At
the 2019 General Assembly of the PCA, the Assembly voted to accept the
Nashville Statement on human sexuality as Biblically faithful (see: https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement/). The
only substantive debate revolved around the 7th article....
WE AFFIRM that self-conception as male or
female should be defined by God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption as
revealed in Scripture.
WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or
transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation
and redemption.
The
affirmation is simple: the Bible should define our self-conception of male and
female. Side B proponents want to assert that a person can be a
"homosexual Christian." "homosexuality" to the Side B
proponent identifies a person regardless of their actual sexual
activity. The side B argument seems to indicate that something other than
the Bible tells us how to understand our gender. Whatever that may
be it must, by definition, lack God’s authority. In addition, it may
be in conflict with what the Bible reveals. The 7th
Article's affirmation maintains that the Bible is the final authority.
The
denial is just as simple and also strikes at the authority and reliability of
the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states explicitly,
“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.”
Someone cannot be both an adulterer, homosexual, or a
drunkard and inherit the kingdom of God. No matter what else we
discuss about homosexuality, we have to decide, “Is the Bible
true?” It is essential that I understand homosexuality in conformity
with the Bible’s explicit statement. This is not a single verse
either. The scripture consistently condemns homosexuality as being
sinful.
The
next five words in the NASB are just as important. “Such were
some of you…” The verbal Paul uses is in the imperfect case
which carries the idea of an ongoing action in past time. Paul says
that some of the Corinthians were, in the past, living as homosexuals in an
ongoing way. At that time they were homosexuals and outside of the
kingdom of God. Now, having been washed—aorist tense indicating
completed action—and justified—also aorist—they are no longer
homosexuals. In these three verses God makes it clear that adopting
a homosexual or transgender self-conception is inconsistent with God’s holy
purposes. Any argument to the contrary calls into question the
veracity of the Word of God.
A
Christian may face the temptation to sexual sin, including homosexual sin, but
he is not an adulterer or a homosexual. He is not to identify as an
adulterer or a homosexual any longer. To change the meaning of
“homosexual” to involve those tempted to homosexual sin does violence to the
Word of God. For years Christians have adopted the term “alcoholic”
to refer to those tempted to drunkenness. In the same way, the term
“same sex attracted” can refer to a Christian without calling into question the
truthfulness of the Word of God.
Neo-orthodoxy
sought, in the early Twentieth Century, to redefine the words used in Christian
Theology. Inspiration no longer meant
God inerrantly revealing His will through the authors of Scripture. It began to mean, men who experienced
inspirational moments writing about those moments in a way which could become
the word of God for someone else. The “Side
B” proponents are utilizing the same methods popularized by Karl Barth some 85
years after he began to publish his Church Dogmatics. They are changing the meaning of words used in Scripture to fit their particular perspective in an effort to reach the hurting. Sadly, the consequence is that the new meaning is at odds with the Biblical text forcing the reader to decide whom will I believe? We must believe the Bible, even when it is unpopular.
