2 For you
know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification:
that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body
in holiness and honor, 5 not
in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress
and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all
these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us
for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore
whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy
Spirit to you.
1
Thessalonians 4:2-8
Paul specifically instructed the people in Thessalonica
to abstain from sexual immorality. The
body must be treated in holiness and honor.
Disregarding this instruction is not disregarding man, but God. Paul was serious about this matter of sexual
immorality. His address here about
sexual immorality is an important one because he particularly touched this
subject and separated this offense from any other kinds of sin. And in our age today, the most current issue
of sexual immorality is the issue of homosexualism. This issue rose to prominence in the past two
decades. 2013 became a historical year
that documented the victory of the gay rights movement with the US Supreme
Court legalizing gay marriage. Ever
since June 26 2013, the church of God has been struggling in her dealing with
this touchy subject. It is important
therefore to come back to the Holy Scripture to find out what God says about
this subject. Sadly, there are many
Christians who have been led astray by the world’s perspective and thus take
side with the world in
discouraging clergies to take a strong position against homosexualism.
discouraging clergies to take a strong position against homosexualism.
One of the
most important arguments to shut down the Christian faith position that names
homosexual practice as wrong is on the blurring of this particular sin with
other kind of sins. This is a messy
issue to deal with due to the rise of gay rights movement in the western
world. In the name of freedom and the
use of the weapon of non-discrimination, the gay rights movement is gaining in
the world. Regretfully, they are not
only gaining in the world, but also in the church. Many churches are confused as to what
position the church must take. The voice
of the world in this matter is very strong.
Dealing with it properly according to the word of God will mean fierce
battle. In the era that strives to avoid
conflict altogether, the west has devised a way to get out of the duty to
address this issue. One excuse is
through the argument that homosexualism is a sin that is no different than
other sin. And so many Christians and
even clergy and professors of theology argue that homosexualism ought not to be
singled out in the pulpit. Avoidance of
addressing this issue then becomes the norm among many clergies. Many pastors are overwhelmed with fear when
face to face with the issue of homosexual practice. The pressure from the world, from many people
in the pew, from church activists, and even from church council, has frightened
pastors to address the issue. Just
because they do not feel like fighting it in every meeting and encounter with
the people in the church alone has caused God’s servants to drop this matter
altogether. To add to that, the
supporter of the acceptance of homosexualism is equipped with a very deadly
ammunition to battle any strong address against homosexual practice. They view homosexualism as equal sin to any
other sins such as greed, wrath, murder, and so on and so forth. Sin is sin they argue. With such argument, then, they discourage
God’s servants not to deal with this issue in specific manner from the pulpit. They prefer pastors to use generic term and
clutter it together with other sins.
The problem with such argument is manifold. It is true that sin is sin no matter
what. In the eyes of God every sin is
sin, and the punishment of all sin is death, no matter how big or small the sin
is. That is true. But that alone doesn’t
have the strength to diminish the seriousness of the sin. Just because all sin is sin doesn’t carry with
it the excuse to view homosexualism to be the same as stealing for example. For the two are not the same. And knowing that Jesus has paid all our sin,
past, present, and future, should not become the excuse to dwell in the sin
either. Paul singled out sexual
immorality, which includes homosexualism, as a particular kind of sin. He said in 1 Corinthians 6:13b-18:
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the
Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And
God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that
your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and
make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or
do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with
her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined
to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee
from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,
but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
The fact that sexual
immorality is a sin that is done within the body makes it unique compared to
other kinds of sin. Homosexualism, which
is one of the many sexually immoral sins, is not only a sin that is done in the
body, but it is also the kind of sin that comes out as the consequence of
people’s suppression of the truth that God exists. Paul said in Romans 1:24-27:
24 Therefore
God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring
of their bodies among themselves, 25 because
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this
reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged
natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 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.
Homosexualism is peculiar in
that sense. Paul singled out homosexual
practice in Romans 1 to specifically address this matter in order to reveal to
the church in Rome the truth about it. And
thus, to equate homosexualism with other sins is false. It is a different kind of sin. This sin runs deeper within our construct
compared to other sins done outside the body.
Even compared to other sexually immoral sins, this homosexualism stands
out as unique. Paul calls it
dishonorable passions. And he goes
further as to indicate its unnaturalness. Men burnt with passion for other men, and
women engaging in sexual practice with other women, are contrary to
nature. For sure what is natural is that
men engage in sexual practice with women.
All other sexually immoral sins are still within the category of
naturalness in that sense. But not so
with homosexualism. Thus, once again,
blurring the line between homosexualism with other kinds of sin is flatly
wrong.
Next, the blurring of the line
argument is a very dangerous way of doing theology. It is important for us to understand that
homosexualism is unique not only in itself just as the Bible describes it, but
also it is unique in the world’s perspective.
Let me show you how it is unique in the world. Ever since its victory at the federal level
in the US, gay rights movement has won a very dogmatic position. Gayness is considered to be normal. It is seen as a natural thing. Many arguments from science have been written
about this matter to prove that gayness is natural. For certain from the scientific research the
argument goes about it finding the gay gene within the human DNA. Thus, the current view and will likely be the
permanent view by the world, this particular practice is seen as not sin, or
using the world’s language – it is not morally wrong. Homosexualism won in the US federal level primarily
because it is viewed as morally right.
This understanding makes homosexualism stand out compared to other kinds
of sin. All other sins, such as greed,
wrath, malice, slander, murder, etc. are still seen by the world as morally
wrong. The world continues to condemn
all the other sins. But they no longer
condemn homosexual practice as morally wrong.
Now, if you think about it seriously, you will get what I am showing you
in this short article. Homosexualism is
also unique in the eyes of the world.
