The Bible Says Homosexuality is Sin

Transcript

GRM 986
9/23/2007
The Bible Says Homosexuality Is Sin
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


In our normal study we are going through the book of I Corinthians, but in the time since I've been back we've been covering some other subjects with you. And I want to do another subject today, it's one I had planned on covering with you when I returned from my summer break, but I didn't want it to be the first message, so I saved it. I want to talk about the subject of homosexuality and what the Bible says about it. It so happens there was an article in yesterday's paper relating to this subject. This message is not a response to that, particularly, because I had already planned it before I saw the article. But it does reflect something that is taking place within the context of those who profess to be evangelical Christians, and that is a discussion of what the Bible says about the subject of homosexuality. Of course that is going on through our society and there is a strong concerted effort and push to have homosexuality accepted as an alternative lifestyle, and if they would have their way, not just alternative, but a complimentary lifestyle to heterosexuality. And into this the church asserts itself with confusion.

The article in yesterday's paper has to do with a speaker who is coming to town, and the title is A Speaker to Argue for Equal Rights for Gays and Lesbians. Those who use the Bible to deny equal rights to gays and lesbians are misusing and distorting scripture, the Rev. Jack Rogers believes. This is from yesterday's local paper. Let me just say a word, you may not be familiar with Jack Rogers. He is coming because he has written a book entitled Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality: Explode the Myth, Heal the Church. His view of course is that if you think that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is sin and wrong, you are wrong. That's a myth the church has held onto, we need to get rid of that myth so we can heal the church.

If you go back to the '70s, that's one thing about getting old, you have a lot of history behind you to draw from. And don't bother coming up to tell me you were only 2 back then when I was reading this book. But back in the '70s there was a conflict going on and a book written by a man named Harold Linsell had been published, The Battle for the Bible. And he caused quite a stir in the evangelical world with that book because in that book naming names and schools, he showed that there was a departure from the stand on the inerrency of scripture and thus the full authority of scripture. I believe he published that book in 1976. The following year a book came out in response, called Biblical Authority, and the writer of that book is the same man that is coming to Lincoln, Jack Rogers. He was the editor of the book, not the author. And it was a response to Linsell, and basically the authors of the book that Rogers edited was attacking the view of the full inerrency of scripture, yet still claiming to maintain something of the authority of scripture. I mention that because it shows that heresy just continues to develop. You lose your way on the authority of scripture, we talked about the authority of scripture in one of our recent studies, then what you have for a foundation.

So this man has spent a block of his life trying to have women recognized as equals and the same as men, and on it goes. Now he's promoting homosexuality. He was at Fuller Seminary when he edited the book in the '70s. And then around 1993 he came to understand that the Bible didn't really want us to think homosexuality was sin. It's interesting how some of those who deny the authority of scripture just have their theology develop along the flow of the course of what the world is thinking, isn't it? All of a sudden I see that the Bible never taught that after all. Isn't it interesting, that's just what the world is promoting now. And so we allow ourselves and our theology to be conformed to the world.

He says, the group he was studying the Bible with, they discovered only eight scriptural passages that appear to say anything homosexual behavior. They also found that when understood in the context of the biblical narrative, most of those passages were condemning violent acts or acts associated with pagan religions, rather than identifying homosexuality as a sin. In fact, he said, the writers of the Bible had no concept of sexual orientation, straight or gay, or of monogamous faithful same-sex relationships. It's irrelevant to try to say what the Bible writers knew about this and no concept of sexual orientation, what is he reading into this. Most of the passages deal with violence or non-loving relationships. What about those passages that aren't in that context. Well, he just puts it this way, “the purpose of the Bible is not forever to bind us to the practices of an ancient culture.” We just decide what is part of an ancient culture and throw it over. The Bible is about revelation. Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead so that we might be reconciled to God. You say, well maybe he is a conservative Christian, a Bible-believing evangelical. He says the Bible is about revelation, Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead so that we might be reconciled to God. I would remind you that the devil can quote scripture. Not all the devil's theology is bad.

