From Why I Am A Christian

The pro-gay position among some segments of the

Christian community effectively deprives the homo-

sexual of hope. These persons may be thinking they

are reaching out in love to the gay community, but to theo-

rize that a gay person is born that way and therefore cannot

help being homosexual takes away hope. What may pass for

a tolerant and accepting attitude among certain people, in

fact condemns a person to what many gay people will admit

is an unhappy, even desperate life. It also abandons people

who are committed to homosexual behavior to a dreadful

eternity.

A Frightening Passage

The passage I am about to quote from Paul’s first letter to

the first century church in Corinth is one that is feared, even

hated, by those who assert they are both homosexual and

Christian. It is a passage that has been vigorously attacked

by pro-gay Bible commentators because of its uncompro-

mising and powerful message. The meaning of the passage

is simple and clear, yet it offers, in my view, a great deal of

hope for the homosexual. The first part of the passage states:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the

kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually

immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male

prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor

the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers

will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians

6:9-10).

I do not intend to browbeat nor scare anyone with the

Bible. I want to present the hope we have in Christ.

An Examination of the Passage

“Homosexual offenders” is a translation of the Greek

word arsenokoite, a word that Paul made up. (Paul made up

or coined about 170 words that we find in his New Testament

letters.) The word he used is a combination of arsenos,

meaning male, and koite, meaning bed or couch. Paul

found these words in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13,

in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint.

The Levitical verses forbid and condemn homosexuality.

Paul put the two words together, because he wanted

to describe men who had sex together. It is not homosexual

prostitution or violent homosexual rape that the Law of

Moses is concerned with, as is so often presented by progay

writers. No, the language is clear and straightforward –

homosexual offenders or those who practice homosexuality,

will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Homosexual behavior is not the only sinful behavior

mentioned in the Corinthian passage. There is quite a long

list, and I find some of my own sins there, too. There are the

heterosexuals who are immoral and adulterers who have sex

outside of marriage. There are those who worship gods who

are not gods at all. There are thieves, greedy people, drunkards,

slanderers, and swindlers listed – I find myself here. I

have broken God’s holy ordinance and therefore, barring a

miracle, I will not inherit the kingdom of God. If God’s Word

is true, I am in desperate trouble.

Am I without Hope?

Since I find my sin(s) plainly listed in the passage, am I

then without hope? In one sense, I have no hope, for I cannot

do anything about changing what has already happened, and

to make matters worse, I cannot be assured that I will not

sin again sometime in the future. Though I do not want to

sin and dishonor my Lord, it is more than likely that I will,

because sin dwells within me (see 1 John 1:8-2:1-2). Yet I

am not without hope; in fact, I am most hopeful. I know for

a fact that Jesus has died in my place on the cross; I know he

has taken all my sin upon himself, and that I can be forgiven,

trusting in him as the Holy Spirit enables me. Certainly I can

do nothing, but Jesus, raised from the dead, has already done

what I cannot do. Indeed, he gives me his righteousness,

even though I do not deserve it at all. This is the good news,

the gospel.

The Proof of Hope

Earlier I quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. But I stopped short

of the real point Paul was making to the believers in Corinth.

We need now to look at verse 11, because it contains proof

of our hope:

And that is what some of you were. But you were

washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the

name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Sprit of our

God.

In that Corinthian church were people like me – guilty of

many sins, addicted to some, helplessly in the control of oathtaking. Yet, something happened to them, and Paul used three

words to describe it – washed, sanctified, and justified.

Washed means being granted forgiveness. This involves

a work of the Holy Spirit in applying the blood Jesus shed on

the cross to the sinner. With the shedding of blood there is

the forgiveness of sin, even sin like my own and also sin like

homosexual behavior. I cannot forgive my own sin; neither

can a church or a priest or a minister or anyone or anything

else forgive sin. Only Jesus’ blood can wash sin away. Did

Jesus die on the cross and shed his blood to then withhold

it from those who seek him? Not at all; remember that Jesus

is the one who came to call not the righteous, but sinners

to repentance. And the washing, the cleansing of the blood

of Jesus actually brings us to a place of repentance. Washed,

clean, forgiven – this is more wonderful than anything can

ever be.

Sanctified, then, means to be set aside as belonging to

Jesus himself. It is the result of the washing or cleansing

power of God to remove all sin, and thus we are indwelt by

the Holy Spirit. The sanctified are embraced by the Father

and adopted into his own family. God’s Holy Spirit actually

lives within us, because that which prevented his doing so

was overcome when our sins were forgiven. It is completely

the work of God. He sets us aside, makes us holy, and begins

to work within us both to will and to work for his good pleasure

– which takes a whole lifetime.

Justified might well have been mentioned first or second,

because it is the experience of conversion or the new birth. It

happens as we are washed and sanctified. Where one begins

and the other ends, we do not know. There is a mystery to it

all, though it is very real at the same time. “Justified” might

be defined as the sinner being restored to a condition of

purity, as though no sin had ever been committed. It is by

faith; it is grace; it is all a gift. Make no mistake, even faith is a

gift; we really have none of it in ourselves. Rather, it is given

to us. This is what we mean by grace: forgiveness and eternal

life freely given, despite the fact that we are unworthy. This is

illustrated for us in the words “new birth.” We did not cause

our own physical birth, and we cannot produce our spiritual

birth. It is all a gift of God, not based on any kind or manner

of work.

Giving back Hope

Those who accept the notion that they were born homosexual

and that it is in their very nature to be homosexual

may find hope in the words of Paul and in the experience of

some of the Christians in the church at Corinth. There were

homosexuals there, and they had turned away from homosexual

behavior, though they might not have become heterosexuals.

(Some today at any rate experience a change in their

sexual orientation, but others do not, so it is not unreasonable

to state that such might have been the case in Corinth).

A Special Appeal

To those who have loved ones who are gay, perhaps a son

or daughter, I appeal to you that you do not take away their

hope by agreeing that they cannot help but engage in homosexual

activity.

There is a powerful tendency to overlook what the Scriptures

teach and adopt a pro-gay stance, thinking we are

standing with and supporting our gay loved ones. Many do

this. It is, in the long run, better to love the person, be supportive

in whatever means possible, but still refuse to validate

the sinful behavior. This “tough love” may well prove to

be both hopeful and redemptive.

Words of Hope

John said,

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and

the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is

faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us

from all unrighteousness. I we say we have not sinned

we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John

1:8-10).

The pro-gay movement unwittingly takes away hope

when it denies the sin of homosexual behavior. It takes away

the possibility of being cleansed from unrighteousness,

because no one confesses his sin who denies he is sinning.

The promise of the Scriptures gives back hope. The following

grand words of Paul provide for us a most fitting close to this

essay.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as

you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).