Homosexuality and the Bible.

Few topics are as controversial as the issue of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and gay rights. This is especially true within the church. Some Christians support the practice wholeheartedly, while others condemn both gays and “gay-lovers” to hell. Meanwhile the world looks on; labeling Christians as fanatics, hypocrites, and bigots.

It’s no secret that mainstream media loves this radical portrayal of Christianity—it gets better ratings after all. But what do Christians really believe? 

The following is my personal take on this sensitive subject from what I see in the Bible. Though I do not know for certain if every Christian shares my views, it is my belief that the majority do in one way, shape, or form.

According to the Old Testament, the act of homosexuality is an abomination; a sin which was punishable by death under Jewish Law (Leviticus 20:13) as did the crime of murder and adultery.
    Now at first glance, the issues of murder and adulatory may seem unrelated to homosexuality. That is until one realizes that Jesus himself stated that being angry with someone to the point of hating that person is the same as murdering them, and that lusting after someone in your heart is the same as committing adulatory with them. (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28) 

That said, the New Testament initially seems far more lenient in regards to homosexuality compared to the Old Testament. However, upon further study one will discover that homosexuality is in fact condemned throughout the New Testament; the books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy and Revelation being some of the more obvious examples.

Jesus also alludes to the fact that homosexuality is a sin in Mark 7:

 “And then he added, ‘It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.’”

~ Mark 7:20-23 New Living Translation (NLT)

The word for sexual immorality used in this passage is the Greek word Porneia, from which we get the word Pornography. It is an all-encompassing term that refers to any act of sexual immorality and/or sexual deviance, including homosexuality. Therefore Jesus himself states that homosexuality is a sin on par with every other sexually immoral act.

We can, therefore, clearly see that God condemns homosexuality is a sin in both the Old and New Testaments, while Jesus makes the bold claim that hating people is the same as murdering them, and that lust is the same as adultery—which, under Old Testament Law carries the death penalty just like homosexuality. (John 8:1-11, Deuteronomy 22:22) 

That being said, some people within the Christian community seem to think that the Bible says to hate gays and so-called “gay-lovers.” But according to Jesus, that would make them guilty of murder. 

So what is the answer then? Is the Bible in conflict?

Not at all!

Sin is sin. God hates all sin, not just homosexuality. And all sin is punishable by death.  (Romans 6:23) Which is a problem considering that Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone has sinned. Fortunately for us there is good news, and it is found in the very next passage:

“Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

“Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.”

~ Romans 3:24-30 New Living Translation (NLT)

And that’s what changed everything. 

Jesus took upon himself the sins of everyone; Christians, atheists, homosexuals, me ... everyone. The death penalty that we all owe, was paid in full on Golgotha, 2000 years ago.

Because of this, I can say that yes, homosexuality is a sin in God's eyes. But it is also a sin to hate sinners.

All sins are appalling to God and lead to death, even though some sins are obviously more grievous then others (i.e murder). And while it is true that some sins are more harmful to the person who sins than other sins are, (Romans 1:24-27) all sin will separate us from God forever if left unchecked. That's why Jesus had to die. It was either him or us. But if we refuse to repent, turning from our sins to accept the forgiveness God has offered us through Jesus’ death and resurrection, then we will ultimately be held accountable for our actions, and there is no hope for us. Apart from Jesus, we are all guilty as charged.

Therefore, it is possible to hate the sin but love the person who sins. That's what God's love is all about. Sin is the symptom of a heart condition. You can't cure a disease by attacking the symptoms. (In fact, doing so will only prolong the illness!) 

But sadly, this is exactly what is happening in many Christian circles around the world; and not just with the issue of homosexuality. We attack people in God's name and push them further and further away from the cure that will save them. This sort of behavior paints a negative picture of all Christians, and defames the name of Christ. 

When we say that we love God, but that God hates people because they are sinners, we are trapped by our words and condemned by God's truth:

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 

    “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can seethe they are doing what God wants.”

