As we approach the close of
the twentieth century after the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is surely
clear, even to the casual observer, that the human race has reached a historic
crossroads, even a crisis-point from which there is no return. This is true of
many different areas of life, whether scientific, social or spiritual. In the
fields of medicine, genetics, robotics, and other aspects of scientific
development, people are wilfully pressing into territory on the hinterland of
ethics which could have come straight off the pages of the wildest
science-fiction novel. Over in the realm of the 'spirit', we find a universal
desire for a synthesis of world religion involving aspects of parapsychology,
alchemy, shamanism, mysticism and a quest for the ancient gnosis.[1]
These bold thrusts of
unregenerate human nature in the realms of science and 'spirit' have also found
their counterparts in many facets of social behaviour, the most far-reaching of
which has been that of human sexuality.
Throughout this century,
powerful forces have been steadily undermining what remaining traces there are
of the working of the law of God in the moral life of Man. This was first set
in motion through the Aufklarung of the eighteenth century, the
so-called “Enlightenment” which involved the coming-of-age of hubristic
godlessness in Europe and, by infection, the United States of America. This
culminated in the founding of the theory of evolution, the ultimate denial of
God the Creator and Divine revelation and the flowering of the Enlightenment's
'finest hour'. Alongside of this, in the late nineteenth century, there were
the various 'bohemian' libertine movements undermining the monogamous morality
of marriage. These groups were often tied up with concurrent theosophical
religious developments—especially in the decades spanning the turn of the
century.[2]
After the cataclysmic
intervention of the two world wars came the “Rock 'n Roll” and “Jazz” era of
the 1950s which brought a further general loosening of public morals, involving
the increased acceptability of consciousness-altering drugs and a growing sense
of personal and sexual “freedom”. So came the beginning of the “Me” generation,
Generation 'X', confused and contemptuous of all forms of authority.
When these youthful forces
combined with the psychoanalytic theories of Wilhelm Reich[3], an increasing
interest among the young in the sex magic of Tantric Buddhism, the “human potential”
programmes of the Esalen Institute in California, and free contraception on the
birth-pill, the way was fully prepared for the completion of the Sexual
Revolution. Within a few short years the U.K. saw the repeal of the law against
buggery between consenting adults in 1967.
The New Morality which
emerged out of this period was essentially anarchic in that it revelled in
making no reference to a central authority, Divine or human, but insisted on
the right of each person to create his or her own moral code. One social
historian perceptively sums up this period thus:
“The 1960s were marked by
the greatest changes in morals and manners since the 1920s. Young people,
college students in particular, rebelled against what they viewed as the
repressed, conformist society of their parents. They advocated a sexual
revolution, aided by the birth control pill and later by Roe v. Wade (1973), a
Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. “Recreational” drugs such as
marijuana and LSD were increasingly used... Drug taking, previously confined
largely to ghettos, became part of middle-class life. The sexual revolution
reduced government censorship, changed attitudes toward traditional sexual
roles, and enabled homosexuals to organize and acknowledge their identities as
never before... Unrestrained individualism played havoc with family values”.[4]
It was against that
backdrop that the so-called “Gay Liberation Front” (GLF) came into being and a
delightful English word began to be plagiarised by the peddlers of perversion.
Hot on the heels of the GLF, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) was
formed in 1976, which claims to be “offering gay liberation to the
churches and Christ to the gay community”. However, as we shall shortly
show, Christianity and homosexuality are mutually exclusive and cannot morally
coexist. One cannot adhere to one without entirely renouncing the other.
It is a notable fact that
all deviant movements in the Christian scene have a counterpart in the secular
world which they mirror. For example, the direction of the Charismatic Movement
has unwittingly followed the 'Altered States of Consciousness' route taken by
the New Age Movement in the world. Similarly, we find that the growth of the
homosexual lobby in the professing Christian scene has largely mirrored its
growth in the world.
The homosexual gathering at
Southwark Cathedral in London on 16th November 1996 was a significant step in
the process of seeking to “normalise” homosexuality as a viable “alternative
lifestyle”. This provides a pointer to the direction in which things are
heading in the professing church today. For we have a crisis of morality which
has been spawned by the spineless vacillation and increasing liberalisation of
the major denominations—especially the Church of England, which has a huge
problem in the large number of homosexual clergymen ministering within its
ranks. This was acknowledged even a decade ago in the liberal Guardian
newspaper in an editorial which stated: ”In the continuing controversy
over homosexual priests in the Church of England, several things can be widely
agreed: Quite substantial numbers are homosexual by nature..”. [5]
In the tabloids and
Sunday-smut newspapers, headlines such as “Pulpit Poofs can Stay” (The Sun) and
“Secrets of the Gay Vicars” (The People), corroborate that the vast moral
crisis in our land has been induced largely by a multitude of impostors
stealing into the church and perverting its agenda in conformity to the powers
of darkness (cf. Jude 4). Compare these two revealing instances: Richard
Holloway, Bishop of Edinburgh, advocated the legalising of drugs and
prostitution in 1986 as a way to curb the spread of AIDS. One year later, David
Holloway (no relation!), former vicar of Jesmond, rightly proposed a resolution
at the General Synod—which was unsuccessful—calling for the disciplining of
practising homosexual clergy. A bishop advocates immorality, yet he remains in
office. A minister advocates biblical practice, yet he is soundly defeated.
Such is the moral confusion in the Church of England.
