Sanctified Abomination: A Look at the LGBTQ

SANCTIFIED ABOMINATION: A LOOK AT THE LGBTQ

Walter Lippmann, the American reporter and writer, made the following important statement: "Let no man deceive himself, we are drifting, drifting towards catastrophe." Morality, more specifically, Christianity is at the crossroads. Every fabric of doctrine in Christendom has been attacked and the seams have become very weak. "An enemy has done this" (Matthew 13:28). A new movement has been created with the sole aim of creating a new order of morality; questioning every principle that has stood the test of time since the inception of the Christian religion. New advocates are everywhere mobilizing people to stand up for their rights -- indeed to stand up for every sinful deed. However, it is prudent that we understand that "we are endowed with rights from our Creator and not the government".

An attack has been launched on the family. Ralph A. Epperson in his book "The New World Order" predicted in 1989 that, "The old world is coming to an end. It will be replaced with a new way of doing things. The new world will be called the "New World Order." This new structuring will re-distribute property from the "have" nations and will give it to the "have not" nations. The New World Order will include changes in the family: homosexual marriages will be legalized; parents will not be allowed to raise their children (the state will); all women will be employed by the state and not allowed to be "homemakers"; divorce will become exceedingly easy and monogamous marriage will be slowly phased out."

Ralph A. Epperson has been called a conspiracy theorist for this and other anti-masonry statements. However, what was deemed a conspiracy theory became enacted as a law twenty-six years later on June 26, 2015 in the Supreme Court of the United States of America. This piece of writing will take a look at the historical development of the LGBTQ, how once ardent adherents of the traditional monogamous heterosexual marriage system have shifted their views to meet the culture of the society, and the implications it has got on the Christian as we await the second coming of Christ.

THE DEBATE -- THE CREATIONIST POINT OF VIEW

Marriage, the first of two ordinances instituted and blessed by God has been under constant attack by the wily foe of mankind from the day of its inception even unto this day. God created a holy pair of male and female by the names of Adam and Eve respectively for the purpose of companionship and for perpetuation (Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:24). God pronounced all that He created "very good’’ including this ordinance of holy matrimony -- marriage. God ordained a monogamous heterosexual relationship that was not to be redefined by any prevailing culture, and was not susceptible to change with the passage of time as God Himself does not change (Malachi 3:6).

With the entrance of sin into the once serene atmosphere of mankind, we read from the Genesis account that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). This marks the inception of every heinous, sinful and detestable crime ever to plague our world. The entrance of sin has marred the image of God bestowed unto man in the beginning. Even though God cleansed the earth with a worldwide flood, but years later we find a resurface of all sorts of sinful habits in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their surrounding cities.

Of this account, Moses wrote, "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: and they called unto Lot and said unto him, where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them" (Genesis 19:5). Men and women, young and old, rich and poor were given up to vile passions -- sexual immorality was normalized among these people; and prominent among them was this canker of homosexuality. Homosexuality laid at the foundation of all other sins--- "pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, neglect of the poor, haughtiness" (Ezekiel 16:49-52).

In the third book of the Bible, Moses wrote, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). God calls it an abomination - that is to say, very detestable. In the first chapter of the book of Romans, Paul succinctly puts forth the following: "for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:26-27).

Tertullian in the second and third centuries commented on Romans 1:26-27 as follows; "When Paul asserts that males and females changed among themselves the natural use of the creature into that which is unnatural he validates the natural way." The 16th century reformer, Martin Luther also commented explicitly on the same biblical passage, "inasmuch as they departed from the natural passion and longing of the male from the female which is implanted into nature by God and desired what is altogether contrary to nature. Whence comes this perversity? Undoubtedly from Satan who after people have once turned away from the fear of God so powerfully suppresses nature that he blots out the natural desire and stirs up a desire that is contrary to nature."

From the early Christian church until recently, the belief of monogamous heterosexuality has been the accepted doctrine. How did this sinful indulgence walk into the Christian church, and more so to have even Christians advocate for its practice? Well, the answer is "homosexuality and sexual immorality didn’t sneak into the church: it walked in through the front door while the Christians were sleeping."

TO MEET CULTURE?

A lesbian who considers herself a "Christian" speaking on the subject says blatantly, "Many people, mostly Christians of other faiths have said how providential my meeting my first love was coming, as we did from thousands of miles for a chance weekend. They say God used the experience to open my mind; that my first love had to be that powerful to convince me to break with the last vestiges of tradition cherished as truth. I was so devoted to my previous socialization that it took me years to see that this was God’s leading."

Nothing can be more insulting to God than this open defiance as to "call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20); nothing more blasphemous than to label an abominable act as something that God approves. Well, perhaps, the god in this picture isn’t the God of the Bible, the Omniscient Creator, the one who instituted the holy ordinance of marriage in the Garden of Eden. Sometimes we need to admit that "if your god lets you do whatever you want, then that god is really you."

Supporters of this new theology can go as far as misapplying biblical passages to validate their erroneous doctrine. There are several passages from the Holy Writ that have unfortunately been used to support and further their course. In fact, this interpretation of the Bible is meant to meet the prevailing culture so as to make Christianity more "appealing" to the masses. Speaking on the issue of homosexuality in his book "Here We Stand", Dr. Samuel Koranteng Pipim points out, "They put forward some Biblical characters as examples of allegedly healthy and loving homosexual relationships. For example, the friendship love (philia) between Biblical characters like Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1-4) and David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18-20) they interpret to mean sexual love (eros). Consequently, they present these Bible characters as Christian models of lesbian and gay relationships. Advocates often argue that Ruth and Naomi exchanged their lesbian marriage vows when Ruth said to Naomi: "Wherever you go, I will go with you, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God… till death do us part." (Ruth 1:16, 17 Writer’s Translation). Regarding David and Jonathan, advocates of gay theology string together the following interesting argument to suggest that they were two "male lovers": The Bible itself says Jonathan "loved" David (1 Samuel 18:3); David declared publicly that Jonathan’s love was "wonderful" -- suppressing even "the love of women" (2 Samuel 1:23); Jonathan allegedly "stripped" in David’s presence (1 Samuel 18:4); the two "kissed" each other (1 Samuel 20:41)--- terms advocates take to mean sexual encounter. (Readers may wish to read the scriptural account of the relationship between David and Jonathan to ascertain for themselves what the Bible actually says)".