~ John 3:16 -21 New Living Translation (NLT) [Emphasis Added]

Remember, as Jesus died he prayed: 

“Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

~ Luke 23:34 King James Version (KJV)

Jesus died for you and me—and in reality every human being that has, or ever will exist. So let’s try to follow his example. Love people. Hate sin. Pray for those who are lost. Pray for each other. And above all, be ready to defend the hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Peter 3:15)

God's Love.

    How many of you have heard or asked the question; “If God loves me, then He should prove it.” 
I know that I’ve asked this question before—several times in fact—and every time this has been God’s answer: “I already died for you. Isn’t that enough?” 
    
“Here is my body, broken for you. Here is my blood, poured out for you.” 
    
If that isn’t humbling, I don’t know what is. 
God already gave his life for us. What more can He possibly do?

John 15:13
New Living Translation (NLT)
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

The Problem with Conspiracy Theories.

  

If you are a Christian then you no doubt know that we are, by default, under spiritual attack the moment we give our lives to Christ. After all, the world hated Jesus; and since we are his followers we are also hated. A servant cannot be greater than the master, and if the world hates the master, they will hate the servant, too. 

That being said, it has come to my attention that one of the greatest threats facing Christians today is not the spreading of Atheism and the subsequent hatred of religion in general. Nor is it the disunity and open hostility between different churches within the body of Christ—though this is indeed a major issue that I feel needs to be addressed and resolved within the church if we are to work together to bring the Gospel to as many people as possible, within the time we have left.

Indeed, one of the biggest threats I see in the church today is the overwhelming prevalence of “conspiracy theories” dominating the lives of Christians—perhaps more so now than ever before. 

The reason why I say that conspiracy theories are one of the biggest threats to God’s Kingdom is that they are a weapon aimed specifically at Christians and individuals with some basic knowledge of End Times prophecy. Though there are some exceptions to this, such as Area 51, that have little to no biblical correlation whatsoever.

That being said, the majority of conspiracy theories tend to follow a pattern of subtle inception that generally pertains to the Mark of the Beast, the Antichrist and his one-world-government (often referred to as the “New World Order”) as well as various other theories pertaining to secret organizations conspiring to bring about the one-world-government. (Which we know from the scriptures will happen during the Great Tribulation. So in that regard the only “conspiracy” is in fact God’s will. And God’s will will be done.)

Indeed, the majority of these theories are based in biblical fact. And that is exactly why they are so devastating to the Christian walk. They act as a poison (or more accurately a narcotic) that slowly seeps into a person’s mind, a little at a time, until they are eventually so obsessed with the theories themselves that they forget their greater purpose: Their God-given calling to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. 

Of course, the only way that these conspiracies can actually work, or even affect a true Christian is if that person believes that there is no rapture of the church prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation. 

Let me stress this further. Since these conspiracies are aimed specifically at Bible-believing individuals, one must assume that these individuals believe—or at least are aware—that, according to the scriptures, God poured out his wrath on Jesus Christ in our place, so that we who are by nature stranded in our sins could find life and liberty through him by means of his death and resurrection.

It is also reasonable to assume that those who chose to believe in End Times conspiracy theories know that the various plagues and disasters of the End Times are also God’s wrath being poured out on an unbelieving, unrepentant world.

This of course raises several thought-provoking points. Mainly: If God already poured out his wrath on Jesus in our place, then why would He pour it out again on the people He died to save? The only explanation would of course be that Christians have to be punished for their sins despite Christ’s sacrifice. There is of course absolutely no biblical support of this claim. In fact, the Bible says quite the opposite.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

~ Romans 8:1-2 (NLT) [Emphasis Added]

But suppose you still believe that the Christians mentioned in Revelation are being judged for their sins? Well this only raises more questions. For instance: If Christians have to pay for their sins regardless, then why does God only judge the last generation of Christians? Wouldn’t He also have to punish everyone who had died before that time? If that is the case, and every Christian still has to be punished postmortem, then why did Jesus even have to die to begin with? What's the point?