One of the most vocal of
the Church of England campaigners for homosexuality is the Episcopalian Bishop
John Shelby Spong. He claims that homosexuals are “simply people born
with a different sexual orientation, not people who need to be delivered from
their evil and returned to normality”.[6] And he went on to say “we have
about 15-20 'out-of-the-closet' gay and lesbian priests serving in this diocese”.[7]
Christians need to wise up to the fact that this professional “Gay Lobby” is
part of a wider agenda involving the total dismantling of biblical Christianity—at
the forefront of which is the Church of England. In a recent edition of his
diocesan newspaper, The Voice, Spong wrote: “The church is being driven involuntarily into a new world which
will require a new understanding of what we Christians believe and how we live
that Christianity out”.[8] Dismissing the faith which was once for
all delivered to the saints in a sentence, Spong said that Christianity could
not expect to reach people of the “post-modern world” if it held onto “a
religious system based on the dismissed truth of another age”.[9] If one
requires any further evidence that the so-called “Gay Lobby” has a Luciferian
spiritual agenda, Spong said in a recent article on the challenges of the third
millennium that Darwin's evolutionary theory had ”destroyed forever the
power of the traditional Christian myth. Darwin's concept of an imperfect
universe developing through evolution eliminated the traditional idea of the fall”. This
perfectly demonstrates the theological backcloth to the aggressive development
of homosexuality in the churches. Once the authority and inerrancy of Scripture
have been denied, anything can happen.
In the wake of the debacle
at Southwark cathedral, Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
denounced church opponents of “Gay Rights”, according to a subsequent Daily
Mail article, as “bullying, loud-mouthed controversialists”. And
the article went on to say:
“In a powerful rebuke to
campaigners trying to block the advance of the homosexual lobby in the Church
of England he condemned churchgoers who have 'a disapproving view of life'“.[10]
Dr. Carey then suggested
that both sides in the debate should demonstrate Christian love and acceptance
of one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. So, according to this leader
of the Church of England, to be opposed to homosexuality is to ”have a
disapproving view of life” and to lack love. But the Bible itself is
opposed to homosexuality! What does that tell us about Dr. Carey's view of the
authority and inerrancy of Scripture? In a letter to all those who complained
about the meeting in Southwark Cathedral, Dr. Carey said that he would rather
emphasise the ”common humanity” between homosexuals and heterosexuals
than highlight the differences between the two. But as a leader in the church,
Dr. Carey should not be deliberately obscuring the moral issue which lies at
the heart of this debate. He should be urging repentance and
reconciliation with God rather than reconciliation between
those who wilfully follow a sinful lifestyle and those who seek to uphold a
biblical morality.
It is quite grotesque that
the LGCM's meeting in Southwark Cathedral should have been entitled “A
Service of Penitence, Intercession and Thanksgiving”. To describe such a
meeting as a 'service' — with its implications of worship—is little short of
blasphemy. It would have been no worse had Satan himself climbed into the
pulpit and removed his pants. Even Antiochus Epiphanes' sacrifice of a pig in
the temple of God in Israel in 167 B.C. was no more of an affront to the Lord
than this sodomite 'service' in Southwark Cathedral. If these people had truly
been penitent, prayerful and thankful they would have come to that cathedral to
renounce their sinful lifestyles, to pray to the Lord for forgiveness, and to
thank Him for rescuing them from the powers of darkness. But precious words and
values are today being twisted to mean something far different from their
original designation. It is into this double-speak that the prophet
cries: “Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa.5:20).
These are serious times in
which we are living, and we must stand for the truth of the Lord
compassionately but without compromise. If there is no direction being given by
those who have spiritual leadership in the churches how can an example be set
to those who have political or any other kind of moral authority in the world
today? What is needed is a clear appraisal of biblical teaching on human
sexuality. With God's help, this we seek to do. We cannot possibly do full
justice to all that is entailed in this subject in this brief paper, but it would
be fruitful to explore the issue under four primary headings.
I. GOD'S GENDER PLAN FOR
HIS HUMAN CREATION
When the Lord created this
universe He had a cosmic design which specifically involved the creation of
both men and women for its consummation. In Genesis 1:26-28, we discover three
principles which govern this gender-plan and clearly spell out to us God's
intentions for His creation:
1. Male and Female were
Made in the Image of God
In these verses we are
immediately struck by the fact that human beings, as male and female, were
originally made in the image of God. In Gen.1:27 the Scripture says: “So God
created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them”... Two inescapable elements emerge here:
i. The Image of God is
Specifically Reflected in the Complementary Characteristics of Male and Female
To be made in the image of
God is reflected in the creation of both male and female. In other words the
two genders of male and female complement each other in such a way that they
are a reflection of the image of God.
Now, obviously it would be
foolish if we were to attempt to say that God Himself is either male or female
or even a hermaphrodite. “God is Spirit” (Jn.4:24),
and spirit is neither male nor female. But the creation of both man and woman
in the image of God must manifest a complementarity which represents the being
of God.[11] In spite of all the attempts to force a socially-engineered
equality on the world today, there are fundamental God-ordained differences
between men and women which are vital to the working out of His plan on earth.
It is interesting to note
that the Hebrew word for woman or wife, ishah,
is derived from a root which means 'soft' or 'delicate'.[12]
Although this word is similar to the Hebrew word for man, ish, there is
actually an intentional contrast in meaning, as this word appears to be derived
from a root which means 'to be strong'.[13] So there is a
deliberate and complementary contrast in our gender-gifts from God, ensuring
that men and women recognise a completion and fulfilment in their relationship
with one another. This is the true mystery of male-female marriage, and also
provides a stunning symbol of the relationship between Christ and His Church
(Eph.5:22-33). Adam plainly acknowledged this Divinely-ordained unity of the
male with the female when he said of Eve: ”And Adam said, This [is] now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen.2:23).
