Introduction
So many lives have been adversely affected by
rampant homophobia. It has been fueled unfortunately by a very vocal
misguided few, who seem intent on representing the Gospel of Grace with
condemnation. Parents have been separated from their children, brothers
from their brothers, wives from husbands….and yet despite the tragedy of these
broken relationships, broken hearts and sometimes the loss of life altogether,
self-righteous hatred and disgust toward homosexuals continues. Surely the
healing of all this brokenness lies not in hatred, but in love. “For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus did not stop there,
but went on to say, “For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned…”
A myth has grown
up around the issue of homosexuality that for centuries has kept God’s people in
bondage to condemning and being condemned. But the message of grace is
clearly “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin and death.” Those who believe in Jesus have been
released from the continuous cycle of sin and its consequence, death. Now,
we are free to love one another with the love of Christ, no strings attached.
As Paul stated it, now we must “keep standing firm and do not be subject
again to a yoke of slavery……” We have been set free to ”through
love serve one another.” Those who have understood this, regardless of
which side of the issue they stand on, have taken an important step toward
embracing the true meaning of “GRACE”, (God’s unmerited favor to all);
freely receiving it themselves and sharing it with every person along the way.
Because of this, God causes them to “reign in life” through Jesus Christ
(Romans 5:17).
Why
Study Christianity and Homosexuality?
1.
Jesus is Lord. As Christians, our behavior is subject to the Holy Word of
God and all believers are accountable to the Lord. As his disciples, we
demonstrate our love for him through obedience to his commands (John 15:10).
We must, therefore, understand what his commands are.
2.
Our Mission: To Set The Captive Free! This task, left to us by the Lord
himself, is the heart of our concern. The Scriptures declare that God has
set us free from the Law; free to be who God created us to be; free to love him
and each other (Galatians 5:1, 13-14), Jesus said that knowledge of the truth
would bring freedom (John 8:32). The combination of love and truth brings
about changed character enabling the maturation process in people; which is
conformity to the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:13-15)
3.
Standing By The Truth. We must share the truth with all who will listen.
If challenged, we will be ready to give a defense for the truth of the hope we
have (1 Peter 3:15)
4.
Our Mission Defined. Before the return of Jesus for his bride, the church
must return to its first love (Revelation 19:7). It is a love freely
extended to all; as Jesus loved, so we must love one another. Much of the
church has forgotten its primary responsibility to be the light of the world and
instead is consumed with bringing discrimination and condemnation. Some
have forgotten that no one comes to God the Father except those he
invites (John 14:6); all who believe are joined to his family and in all its
diversity, this family must learn to love (John 13:34-35).
5.
Reshaping The Image. It is our responsibility to study and understand the
truth and model it to the world through his church (2 Timothy 2:15). This
modeling will reshape the image of homosexuality from the stereotype that has
brought such condemnation to an understanding that God has made all of us and to
all of us his grace is extended. Only then will freedom reign. We
must seize the moment. It was for such a time as this that God has raised
up those who live by the Spirit. The prevalence of the myth has kept
misunderstanding in charge for centuries causing pain and suffering not only for
gay people, but for their families and friends. We now have the
opportunity to break the curse and set many captives free (Esther 4:14).
The captives are on both sides of the issue. Knowledge of the truth will
loose the bonds and set us all free to love one another just as Christ has
commanded us.
Biblical
Perspective
The basis of the research contained in this pamphlet and all
the conclusions and positions taken herein have at their center the
understanding that the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that
each person can be adequate, equipped for every good work. It was written
by men, appointed and anointed by God for a special purpose. Their stories
testify about their encounters with the living God, the almighty creator of
everything. Through them His character is revealed. Through them we
learn about God’s only Son, Jesus, through whom God redeemed the lost creation
from sin that had separated mankind from Him; and made it possible for all who
come by faith, to engage in a personal relationship with Him. Through
their testimonies we know that God has given us new life through regeneration
and renewal (new birth) by the Holy Spirit.
The biblical approach is inductive by method.
This eliminates a great deal of assumption and traditional teaching. Every
attempt not to bring pre-conceived ideas and beliefs which can only prejudice
our understanding of the Scriptures has been made. In the belief that
through objectively letting the Scriptures speak for themselves through their
original languages, we can reach the truth of these issues. The English
translations are at best “translations” where often meanings of words are
sometimes lost or changed because the original text is not clearly understood or
there is no comparable word in English to describe the Hebrew or Greek
expression. In some translations, traditional points of view are
perpetuated with a seeming disregard for the clear text in the original
language. With these rules of interpretation, this study attempts to
discover what the Bible (God’s Word) is and is not saying about
the subject of homosexuality.
The researchers and editors of this study are
fundamental interpreters of the Scriptures and conservative in their point of
view using the most orthodox references and scholarly commentaries.
Primarily, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament were used for the
objective basis of this study. Other scholarly works are referenced and
noted throughout the study.
The Bible itself combined with these other
writings form the basis of the hope that is within us. Subjectively, we
have the witness of the Holy Spirit, who Jesus clearly taught would lead us into
all truth. On him we rely heavily and we pray that all who want to come to
a knowledge of the truth will lean on the witness of the Spirit himself without
whose counsel none of us could know any truth about God.
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