II Timothy 3:16:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
For the born-again believer in any day and time and in any culture, being convinced that the Word of God is the will of God is essential. And to be logical and consistent, either the entire Bible is the Word and will of God from Genesis to Revelation or it is not the Word of God anywhere. We cannot take out segments of the Word of God that we don’t agree with and still have the Word.
God’s Word says the following about marriage in the Old Testament, in the Gospels, and in the New Testament.
Genesis 2:24:
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife [a woman]: and they shall be one flesh.
Matthew 19:4,5:
And he [Jesus Christ] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Ephesians 5:31:
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Marriage in God’s eyes is between a man and a woman. This is God’s Word and this is His will. No one has the right or privilege to remove these segments from the Word of God because they don’t agree with them.
Additionally, the truth from God’s Word reveals it is not His will for members of the same sex to have sexual relations with one another. In fact, God’s Word shows that this behavior is a by-product of ungodliness and unrighteousness.
Romans 1:18,24,25:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Wherefore God also gave them up [turned them over to the power of another] to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed [exchanged] the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [that which God created] more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
When men and women turn away from God and His truth in this way, they are exchanging the truth of God for the lie, which is to worship anything before or above the true God. They are worshipping their own ideas and selfish desires.
Romans 1:26-28:
For this cause God gave them up unto vile [dishonorable] affections [passions]: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly [shameful], and receiving in themselves that recompence [reward] of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [fitting or proper].
Even if our cultures adopt “changed understandings of marriage,” this does not give anyone the right to take segments out of the Word in order to exchange the truth for the lie. This misrepresents the will of God.
So what do we who love God and His Word do when our cultures clash with God’s Word? We do what believers have been doing for centuries. We keep speaking the truth.
In the first century, when Peter and the other apostles spoke the truth, they were opposed by the powers that be. But look what happened.
Acts 5:19-21:
But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught….
Verse 28 records that later they were brought back before the authorities, who asked them:
…Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
The response of these born-again believers, our brothers in Christ of the first century, is recorded forever in verse 29:
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
As the record continues, the authorities “took counsel to slay” Peter and the apostles until a Pharisee stood up and spoke concerning the apostles, concluding in Acts 5:38 and 39:
And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
In the face of this logic, the authorities agreed to let Peter and the apostles go, but before they did, they had them beaten and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus. Did the apostles shrink in fear? No!
Acts 5:41,42:
And they [Peter and the others] departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Today in the twenty-first century, we may not face imprisonment and beatings as we speak the Word, but whatever the opposition is in our day and time, we do not shrink from speaking it forth. God has not changed; His Word has not changed; the truth has not changed. We too can daily cease not to teach and preach. The world needs us to do this because we hold forth the truth, the Word of Life.
Philippians 2:15,16:
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
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