I had a watch recently and I was having a problem. Every time I looked at the watch it said it's 10 after 10. Then I'd look at my watch and it was 5 to 10. I thought, I must have looked at that wrong. I even got new glasses recently and I thought, that will help. This went on for a couple weeks, I'm a little slow. If you can't trust your watch, what can you trust. And I'd look at my watch, OK, 20 after 7, I'd better get started here. And I'd get all ready and say, wait a minute, it's only quarter to 7. Then I looked at my watch and looked at a couple of clocks I could see and I said, something is wrong. I move my wrist and the minute hand went bbbrrrrpp. Every time I would shake my wrist, that hand had broken loose from its connection, so every time I moved my hand I just gained or lost 15, 20 minutes, half hour. It takes me two weeks to catch on. But you know what was confusing, once in a while that watch was right. I'd look at it and it would say 7 o'clock and the other clock said 7 o'clock, so it must be all right.

The point is, even the worst, even something broken, can be right occasionally. And so here is a man who makes a correct statement, the Bible is about revelation. Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead so that we might be reconciled to God. That's true. That doesn't make anything else he says true. Here's what he goes on to say. When we read the Bible through the lens of Jesus' redemptive life and ministry, we focus on what is important. Now we see here, not everything in the Bible is important. So you have to read the Bible through the lens of Jesus' redemptive life and ministry. That will enable us to focus on what is important—loving God and loving our neighbor. So now we have decided the only thing that is really important in the Bible is loving God and loving our neighbor. But Jesus said if you love Me you will keep My commandments. I mean, what are we talking about? Somebody is now going to tell us what is love. So if I think it is more loving to accept homosexuality, that is more in line with Jesus' redemptive purposes, because it wouldn't be loving to reject homosexuals. So we ought to accept that as acceptable. But why do we draw the line there? What about all the other sins? When you decide to reject the scripture, you're left without a foundation.

Another article I've used with you before, and this article is 15 years old, but it's current in its point. This was from a southern paper, a syndicated editorial. A prominent psychiatrist has written a letter to the editor of the New York Times asserting that homophobia, but not homosexuality is a form of mental illness. You have this, so you better pay attention. Dr. Richard Isay, chairman of the American Psychiatric Association's committee on gay, lesbian and bi-sexual issues writes that consensus grows among mental health professionals that homophobia, the irrational fear and hatred of homosexuals is a psychological abnormality that interferes with judgment, the judgment and reliability of those afflicted. You say, wait a minute, I don't have that, I don't hate or fear homosexuals. Well, do you accept that as an acceptable lifestyle? No. Well then you have homophobia. Do you think it's sin and wrong to practice homosexuality? I do, I believe the Bible teaches it is sin. Well why do you have homophobia? I don't have homophobia. You do have homophobia. What is homophobia? Say that word 35 times without stopping. What is homophobia? It's the irrational fear and hatred of homosexuals. I like the title of this article, it's called Today's Witch Doctors. He says, unlike some of the other sciences, psychiatry can keep up with the latest political trends and is a science in which truth can be decided by a majority vote. So consensus grows among mental health professionals, among the witch doctors, that homophobia is growing.

He goes on, the writer of this article, and says, it is in the nature of modern propaganda to avoid argument by overwhelming the public with sheer spacious repetition, issues are misstated, big questions begged, and dissenters portrayed invidiously. There is a constant, implicit threat that if you don't fall in line with the propaganda line, you, too, will risk being marked as a bigot. Isay's letter displays a subtle form of the attitude that used to govern so-be-it psychiatry, the determination to treat a different point of view not as a proposition to be reasoned with, but as a disease. Homophobia isn't genuine diagnostic term, it's a curse of the modern witch doctor.

I want to say at the front, I don't hate, I don't fear homosexuals. I believe homosexuality it a sin and that the Bible clearly says it is a sin. But I believe adultery is a sin because the Bible says it is a sin, I don't have adulterphobia. I believe fornication is a sin, I don't have forniphobia. I believe lying is a sin, I don't have lyaphobia. We try to sound profound. I can't help every time I read something of this or watch it on TV where someone murders their spouse, and then they bring in this psychiatrist who will tell us, what do you think was going on that would cause them to do such a thing. Well you understand......... And they come up with something ............ I can't help but think of the witch doctor in these tribes, and here he is running the leaves down the body of someone and then moving his bones to determine what kind of hex somebody put on this person that caused him to die. And then he speaks and the whole tribe is in awe of how profound he is. Nobody thinks, he just made it up.

