Homosexuality: A Case Study of Bible Authority

Introduction

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 23, the prophet says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. I think we will see if we look around in society, and we see that when we as a people, as part of God’s creation, choose to ignore our very God and all the laws and all the wisdom that he wishes for us to have where we go. Not only do we go to a place of spiritual, eternal life without God, our life itself, the world around us, doesn’t operate as it could, as it should, almost as if it was designed to be something better. A reformed Judais, excuse me, a reformed Judaism rabbi said the following when asked two questions.

The first question was, in your opinion, does God regard homosexuality as a sin? The first answer. First of all, I do not know what God thinks. In my opinion, homosexuality is not a sin, but an alternate lifestyle. In my opinion, homosexuality by itself is not immoral. When sex is used to corrupt for purient andor exploitative purposes or selfish reasons, or to hurt someone else, this is immoral. The second question was In your opinion, do the scriptures object to homosexuality? The same person replied, The Bible, in my opinion, is very clear in its objection to homosexuality. I’ll allow you to think about that. The first answer was, first of all, I do not know what God thinks. In my opinion, homosexuality is not a sin, etc. The second answer was the Bible, in my opinion, is very clear in its objection to homosexuality.

And again, we think about the words of Jeremiah the prophet when he says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself. What this issue of homosexuality has done as it’s raced to the forefront of our politics and of this country has undermined a very important facet of Christianity, and that is one of Bible authority. We must understand that we are to live the will of God, no matter what that says. If you have your Bible, I don’t care if it’s electronic or paper or print or what have you, and even if those overlap, hold it up, please. We need to understand that this, these copies are the words of life. These are the words of God. Thank you, in the very back.

These are the words of God. If we understand and accept that Scripture is inspired, that we are to live out what those inspired words have for us, the way in which we ought to live, why we ought to live that way. Frankly, a life of obedience becomes simple in theory, no matter how hard it is in practice. But we must first commit our minds to knowing that what God says goes. Period. Think about that with me. What God says goes. Period. Amen. This morning I’d like to examine homosexuality, a case study of Bible authority. This is not a slam on homosexuality. This is not a slam on people who think in any type of way, shape, or form. This is to establish Bible authority, to understand how are we to decipher what the scriptures have to say about anything.

And to do so, the vehicle we will look at is one that I do think is timely, and one in which I do think the scriptures are clear, and that is the matter of homosexuality. But to begin, I hope you turn your Bibles to Galatians chapter 1. In Galatians chapter 1, this is the letter of Paul. And he has some strong words for the brothers and sisters, the Christians there. In chapter 6, to the people he’s writing it, he says, I am astonished that you are so quickly diserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. In verse 6, we find something startling. And it’s not just that they had already left the gospel, it’s that they had already left the gospel. What is Paul say? He says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. There is not a plethora of doctrines of Christianity that we can choose from. There is but one will of God. There is one gospel, and what that means is we must understand it and live it. Any opinion that says that we can do things that aren’t in the Bible as long as we call on Christ, that is not a scriptural doctrine.

That is false teaching. We need to see that what Paul said in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6, excuse me, in verse 7, that there not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Now, no one would raise their hand and say, I follow a distorted gospel of Christ. But if we don’t understand what the scriptures say, if we allow ourselves to pick and choose, we will find ourselves wandering from the plan of our Almighty God who loves us and wants nothing more than for us to come with Him, to come into His arms, and to accept His plea of grace and mercy and to be with Him eternally.

That is found in verse 8. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be a curse. It doesn’t matter if someone is sharp and shiny and speaks good words and exciting things from the pulpit and they’re smooth and they’re slick and they have book deals, it doesn’t matter what they say unless it corresponds to the will of God. It doesn’t matter what your parents taught you, your grandparents taught you, or what you think you know about things unless it is the will of God. We must obey the will of God. And we can’t be moved from that. One iota. Consider for yourself the question of if all you knew was the Bible.

1. Paul’s Writings Were Inspired

If all you could understand was Genesis 1, verse 1 to the very end of Revelation chapter 22. How would you process? How would you understand the work of the church? How would you understand what it means to be a Christian, how to become a Christian, how to live like a Christian. In today’s lesson, what would someone who knew only what the Bible taught think about homosexuality and homosexual acts? Interesting thought. And it shows us just how deeply culture defines for us the will of God. The will of God is not defined by culture, brothers and sisters. It is defined by him who inspired it. So as we look at a first argument against homosexuality, we’ll see from an episcopal bishop that perhaps Paul was wrong, or a portion of his writing was uninspired.

