Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Is homosexuality a sin? As you may know, that's being hotly debated in our world even within the church today. Here is Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Homosexuality is not bad just because it's forbidden. It's forbidden because it's bad. It cuts to the core of God's creation and intention for one man, one woman, one lifetime. Not only is it declared sin and forbidden, but it also distorts and disrupts the very picture of marriage as it relates to Jesus Christ's relationship with His redeemed ones, the church. It distorts the reality of what God has established in His Word.

Guest (Male): Hello friend, we are so glad you joined us as we present another edition of Abounding Grace. As we continue through First Samuel, we're going to pause to address a very relevant issue springing from First Samuel 18.

Some have looked at David and Jonathan's relationship and drawn the conclusion that they were homosexuals and thus God approves of it. But is that a fair and accurate rendering of the text? Well, today Pastor Ed Taylor will set the record straight, not based on his own feelings on the matter or the cultural norms, but rather on the authoritative Word of God.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles, would you, to First Samuel chapter 18. This is one of the places that we will be in our Bible study today. Again, the Bible study is entitled "David and Jonathan Were Not Homosexuals." Here in First Samuel chapter 18, it's very important for us to pause from our regular verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter study through First Samuel and ask a very important question that is being asked throughout our culture and society today. And the question is this: Does God approve of homosexuality?

In particular, due to the text, we could also ask the question, were David and Jonathan homosexuals? Some might think, what does that have to do with our Bible study in First Samuel? Well, the Bible has much to say about our life and relationships, both with one another and with Him. It's very unfortunate that this portion of the Bible, as well as some other verses later on in chapter 20, as well as in Second Samuel chapter 1, have been misused and twisted and used as false pieces of evidence that indeed God does approve of homosexuality. While our culture is changing all around us, we can stand fast upon the unchanging Word of God and gain the truth from God, not bring truth to God.

Now again, before we get into the depth of our Bible study tonight, let's cover a few things just at the outset. Number one, this is an adult-themed Bible study. So if you have small kids in the sanctuary, you'll want to use our children's ministry. Secondly, the topic of sin is not a popular one today. It's not a popular one to focus upon, especially when it touches close to home, especially when it touches close to people that we care about, people that we work with, people that we love, people that are in my family. It will be uncomfortable for some to hear the things that the Bible has to say.

Thirdly, if you're caught up in sexual sin of any kind, God loves you and He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for you. There is not one sexual sin that is brought up above another. They all have the same penalty. As a pastor and as a man, I don't judge you. I don't condemn you. I love you and I care for you enough to take Bible in hand and turn its pages and give you not only the crux of what's being taught, but the context and the understanding so you can take what you believe and you can take what you've been told and you can compare it to the Scriptures.

God rescued me from a horrific past life of sin that without the power and the grace of God, I wouldn't be standing here before you. While my life did not navigate through the homosexual lifestyle, I was involved in enough sins that would bring the judgment of God upon my life should I have died in those sins. So in many cases, I'm no different than you. In many ways, my life is no better than you. As we talk about these things, lest there be some kind of resistance, if it wasn't for the grace of God and if someone that was a friend of mine didn't tell me the truth, I'd be in the same condition as I was living against God, not wanting anything to do with God, except if you would have asked me, I would have told you I was a Christian.

The Bible says this: God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. That's the purpose of Jesus Christ. The words that I share with you today are not hate speech. They're not words of bigotry. Those are false accusations. These are words of truth. Jesus didn't come to condemn you and yet when we talk about such subjects, what happens inside of you—and this is about any sin, friend—what happens inside of you, if there is any softness to your heart still left, which many do have, there is a condemnation that you feel. There is a weight that you carry. The consequences of sin are heavy. They're hard. They're difficult.

Do you know what the Bible says? The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. You carry around in your behavior contrary to God's heart for you, you carry around a death sentence, and that's hard to do. At times you'll be so heavy you'll carry, you'll point the finger at other people and accuse them of hating you or of speaking words of bigotry, and it's not true. It's simply not true. I ask you to consider what the Bible has to say on this topic. I consider you to receive the words and stick with me all the way to the end.