Therefore men and women,
although having individual gender characteristics and roles, are intended by
God to engage in a lifelong bond in conformity with His spiritual purposes: “Therefore
a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And they
shall become one flesh” (Gen.2:24). Note that it is the man
and the woman who become one flesh in the creation mandate—not man
and man, nor woman and woman, for that would be a total violation of God's
gender-plan. Man united with woman in a lifelong bond is the norm for any
expression of human sexuality. It is the norm that has been built innately into
the creation of this universe by its all-wise Creator.
The apostle Paul, in his
first epistle to the Corinthians, also stressed the sanctity of the special
union between a man and a woman when he warned its readers not to have sexual
contact with prostitutes: “For 'the two,' He says, 'shall become one flesh'“ (1Cor.6:16),
thus defiling their bodies which are “not for fornication, but for the
Lord; and the Lord for the body”. (1 Cor.6:13). This process of
becoming “one flesh” (Gen.2:24) is reiterated in the New
Testament a number of times, and Jesus Himself affirms the creation and
exclusive union of man and woman, adding the rejoinder: “What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder”. (Mt.19:6). Further, what God has
joined together, let not man violate.
Here we can perhaps
understand the significance of the devil's undermining of marriage between man
and woman. In his thinking, if such a union has been, and still is, of supreme
spiritual importance for the outworking of God's plan, then by attempting to
destroy stable manifestations of this union, it may be possible to undermine
the plan itself. Mass marital discord and breakdown is a major part of this element
in the spiritual battle—which explains the role Feminism has played in Satan's
war against the saints. But the most far-reaching tactic in the satanic
destruction of marital integrity between man and woman has been the widespread
growth of homosexuality.
As we shall later show in
some detail, homosexuality is a most profound and even compound sin—not merely
because it is 'disgusting', or 'perverted', or 'unhealthy' (for these
judgements, although true in their context, are merely secular), but above all
because it is disobedient to God's will. When we deny the spiritual significance
of the heterosexual union in marriage and that heterosexuality is the
Divinely-ordained norm for all human creatures, we effectively deny our
Creator. Perhaps we can now understand why homosexuals are forced to take
refuge in such inept euphemisms as 'gay'.
ii. The Image of God was
Originally Reflected in True Righteousness and Holiness
A second element arising
from the fact that the man and woman were made in the image of God concerns an
inherent morality based on Divinely-ordained objective standards. In other
words, when our first parents are said to have been made in the image of God,
this not only refers to the fact that they were created rational creatures with
innate ingenuity but also that they were a glorious reflection of their Maker's
righteousness and holiness. It is clear that if they were possessors of such
qualities then this would also have involved the recognition that there are
norms to which creatures must adhere. For those made in the image of God there
was to be no deviation from the Law of the God in whose image they were made.
There would be no room here for the modern prevalent idea of situation ethics.
This would especially be the case with our first parents' approach to their
sexuality. God ordained that a man and woman were to be the norm for human
sexual relations. Those made in the image of God in righteousness and true
holiness and living in a state of pre-Fall innocence would adhere to that
standard unswervingly.
2. Both Male and Female
were Blessed by God
We also discover in
Gen.1:28 that the man and the woman are blessed by God: the male and the female
as one flesh has the blessing of God. It is most important to understand this.
We are confronted here, in the opening pages of the Bible with the endowment of
gender gifts in the creation of man and woman—and they are blessed. A blessing
is given by God on that coming together of the male and the female as one
flesh. No other form of sexual relationship is blessed. On the contrary, same
sex relationships are condemned as ”an abomination”, as we
will later show. Unrepentant homosexuals can never have God's blessing.
3. Male and Female were
Commanded to Procreate
A third element involved in
God's gender-plan as revealed in Gen.1:26-28 is the commandment for procreation
on the part of the male and the female: ”And God said to them, 'Be
fruitful and multiply'” throughout the whole earth: “Fill the earth and
subdue it”. All that was to take place, the dominion over the earth by
the human race, through procreation between a man and a woman. That again
provides us with the clear biblical norm for participants in a sexual
relationship. There is no way that homosexuals can be fruitful and multiply.
The only way one can justify any deviation from that norm is by denying the
authority of Scripture. Ultimately, it is on this that any controversy over
human sexuality hinges.
* * * * * * *
So, those are the three
aspects of God's gender-plan for His human creation. First, we see them made in
the image of God so that in some mysterious way male and female coming together
as one flesh have a complementarity that reflects that image in righteousness
and true holiness. Second, we discover that male and female coming together as
one flesh are blessed by God. The union of male and female in monogamous
marriage has the stamp of approval of God the Creator. Thirdly, we see that
embodied in God's gender-plan for His human creation is procreative activity
uniquely on the part of the male and female.
Plainly there have been a
number of developments throughout history—and especially things we see
happening around us in the world today—that don't square up with God's
gender-plan for His human creation. So what went wrong?
II. SATAN'S INTERVENTION IN
GOD'S CREATION-BASED GENDER-PLAN
At some point in the early
history of the cosmos, a rebellion took place among the angels which was led by
the prince of angels whom we now know as Satan or the Devil (Mt.25:41; cf. Job
4:18), resulting in the 'fall' of a vast quantity (but not the majority) of
angels who became apostate (Rev.12:4a). Not only are there allusions to this
but it must also be inferred by the fact that the fallen angels (which are
referred to as demons in Scripture) began to undermine God's human creation in
Eden.
Therefore, God's
gender-plan and its outworking in the world throughout history must be
understood in the context of a mighty spiritual battle which has been taking
place from the beginning of time. One of Satan's primary battles has been in
the area of human sexuality. At the heart of his evil work in the subversion of
our first parents in Gen.3:1-6 was not only the questioning of God's Word and
the incitement to disobedience, but there was also the attempted fouling up of
God's gender-plan in creation. He practically destroyed the relationship
between Adam and Eve by tempting the woman into making a decision which
effectively ruled out her husband as head of the household (Gen.3:6), and then
turned them against each other (Gen.3:12-13). Here were the beginnings of that
corrupting condition of human sexuality which we know today as Feminism.
