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Since I have talked about being gay, Christian, and Young it is time to talk about reconciling our homosexuality. Many of today's youth and others have turned away from God because they feel that they can no longer worship him because of their homosexuality or they have not come out to their family, because they are not comfortable with it. People are torn between their feelings. Not being able to go on or to have a Christian relationship. It is hard enough to reconcile our homosexuality because of what we were taught when we were growing up.
I am going to present several scriptures that will help on reconciling our homosexuality and also to prove that homosexuality isn't a sin. If you would like some studies, you can go to www.gcym.org and look at the Bible studies section on the site that talk about the Biblical passages that we are condemned for.
This will be in 5 part series about reconciling our Homosexuality. We will be looking at the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.
Does God show favoritism to anyone? No he doesn't. It doesn't matter who we are, where we came from, our race, nationality or where we live. Samuel was looking for a man of God to be king to replace Saul. "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'" (1 Sam 16:7 NIV) Praise God!!! Yes God does not look at the appearance or how tall we are. But he does look at our heart to see if we are loving him, and following his Word, the Bible. (Compare 2 Samuel 14:14; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; 1 Peter 1:17)
Next we will be looking at what will it be like when we get to heaven. It will be interesting to see that there is no gender in heaven.
In the Body of Christ, we are one. There is no gender. We are not Greek and we are not Jews. We are not slaves or free. For Paul states that there is neither "male nor female." But we are all in one with Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Apostle Mark agrees with Paul at Mark 12:25, "When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." So scripture says that we are not going to marry or be given in marriage. But that we "will be like angels in heaven." (See also Matthew 22:30 and Luke 20:35-36)
Just as Christ came to earth, we will be like him in heaven. We know that flesh and blood cannot enter into heaven. And Paul gives us an example: that perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. There is no gender in heaven at all. (Compare 1 John 3:2)
What did Christ mean when he said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, KJV) Who is the "Whosoever"? This precious and well-known verse speaks of the divine love, which moved God to provide salvation for the world through His Son. There are two words used for "life" in the Greek N.T. Zoe, meaning "life" in its absolute sense, as God has given it, is used in this verse. It signifies spiritual life in John. This word is frequently used for "eternal life" with its special emphasis upon the quality of life and its endless duration through the ages to come. This life is available only through belief in God's Son. The biblical concept of "eternal life" is more than immortality, and it involves not only the soul but also the body.
The meaning of whosoever is that anyone that believes in his Son has eternal life. Jesus goes on to state, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17, NIV) So we see here that Christ did not come to the earth to condemn the wold, but that we might be saved through him. Of course things can separate us from God and Scripture clearly says that.
Listen to what Paul said in Romans:
For the wages of sin is death. No problem right? Christ came and so we have eternal life through him.
Elsewhere Paul states:
Those that are in Christ have no "condemnation" at all. If a person has one partner and is committed and is following Christ there is no problem. Know for sins that are condemned are that when he wrote to Timothy he states:
This goes along with Jesus words at John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
As we can see with many Scriptural references, Christ does accept those who have received him. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one will boast." (Eph. 2:8, 9, NIV)
As we go into the book of Romans we shall see that "Nothing can separate us from the love of God." Many churches have said that we live in sin because being Gay; but what does Paul have to say? We shall see.
We as the gay community have been told that we cannot be gay and Christian. That it is an abomination to God. As we look into what Paul wrote, this would confirm that God loves us very much and that we are his people.
Yes God will help those that love him and that have accepted Jesus as Savior. For Paul wrote, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."-Romans 8:1,2, NIV. We have no condemnation if we are in Christ. Amen! (Please Compare Romans 8:29)
One thing I know the Lord is doing is using the Gay Community to reach out to those that have been thrown out of there churches because they are gay. I have also started a Ministry of my own, so that people can know that God loves them. My ministry is called, "Zion Gay Christian Youth Ministries." Paul writes, "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30, NIV) He has called the Gay Community to be called, and he is justifying us. And at one point we shall be GLORIFIED!