We have to come to the Bible to find out what God says. Homosexuality, adultery, fornication, lying, stealing, any of these things, why are they wrong? Well for those who believe the Bible and believe that God has spoken, God tells us what is right and what is wrong, what is sin and what is not. And I want to be clear, I believe homosexuality and homosexuals are in sin, just like I believe heterosexuals who are having sex outside of marriage are in sin. And I want to be clear, I believe everyone is a sinner from conception to birth. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God ______________________. So I'm not saying there are us self-righteous people and those unrighteous people. We're dealing with sinners. But we need to be careful that we don't try to use and twist the scripture to our own destruction and deny what God says.

The first article I read you from our local paper said this group of individuals studying the Bible said they found only eight references to homosexuality. I'm not even going to go through and decide, were they right and how many of those apply. Because I believe that the Bible says nothing directly about homosexuality, it clearly indicates it is sin. There can be no question on this. We don't have to look at any passage that addresses the subject of homosexuality to find out that homosexuality is sin. We start with Genesis 1, so you might turn there. And obviously, and our previous studies have reminded you of the foundation, I am basing this on the authority of the Word of God. It's an inerrant authority, it is authoritative in all that it says, and I take it at face value. Isaiah 8:19-20 say in substance, if anyone does not agree with the writings of this book, it's because they have no light, no dawn, they are in darkness spiritually. In II Peter 3:16-17 Peter says there are those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction. This is just not a book that we play with, but ti's a book that God has given, it's His Word and it is authoritative.

In Genesis 1:26, the six days of creation unfolding God's creating work, we come to what is the focus of His work of creation. Verse 26, then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them rule over the rest of creation, basically the verse says. Then come to verse 27, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. Why do we talk about mankind and use man generically to refer to the race? Because God did at the beginning, He created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female. So you can talk about man and then divide man as male and female. He blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Down in verse 31, God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good. Now Genesis 1 gives you an overview of creation. Genesis 2 now goes back and unfolds the details of what is the focus in God's work of creation, the creation of man in His own image as male and female. It's not a separate and distinct account of creation, it's not a different account. Again, why these people like to play the Bible off against itself and say, obviously we have two different accounts. And then people either decide whether they want to go with account one or account two. It's not a different account.

Let me say another thing. It's customary today to talk about the genre of literature –creation genre, apocalyptic genre and so on—and say well Genesis is not meant to be taken literally because it's creation style of literature. The Bible always takes it literally and that's the way we take it.

When you come to Genesis 2:4, we're going to get the focus on the creation of man, first as male and then female. Verse 4, this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day the Lord made earth and heaven. Verse 7, then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. We're talking about man, male, here, the male person, man. He is created from the dust. Then God planted the Garden of Eden and placed them in the Garden of Eden. And more details about that with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and so on. Then come down to verse 18, then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. So now He's going to make the female. Now note what God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him, fitted for him, as a compliment to him. It was not God's intention that there just be one man, a male, but he needed the counterpart that would be suitable, compatible, fitting for him, to complete God's purposes for him. And Adam names all the animals and there is the emphasis at the end of verse 20, for Adam there was not a helper suitable for him. Now understand there is an unbreachable chasm between the animal world and the human world. Now Adam could have looked through all the animals, and sin hadn't entered the world, so there was no .......... You could have a pet snake and not get bitten, you could have a pet dog, you could have a pet gorilla, whatever you want. But none of those would be suitable companions, they're not suited for Adam, he is of a different nature, different kind.

So verse 21, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. Then He, referring to God, took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man and brought it to the man. The man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And just note the end of that verse, they become one flesh. That's how they started out, because the woman was made from the side part of the man. So she came out of the man, she wasn't a separate and unique direct creation in the sense that Adam was created out of the dust. Eve was created out of a prior creation, the man. And now when they are joined in marriage the expression of the oneness that now characterizes them will be the expression in the sexual relationship. But that's not all there is to it, obviously. The woman is the perfect companion for the man. That's the work of God in creation. She's a perfect counterpart, and they express that relationship and compatibility in the sexual relationship, which is important to what we're going to be saying.

