Why Gay Is Not Okay

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Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I’m glad to study God’s Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today’s edition of Pathway to Victory: Jesus did condemn homosexuality. But one can hardly imagine Jesus being impolite, being rude, speaking to people in a demeaning way when he did so. There is no place for that kind of behavior.
David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. In today’s culture, there are certain truths that will get you labeled as bigoted, hateful, or ignorant. But while culture does indeed change, God’s Word never does. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress looks honestly and compassionately at what the Bible teaches on the issue of human sexuality. But first, let’s take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I want to be upfront with you. Today’s message is called "Why Gay Is Not Okay" and it tackles what the Bible teaches about God’s design for human sexuality. Make no mistake, this is a tender subject, and I handle it with care. Because every person is loved by God and no sin is beyond his grace. But I won’t tone it down, either. That’s the kind of boldness Pathway to Victory has stood for across 30 years on radio and television. And friend, I don’t take our freedom to say these things for granted. To say thank you for your generous 30th-anniversary gift today, I’m pleased to offer a book that’s been months in the making. And in many ways, it took me 70 years to write. My brand-new book is called *Seven Lessons from My 70 Years*. It’s a quick read, less than 120 pages. But it’s full of biblical wisdom that’s shaped my whole life. And it’s the perfect book to pass along to an adult son or daughter, maybe even a grandchild. Some lessons are just too important to leave unspoken. We’ll have more to say about this exclusive offer. But right now, let’s open our Bibles to the first book in the New Testament. I titled my message "Why Gay Is Not Okay." We’re going to talk about what the Bible says about homosexuality. Ladies and gentlemen, culture may change, but the word of God never changes. The Bible says "Thy word is established in heaven forever." And we’re going to look and see what the Bible says about seven myths regarding homosexuality. Myth number one, and I’m sure you’ve heard it before. Myth number one: the only prohibitions against homosexuality are in the Old Testament and therefore not applicable today. The only prohibitions against homosexuality are in the Old Testament and therefore they’re not applicable today. Haven’t you heard that before? Now the argument goes like this: yes, Leviticus 18:22 says it’s an abomination for a man to lie with another man. But pro-homosexuals will say, "Well, why do you just single out that verse from Leviticus? Why do you cherry-pick the verses you’re going to obey and ignore other verses?" For example, Leviticus 7 verse 21 says if you touch an unclean animal, you shall be cut off from your people. That means every time you watch your favorite football team on TV, they are sinning against God because they are touching a pigskin. And the word of God says that’s a sin. You’re to be cut off from your people. So football is a sin. Why don’t you apply that verse? Or what about Leviticus 19:19? It says it is a sin to wear a garment that is made of two different kinds of material. So all you ladies out there, if you have a wool and cotton blend or cotton and silk, that is a sin according to Leviticus. Why do we pick and choose verses out of the Old Testament and ignore other verses? Now here’s the answer to that, ladies and gentlemen. We shouldn’t pick out any verses from the Old Testament to live under. The Old Testament was not written for us; it was written for Israel. The only parts of the Old Testament that apply to us today are those parts that have been repeated in the New Testament. So the real question is, does the New Testament, the code we live under, does it say anything about homosexuality? And the answer is yes. Turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 1 beginning with verse 24. Romans 1:24. Remember this passage is dealing with how some people have rejected the knowledge of the true God and replaced it with a god of their own making. They’ve exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Look at verse 24 of Romans 1. Have your pens ready to underline some things. It says, "Therefore God gave them—who? those who rejected the knowledge of the true God—God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them." "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. For this reason—why? because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie—for this reason God gave them over to—underline it—degrading passions." "For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire one toward another, men with men committing what kind of acts? Indecent acts and receiving their own persons the due penalty of their error." "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a what kind of mind? Depraved mind to do those things which are not proper." Could it be any more clear? Here are people who have rejected the true knowledge of God, and God gave them over to these degrading passions. I want you to look at verse 27. It says that they received in their own persons the due penalty of their error. Now some people have interpreted that to mean that sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and hepatitis, that those are the penalty that homosexuals receive in