You see, when I mention the sin of homosexuality, I'm sure to get all sorts of responses. Some will be very angry and say it's an alternative, acceptable lifestyle. Others will answer, "I was born that way and I don't have a choice." Now the main response, almost always in the context of a relationship with God, is that when the sin of homosexuality is mentioned, automatically there's a response that says it's not a sin and God is okay with it and God created me that way, therefore He's okay with it.

According to God, as revealed through His Scriptures, living in the unrepentant lifestyle of homosexuality is just as spiritually deadly as living in the unrepentant sins of thievery, lying, adultery, fornication, you name the sin. Living in unrepentant sin puts you in a very dangerous, precarious place with your spiritual life. You see, the sin of homosexuality isn't new. Sexual sin isn't new. There's sexual sin of those that are listening to me right now. The sin of fornication, which is sexual sin outside of marriage. The sin of adultery, which is sexual sin with someone outside of your marriage.

Sexual sin isn't new. It's been with us from the beginning of time. It was especially rampant in the ancient world. The Roman Empire, the world that Jesus came and taught the truth to and gave love and came with a message of hope and peace, was rampant. The Roman Empire was filled with sexual sin. Yet what's different about it today is that many Christians think it should be accepted as an alternative lifestyle and is no longer in the categories of sin.

You have to understand the church in Corinth. The city of Corinth, which was a real city not unlike Denver or Aurora or Los Angeles or Las Vegas or any city for that matter, was filled with sexual sin, filled with homosexual sin, filled with homosexual prostitution as well as heterosexual prostitution. It was in that city that the Gospel came with such great power that men and women turned away from their past sinful behavior, their past sexual sin behavior, their past any sinful behavior. And the Bible will say, as we'll see in a moment, "And such were some of you." It was their past.

They left it in their past. They repented from it and turned from it. Whole sections of the letter to the church in Corinth known as First Corinthians were written to highlight and identify the beautiful life-changing work of the grace of God and He used them as an example. Without having a show of hands today, I'm certain that we could say the same for many that are listening to me: such were some of you, but you were washed, you were changed, you were transformed by the grace and the love of Jesus Christ.

What's different today is it's becoming more and more popular to accept this sinful behavior in our culture. Many no longer believe it's a sin. Many in our churches today think it's simply another way to express committed love. I read recently one popular news anchor declared, and I quote, "We don't get our rights from God, but from man." And that therein lies the problem with the thinking of the world today. Our rights don't come from man. Our rights come from God. As the phrase has often been said, these are God-given. See, if God gives the rights, then God can define the rights.

And when you remove God from the equation as our culture has on this topic, then rights can be established by whoever has the loudest voice, albeit a small vocal minority. You and I need to be careful that even when there are vocal majorities or minorities, a majority or minority does not establish the truth. Only God through His Word establishes the truth, and we yield to Him. You see, even churches, now we know that many of the mainline churches have changed their bylaws and established allowing all sorts of things related to homosexuality no longer being a sin.

But now just in the news this week, we're beginning to see what is termed evangelical churches begin to cave under the pressure. Let me quote to you from an article I recently read in Time Magazine of the church called GracePointe Church in Nashville, and I quote from the pastor and the leadership there: "Our position that these siblings of ours, other than heterosexual, our position that these siblings cannot have the full privileges of membership but only partial membership has changed," he said as many in the congregation stood to their feet and applauded and others sat in silence.

"Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill, and willingness. That is expected of all. Full membership means being able to serve in leadership, give all of your gifts to, and receive all the sacraments—not only communion and baptism, but child dedication and marriage." This is another example of a church that has abandoned the Word of God and caved under the pressure. It shouldn't surprise us as the pressure, maybe on a smaller scale, you can even see in your own life where pressure has caused you to make a decision that wasn't quite clear in the Word of God.

