Christ's position on homosexuality

 

Before I commence, please note that this write-up is a joint effort; I combined my write-up  with a friend's to arrive at a conclusion.

I begin.

Today I want to address another popular argument for reconciling homosexuality with true Christianity premised on the objection that Jesus Himself never said a word about homosexuality.

Those who make this argument grant that Paul condemned it as sinful as stated in the books below:

Romans 1:26–27 (NLT) "That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved" 

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (NLT)  "Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God".

1 Timothy 1:9–10 (NLT) "For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching".

People's sentiment behind this objection is that Paul had corrupted the way of life and the ideology that Jesus came to propagate, and that Jesus would have been “loving” and “accepting” of homosexuals, just as they are. The question however is - "Is it true that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality?"

Actually, just like the other objections, there are several reasons for which this objection simply does not hold up to biblical and logical scrutiny. Today I’ll like to address five (5) of them.

• ARGUMENT FROM SILENCE

First, it must be noted that this is an argument from silence, and thus rests on a shaky rational foundation. If you must also know, I'll like to tell you that Jesus also didn’t say a word about PEDOPHILIA, BESTIALITY, or RAPE but, it would be absurd to seek to garner support for any of those abominable acts on the basis of such silence. So, how would you be against RAPE despite the silence argument rationale being  in favour of it and back HOMOSEXUALITY- it doesn't just add up!

• SPECIAL PLEADING

This objection rests upon a premise that the objectors reject—that is, "the Bible is God’s infallible Word". What I meant is: the only source of knowledge for the claim that Jesus never said something about a particular topic is the Bible itself. Now the argument: “Jesus never said anything (implied: as we see recorded in the Bible) about homosexuality" yet, it is the authority of this very Bible that these folks deny when they refuse to accept Paul’s teaching on homosexuality (Isn't that funny?) 

So, the argument itself is a case of special pleading. Those who employ it appeal to an authority that they elsewhere explicitly reject—which is "the Bible as God’s Word".

• NO REASON TO SAY WHAT EVERYONE AGREED UPON

A great portion of Jesus’ ministry related to Israel and those familiar with the Law of Moses. They were living in an age under the Mosaic Covenant, which explicitly condemned homosexuality. Let's see the scriptures:

Leviticus 18:22 (NLT) "Do not practise homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin."

Leviticus 20:13 (NLT). " If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense."

Although, Jesus didn't preach death sentence for capital offences but his teachings flayed sins. 

Unless there was some precipitating issue that would force Jesus to comment on homosexuality, the only reasonable conclusion—especially in light of the

fact that Jesus viewed the Old Testament as the very Word of God (Example can be found in Matthew 22:43) which was infallible (John 10:35)—is that Jesus view of homosexuality was the Old Testament’s view (i.e. God’s view) of homosexuality.

• WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT MARRIAGE

When Jesus spoke about marriage, He affirmed it as an institution between "A MALE and A FEMALE". In Matthew 19, the Pharisees asked Him what He thought about divorce, hoping to trap Him into disagreeing with Moses and therefore finding reason for condemning Him. 

Now, in Jesus’ response about why divorce is a bad thing and a result of the hardness of human hearts, Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who created them from 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 they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” Now, if Jesus wanted to simply and efficiently answer the Pharisees’ question about divorce, He could have done so by skipping immediately to verse 5 which says: “Have you not read that the two become one flesh?” Guess what? That’s really not the answer to the question but an answer to question on divorce. God joins spouses together as one flesh, and man shouldn’t separate what God has joined together. 

So why did He start, from verse 4, by reminding the Pharisees that God made human beings male and female?

It's actually for two reasons, at least. 

1st reason is that, He goes out of His way to make this point in order to underscore that marriage, by its very nature, is a divinely-ordained institution whose originator is the Creator Himself.

2nd reason is that, He made this point, which would otherwise seem superfluous, in order to make it clear that the divinely-ordained institution exists only between one man and one woman. That is,  God created MAN(human) as male and female, and then brought them together in one flesh as the husband-wife relationship illustrates the complementarity and unity-in-diversity that characterizes God’s own nature as one Being who eternally exists in three Persons.

All of the Scripture is the Word of Jesus but all of those responses are really supplementary to this final position below. 

• THE INSPIRATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

While it’s true that we have no record of Jesus speaking about homosexuality during His earthly sojourn, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent to speak His words (John 16:12–14), superintended what Paul wrote so that he wrote exactly what God desired to be written (2 Tim 3:16–17; 2 Pet 1:20–21). See, strictly speaking, Jesus did not stop speaking when Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John finished their Gospel accounts. While Jesus was still on earth, He told the disciples that He had much to say to them, things which they could not bear at that time (John

16:12). They’re all ‘red letters’ But He promised that the Holy Spirit would come to the disciples and would guide them into all truth. This is a promise from Jesus Himself that the word that the Holy Spirit would speak through the disciples would be Christ’s own words. The scripture says in John 16:13 (NLT) that "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future"

In this way, the Spirit would glorify Jesus (John 16:14). And the Holy Spirit did just that. As the Church was being built, the Spirit spoke Jesus’ words to the writers of the New Testament. All Scripture (which, according to 2Peter 3:16, included Paul’s writings) is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)—that is, it is the very Word of God, His own breath. “The question you're likely to ask is, “didn’t men write Scripture?” Yes they did. But the HolySpirit superintended the minds and wills of the writers of Scripture such that the words they wrote under their own cognition were precisely what God wanted to say to His people.

Let's see the scriptures for confirmation. 2Peter 1:20–21 (NLT) says " Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God".

So the Book of Acts, the epistles of Paul, Peter, John, James, and Jude, the letter to the Hebrews, and the Revelation given to the Apostle John are all the word of God Himself. And, since God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Spirit, and since Jesus is Himself God the Son, all of the New Testament is the Word of Christ. Even the words not appearing in red letters are nevertheless the Lord of the Church speaking to His Church by means of the HolySpirit through the agency of human writers.

So did Jesus address homosexuality? 

YES, HE DID! 

He did so by sending His Spirit to superintend the writings of Paul such that what Paul wrote was precisely what Jesus intended, so much that it could be said to be “God-breathed.” 

JESUS CONDEMNED HOMOSEXUALITY BY MEANS OF PAUL’S CONDEMNATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY. And therefore, to deny that homosexuality is sinful is to deny Jesus Himself, and is irreconcilable with true biblical principles. 

I LOVE JESUS!!!