I submit to you this answer. To the second question of in your opinion, do the scriptures object to homosexuality? The following answer. There is a couple, three paragraphs of reading, and then we come to this. Thus it appears that Paul would not approve of homosexual behavior. But was Paul’s opinion about homosexuality accurate? Or was it limited by the lack of scientific knowledge in his day and infected by prejudice born of ignorance? An examination of some of Paul’s other assumptions and conclusions will help answer this question. Who today would share Paul’s anti-Semitic attitude, his belief that the authority of the state was not to be challenged, or that all women ought to be veiled? In these attitudes, Paul’s thinking has been challenged and transcended even by the church.

Is Paul’s commentary on homosexuality more absolute than some of his other antiquated, culturally conditioned ideas? This is not just somebody on a message board online. This is an episcopal bishop. If you want the source that I’m reading some of these for, I’ll be happy to share it with you, and you can see some more of the credentials of those who I’ve read their quotations from. But that’s out there. People are teaching that. People who are educated are teaching that Paul had these antiquated, culturally conditioned ideas, that he had some sort of anti-Semitic attitude. Is that the Paul that we read of? Is that the scripture that we follow? If that’s the case, we better leave. Or we better cut out what Paul’s writings were. Because he’s just a man.

He is a phony, he is a fake, and that is a gospel contrary to the will of God, if he is teaching as doctrine, the commandments of men. If you think about what that has to say about Paul, it suggests you have to assume that Paul was wrong. Or that that portion of his writing, at least, was uninspired. Because that’s the only way around those commandments. And so let’s look at what he has said and decide for ourselves. What does God have to say on the matter? In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, beginning in verse 9, Paul says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. So we see not only is there this message of condemnation, but there is a hope given that you can be washed, you can be sanctified, you can be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. And so when we’re interpreting scriptures, we have to say, is Paul inspired with that knowledge or not? If he is, that is the standard. If he is not, then we have other problems. But look now further at Romans chapter 1. In fact, Paul even mentions this again in 1 Timothy, but we won’t look at that for the moment.

In Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 26. Once again, notice Paul is the author of this book. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 26, for this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Read with me, verse 32, though. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. We need to understand that when we question Paul on the basis of some sort of lack of scientific understanding, that we’re not questioning Paul.

We’re questioning God. Isn’t it sad that as our society moves farther and farther away from God, that we claim to be more and more knowledgeable about life and people. Think about that. As our society moves away, and we say we are free thinkers, we understand that men and women are in all ways the same. That no matter what type of sexual preference or what type of sexual actions you take, it doesn’t matter. It’s all okay. We’re just people. We know that now. We didn’t know that back then, like when Paul lived. When we leave God’s ways, we’re going nowhere. We’re going nowhere good. We need to understand that what Paul said, he received through the inspiration of God. Paul’s writings were either inspired or they were not.

And the problem with that, and what makes that clear for anyone who disputes that, is that Paul claimed inspiration. Look farther in Galatians chapter 1. We read through verse 9, but let’s continue the reading in verse 11. Galatians chapter 1 and verse 11. Paul puts us to the point of no return on his writings being inspired or not. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse 11, he says, For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Where did he get it from? From men? No. Where is he claiming this from? Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Here’s the people that with along with Silas and Timothy. He had taught. He was teaching. He was writing them now. And in verse 13, he says this, he thanks them. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but as it as what it really is. The word of God, which is at work in you believers. He was thanking them that they didn’t take it as the word of men, because it was not just the words of men. They took it as the words of God, which they were. And who is their teacher?

Who is the author? Paul. He is claiming inspiration. And look now in Acts chapter 9. We know about the story of the conversion of Saul. We know how he was on the road to Damascus, and in verse 4 of chapter 9, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And Jesus again tells him in verse 5 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, or he says the first time. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. And we know how he was going to run into this man named Ananias. And he was going to be taught. But note what Ananias was told, beginning in verse 11. And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight.

