcome a few hurdles placed there by those who would defend their sinful lifestyles against the Word of God. It seems that some of the first arguments used by those who engage in homosexual or lesbian relationships, are expressed in the following quote from a person I conversed with some time ago:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The problem with quoting from the Bible, or in any terms of what "God" wants is inadequate. The Bible was written by man and translated by man. The only word of God is one that everyone holds in his or her heart. No one has the right to judge anyone. That is God's choice. The only "true" way to find out if God dislikes gays is to ask him."

----- End Of Quote -----

Obviously, as a Christian, I find the above comment flawed in a number of ways. To begin with, while it is indeed true that the Bible was physically written by and translated by human beings, the person who made this statement is leaving out a very important detail concerning exactly how the Bible came into existence. For this reason alone, I must view his argument as being shortsighted; and to be honest, rather weak. Concerning the origin of the Bible, we find a very clear answer in the Apostle Paul's second Epistle to Timothy:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."


It is the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures which set them apart from the many other texts written by man over the past millennia. The Apostle Peter likewise emphasized this point when he wrote the following in his second Epistle:

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."


Thus, from the Christian perspective, because of the Divine Process in which it came into being, the Bible is viewed as a very unique work. It is not just another literary work of human wisdom and understanding; it is the very work of God's Spirit; given to us for the enlightenment of, as well as the edification of, humanity. Holy men of the past received the ancient texts and prophecies through Divine Intervention and Revelation. For this reason, as a Christian, I esteem the Bible above all other works ever undertaken by human hand. In fact, the ancient Patriarch Job tells us that he esteemed God's Word even more than his necessary food. Shouldn't we do the same?:

"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."


Like Job, as far as I am concerned, the Holy Scriptures are the Ultimate Word, and the Ultimate Authority, regarding our relationship with our Creator; as well as our relationship with each other. We are told that God's Word will stand forever. In fact, the Psalmist King David tells us that God's Word is so important to Him, that He has magnified it above His very Name:

"The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."


"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."


Because of the supremacy of God's Word in the life of the Christian, when we must determine what is true and what is false, we hold to the Scriptural view that whenever there is any falsity, or any lack of understanding involved, it is on the part of we humans, and not on the part of God or His Word; for as it is also written, He never lies:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"


"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."


"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;"


"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."


"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."


"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."


With all of the previous verses, I have now established my position concerning the Bible being God's inspired Word. When there is a question or doubt regarding any Biblical matter, the burden of proof is upon us, and not upon the Lord. While this may not sit well with some of my readers, particularly with those who reject the Scriptures as being the inspired Word of God, the above verses clearly define who is at fault. The Lord is the One who makes the rules, and not man. Our responsibility is but to obey Him.

As the Apostle Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews, the Word of God is similar to a powerful sword, or perhaps a surgeon's scalpel, which exposes the sins of our hearts, and convicts our spirits to do what is right. In his Epistle to the Romans, he also compares the Word, or the Law, to the voice of our conscience which serves to keep us in line:

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."


"Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)"


While some people don't like to admit it because of their own pride and vanity, we are all basically evil; we are all wicked; we are all sinners; because we constantly break the commandments of God; the primary of which are to love the Lord our God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The following verses support these various points:

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."


"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"


"They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."


"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"


"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."


"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."


"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."


As I point out in my series "So You Really Think You Are So Humble?", the Lord was saying through the Prophet Jeremiah that our heart is so wicked and so deceitful, that we can't even begin to realize how wicked it really is. There can be no doubt that we are guilty as charged. As I point out in a number of other articles, the Word of God, of which Jesus was the physical manifestation, is similar to a brilliant Light which shows us the way in which we should walk before God. Not only that, it is like a great searchlight which pierces right through us revealing the darkest corner of our being:

"NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."


"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."


"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."


"And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."