And when we look at
homosexual acts, where a man and a man or a woman and a woman come together as
one in a sexual relationship, these things threaten godly family relationships
and boundaries because they run counter to the divine command to procreate—a
command that is a part of the order of creation.
In terms of the moral life
of humanity, we discover that the Fall recorded in Gen.3:1-6 led not only to a
withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from our first parents (and all their posterity
by nature) but also a hideous distortion of the image of God in human beings.
The Lutheran Formula of Concord (1580) makes a sweeping affirmation on this
post-Fall human condition which brilliantly sums up its totality:
“Original sin in human
nature is not only a total lack of good in spiritual, divine things, but at the
same time it replaces the lost image of God in man with a deep, wicked,
abominable, bottomless, inscrutable, and inexpressible corruption of his entire
nature with all its powers, especially of the highest and foremost powers of
the soul in mind, heart and will”.[14]
In the Scots Confession of
1560 there is a comparable emphasis concerning the effect of the Fall on the
image of God in man:
“Because of this
transgression, commonly called Original sin, the Image of God was utterly
defaced in man, and he and his posterity of nature become enemies to God,
slaves to Satan, and servants unto sin”.[15]
So the original sin of the
first Adam caused the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from human beings and a
loss of the image of God in terms of righteousness and true holiness (which
completely negates the liberal idea of “the innate goodness of man”). This had
enormous consequences for the moral and spiritual progress of the human race,
effecting the subsequent development of human sexuality.
Although Satan's
interference in human sexuality began in the Garden of Eden, the degenerative
process came to a head prior to the world-wide Flood recorded in Gen.7:7 –
8:14. In Gen.6:1-4, a quickening of this process came about through an
interference in the procreation of the human race by the corruption of human
sexual relationships which filled the earth with evil.[16]
Satan's interference in
human development was again involved in the major incident surrounding the
building of the Tower of Babel, when the Lord had to intervene by confounding
human language (Gen.11:1-9). The crime here was not merely spiritual pride and
arrogance against God but also a refusal to obey God's express commandment for
men and women to procreate after the flood: “And God blessed Noah and his
sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.'” (Gen.9:1).
God said “replenish the earth”, procreate
far and wide. But the people said in response: “let us make us a name, lest
we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”. (Gen.11:4).
Again, we have an interference by the powers of darkness with the procreational
aspect of the development of humanity. It has always been the intent of the
evil angels to undermine God's plan as a whole; and people have needed little
persuading.
III. MAN'S RESPONSE TO
GOD'S CREATION-BASED GENDER-PLAN
We have just seen how Satan
and his fellow evil angels have a vested interest in disturbing the whole
aspect of human sexuality, thereby undermining God's procreational plan through
men and women. But alongside of that, there has been the corrupted response of
human beings to God's sovereignty over His creation as its Creator—a response
which found its culmination in the Theory of Evolution. This response is seen
clearly in the first chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. There, we
discover that the truth of a righteous and holy God who requires righteousness
and true holiness of his human creatures has been clearly revealed through His
works in the creation (vv.18-20). That there has been a moral and spiritual
Fall of Man is assumed by the fact that now “The wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness…” (v.18)
The greater part of chapter
one of Paul's epistle to the Romans tracks the corruption of the moral and
religious life of humanity—the starting point for which is idolatry. The point
of departure in the response of the human race to its Creator involved turning
away from dependence upon Him to the deification of idols:
“Because that, when they
knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and
fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (vv.21-23).
As the Holy Spirit puts
it: “And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge…” (Rom.1:28).
In other words, they rejected God the Father Almighty, the Maker not only of
heaven and earth but also of themselves. And in rejecting Him they rejected His
original gender-plan embodied in the creation. The result of this was that God
then left them to their own moral and spiritual devices and all the
consequences that this would bring upon them. This is an awesome thing indeed,
the depth of which can only be perceived by those who have had their hearts
illumined by the Lord. There is no worse condition than to be “given over” by God so
that you become entrenched in your own rebellion and stupidity and thereby
develop numerous other even worse sins than those which led to your being “given
over” in the first place. This is known theologically as the judicial
hardening of the human heart, the reality of which is evidenced
throughout Scripture. For example, we find that the reason Pharaoh would not
let the children of Israel leave Egypt was because God had hardened his heart
in judgement (Exod.4:21-22; see also Rom.9:17-18). And when the children of
Israel themselves turned away from God, He said to them:
“I [am] the LORD thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will
fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of
me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: [and] they walked in their
own counsels” (Psalm 81:10-12).
It is this concept of the
Divine judicial hardening of the human heart which provides us with the context
for homosexuality and all the other sexual perversions which beset the human
race. This is what is meant by God being said to give them over ”to a
debased mind to do those things which are not fitting”. So it has been
from the beginning of time to the present day. Once God's human creatures have
rejected the Lord and everything that He stands for—His authority, His right to
rule over His creatures, and all the principles of morality and spirituality
embodied in the creation—what happens then? As the Scripture clearly says: God
gives people over “to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are
not convenient” (Rom.1:28), “to uncleanness through the lusts
of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves” (Rom.1:24),
and “to vile passions” (Rom.1:26). This is what accounts for
the fact that when so many of the heathen nations have fallen into ruin it was
inevitably heralded by a descent into homosexuality and other sexual
perversions. The ”things which are not fitting”, the “uncleanness”
and the ”vile passions” are explicitly exposed in the
Scripture:
“For this cause God gave
them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use
into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the
natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men
working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of
their error which was meet” (Rom.1:26-27).