They always say, well this is the book of Genesis and it's creation genre, that's a different kind, you don't take it literally and it's not true, factual things. Come to Matthew in the New Testament, Matthew 19. Several thousand years have passed—2000 years, 3000 years, somewhere thousands of years here. And Jesus is now walking the earth. And in Matthew 19:3, Pharisees came to Jesus testing Him and asking Him, is it a lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all? And He answered and said, now note this, these are Pharisees. The Pharisees prided themselves in being experts in the Old Testament. ________________ask you about, is it all right for a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he might have. Jesus responds and says, have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female. And further He said, for this reason a man shall leave His father and mother, be joined to his wife, the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. You men who come to me and ask a question, supposed Old Testament scholars, have you ever read the Old Testament. Have you ever read the opening chapters of Genesis? I mean, it's a slap in the face. In other words, that is a stupid question. Didn't you ever read it? What's it say? How did Jesus take it? Well that's creation genre literature, that was written back and never intended to be taken literally. He says your question is answered in the creation.

God made them in the beginning one male and one female. He joined them together in marriage, the two become one flesh. They are no longer two but one, so what God has joined together, let no man separate. How did Jesus take that whole account? Absolutely factual. Right? Just blatantly literal, exactly as it is written. And He rebukes them. Why do you have a question here? What's the basic relationship that God established with creation? Not parent/child. You understand He didn't even make the man and the woman and four kids. He made the man and the woman and joined them. That's the basic relationship. You know what? When you get married you leave your father and your mother and you're joined in a relationship. Right? Who are my married children responsible to? Well you're always responsible to me _____________. Wrong. Why? You leave your father and mother, you're committed to your spouse now. _____ ______________ that's what it is, so I know that's the basic relationship. I raised my kids to be independent, and I do thank the Lord for that, and they're married now. And aren't you glad as you get older that your kids are now in their own home? Some of them have returned for a spell. But that's God's basic plan. What did He make? A male and a female. What did He do? He joined them in marriage. Nobody can separate that.

You say, well, Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality here. No, and neither did Genesis 2. So just where do you get the idea that God's intention was ............ There could be a male and a male and a female and a female. Have you never read Genesis? Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female? That's why I say we don't even have to look at any of the passages that address homosexuality by name or subject. Have you ever read Genesis 1-2? What did God create? Adam, Joe and Harry. No. Eve, Mary and Sue. No. He created one male and one female. Jesus said that establishes it. Then He joined them in marriage. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. What do you think about divorce? What God has joined together you don't break. Period. Well what about ..........? Period. You don't know my situation. Period. I mean, do you think there weren't a lot of problems? Why do you think they asked Him, is it lawful for a man to divorce His wife for any reason at all. I mean, they had trouble in those days, they didn't get along in those days. I mean, what's the answer? What did God do? I mean, this is all we have and all we go to. The question is settled. What about homosexuality? What about loving relationships in homosexuality? What about if you both agree you're not compatible and you both love someone else anyway, and you both know you'll be happier and more in love if you divorce and marry someone else? Well, did you never read what the Creator determined? And you can't overrule the Creator, what God has joined together, let no man separate. I mean, it is a rejection of God and His authority, a rebellion against His purposes. We should also note here, this also includes anything like sex outside of marriage. Here is God's plan. He joins them together and the two shall become one flesh. Sex takes place within the context of marriage.

Come over to Hebrews 13:4, marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge. The only place that a sexual relationship can take place is within the confines of marriage. Marriage is to be held in honor among all, it is to be recognized and honored. The marriage bed is to be undefiled. Fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Sex within marriage, wonderful. That's what God planned, enjoy it. Some people get the idea there is something dirty about sex. No, it's beautiful, it's to be an expression of the oneness that God has brought about in our marriage. Outside of marriage it will always bring the judgment of God. Well they didn't know about homosexual marriage. What about if we get a marriage amendment and we have a marriage between two committed men or two committed women, and they really love each other and it's a lifelong faithful commitment. Then it would fit the bounds, right? Because that would be a marriage. Have you never read Genesis? What did He create? Male and female. What did He do? Joined them in marriage and then said the two shall become one. The sexual relationship just expresses that oneness.

