Revisiting the Definition of Marriage

I have had people come to me before to tell me their experience of asking their church leaders about homosexuality. On one occasion, the church leader replied that the issue of whether or not homosexuality was wrong was a “grey area.” The problem with this is that this lady who came to tell me her experience (who is for homosexuality), told the church leader before he could reply, that she would not attend church if Christianity doesn’t allow homosexuality.

The thing is, there is absolutely no grey area in the Bible whatsoever about homosexuality. I’m sure you have either read or heard of all of the verses and passages concerning the subject (Genesis 2:18-22, 19; Leviticus 18:22, 20:13; Judges 19:22; Mark 10:6-9; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 7:2; Romans 1:26-28; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; Jude 7, Hebrews 13:4; et. al.), but in today’s world, it seems that God’s eternal Word isn’t convincing enough (because it isn’t read enough), or more probably, that people are simply desensitized (because it isn’t read enough). It seems that this church leaders’ integrity was lacking… or maybe it wasn’t, and he simply doesn’t know the Word and was not qualified to be a church leader.

I have the same problem that the “grey area” church leader seemed to have had when talking with my friend: I just don’t want people to hate me. I don’t like to talk about this subject because of how easily the person talking about it can be misunderstood, resulting in an offense. I am putting all of the weight on the Bible. I feel that it would be wrong for me to not write about this, since I do have a Bible degree and two degrees in apologetics, but more so, because the Bible tells me to defend the faith (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Tim. 4:2; Jude 3).

You might think that I am just another fundamental Christian who judges everyone. As with any sin however, it is already judged (Romans 3:23; James 2:10-11), at least in a sense, it’s just that the sentencing hasn’t happened yet. This is how we must see it. When a person says, “homosexuality is morally wrong,” they are not judging, they are simply stating a fact. God already called homosexuality wrong. Once the Law has been laid down, once you break the Law, then you are judged as guilty. God has already judged homosexuality as a sin. So to call a homosexual union “gay marriage” is offensive to Him.

As a young country boy, the first time I flew to San Diego, one of the first things I remember seeing was an adult man walking around in blaze pink lingerie with a matching tutu. Imagine the shock I experienced seeing something like this (for someone who grew up logging, riding ATV’s, and not watching much television). Now, from having visited several cities around the world and people showing me memes from the internet, there is little I haven’t seen. I have become more and more desensitized to such things. I never gasp in sheer shock at these types of things… but God is never desensitized toward sin. Every time the phrase “gay marriage” is used in a sentence, God is offended! He created marriage to be something sacred between one man and one woman, under Him. The Bible is clear.

Imagine for a moment if your love language was giving and receiving gifts. “Gay marriage” is like (but absolutely not like) if you bought someone a special gift that you put your heart and soul into making this the perfect gift, at the perfect time, out of perfect love, and the receiver of the gift laughed at it, mocked it, and used it the wrong way and destroyed it right before your eyes. Wouldn’t you be offended?

If you have no problem with “gay marriage” and you are a Christian, you should reconsider. For one thing, The Bible is clear that God has a big problem with it, as we have seen above, so for those who call God their Father, should also be offended. Our Father gave us a perfect gift, at the perfect time, out of perfect love, that is being trampled upon, destroyed and mocked. Don’t you get offended when someone you love is hurt by another? You should be offended because your Father is offended.

“Gay marriage” is an oxymoron, not a paradox. It is not something that appears to be contradicting, but might be true. No, it is a statement that is completely contradictory. Just because something is repeated over and over will not make it the truth. No matter how many times the idea is said that God accepts “gay marriage,” it will never be true.

Is “gay marriage” being a contradiction a cultural issue, biblically speaking? In other words, because the times have changed since the Bible was written, perhaps the modern circumstances of “gay marriage” are acceptable because we are a maturing society for the betterment of mankind? Perhaps we should not seek to change the definition of marriage and call homosexual unions something else.

Consider for a moment the following three points:

1. God created male and female.

2. Marriage is an institution from God.

3. Marriage is between one man and one woman under God.

My former boss once asked me after a discussion on the definition of marriage if it was ok for atheists to be married. The reason he asked this is because of the definition in the three points above. He was for homosexual marriage and wanted to reduce my thinking to absurdity. I answered him that no, they really cannot get married. The reason is because marriage is something instituted by God, and because marriage is under God. By that I mean that there is an acknowledgement that God is over the marriage. He is in authority over the marriage… He is in control in the marriage… In any event, my boss at the time thought my reasoning was ridiculous. I understand where he is coming from, but the point is that he was just mad that his reasoning failed to prove homosexual marriage to be appropriate.