And you look back, you go, "I never should have made that decision. I should have stayed the course. I should have kept my eyes on the Lord. I should have held to not just holiness, but purity." From God's perspective, all the way back in the Levitical law—hold your place in First Samuel; we're not there yet, but we will address that text—go back to Leviticus with me in Leviticus chapter 18. All the way back as God establishes the holy law as the children of Israel are leaving, establishing a new life, they've been delivered from Egypt.

In Leviticus chapter 18 verse 22, the Bible says this: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." Chapter 20 verse 13, same book, Leviticus chapter 20 verse 13. Let's go back for the sake of context to verse 10, if you would. "The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."

"If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." Later in Romans chapter 1, Paul will declare as inspired by the Holy Spirit that homosexuality is a very low point for a person in a downward spiral of twisted sin. It's forbidden. Why? Well, like all sin, homosexuality is not bad just because it's forbidden. It's forbidden because it's bad.

It cuts to the core of God's creation and intention for one man, one woman, one lifetime. Not only is it declared sin and forbidden, but it also distorts and disrupts the very picture of marriage as it relates to Jesus Christ's relationship with His redeemed ones, the church. It distorts the reality of what God has established in His Word. Now it's important to pause here for a second and answer a fundamental question and a common accusation whenever anyone opens up to the book of Leviticus to establish a moral statement.

Looking at the law, the prohibition—and this is what folks will say to you in preparation for the dialogue—looking at the law, the prohibition against homosexuality is given alongside laws like eating pork and shrimp and even the mixture of fibers within the clothing that you're to wear. And so what you'll hear is, "Hey, how could you say that homosexuality is a sin? Does that mean I can't eat shrimp anymore?" Now that is a leap, of course, and a lack of understanding of the true teachings of the Scriptures, a lack of understanding of the distinction between God's moral law and God's ceremonial law.

Because there's also the penalty of being put to death. So some will even go to that extreme and say, "Now wait a minute, why aren't adulterers being put to death today? Why aren't homosexuals being put to death today?" or any of those types of things. And the answer to that one is a very easy one: Jesus Christ was put to death for that sin and by faith in Him, His life and His death and resurrection can be exchanged for your life and your eternity. But here's the thing. It really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter in any way whatsoever how sin is dealt with only relationally to eternity because the Bible says that we will all die, every single one of us.

We will all shed this body. Why? Every single funeral that we ever attend reminds us that the penalty of sin is still in effect because the penalty of sin is not just physical death, but also eternal death. And so in relationship to the penalty, the penalty's now been taken by Jesus Christ and God graciously is waiting for you to repent of sin and submit yourself to the God who created you. But secondly, we need to understand the distinction between the ceremonial law as well as God's moral law.

Ceremonial law is temporary. God's moral law is unchanging. God's moral law because it's tied to His character. Now the Metropolitan Church of Christ is a church that is dedicated primarily to those in the homosexual lifestyle. From their own writings, I quote: "Christians today do not follow the rules and the rituals described in Leviticus. But some ignore its definitions of their own uncleanness while quoting Leviticus to condemn homosexuals." Number one, we don't use the Scriptures to condemn homosexuals. I made that clear in the beginning.

I use the Scriptures as a mirror reflective upon your life. I don't condemn you and neither does Jesus. So again, as the topic is being defined by those that are defensive, they begin to lay things and I'll just correct things as we go along for the sake of those that are listening in very intently. We don't condemn you. "Such abuse of Scripture distorts the Old Testament meaning and denies a New Testament message. 'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female is abomination.' These words occur solely in the Holiness Code of Leviticus, a ritual manual for Israel's priests."

"Their meaning can only be fully appreciated in the historical cultural context of the ancient Hebrew people. Israel is in a unique place as the chosen people of the one God and was to avoid the practices of other peoples and gods." It's interesting as you read this carefully that you see that there is a moral stance being taken. It just is a moral stance just a little bit outside of the current behavior. Because as they write this, they say, "Well, look, you're misusing Leviticus and you're distorting it and it was for the Hebrew people to stay holy and pure and avoid the practices and the peoples of false gods."

