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What the Bible Tells Us about “Gay Marriage”

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What the Bible Tells Us about “Gay Marriage”

James R. Aist

 Introduction

Recently, a gay activist reacted to my biblical definition of “gay marriage” (click HERE) with something like this: “The Bible doesn’t say anything about gay marriage. Show me where the Bible mentions gay marriage. You can’t.” That reaction inspired me to write this article for my website, because I sensed right away that a good response on my part would require more than a passing comment.

The fact is, the Bible often infers or implies (i.e., teaches) us much more than it says explicitly with a definitive word or phrase. For example, the doctrine of the “trinity” is wholly derived from what the Bible says in many related passages, but the word “trinity” is not to be found anywhere in the Bible. Likewise, the doctrine of the omniscience of God is based upon many things that the Bible tells us about God, but the words “omniscient” and “omniscience” are not used in the Bible. When it comes to “gay marriage”, the Bible says many things about marriage and homosexuality that tell us all we really need to know in order to realize that God does not approve of it, without actually using the term “gay marriage” or its biblical equivalent, whatever that would be. Now, let’s move on to develop this topic in some detail.

The Inspiration of the Bible

It is important to grasp the unique nature of the Holy Bible in order to understand that what the Bible tells us about “gay marriage” is divine truth and is, therefore, definitive, unequivocal and final. So, let’s first lay the foundation for the “inspiration” of the Bible.

God is omniscient: This means that God is all-knowing, that He has knowledge of all things past, present and future. What is unknown to man is known to God. And, God knows the end from the beginning. Thus, whatever will exist or will be done in the future is not a surprise to God; He already knows about it and always has. Consider the biblical witness:

  • “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:20)
  • “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
  • “Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
    Let him declare and lay out before me
    what has happened since I established my ancient people,
    and what is yet to come—
    yes, let them foretell what will come.”(Isaiah 44:7)
  • Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17)

The Bible Is Inspired by the Omniscient God: The Bible – all of it – is inspired (i.e., God-breathed) by the Holy Spirit. As such, it is the infallible Word of God Himself and, therefore, it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. We have God’s word on it that the Bible is truth, and “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19). Here is the biblical witness:

  • “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)
  • “First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (Romans 3:2)
  • “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
  • “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1 Corinthians 2:13)
  • “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:10)
  • “Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Implications for Same-sex Marriage

God Approves of Non-sexual Same-sex Relationships: The Bible speaks well of several non-sexual, same-sex relationships, including Jonathan and David (1 Samuel 20), Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1) and Jesus and John (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2 and 21:20). There is no valid evidence whatsoever to support the speculation of gay activists that any of these relationships were homosexual in nature. The Bible speaks only of their relationships as involving what we would refer to today as “brotherly love”, without even a hint of “sexual love.” God’s disapproval comes into play when same-sex relationships become sexual.

God Condemns Homosexual Behavior In Any Context: Homosexual behavior is unequivocally and consistently portrayed in the Bible as sin (Genesis 19:5 with Jude 1:7; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10; and I Timothy 1:10). The biblical witness on this point could not be any clearer. Moreover, nowhere does the Bible indicate approval of homosexual behavior in any context. Gay activists speculate that the condemnation of homosexual behavior in the Bible could not apply to modern, loving, committed, faithful and long-term same-sex relationships because the (human) writers of the Bible knew nothing about such relationships. But that speculation does not take into account that the writers of the Bible were writing under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit of the omniscient God, the God who has knowledge of all things past, present and future. The omniscient God of the Bible has always known everything there is to know about all homosexual relationships, past, present and future, including the “modern” ones, and yet He made no accommodation whatsoever for any of them in the Bible. The fact is that the Bible condemns all homosexual behavior as sin, without exception, regardless of the context. And that is God’s word on the matter.

God’s Definition of Marriage Excludes “Gay Marriage”: In Genesis 1:27-28, the Bible says “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”. And in Genesis 2:23-24, “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” We see here that God’s original design for human sexuality was heterosexuality, since He created them male and female and gave them the task of filling the earth. Then He defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as evidenced by His referring to Eve as Adam’s wife. And in Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus confirmed the definition of marriage in Genesis 2: “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Thus, the biblical definition of marriage, first recorded in the Old Testament and later confirmed by Jesus in the New Testament, is as follows: a lifelong, exclusive commitment between one man and one woman. Therefore, so-called “gay marriage” is excluded and invalidated by God’s definition of marriage, regardless of how loving, committed, faithful and long-term the same-sex relationships may be. If the omniscient God of the Bible had intended for modern, loving, committed, faithful and long-term same-sex relationships to qualify for marriage, then He would not have excluded them by definition.

