Homosexuality and Gay Marriage

The topic of homosexual behavior and “gay” marriage has certainly been one of the major news headlines in recent times—particularly driven by the agenda of the president of the United States. Because these topics are being discussed in various ways (for instance in relation to the Boy Scouts of America), it is important to remember God’s authoritative Word on this subject.

There are many passages of Scripture that make it very clear that marriage is only between one man and one woman. The following are two key passages:

And He [Jesus] answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4–6)

“Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.” (Malachi 2:14–15)

Here we see one of the primary reasons God made marriage: to produce godly offspring. And to do this, a reference is made to “one”—the “one flesh” in Genesis 2:24, which is based on the fact the woman (wife) was made from the man (Genesis 2:21–23).

I also thought it would be good to link to an article that deals with particular aspects of this topic. For example, in the following paragraph, Kevin DeYoung, a pastor in Michigan, addresses the oft-repeated argument that since Jesus never said anything against homosexuality, we shouldn’t make “a big deal out of something Jesus hardly cared about”:

First, an evangelical understanding of inspiration does not allow us to prize instructions in the gospel more than instructions elsewhere in Scripture. If we read about homosexuality from the pen of Paul in Romans it has no less than authority or relevance than if we read it from the lips of Jesus in Matthew. All Scripture is breathed out by God, not just the red letters. God’s gracious self-disclosure comes to us through the Word made flesh and by the inscripturated word of God. These two modes of revelation reveal to us one God, one truth, one way, and one coherent set of promises, threats, and commands to live by. We must not seek to know the Word who is divine apart from the divine words of the Bible, and we ought not read the words of the Bible without an eye to the Word incarnate. When it comes to seeing God and his truth in Christ and in Holy Scripture, one is not more reliable, more trustworthy, or more relevant than the other.

I love the reminder that the words of Jesus are not just those in red in the so-called “red letter” editions of the Bible! The entire Bible is the Word of God—the words of Jesus. I encourage you to read the entire article titled “Common Fault Lines in Maintaining an Evangelical Approach to Homosexuality.”

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying, Ken