And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight. But Ananias answered. Now note this this is human. This is us, probably, if we are faced with this. Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. He said, Do you not know who Saul is? You’re offering me straight to the wolf. What are you doing? And but note verse 15. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. I want to underline a couple points there. First of all, what was he the chosen vessel for? To carry on the name of Christ. Who gave him that authority? The Lord did. Who was he to speak to? The Gentiles, kings, and interestingly, to the quotation, thinking about the quotation we had just read, and the children of Israel. Children of Israel. Those are Jews. I thought we just understood that Paul had an anti-Semitic attitude. Did Jesus pick wrong? Did the Lord not know who he was choosing? When Paul was inspired by God, did he not have the scientific knowledge? Did he not understand about human life? No. God knows all things.

2. Silence Is Not Always Permissive

Amen. God knows the way to life. God loves us. He wants us to find him. He does not rule anything out that will not separate us from him. Sin causes death. God wants us to choose life. We must stick with him. We must understand that. And we must know that his messengers, including Paul, whether he says something that our society agrees with or not, has the words of God. And as such, we better follow them as such. Or we will find ourselves in opposition to our Creator. And that is a very unenviable position to be in. But here’s a second reason that perhaps in homosexuality, among other things, might be allowed in society today, because Jesus never said it was wrong. Perhaps you’ve heard this opinion.

I only follow the words in red. And again, I want to make the point. This is not simply about homosexuality. These arguments go beyond just this point, although this is the politically fashionable thing to talk about. But Jesus never said it was wrong. Well, now the Christian’s in a conundrum, right? Jesus didn’t speak about gay marriage. He didn’t speak about homosexual marriage, didn’t he? Here’s the problem. There’s three. If there’s a soapbox saying this is mine, so I beg you to hang in with me. Silence is not always permissive because why? Silence is rarely silent in the New Testament. Do you know what silence is? Silence is nothing. No noise. Not a whisper, not a murmur, not a faint clamoring. Nothing. Not quiet. Silence. Nothing. There’s a problem with silence in the New Testament when people appeal to that.

Look at Matthew chapter 19. But Jesus didn’t speak about homosexual marriage. Well, let’s look at Matthew chapter 19. He says in verse 4 Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Who is he talking about? A man and a woman. Whether we like it or not, the scripture is not silent on a homosexual marriage, because marriage is a male and a female. That is what Jesus said. That is what we must preach and proclaim.

3. Does Jesus Contradict God?

Silence is rarely silent. We see that on a bunch of other issues. Consider the idea of instrumental music. But Jesus never said. The New Testament doesn’t say don’t use instruments, but the New Testament does talk about singing. That’s not silent, folks. That’s just a differing opinion from yours. We need to make sure that when we say something is silent, that we mean what we said, lest we be found liars and wrong in the day of judgment. Silence is nothing. Not nothing that doesn’t agree with our point. And moving to a second point. Paul and the other New Testament writers were inspired. We already looked at that point. But I want to look at this final point here that I have on the screen. Does Jesus contradict God?

Consider the thoughts of this train of thought that says, What about, but Jesus never said it was wrong. If we got over the fact that the New Testament writers were inspired, which I will not do, but we will for this momentary discussion. And we said that, well, because he never condemned it, it must be okay. There’s a problem with that. If we note God was against homosexuality before the law of Moses. Look with me in Genesis chapter 19. We’re going to see who moved on this issue of homosexuality, God or men. In Genesis chapter 19, this is before the law of Moses. We have the infamous city of Sodom and Gomorrah here. Note the story in Genesis chapter 19, beginning in verse 4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house.

And they called to Lot. Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. Lot went out to the men at the entrance and shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Now I want to stop there for a minute. Anyone who looks at you and says, They just wanted to know him. I want you to look at Lot’s response in verse 7. I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Okay? No one in this congregation, if you walk up to them and say, Hey, I want to get to know you better. Ooh, get away from me. I don’t want to act so wickedly. That’s not what it’s about.

Okay, we need to use common sense when we understand and read scriptures. In verse 8, behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Are we getting the picture now? Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. It is clear what they wanted, and what they wanted was these men. And they wanted to know them sexually. Okay? You still don’t believe that? Look at Jude. It’s always fun to look at books that we don’t get to study a whole lot, or that we don’t reference a whole lot. So let’s look at Jude, verses 7 and 8. Beginning in verse 6, to give you the context for verse 7 and 8’s reference.