Summary

The God of the Bible is omniscient (i.e., all-knowing). He has knowledge of all things past, present and future, including all things homosexual. The Bible – all of it – is inspired (i.e., God-breathed) by the Holy Spirit. As such, it is the infallible Word of God Himself. God approves of non-sexual same-sex relationships, such as Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi, and Jesus and John. His disapproval comes into play when same-sex relationships become sexual. In fact, God condemns homosexual behavior in any context. God’s definition of marriage — a lifelong, exclusive commitment between one man and one woman — excludes and invalidates “gay marriage.” If the omniscient God of the Bible had intended for modern, loving, committed, faithful and long-term same-sex relationships to qualify for marriage, then He would not have excluded them by definition.

(For more articles on HOMOSEXUALITY, click HERE)

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Gay Marriage: Did God Change His Mind?

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Gay Marriage: Did God Change His Mind?

by James R. Aist

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

Introduction

The Christian church today is under attack by two campaigns within the homosexual movement. One of these campaigns is the development and promotion of “gay theology”, with which I dealt in a previous article in this series (click Here). The other campaign is the push for so-called “gay marriage”. This attack flows naturally from the first, for if there really is nothing wrong with homosexual behavior in God’s eyes (as per “gay theology”), then God must surely approve and sanctify gay “marriage”; why would He not? So, let’s take a look at whether or not the Bible supports the notion of gay “marriage.”

Use of the Word “Marriage” in the Bible

The word “marriage” is used multiple times in English translations of the Bible. For example, in the King James Version, it is used 5 times in the Old Testament and 16 times in the New Testament, and in the New International Version it is used 32 times in the Old Testament and 11 times in the New Testament. These uses of the word “marriage” span the Bible from Genesis to Revelations.  Moreover, the very first miracle that Jesus performed was the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-11), a celebration associated with a marriage ceremony performed in approximately 30 A.D. So the Bible references “marriage” as a common covenant in the Jewish culture going back several millenia. Now, the King James Bible was first published in 1611 and the United States was not established until 1776, when the King James Bible was by far the most commonly used English translation of the Bible on this side of the pond. So, it follows that U.S. marriage laws, and the use of the word “marriage” found in them, drew heavily on the Bible for their rationale and formulation. “Marriage” clearly is not a concept or term that was created or invented by governmental lawmakers after the time of Christ, as some homosexuality advocates would have you believe.

Who Gets to Define Marriage?

Oops, sorry; God’s already done that! In Genesis 1:27-28, the Bible says “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”. And in Genesis 2:23-24, “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” We see here that God’s original design for human sexuality was heterosexuality, since He created them male and female and gave them the task of filling the earth. Then He defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as evidenced by His referring to Eve as Adam’s wife. And in Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus confirmed the definition of marriage in Genesis 2: “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Marriage is God’s invention, and He holds the patent on it, so to speak. Marriage belongs to God, and only He has the authority to define its parameters (which He did, as shown above), and only He has the authority to change those parameters (which He has not done).

Does God Approve of Gay “Marriage”?

Gay theology claims that the answer to this question is “Yes.” If it were true that God does not condemn homosexual behavior as sin in the  context of a loving, committed and enduring homosexual relationship, then they would be right about that. However, as I have shown in another article in this series (click HERE), the Bible really does say that homosexual behavior is wrong in any context, because homosexual acts are sinful in and of themselves (Romans 1:26-27). And that is the the first and most basic reason that God does not approve of gay marriage. Nevertheless, it is instructive to look at the implications of this claim. If God approves of gay “marriage”, then, because He is fair and just, would He not also approve if a man were to marry his sister (incest) or if a woman were to marry her dog (bestiality), since these relationships can also involve a loving, committed and enduring relationship?  But, in fact, God condemns both incest and bestiality as sexual sins. So, why should we believe that God views homosexual sins any differently in this regard? Furthermore, if God approves of gay “marriage”, then would He not have said so when He originally defined marriage in the Old Testament and confirmed that definition later in the New Testament? Surely the all-knowing God — the One who knows the end from the beginning — would have given guidance on that point for all future generations, were it a valid point. In reality, the Bible does not specify any acceptable context for homosexual behavior. Why? Because in God’s eyes, there is none. But it does specify an acceptable context for heterosexual behavior; God calls it marriage.

Is Gay “Marriage” Really Equivalent to Straight Marriage?