William Norman Pittenger, an Anglican priest, teacher and theologian who before his death on June 19, 1997 served as Vice-chairman and the chairman of the Theological commission of the World Council of Churches advocated that "homosexuality is as honorable as heterosexuality."

John McNeill (1979), a Catholic theologian in throwing his support for Norman Pittenger also said, "I am inclined to think along the same line as Norman Pittenger when he said that between consenting adults, there exist only three classes of sexual relationship: good, better and excellent (the best sexual relation)." While schooling in the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, he is noted to have said that, "The experience of the joy and peace that comes with --- it was a clear indication to me that homosexual love was in itself a good love and could be a holy love."

Louis William Countryman, a priest in the Episcopal Church and professor of Biblical Studies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California openly admits, "But if homosexuality is not necessarily sinful, does it mean it is necessarily good? In a certain way, yes. God said that all of creation was good, including creation’s sexual aspects. Homosexuality is in reality good in the same sense that all sexuality is good. It is one of the great gifts God has given us since the beginning. It is the gift of delight, wonder and of connection to and with one another. It is the gift of transcendence; it is the gift of humanity."

The "big guns" in contemporary Christianity have openly voiced out their support for this paganism dressed up in Christian costumes. No wonder Ellen G. White says this concerning Satan’s intention towards these church leaders, "Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these leaders, he can influence multitudes according to his will" (Spirit of Prophecy book 4, page 413.3). To look to men with such diabolic views is detrimental to our salvation. 28-year old Matthew Vines in a blasphemous statement against Christianity in his book "God and the Gay Christian" said, "It isn’t gay Christians who are sinning against God by entering into monogamous, loving relationships. It is the church that is sinning against them by rejecting their intimate relationships."

What about medical science? What does it say on the subject? The American Psychological Association declared homosexuality to be a mental illness in 1952 using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). By 1974, it declared it as no longer a mental disorder. Various organizations have changed their viewpoints in order to welcome and accommodate the society that cries for acceptance. What about Christianity? Should we lower our standard to ‘convert’ more people? It is needful to reckon the words prophesied by Isaiah the son of Amoz, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8). With God’s word as the basis, it is high time that true Christians arose from the closet of silence and spoke against this heretic doctrine.

NEXT TARGET--- THE SABBATH

Two institutions that received the sanctification of God in the beginning are Marriage and the Sabbath. It is important to acknowledge that if the ordinance of Marriage is under attack, the next on the list is the Sabbath. Speaking on the relationship between the Sabbath and Marriage using the passages in Genesis 2:3 and Genesis 2:24, Dr. William Countryman suggests that the ordinance of Marriage instituted as a monogamous heterosexual relationship was not perpetual as he claims that the Sabbath has been done away with. According to him, this was done not based on any biblical passages but by human tradition, and as such he questions the perpetuity of the Marriage relation established in the Garden of Eden. However, the question that should be answered is, "has the Sabbath been really done away with?" His point therefore is this: if the Sabbath is valid then monogamous heterosexuality should be the only acceptable intimate relationship and homosexuality should not be accepted. The words of Jesus in Matthew 5:17, 18 says "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (For other texts on the perpetuity of the Sabbath read Revelation 1:10; Hebrews 4:9; Isaiah 58:13-14; Acts 13:14; Acts 18:4; Mark 2:27, 28). Even though the word of God is clear that the Sabbath is still binding on God’s people, in the soon coming future we should expect the same worldly system that waged an attack on heterosexual marriage to also begin an attack on the Sabbath; for the two are inseparably linked.

Commenting on the correlation between Marriage and the Sabbath, Ellen G. White, one of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church wrote, "The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God’s purpose they are indissolubly linked together" (Sons and Daughters 181.3). The main issue at stake here is not just marriage, but rather who takes or deserves our worship. It is important to acknowledge that there is a calculated agenda to usurp the authority of God, and it has just begun with the family (i.e. marriage) -- God’s first ordinance to be sanctified in the Garden of Eden; the next target is the Seventh-day Sabbath. Watch out!

DEALING WITH HOMOSEXUALS

"There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). There is a balm in Gilead for anyone who admits that he/she is a gay/lesbian, and that it is sinful. However, we should be careful with dealing with those who openly admit to such a lifestyle but deny its sinfulness. There can be remedy for only the willing in heart--- those who honestly admit to its sinfulness. It is important however to note that holiness is not proportionate to heterosexual desire, and that homosexuality, even though an abomination before God, is forgivable just like any other sin. It is also important to note that everyone experiences temptations, and that it is not God who tempts us to sin. In fact, sin results from the choices we make when met with a tempting situation. We have to understand that God did not orient anyone towards an LGBTQ lifestyle, neither has anyone been created with an LGBTQ genetic predisposition, but that this canker stems from our own sinful nature.

We have to claim the promise that "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us" (Philippians 4:13), and that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). An earnest, persistent and consistent prayer (Luke 18:1) along with daily Bible studies can help us do away with this evil deed. If you are a homosexual, there is still room at the cross for you! Christ came to save sinners which includes all humanity. Let go of this behaviour, and lay hold on Jesus Christ. Amen!

Jude Adjei Asamoah