Saturday, June 25, 2011

Today is a Sad Day for Us All

With a winning vote of 33 to 29, the Republican-led New York state legislature passed a bill legalizing gay marriage. Today is a sad day for us all. New York joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Washington D.C. as having legalized same-sex marriage, which according to the Wall Street Journal amounts to more than 10% of the U.S. population.

I called my best friend to chat and the news about New York was bound to come up. Here’s his reaction: “That’s sad, but I’m not at all surprised.” You know what, I happen to agree with him. We all saw this coming: with Cali’s Prop 8 overturned, a recent Gallup poll indicating for the first time a majority of Americans now support gay-marriage, and now rumors President Obama may officially lend his support, we saw this coming from a mile away.

Homosexual rights advocates claim legalizing same-sex marriage boils down to an issue of equality. They make the case that they are treated as sub-class citizens, lacking basic human rights … natural rights … and now compare their struggle to blacks in the 1960’s who fought to defend their civil liberties. But is this what’s really going on here?

Dr. Michael Brown rightly answers this question when he pointed out that there is a huge difference between blacks being denied access to public water fountains and forced to sit at the back of a bus, with the situation homosexuals find themselves in. Homosexuals have all the same rights before the law as heterosexuals have. What’s more, it is commonly accepted in businesses around our nation that sexual-orientation not be a means of discrimination. Finally, no respectable person is advocating for gays and lesbians to be mistreated on any level. So what “natural rights” do homosexuals claim they are denied? They would say they are denied the right to legally marry.

It is here that we have to take a step back and ask: what is marriage? Well, historically and before the law (I suppose I now need to say: the law in most states), marriage is a union between one man and one woman. How is it that the homosexual community claims they are denied equality before the law? Because they don’t have the right to get married? Actually, homosexuals have the right to marry – they can marry a member of the opposite sex. The homosexual advocate might respond, “Well that’s not what I want marriage to mean.” Oh, I see. Isn’t what you’re really after a redefinition of marriage? You want marriage to be whatever you want it to be, isn’t that right?

Though they, and other liberals, will adamantly deny it they know what kind of slippery slope this is. Because once you allow one group to redefine marriage to fit new parameters, whose to say another group doesn’t also have the right to redefine marriage into something else (i.e. polygamy, incest, bestiality)? If you think I’m off my rocker, consider that 30 years ago no one seriously considered a day when marriage could mean anything other than one man and one woman. What’s more, there are current court cases in Europe involving each of the aforementioned cases. It’s not that far of a stretch.

Please don’t misunderstand me, however, because the reason I and many other conservatives stand firmly in defense of “traditional” marriage has nothing to do with the fact that it is historical. Rather, it has everything to do with the true and living God of Biblical Christianity. The Creator of the universe also defined how human beings ought to live, including the institution of marriage:

4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6, NASB).

As Christians we believe marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. To deny God’s view of marriage is to deny the Christian faith; there is no middle ground on this one.

For all the rigamaroo of how Christians really view homosexuals, please know that we do not hate them. We do strongly disagree with the homosexual lifestyle and especially a redefining of marriage. Though it is uncommon in this day and age to disagree with someone and not hate them, nevertheless, this is the truth. We are able to separate the beliefs and behaviors from the individual, and we are required by our faith to love the individual.

Our message is an all inclusive message that everyone everywhere is born having offended the one true God, the Creator of all things. This God is all-powerful, all-knowing, unchanging, and eternal (which means there was never a time when He did not exist, in fact, He existed before time itself). Unlike human beings, who only have one personality sharing one being, God’s one Being is shared by 3 distinct Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of these divine Persons are distinct from one another so that each can say of Himself: “I,” and of the other two, “You.” These Persons share some functions – such as Creating the Universe – and also have unique functions, which you will how they play out in what follows.

The first human beings, Adam and Eve, broke God’s law and every person after them has been born bearing their guilt. To make it even worse, each of us continues to commit our own personal offenses against the Lord as we disobey His commands (sin). The consequences of this are extremely severe because God is a perfectly just and righteous Judge. He must punish sin. This includes all kinds of sin … including the sin of homosexuality. The punishment for sin is death, both physical and spiritual. This means that not only do we die physically, but we deserve to stand before God’s throne and face judgment and sent to Hell forever. Hell is described as the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is filled with sorrow upon sorrow as God removes His restraint from all sent there to suffer the mental and physical ramifications of sin. It is a terrible terrible punishment, but it is a just punishment.

For those who might argue that they weren’t aware of God’s requirements, the Bible also tells us that God wrote His law on our hearts, to be an integral part of humankind. Therefore we have no excuse before Him because we know what is right and what is wrong.

One final note of clarification before I move on: Why is homosexuality considered an offense to God? Because God has defined human sexuality and how it is to be lawfully expressed: between one man and one woman in marriage.

Thankfully, the message of Christians doesn’t end there. In eternity past, the Father chose from the mass of sinful humanity a particular group to demonstrate His grace and mercy upon. There was nothing in this group, no work or foreseen faith, that caused the Father to choose them, but is based solely upon His good pleasure. At the predetermined time, He sent His one and only Son (Jesus Christ) to earth in the form of a baby. This is an amazing moment in history 2,000 years ago because we have the Creator entering into His Creation. The Maker of all things entering into time and space. He humbled Himself and added the nature of humanity to Himself – so now He has 2 natures: divinity and humanity. He is fully God and fully man; one divine Person with 2 natures. The Holy Spirit miraculously caused the virgin Mary to conceive Jesus as a baby. Jesus was born sinless, and perfectly obeyed God’s law for the entirety of His life without sinning.

