The Bible says, "there is neither male nor female."
This settles the argument. God must condone transgenderism because of what the Bible says. Anyone can find something in the Bible and take it out of context to fit their agenda. I would guarantee that a large portion of those who quote this cannot tell you where it is found in the Bible, nor can they provide the surrounding context. This is found in Galatians 3:26-28:
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The context is clear. If you placed your faith in Christ, then regardless of who you are, you are "one in Christ Jesus" with other believers.
Where We Stand Nationally
Numerous polls have been conducted over the past couple of years concerning transgender rights. A Gallop poll conducted May 3-18, 2021, with a random sample of 1,016 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia yielded the following results.
46% of adults believe that changing one's gender is morally acceptable.
69% of adults believe that gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable.
73% of adults believe that sex outside of marriage is morally acceptable.
43% of adults believe that sex between teenagers is morally acceptable.
40% of adults believe that pornography is morally acceptable.
66% of adults favor transgender people serving in the military.
34% of adults favor people playing on sports teams that match their gender identity (not their birth gender).
31% of adults have friends, relatives, or coworkers who have personally told them they are transgender.
This poll points out that 0.6% of Americans (approximately 1.8 million people) identified as Transgender. Americans' attitudes have become increasingly morally permissive on most of these issues over the past two decades.
What this poll points out to me is that we are no longer one nation under God, unless that god is Satan who "has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2nd Corinthians 4:4).
Additionally, the 2020 State of Theology Survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries found that 22% of evangelicals agree that gender identity is a matter of personal choice, thus rejecting the Biblical teaching that our gender as male or female is given by God our Creator!
Jesus Never Said...
I cannot tell you how many times I heard people say or read about the things Jesus never said. For instance, Jesus never condemned gay marriage or Jesus never said that abortion was wrong. My answer to them is this: you are automatically assuming that your view is correct just because Jesus never directly said this or that. You are arguing from silence.
What they don't understand is this: Jesus is the second person of the Triune God. He spoke throughout the Old Testament. He gave the moral law to Moses. He created Eve from a rib taken out of Adam then said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Jesus referenced this scripture in Matthew 19:3-6 when tested by the Pharisees with this question - "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”. The apostle Paul repeats Genesis 2:24 in Ephesians 5:31. Thus, speaking from God's written word I can say with 100% confidence that God created two very distinct sexes (man and woman) and the only marriage that He condones is between one man and one woman.
He was also there when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed for its sexual immorality. This is clear from the context of Genesis 19:1-8:
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 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 have relations with them.” But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
Once Lot, his wife, and two daughters were led to safety "the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground" (Genesis 19:24-25). If God condoned homosexuality, He sure had a funny way of showing it to the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.
An Abomination
The word "abomination" in the Hebrew (Old Testament) is tôʿēbâ. Its New Testament Greek counterpart is bdelygma. It means something defiling, detestable, foreign, and offensive to God and His ways that results in His wrath.
God clearly condemned homosexual acts in the Old Testament. They were an abomination that resulted in death by stoning. "The Lord spoke to Moses saying... You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:1, 22). "The Lord spoke to Moses saying... If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them" (Leviticus 20:1,13).
“A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 22:5). Just the idea of dressing in the clothing of the opposite sex is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. It obliterates the distinctions that God made between male and female by fostering effeminacy in men, manliness in women, and hypocrisy in both. It opens the door to an influx of many evils, including sexual perversion in what we call today transgenderism. I'm not saying it is wrong to dress up in the clothing of the opposite sex for some costume party or a part in a movie or a play (loved Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie"). It comes down to the attitude of your heart.
There are those who would argue that this was in the Old Testament and doesn't apply today because we are in the New Testament church. It is true that these passages came from the Old Testament. It is also true that the church today started in the New Testament. However, is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament? Is the Old Testament no longer valid today? The answer to these questions is obviously no. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). "The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting" (Psalm 119:160). “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (John 17:17). Jesus often quoted the Old Testament scriptures when He said "It is written" followed by the verse. Some examples include Matthew 4:4-10, Mark 1:2, Luke 19:46, and John 6:45. The apostles Peter and Paul also referred back to the Old Testament. Examples include Acts 1:20, Romans 1:17, 1st Corinthians 1:19, Galatians 3:10, 1st Peter 1:16.