In other words, what we
discover here is that homosexuality is not merely a sin in and of
itself, but it is actually a judgement for a besetting sin that has already
gone beforehand. And that besetting sin is entrenched disbelief in
God: a wilful and hubristic rejection of your Creator. When such a condition
comes into being, God “gives you over” to the logical moral and spiritual
outcome of your humanistic rebellion. When that occurs, spiritual pandemonium
breaks out in your inner life, spilling over into your social circumstances in “vile
passions” and “uncleanness”. Therefore, the phrase “Gay and Lesbian Christian
Movement” is a hideous contradiction in terms, because the deviant
relationships and sordid sexual practices which this organisation promotes
occur as a result of a just judgement from God on those who have already
rejected Him. Thus the promotion of homosexuality can never be compatible with
godly religion and is in fact a manifestation of antichrist.
Any society which is in a
state of moral and spiritual decline will always promote the perversion of the
sexual orientation which is intrinsic to God's creational gender-plan. We have
already noted that the collapse of empires has always been preceded by widespread
and rampant perversion of human sexuality. Homosexuality is the natural
outworking of judicial hardening in people who have already turned away
from the living God. It is the sexual expression of apostasy. And this
is precisely because homosexuality is a compound sin which indicates an already
existing moral and spiritual corruption. Surely we are seeing that in our own
culture now, as it spirals into total decadence.
Homosexuality among men and
lesbianism among women is a direct defiance of and challenge to the Creator God
of this universe. The very word, “Lesbian”—as in the phrase “Gay and Lesbian
Christian Movement”—is derived from the Greek island of Lesbos which, in the
sixth century B.C., was host to a group of women dedicated to the worship of the
'female principle' and the service of Aphrodite and Artemis. These two
goddesses are of some biblical significance. Aphrodite was the goddess of
sex-magic, the Greek version of the Roman goddess Venus, the Babylonian Ishtar,
the chief goddess of Tyre, Asherah, and the Canaanite goddess
Astarte/Ashtoreth. In the Old Testament, she was referred to as ”queen
of heaven” (Jer.44:17,18,25) and worshipped by apostate Hebrews, as
well as bringing about the downfall of King Solomon (1 Kings 11:5).
The other Lesbian goddess,
Artemis, was the Greek version of Diana, the Roman goddess whose main centre of
worship was at Ephesus in the Roman state of Asia (cf. Acts 17:23-41), and
whose worship was characterised by sensuous orgies and ceremonial prostitution.
The law given to Israel at
Sinai, written by the hand of God, was utterly opposed to any form of sexual
perversion because it goes against God's creation mandate.
“And thou shalt not let any
of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the
name of thy God: I [am] the LORD. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with
womankind: it [is] abomination” (Leviticus 18:21-22).
Now the Hebrew word tebel, which is translated here as “perversion”
is denoted in the lexicon as referring to “a violation of nature or the
Divine order”—a specific rebellion against God's gender-plan embodied in
the original creation. When we diligently search the Scriptures, what we
discover is that homosexuality is not a medical condition, or a psychological
problem, or a social development, or a political act of defiance, or a
fundamental human right. Rather, it is a violation of the Divine order. It is a
spiritual problem occurring as a result of divine judgement because of rank
idolatry and practical atheism. Therefore, any nation-state or community which
permits the flourishing of this unclean spiritual condition has succumbed to
apostasy and renders itself liable to the full weight of the wrath of God. That
is why Holy Scripture reveals these perversions to be ”an abomination
to the Lord”—acts of extreme wickedness. A true reading of the Bible can
leave one in no doubt concerning its view of homosexuality.
In the Book of Judges there
is an incident in which a number of homosexual perverts came to a man's house
and beat on his door, and spoke to the master of the house saying, ”Bring
forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him” (Jdg.19:22).
In other words these men all wanted to have homosexual sex with him. They are
explicitly referred to as “certain sons of Belial”. To be a “son
of Belial” in Scripture is to be a disgraceful person who is a servant of Satan
and an enemy of God.
Again in the Book of
Genesis, chapter nineteen, there is the renowned incident at the city of Sodom
involving Abraham's nephew, Lot, in which we have a very similar situation
where a number of men (it appears to be a majority of the city's males, cf.
Gen.19:4: “the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and
young, all the people from every quarter”came hammering on the door with
intent to engage in homosexual gang rape. Lot had been hospitable to some
angels who had come to stay with him, manifested in human form. Being angels
they were no doubt extremely good looking and these perverts were sexually
attracted to them. The entire thrust of this incident is that the sinful
condition of Sodom was patently summed up in the perverted desire of these
homosexual men.
Homosexuals today claim
that the real problem with the incident at Sodom was not the fact that these
men were homosexual but that they were filled with lust and violence and the
desire to rape. But it is impossible to sustain such a view when one compares
the incident in the light of other Scriptures which plainly declare the mind of
the Lord on this issue. For example, ”If a man also lie with mankind,
as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they
shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them”. (Lev.20:13;
cf. Lev.18:22). Or, again, “There shall be no whore of the daughters of
Israel nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel..”. (Deut.23:17).
Now the purpose of the
Mosaic Law (as the Apostle Paul shows) was the preservation of the purity of
Israel, as a nation living in the midst of morally and spiritually perverted
nations, until the time that the 'Seed' which had been promised originally in
Genesis 3:15 would come into the world as the Redeemer (Gal.3:19,24). The
prevention of moral national decline and of sexual perversion was vital to this
preservation on a purely practical level because the undoing through
homosexuality of God's gender-plan for men and women would destroy the
procreative process by which descendancy occurs. For this reason it was
imperative that “there shall be no...sodomite of the sons of Israel”. The
biblical authority of these moral laws is still endorsed today by orthodox
Jews. For example, in 1987, the Chief Rabbi in the U.K., Immanuel Jakobovits,
giving the Jewish view of homosexuality, wrote:
“The Jewish view is plain
and uncompromising. All the authentic forces of Judaism condemn homosexual
relations as a heinous offence. No verbal acrobatics, no feats of casuistry, no
attempts at rationalisation and no outpouring of sympathy can modify this
verdict, harsh as it may be. Anyone who pretends otherwise deceives himself and
those he addresses, for he no longer speaks in the genuine accents of Jewish
thought and law. Moreover, the prohibition is deemed to be binding on all
humans, as shown by the term sodomy—the depravity of a heathen city”.[17]
That was written in 1987.