When reading this section, please keep in mind that much of the information here is based on averages within a population and does not necessarily characterize a particular homosexual person or couple. The advocates of gay marriage want us to believe that gay marriage is the equivalent of straight marriage, but is it, really? Let’s take a look: 1) Sexual relations in straight marriage involve body parts that God designed for each other, whereas sexual relations in gay marriage involve body parts that God designed for vastly different purposes; 2) God approves of and blesses straight marriage, but He doesn’t even recognize gay “marriage” as being legitimate, because it doesn’t meet the requirements of His definition; 3) straight marriage can fulfill God’s primary purpose for sexual intercourse by producing children to “fill the earth”, whereas homosexual “marriage” cannot; 4) heterosexual marriages last much longer than do homosexual relationships; 5) adults who were raised in gay households are 12 times more likely to self-identify as gay than adults raised in heterosexual households, 6) 58% of the children of lesbians and 33% of the children of gay men self-identified as homosexual as adults (compared to only 2%-3% self-identified adult homosexuals in the general population); and 7) children raised by homosexual parents are more likely than those raised by heterosexual parents to suffer from poor impulse control, depression, suicidal thoughts, require mental health therapy, choose cohabitation, be unfaithful to partners, contract sexually transmitted diseases, be sexually molested, have lower income levels, drink excessively and smoke marijuana (click HERE). And now we can add to this list that children being raised by same-sex couples are 35% less likely to make normal progress through school than are children being raised by heterosexual married couples (click HERE). True equality is a state of being; it is not something that comes by repeating a (false) mantra ad nauseum or passing a law. The state of being of gay marriage when compared to that of straight marriage is one of inequality, not equality.

Are There Two Kinds of Marriage?

There seem to be emerging two definitions of marriage in our culture, at least in the minds of some. “Legal marriage” can be the state-sanctioned union of a man and a woman, a man and a man or a woman and a woman. But hey, why stop there? If the state really can re-define “marriage”, why not marriage of a brother and his sister, or a woman and her dog, or whomever with whatever? But I digress. For purposes of this discussion, the other kind of marriage is “biblical marriage”, which is real marriage as defined by the God of the Bible. Use of the term “marriage” to signify anything other than the union of one man and one woman is an illegitimate use of the term, because God, the author of marriage, has already defined and used that term, and the last time I checked, He hasn’t changed His mind! Our culture may refer to homosexual unions as “marriage”, but God still calls them sin. Merely calling it marriage doesn’t make it marriage, any more than hanging out in a garage makes you a car!

So, Did God change His Mind?

The answeer to this question is short, simple and unequivocal: “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6); “Every good and perfect gift is from above,coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,  who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17); “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19). So no, God did not change His mind about marriage.

Challenges

I suggest that those of us who really do care what the Bible says may want to re-think all of this and begin to use the term “biblical marriage” for those unions that meet God’s criteria. At least that gives me some small degree of satisfaction. If you are a “married” Christian who is practicing homosexuality, I invite you to look into these matters more thoroughly and honestly for yourself, and re-think that. And finally, it would be worth your while to take a look at the recommended links, below, and learn more about this important, contemporary, moral issue.

Do It Yourself

Here’s how to do a study of the Hebrew and Greek root words used in the Bible to express God’s views on homosexuality, without being a Hebrew or Greek scholar yourself: 1) find online and open “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance” at “Bible Study Tools” (click HERE); 2) follow the instructions given in the introductory pane; 3) check the “Strong’s Numbers” box at the top right of your reading pane to view the Hebrew and Greek lexicons using Strong’s Concordance numbers; 4) enter, in turn, the following Bible verses — Genesis 19:5 with Jude 1:7; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10; and I Timothy 1:10 — and click on the respective highlighted words (hyperlinks) to access the appropriate lexicon and read the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words given in English. You can toggle between the King James Version (KJV) and the New American Standard (NAS) version. You will find, as expected, that wherever homosexual behavior is mentioned, it is consistently condemned as sin, abomination, per-version, etc. And understand that later English versions of the Bible, such as the NIV and NAS, consulted the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, rather than relying on the KJV. The claim of gay activists, that the Bible does not condemn homosexual behavior, is nothing but pure fantasy and wishful thinking, as you can see for yourself.

(For more articles on HOMOSEXUALITY, click HERE)

Recommended links, for further study:

Reasons to oppose gay marriage…

“If, as in Norway, gay “marriage” were imposed here by a socially liberal cultural elite, it would likely speed us on the way toward the classic Nordic pattern of less frequent marriage, more frequent out-of-wedlock birth, and skyrocketing family dissolution. In the American context, this would be a disaster.” —  Stanley Kurtz

Five Questions and Answers About the Same-Sex Marriage Issue (click HERE)

10 reasons why the government is wrong to redefine marriage. (click HERE)

Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples (click HERE)

The Top Ten Harms of Same-Sex Marriage. (click HERE)

Against Same Sex Marriage – The Six Point Case (click HERE)

Responses to false claims concerning gay marriage and the Bible…

Gay Marriage and the Bible. (click HERE)