So we don't have to have any passages that address homosexuality to understand what God's intention for His creation is. Every act of sex outside the marriage relationship is an act of rebellion against God. And there is no idea, this is working so well, I know some homosexual relationships and they're a lot happier and a lot more harmonious and a lot more loving than some marriages. Okay. So? What did the Creator do? Well He created them male and female. But that's just a story, we don't know. But see what Jesus said. Now it's not only Genesis we have to attack, we have to attack Christ and His understanding of Genesis, then we have to attack the writer of Hebrews. And then we just say at this time they didn't know anything about sexual orientation.

Let me just say something about sexual orientation before I look at some verses with you. People say, I was born this way. Well understand, David said we were conceived in sin, the sin nature was passed on, down from Adam on. We are sinners from conception, we were born sinners, we are sinners by choice. How the sin nature corrupts and affects us varies with people. I mean, that's true of all kinds of sins. Some sin has no appeal to me at all, other sin may have great appeal. That's true of everyone of us. Some of you, if we went out and sat down and someone set a bottle of alcohol on the table, pretty soon all you could think about, I would give anything to be able to have a drink of that. That's because somehow you have had an attraction to that and you've gone through the trouble of that. Other people sit down and say, I tried it once, it's awful, I don't want any of that. Someone else, though, there is something else that comes up and they just seem to let go of that. I read a statement by a man who had risen to the point, he had enough power and money to become public, I'm just not a monogamous person. What's that mean? I don't question that. I agree, you're probably not because you're a sinner. So because the corruption of sin has so shaped us that what we really love is the opposite of what God says is ___________, this shouldn't surprise us. Did anybody ever say that there wasn't pleasure in sin? So the idea we have to debate this because I think some people are born this way. I imagine that for all of us there is a tendency with the corruption of sin in our lives that draws us to one sin over another. That's why we have so many different sins in the world. We all find ourselves with what the Puritans, I've referred to it before, called bosom sins. There are sins I give up with no trouble, but there are sins you like to keep close to your heart because they just have an attraction to me that other sin doesn't. So this whole discussion, we're looking for a gene. Well sin permeates you, that's what we are. But we're not innocent of that sin. So that has nothing to do. Here is the intention of the Creator. Sin enters the picture, everything gets corrupted and marred by sin.

We're not going to look at the passages in the Old Testament ______________ Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Some would say, well that was an act of violence, that wasn't a loving homosexual. Here they were trying to force themselves on a stranger. That doesn't qualify as a consideration of a ............. I'd say, all right, let's not talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. What about the law? Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20 talks about homosexuality being an abomination, being detestable. There was an article in the last week or two in the paper that I didn't clip out, but the person there was making the case, well people try to say that the Bible condemns homosexuality and they read it's an abomination and detestable in the Old Testament. But the Bible also says you can't mix two kinds of cloth. Well we do that today. In fact the passage in Leviticus 18, I believe it is, on homosexuality and it's an abomination also says you can't touch a woman during her monthly cycle or you are defiled. We don't pay any attention to that today. So we need to be careful. The Mosaic law was a set of instructions given to the nation Israel to govern their life until the Messiah came. With the coming of Jesus Christ, the Mosaic Law in its entirety was completed and done. So you want to be careful about running to Leviticus to show that homosexuality is an abomination, because then people would say well look at the previous verse. It says touching a woman.......... Did you ever bump into a woman, your wife, that was having her monthly cycle? You are defiled before God and you have to go through a procedure......... We say, well that doesn't apply. Oh, so only applies what you decide applies. You might say we don't do it because the Mosaic Law addresses it. That's why I say we'll just skip that, too. Now there is reason, you understand, the Mosaic Law was up until Christ. After Christ you have the Law of Christ, and certain things that were true of the Mosaic Law have been repeated in the Law of Christ. And then I understand that those truths have been continual. But I would be careful about using that argument for the Law because then you have to go into the whole purpose of the Mosaic Law and so on, and people aren't going to track that. But we're going to skip it. Judges 19 and the tribe in Israel that tried to promote this and ended up killing a concubine after a night of debauchery. We say, well that wasn't dealing with loving relationships.