Unrighteousness
All sin is unrighteousness. When someone comes to saving faith in Christ Jesus, that person becomes a "new creature" (2nd Corinthians 5:17). That person would not continue in their former sinful way of life. Before coming to faith in Christ Jesus, we all "formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Ephesians 2:3). This does not mean that believers don't sin. When we confess our sins, Christ Jesus will forgive us and cleanse us of our unrighteousness. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1st John 1:8-9). As believers, we don't make it a practice to continue in sin. The apostle John makes this very clear: "Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother" (1st John 3:7-10).
If you are in Christ Jesus, you cannot continue to practice sin because you are born of God! In 1st Corinthians 6:9-10 the apostle Paul lists several sins of the unrighteous, those who will not inherit the kingdom of God: "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." He then tells us, "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1st Corinthians 6:11).
Can I be a fornicating Christian? NO.
Can I be a covetous Christian? NO.
Can I be an effeminate Christian? NO.
Can I be a homosexual Christian? NO.
Can I fall back into any of these sins? YES - we are still sinners.
Can I repent of these sins and restore my fellowship with God and other believers? ABSOLUTELY!
But you may notice that being transgender is not specifically mentioned in 1st Corinthians 6:9-10. The word "effeminate" has the sense of being perverse in nature. Someone who is transgender changes their natural, God given, sexual orientation to what they feel is their gender identity. This alone is a perversion because it says to God, "I don't like the sex I was born with, so I'm going to fix it whether you like it or not!" We saw from Deuteronomy 22:5 that just wearing the clothing of the opposite sex was, and still is, an abomination to the Lord.
1st Timothy 1:9-10 - "realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching." The law was made for the ungodly, including murderers, immoral men, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. Is changing one's sexual orientation within the confines of sound, Biblical teaching? No - it is an abomination in the sight of God.
The Wrath of God
Is the United States undergoing judgement today?
Romans 1:18-20 states, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."
What is known about God is evident to all of mankind. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God "set eternity in their heart" (the hearts of men). Psalm 97:6 says, "The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory." Yet men, in their unrighteousness, suppress the truth and are therefore without excuse. As you read through Romans 1:21-31 you will notice the following:
Romans 1:21-22 - they did not honor God or give thanks to Him. They became futile in their speculations; their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.
Romans 1:23 - as a result of their foolishness, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images in the form of corruptible man, birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Replacing the teaching of Biblical creation with the theory of evolution in our public schools seems to fit with this. The Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925 was regarded as a landmark in the battle to teach evolution in American public schools. The United States Supreme Court did not overturn state laws that banned the teaching of evolution until 1968.
Romans 1:24 - because they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images in the form of corruptible man, birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures, God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. This fits with the sexual revolution of the 1960's to 1980's that led to the acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual marriage.
Romans 1:25 - they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator.
Romans 1:26-27 - because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, God gave them over to degrading passions - women having sexual relationships with women, and men having sexual relationships with men. Although homosexuality is nothing new, its wide acceptance in the United States occurred in the mid-1990's. Ellen DeGeneres became the first gay character on national television in 1997. In 1996 the first legal same-sex marriage in the United States took place in Massachusetts. In 2005 the California legislature became the first state to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples.
Romans 1:28 - because they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper. Have you ever watched the news lately and asked yourself "Are people losing their minds?" My answer is yes. God gave us over to the culture we are in because, as a nation, we no longer acknowledge God! Deservedly we are undergoing the wrath of God.
There Is Hope
There may not be hope for this country outside of a nationwide revival. But there is hope for the unsaved, for lost sinners who are not in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23 tells us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Likewise, Romans 6:23 states "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This death is not only physical, but eternal - eternal separation from God. It is what we all deserve. But God provided the only way to pass from His wrath to life in eternity with Him - His Son, Christ Jesus. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth"
2nd Timothy 2:15
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture cited in this post is taken from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update.
Comments