To which I would say, yes. God's heart has always been for a people to Himself. The priests only acted as representatives, representing God to the people and people to God. They weren't a class of people in and of themselves that didn't live by the same standards of everyone else. I go on. "The rituals and the rules found in the Old Testament were given to preserve the distinctive characteristics of the religion and the culture of Israel." That's partially true. They were also given to reflect the holiness and the purity of a righteous God.

"But as stated in Galatians chapter 3, Christians are no longer bound by these Jewish laws, but by faith in as we live in Jesus Christ, not in Leviticus. To be sure, ethical concerns apply to all cultures." Yes. The big question is if ethical concerns apply to all cultures, this is the question: who defines what ethical issues apply? I suggest that it's not man and his behavior. I suggest you that God has, will, and forever define the holiness and purity that He requires from His creation.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Ed Taylor on Abounding Grace. And there's obviously much more to this message, which we will save for you next time. You can hear it in its entirety online at aboundinggraceradio.com or through the Calvary Church app.

Pastor Ed, I think it's safe to say there is probably someone who is listening right now that is involved in a homosexual relationship or having a same-sex attraction. What would you say to them if they feel as though they were born this way and is there a way out?

Pastor Ed Taylor: Well, we don't have enough time truly at the end of our study today to go deep into this question. But if this question applies to you and you're wrestling with the sin of homosexuality, you're wrestling with the temptation of same-sex attraction, or I would even broaden it just for a little bit and say any kind of lustful sexual sinful temptation, resist it steadfast in the faith. Ask the Lord to give you the strength to walk in the purity that is available to you by faith in Jesus Christ.

It is a complex topic in some ways because you have to untangle all of the lies that have been shared in our culture. The issue itself is not very challenging. God's ideal is one biological man, one biological woman for one lifetime. That's marriage. And that's God's will and desire from a biblical perspective. It's a very simple instruction and that sex is to be reserved within the context of marriage. But it does become complex and nuanced as we untangle all of the different belief systems to get you to a place where you'll trust God at His word.

What's best for you is how He created you. And "born this way," truly we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. While I always share with our church, this was not a prevailing sin in my life ever, zero at this level, but I also had a lot of other sin that was in my life holding me back from God. I wasn't born again until I was in my early 20s. So you could say, "Well, I was born that way too." And I was. I was born in sin and I was born resistant to God.

So, technically I guess you could say we were born this way. But if you use that to say, "Well, I was born opposite of how God designed me and this is just God's fault and God made me that way," that's not true. You can always contact us. We'd love to talk to you and talk you through. We got a lot of great resources. You can email me directly. I have a list of resources that I can send to you free of charge: websites, people that have come out of the homosexual lifestyle, books, videos, you name it.

We have all sorts of resources I love to send to you, links and connection points that you could get them. If you get your eyes on the Lord and you're born again, here's what the Bible says: the Bible says that you're a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new. And you can trust Him with that.

Guest (Male): Thanks Ed. And we'd really like to hear from you. It's helpful to know how these studies are impacting your life and that would be a real encouragement to Pastor Ed and the team. If you're in need of prayer, please leave your requests as well. There's a place to contact us at aboundinggraceradio.com. Abounding Grace is supported by listeners just like you and we are grateful for those that come alongside us with either a one-time gift or ongoing support.

We'd like to say thanks today for a gift of $25 or more by sending you "The End Times in Chronological Order" by Ron Rhodes. How do Old Testament and New Testament prophecies fit together? Why can you trust a literal interpretation of the Scriptures? These questions and more are answered in "The End Times in Chronological Order." Call us at 877-30-GRACE or visit our e-store at calvaryco.store. And then come back next time where we'll continue our study of First Samuel with Pastor Ed Taylor. That's right here on Abounding Grace.