So the Bible talks about sin, but it's true, those passages don't “prove” that homosexuality or loving homosexual relationships are wrong. They evidence it because the work of creation establishes that any “alternative” lifestyle is an act of rebellion against God, it is sin. And we just see sin manifesting itself. How do you know it's sin? Genesis and the account of creation.

Come over to Romans 1. __________ say this is paganism, but you understand from the biblical point of view everything that is not in submission to God, faith in His Son is really paganism. Even Israel's religious observance became an act of rebellion against God so that Isaiah 1 says, don't bring your sacrifices any longer, they are an affront to Me. Romans 1:18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And note something, men know in their hearts that sin is wrong, that these things are wrong and why they are so driven to have everybody give their approval. Because somehow if the majority are approving it, I can feel better about it. They can't say they don't know any better. We're told they suppress the truth. Because that which is known about God is evident within them, God made it evident to them. Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made. So they are without excuse. Man is willfully sinning against the God that he knows holds him accountable. There is no excuse.

In Romans 2 we are told that even those who never hear of the Law of God know in their hearts, they have a sense of guilt. That's why society has standards of morality, of right and wrong, why people go to prison for doing wrong things. How do we know? It's built within us. Now we've been made in the image of God and that image has been marred and corrupted by sin, but it hasn't been annihilated.

They are without excuse, even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks. They became futile in their speculations, their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. And they worshiped the creation. They say, see, this is paganism. Well it's just as pagan to say this is what God says and I reject it. This is what we're talking about here. Whether you made an actual carving of something or not, or you just worship your own scholarly insights, you've rejected the Creator. And then God gave them over to the lust of their heart through their impurity to dishonor their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. I mean, that's what is going on. And they serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever.

So verse 26, the second time. Verse 24 said God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. Verse 26, God gave them over to degrading passions. And he uses homosexuality. It's not new, people burning in their lust and passion for one another. ____________________. I mean the characteristic of sin is we always want to reject what God says. We had our message on the “Relentless Resistance of Revelation,” or we could have said “The Relentless Rebellion against Revelation.” That's what it is. And so God's judgment is that He gives man over to the sin that he wants. We say I can't take it, this sin is multiplying in the world and what are we going to do? Well understand, what you ought to see is the judging hand of God upon people who have rejected Him. So it oughtn't to surprise us that it is getting worse, that's part of God's judgment—He turns them over to their sin and they pursue it with greediness. So men with men and women with women, and what they are doing is committing indecent acts. It's contrary to nature, we said in verse 26. Women exchange the natural function for that which is unnatural, contrary to nature. God created a man and a woman, He created the woman as the complement to the man and joined them in a relation of oneness, and they express that oneness sexually. And now there is a violation of the order that God has established, it is unnatural. That's why that is built within the human race and through society it's the general pattern that those relationships are rejected. Even the corruption of our sin hasn't totally erased what God has made. Humans are not to mate with animals, that's unnatural. There just are certain things, got more corrupt in our sin, the more overt we feel we must become and desire to become in expressing our rebellion.

Verse 28, they didn't see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. Now you'll note this is not just homosexuality, it's just not sexual sins, they are filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. All these things characterize .......... They sound like maybe a description of our society. And we shake our heads and say, I wonder what's happening to our society. Don't you believe in sin? I mean of all people the evangelical church shouldn't be saying, I wonder what is happening, what are we going to do. We need to vote in the right people. Morning paper, Marilyn drew my attention to an article about trying to start a grassroots movement now to get evangelicals back to the grassroots—opposition to homosexuality and abortion. That's the grassroots of evangelicalism? Heaven help the church. That's not the grassroots of evangelicalism, we're about bringing the message of redemption to a lost and dying world. We're not trying to clean up people, and if only they'd stop these two sins we will have won the battle. Look at this list. I mean, where do you start? Well at least they just lie and disobey their parents and are envious, but I'm glad they aren't homosexuals, they're the dirtiest ones, you know. Oh really? Well, I don't know when God gave you the authority to make the distinctions in the list here.

