Matthew
5:27-30
Seldom people look at the matter of sin deeply as the matter of desire.
Often what is understood is only that sin is a matter of behavior. As
long as one does not actually practicing sin then one does not sin. Such
is the common understanding. Tendency, desire, hidden thought, hidden
motive, and so on, is not considered sin. Many people try to separate the
desire and the actual conduct
While it is true that desire is
not the same with the actual action, the two are connected very strongly.
Because the act, normally, is the result of the will. There are cases
when the act does not match the will, but most likely for those cases the circumstance
around the event is gravely overwhelming. Such as the time of war for
example, or crisis situation when emergency call is needed, a split second
decision, all those terrible events that can temporarily alter the reasoning of
man and even the character. We are not discussing extraordinary
circumstances here. We are discussing the common circumstance.
Commonly people act following their will. However, I must say here, that
even within extraordinary circumstances we are held accountable for whatever it
is that we do. If it is sin, then it is sin, regardless of the
circumstance. However the value of the sin will certainly be greater if
committed under normal circumstance, because of the unlikely detachment of will
and action during normalcy.
I want to focus now especially on the matter of homosexuality. This issue
has been hot, especially in North America,
especially after the decision by the US Supreme Court in 2013. This issue
has been extremely hot among Christians ever since. As we all know, the
hotness is due to the clash between the desire of the world to promote
homosexuality as natural and the orthodox teaching of the Scripture that
declares homosexuality as unnatural and therefore sin. This issue weighs
heavy in the heart of many Christians today. A lot of Christian leaders
have compromised the orthodox teaching. So they change their mind on the
unnaturalness of homosexuality. Now they begin to say that it is somehow
OK. Though they do not readily say that homosexuality is natural, they
would quickly say that it can be tolerated based on love.
The common compromise today is to say that homosexual tendency in itself is not
sin, whereas the homosexual practice is indeed sin. At first read, such
statement appears to be right. People would readily agree with such
statement. With the common framework of the world that sin is only a
matter of behavior and not a matter of the heart, certainly that statement is
logically right. But if we carefully listen to the Scripture, we will
know that it isn’t the case. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus points out
that the matter of sin goes deeper than merely behavior. For Jesus, the
Lord of lords, the Creator of the universe, God himself, sin is a matter of the
heart. Action follows the heart. Jesus says in Matthew 5:28: “28 But
I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.” With this clear
example, Jesus is saying that the seventh commandment has already been broken
by simply lusting over a woman. The man does not have to act upon his
will. He has committed the sin in his heart. In short, sin is sin
whether it is acted or only committed in the heart. Sin is sin whether it
is just the tendency or it is practiced. If we listen to this word of the
Lord Jesus Christ carefully, then we immediately will know that the compromised
statement above is totally wrong. To be concrete, based on the words of
Jesus, homosexual tendency in itself is then sin. It doesn’t have to be
practiced for it to be sin, the existence of the tendency, desire, will, is in
itself sin.
Like all other sins, homosexual tendency too is sinful. Jesus gives the
example of committing adultery. The same rule applies to all others, such
as lying, stealing, killing, and so forth. One is guilty of sin just by
desiring to lie. One is guilty of sin by desiring to steal. One is
guilty of sin by desiring to kill. The list goes on. However, this
does not mean that then there is no hope for the person with the
tendency. On contrary there is hope. For we all have sinned.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23: “23 for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have
within us some sort of flaws one way or another. One has the tendency to
lie, another person has the tendency to steal, still another to murder, or to
commit adultery, or to desire what is unnatural such as homosexual
activity. As early as Adam and Eve, they both already had the tendency to
deny responsibility. And as early as Cain, he already had the tendency to
murder. Now, the hope is that Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the
world, has died on the cross to atone sinners of their sin – whatever sin,
except the unforgivable sin as described in the Scripture in Matthew
12:22-32. And this hope is true.
Compromising the truth leads us to a greater sin. The compromise above
leads a lot of people astray. Many then, based on such compromise,
continue to nurture their desire for homosexual activity thinking that it is OK
as long as they do not commit the actual act. Whoever it was who first
made the compromise, they have undermined the power of sin. And more
terribly is that they have undermined the word of God. First, the word of
God cannot be compromised. Homosexual act is sin. Homosexual
tendency too is sin. It is not merely a consequence of sin. It is
sin. We can’t reduce its weight. What is declared as sin is
sin. It is God’s province. It is not within our authority to change
God’s declaration. The only thing man can do, though it should not be
done, is deceiving oneself. Romans 1:26-27 declares:
26 For
this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women
exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and
the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with
passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving
in themselves the due penalty for their error.
The truth of the word of God cannot be
reduced by man, how much more by human logical error. Paul is consistent
with the Law as Moses wrote.
