The claim of liberals that scoring the perfect basket while playing with Nerfoop signifies that you've been awarded the NBA title soared to new heights on June 8, the day that prominent theologian and morality expert Senator Ted Lieu (D-CA) thought he’d made a scriptural slam-dunk. Lieu said, “In March of this year, the Washington Post published an article that read, ‘GOP Lawmakers Push Historic Wave of Bills Targeting the Rights of LGBTQ Teens, Children, and Their Families.’ In April, the Washington Post published another article entitled ‘Some Republicans Are Concerned About Party Invasion of LGBT Rights.’ I just thought I would now recite what Jesus Christ said about homosexuality.” Lieu did not speak for approximately 20 seconds, then he said, “I yield back.”
Unfortunately for Senator Lieu, while Jesus did not mention homosexuality, He did refer to the congressman. Jesus said, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”
Lieu attempted to suggest that since Jesus did not explicitly address gays in the Gospels, He was fine with them. It's a variation of the “shellfish game.” The shellfish game is played by liberals who argue that homosexuality is not prohibited. An integral part of the Mosaic—or Old Testament, if you prefer—Law prohibits Jews from eating shellfish. Since we are no longer under the Law but under grace, the Law declares us hypocrites if we assert that some clauses are applicable while others aren't. This argument soon falls apart when you look at the words of–you probably guessed it–Jesus Himself. As writer Gary Demar pointed out some time ago, sexual relations are first defined in the first chapter of Genesis. Adam's loneliness was remediated by Eve's creation. Eve was a female who was emotionally, physically, and constitutionally created specifically for Adam (Gen. 2:18–25). God did not create another human, too, so that Adam could choose. God created a woman, his human counterpart, created to be sexually compatible with Adam.
This is the reason Paul says homosexuality is “unnatural” (Rom. 1:26-27). The physical side of same-sex sexuality isn't natural; it’s trying to put an unnatural square peg into an oval hole. The argument about the shellfish is not valid, as the definition of sexuality (male and female) as well as an understanding of the meaning of the word “marriage” (man and woman) are creation ordinances. There are no restrictions in Genesis on shellfish (Gen. 1:28-30). Demar notes that when Christ spoke of the sacredness of marriage, He was not referring to the Law but to Genesis.
Secondly, the New Testament follows the Old Testament marriage ordinances of creation that define it as between two people, a man and a woman. Jesus affirms the validity of this statement in Matthew 19:4-6: “Have you read? He who started them from the beginning created them female and male and stated that ‘for this reason, the man must leave his mother and father, and join their wife, and they will be one flesh’? So they're no longer two but are one flesh. Therefore, what God has united do not separate.” (also see Eph. 5:25-33; cf. 1 Cor. 7:2-3, 10-16; 1 Tim. 3:2, 12).
There is no option for homosexuality. Jesus doesn't go to Leviticus to argue His case. He returns to Genesis. Demar also points to the scripture verse in which Jesus disregarded the Mosaic Law’s dietary restrictions without also releasing mankind from the moral code of His day. “Are you so dull?” He asked. “Don't you realize that nothing that comes into someone from the outside will make them filthy? Because it isn't able to go into the heart of the person, but instead into their stomachs, before being able to escape from their organs.” (In declaring the above, Jesus declared all foods safe.)
Jesus continued, “What comes out of the person is what defiles their souls. Because it's from inside the person's heart that the evil thoughts arise: sexual immorality, adultery, theft, murder, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, jealousy as well as arrogance, slander, and foolishness. All of these sins originate within and can defile an individual.”
Look at the first offense Jesus mentions. Evidently to Him, it was a sin that was sufficiently horrible to warrant being included on His list. Every single one of us battles with sin each and every day. Each of us falls short of being who God wants us to become. Each of us requires the grace of God every day in order to make it to the end of our day. There is no need to waste time pointing out the sins of other people while we have our own sins.
We don't need sanctimonious politicians who believe that using a scripture verse in a different context gives them spiritual authority. This message is for Ted Lieu and variants: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