And you note what he says in verse 32, those who know the ordinance of God, that those who practice...... You'll note he says they know the ordinance of God, they know. Remember verse 18? They suppress the truth. The end of verse 20, they are without excuse; verse 32, they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death. They not only do them, but give hearty approval to those who practice them. So we can promote legislation and vote for it and give our approval to them and be sure we speak good things about them because we want them to know we support them. It's not our particular lifestyle, but we support them.

So this man concludes this article from our recent paper, on this issue of same sex unions, Rogers noted he and his wife have been married for 50 years, and he believes gay people should have the same opportunity for a life of love and commitment. It's been good for me and it would be good for two men or two women to enter into a covenant relationship. They know the ordinance of God, those who practice such things are worthy of death. They not only do the same, but they give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Come over to I Timothy 1:8. Paul is in Ephesus and has been giving instructions by Timothy to teach certain men not to teach strange doctrines, verse 3. Verse 6, some men straying from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law even though they don't understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully. ___________place you have to use the Mosaic Law properly. Now we understand its purpose and why God gave it, and even though it came to its conclusion and was completely fulfilled in Christ and His death and resurrection, that does not mean that there are not lessons to be learned from it. The law was never made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless, rebellious, ungodly and sinners, unholy and profane, those that kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, immoral men, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, whatever else is contrary to sound teaching according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I've been entrusted. There's a list there, and you'll note the sins. So we need to be careful, the church is on a crusade, how we're going to get the church back to its evangelical foundations. Opposition to homosexuality and abortion. What about the unholy and profane? Those that kill father or mother, murderers, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and everything else contrary to sound doctrine? I mean, that's not evangelicalism, that's the ideas of people who really don't know what the scriptures say. We're not here to try to clean up our society, get the right people into the Supreme Court, get the right President, get the right congressman. Then we'll vote a conservative agenda, and then we will have a marriage amendment, and then God will bless our country again. Why did Christ die? I mean, what's the purpose of it? Why don't we just get a good Supreme Court or a conservative Congress? I mean, do we understand the church turned around and denying what it claims to believe. But it doesn't change the fact the law reveals immorality, homosexuality as well as other things are sin. We think well, if we get enough people to say this is not sin any longer we've won the day.

Come back to I Corinthians 6, a passage we've looked at in our study of I Corinthians. Verse 9, do you not know? A question Paul asks when those who profess to be believers, the church, are acting like they don't know what the scripture says on this, but they do. Just like Jesus saying, have you never read the creation account in Genesis to the Pharisees. He says to the church in Corinth, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. What's the problem here? Why is there even a debate or discussion on this subject? Don't you know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. _____________ come and think that here is somebody who has a rather convincing argument. The scripture will be true in the face of the most convincing arguments. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Could it be any clearer? The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some day Jesus Christ will return to earth and establish a kingdom. But the only people who will be part of that kingdom are the righteous, those who have become righteous in Christ, made new and now are living for Him, as we talk about the church in this period of time in which we live, which Paul is writing to.

Well what about............. You know I'm committing adultery, but I know I'm a believer. Well you have two choices—one is to believe God is a liar or believe you are a liar. What's the choice. It is no choice. God says, don't be deceived. Adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God. But I know I've trusted Christ. Are you committing adultery? Are you living in adultery? Yes. What does God say here? I can't tell you the number of times I've had this discussion in my office and bring my Bible. What does it say? Well......... I mean, fornicators...... I mean, the college campus, everybody expects it, everybody says we're not married .............. Sometimes I use the example, I watch a house program where somebody is going to buy a house. I like to see what they're going to buy. It's a mindless thing, it has nothing to do with me, I can put my mind in neutral and just see how the spend their money. It doesn't have any effect on me because I'm not going to live in California or wherever they are, and I wouldn't buy that house anyway. But they say, here are two people, they've been living together for three years and they have finally decided to buy a house together because the are thinking they are going to be getting married. Nobody is even embarrassed, nobody thinks anything of it. And it's the way the world lives. Not surprising to us, because that's one of the manifestations of sin, you reject what God has said. But you understand even those nice people who seem so friendly, that seem so much in love and so on, what God has said—fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God. And on it goes—thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Well who is going to get in?

