Why Does the Bible Forbid Same-Sex Marriage?
GodWords Newsletter #91
I sincerely appreciate all of you paid subscribers. Your support means a lot, and I mean that. If you’re not a paid subscriber, rest assured that I love you, too. 😎
Why does the Bible completely forbid something like a homosexual loving marriage? It seems to be rather unfair to me. [Editor’s Note] This article is based on a comment on another article.
First, thanks for writing. I’m always aware that my perspective is limited, so I really appreciate hearing from you. Second, you’ve asked some good questions. I have two points to make here.
1. While it’s a good idea to understand the basis for the instructions we’re given, the job of the disciple is to be obedient… regardless of whether we fully understand. What you’re asking for is the rationale behind the Scriptural prohibition of homosexual behavior. That’s not a bad question, but it would be a mistake to base your obedience on whether you like the reasons you’ve been given, or whether they make perfect sense to you. I don’t really understand why we’re told to pray so much… but I pray all the time, trusting that I will understand later. I very much appreciate that you want to serve God with your life! I hope that you’re able to trust God with ALL of your life, and not just with the parts you understand and agree with.
2. I do have some information that might be useful. Marriage plays a very significant role in Scripture. It’s a big deal. Considering that, some find it odd that Jesus said that we won’t be married in Heaven. I wondered why, so I did some thinking and reading on the subject. I’ve kind of kept an eye out for more info over many years.
You see, a whole bunch of things in the Bible are substitutes for other things. The Temple – the place where God dwelled with His people – wasn’t just a temple. It also pointed to a future reality, when the Holy Spirit would indwell God’s people personally. This is why we read in 1 Corinthians that we are each a temple of the Holy Spirit. The physical temple was important, but it also pointed to a spiritual reality to come. There’s even more to it: the day is coming when all of God’s people will be in Heaven, dwelling where God is. The Temple in three different formats, if you will. Do you see how that works?
It’s the same thing with marriage. Marriage is important, but it also points to a greater spiritual reality. Our marriages aren’t simply important human relationships… they point to something bigger, and more important. First-century Jews understood this, but we need a bit of an explanation to get the point. You might be familiar with this passage:
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:3
Jesus is telling His disciples that He’s going to Heaven to prepare a place for them. However: what we don’t see right away, that they understood immediately, is that these words came straight from a marriage proposal. This is what a young Israelite man would say to a young Israelite woman when he wanted to marry her. He would say this, then disappear for a while. He would build a new addition on his father’s home, making room for his new bride and their future children. Then, when it was finished, he would appear at his fiancee’s house and take her with him to live there. What does this mean? We see it everywhere in the New Testament, but we seldom think it through: Jesus is the groom, and we are the Bride. Our human marriage relationships mirror our relationship with God, and point to the future reality where we will be united with Him, living in His Father’s house.
When we think about marriage solely in human terms, we find it difficult to suggest that there’s ANY marriage that God would not bless. After all, our argument goes, isn’t marriage about love? Doesn’t God want us to love each other? How could a lifelong commitment to love another person ever be less than what God wants? The answer to these difficult questions is really pretty simple: just as the Temple wasn’t simply about animal sacrifices, so marriage isn’t simply about human love. Both are important, but the most important part is that they point not to us, but to God. There were very strict rules about what happened in the Temple. This wasn’t because God needed things on earth to happen in exactly one way, but because the Israelites would understand Him better by understanding the Temple. In the same way, the prohibition against homosexuality isn’t really about us. It’s about us understanding Him, learning through the tangible things we can see about the intangible things we can’t yet see.
The Sabbath was never really about resting one day per week. The Temple was never really about sacrificing animals. The priesthood was never really about having a mediator between God and man. Marriage was never really about a man and a woman. All of these things (and hundreds more) have always been about YOU and God, and ME and God. When we get these things mixed up, we misunderstand who God is… and we find it harder to trust Him. When we find it harder to trust Him, we find it easier to go our own way. God wants everybody to be saved, and so these things are of eternal importance. There are no mistakes in God’s system. As much as we might like things to be different, there’s a very good reason for the prohibition against homosexual behavior.
I hope that makes sense to you. Let me know if you’d like to talk further. I don’t have all of the answers, but I’m eager to serve.
I love you all.
❤️
Apologetics and the Church
There are many ways to explain why Christianity is true, meaningful, and good. Dr. Doug Groothuis tells us why the existence of the church is a good argument for it.
The Gospel of Caesar Augustus
… & What It Tells Us About the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nick Cady explains some history behind the word “gospel,” and connects it to the New Testament understanding of Jesus’ teaching. Fascinating!
How to Defend Christianity
J. Warner Wallace is America’s best-known cold case detective. As a Christian, he works to understand questions about the universe and religious truths like a crime scene, asking ‘what does the evidence tell us?’ I can’t recommend him highly enough. Video: 10:44
The Classic: A Parable
What’s your dream car… and do you really love people? Brandon Wilborn ties these together in a short modern parable. It’s the latest in his Imago Dad series.
Bible Teachers I Can Recommend
Over the years, a lot of people have asked me to list preachers and teachers of Christianity that I trust. In light of the increasing number of false teachers gaining prominence in our culture, it seems wise to go ahead and make a list.
Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.
- Jack Nicklaus
Even If: Mercy Me
These guys just keep pumping out great music. I’m convinced that an overview of their music would make a decent discipleship course.
Lyrics and links at Awesome Christian Music.
They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Well good thing
A little faith is all I have, right now
This Newsletter is free. If you’d like to support the ministry, you can:
Pray for me. People send me questions, and I want to answer them accurately and responsibly. For that, I need God’s wisdom.
Share whatever content you think is useful, whether from the Newsletter or from GodWords.
… and, if you wish, you can subscribe or buy me a coffee.
I really like your answer. Being winsome is preferable to being gruff with truth. I always advocate for people to think deeper, to see the substance beyond the shadow. When you see the scripture through a Christological lens, you can see Jesus as THE REALITY everywhere. Hebrews 1:1 God has, in these last days spoken to us BY HIS SON. I envy the disciples on the road to Emmaus, whose hearts burned within as Jesus himself taught them the scriptures! "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24
[ It's a conjecture of mine that Paul would likely have had multiple theophanies durring his 3 years in Arabia after his conversion and before he met with the apostles. Galatians 1 That would explain his deep understanding of law/grace. With Jesus using him to clarify details of the Gospel that the original apostles were still coming to a full understanding of. Works for me anyway.]
There are multiple responses to the question of same sex marriage. My first thought was to go back to the creation order. God started things off the way He intended. And bringing all the animals to Adam to name was to show Adam that he was missing a complimentary mate. Only male and female together can be fruitful and multiply. God doesn't call things sin just because He wants to deny us their pleasures, but because He knows better that they are inherently detrimental to us. God's love wants what's best for us, not death, the wages of sin. God's words are a guardrail to protect us from harm, not a fence to keep us away from fun.
A preacher friend of mine, when some people justified their same sex attraction. claiming they couldn't resist their natural inclination, he pointed out he had a natural inclination to lust after every pretty girl he sees. But we all have to train and discipline our desires to match up to God's standards, not to go with our natural inclinations. It's not an isolated homosexual issue, we all have temptations we have to crucify our self to. We're not asking them to do anything different than we require of us all.
Very apt particularly about the core of following God it's about obedience. John 14:15. To truly love Jesus is to follow his commandments. Evangelist Jacky Hill Perry says "to be a Christian is a death sentence" a death to self and fleshly desires. As one who was delivered from same-sex relationships.