22 You
shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
(Leviticus 18:22)
13 If
a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
(Leviticus 20:13)
Matthew 5:28 points out the hidden and
unseen sin. Sin is not just an act. It is much deeper than just an
act. It is the desire, the tendency, that breeds the action. The
word of God cannot be discounted. Undermining the word of God is
dangerous. Twisting it for the sake of compromise is even more.
Second, the power of sin is great. Undermining it is a grave
mistake. Deceiving oneself by saying that homosexual tendency is OK is
like burying an active nuclear bomb under our house. They are delusional
to think that it is harmless. A little instability might spell
disaster. A little leak might cause great harm. Continuing to think
that homosexual tendency is OK might cause further destruction. It is not
OK. It is sin. And as Paul has said, for the redeemed, we are dead
to sin (Romans 6:2). Even the homosexual tendency, the redeemed has died
to it. How can the redeemed say that homosexual tendency is OK as if one
is still alive to it? If one is in Christ, then he is dead to sin.
The deception that homosexual tendency is not sin will tempt the person into
nurturing it. If it is not a sin, then there is no reason not to nurture
it. It is not a sin after all, so they thought. This is a huge
slippery slope. This statement provides the excuse to explore further
deception. One then cannot help but ask the question: “if the tendency is
not sin, how come the action that results from it is sin?” That is a
valid question. And I do not think that one can answer satisfactorily
with that being the case. Thus, pretty soon, it will open the door widely
to the excuse to practice the tendency. After all, there is no reason
against the practice if the tendency is not a sin. It would be
inconsistent to say that the tendency is not sinful, while at the same time to
emphasize that the action is. No! The compromise doesn’t
work. We should not compromise in the first place. Homosexual
practice is sin. Homosexual tendency is also sin. We can’t water
down the word of God just because we feel bad about those who have the
homosexual tendency. In the same way we can’t excuse the tendency to
murder just because we feel bad that those people who have it have it in their
gene. Sin is sin, no matter what.
If we start on the right foundation, then we may proceed to the next
level. The next level is the ministry toward these people. Granted
that in the past, Christians acted harshly toward them. But the mistake
of Christians in the past should not become the ground for excusing
homosexuality. How much more to say that it is not sin. A mistake
is a mistake. It has to be addressed. The brutal act and treatment
must stop. We do not kill people anymore. Now, the death penalty as
stipulated in Leviticus is clearly the just punishment of the
transgression. But as God’s church today we are not executing such kind
of punishment anymore. We still speak of it as sin. We still
proclaim the end result of such sin, the same like any other sin, which is
death. But we are not the executioners any more. We are tasked with
a different task. Our task is what Paul calls as the “ministry of
reconciliation” in 2 Corinthians 5:18. Again, we still speak that the
result of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but we do not stop there, instead we also
proclaim of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. The Leviticus Law stands,
it is the truth, the wages of sin is death. God doesn’t downgrade his
Law. His justice is perfect. But God is also a gracious God.
So we proclaim God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
Before we discuss further on the grace of God in Christ, we need to address the
problem of overemphasizing grace in our era today. Today we have in our
face, the tendency of Christians dismissing anything about judgment. They
do not want to picture God as the God of justice, the God who demands complete
obedience of his people, the God who executes and punishes the guilty.
They reject the God of justice. Instead, they only want to accept the God
of mercy, the God of grace, the God of love. This partiality is very
disturbing. Because God has both characters. God is both just and
loving. Justice is demanded. It is never discounted by God.
The death of Jesus on the cross is the proof of God’s demand for justice.
If God is only grace then Jesus did not have to die on the cross. But no,
in the kingdom of
God, grace does not work
alone. Grace works side by side with justice. Without justice,
grace cannot exist. Without the death penalty of the sin of
homosexuality, one cannot understand the meaning of God’s grace in Christ
Jesus. For grace presupposes justice. Therefore, in the last
analysis, when God’s servants proclaim grace, they must also properly proclaim
God’s justice. Contrary to the demand of this age, which only wants the
message of grace and love. Such partial proclamation will only result in cheap
grace and cheap love.
With the right understanding of grace and justice, we can then talk about the
ministry to the sinners, which includes those who are homosexually
inclined. Pay attention that I use “ministry to sinners” as the bracket
here. Simply because we are all sinners. Homosexuality is no more
special sin than committing adultery. It is sexual sin. Or what the
Scripture refers as “sexual immorality” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18; 10:8;
Hebrews 13:4; Jude 1:7). Homosexual sin becomes extra special because of
its perversion combined with the past treatment religious people, including
Christians, did to those people. Its unnaturalness does not go
unnoticed. But ministering to the homosexuals, those practicing or not,
must start with the understanding that it is a sin. It must start by
acknowledging that those who even have the tendency are sinners.
