http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1185
God and Human Sexuality
Does God exist? Sufficient evidence exists to warrant the conclusion:
“Yes, I know that God exists.” Has He spoken to us? Again, sufficient
evidence exists to prove that the book we call the Bible is the
inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. Since God
exists, and since He has given to us His divine will in written form,
moral choices and human behavior are to be governed by that revealed
will.
What is God’s will concerning human sexuality? That will was
demonstrated originally in the creation of the first human beings: “Male
and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27). God’s decision to create a
female counterpart to the male was not coincidental. The female uniquely
met three essential criteria: (1) “It’s not good for man to be alone”
(Genesis 2:18); (2) a helper
suitable to him was needed (Genesis
2:18,20); and (3) the human race was to be perpetuated through sexual
union (Genesis 1:28). Both Jesus and Paul reiterated this same
understanding (Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:2). So the woman was: (a)
the divine antidote to Adam’s loneliness; (b) a helper
fit for him; and (c) the means of the propagation of the human race. Here we see the divine arrangement for the human species.
Not long after God set into motion the created order—which He had
pronounced as “very good” (Genesis 1:31)—man began to tamper with the
divine will, and altered God’s original intentions concerning human
sexuality. Polygamy was introduced into the world by Lamech (Genesis
4:19). God could have created two women for Adam. But He did not.
Rather, He made
one man for one woman for life. That is the divine will.
The next recorded departure from the divine will regarding human
sexuality was Abraham’s foolish scheme to allow his wife Sarah to be
taken by Pharoah (Genesis 12:10-12). That incident was followed by the
determination by Sarah to offer Hagar as the means by which an heir
might be secured (Genesis 16:1-16). Both of these actions obviously were
contrary to God’s ideal of healthy, normal sexual behavior.
Genesis 19 now comes into view:
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in
the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he
bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now,
my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night,
and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way,” And
they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he
insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then
he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Now
before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young
and old, 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.” So Lot
went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and
said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two
daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to
you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men,
since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to
sojourn, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you
than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came
near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and
pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck
the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small
and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door (Genesis
19:1-11, NKJV).
Moses already had described the spiritual condition of Sodom’s
inhabitants as being “wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly”
(Genesis 13:13). God Himself stated that their sin was “great” and
“grievous” (Genesis 18:20). The specific activity described in Genesis
19 involved the desire on the part of the males of Sodom to “know” Lot’s
two visitors. The Hebrew term
yada is used euphemistically to denote sexual intercourse (cf. Genesis 4:1; 19:8; Numbers 31:17, 35; Judges 11:39; 21:11).
Notice that the crime that was condemned in this passage was
not
the fact that the Sodomites were being violent and forcing someone to
do something against his will (see Miller, 2002). Jude made that clear
when he identified their sin as “giving themselves over to fornication
and going after
strange flesh” (vs. 7). Peter echoed the same thought:
[A]nd turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning
them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would
live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the
filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among
them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing
their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out
of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for day of
judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the
lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous,
self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (2 Peter
2:6-10, NKJV; cf. Jeremiah 23:14).
The term “sodomy” has come into the English language because of the
sexual activity practiced in Sodom. A standard English dictionary
defines “sodomy” as “[a]ny of various forms of sexual intercourse held
to be unnatural or abnormal, especially anal intercourse or bestiality” (
American Heritage Dictionary,
2000, p. 1651). It surely is reminiscent of our day to observe that
when Lot urged the sodomites not to do “so wickedly,” the men accused
Lot of being
judgmental (Genesis 19:9; cf. Deuteronomy 23:17-18).
In addition to the pre-Mosaic period of history, God made clear His
will on this matter when He handed down the Law of Moses. In a chapter
dealing almost exclusively with sexual regulations, His words are
explicit and unmistakable.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
Nor shall you mate with any beast, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall
any woman stand before a beast to mate with it. It is perversion. Do
not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the
nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is
defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and
the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My
statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these
abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who sojourns
among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done,
who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit
you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were
before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons
who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore you
shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these
abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not
defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 18:22-30, NKJV)….
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 (Leviticus 20:13, NKJV).
A person would need help to misunderstand these injunctions.
Another graphic account is given in Judges 19, during the period of the
judges, which was a time of spiritual and moral depravity and decay—the
“Dark Ages” of Jewish history. “Sons of Belial” (i.e., wicked
scoundrels) surrounded a house where travelers had taken refuge for the
night. As in Sodom, they desired to “know” the male guest (Judges
19:22). The host, like Lot, knew exactly what they meant, as is evident
from the fact that, like Lot, he offered them a sexual alternative
(which, of course, God did not approve). Their sexual desire was labeled
as “wickedness,” “outrage,” “vileness,” “lewdness,” and “evil” (Judges
19:23,24; 20:3,6,10,12,13, NKJV).
During the period of the kings, Josiah instituted sweeping moral and
religious reforms. These included tearing down the homes of the
Sodomites (2 Kings 23:7).
The New Testament is equally definitive in its uncompromising and
unquestioned condemnation of illicit sexual activity. Paul summarized
the “unrighteous” and “ungodly” behavior of the Gentile nations and
declared:
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women
exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one
another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in
themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness;
they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who,
knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of
those who practice them (Romans 1:26-32, NKJV).
