What the Bible says about same sex marriage?

Recently when the Supreme Court issued the ruling to make same-sex marriage a legal right I’d read articles and blogs by well-meaning Christians who say as Christians we should rejoice with the LGBT community. The articles likened the LGBT community to discriminated groups like African Americans in slavery time: That this ruling should be placed in the same platform as the civil rights movement that saw equal rights for the black—something I wholeheartedly champion—is the point of most of these blogs.

 

Also the writers claimed that as Christians we should always show love to our brothers and sisters (they quoted verses which include the words "brothers and sisters") and that God is love and love prevails over the bigotry against the LGBT community that Christians seem to show.

 

I cannot disagree that we should always show love to all, LGBT and non-LGBT, murderers, and non-murderers, liars and non-liars etc. But as Christians we should live defined by the Word of God. (Provided we believe the Bible is the word of God, and that the Bible trumps all. Some people who call themselves Christians may not believe in “sola scriptura” and live by codes set by other theology and doctrine that is not solely set by the Bible. I believe these people are not Christians (born again)—at least until they repent (“metanoia” in Greek—meaning “changing of the mind”) and believe the Bible is the WORD of God and the words in the WORD must reign supreme over all other books and even our own thinking—mine included.

 

When I refer to Christians here, I do not include these people since I don’t think they are Christians—at least not yet, and hopefully they will be born again and have the Holy Spirit live in them—by then the Holy Spirit will help them to “repent” and they will agree that the Bible is the Word and as Christians believe that “sola-scriptura” is the only code for a Christians to live by.)

 

Using the Scripture alone as a basis for understanding how the Lord wants us to live, believe and think, how do we handle the issue of the LGBT and the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage?

 

Let’s tackle the easiest of the issue—that of love. What does it mean to love someone? It is after all a great commandment for all believers? (Luke 10: 27 "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'…'")

The Love chapter (1 Corinthians 13) qualifies “love” as many thing but in the context we are tackling it also says:

As defined by 1^st Corinthians 13 : 6   Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

Love rejoices in the truth it says. So what does rejoice in truth mean?

According to Strong’s concordance rejoice (Number 4796) sygxaírō  means  "identify with" 

“Truth here according to Strong’s Concordance’s Definition ( number 225) : truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man,

Which means we as Christians must identify with moral or divine truth as defined by God,

And it does not delight in evil or some translation defines as “unrighteousness”. (1 Corinthians 13:6) “Unrighteousness according to Strong’s is:

93 adikía -- the opposite of justice; unrighteousness, as a violation of God's standards (justice) which brings divine disapproval; a count (violation) of God's justice, i.e. what is contrary to His righteous judgments (what He approves).

So from this definition it appears that “justice” is qualified as that which is approved by God. A violation of God’s standards is actually defined as injustice.

Why am I being so pedantic about going back to the original meaning? Because there’s a reason why the OT and NT are written in Hebrew and Greek, and if we want to understand what God’s saying should we not study what was written?

The Bible after all says every “word”, “jot and tittle” are so crucial to understanding that not one should be removed (Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.)

In fact a curse is pronounced upon those who alter or subtract a word, by the way. (Rev 22:19) Again if you are not a Christian reading this I’m not speaking to you—but if someone professes to be a Christian he/she should at least examine each word (in the original Hebrew and Greek) and see if the words be true for himself/ herself.

I hope at least in looking at 1 Corinthians 13:6 “love “ is defined as not celebrating with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow gay marriages. This is not to say we condemn the gays and lesbians, but that if we profess we are Christians and believe every word that proceeds from God’s Word we must not gloss over what God has written in the Bible. And we should not try to convince or deceive other Christians to think it’s okay to rejoice with the Supreme Court decision. It’s one thing to be deceived ourselves but to try to teach other “Christians” with arguments that would lead others astray holds a heavy penalty.

Again God’s words not mine: James 3: 1

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ (again brothers and sisters is not a broad term to include every person on this planet—we only become part of the same family when we have Jesus as our savior and God is our Father,) should we rejoice with the gay agenda? Should we as Christian rejoice with sinful actions?

Some may argue that homosexuality is not a sin. So, next time, let’s look at the Bible again to see how the God of the Bible views homosexuality.

(We will also one day look at whether it’s important for Christians to believe sola scriptura—a topic I hope to blog about in the future.) 

Emma Right is an award winning young adult and children's fiction author. Her fantasy and suspense thrillers for young people have won multiple awards and have been Amazon best sellers. A homeschool mother of five she hopes her books will empower, entertain and enlighten her readers.  Find out more at emmaright.com and get free books for children.

Nothing New

The long, long history of current events.

That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done! 

Shakespeare

 King Solomon proclaimed there is nothing new under the sun. Shakespeare agreed. If these two great men saw the modern world, they might recant. But neither meant to say the world was not locked in forward motion, ever changing, progressing. There is no other way to go. Yet while the human race invents and conquers, the human soul lurches forward and stumbles back. Over and over. We are enlightened. We are ignorant. We accept. We deny. We love. We hate. We submit. We will not be refused. We find our center, our purpose. We do not know who we are. There is nothing new.

I looked to current events to validate the matter, and it happened that the morning I began my search, the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all states. For some, it is a national victory. For others, a step away from progress and toward the crumbling of the constitution. And of America.

But the legal ramifications and societal implications are nothing new. It’s all been brought up before by liberals and conservatives. By the religious and anti-religious. The family units clinging to tradition, and the alternative others demanding their rights. Here’s a short excerpt from a piece written by Roman satirist Juvenal sometime around AD 90:

"I must go down-town tomorrow 
First thing: a special engagement."

"What's happening?"

"Need you ask? 
I'm going to a wedding. Old So-and-so's got his boyfriend 
To the altar at last...." 

Juvenal was not an opinionated Christian standing up for the good folks in the Bible belt. He had no reason to follow God’s plan for marriage as upheld in Scripture. He was just a smart-mouthed, staunch Roman who saw his government letting go its hold on the fundamentals. And he wrote about it with sarcasm and disrespect.

Today’s news is as old as the human heart. The same-sex couples at the altar break no new ground. The voice of disapproval has spoken before. The government might lose its mooring from the foundation. And perhaps it will crumble and become a page in history. There is nothing new under the sun.

But…the sun will not burn forever. And the heart will not circle in this present darkness for all eternity.

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:5