The duty of defining sin and righteousness is an important one. The prophet Isaiah gives a grave warning to those who purposefully confuse these categories: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20[1]. Sin is equivalent to darkness and bitterness, while righteousness is as light and sweetness. Also, the Gospel can only reach those who see their sin for what it is and are not blind to their own corruption (John 9:41). So, without shame, we must diligently search out and declare the righteous standard of God in His word for God’s glory and our neighbor’s eternal good.
From the beginning, God made His plan clear for the family. In the sixth day of creation, as the pinnacle of His work, God created one man and one woman (Genesis 1:27). Both were created in the image of God, but each had a different role to play in the commandment given to them. The commandment was, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” God created the world and filled it with animals, but He only created two humans. These two were not to just live eternally and subdue God’s creation on their own. They were commanded to have children, and, in imagery that they would be familiar with, they were to abound in fruit, like a good tree multiplies fruit although it is just one plant. This command could not be obeyed by any other combination of people. It was only one man and one woman that could be fruitful and multiply.
God intends to make this so clear, that in the next chapter He calls woman, a “suitable” helper for man (Genesis 2:18). Suitable because she can help man to fill the earth with more image-bearers. Another man would not have been a suitable helper for this task. So, God causes a deep sleep to fall on Adam and takes from his rib to create a woman, and He brings her to Adam. God, immediately after creating the first woman, creates the first family and makes their union the norm for all time, saying “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage is, therefore, the God-created union of one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation and resulting expansion of God’s glory.
All sexual activity outside of marriage is described throughout scripture as “sexual immorality” (Hebrews 13:4).
So, the question about the morality of homosexuality is easily answered. Since there is no warrant for homosexual marriage, there is no allowance for homosexual acts or desires. It is no surprise, then, that homosexuality is condemned in many places in scripture in different verbiage (Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:1). The correct moral response from a man who lusts after another man is the same as the unmarried man who lusts after a single woman: Repent and trust Christ for forgiveness through His sacrifice. Although there are greater and lesser levels of perversion (e.g. pedophilia is more perverse than adultery), our response must be the same, and we must all find that, in Christ, we have a faith that brings us into “equal standing” because of the “righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1 ESV).
By God’s grace, homosexuality is not a majority practice in our culture. But the widespread celebration of sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is. Christians should mourn over this and boldly declare the word of God to a sinful culture. We must not be silent when confronted with sin. John the Baptist corrected Herod over his sexual immorality (Matthew 14:4). Paul publicly called the Athenian idolaters to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus (Acts 22:16-31). Our Lord Jesus was hated because He testified of the world that their deeds are evil (John 7:7). We cannot escape being hated for calling sin sin. The response to godly correction tells us more about the person being corrected than the person correcting (Proverbs 9:8). We must love all people by calling them to repentance and not superficially calming their fears, saying that they have peace with God when they do not:
“They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They certainly were not ashamed,
And they did not know how to feel dishonor;
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,”
Says Yahweh.” Jeremiah 8:11-12
God’s future judgment does not go away because sinners ignore it or professing Christians lie about it. Therefore, let every believer be made ready to fight for souls by putting on, as shoes for our feet, the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). We must preach to all, even to spiritually deaf ears, and not lose heart since we know that, in the Lord, our labor is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). As Spurgeon said,
“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”[2]
[1] Unless otherwise noted, the Bible quotations and references use the LSB.
[2] Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Putpit, Vol. VII, 11
