Embracing Depravity
By Dennis Fischer
Commentary February 2012
"Embracing Depravity"
When writing to the church at Rome, the apostle Paul made an extraordinary observation concerning how a society blessed by God could lose all contact with its moral compass. His words declare that if God’s people ever decided to abandon Him and His wisdom they would find themselves actually convinced that moral depravity was an expression of virtue.
Here is how he conveyed this point
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator…For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use [of their body] into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly…”
Today, the United States is acting out the fulfillment of these ominous words. And nowhere is this more apparent than its attempt to legitimize homosexuality.
In truth what was once a nation that viewed this practice as morally abhorrent now embraces it as an acceptable part of our culture.
Even the nation’s leaders have joined forces in their defense of what Paul once called “unseemly.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went so far as to assert that Gay equality is "one of the most urgent and important human rights struggles of all time."
President Obama expressed his support of the gay agenda this way:
“As an African-American man I am sensitive to the issue of civil rights for the LGBT community as if they were my own struggle For the record, I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act. It should be repealed. I also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. This is an effort to demonize people for political advantage, and should be resisted....”
At one point, the President actually defended his position on Biblical grounds when he said:
“If people find my opinion controversial, then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.”
It is interesting that the president never explained how the words of Christ as expressed in the Sermon on the Mount contradict the words of Paul as expressed in Romans.
Marginalizing the authority of the Bible represents one of the more recent assaults against those who see homosexuality as a clear breach of the God ordained purpose of marriage and family. And as amazing as this might seem this assault has even enlisted the support of the Christian clergy.
For Example:
William Kent, a one time a member of a committee assigned by the United Methodists Church to study homosexuality, declared that
"the scriptural texts in the Old and New Testaments condemning homosexual practice are neither inspired by God nor otherwise of enduring Christian value. The biblical condemnation of homosexual practice is better understood as bound in cultural prejudice."
Gary David Comstock, a Protestant chaplain at Wesleyan University asserted that:
"Not to recognize, critique, and condemn Paul's equation of godlessness with homosexuality is dangerous. To remain within our respective Christian traditions and not challenge those passages that degrade and destroy us is to contribute to our own oppression."
Some critics of the Biblical view even go so far as to suggest that the human authors of Scripture can’t be trusted because they were limited by the scientific immaturity of their age.
One such critic is Victor Paul Furnish. According to him:
"Not only the terms, but the concepts 'homosexual' and 'bisexual' were unknown in Paul's day. The ancient writers were operating without the vaguest idea of what we have learned to call 'sexual orientation'."
Now I realize that there are those like Mr. Furnish, who believe the Biblical view of sexual morality must measure up to contemporary wisdom and not the other way around, however, I for one couldn’t disagree more. And I am very confident that Paul will never have to apologize to Sigmund Freud or the American Psychological Association, for allowing his pen to be used by God Almighty to convey His wisdom regarding this issue.
Conclusion:
It is easy to see why the defenders of homosexuality would wage such a relentless war on the Bible and its influence on American values. Quite frankly, the scriptures speak with great force concerning this practice, and its words are not charitable.
For the record, homosexuality is identified in God’s word as an egregious act for which the Almighty has profound contempt. Consider how His Great Moral Voice thunders out His indictment against this perversion. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul called homosexuals “lawless and disobedient” (1Tim.1:10).
Moses specifically declared that their sacrifices were not acceptable to God (Dt.23:17-18). In the Old Testament the penalty for such behavior was death (Lev.20:13). In the New Testament the pronouncement is even worse. When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul included homosexuals who refuse to repent, among those who would not enter into God’s Kingdom (1Cor.6:9). And despite all modern attempts to redefine this practice, the scriptures proclaim without apology that sodomy is a crime against both God and nature.
Finally, here is something all Americans would be well advised to consider as this nation appears to be losing its grip on the prominence it once enjoyed as the greatest country on earth. 2700 hundred years ago another nation also enjoyed the favor of the Almighty as well. It too was great. However, it would eventually fall out of His favor and as a result suffer unimaginable humiliation and disgrace. God actually used the prophet Isaiah to describe this nation’s wickedness. Here are His words
Isaiah 3:9
The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not.
Now for all of us at Blow the Trumpet this is Dennis Fischer, saying, thanks for listening.