The other day I heard a political candidate mention that for him Romans the first chapter is an obscure passage and the Sermon on the Mount shows him that some form of same-sex marriage is fine with Jesus.
On hearing this, I wrote a good friend of mine, who knows the Word and asked him to find the passage in the Sermon on the Mount that points to this interpretation.
The same morning a friend of mine mentioned that “separation of church and state” was in our Constitution. I printed a copy of our Bill of Rights and showed it to her. To her surprise those words were not there.
Here is my point, those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing will lead an uninformed populous down a ruinous road. They are able to do this because those who know better remain silent.
When those with an immoral agenda speak the lies and we do not challenge them with truth, the lie, over time, becomes the truth and the truth becomes the lie.
My friend just knew the Constitution had the words “separation of church and state” in it. In everyway, she is an intelligent person. She is one of those who heard the lie enough and believed it. I do not fault her. This is what happens when, we the church, will not take stands against these untruths.
So back to this politician and his misinterpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 6:8,10 NIV).
Jesus warned us saying, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven” (Matthew 7:15, 16, 21).
And as far as Romans being obscure, here is what it says: “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” (Rom. 1:26-27 NIV).
This supposed obscure chapter says when people no longer remain thankful toward God, they begin to worship creation rather than the Creator. In essence they lose sight of the true God and turn to worshipping false creature type idols. Creation becomes more important than the Creator. Thus, they no longer serve the true God nor are they thankful toward Him.
What follows, according to Romans? Homosexuality follows, where men burn after men and women after women. God calls this perversion. What does perversion mean? It is something we do that contradicts or opposes what is right or good. This is what homosexuality does. It perverts sex. It takes what God created for man to enjoy, within the marriage bond, with a woman, and perverts it.
What happens to those who commit these contradictory acts? God’s Word says, “…since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”
Now, you might say, “Wait just a second, what about those who say they know Jesus.” I would answer this way. I do not know whether Jesus is their Savior or not. This, I cannot say. However, they have the Word. They can read the same passages I read. They can read the Old Testament Law, where man is not to have sex with a man as he does with a woman. God calls this act detestable (Lev. 18:22). They can read the New Testament where it says homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God, (1 Cor. 6:9)
If homosexuality were equal to heterosexuality, then God would have said so. He did not. His Word is just the opposite. No matter how some try to call the first chapter in Romans “obscure,” it is not obscure to those who have the Spirit of God in them. It is only obscure to those who are blind to the truth.
The Apostle John writes, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 Jo 3:9-20 NIV). In other words God’s Word says, as Christians, we cannot continue in sin. We no longer have a sin nature driving us to sin. Instead, we have a new nature driving us to Jesus. In addition, we have the Holy Spirit living within us. Thus, when we sin we feel shameful and guilty before the Lord. If we do not feel this way and continue in sin, without remorse, then we do not have the Spirit within us, according to John.
Yes, we all sin. But when we do, we seek our Lord’s forgiveness. In addition, we do what we can to stop the behavior. And when we cannot, we give up and give it to the Lord and ask Him to put this desire to death. In other words, we hate our sins. Moreover, we would not think about glorifying them or allowing them to define us. Also we would not try to silence those who disagree with our sinful lifestyles.
No, we do just the opposite. We seek a way out from under our sins. We hate them. We do not justify them or try to get our government to overturn our entire society to make it easier for us to sin. Instead, we want free from our sins, so we may serve our Lord in Spirit and truth.
So, when people such as politicians, false teachers or others try to tell us their belief that God approves certain sins, we must not stay silent. As for them, I would rather they remained silent. Their testimonies are damaging to our faith. Their words bring shame to our Lord and crucify Him all over again. They do this with their false testimonies and lies. Their words shame bring shame on us and our Lord.
WHAT ABOUT JUDGING OTHERS
Oh, I may not be able to judge hearts or intentions. I may not be able to tell others they are or are not saved. But the Word is very clear when it says we can judge people by their fruits. We can judge when they tell us what the Word supposedly says, even though it does not address the issue. We can judge actions. We can judge what they do. If it is sin, we have the right to call it sin.
In essence, we are not to become blinded to the truth. We are not to remain silent toward those who would pervert the Gospel. If a homosexual wants to live the lifestyle, so be it. If a politician wants to believe the gay lifestyle is all right, it is fine with me. Their thoughts and activities are of the world. In other words, they are doing the world’s bidding. They probably do not know any better. However, when they use the Word to sell their perversions and use it to mislead the faithful, then we must speak up. Jeremiah did, Isaiah did, Ezekiel did, the Late D. James Kennedy did, Dr. James Dobson does and so do others.
We should not to allow wolves in sheep’s clothing to lead us astray. We are to point out the lies and speak the truth. For if we become blind to the truth, we will soon become open to every wind of doctrine. When this happens, we will believe some politician who says Romans is obscure and the Sermon on the Mount permits homosexual marriages.
TL Watchman
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The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. By TL Watchman (reproduced with permission)
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