Verse 11, such were some of you. You'll note that, such were some of you. Certain sins people think you identify yourself with them the rest of your life. Oh, I'm an alcoholic Christian. I've been on the wagon but I'm an alcoholic, but now I'm a Christian. Or I'm a homosexual but now I'm a Christian. They identify themselves with their sin. I'm a liar, but now I'm a Christian. Well you're redeemed, that's what you were, not what you are. I mean we're all sinners saved by grace, right? Such were some of you. But what happened? You were washed, cleansed from that defilement. You were sanctified, set apart by God. You were justified, declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God. That's what God does. That's the beautiful thing. We're not saying we're better, because we're all sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous. So it's not we sit here and say, oh the homosexuals, I have no time for that because those ............. Well who are you? Mr. Pharisee has joined us. I thank you, Lord, that I am not a sinner like other men. You maybe were never guilty of homosexuality, but unless you came to understand what a vile, wretched, hell deserving sinner you were, you were never saved. There is no place for self-righteousness here, but by the same token we don't soften that by saying, I don't sit in judgment. They may have a loving relationship and that will be for the Lord to sort out. He's already sorted it out, hasn't He? Didn't we just read it? Adultery, fornication, I mean, I don't want to say we're just picking on homosexuality, we're selecting that sin because it has come into the church now where it is being promoted as it's really not sin. It's sin because God says it is sin. Period. Well I know ........... This article here, I like the people to come up and talk to me afterwards, and my heart breaks and I want to cry because I hear how some in such a loving relationship have been so abused. Spare me. Sin is sin, it is always ugly, it is always vile, it is always an offense against the holy God. When David sinned, he said, against you and you only have I sinned. The ultimate person offended in this sin is God, His holiness, His righteousness.

The beauty is there is cleansing for homosexuals, there is cleansing for adulterers, there is cleansing for fornicators, there is cleansing for liars, there is cleansing for cheaters, there is cleansing for slanderers, there is cleansing (fill in the blank). There is cleansing for sinners. Doesn't say here everyone of your did all these sins. Such were some of you. I've just given an example of some of the sins. And some of you were guilty of these sins. But if you weren't guilty of these particular ones, you were guilty of others. And what happened? Washed.

So what's the message we have for those in homosexuality? You could be washed clean. It's sin, it's an offense against the holy God. You were under the condemnation of a holy God, you are doomed to hell. Well I'm not a homosexual, I'm glad for that because then ........... Nope, if you're not a homosexual and you've never committed sexual immorality, you know what you are? You're a sinner doomed to hell. There are no exceptions. All have sinned, there is none righteous, there is none who does good. That's why we come with the message of salvation that people need to be washed.

So I want us to understand as the church of Jesus Christ that homosexuality is a sin like everything else that is rebellion against God's Word is sin. But there is the same forgiveness for this sin as there is for any other. And the solution is not to try to make this sin acceptable so that people practicing it will feel better. The solution is to present the cure of the Word of God so that the Spirit might convict of sin, righteousness and judgment, so people might turn from their sin and place their faith in the Savior who died for them. So they can be washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of your Word. Thank you, Lord, that you have spoken clearly. Your purposes and plans are established from the creation. Thank you for the wonder and beauty of marriage, your plan that a man and a woman be joined together in a relationship of oneness and in a permanent bond established by you. Lord, I pray that we will take your Word seriously. The corruption of sin continues to want to impact us and influence us so that we would try to make adjustments in the Word of God to make it more acceptable, to soften it on the subject of sin. Yet, Lord, it's important that we see sin in its ugliness, the horror of sin, that we can appreciate the wonder and beauty of your salvation. Lord, guard us from that self-righteous arrogance that would cause us even as redeemed to think that some of these are such terrible sinners, far worse than we ever were. Lord, we realize we are what we are by your grace and none of us are anything but sinners, but we are privileged through faith in your Son to be sinners who have been washed, sanctified and justified in Jesus Christ and your Spirit. We praise you in His name, amen.