With this in mind, the government hijacked the word marriage as well, which is what many people think of what marriage is… I believe this is where my former boss was coming from, that whatever the state defines marriage as, that’s what it is. This is where those not under God have adopted the same language as well. The state defining what marriage means, is not the standard. This is where the issue lies. This is where this thinking has creeped into the Christian world as well. This is why the divorce rate is so high today. Because the state defines what marriage is, in the minds of even Christians. If the state defines what marriage is today, which is basically any relationship between two consenting people, then they also have the authority to define what it is to dissolve such a relationship. The point here is to not put the government as the highest authority about what marriage is, because if you do, then perhaps like all human governments, it will have a life expectancy.

The definition of marriage is a lifelong, loving relationship between one man and one woman under God. Not more and not less. If you are talking about equal rights, that is not the issue. The issue here is that some people try to change the definition of marriage, and it cannot be done. Marriage will always and only be between one man and one woman under God. Anything else seeks to rewrite the Bible (Deuteronomy 4:2), but that cannot happen (Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 40:8).

Comments

The Evidence and Power of Testimony: The Apostolic Witness

What to say to People who Demand more Evidence for God. Why is there something rather than nothing? Glacier National Park. © Nace Howell, 2018. The question is, how much evidence do you require? Would Jesus have to come back and slap you in the face with evidence that He is God? It seems to me that there is a line we must draw. We do this in all other areas of our lives, so why would we treat theism any different? When a court convicts, they do so “beyond a reasonable doubt.” I would like to take a few moments to explore this a bit. But before we get to that, I want to pose a question, which is… why are you the standard? What makes you think He has to prove His existence to everyone individually? He already created the universe from nothing. In the beginning, there was a big bang. Seriously… do you believe your mom when she tells you a story about her day? Did you believe the reports of 9/11 when they were happening? Do you accept the testimony of anything you hear on social ...

Failed Arguments that Mormons Should Be Called Christians

There has been a greater push in how to reference Mormons and Mormonism in recent times ever since former Mormon President Nelson said that Mormons should be called Christians instead of Mormons. [1] “We worship the same Jesus!” “’Jesus Christ’ is literally in our name!” “There is only one Jesus!” These and other arguments have been made by Mormons to argue that they should be called Christians, which I will address these throughout this article, but I do want to look at the last one in this short list above first, since it is biblically evidenced. [2] 2 Corinthians 11:4 says, “For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” [3] Here, Paul is telling the Corinthians that when another Jesus is preached to them, they erroneously accept ...

The God of the Killdozer Operator, Marvin Heemeyer

While working toward becoming an apologist and a pastor, I was a heavy equipment operator. I have over 15 years’ experience in the field, focusing on hydrological restorations (stream bank and river restoration and water dam removals) and site development for building pads (ranging from houses to one million + sq. ft. warehouses). I say this because I want to show where the heart for writing article this came about. Marvin Heemeyer purchased a bulldozer from an auction which was a Komatsu D355A with an operating weight of 97,907 lbs. (this does not include the weight of Heemeyer’s fabricated addition). In the picture above, I am operating a Komatsu D155AX which has an operating weight of 89,300 lbs. (If I remember correctly, we were developing the site for a 550,000 sq. ft. warehouse building pad). Heemeyer then went on a rampage in his armored bulldozer in Granby, CO. I don’t want to go into great details about what led up to Heemeyer doing what he did, nor do I want to go into great ...

Defending Christianity against Jehovah’s Witnesses

Defending Christianity against Jehovah’s Witnesses Using much of their “bible” to refute them “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ” (NIV 1 Peter 3:15). In other words, LOVE THEM . Jehovah’s Witnesses Biblical Truths Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity. J.Ws. believe that Jesus was a “little god” (lower case g). J.Ws. believe in a different “ Jesus ” because of the NWT accounts. J.Ws. call themselves “Christians.” J.Ws. believe Jesus is not to be worshiped. J.Ws. believe that Jesus was once, and is again, Michael the archangel. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let Us crea...