their body. We’re going to talk about that next week. About is it true that AIDS is no respecter of sexual orientation? I’ll give you a preview: the answer is no, that’s not true. But that’s not what this passage is talking about. This passage is not saying so much that homosexuality is a sin that is awaiting God’s punishment. Paul is saying that homosexuality in itself is God’s judgment upon a person for rejecting the true knowledge of God. That’s what this passage is saying. They received in their persons the due penalty of their error. Here were people who rejected the true God. They created a God of their own imagination, and God gave them over to go to the ultimate length of immorality. Right before I came into the service, we had a press conference over here. All the local television stations were there, and one of the people asked—one of the reporters asked a question. "Pastor, do you believe a God-fearing person can be a homosexual?" And the answer is absolutely not. You can’t fear God and disobey God at the same time. And that’s what Paul is saying here. Here’s another passage: 1 Corinthians 6 verses 9 and 10. And by the way, this is a verse that many Christians misuse when talking about homosexuality. Verse 9 says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God." Some people misuse that verse and say, "Well, homosexuality is the unpardonable sin because it says very clearly no homosexual will be in heaven." Well if that’s the interpretation you’re going to give that verse, you better go back and read it more clearly and carefully. Because if that’s what it’s saying, that’s not the only group that’s going to be excluded from heaven. It says, for example, neither will fornicators be there. A fornicator is somebody who has sex as a single adult, sex outside of marriage, pre-marital sex. If you use this interpretation, that means you’re not going to heaven. It says nor idolaters. Now idolatry, idolatry is putting someone or something else above your affection for God. Have you ever cared more about a person or a possession than you have about God? If so, that’s idolatry. You’re not going to heaven. It says not only that, adulterers aren’t going to be going to heaven. And then it says the covetous are not going to be there. Have you ever wanted what somebody else has? That’s to be guilty of the sin of covetousness. It says you’re not going to heaven. If you use that interpretation, heaven is going to be a pretty lonely place because nobody’s going to be there. That’s not what this verse is saying. When people use that verse to say homosexuality is the unpardonable sin, they stop short. Here’s verse 11, it’s the key to understanding the passage. Paul said, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God." Paul said, "Corinthians, some of you used to be drunkards and adulterers and fornicators and homosexuals, but you found God’s forgiveness. You were washed by the blood and mercy of Jesus Christ and because of that you’re going to be in heaven." I want to say this again clearly: no sin is outside of the grace of God. The blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But to receive that forgiveness, we first must have to admit that what we’re doing is wrong. One other passage: 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 9 and 10. "Realizing the fact that the law is not made for a righteous man, 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." Now I want you to notice that the word of God places homosexuality in the same category as those who kill their parents, for murderers, for liars, for drunkards, for thieves. The point is all of these things are contrary to the teaching of God’s word. Yes, the New Testament has quite a bit to say about homosexuality. It is a perversion of God’s plan. Now when confronted with these verses in the New Testament, homosexual advocates will quickly go to the second myth of homosexuality, and that is Jesus never condemned homosexuality. Have you heard that before? "Well, Jesus never condemned homosexuality." I remember the first time that I ever heard that argument. It was about 10 years ago. I was pastoring in Wichita Falls and our church had taken a very highly publicized stand against two children’s books that were homosexually themed. They were *Daddy’s Roommate* and *Heather Has Two Mommies*. *Daddy’s Roommate* was a book about—it was a children’s illustrated book about a little boy whose father left his mother to go live with his homosexual lover. And so the boy asked his mother, "Mother, why did daddy leave?" And she said, "Well, daddy left to be with his new friend Frank, and they have a new kind of love." And so the little boy said, "Well what does daddy and Frank do?" And so you flip through the pages. Well daddy and Frank work together, and they play together, and they eat together. Then you turn the page: and daddy and Frank sleep together. And there are two men in bed together. Now this was the children’s book that is circulated all across the United States. And so we protested that book. We said it’s not right for tax dollars to be used to support a lifestyle and a practice, sodomy, which at that time was illegal in the state of Texas. Secondly, it's condemned by all three major religions in the world. And thirdly, it's responsible for the greatest epidemic in human history: AIDS. We shouldn’t use tax dollars to encourage that. Well man, it all broke loose after that. And so we had a two-year fight there, and we finally got the City Council to pass a resolution that said if 300 citizens get together, they can request