“It is about time that we recognized same-sex marriage as being ordained by God.”

The previous quote was from an anonymous poster on one of the social media sites I read from time to time. Please, really?

I have waited and thought carefully about what I want to write. I am about to write something that will not be popular with many people; however, I care more about what God wants and desires than what the general public wants and desires. I genuinely wish for all humanity to come to know the saving grace of the Father. Sadly, few will! It will not stop me from blogging about the beauty of God’s grace and His extraordinary sacrifice of Jesus for my/our sins.

Genesis gives us a clearer picture of Sodom and her sister Gomorrah. Genesis 13:13 has this to say about Sodom: “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. “ So the question becomes why did God destroy the cities, what was the specific reason?

Sodom’s depravity was so great that when the two angels came to Sodom, Lot had to protect them against the men of the city. 

“Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” (Gen 19:4-5 NKJV)

The word “know” strongly implies that the men of Sodom wanted to have sexual relations with the men of God. Homosexuality is an abomination that scripture talks about when referring to Sodom and Gomorrah.

I encourage you to read the rest of the account in chapter 19 of Genesis. I will refer you to this from Gen.19:13 “For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 

Sodom was destroyed because of its great wickedness, specifically homosexuality, arrogance, and neglect; it is placing its selfish desires before following the Lord. Sodom was destroyed because of unrighteousness!

In the book of Leviticus, Moses, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lays down many commands that God’s people were to adhere. Specific to these thoughts, I submit the following:

“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” (Lev.18:22) “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” (Lev.20:13)

“Yeah, but that’s the Old Testament; we don’t live under its laws and commands.” While that statement is up to debate, look at this from  1Corinthians 6:9, 10 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

It is always about righteousness and unrighteousness. Throughout God’s word, you see how He deals with the righteous and the unrighteous. Remember, there was only one that was perfect, lived and walked as we did, that was Jesus Christ, and he became the once and for all sin sacrifice for humanity.

Let me be clear about something; I AM A SINNER! I was at one time in my life estranged from God, “NOT RIGHTEOUS!” I am still a sinner, but when I see my sin, I repent of it. By repenting, I declare to God that I will not return to that sin or sinful lifestyle. Can I know what sin is before God?

The resounding answer is YES. In Galatians, Paul is defending his apostleship, explaining the difference between the law and that of the gospel. Paul set out to define the gospel principles that all Christians should adhere to, a commitment to holiness and righteousness. This where we find the marvelous “Fruit of the Spirit” passage. In Galatians 5:16 & following we have this:

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal 5:16-26)

In the concluding portion of this passage, there is separation as wide as the distance is from the earth to the sun – those celebrating the sinful lifestyle and those that live according to scripture. Notice that sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, etc., are listed. This means that one living a life of pornography (Internet) or the individuals who live a secret life of adultery (cheating on their spouse), those who are practicing fleshly works will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. Hold on to that because we are going to come back to it.

Notice those that have crucified themselves to Jesus, those that through the gospel have turned their lives over to Christ; they, you and I, belong to Christ. It is clear to me that you cannot live both ways. You either walk in the light or live in the darkness. 1 John 1:5-7 tells us that we can’t have it both ways. “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

It comes back to this righteousness versus unrighteousness. Flip a few pages back in your bible to 1 Corinthians 6. The context of this passage has to do with defrauding your brother or taking a brother to court before unbelievers. However, in verse 9, Paul makes this statement:

“ (vs. 9) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, (10) nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. “

There is again “THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!” Paul then defines the unrighteous just as he did in Galatians 5. “Sexual immoral, idolaters” sound familiar? (see Gal 5:19-20) But he adds, “adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.” It cannot be any clearer than that. God considers unrighteousness to be inclusive of all of these sins. Let’s be honest here; Paul is saying any sin is unrighteousness. Yes, that means lying (Proverbs 6:17), cheating on your taxes, drunkenness, other acts that take you away from the beautiful grace of our Father in heaven. Any sin that goes unrepented and not turned away from is unrighteousness.

Our lives lived before the Father of mercies demands change. Romans 12:2 says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We can know what God wants from us and how we are to live. I will proclaim it as loudly as I can that I will not stand for unrighteousness; I will stand for RIGHT, for RIGHTEOUSNESS!

We must be transformed people seeking the will of God. the same goes if you are living or intend to live in a same-sex lifestyle; It is UNRIGHTEOUSNESS; it is a SIN!

My dear readers, there is hope! I want you to know if you read this and live a sinful lifestyle, whatever it may be, I love you. More importantly, God loves you! It is the very reason he sent His son (John 3:16-17). It is crucial that we know we serve a God that wants all to know His son and not perish. After all, He sent him here not to condemn but that all may be saved through him. (Luke 19:10) While we live, walk, and breathe here on this earth, we have the opportunity to come in contact with the saving blood of Jesus Christ. Through confession, through repentance of sin, and enter the waters of baptism, rising a new creature dead to the old and living a life, free of sin, not that we will never sin again.  We are sanctified in the blood of Christ, giving us the avenue of prayer, the ability to approach the throne of God and ask for repentance of our unrighteousness. Nothing can defeat you if you abide in the light with our God and Savior. (E.g., Romans 8)

Finally, I leave you with this:

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 Jn.1:4