Posted on 08/10/2012 6:48:52 AM PDT by Graybeard58
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP) -- Today it is popular among those promoting same-sex marriage to say that Jesus never addressed the issue, that He was silent on the subject.
Those who affirm the historical and traditional understanding of marriage between a man and woman often are admonished to go and read the Bible more carefully. If we do so, we are told, we will see that Jesus never addressed the issue. So, the question that I want to raise is, "Is this assertion correct?" Is it indeed the fact that Jesus never addresses the issue of same-sex marriage?
When one goes to the Gospels to see exactly what Jesus did say, one will discover that He addressed very clearly both the issues of sex and marriage. He addresses both their use and misuse. And, as He speaks to both subjects, He makes it plain that issues of the heart are of critical importance.
First, what did Jesus say about sex? Jesus believed that sex is a good gift from a great God. He also believed that sex was a good gift to be enjoyed within a monogamous, heterosexual covenant of marriage. On this He is crystal clear. In Mark 7 Jesus addresses the fact that all sin is ultimately an issue of the heart. Jesus was never after behavioral modification. Jesus was always after heart transformation. Change the heart and you truly change the person.
Thus, when He lists a catalog of sins in Mark 7:21-22, He makes it clear that all of these sins are ultimately matters of the heart. It is the idols of the heart that Jesus is out to eradicate. Among those sins of the heart that often give way to sinful actions He would include both sexual immorality and adultery (Mark 7:21). The phrase "sexual immorality," in a biblical context, would speak of any sexual behavior outside the covenant of marriage between a man and woman. Therefore, Jesus viewed pre-marital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior as sinful. And, He knew that the cure for each is a transformation of the heart made possible by the good news of the Gospel. The Gospel changes us so that now we are enabled to do not what we want, but what God wants. Here we find real freedom and joy.
Second, what about the issue of marriage? Is it truly the case that Jesus never spoke to the issue in terms of gender? The answer is a simple no. He gives His perspective on this when He addresses the issue in Matthew 19:4-6. There, speaking to the institution of marriage, Jesus is clear when He says, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." That Jesus was committed to heterosexual marriage could not be more evident. A man is to leave his parents and be joined to a woman who becomes his wife. This is heterosexual marriage. That He also was committed to the permanence and fidelity of marriage is clear as well.
So, how might we sum up the issue? First, Jesus came to deliver all people from all sin. Such sin, He was convinced, originated in and was ultimately a matter of the heart. Second, Jesus made it clear that sex is a good gift from a great God, and this good gift is to be enjoyed within heterosexual covenantal marriage. It is simply undeniable that Jesus assumed heterosexual marriage as God's design and plan. Third, Jesus sees all sexual activity outside this covenant as sinful. Fourth, it is a very dangerous and illegitimate interpretive strategy to bracket the words of Jesus and read into them the meaning you would like to find. We must not isolate Jesus from His affirmation of the Old Testament as the Word of God nor divorce Him from His first century Jewish context. Fifth, and this is really good news, Jesus loves both the heterosexual sinner and the homosexual sinner and promises free forgiveness and complete deliverance to each and everyone who comes to Him.
John 7 tells the story of a woman caught in adultery. The religious legalists want to stone her, but Jesus intervenes and prevents her murder. He then looks upon the woman and, with grace and tenderness, tells her that He does not condemn her. Then He says to her, "go and sin no more." In Matthew 11:28 Jesus speaks to every one of us weighed down under the terrible weight and burden of sin. Listen to these tender words of the Savior, "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." This is the hope that is found in Jesus. This is the hope found in the Gospel. Whether one is guilty of heterosexual or homosexual sin, one will find grace, forgiveness and freedom at the foot of the cross where the ground is always level.
When I came to fully trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the age of 20, I determined that I wanted to think like Jesus and live like Jesus for the rest of my life. When it comes to sex I want to think like Jesus. When it comes to marriage I want to think like Jesus. That means I will affirm covenantal heterosexual marriage. It also means loving each and every person regardless of their lifestyle choices. It means, as His representative, proclaiming His Gospel and extending the transforming grace of the Gospel to others that takes us where we are, but wonderfully and amazingly, does not leave us there. That is a hope and a promise that followers of Jesus gladly extend to everyone, because we have been recipients of that same amazing grace.
Daniel Akin is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
All because Henry XIII wanted a divorce and the Pope wouldn't grant it, so he started his own church. It's slid downhill from there.
Even among FReepers, there is a wide swath of opinion from traditional conservative to self-indulgent libertarian. As with any moral question, it comes down to your own relationship with God. First, do as He taught and read the scriptures. Second, pray for guidance and watch and listen carefully for Him to reveal himself.
Since moral questions come down to one’s own relationship with God, why does someone’s religion count so much? How can anyone claim to have the right moral answer? Wouldn’t they all be equal, just dependent upon the individual and his relationship with God?
That is a good question. If you read the New Testament start to finish, you find that Christians are to live in relationship with one another so that they can help each other and develop the community to support the broad agreements in the Old and New Testaments, which would be the Ten Commandments. Jesus was God made Man; he came to earth through a mortal woman to live as a person whom mere mortals could relate to. He taught his apostles and disciples a finer interpretation of the divine law, and brought the concept of individual responsibility and conscience into sharp focus.
The New Testament makes clear that we are all created as unique beings with unique gifts and talents, with God's purpose to make each of us part of His greater plan. Because he made none of us perfect, we are to live in relationship to others so we can combine our gifts to accomplish bringing about His kingdom. This is another reason to be a member of a church group, large or small, bearing in mind that no human is perfect -- all of us fall short of the glory of God.
However, church members can help one another, provide a way to remain accountable for our actions, and importantly, provide an environment in which to raise children or support seekers who are not yet ready to make a full commitment to Christ. No one can be born a Christian -- each must accept the great gift of salvation in his or her heart by asking Christ to accept oneself, sins and all, into His "body" of believers. If sincere, this "conversion", even among those born into a nominally Christian family, is the beginning of living for Christ's will instead of one's own will.
As for moral questions coming down to the individual, this takes place when the great Commandments and the Bible-based teachings of the church community still leave you with questions, or some specific dilemma based on your God-given individual life, such as having a child in trouble with the law, or being tempted to adultery when one's spouse is terminally ill. In these and all situations that cause us concern, we pray for guidance and the course of action that will not disappoint Our Maker. Or, on realizing that we have made a moral error, we pray for forgiveness.
I pray to Our Father to help you find your path and a suitable community of believers to help your journey to the "peace that passes understanding" -- the peace of Christ. Write to me any time, stuartcr.
I believe I have found my path, thanks.
Excellent. Godspeed.
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