Defending Christianity against Mormonism

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ” (NIV 1 Peter 3:15). In other words, LOVE THEM . Mormons Biblical Truths Mormons are monolaters, meaning, they believe in many gods, yet worship only one. LDS believe that “As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become.” LDS do not believe in Hell. LDS believe God is flesh and bones. LDS believe in baptism for the dead. LDS believe Jesus and Satan are created brothers. L...

Using Guilt to Guide to the Truth

While taking a cultural apologetics class in my doctorate, I rambled along in a 30-page paper and in it, I wrote that, “I define religion as an anthropological system consisting of worship which is often filled with specific sacred rituals that seeks to appease or eradicate guilt.” My professor red-penned this and said that I am not yet in an authoritative position to make such definitions. But I was never asked how I came up with such a partial definition. The thing is, working on my second post-graduate degree in apologetics, studying many other religions on a deeper level was inevitable, and by this, I noticed a pattern in all of them which was the fact that they all seek to appease or eradicate guilt, including Buddhism , even though many adherents of Buddhism claim that it is not a religion . The point is that all religions seek to eradicate guilt on some level, because guilt crosses all cultures and times, to all people . Guilt transcends all peop...

Joseph Smith had the Same Demon that influenced Muhammad

What does Islam have in common with Mormonism? Seriously, the similarities are uncanny. Like human beings, demons are creatures of habit . The Bible does not tell us much about them, but from what it does tell us, we can learn a lot. Jesus reveals to us some things about their behavior: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first… [1] Jesus clearly knows that demons have typical behaviors. He has seen it many times before. He lets us know that a typical behavior for a demon is that home is where the heart is . When your house crumbles to the ground, you move to a new one. Likewise, when a person dies, the demon ...

Three reasons Christians are shying away from teaching their kids to believe in Santa Claus.

I grew up believing in Santa Claus. I have some experiences that I now look back on with bewilderment. One time when I was very young, I was going outside in the winter to help throw corn on the roof of the house in order to feed the reindeer (I was young, and assumed that it was so they could eat while Santa was busy stuffing himself through the chimney). There we were, throwing corn on the roof in the snow. I remember seeing several of the cobs rolling down into the gutter, but some of them stayed where they landed. In any event, it hadn’t crossed my mind that Santa was a fraud at this time in my life. Every time I saw a jet fly way above our house, I thought it was Rudolph, the red-nosed-reindeer because all I saw was a blinking red light. In any event, reflecting on my past experiences and the experiences of others is how this article came about. Three reasons Christians are shying away from teaching their kids to believe in Santa Claus: 1 . Because it distracts...

What is Truth, and Why does it Matter?

Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” ~John 18:37-38. About 20 years ago, I was discussing theology and Christianity with a shop owner of musical instruments in Nanuet, NY. In the end, he asked the same question that Pontius Pilate did in the Biblical quote above. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the answers that I do now, and I wish I could go back to the time of that conversation. The question, “what is truth?” is a great question, and the answer to it is easier than one might think. I first heard of this discovery in several different works from Norman Geisler [1] and J. P. Moreland . [2] Together, their writings on truth sparked a fire in me to memorize the Three Fundamental Laws and what they mean. Before I get to the Three Fundamental Laws of Logic, I think it is appropriate to show what makes the ability to know the truth so valuable. For starters, Jesus says that “knowing the truth will set a person fr...

Response Letter to a Jehovah's Witness (Part 2)

“Loretta” replied to my response to her first letter (the reason I put her name in quotes is because I don’t believe it is her real name, since some of my friends have received similar letters from the same P.O. Box address under a different female name. But even if it is, her identity is clearly protected). As discussed in the first entry concerning this, I received a letter from a Jehovah’s Witness ( JW ) in the mail and a tract from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society ( WBTS ), which is the organization of the JW’s. Please look at the first article concerning this conversation , because it is important to know what I replied, and how she responded (below). Notice that none of my questions to her were acceptably answered . Before we get to the letter, it should be noted that I have included the grammatical errors (in this hand-written letter) because I think that it gives strength to the statistics revealing the education levels of JW’s. They are told to not attend higher edu...

Apologetics and Evidence

Search This Blog