One decade later, it seems almost shocking in its naked honesty. So rare is it
to hear such clear and unequivocal convictions on moral issues from religious
people that it demonstrates how much further society has gone down the spiral
of human depravity. To imagine a Christian leader of today making such a
statement is virtually unthinkable. Even if such a thing was to happen, he
would no doubt be submerged beneath a welter of “politically correct” abuse
from both the world and his professing Christian colleagues!
In view of the complete
absence of moral and spiritual direction from the false 'church' of today—consisting
primarily of the vast majority of the denominations with their spineless
bishops and organisational apparatchiks—it is vital for us to know how the
orthodox Christian should respond to deviations from God's gender-plan.
IV. THE ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN'S RESPONSE TO DEVIATION'S FROM GOD'S CREATION-BASED GENDER-PLAN
We have seen that sodomy
was highly unacceptable in ancient Israel and also amongst orthodox Jews of
today. What should be the position of those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ
and bear His name? Has there been a change since the New Covenant was
established and since the judicial and ceremonial laws of ancient Israel were
abrogated? In order to discover this, we must find out what the New Testament
has to say, firstly, about Old Testament laws concerning sexual deviance and,
secondly, about human sexuality in general.
1. The Orthodox Christian
Regards the Breaching of the Laws on Sexual deviance in the Old Testament Era
as Essential Warnings to a Wayward World
Although the minutiae of
the judicial and ceremonial laws of the Mosaic Law are no longer legally
binding under the New Covenant, the moral law of God which lay behind them has
never been abrogated—neither can it be (Mt.5:18). For this reason, although we
would not execute a homosexual today (cf. Lev.18:22-30), the Bible-based
Christian must acknowledge that homosexuality is still “an abomination
to the Lord”.
When Paul the Apostle gives
the warning: ”Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them
committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand”. (1
Cor.10:8), he is referring to the wayward desert generation of Israel who lived
in the wilderness for forty years. Most significantly, he then goes on to say
in v.11 “Now all these things happened unto them for examples”. The
Greek word translated as “ensamples” is tupos, from where we get
our word “type”, meaning a pattern which has a spiritual message. What happened
to this desert generation was typological—as were many other aspects of life in
ancient Israel—thereby providing a pattern for us today who have the benefit of
New Testament hindsight. This is why the Apostle clearly states that Old Testament
history has been “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the
ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1Cor.10:11-12).
In other words the true
Christian looks at all the perversions that happened in the Old Testament,
takes note of God's severe attitude towards them and recognises all this as a
warning which still carries a powerful message for the world today.
2. The Orthodox Christian
Regards Homosexuality as a Serious Breach of God's Moral Law
In the light of all the
biblical data, a genuine Christian can only regard homosexuality as a serious
breach of God's law. This must be proclaimed unequivocally. As the Scripture
says:
“But we know that the law
[is] good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for
sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of
mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and
if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust”. (1
Tim.1:8-11).
We discover here that
fornication and sodomy are contrary to sound Christian teaching. The Greek word
translated here as “sound” is hugiaino, from where our word “hygiene”
is derived. Sound doctrine is clean; behaviour which is contrary to it is
unclean. The Greek word translated here as “fornicator” is pornos,
referring to a man who prostitutes his body to another person's lust. The Greek
word which is translated here as “sodomite” is arsenokoites, which
refers to sexual intercourse between two men, from the Greek words arsen, male, and koite, a bed. In the Authorised Version arsenokoites is
graphically translated as ”them that defile themselves with mankind”,
i.e., men who defile themselves through having sexual intercourse with other
men as they would do with women. How much more explit could it be?
So we see that whatever
view one holds personally about human sexuality, it cannot be denied that the
New Testament is as unequivocal as the Old Testament in its condemnation of
sexual deviations from the moral law of God. We could go on to discuss the duty
of the civil powers to protect a society from these forces of uncleanness,
because they have been mandated by God not only to prevent anarchy through the
rule of law but also to ensure the general welfare of the people. On that basis
there is a good case for the outlawing of homosexual practice.[18] One only has
to consider the rampancy of diseases related to sodomy and fornication to
realise this.
When the Creation-based
norms laid down by God for human sexuality are cast aside, the inevitable
result is physical and spiritual disease and uncleanness. It is bizarre in the
extreme to witness the glorification in the media of the many show-business
sodomites who have died as a result of AIDS. Anyone with an understanding of the
Bible sees this as a clear judgement on their fornication. Although the “social
engineers” and “spin doctors” of “political correctness” attempt to brainwash
us to believe otherwise, the stark truth is that they are reaping the just
deserts of their lifestyle. God's law can never be breached with impunity. One
will have to pay the price—either in this life or the next.
3. The Orthodox Christian
Affirms that there can be no Place for Unrepentant Homosexuals in the Kingdom
of God
The case for this could not
be more plainly stated than in the words of the Apostle in 1Cor.6:9-10:
“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...will inherit the kingdom of God”.