Sadly, not everyone wants to come to the Light. The reason many people reject the Bible, is because it exposes their true sinful nature, whether it be through some aberrant sexual lifestyle, or through some other thing in their life which is displeasing to the Lord. Jesus Christ said this very thing to His own Disciples while explaining to them why He, and they, were hated by the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees. It is because people reject the Light of the Word; it is because they reject the Truth of the Gospel; it is because they reject Jesus Christ; that they walk in spiritual darkness. They consciously do it by their own free will, because they know that their deeds are evil; and they don't wish to be exposed. They are spiritually blind by their own choice. Consider these verses:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."


"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."


"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."


As I point out in other articles, by arguing that there is no God, or that the Bible is full of errors, or that we Christians have misunderstood it, or that it is not even the Word of God, these blind leaders of the blind are attempting to erase or eliminate all forms of personal accountability and responsibility to themselves, and to God. If we reject God and His Word in our lives, we find it much easier to say such things as, "Oh, I'm okay; you're okay. We are all okay. There is no such thing as sin. There is nothing wrong with us. We can all do as we please". But you see, that is where some do greatly err; for as we are told in the Scriptures:

"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."


"Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead."


"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."


"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."


As the above verses clearly demonstrate, the purpose of the Word of God is to lead us down the right path; it is to reprove and to correct us when we go astray; it is to serve as a reminder that same day we will all be held accountable for our actions; regardless of anything we might say or do now to try to deny this truth. This is precisely what many people do not like or want. They don't want to have any kind of authority over their lives. They want to do as they please. They want to be the master of their fate. They want to be their own god. Well, they may get away with it for now, but someday soon, as we have seen, they will have to give an account to God for their actions. As a matter of fact, we all will, whether we be Christians or not.

You may recall that one of the things which this person said to me in his comment was "The only word of God is one that everyone holds in his or her heart". This type of statement is just another subtle trick of Satan to twist or distort the Word of God. He will say something which has a ring of truth to it, while at the same time denying the whole truth. We will be taking a closer look at this tactic later on in this series; and you will be shocked to see exactly how far the gay and lesbian community has taken this deception. To clarify then, what this person has said is indeed true; and I can even give you a good verse to support such a view:

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."


However, because of the other things which he said along with this statement, the deep deception in this person's reasoning might not be readily apparent to some of you. First this man stated that the Bible is not the inspired Word of God. He clearly said that it was written and translated by man; thus, it is not an infallible work. He then claims that the word of God is what we each hold in our hearts. The question then is, if he rejects the Bible, what word of God is he talking about? If we each hold the word of God in our hearts, and it is not the same one found in the Christian Bible, then how many different words of God are there? Do we each have our own private version of it? Now are you beginning to see the danger of such thinking? Do you see the widespread confusion which could easily result from such wayward thoughts?

As I pointed out in my preliminary statements, the Holy Scriptures are the only inspired Word of God that there is. There is no other. The Bible is our manual or our guidebook through this life. In other articles I compare it to a driver's manual. Stop and think for a moment how confusing it would be if, upon going down to the Department of Motor Vehicles to pick up an official copy of the Driver's Manual, you were told that there was no official version; and that everyone could simply make up their own rules and drive as they felt best according to what they believed was right in their hearts. Imagine what chaos and confusion would result from such stupidity. Imagine how many lives would be lost needlessly due to selfish decisions being made on the road as everyone went about doing as they felt was best.

Borrowing another example from some of my other articles, when a person works at a bank as a teller, one thing they are taught to do is to recognize all of the features found on the paper currency of their country. This way, if someone walks into the bank and tries to pass them a counterfeit bill, they will be able to immediately recognize it as such; and the bank will then be able to take the necessary steps to stop the illegal flow of counterfeit cash. Having an official currency gives financial stability to a country and its government. As with the Department Of Motor Vehicles, imagine now what would happen if the government of your country suddenly decided that it was no longer necessary to have an official currency; and that all citizens were now free to privately design and print their own paper money, and mint their own coins in their homes. Such a move by any government would certainly be ridiculous, wouldn't it? The economy of that country would literally collapse overnight. The country would fall into total anarchy and confusion.