Around the age of 30 years old, Jesus began His earthly ministry lasting 3 years. He performed miracles, healing the sick, the lame and the blind – even raising the dead (a feat he would soon overcome Himself). Jesus also proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God, which plainly meant that He would open up the doors to the forgiveness of sins. At the end of His ministry, Jesus was betrayed over to the Jewish authorities and crucified on a cross. Though he was innocent of all crimes he was murdered by His own creatures.

Jesus Christ’s death was no accident, however. In fact, it was predestined by God (Acts 4:27-28) to accomplish a specific purpose. What Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross was breathtaking: He acted as a substitute for the guilty sinners the Father chose in eternity past. This means that all the past, present and future sins of these particular sinners were paid in full in his body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). The beautiful thing about this is that rather than these sinners being found guilty before God (which they would in-and-of-themselves) and cast into Hell for all eternity, they had their sins paid for by a perfect substitute: Jesus Christ.

How does this deliverance from sin become applied to sinners? The Scriptures are clear that it is not obtained by works of any kind. It is also clear that salvation is not achieved by outweighing your bad deeds with good deeds. Forgiveness of sins is found by trusting and believing solely in the work of Jesus Christ; it is by faith alone that sinners are saved from their sins. But there is another problem: sinners cannot even believe in God. The Bible actually states that sin has affected us so much that we lack the ability to have faith in (trust) God and His truth. “Dead in our trespasses and sin” is a Biblical description of how we are born into this world. What this means is that we are spiritually dead to the things of God because of our sinful nature – which is how all of us are naturally born. While it is fairly obvious, I’ll go ahead and state the obvious: dead people can’t believe in anything. Dead people can’t do much of anything =). Therefore it is necessary for God to spiritually resurrect us, also called being “born again.” This is a work of God, and indeed, must be a work of God because dead people can’t raise themselves from the dead.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise then to say that just as God resurrects sinners to newness of spiritual life that He also grants the ability to believe in Him. After being raised to spiritual life we then have faith in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. This faith is the passive mechanism by which God imputes (or “considers to be ours”) the righteousness (goodness) of Christ to the sinner. The result is that the sinner is no longer standing before God with His own supposed righteousness, but rather as having considered to have Jesus’ righteousness as his own. The sinner is not made righteous, but is declared and considered to be righteous because of Christ. This again leaves salvation to be a work of God alone.

This declaration of God happens at a moment in time as God has predetermined for His elect people, by which He then secures and seals them with the Holy Spirit to be a guarantee of their salvation. The Holy Spirit is with believers in Christ until He returns to earth on the Last Day where He will destroy the universe with fire in judgment. On this day, every person who has ever lived will stand before the great throne of God and bow before Him, acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. It is then that sinners are divided: the righteous from the unrighteous. The unrighteous stand before God with their own works, and woefully fall short of God’s just standard. They are sent to Hell to pay for their own sins forever in the pit of darkness. The righteous are considered righteous, not because of works they had done, but because they trusted in Christ to deliver them from their sins, by which Christ’s righteousness was imputed to them. They are ushered into the new heaven and new earth where they will worship and serve God forever and ever, fellowshipping with the saints, and will always shine as trophies of God’s grace.

My message to the homosexual community is this: today is the day of salvation. Your Creator made you in such a way that the natural and lawful expression of your sexuality is in the sacred bond of marriage between one man and one woman. Turn (repent) of your wicked ways, including your homosexuality, to the true God who alone has a way of salvation. He is the Creator and He knows what is best for you; He knows you even better than you know you. He has the right to do as He wishes, because the Lord is God.

This is not a hateful message, but it is one I believe, and it is the truth. As passionate as you are of your homosexual lifestyle, I am of my Christian lifestyle. We can agree to disagree, and we can peaceably live together. But please know that if you want to talk with me further about any of this, it would be my privilege and honor to discuss these important life-changing topics with you. For these issues are nothing short of matters of life and death.

Thanks for reading,

Casey

3 comments:

  1. its about law and the right of a individual, not fairy tales and mythology (god).

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  2. Stalemate -

    Did you honestly read this entire post? Or at least my argument early on: "How is it that the homosexual community claims they are denied equality before the law? Because they don’t have the right to get married? Actually, homosexuals have the right to marry – they can marry a member of the opposite sex. The homosexual advocate might respond, “Well that’s not what I want marriage to mean.” Oh, I see. Isn’t what you’re really after a redefinition of marriage? You want marriage to be whatever you want it to be, isn’t that right?"

    What is your response to that? Because so far your comments seems to miss completely what I have said here. I would be happy to interact with you, but do me two favors: (1) Refrain from insulting my religion by referring to it as "fairy tales and mythology" - because my religion is neither of these; and (2) respond in a meaningful fashion reflecting that you've actually taken the time to gain an accurate understanding of what this blog's argument is.

    Thanks and I look forward to your meaningful comments.

    Casey

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    Replies
    1. Casey, don't expect them to. They accuse us of being hate filled an bigoted, but in reality they are the hate filled ones. People like this get angry when they hear the truth and it condemns their lifestyle. The cross is a rock of offence to them. I liked your blog, and you hit the nail squarely on the head. Be blessed!

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