that a book not be thrown out of the library, but just simply moved from the children's section to the adult section. As soon as we got that passed, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Wichita Falls, and I was asked to testify in that lawsuit. So I was standing up there on the witness stand and the attorney for the ACLU, who I later learned was arrested in a gay sting operation here in Dallas, but that’s another story. But anyway, he said to me, he said, "Now Dr. Jeffress, what did Jesus have to say about homosexuality?" And about that point, I think he thought I was going to hang my head in shame and say, "Well, he really didn’t say anything and the only reason I’m against it is because I’m a bigot." But I didn’t answer that. In fact, I said, "Well actually Jesus had quite a bit to say against homosexuality." He said, "Oh really? Can you quote a few passages?" And I said, "Well yes, I can quote the verses," and I quoted those passages from Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Timothy 1. He said, "Now Dr. Jeffress, those weren’t Jesus’ words. Those were the words of the apostle Paul." I said, "Well that’s right. But as Christians, we believe all scripture is inspired by God, and since we believe that Jesus is equal to God, these are Jesus’ words about homosexuality." I don’t think he was convinced, but that was the argument anyway. Well what do you say to this idea that Jesus never condemned homosexuality? That argument is flawed in three important ways. First of all, that argument assumes that Jesus’ words are more authoritative than the rest of the Bible. To say Jesus never condemned it is to say, well Jesus’ words carry more weight than the words of the apostle Paul or the apostle Peter or any other scripture. But we don’t believe that as Christians. Secondly, the argument fails to realize that by affirming the Old Testament, Jesus automatically condemned homosexuality. When Jesus affirmed the truthfulness of the Old Testament, he automatically condemned homosexuality. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, "For I did not come to abolish the Old Testament law, but to fulfill it." Let me illustrate it for you this way. Let's say somebody made the argument—came up to you and said, "You know, I believe President Bush is for slavery. I believe he’s pro-slavery." And you say, "Well why would you ever say such a thing?" And your friend said, "Well I did some study of all of the speeches he’s given the past eight years, and in not one speech did he speak out against slavery; therefore, he is pro-slavery." Would that be a logical deduction? Of course not. You see, in January of 2001, George W. Bush placed one hand on the Bible and he raised another hand, and he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. And the Constitution prohibits slavery. And thus by swearing to uphold the Constitution, he was saying I’m going to uphold all of the laws, including those laws against slavery. It’s the same way with Jesus. When Jesus upheld the Old Testament, he was automatically condemning homosexuality. But it doesn’t stop there. By upholding God’s plan for human sexuality, Jesus did condemn homosexuality. Jesus condemned homosexuality by upholding God’s pattern for human sexuality. I want you to turn over to Matthew chapter 19 for a moment. Look at verse 3. "And some Pharisees came to Jesus testing him and saying, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?'" Notice how Jesus answered. He answered and said, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?" "And he said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' Consequently, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." Jesus said you can answer this whole question about divorce and remarriage by going back to God’s original plan and pattern for human sexuality. You know what God’s pattern for human sexuality is? Jesus said it right here. He said a mouthful. He said sex is reserved first of all for people in a marriage relationship. He said a man shall cleave to his wife. Sex is reserved for the marriage relationship. Secondly, he said sex is between a man and a woman. God created them male and female. A man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife. God’s plan for human sexuality is very clear. Yes, it’s true, Jesus never mentioned the word homosexuality. He never said "Thou shalt not commit homosexuality." But guess what? Jesus never said "Thou shalt not commit incest." Jesus never said "Thou shalt not commit bestiality" or pedophilia or necrophilia. He never spoke out against any of those things. Was it—was it he was pro-necrophilia and pedophilia? Of course not. By upholding God’s pattern for sexuality, by saying "Here’s the way God designed it—a man and a woman in a marriage relationship"—by setting that pattern, he automatically condemned any deviation from that pattern. And let me be quick to say, the reason God gave us this restriction was not to inhibit our happiness but to enhance it. Do you realize God’s the one who dreamed up the whole idea of sex? Now I want you to let your mind dwell on that for just a moment. Here’s God sitting up in heaven one day, maybe he got a little bored with the angels. He said, "I’m going to think of something really fun for these human beings to do." And he let his imagination go on. "What could they do that would really be fun?" And he dreamed it up. He dreamed up the idea of sex, and not only did he dream up the idea of sex, he designed the equipment to implement it. That was God’s idea. Do you realize that? Get your mind around