Yesterday, I began a
series answering Wilson Cruz' statements on the CNN interview with Al Mohler last week following up the
Duck Dynasty stir.
LINK to video/interview: http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/19/duck-debate-bigotry-vs-belief/
Interview on December 19, 2013
Wilson Cruz, national spokesman for GLAAD &
Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The following are claims and statements that Wilson made during the interview with CNN. I endeavor to provide biblical answers and Christ-centered rebuttals to Wilson’s comments.
[The statements in bold are those that came from Wilson, the national spokesman for GLAAD & a proponent of LGBT. The answers below each statement are biblical responses to Wilson’s comments.]
In the previous
post, I provided Wilson's first three claims and then I followed each with a biblical response.
1. Not all Christians support views of Phil Robertson. More and more Christians support LGBT.
2. He invites all people to know us, our lives, our families and to meet young people & are accepting that they are LGBT.
3. People need to get to know us, see our lives, see our desires & understand that we accept who we are.
The answers can be found
HERE at the post.
Today, I will give the next three claims that Wilson made with biblical answers below.
4. The Pope and Obama accept same sex marriage...
In fronting this fact, I assume that Wilson endeavors to add some credibility to his proposals by affirming that the Pope and Obama both accept same sex marriage. Perhaps the Pope and Obama see same sex marriage as legitimate, valid, and an acceptable way of life for some. Inherent in Wilson’s statement, however, are a number of misunderstandings.
First, neither the Pope nor Obama are Bible-believing Christians. Regardless of what they claim, their theology, their conduct, and their convictions reveal that they do not love Christ, His Word, His standards, and His glory above all things. Thus, they are not Christians, they are not saved, and they are not valid references to point to for ‘Christians’ who accept same sex marriage.
Second, and infinitely more important, regardless of who accepts same sex marriage as a valid way of life for some people, God condemns this as a sinful lifestyle and repeatedly affirms that those who engage in homosexuality will not enter heaven. Homosexuality (and, the LGBT movement at large) confuses and distorts the clear design of God for marriage between one man and one woman. The covenant between one man and one woman alone is, to be sure, the only legitimate marriage union in God’s eyes.
Even if everyone in the world accepted homosexuality as a permitted way to live life, the standard does not come from man’s acceptance but from divine revelation. And divine revelation from God is perfectly and sufficiently contained in the 66 books of Scripture — the Bible. Thus, God sets the standard as to what is sinful and what is holy; what is right and wrong. And in the Bible, God the sovereign King over all creation affirms that homosexuality is sin and it is in no way acceptable as a God-honoring way to live life in God’s eyes. In fact, God promises that those who engage in this kind of lifestyle — and even societies that plunge into this kind of lifestyle [and even accepting this kind of homosexual lifestyle] — will meet the wrath of God since God has given them over to indulge in their sinful passions which will result in the eternal judgment of God unless they repent, turn, and embrace Christ as their only hope for change & reconciliation with God.
5. This country has changed & most americans support LGBT people & are supportive of them.
This statement follows on the heels of the immediately preceding one about the Pope and Obama both advocating same sex marriage as an acceptable way of life. But in this statement, Wilson opens the door even more to suggest that the majority of Americans are shifting in viewpoints (which is true), and that the majority of the American population finds the LGBT movement as valid and permissible.
But again, the same point as mentioned above needs to be restated. The authority for rejecting homosexuality, same sex marriage, and the entire LGBT movement as a permissible way of life comes not from the majority opinion of the American people but rather from the sovereign Authority, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as He has revealed Himself in the Word of God. The Bible is the only book from God and in it He reveals who He is, who mankind is, why men are the way they are, why the world is the way it is, and the desperate need all humans have for God’s salvation since man can in no way contribute in any way to his own salvation. Salvation is of the LORD. God reigns supreme. His Word alone is the authority. And all people everywhere, without exception, are held to God’s standard as revealed in Holy Scripture.
So even if the USA has changed — which it undeniably has — and even if the majority of the American people find themselves voting more and more to legitimize same-sex marriage and stand silent with the rushing wave of the LGBT movement, the Word of God stands supreme and authoritative.
The Bible reveals that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman alone. This is God’s design from the very first marriage, before sin ever entered the world. And, the Bible clearly shows that marriage has always been a walking, living, breathing picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ (the Bridegroom) and His Church (the Bride). To affirm homosexuality (and, by extension, LGBT) is to distort, mar, confuse, and corrupt the beautiful representation that marriage has always been intended to portray, that is, the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to His elect people, the Church.
