A Word of Warning to Gay-Affirming Churches
A Facebook feed caught my attention this week. A picture of a gay-affirming church at a Nashville Pride parade holding up a banner with written letters for all the gay community to see, “God is PROUD of you”.
Passionate commenters posted to this thread throughout the day:
“These people call themselves a church, but while they think they are being loving, they are actually expressing hate. Their demonstration of “love” and “acceptance” is an encouragement for sinners to remain under God’s wrath. That is not God’s love.”
“Are you saying people with a different orientation are not deserving of God’s love?”
“How could you possibly read that into what he is saying? God’s love sent His Son to us to save us from our sins. Love doesn’t affirm us in our sins. We all have an orientation towards sinful behavior. But, Jesus Christ came to set us free so that we will not be subjects of God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment. Unless we turn from our sinful orientations, believe and obey the gospel, we will all be condemned to eternal damnation.”
“Who are any of you to judge GAY folks? Discrimination against people of a different sexual orientation is a socio-cultural bias/discrimination. GOD does not discriminate!”
“God does discriminate between good and evil. And in the end Jesus will judge all who have not repented according to their works.”
“God loves all people but hates all sin. He loves the homosexual person just as much as he loves a liar, a thief, a murderer, etc. … We are all sinners, and He loves us all. But He desires to set us free from our sin. He loves us too much to want us to continue in sin and ultimately end up in hell because God and sin cannot coexist. These people are saying that it’s okay to live in sin because God loves you anyway. Basically they’re saying I don’t care if you go to hell. That’s NOT love.”
Why is this logic and rationale so difficult for people, especially the gays, to accept?
To the gay community I write, God still loves you but cannot endorse or approve your sexual orientation for the simple reason that He would have to change His holy written Word to do such.
“Forever, O Lord, Your Word is established in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).
“And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:47-48).
So it really comes down to believing the authority of God’s Word, the holy Scriptures, doesn’t it?
This basic and fundamental error of doubting the Word of God is the very reason for the controversy surrounding gay marriage and for man’s fall in the beginning. It is the very reason for the curse and calamities that have befallen this world. It set the law of sin and death into motion.
They, specifically Eve, doubted God’s Word. And the serpent said to the woman, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1).
It is quite the paradox that after doubting God’s Word and eating of the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves and hid (v. 7-8). Today they are coming out of the closet.
The law of sin and death simply states, “the soul that sins must die”. Or to say it in modern English, “the soul that practices sin must die and be separated from God forever.”
To all the gays I write again by way of illustration, the true Christian community sees your house burning down and is trying to rescue you from a certain damnation. Those who are affirming your lifestyle are like those who watch you burn in the hellfire and tell you that everything is alright and God is actually proud of you.
Do you see the utter hypocrisy and deception of it all? Do you see the mockery of it?
Your approvers are tools of Satan. They are telling you what the devil told Eve. The government, the media, public opinion gone mad, and the courts are telling you:
“You surely will not die.” (Gen. 3:4)
They are not your friends! They are your enemies in disguise!
The law of sin and death tells us that “the wages of sin is death”, but the good news is this: “The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). That is a higher law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that sets every sinner free from the law of sin and death. That same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also raise you from the dead.
To the gay community I conclude, surely you have come out of your closet, but your greatest need is to now come out of your grave. You are still dead in your trespasses and sins and need to be made alive. God will do it if you will believe and trust His Word!
To the gay affirming churches I write, your sin is far greater, for to whom much is given much is required, and woe unto those who call good evil and evil good; and cause one of these little ones to stumble (see Luke 12:48, Is. 5:20, Matt. 18:6).
Perhaps you can find yourself in the following story.
One day a certain man went looking for someone to help him change the Bible. First, he went to a church and all they told him was to live clean and holy because some day he will meet Jesus face to face and give an account. Then he went to a school of theology to speak with a wise church history professor. He told him that throughout church history no culture or society or highest court in the land have ever been able to change the Bible. The professor told him that even God Himself cannot change the Bible because He has placed His Word even above His Name (Ps. 138:2b). If He changed His Word He would permanently tarnish His Name and be the biggest fraud of all, for God has said, “I am the same yesterday, today and forever, I change not (Heb. 13:8) (Mal. 3:6).”
The man went away and reasoned that he is stuck with the Truth, since out of seven billion people on the planet he could not find one that has ever been able to change the Bible.
God will never change His laws or His Word for anybody.
All you gay affirming “churches,” I warn you with tears, you are preaching another gospel and serving another Jesus.
The remedy God offers you is simple. Quit adding or altering His Word. Repent of your falsehood and accept and obey the truth.
Bert M. Farias, revivalist and founder of Holy Fire Ministries, is the author of several books including The Real Spirit of Revival and the newly released My Son, My Son—a beautiful father-son memoir co-written with his son Daniel for the purpose of training up a holy generation. He ministers inter-denominationally and cross-culturally in nations, churches, conferences, crusades, on the streets, and in homes. He and his wife also host The Holy Ghost Forum—a school of the Spirit. Follow him at Bert Farias and Holy Fire Ministries on Facebook or @Bertfarias1 on Twitter.
