Open Door: Our America in a time of gay marriage

J. Robert White

The Supreme Court 5 to 4 decision to allow homosexuals to marry in all fifty states is not only a violation of states’ rights, it is foremost a violation of God’s law. For five people to redefine marriage that was established by the Creator at the beginning of time is an astonishing display of arrogance. As the Chief Justice commented in his dissenting remarks, “Who do we think we are?” Indeed! No person and no nation can thumb their nose at God and escape His divine judgment.

Since the decision was handed down, my heart has been broken and my spirit deeply troubled over how God may react to this decision.

Jesus Christ died on the cross, shedding His precious blood for all people of all generations. He died so that those living in sin might find forgiveness for their sin through His saving grace, not so that we can live in perpetual sin.

Here is the spiritual problem of homosexuality. I have heard people argue that it is not unlike other sin, so how is it that we talk about homosexual sin and not heterosexual sin, such as adultery? That is an interesting point of discussion.

Sin is sin, but the wonderful truth of God’s Word in 1 John 1:9 is “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Herein is the problem for the practicing homosexual where there is no confession of sin, but rather living in a state of perpetual, unrelenting, unrepentant sin. This is a person who is lost and cannot be saved until there is repentance from sin and turning to Jesus Christ Who alone can offer forgiveness and eternal salvation.

Notice that this scripture is conditional, “If we confess our sins….” In the same way, a heterosexual person who lives in perpetual sin through endless acts of adultery, or other acts of sin, and refuses to repent of his or her sin turning to Jesus Christ Who alone can forgive sin and bring everlasting salvation is likewise lost and without hope. The “Amazing Grace” that we sing about is truly amazing, but it is offered only to those who confess their sin, repent, and turn to Jesus Christ. In that moment, the Lord extends His amazing grace to the repentant sinner and he or she is saved.

So, what is to be our response? Remember, church, many will never know the authentic love of Jesus until they see it first in us. It is never okay for a Christian to be unloving to anyone regardless of sexual sin or any other sin. We are to be accurate reflections of the nature of our Father.

At the same time, we must boldly declare, it is not okay for America, through the Supreme Court, or through anyone else for that matter, to defy God and seek to redefine His infallible, inerrant, and eternal Word.

"He died so that those living in sin might find forgiveness for their sin through His saving grace, not so that we can live in perpetual sin."

I have found myself longing for the United States of America in which I grew up. When I was a kid, life was centered in the family. We took time to be together and to talk around the supper table in the evening. My parents used those times to laugh with us and teach us important things like table manners and the proper words to use in communication. We all told funny things that happened during the course of our day and shared concerns about various things as well. We took vacations together and created some wonderful memories of what it was like to grow up in a home with a loving mother and a father.

I rode my bike a mile to school with no fear of abduction. I played football on my front lawn without my parents having to worry if I was safe. When we began the day at my public school, from elementary through high school, we began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and we prayed the Lord’s Prayer together. Every football game was begun with prayer by one of the local pastors and the singing of the National Anthem. I grew up in a great and wholesome America.

It hurts my heart to know that my grandchildren will never experience the America that I knew in those days. We may be more technologically advanced today, but we are definitely not better.

The constant threat of terrorism, the breakdown of the family, the rampant crime that grips the nation, financial disarray, racial prejudice, fearsome drought in the west (especially in California), financial loss, unbelievably irresponsible decisions being made by our national leaders, a rising tide of persecution against the church and all things Christian, all of these things and more sound a lot to me like the end times. Without a doubt, it is time for the church to rise up out of its slumber and get busy doing what Christ intended us to do when He established the church.

We are to take the Gospel to a lost and dying world beginning in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ return may be soon. With our nation and the world in such a broken condition, what can we do? We can tell the truth about the only way out of our brokenness.