Again, the Greek is very
revealing in this passage. The word translated here as “homosexuals” is malakos, which originally meant “soft
clothing”—referring to the kind of unmanliness and posturing effeminacy which
is a hallmark of homosexual subculture. The Greek word translated here as “sodomites”
is arsenokoites, one who has illicit
sexual intercourse, who lies with a man as with a woman. Such people have no
place in the kingdom of God, that is, they cannot be a part of the body of
Christ, the true Church, and no place in heaven will be found for them.
A similar position is also
found in Eph.5:5: “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God”. Those words cannot be bent. Deviant sexuality is a
no-go area for the true Christian. This is why Paul adds the warning: “Be
not ye therefore partakers with them” (Eph.5:7). Where does that leave
the bishops and many other clergymen today who are not only partakers but also
practisers? The Bible's own witness is that there is no place for them in the
kingdom of God; yet they gaily busy themselves as leaders of churches. Surely
what we see here is a part of the building of that global counterfeit “church”
which is part of the great apostasy prophesied in 2 Thess.2:3,9-12.
4. The Orthodox Christian
Regards Homosexuality as a Disqualification from Entrance into the New Universe
Not only do unrepentant
homosexuals find themselves alienated from the kingdom of God in this life, but
the Scriptures naturally go on to reveal that they will be disqualified from
having any inheritance in the reconstituted universe—the new heaven and the new
earth (Rev.21:1-5)—which God will inaugurate when the Lord Jesus Christ returns
at the end of this present evil age. Concerning the true Christian, the Lord
states: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and
he shall be My son”. He then goes on to say:
“He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”. (Rev.21:7-8)
And in the following
chapter, John writes:
“For without [are] dogs,
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev.22:15).
To put it bluntly,
homosexuals and all other sexual deviants who die in an impenitent condition
will spend eternity in conscious torment in hell. That is what Christian
orthodoxy must affirm; and all the “political correctness” in the world can
never eradicate that awesome truth.
However, if that was the
last word on the matter, the position of the sexual deviant would be hopeless.
But there is something else which remains to be said and which brings the whole
issue into perspective. For Christ did not “come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance”. (Matt.9:13). Therefore, we have no
hesitation in wholeheartedly making the following assertion:
5. The Orthodox Christian
Regards Homosexuality as Being a Forgivable Sin on Condition of True Repentance
It is not our purpose in
this brief paper to hammer a drum and rail against these things. We have sought
primarily to point out the truths recorded in Holy Scripture which show that
homosexuality is incompatible with Christianity and that the term “Lesbian and
Gay Christian Movement” is a contradiction-in-terms. To demonstrate this fact,
consider the following logical syllogism:
Major premise: A true disciple of
Jesus Christ will naturally obey God's commandments, because obedience is a
sure sign of faith and love towards God (Jn.14:15,21: 15:10; 1 Jn.5:2-3).
Minor Premise: Homosexuals who show
no sign of repentance are being disobedient to the clear teaching of Scripture,
which is the Christian's only source of objective authority.
Conclusion: Therefore, unrepentant homosexuals do not have
Christian faith, clearly do not love God, and cannot possibly be genuine
disciples of Jesus Christ.
However, although one
cannot be a Christian and a homosexual, there is a way for a homosexual to
embark on becoming a Christian, and that is to first repent of his or her
homosexuality.
As with any other sin, it
is possible to receive forgiveness if there is true repentance. It is
interesting to note what Paul says after stating that “neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind...shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1
Cor.6:9-10). For he then reminds his readers: “...and such were some of you”,
plainly revealing that some were at one time homosexuals but later repented and
came to Christ, having renounced that lifestyle. Further proving that to become
a Christian one must first renounce homosexuality, he then adds: “But ye
were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God” (1Cor.6:11). Homosexuality is certainly a heinous
sin which is incompatible with Christianity, but it is not an unforgivable sin.
There is Divine forgiveness for the truly repentant homosexual.
However, we cannot deny
that there are some special problems associated with repenting from
homosexuality. Firstly, when you partake in a sin that has become so ingrained
because you have so forcefully turned away from God, it actually becomes such a
vital part of your entire constitution that your physical posture, body language,
mannerisms, way of speaking, and every other aspect of your persona gets caught
up in it.
A second problem associated
with repenting from homosexuality is that it is a compound sin (as we discussed
earlier) resulting from being “given over” by God to a just judgement for
rejecting Him. This means that homosexuals tend to have hearts which are even
more hardened to Gospel truth than many other sinners and thus find it even
more difficult to repent. For this reason it was surely ridiculous of Michael
Baughen, Bishop of Chester, to say that homosexual acts “were sinful
but less so than greed or theft”.[19] On the contrary, in many ways it is
far easier to repent of the primary sins of greed or theft than the compound
sin of an all-consuming homosexual way of life.
A third problem is that
homosexuals tend to be very aggressive and can even become violent when they
feel their 'lifestyle' is under threat.[20] This is hardly surprising as they
have a very deeply ingrained sin to defend. They must at all costs prevent the
reality of the darkness in their souls from being exposed.
For these reasons,
homosexuals who genuinely seek after the Lord are worthy of our sincerest
compassion. We must never be remotely unwelcoming but we must stretch out a
hand to all sinners who come to our churches for spiritual help. And with that
welcome, we must also point out that it is impossible to come and worship God
without a spirit of contrition and penitence (Psa.51:16-17). Furthermore, it is
imperative that we do not become carping people who love to point the finger.
We have to somehow find a way of not just condemning people but actually
reaching through into their hearts, showing them that they are out of
relationship with God in their present situation and enabling them to understand
how they can be restored to Him.
As we noted earlier, in
terms of righteousness and true holiness, the image of God in Man has been
utterly defaced through the original sin of ”the first man, Adam”. But
it is also true that ”the last Adam”, the Lord Jesus Christ,
brings about a restoration of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the fullness of
the divine image in those who come back to God in faith and repentance,
pleading with Him for mercy (Col.3:9-10; Eph.4:24).
