7/8/2026 weekly Bible message

Standing on God’s Word: The Bible’s Clear Teaching Against LGBTQ+ Identities and Relationships”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Welcome, friends, to this episode. I'm your host, Mark Williams. In a culture that increasingly celebrates LGBQ plus identities, same-sex marriage, and gender transitions as expressions of authentic authenticity and love, Christians must return to the authority of Scripture. Today, we will make a clear, biblical grounded case that traditional view, rooted in God's creation by design, is the right and faithful interpretation. Homosexual acts, same-sex relationships, and attempts to redefine gender are contrary to the revealed will. We will first build the positive case from the whole council of scripture. Then when we then we will fairly explain why some of the affirming Christians believe that the Bible supports their position. Finally, we will we will show why these interpretations fall short and why the historic tradition and historic traditional understanding upholds truth and love in love. This is not about condemning people. Every human is made in the in God's image and worthy of dignity. But it's but about calling sinners, all of us, to repentance and the transforming power of the gospel. Let's open our Bibles. The traditional case, a biblical case, God's design and clear commands. The Bible does not pr uh present sexuality as fluid or self-de-defined. From the beginning to the end, it reveals God's good design. One man and one woman. And the lifelong covenant of marriage, reflecting Christ and the church. Creation establishes the pattern. In Genesis 1, 27, 27 through 28. So God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created him. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Male and female are not social constructs, but the part of God's very good creation. Genesis 131. The command to be fruitful implies that sexual complementary build built into our bodies. And Genesis 2, 18 through 24, it after declaring it is not good for man to be alone, God fashions Eve from Adam's side. Adam recognizes her as bone of his bones. Therefore, a man shall leave his mother and father and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. This is the Bible's definition, uh definitive definition of marriage: heterosexual, monogamous, and permanent. Jesus is the ultimate authority, uh, reaffirms this without qualification in Matthew 19, 4 through 6, and in Mark 10, 6 through 9. When asked about divorce, Jesus goes back to Genesis. Have you not read that he who creates them from the beginning made them male and female? Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. Same-sex acts, as in Leviticus 18, 22. You shall not lie with a male, uh, you shall not lie with a male as a with a female. It is an abomination. Their blood is upon them. These commands sit among the timeless sexual ethics, as in incest, adultery, and bestiality. While ceremonial laws and diet and sacrifices are fulfilled in Christ, moral commands against sexual or immorality endure. Ezekiel and other prophets condemn similar sins in surrounding nations. The New Testament confirmation and expansion. In Romans one, eighteen through thirty two, Paul traces humanity's rebellion. God gives people over to dishonorable passions, for the women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women, and were consumed with a passion for one another. Men were committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This is not limited to the temple prostitution or because Paul uses creation language, natural, and describes mutual male and female same-sex behavior as evidence of suppressing uh suppressing God's truth. It fits his broader theology of sin, distorting God's order. In First Corinthians six, nine nine through eleven, do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves will inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you. And but you were washed and you were sanctified. Echoes Leviticus. Um Paul lists it among unrepentant sins that exclude one from the kingdom, yet offers hope for of transformation through Christ. In first Timothy 1 9 through 10, the law is for the lawless, including men who practice homosexuality. Additional support for this is Ephesians 5, 31 through 32. Marriage pictures Christ and the church, husband and wife roles. In 1 Corinthians 7, 2, it says, to avoid sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. In Hebrews 13 4, let marriage be held in honor, for God will judge the sexually immoral. In Jude 7, and the example of Sodom reinforced judgment on the sexually and sexually immorality and strange flesh. Throughout scripture, sexual union is reserved for the marriage covenant between husband and wife. Redefining this rebels against the creators, creator in Romans 1. Gender distinctions are part of God's design to not be blurred, not to be blurred or rejected, the fall corrupted desires. But the gospel restores us to God's intent. Now we're gonna go into understanding the affirming perspective of why and why some think the Bible permits it. To be fair, many LGBQ plus Christians and affirming churches sincerely believe that the Bible supports their identities and relationships. They argue that the handful of clobber passages address the ancient exploration, pedestry, temple, prostitution, rape, and idolatry rather than loving committed same-sexual marriages or modern understandings of orientation and gender dysphoria. Leviticus is a cultural, ritual law Christians don't keep. Romans 1 condemns the excessive lust in pagan context, not orientation. Jesus never mentioned it. Galatians 3 28 erases old distinctions. Stories like Ethiopian eunuch show radical inclusion. Harm from non-affirming teachings, higher suicide rates, rejection means those views produce bad fruit. God's love and justice demand affirmation. To see the Bible's arc moving towards the greater inclusion and interpret through experience signs and love commands. Now this is why the traditional view is the faithful biblical one. While affirming arguments sound compassionate and ultimately prioritize culture, experience, and selective reading over the text plainly meaning and unity. And Jesus' affirmation set in a positive standard that no passages relax relax. Silence on modern relationships doesn't equal approval. Jesus also didn't address many of the modern sins explicitly. Romans 1 1's language in general and tied to creation order, not specific abuses. Paul, a trained rabbi, knew Leviticus deeply. Words on studies link directly to Leviticus prohibitions. Early church consensus rejected homosexual practice. The bad fruit arguments reverse cause. Sin is broken brings brokenness. The gospel calls us out on sin into holiness, even when it's hard, even when hard. Many experience same sex attraction yet live faithfully, celibate, or heterosexual marriage by God's grace. The Bible's sexual ethic is consistently restrictive and protective, guarding the marriage bed. Affirming views require reinterpreting multiple strands, the creation law in ways that weaken scriptural authority elsewhere. Historic Christianity across Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions has understood these texts as prohibiting same-sex acts. Cultural shifts do not change God's Word. Isaiah, as I as in Isaiah 48 and Matthew 24, verse 35. So what can we do, you know, and call to action? Friends, the traditional view is the right, is right because it submits the full authority of Scripture as God's breathed out word. And 2 Timothy 3, 16 through 17. It honors the Creator's design and protects families and offers real hope. Jesus saves sinners of every kind. If you struggle with these desires, know that you are not alone. God's grace is sufficient. In 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. Churches must welcome all with truth and love, speaking clearly against sin by pointing to the Savior. We need to pray for conviction and compassion. Teach your children God's design. Support ministries that help those with unwanted same-sex attractions through gospel through the gospel, not affirmation of sin. In Romans 12, verse 2, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. May we stand firm. God bless you. If this episode stirred questions, study more and seek God's godly counsel. Until next time, hold fast to the word.