that. God created the whole idea of sex. He said, "I want you all to engage in it, to enjoy yourself to the fullest, have a great time," but here is an operating instruction. It needs to operate in the marriage relationship between a man and a woman. Yesterday afternoon, I went over to NorthPark and I purchased an iPod. You all know what an iPod is. You listen to music or sermons. I thought I’d redeem some of the time on the treadmill by listening to something positive, and so I bought an iPod. Took it home last night, got it out of the box, and there was a little pamphlet along with the iPod called "Instructions." I tell you, I have never gotten any madder in my life than I did reading those instructions. You know what that Steve Jobs and the Apple people had the audacity to tell me? They told me that I had to plug that thing into a 120 outlet. They told me that. They say right there in those instructions, you have to put a 120 outlet if you’re going to charge this thing up. Who do they think they are? That belongs to me. I paid money for it. That machine belongs to me. And if I want to go plug it into a 220 outlet, I’m going to do it. And what’s going to happen? I’m going to fry that sucker, I’ll tell you right away. It’s gone. It’s history. Did Steve Jobs and the Apple people—did they write that instruction booklet for their benefit? No. They wrote it for my benefit. They said, "We designed this machine. We know how it best operates. Follow the instructions to enjoy it to the fullest." And that’s what God says to us. God says, "I created sex. I know how it works. It works best between a man and a woman and in the love and security of the marriage relationship." God’s design isn’t meant to fence you in; it’s meant to lead you into the fullest, most joyful life he created you for. And friend, whatever your story, whatever your struggle, please hear this: you are loved. God isn’t standing over you in judgment. There’s no sin beyond his grace and no one he turns away. For 30 years now, I’ve stood behind this microphone and said things that a lot of folks simply don’t want to hear. Unpopular truths, truths that ruffle feathers and raise eyebrows. And you’d expect that kind of plain talk to empty the room, wouldn’t you? But here’s the beautiful mystery: it hasn’t. Not even close. Instead, God has taken every unflinching word and used it to swell the impact of Pathway to Victory beyond anything I could have dreamed. We’ve become one of the fastest-growing media ministries in the country. And I’m inviting you to join me in this mission. Today your generous 30th-anniversary gift will help us catapult Pathway to Victory to even greater heights. And to say thank you for your gift, I’m going to send you the book I mentioned earlier in the program. It’s called *Seven Lessons from My 70 Years*. It reads more like a personal journal than a book, with seven honest lessons, a few old photos, and all of it drawn straight from scripture and my own walk with Christ. Here’s David with all the details.
David J. Mullins: Today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you’re invited to request Dr. Jeffress’ brand-new book, *Seven Lessons from My 70 Years*. Call 866-999-2965, visit ptv.org, or text PTV to 78800. And in celebration of 30 years of ministry, we’ve gathered Dr. Jeffress’ most requested messages from the past three decades into a complete teaching series called *Truth You Can Trust*. And we’ll send it to you on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc as a thank you for your especially generous gift of $75 or more. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org. You could write to us if you’d like: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That’s P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. I’m David J. Mullins. How should Christians respond to some of the most common myths our culture believes today? Dr. Jeffress examines some of the most common myths about homosexuality. That’s Thursday on Pathway to Victory.
Announcer: Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. What if your next vacation changed the way you read your Bible forever? Join me for nine nights sailing the Mediterranean with every detail taken care of. When you stand where Paul stood, your Bible comes alive in ways it never has before. Sail with us on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul cruise, May 2027. And ask about our optional Athens pre-extension. Call 888-280-6747 or visit ptv.org. You made it to the end of today’s podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we’re so grateful you’re here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in his word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you’ve been blessed by today’s podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go: don’t forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise. Now you’ve heard me and Dr. Jeffress talk about this Bible conference at sea, and cabins—well, they’re going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful Celebrity Infinity, sailing roundtrip from Athens. Each day you’ll gather for biblical teaching, worship, and fellowship. And then you’ll step ashore to stand where Paul stood in Ephesus and walk the streets of Thessaloniki where his letters still speak to the church today. Nine unforgettable nights with more biblical destinations along the way. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus the joy of traveling with like-minded believers. There’s also an optional pre-cruise extension in Athens. To book your spot, go to ptv.org.