Q9. Answer
x
God loves every man and woman on the earth without exceptions. He wants them all to be saved; and His heart burns with love for them. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for them. So yes, God loves gays beyond all question.
Can gays change their sexuality? A strong consensus exists amongst almost all professionals that a person’s sexual orientation is imprinted genetically at birth and therefore people can do nothing to change it. Gays have therefore sought normalization of their relationships on the basis that if nothing can be done to change them, they must surely be acceptable to God and social re-education and restructuring is long overdue. Governments have passed laws accordingly.
All variant or dissenting views, particularly from a religious perspective, are strongly denounced. The gay community strongly presses the argument that people are born gay and cannot change.
Is there any common ground? Yes, inasmuch as all would like to see gay men and women freed from the pain of negative feelings, low self-worth, and despair which they attribute to society having negative attitudes towards them. Hence their drive for normalization.
But can social engineering actually relieve gays from such things; or is it much deeper than that, requiring spiritual intervention? Are such feelings of low self-worth, etc., not simply because of a deep spiritual need?
The Bible teaches that a person can be changed from the inside out — any person, no matter who they are — but only God can do this.
If any person is ingrafted in Christ, the Messiah, he is a new creature altogether, a new creation; the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
To become ingrafted in Christ, requires repentance (Mark 1:15). The Greek word translated ‘repentance’ means ‘a change of heart and mind.’ Coming to freedom in Christ always requires a willingness to turn from one’s previous opinions and lifestyle, so that Christ by the Holy Spirit can bring transformation. Sometimes the transformation is instantaneous; other times it is a process of co-operation with the work of the Spirit.
Just as there are millions who testify to being freed from all kinds of destructive lifestyles and addictions on coming to faith in Christ, there are former gays who attest to the transforming power of faith in Jesus Christ. Such testimonies can be found on the internet and there’s a book, “Closing the Closet: Testimonies of Deliverance From Homosexuality” that contains 23 testimonies from former gays, who testify that Christ can free people from their gay lifestyles. This book is available from Amazon.com and the review in part says:
“15 former gay men and 8 former lesbians providing inspiration, motivation support and biblically based guidance to homosexuals who desire to be free from their current lifestyle. They pour their hearts out and tell the story of how God transformed them from lives of misery and shame to a committed, joy-filled, blessed existence as men and women living in accordance with God’s word. This book debunks the myth that individuals are born gay and that change is impossible… The purpose of the book will be not to just inform the public at large about their testimonies, but to hopefully let the world see first hand, from the mouths of people that lived the homosexual lifestyle, that homosexuality is not an immutable trait and that through the power of God, anyone can be delivered from homosexuality.”
To assert that people are born gay and cannot change is therefore a lie. If, indeed, people are born gay, it is because they are born into and through a fallen creation, just as there are some born into this world with some physical defect. But there is no one on this earth, whatever their sexual persuasion and physicality, who does not need to come to Christ in order to be free and who cannot be changed if they sincerely want to be.
God loves all gays, and He wants them to be free. Their freedom is possible through the intervention of Christ….. and if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).
A one-off television documentary aired in the UK called “Undercover Doctor- Cure me I’m Gay.” A gay doctor was seeking to prove “born gay, always gay,” i.e. that it’s impossible to change. He seeks out and tries “cures” offered in the UK and USA….through aversion therapies and Christian ministries. It is clear however that the doctor has no interest in being “cured” — he does not want to change at all. The fact is God will not override anyone’s free will; so guess what — he isn’t changed, which comes as absolutely no surprise.
He presents therapies and ministries that are plainly bizarre or flawed or that present as such to the average viewer. He is “shocked” that there should still be people who regard homosexuality as an “illness” that can be “cured.” He then boldly states in closing that science, not religion, should determine whether homosexuality is right or wrong.
No, sir. Science should keep its nose out of matters that it does not nor cannot understand –matters of spiritual truth and morality.
Homosexuality is not an illness — it is abnormal behaviour, compulsive or otherwise, and is sinning against God.
Homosexuality is abnormal sexually because it cannot procreate. It is unsuitable for marriage because marriage was given by God as a safe and holy environment for sexual intimacy with procreation in view. This is surely not a controversial statement but simply honest to goodness observable common sense.
No one is barred from coming to Christ. He turns away no one who truly seeks the salvation He offers. And through salvation He offers us a brand new life now in this life. He offers us change.
The Bible teaches that repentance must be genuine – a person must show the fruits of repentance. Jesus said a person, like a tree, is known by his fruit. He also said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”
Spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit — being ‘born again’ — will undoubtedly produce changes in a person from the inside out – it must! One maxim puts it this way: “No Jesus, no change. Know Jesus, know change.”
If Jesus has become Lord of a person’s life, then the Holy Spirit will be actively working to change that person to become like Him. And if a person is trying to overcome being gay, that’s a positive sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in their life. If they remain gay to the day they die, it is only God Himself who truly knows our hearts; and it is God who will judge us all.
Homosexuality is evident throughout the Bible and is always condemned. It’s as old as the book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament; and the Bible indicates that it is going to become increasingly prevalent as we approach Christ’s return.
It is presented in Genesis as a shameful lust and perversion on the part of a whole city in the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is presented as an abomination by the apostle Paul in the first chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament. And Jesus says upon His return the world will be carrying on in unrestrained sin just as they did in the days of Noah and of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:26-31) — sin that God eradicated through the Flood and with fire and brimstone.
Some interpret Daniel 11:36-37 as indicating the Antichrist in the end times will embrace homosexuality for “he shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall exalt himself above them all.”
We must always remember that there is no one this side of heaven who is without sin (1 John 1:8, 10) and that homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin. And if any among them were without sin, Jesus invited them to be the first to stone the woman caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:7). No one did cast a stone at her. But Jesus then said this to the woman: He told her to go and sin no more. God is always ready and willing to forgive but He always wants us to sin no more.
We realize how sensitive these issues are for gay men and women. We have tried to deal with them sensitively without compromising the Bible, offering the reader hope and seeking to reassure the reader of God’s love and saving power.
We acknowledge that we are all sinners saved by grace and that we all have to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (1 John 1:8, Philippians 2:12). We also realize we are commanded to love each other as Christ has loved us. In falling short of this standard, we ask the reader’s forgiveness, and our Lord’s.
We will not, however, apologize for the Bible or the gospel of Jesus Christ.