Complaining that it is not fair to label them sinners based on the reasoning
that they are created that way by God is no more insulting than to say that
people who have the tendency to murder are not sinners because they too are
created by God in that way. It is called pride. Wanting to elevate
oneself at the expense of God’s holiness. No! Everyone must humbly
repent. Understanding that each has sinned. Even in the womb,
before any act can be committed, we have sinned against God. David speaks
about it very vividly:
5 Behold,
I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Psalm 51:5)
This is the doctrine of the original
sin. It is a huge mistake to say that the tendency is not sin, only the
practice is. Even for the redeemed, to have tendency to sin is in itself
sin. That is why we need to repent from time to time. Not that
Jesus needs to be crucified over and over again in order to atone us. But
that we ought to realize who we are and our submission to God. Christ’s
sacrifice is done once and for all (Hebrews 10:10-14). This then means
that the message we channel to sinners are consistent since the beginning of
time, which is God is just that he has to punish sin, and the wages of sin is
death, but God desires to save us so he sends his son into the world to satisfy
God’s demand for justice and to provide grace and salvation to those who believe.
And this is the same message we ought to speak to the homosexuals too.
Not camouflaging its sin by saying that the tendency is OK but just don’t
practice it. Such deception will damage the poor souls even more.
It endorses inconsistency. Those people will be split in their
personality. They will be disintegrated. Some people have become
aware of the impossibility to separate the will and the action, the tendency
and the practice. So some of them have begun to ask that if the tendency
is not wrong, then perhaps the action stemming from the tendency is not wrong
too. There is no reason actually to say that the tendency is not wrong
but the action is wrong. It is absurd to say so. So, it is either
the tendency and the action is both wrong or not wrong at all. The
Scripture says that both are wrong. Both are sin. If we are for
God, then we will obey God’s word. But if they are not for God, they will
manipulate the word of God for their own advantage. Or they will just
reject God’s word outright. One can’t be for God and not for God at the
same time.
With that start, then the ministry to the homosexuals, the same as to other
sinners, must lead toward repentance. And the repentance leads to the
realization that since we are in Christ then we have died to sin.
Therefore, the extent of the ministry must include the instruction not to
nurture the homosexual tendency just like other instruction to other sinners
not to nurture greed or lies and so on. And it also must include the guidance
to dwell in the word of God. Submission to God is a must. God
commands obedience (cf. John 15:1-11; 2 Corinthians 10:6). Denying
oneself, carrying one’s cross, and following Jesus is necessary to truly become
Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34). The ministry can’t be done
properly without realizing the real meaning of sin. The ministry of
reconciliation won’t work if people do not think and feel that they have
sinned. If they have not sinned, then they do not need reconciliation.
They then do not need forgiveness. For they do not need to repent
from anything. And this is the message projected from the compromise that
claims that homosexual tendency is not sin, the homosexual practice is.
Certainly, the compromise is very damaging.
Now, the homosexuals might not be able to have a natural tendency as long as
they live in this broken world. To force them to have the natural
tendency would not be wise either. The practical and pastoral advice then
is for them not to practice it. That is a good practical and pastoral
advice. But it is not ground for then saying that only the practice that
is sin. The advice will still need to be implemented. The tendency
must not be nurtured. We cannot, just because we feel bad about ourselves,
then bend over backwards to deceive ourselves into thinking that our tendency
is no sin. What is sin must be called as sin. Self deception will
not solve the bad feeling. It is just a temporary ecstasy. It is a
sleeping pill. Now, Paul says:
18 For
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For
the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who
subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will
be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory
of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole
creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And
not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption
of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now
hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But
if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
(Romans 8:18-25)
(Romans 8:18-25)
We might not be able to heal homosexual
tendency now in this broken world. But for sure in the new heaven and the
new earth it will be taken care of by our God. The hope is real. We
groan together, though our groaning might be of different issues, but we groan
together. We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies. This
body of death must be redeemed in its completeness. And we will be
clothed with the body of glory when Christ Jesus comes the second time.
Therefore, the ministry, just like the ministry to all other sinners, is
to point all of us toward the hope that is in Christ Jesus. We all endure
the suffering until our time is up. We continue to be faithful and
obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. The homosexuals, as well as the
murderers, the liars, the adulterers, and so on, groan together as we are
redeemed in Christ for the redemption of our bodies. No the solution
can’t be compromise. The solution can’t be then to say that homosexuality
is no sin – or that homosexual tendency is no sin. No, it is sin.
But we have hope in Christ. That in the world to come, we will no
longer have sin, be it tendency or actual action. So believing and
trusting our savior, we wait patiently. We wait even as we endure the
suffering. We deny ourselves and we carry our cross daily as we follow
our Lord Jesus Christ obediently. Amen.
- The Business of
Christian Education XCIX -
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