I am not saying that Christians won’t experience persecution and suffering; the Bible makes it abundantly clear that we should expect persecution. However, these trials and tribulations are not the Great Tribulation we see in Revelation. There is a difference between being persecuted by men because of our faith in God, and God judging us for our sins.

Also it is fair to point out that the Bible does say that each will be judged according to his deeds. However, this does not imply God’s punishment of believers for past sins. If we are in Christ then we are forgiven and are judged according to what we did with the gift God gave us; to be rewarded accordingly. If you are not in Christ however, then you are still in your sins. You will be judged for these sins, and having rejected Christ‘s forgives, you will be found guilty. (Revelation 20: 7-15)

In short, the only conclusion that will logically work with the conspiracy theorist mind-set, is that Christ's death and resurrection wasn't enough. Which leaves them in a very dangerous place: A hopeless, Christ-less void, where there is no forgiveness of sins; Jesus’ death and resurrection meant nothing; and there is more obsession with hell and the forces of darkness than with God and His victory over Satan and death.

This alone is bad enough, but it gets worse. If you follow the conspiracy theorist line of reasoning one step further, you are ultimately left wondering if the Bible has any validity at all. At which point every End Time conspiracy theory falls apart because if you believe that the Bible isn’t true, then you shouldn’t be concerned with the End Times prophecies at all, since they’re all nothing but a bunch of fairy-tales and therefore can't be trusted or taken seriously.

So what is the ultimate outcome of an obsession with conspiracy theories? Atheism. Or at the very least, agnosticism—doubting that God exists or even cares what happens to us. 

Now to me, that seems to be evidence enough that all these theories are nothing more than a carefully constructed scheme of the Devil, meant to mislead Christians into abandoning the God-ordained calling of the Great Commission, by tricking them into living in a survivalist and ineffective way—effectively burying their talent in the ground. (Matthew 25: 14-30)

Ultimately conspiracy theories destroy the very foundation of Christianity; neutralizing the Gospel and crippling Christians with an unbearable burden of fear and paranoia. Conspiracy theories slowly draw people’s eyes away from God and get them focused on this world, and the worries of this life. Instead of setting their eyes on things above and running their race with endurance, they stick their heads in the sand and brace themselves for the Tribulation.

So I ask you this: What better way is there for Satan to prevent God’s message of forgiveness and salvation from reaching the world, than to force the Christians who could be spreading the Gospel into self-imposed seclusion? Or worse: replacing their Gospel message—that is, the good news about Jesus Christ—with a message of doom and despair, like those found in nearly every conspiracy theory?

Essentially the obsessive belief in End Times related conspiracy theories is little more than a cleverly disguised ploy of the Devil meant to disable or destroy the Christian life. Yes it is true that these theories are based in scriptural truths. But remember: the Devil can quote scriptures too, and he loves to twist them to meet his own ends. However, if you peel back the seemingly unrelated layers you can see (or at least, I hope you can see) that these theories and the obsession thereof undermine the Gospel and indeed the whole foundation of Christianity itself. That being said, I believe it is clear to us that such things have no place in the Christian life and should be put as far from our minds as possible, lest they hinder us—or worse—destroy us completely.

“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe…”

~ Isaiah 8:12-14 (NLT)

  

Introductions

Hello, I'm relatively new at this whole blog thing, so I'll try to keep it simple. I'm a Christian, and an author, with a passion for science, history, philosophy, and of course writing. The purpose of this blog is to publish some of the deeper thoughts and conflicts I've encountered in my walk with Christ. And it is my hope that it will act as an aid for others who find themselves in similar situations, as well as a challenge, and an encouragement. Additionally, this blog is aimed at answering the hard questions, and/or common misconceptions about Christianity, for those who are skeptical, but wish to advance their knowledge, rather than believe everything they're told. Essentially, this blog will be serving as "food for thought" for anyone who is willing to read it.
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