Most people in the USA might see worry, anxiety, anger, complaining, slander, lying, manipulation, and divorce as allowable, permissible and even preferable given particular circumstances of life. But God uncovers these all in the Bible as sins that stem in man’s sinful, corrupt, and self-righteous heart that shows that he is in urgent need from God (someone outside of self must save self from God’s coming just wrath). The only solution to these sins is the gospel of Jesus Christ. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All sit under the wrath of God. All live with the divine sword of judgment awaiting to be plunged into his soul (and deservedly so!) because of sin, rebellion, transgression, and idolatry. Yet the message is the same to the homosexuals, to those in the LGBT movement, to the drunkards, to the sexually immoral, to the gossips, to the liars, and to the murderers — and all people everywhere — that unless one repents he will likewise perish. Unless one repents and believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ, he will pay the penalty for his sin in hell.
To conclude, the standard Wilson suggests in that the American people are more accepting to the LGBT people is flawed. The majority opinion of America does not make something right. What God says is right is right. What God says is sin is sin. And God declares that homosexuality is sin.
6. It is not a Christian thing to include homosexuality in a list of bestiality or slanderers.
In the interview on CNN, Wilson stated that it is not a very “Christian” thing to include homosexuality in a list of bestiality or slanderers.
This statement probably echoes Phil Robertson’s statement in his interview with GQ magazine where he (sort of) quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9ff which does in fact, undeniably, place homosexuality in a list of sins affirming that all those who live that way will not inherit the kingdom of God.
To be clear, here is the biblical text that Phil Robertson alluded to in his interview (along with some other “lists” in the New Testament):
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 — Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:3-5 — But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Galatians 5:19-21 — 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Revelation 22:15 — 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
Romans 1:26-32 — 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as 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, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
In these various Scriptures, the Word of God repeatedly, unambiguously, and undeniably affirms that those who live lives engaging in these practices will not enter heaven. The point is simple. Those who live this way show that they love the world, the lusts of the world, and the pride of life and thus the love of God is not in them. They have not received God’s salvation. This is evidence since those whom God saves, he sanctifies (he changes, he transforms, he grows). The believer is one who repents of his sin (and makes repentance an ongoing pattern in his life as he sees and finds more sin in his heart and life), turns from it, endeavors to kill his sin and slaughter it at its root, and diligently resolves to follow Christ passionately by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh.
Returning to Wilson’s point, it is not a Christian thing to do to put homosexuals in a category of sins such as bestiality or slanderers. What Wilson is mistaken on, however, is that it is not the Christians who put homosexuals in these categories; it is God who does it. God is the Sovereign one who puts the homosexual lifestyle in these categories of sins and affirms that those who persist in this lifestyle without repenting, turning, and following Christ and His Word are those who cannot enter heaven. So, the very statement that Wilson makes is misguided at the outset. It is not a Christian who “places” homosexuality in various categories of sin. One must be clear on this, no person (including Christians) have any right, authority, or prerogative to put someone in a category of hell-bound sinners. Christians are not judging. It is God who has already revealed in His sufficient and clear Word that those who live in such categories of sins as listed above will not enter heaven and it is not a Christian who judges them by calling them to repent, it is God who has done so in His Word and the faithful Christian demonstrates God-like love in passionately, lovingly and urgently calling homosexuals and all those in the LGBT lifestyle — and all those who are indifferent and accepting of this lifestyle — to see their sin, their need for Christ and His atoning death at the cross that bore the Father’s wrath in the place of believing sinners, so that those who turn to God and turn from sin (=repentance) will find eternal life, full forgiveness, and eternal blessedness in heaven.
One concluding note, in the list of sins that Phil Robertson alluded to in his GQ interview (1 Corinthians 6; also referenced above), one must read the full context of this statement. I must post it below.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 — 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 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.
This final statement in 1 Corinthians 6:11 cannot be overlooked. In this statement, God declares through the pen of the Apostle Paul that believers did once live lives of ongoing sin. But, they were washed. They were sanctified (that means, ‘set apart’). They were justified (that means legally declared righteous before God’s judgment bar because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to the sinner by faith). All this came about in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ which speaks of Jesus’ person which was wholly divine and wholly human. Furthermore, it speaks of Jesus’ work which was substitutionary, wrath-bearing, a sin-offering not for His own sins (since he was utterly perfect having never sinned in any way) but for the sins of His own people — His sheep, His Church, His elect. He bore the divine penalty on the cross that His people earned because of their sin yet He took the full weight of that punishment upon Himself and was crushed by God, forsaken by God, and drank the full cup of the Father’s wrath down to the dregs. And His righteousness is forensically imputed to the believing sinner who repents of sin and humbly and totally casts Himself upon Christ and His atoning death. To summarize in the words of Scripture: He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Christ] (2 Corinthians 5:21). This full, lavish, saving gospel is powerful to save even those who have plunged headlong into whatever category of sin it may be. God’s grace and Christ’s sufficient death is powerful enough to save even the most sinful, despised, defiled, and blasphemous worm that ever existed. Glory to God for His salvation! Indeed, salvation is of the LORD. Christ died for His enemies. As an ancient hymn puts it: Thou must save, and Thou alone.
The final three claims that Wilson made will be noted and answered soon here on this blog.