In verse 6, and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept an eternal change chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah in the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire or other flesh, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. So we’re looking, we’re keeping track on the board here. Is God against homosexuality before the law of Moses? Yes. Nod your heads, yes. Okay, now we’re going to look again at the old law. We’re going to look at the law of Moses now. Let’s turn to the book of Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 18. We’ll just look at one of these two passages.

But in Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 22, you shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. I can’t help myself. Let’s look at Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. Is God against homosexuality in the law of Moses? Nod your heads, yes. We read Romans chapter 1. We read 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1. In 1 Timothy chapter 1. Once again, everyone’s favorite writer, Paul here. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers for murders, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Now, Paul and the other New Testament writers were inspired. Apparently that’s up for discussion. But ruling out a decision one way or the other, Jesus never said it was wrong. But we’ve seen that Jesus did talk about marriage. And anything that is not that covenant relationship of marriage, any sexual activity outside of the marriage between male and female, is wrong. And let’s be clear, we need to condemn all acts of sexual immorality. It doesn’t matter what we think about it or what our politics talk about it. Males and females commit sexual immorality too, even with one another outside of marriage. And that too needs to be preached against and condemned. Again, these are lessons of Bible authority. We need to understand what God’s will is and not alter it because we think we know better than he does or he did.

4. The Argument That Paul Was Biased by Culture

Now, considering this idea of does Jesus contradict God, though, we see it before the law of Moses. We see in the law of Moses and after the law of Moses, that God has condemned homosexual acts. Does Jesus, through his silence of all things, contradict the will of God? Unequivocally, no. He does not. We need to not put the Son and the Father at odds, because they are one. We need to trust that what God’s will has revealed to us is God’s will and live it, period. Consider with me one final point this morning, though. And this is the argument that Paul was biased by culture, that contextually, that’s not what we take it to mean. I could get into the Greek and we could talk about what those mean, but we’re not going to for this moment.

But I want you to open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5. I want to look at a couple passages. And you tell me, is homosexuality what God wants us? Is male and male, female and female, what God has planned for us? Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 22 wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Here we have a beautiful picture of Christ in the church, and a husband and a wife. That is not a homosexual relationship. Look in Titus chapter 2. In Titus chapter 2, beginning in verse 3. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine, they are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. You may not like what the Bible has to say about the roles of men and women, but that doesn’t change what the will of God is. We may not like, because of our 21st century mindset, that God would say that some sort of practice is not right. But it doesn’t matter because of the will of God. Christians choose to follow Christ. If you don’t want to be a Christian, leave it aside. It’s not meant to be insulting, it’s just meant to be factual.

Conclusion

If you don’t want to be a Christian, don’t follow the book. But take it all or leave it all. Don’t try to pick and pull and pull other people away from our loving God with you. We are responsible for what we know. We are responsible for what we teach and how we live. We need to know that there is only one gospel. And any gospel that is preached that is contrary to the one that is revealed to us in the inspired word of God. Let the teacher be accursed. And may we not follow a distorted gospel. As we go about our lives, we are faced with numerous decisions. As a Christian, how do I act as an American citizen? As a Christian, how do I treat my spouse?

As a Christian, how do I act as a light into the world? And all the answers are here. What God expects from us is plain and is there for us. But we need to not pick and choose what is there. Silence is not always permissive. The New Testament writers are inspired, and Jesus is in harmony with his God, with his Father. Let us live the life that God expects us to. If you are here this morning and you have never put on Christ, understand that it comes with the cost of following Him. Certainly, we need to read what He says, do what He says. But there is heaven to gain. There is God to be with forever. And if you are in the camp that says, well, I’ll just leave it where it is.

I don’t need God. I don’t need Christ. Then understand that there is an eternity away from God waiting for you. You can choose God. You can choose Christ. We can have everlasting life with our eternal Father, with the Creator who wants only for our good, who desires that all men be saved, but we just have to choose him. We have to seek him. And we need to obey what he has said. If there is anything that we can do as a church, as individuals, as Christians, walking the same path that we all can be on, if we can help you in any way, we’re about to sing a song of invitation. Whether you want to put on Christ in baptism, having your sins forgiven, or you wish to simply have the prayers of the saints to help you pick up the entirety of Christianity.

We’ll help you. We’ll pray for you to pick up your cross as we all try to follow after Christ. If you’ll come forward now as we stand and as we sing.