This passage uses Greek terms that linguistic scholars define as
“forbidden desire,” “impurity,” “unnatural vice,” “shameful passions,”
“not in accordance with nature,” and “individuals of the same sex being
inflamed with sensual, sexual desire for each other” (Arndt and
Gingrich, 1957, pp. 28,118,119,240,583,877). Not only is God displeased
with those who participate in such behavior, but verse 32 indicates that
He is equally displeased with those who are merely
supportive of such conduct—though they themselves do not engage in the activity. To the Corinthian church, Paul asked:
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. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NKJV).
The Greek word translated “homosexual” is a metaphorical use of a term
that literally means “soft” and, when referring to people, refers to
males allowing themselves to be used sexually by other males. Again,
lexicographers apply the term to the person who is a “catamite,” i.e., a
male who submits his body to another male for unnatural lewdness, i.e.,
homosexually (Thayer, 1977, p. 387; Arndt and Gingrich, p. 489).
The term “sodomites,” (“abusers of themselves with mankind” in the KJV) is a translation of the term
arsenokoitai. It comes from two words:
arsein (a male) and
koitei
(a bed), and refers to one who engages in sex with a male as with a
female (Thayer, p. 75). Paul used the same term when he wrote to
Timothy, and identified some behaviors that are both “contrary to sound
doctrine” and characteristic of the one who is not “a righteous man” (1
Timothy 1:9-10).
When Paul said, “such were some of you,” he proved not only that those involved may be forgiven, but that they can
cease such activity. We are forced to conclude that sexual activity between persons of the same sex is
not a matter of genetics; it is a
behavioral phenomenon associated largely with environmental factors.
Illicit sex is just one more departure from God’s will that American
civilization is facing. God identified all departures from His will
pertaining to sexual intercourse as “fornication.” The underlying Greek
term,
porneia, is a broad term that covers
every form of illicit sexual intercourse,
including adultery, incest, bestiality, bigamy, polygamy, bisexuality,
necrophilia, and more. Our sex-crazed society is so promiscuous, and so
estranged from God’s view of human sexuality, that our public schools
consider it appropriate to teach children to simply “take precautions”
when they engage in sexual escapades outside of marriage. But God
never
encouraged people to practice “safe sex.” Rather, He instructed people
to exercise self-control, self-discipline, and moral responsibility. The
Bible teaches that we are not to be self-indulgent. We are to put
restraints on ourselves, and control our sexual urges and desires
according to God’s will.
Encouraging young people simply to “take precautions” only encourages
additional illicit behavior. It encourages more promiscuity. It
contributes to an increase—not a decrease—in the number of pregnancies,
and sexually transmitted diseases. Despite several decades of inundating
our schools with sex education, and the promotion of so-called “safe
sex,” the statisticians inform us that
in the next thirty days, 83,850 unwed girls will become pregnant
in this country (“Teens in Crisis,” 2001, p. 1). The handling of the
issue by the social liberal has not worked. In fact, the problem has
greatly worsened.
The Bible definition of “safe sex” is sex that is confined to a
divinely authorized, scriptural marriage. The depths to which our
country has slumped morally is seen in the fact that it is
legal for public school officials to distribute condoms to students, but it is
illegal
to distribute Bibles or to teach Bible principles. The time has come
for our nation to wake up. The time has come to face the fact that
freedom requires restraint.
Rights require personal responsibility. People must take responsibility
for their choices, and accept the consequences of their own actions.
Paul declared, “flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18). He did not say,
“engage in ‘safe’ fornication!” There is no such thing as “safe” sin or
“safe” immorality. God said a person must run away from it, resist it,
and reject it. To a youth, Paul said, “Keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy
5:22). The writer of Hebrews insisted that the marriage bed is to be
kept “undefiled.” “[F]ornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews
13:4). Paul said there should not be so much as a hint of sexual
immorality among Christians (Ephesians 5:3).
Please understand: God loves
all sinners—regardless of the
specific sins they have committed. The faithful Christian will do the
same. But it is imperative that we be about the business of alerting
those who are engaged in sexual sin regarding God’s will, in an effort
to “snatch them out of the fire” (Jude 23), and to “save a soul from
death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
CONCLUSION
Sexual sin undoubtedly will go down in history as one of the major
contributors to the moral and spiritual deterioration, decline, and
downfall of American society. One wonders how much longer such
widespread unchastity can go on in our land before God will “visit the
punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its
inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). Every society in human history that has
followed this course toward moral and spiritual depravity has eventually
been destroyed by God. Indeed, in light of such moral confusion, our
society cannot continue to survive indefinitely into the future—unless,
of course, God is prepared to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.
REFERENCES
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin), fourth edition.
Arndt, William and F.W. Gingrich (1957),
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).
Miller, Dave (2002), “Sodom—Inhospitality or Homosexuality?,”
Reason & Revelation, 22:41-42, November.
Thayer, J.H. (1962 reprint),
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
“Teens in Crisis” (2001),
Teen Help (Las Vegas, NV: World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools).
