Friday, August 22, 2014

Is same-sex marriage the will of God? No, it’s not and it'll never be.

by Al Sabado


I love my LGBT friends, and while I’m aware of their sexual orientation, I refrain from calling them bakla (gay), because I know that will offend them somehow. But I admit . . . I fear for them.

The God of the Holy Bible is sovereign, and He never changes (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). And so even if the world approves of someone’s marriage to anyone of the same gender, that doesn’t make a personal choice right or Biblical. The pastors or priests officiating same-sex marriages don’t make such choice right either, and God’s eternal judgment will come upon them, just as God’s Word has said of pastors leading His flock astray:
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:1-2)
What has God said about His creation? Was there an account of “Adam and Steve” or “Jane and Jill” marrying? None. Corruptible Bible translations may revise God’s Word to be gender neutral, but that doesn’t change the beautiful, unparalleled, Biblical account of Adam and Eve:
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25 )
Others might have distorted the friendship of Jonathan and David into homosexual relationship, when their friendship was bound in pure, brotherly love (1 Samuel 18). How does God see homosexuality and its practices? God’s Word is clear in saying,
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22) 
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13)
We can also note how God did not withhold His wrath from destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose men lay with fellow men:
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. (Genesis 19:4-7)
From the words of Lot, we can tell that men knowing (having sex with) fellow men has been an abomination (sin) ever since in the eyes of God. That’s a Biblical account, which stands to this day. But some professing Christian men and women of this generation even defend homosexuality and its sexual practices as acceptable and not abominable. You may search on that online and you’ll be surprised to find out that a number of so-called Christians hold fearless views about homosexuality and its practices. But regardless how boldly they hold their views, God’s judgment upon them will come to pass, according to the unchanging Word of God.

So if you’ve decided to marry (or you’ve already done so) your lover, whose gender is the same as yours, think again. The world may applaud your decision to come out in the open concerning your sexual preferences and embrace same-sex marriage. But the world won’t be there to defend you and your choice before God—come Judgment Day.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
If some people won’t inherit God’s kingdom, which is in heaven, then where will they go? I need not say it perhaps, but I’ll say it like how they say it in the movies: They’ll “go to hell.” Is hell real? Surprisingly, some professing Bible believers say there is no hell. Googling the number of times hell is mentioned in the Holy Bible will show us that the word “hell” appears 54 times in the Bible, with about 23 times of that found in the New Testament alone. What does God’s Word say about hell?
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:17)
How do we get saved? Salvation is free and nothing in what we do or don’t do will save us. We get saved by God’s grace.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
But understand that we still don’t get saved until we make a choice. We get saved when we repent of our sins* and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
. . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)
and none other: not even saints, priests, pastors, churches, congregations, good works, global peace plans, worldwide organizational interventions, etcetera—but the Lord Jesus Christ . . . ALONE.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
                                          
When I first saw this big snail crawling in our garden, I thought she would consume our plants. Later I noticed that our dog Shatzie would quietly sit beside her. Since then, I started greeting her every time, "Hello, Snail Friend."

I appreciate the courage of people coming out into the open, but I can only remember them
in prayer: May God open their eyes and change their hearts, so that they repent and turn away from sin, fear God, and obey His Word.

*Italicized text added on 9-4-14.


Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No,' 'No'...