EPILOGUE
To be in the grip of
homosexuality is surely the most pitiable of human conditions. There is nothing
worse than the sight of a human being entrapped in a dark world of sin from
which there is no apparent escape. But nevertheless we cannot possibly allow
those who commit such abominations, and who wilfully form homosexual and
lesbian movements, to dictate the social direction of human sexuality in the
world or, most especially, in the Church. One wouldn't entertain the idea of a “Murderers
Christian Movement” or an “Idolaters Christian Movement” or an “Adulterers
Christian Movement”! Even if such movements existed, would the bishops allow
them to hold services of alleged “worship” in their cathedrals? The very idea
is ludicrous. So why do they tolerate the “Sodomites Christian Movement” pursuing
their perverse agenda in their churches? To build an organisation on the basis
of a sin is bad enough; but then to go on and coerce the world and the Church
to accept it as a normal (or even superior) way of life is a violation of
Divine law which must be profoundly resisted. To violate the holy law of God
through the advocation of homosexuality is infinitely worse than any imagined
violation of human rights in opposing it.
Many will not like what we
have written in this paper. No doubt some would wish to prevent us legally from
being able to speak these truths. Others would want to silence us permanently
from ever saying such things. But all this is part of the socially-engineered
suppression of truth which characterises the mindless “political correctness”
pervading our culture today. “Political correctness” is a clumsy attempt to
prevent the human mind from discerning the difference between truth and
falsehood. Genuine Christians must refuse to be corrected (either politically
or in any other way) by the advocates of rebellion against God. Instead we
should be correcting the world by proclaiming the authority of the Bible which
has been ”God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Tim.3:16). One of
the most prominent hallmarks of modern society is its proud refusal to be
corrected by a higher moral and spiritual authority (cf. Prov.21:2).
Ultimately, this entire
issue hinges on the authority of Scripture. The main reason that homosexuality
and other heterodox practices have been able to make such headway in the
Christian scene is because those who rule the major denominations—especially
the Church of England—no longer uphold the Bible as their rule of faith and
practice. This is a very serious matter. Hypocrites have unjustly seated
themselves in the assembly of the saints. But do not be dismayed, because “God
is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal.6:7).
True Christians will soon
be subjected to increasing persecution, as the earth becomes
accumulatively ”corrupt before God” and ”filled with
violence” (Gen.6:11-13; cf. Mt.24:37). And it will not get any easier.
We are in the midst of a furious spiritual battle (Rev.12:17; Eph.6:11-12) and
we must continue to the end our witness to a progressively perverse and crooked
generation (Phil.2:15; Rev.12:11-12). Remember the advice of the hymn-writer:
“Christian seek not yet repose”. It is true that the apostate church, in
conjunction with the antichristian world-powers, may appear to prevail for a
time; but their gloating will be comparatively shortlived. For “we are
receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken” (Heb.12:28); and the Lord
will consume them all ”with the breath of His mouth and destroy with
the brightness of His coming” (2 Thess.2:8).
—AM
* * * * * * *
NOTES & REFERENCES
[1] For
detailed information on this, read Peter Jones, The Gnostic Empire Strikes
Back, P. & R., 1992; and Alan Morrison, The
Serpent and the Cross: Religious Corruption in an Evil Age (K & M,
1994).
[2] Occultism and moral libertinism often go hand-in-hand. For example, the
former Anglican vicar, Charles Leadbetter, co-leader with Annie Besant of the
Theosophical Society, was a well-known paedophile. Oscar Wilde, too, had
connections with Rosicrucianism.
[3] See The Murder of Christ and
Character Armour for a glimpse into Reich's idealised picture of the “genital
man”. Reich's work was very influential on the 'bioenergetics' stream of
psychotherapy, such as Janov's Primal Therapy and the 'rebirthing' movement.
[4] Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 97. ARTICLE: United States of America, History, The United States since 1945,
The Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, Social Changes.
[5] The Guardian, 30th December 1987,
p.12.
[6] From a press release from Ecumenical News International, the World Council
of Churches News Service, December 6th 1996.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Daily Mail, 27th November 1996.
[11] It is worth noting here that in spite of the fact that God is neither male
or female, He is still represented in Scripture with masculine pronouns. The
most likely reason for this is that in the Old Testament the nations
surrounding Israel worshipped female deities and indulged in many kinds of
sexual perversions associated with this. God is therefore represented very
powerfully in the Bible as being male. Furthermore, if even the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke continually of “the Father”— even commending God's people to pray
directly to Him as such (Mt.6:9) —who are we to contradict this?
[12] The New Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon of the
Old Testament, (1906 ed., Hendrickson, 1979), p.61.
[13] Ibid., p.35.
[14] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article I, §11.
[15] Scots Confession, Article III.
[16] It would require a paper in itself to expound this passage of Scripture,
about which there are two principal theories, one claiming that evil angels had
sexual relationships with human women and another claiming that what was
involved here was a commingling of men out of the godly line of Seth with
ungodly women of the world. There is evidence for and against both theories,
although the present writer favours the former.
[17] The Times, November 9th 1987, p.16.
[18] We could also cite the practice of witchcraft as another corrupting
influence on society which should never have been legalised. Once sorcery and
sexual corruption pervade a culture it inevitably becomes governed by situation
ethics and amoral individualism.
[19] The Guardian, 12th November 1987, p.1.
[20] For a great deal of evidence of this read C. & D. McIlhenny, When the Wicked Seize a City, Huntington
House, 1993. This is a riveting autobiographical account by an Orthodox
Presbyterian Church minister in San Francisco of his experience with the
homosexual population and government of that city. Very portentous.