Paul connects seven rhetorical questions to lead us to the wonderful truths that: (1) God is for us; (2) He will freely give us all things; (3) He has justified us; (4) He prays for us; and (5) we cannot be separated from His love. All of these precious blessings are granted to those who are in Christ Jesus. With encouragement such as these, the Gay Christian can endure suffering with hope and assurance. And SHAME ON THOSE CHURCHES!
Most churches are so legalistic -- meaning legalism. The Microsoft Bookshelf defines these words as:
But it is what Scripture says, not what men say!
As Paul continues in Romans, we know as Christian Witnesses of the only True God (John 17:3) that "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:36 NIV) Yes we do face death. We are like sheep to be slaughtered. "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." -Romans 8:37, NIV. Yes we are conquerors through him who loves us. We have a promise that no one else will have unless they "SURRENDER" all their selves.
We can be assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. As long as we are faithful to him he will surely bless us. For Isaiah says: "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." [Isaiah 55:11] Yes His word that goes forth will not return to him without result. Amen.
What the Lord has showed the same thing and me that Paul's statement is "I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." (Romans 9:1, 2, NIV) It's not what I speak but that of the Lord. And we can be Gay and Christian at the same time. As I quoted before in Romans 8:1: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We are set free in Christ Jesus.
In regard to me being kicked out of my church, it hurt very much. And I took what Paul wrote in the following verses:
Yes I wish I could die for those who caused pain and dis-fellowshipped me. But I pray that God will open the pastor's heart and anyone that has gone through the same thing. We don't need to give up our salvation for Paul states at Philippians 4:13: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." In this verse, we can understand what Paul meant that the fervor of Paul's evangelical heart is displayed in this verse. His Israelite brethren, because of their unbelief, are not the recipients of all the gracious works of God in salvation to which earlier discussions allude. But the apostle is concerned for them to the extent that he could wish himself "accursed" (anathema, Gk.) or "devoted to destruction" in the place of them. Paul has walked so closely with the Lord that a spirit of compassion similar to that, which led Jesus to make atonement for the human family, is now operative in Paul also. The fact that he specifies his "countrymen according to the flesh" prepares us to understand the term "Israel" as a reference to literal Israel in the discussion to follow. We can also apply that to us today. (Compare Romans 9:6- 14)
In the Old Testament Paul states in the book of Romans:
"For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. " (Romans 9:15, 16, NIV)
Yes the will have mercy on those he wants to have mercy on.
The trials we go through the Lord will be there and he will help us. "Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden."(Romans 9:18, NIV) (Compare Romans 9:19-24)
God to many of his prophets called Israel to be his people. And through out Biblical History, Israel was God's chosen people but to day are we His people he is using? As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,". Also "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'" (Romans 9:25-26, NIV) Yes God has said to us that `you are not my people,' He will say he will call them sons of the living God. Praise the Lord! (Romans 9:27-29)
Since Israel was not faithful we can agree what Paul says at Romans 9:30-32: "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone."
Yes we, as Gentiles, have obtained salvation through Christ Jesus and he loves us not matter what. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God! (Compare Romans 9:33)
I would like to invite you to attend a church that is a gay Church. They are God's people and he is moving and working. He has blessed me with a wonderful ministry, for those that have been rejected from their churches that they attended most of their life. The Lord has given a Scripture to apply to the Ministry that he has given me. "I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand-- I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.'"-Isaiah 51:16, NIV.
I want to start a group of Gay Christian youth that will be able to stand and say I can be Gay and Christian at the same time. We can do it. The door is open. The Lord is preparing and wants us to prepare. If you can help in anyway please let me know. You can email me at Pastorsteve@gcym.org.
In our next study, we will be looking at Genesis 19. What was Sodom destroyed for and does it really have anything to do with homosexuality?
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Two Teenagers in Twenty : Writings by Gay & Lesbian Youth Ann Heron (Editor) The Shared Heart : Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People Adam Mastoon (Photographer)
Websites:
Other Articles By Steve Payne:
Also In This Issue:
Part 2:"My Love, How You Delight Me":
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