By the same token, people who make claims similar to those made by this man would be guilty of spiritual anarchy against God. How are we supposed to know and recognize what is the true Word of God and the true Spirit of God, unless we also have some official standard to follow? It is easy to say that the word of God is in our hearts, but how do we know that it is the true Word of God? To know what is truly of the Lord, and what is false, we must first know Him who is True. Now let me ask you; isn't it true that sometimes when you read a certain book, such as an autobiography, that the reason you are reading it is because you want to learn more about the author? In the case of the Bible, by reading what it contains, we come to know and understand its Author; God, our Heavenly Father. We also learn what His will is for our lives. We learn what He expects of us. We learn His rules.

This very same principle applies to our own families. If parents were to punish their children for doing something wrong, even before making them aware of the rules, this wouldn't be very fair, would it? It wouldn't be righteous judgment, or righteous punishment. In the same manner, the Bible serves as the Official Rule Book for those who are not led by the Spirit of God; for those who do not listen to God's still small Voice speaking to their hearts; and like the bank teller, it also serves to verify and to confirm whether or not what we are feeling in our hearts is truly of the Lord. The best way to know and to understand the Spirit of God, is through the recorded Word which we have had for thousands of years. If we receive anything which is contrary to that Model, then we should view it with much suspicion. As the Apostle John wrote, we must try, or test, the spirits to see if they are truly of God:

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."


Remember, God is not the author of confusion. He will not contradict Himself. He won't say something in His Written Word, and then turn around and tell you to believe or to do something which is contrary to it. As I said previously, He esteems, or magnifies, His Word above His very name. His word is more sure, and more certain, and more reliable, than any words ever spoken by human beings. It is the sure word of prophecy:

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."


"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"


By rejecting the standard of God's Written Word, people such as the man in question are making themselves vulnerable to all kinds of deception and delusion; and this is exactly what we are seeing in these Last Days. Believe me, Satan is a great deceiver; he is a subtle serpent; he is roaring lion; he is a liar; and he is a destroyer; but, he can also appear as an angel of light who pretends to be a bearer of "truth"; so beware!:

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"


"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"


". . . He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."


"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."


Please note that in the last verse above that is found in the Book of Revelation, both the Hebrew word "Abaddon" and the Greek word "Apollyon" mean "destroyer".

To continue his argument in defense of the gay and lesbian lifestyle, the person in question then went on to say "No one has the right to judge anyone. That is God's choice". As with his previous comments, he has stated a partial truth. If there are any verses which have been quoted more often by those who dislike having their sins exposed by the naked Truth found the Bible, it has to be the following verses found in Matthew chapter seven:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."


It never ceases to amaze me how the enemies of the Truth are so quick to quote these verses, or at least haphazardly paraphrase them, while totally ignoring the other things which Jesus had to say which add a a great deal of balance to the above Scriptures. Not only that, but I find it rather ironic, and in fact hypocritical, that they quote from the very Source which they insist is not the inspired Word of God. Non-Christians constantly accuse Christians of using the Holy Scriptures as some sort of crutch to support their views; yet they do the very same thing themselves when it is to their convenience. I would encourage such persons to read my article "A Biblical Cafeteria, Or The Whole Course?". As I explain in that article, we cannot just pick and choose when we read the Bible. We must believe all of it, or else none of it; and we must ask the Lord to give us His wisdom; and to lead us in our understanding as we go about comparing Scripture with Scripture:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."


"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."


"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."


Rather than spend a great deal of time in this current series to discuss the topic of judgment, I am going to refer you the reader to another article I have written which is entitled "Exposing The Judge Not Fallacy". That paper takes an in-depth look at exactly what is meant by "judge not". It also explains the different kinds of judgment, and shows how the Lord's servants are in fact ministers of judgment, as well as ministers of Salvation. I hope that you will take the time to read it, as I'm sure that you will find it quite enlightening; particularly if you are a Christian. You might also be interested in reading some of the other articles I have written on the topic of judgment as well.

Having now fully established the authority of God's written Word, in the second part of this four-part series, we will begin our study to find out exactly what the Bible has to say about the practices of homosexuality and lesbianism. I trust that you will join me.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.