“Christian standards are defined by the revealed Word of God in Scripture. Men can accept God’s prescriptive will for behavior or they can reject it, but they cannot tamper with it. If the biblical witness offends them, then it is God whom they must blame and reproach.”—Greg L. Bahnsen1
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17; LEB).
INTRODUCTION:
To whom do receive our identity from? What do we draw our identity from? Are we cosmic accidents? Are we autonomous beings?
I was asked a question a week ago, “Can a homosexual be a Christian?” In my gut I have an initial reaction. I have convictions that drive my interpretation of the facts. I realize that we are living in a time when the expression of such convictions can get you slandered, blocked, cause you to lose your source of income, drive a wedge between people you used to call friends, some even members of your own family. To speak what you believe in the public sector has always had repercussions. The probability that something you say, something you believe, something you hold dear will be viewed as offensive to another is without question not a probability, but a statement of fact. In the real world your thoughts spoken and acted upon will cause minor discomfort or downright outrage in others. And, just so as not to confuse the reader there is admittedly a scale of progression/regression on just how others will react to what you say and do.
But as a Christian, what ought your response be? As a Christian, where should your thoughts and actions in the public sector demonstrate your allegiance? The apostle Paul says,
“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Gal 1:10; NASB)
“...so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts” (1Thess. 2:4).
If we profess the name of Jesus Christ, if we claim to believe in His work before, on, and after the cross, if we testify that God has raised Him from the dead—a righteous offering, substituted for unrighteous sinners—then we ought to be seeking the favor of God, rather than, trying to please people. For we know that God is judge and all aspects of our lives are naked before His scales of justice, in which the sinner who is saved by grace, has been saved not for our sake but for His. We are His workmanship, made for good works that He has prepared beforehand (Eph. 2:10). Therefore, what we say and do is to be a reflection of His thoughts.
What have we been saved from? Is it not sin? Are we not sinners? Who then do we identify with after being washed in His blood and sanctified by His Spirit? Do we not identify as recipients of His grace? Do we not say that “formerly” we were men (people) “such as these” but no more (1Cor. 6:11). Knowing that
“...the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God” (1Cor. 6: 9-10).
Note that there is a distancing from what we formerly were in relation to what we are now. Our identity rests in Christ, not in our former life. As the Lord notes:
“No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
In other words, you are not fit for a godly life if you, after attempting to live a life for God, turn back yearning for the life which was left behind. An attitude of turning back is reminiscent of Lot’s wife when she was told to flee from Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Israelites who yearned for the leeks and onions of Egypt rather than obeying the Word of God.
Current Cultural Considerations…
Let us now return to our current culture’s disposition or attitude on the matter. We are now being told that to have “Pride” in the type of sin that God condemns as abominations (tow`ebah; H8441) perversions of the natural/created order of things) is a loving and righteous thing. We are being told that to agree with this position is saintly, but to deny it is one of the vilest positions a person can take.
I want to discuss the idea of a hateful message in an upcoming post, but for now let us focus on the identity argument being used in a variety of venues. Specifically, let us consider the statement “Gay Christian.” Can someone be “gay” and still be a Christian? Can you be a murderer? Or a liar? Or a back-biting slanderer? You may be at any given moment of any particular day the type of individual that falls prey to such sins.
For example, you may be put in an awkward position where something you did or said is being called into question, and in the heat of the moment “lie” in order to cover up an embarrassing aspect of your behavior. Is that lie a sin? Yes. Should that be something you repent of? Certainly. In the same way you might have to repent for punching a co-worker in the face because they did something that warranted your anger, but not the manner in which you exercised it (displayed it).
We are commanded to be self-controlled. Emotions are normal, but they are not to control our activity in the world. We are tasked with mastering them, disciplining ourselves (privately and in public) for as Christians we do not represent ourselves, but Christ Jesus.
The point I am attempting to make is rather plain. We all sin. Sinners fall prey to selfishness and vanity. But as a Christian we at the same time profess that we have been saved by grace. Saved from what? Delivered from what? From being a slave to sin. No longer are we to be carried away by every passion that is aroused in our flesh. When we do fall prey to such things and they have been brought to our attention (either by our conscience or some others lovingly challenging us) we confess them and repent of them. That is, we admit they are wrong—something that ought not to be done—and then, turn from them (i.e., repent) with the intention of not participating, let alone pursuing them in our daily life.
However, this is quite the opposite of someone who calls themselves a “Gay Christian.” In this case, the sin is not being detached from our identity in Christ, rather it is being wedded to it: I’m a “Lying Christian,” a “Murdering Christian,” an “Adulterous Christian,” a “Covetous Christian.” Such statements are oxymoron’s. They are antithetical to one another. If we identify with Christ, applying His namesake to our own—i.e., calling ourselves “Christian”—then we cannot also apply various sinful actions/thoughts, behaviors/desires to our identity.
Either we are a Christian or a sinner. Either we find our deliverance in Christ via the Holy Spirit, or we deny the need of salvation from them. And in case someone thinks my reasoning is fallacious because I keep saying it is “Either this or that,” when it comes to our walk with God that is exactly how He lays it out.
“He who is not with Me is against Me” (Luke 11:23a; cf. Matt 12:30; Mark 9:40).
The Lord speaks in no uncertain terms here. There is no neutrality. Either a man (or woman) walks with the Lord Jesus Christ taking on His personage as their personage, having His identity shape their own; or, they walk in opposition to Him. This is the meaning of being baptized in His Name, the Name of God (Matt. 28:19). If we are baptized in His death (Rom. 6:4a), then we cannot allow “sin [to] reign in our mortal body…obeying its lusts” (Rom. 6:12); for we have been raised in Him to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4b)
Our current cultural disposition want us to say that you can do both. That we can walk in newness of life in Christ, taking on His identity adopting the name Christian, but in the same breath hold onto those sins we personally cherish. Make no mistake about it, the sodomite of today loves their sin. And they demand that others do to, lest their wrath is kindled against us for not acquiescing to their view of reality. Regardless of the vitriol directed our way for denying the contradiction they seek to embrace, the truth needs to be declared.
Closing Remarks…
It is impossible to be a “Gay Christian.” Impossible because the two views are diametrically opposed to one another. It is the attempt to mix and hold together that which cannot be mixed. If a person desires to come to Christ, then they must be like Christian in Pilgrims Progress and keep their heavy baggage nailed to the cross. For Christ died to put to death that sin in us, not to parade it around with bright colors calling it what it isn’t.
ENDNOTE:
1Greg L. Bahnsen, Homosexuality:A Biblical View (Nacogdoches, TX: Covenant Media Press, 2011 [Digital Copy Right edition]), 11, PDF E-Book.
Kristafal's Musings 