But the world’s perspective sees a different uniqueness. Whereas the Scripture sees homosexualism as a
unique sin, the world sees it as a non sin practice – which makes it unique in
the morality section.
The pressure from the world to the
church is not satisfied with the position of some Christians who have reduced
the uniqueness of homosexualism to that of sin equal to other sins. The world is pushing further in order to
pressure such Christians to even move homosexualism from the sin category. The world wants homosexualism to be
recognized as normal. This is in
conflict with the Scripture that clearly declares it as sin. However the voice of the world is very strong,
which confuses many Christians. Many gay
Christians, together with their supporters, gradually buy the world’s sale. They too begin to desire the acknowledgement
that gay practice is not sin. Thus following
the world’s perspective, practicing homosexuals no longer feel remorse for the
homosexual practice they engage in. And
not only that, even the thought that homosexual tendency is sin is not in the
equation anymore. This adds to the
difference between homosexualism and other sins. When God appeared to Isaiah, Isaiah fell
prostrate before God and called himself: “I am a dead man”, because he
immediately recognized his sin before the Holy God. So in deep remorse and repentance, Isaiah
bowed down before the Lord. David
repented with great remorse over his adultery with Bathseba and his murder of
Uriah and realized his sinfulness even before he was born. Peter was in great remorse as well as he
walked away from the courtyard of the High Priest after he denied his Lord
three times. He understood the depth of
his sin. Paul repented with great
remorse as well knowing how deep he had fallen in his zealousness persecuting
and killing God’s people. He called
himself the least of apostle. The
prophets, the apostles, all joined together in bowing down before God
acknowledging their sins before Him. St.
Augustine, who laid the foundation for systematic and deep reflective theology,
followed the prophets and the apostles in repenting from his great sin. He too bowed down before the Holy God feeling
great remorse of his sins. Martin
Luther, the initiator of the Reformation movement in the 16th
century, found how great his sin was and never stopped calling himself a sinner
while acknowledging the paradox of his saintness before God. All Christians throughout the ages have gone
through the same path the prophets, apostles, and church fathers, which is
repent from their sins with great remorse.
But homosexualism is unique because many have taken it as a no sin, and
thus there is no requirement to repent from it.
Since it is a natural thing, then there is no point to repent from
it. Thus instead of repenting from it
upon hearing the declaration of the word of God that points out its sinfulness,
many of the practicing homosexuals who claim to be Christians and their
supporters speak against the faithful declaration of the word of God and not few
walk out during a sermon on the subject. Paul is right in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 to say that:
3 For the
time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching
ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away
from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
This
is a sad reality. But this reality is upon
us. Christians are called to stand their
ground. Christians are called to be faithful
to the word of God. Even in the midst of
the pressure of the world, we are called to hold our ground. The mistake of the past, both from the world and
from the church, in mistreating those who are homosexuals, should not become the
excuse to then move homosexual practice into the no sin category. The world has moved it from the morally wrong category
into the normal category. But the church
must not follow the world’s lead to move it from the sin category into the no sin
category. This is a wake-up call for those
Christians, pastors, elders, deacons, theologians, biblical scholars, professors
of theology, to name what is sin as sin. Moving homosexualism from the sin category into
the no sin category is sin. Doing so is a
lie. It is misleading. Christian leaders who do such thing will have to
answer to God himself. So, in the name of
Christ Jesus for the sake of his mercy, I call you to repent. The word of God couldn’t be clearer about this
matter.
Now, alongside the proper naming, Christians
also must never mistreat the homosexuals either. Even though they sin in that area, they too are
created in the image and the likeness of God. Their status as God’s image bearers should never
be dismissed. For sure, I have to remind
all of us that we too are sinners. But yet
in our sinfulness we still bear God’s image. And so, people with same sex tendency should not
be depraved of their dignity and honor they have within them as bearers of the image
and likeness of God. If we ever mistreat
them in any way, we must ask for forgiveness from those we mistreated and from God
of whom they bear the image and likeness. Then we too must repent. The second greatest commandment still applies here
that is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now with all the proper steps cleared up, we can
proceed to the next step, that is to call them to repentance and to instruct them
in the way everlasting. Calling them to repentance
is in fact an act of honoring and loving them. Calling them to repentance is a service to them
and to God himself. Instructing them to not
engage in homosexual practice is an act of honoring and loving them. It should not be seen as an act of exclusion. As a matter of fact, calling them to repentance
and instructing them to abstain from homosexual practice is an act of embracing
them as God’s image bearers. As God’s servant
I call all God’s people not to embrace homosexualism, but to embrace the people
who have fallen into homosexual sin as God’s image bearers. Call them into repentance. And instruct them in the way of the Lord. Do not condone their homosexual practice. Condoning their homosexual practice is dishonoring
them and not loving them. The bible has declared
that such practice is unnatural. In respect
of their dignity as God’s image bearers and as a respect to God himself, we must
never condone their homosexual practice. We know that such practice depraves them of their
honor. And so, do not condone their lifestyle.
For certain do not permit gay marriage, for
it is the same as condoning it. But if we
are to honor and love them, then call them to repentance and instruct them in the
way of the Lord of eternal life. May the
Lord grant us strength to stand firm in the truth. May the Lord grant us the courage to be faithful
in declaring God’s message even at the expense of our life. May the Lord grant us wisdom to distinguish right
from wrong and name what is as is. May the
Lord grant us clarity of mind to keep lie at bay and to keep the truth close to
our heart. May the Lord grant us love to
call all sinners to repentance and instruct them in the way toward eternal life.
Praise be to the Lord of truth and love,
grace and mercy. Amen!
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