The Lying vanity of Sexual orientation

The Lying Vanity of Sexual Orientation

The first time I heard about the term “sexual orientation” I was at a library in the early 80’s doing research on homosexual theology. “What’s that?” you ask. Well, believe it or not there is a group of people out there claiming to be Christians who say participating in same sex behavior is ok. Any way, while I was at the library I remember reading that these people were trying to say that they were born homosexual and it was their “sexual orientation”. They said that to try to be heterosexual was impossible because they were homosexual, they were wired up that way, it was their sexual orientation. I remember laughing out loud, quietly of course so no one would hear me, but I did laugh out loud. “Who in the world would believe this garbage?” I thought. Well, the rest is history and I’m no longer laughing, because this myth, this lying vanity has been swallowed by a lot of people. The American Psychological Association gives this definition: “…an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectional [sic] attraction to another person” . A political definition was given in H.R. 4636, from the House of Representatives, 103rd Congress on June 23, 1994: “The term sexual orientation means lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual orientation, real or perceived as manifested by identity, acts, statements or associations.” A legal definition is given by Judge Arthur S. Spiegel, in his August 9, 1994 ruling granting a permanent injunction prohibiting Cincinnati’s Issue Three from becoming effective. “Sexual orientation is a deeply rooted complex combination of factors including a predisposition towards affiliation, affection or bonding with members of the opposite and or same gender.” A religious definition but certainly not Biblical is given by the Episcopal Church in a Study called, Continuing the Dialogue: A Pastoral Study Document of the House of Bishops to the Church as the Church Considers Issues of Human Sexuality. Their definition says, “…the homosexually oriented person is one who is consistently attracted affectionately, romantically, and erotically to persons of the same sex. Persistent patterns of homosexual attraction, enduring experience of intimacy, and continuing manifestations of devoted love are the most trustworthy signs of sexual orientation, not simply genital activity.” Now I would say that all the people who came up with those definitions are in some ways very intelligent and very worldly wise, but what they are saying about homosexual desire and conduct is in direct opposition to the Bible, God’s word. It was Isaiah who said in Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” What the previously mentioned groups and individuals are saying reveals they have no light in them, because what they are saying is darkness. For the so called Christians in this group, it is far more serious, because they are calling God a liar, they know what God’s word says and they choose to say differently.

Make no mistake about it, Biblically, man and woman were created heterosexual. This is established in Matthew 19:4-6. “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

The sexual behaviors of men with men and women with women are not sexual orientations; they are, according to Romans 1:26, “vile affections”. And they “defile the flesh” according to Jude 8. The Apostle Paul described their feelings this way in Romans 1:27, these men “burned in their lust one toward another”. The Greek word for “burned” is ekkaio and according to Zodhiates Word Study Dictionary it means “to burn, light, set fire to, to cause to burn or flame up, to kindle”. In the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament it is used of an actual fire in Exodus 22:6 and Judges 15:5. It is also used metaphorically for the anger of the LORD in Deuteronomy 29:20; Psalm 2:12 and Jeremiah 4:4. The Greek word for “lust” is orexis and according to Zodhiates, it means, “to desire…appetite, lust or concupiscence. It is always the reaching out after an object with the purpose of drawing it to oneself and appropriating it.” Paul goes on to say in Romans 1:27, “…men with men working that which is unseemly.” The Greek word for “working” according to Zodhiates is katergazomai and it means “to work, to bring about, to carry out a task until it’s finished”. The phrase, “that which is unseemly” is the Greek word aschemosune and it means “indecently, obscenity, nakedness”. In the Septuagint it is used in Exodus 20:26 and Leviticus 18:6, 7 to mean the sexual private parts of male and female. The complete phrase, “men with men working that which is unseemly” is a discreet way of saying, “men engaging in actions with the sexual private parts of another man.” When all the grammar and definitions of Romans 1:27 are put together this is the sum, “the enflamed desire and appetite and lust of a man to appropriate or seize upon and engage in actions with the private sexual parts of other men.” What a reprobate calls ‘homosexual orientation’, Paul calls a “vile affection”.

On two separate occasions the Apostle Paul warned us not to be deceived about homosexual behavior. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, of which I will comment on more in a later chapter, Paul writes, “…Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (NASV). And again in Ephesians 5:5, 6 “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man…has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (KJV). The Greek word for “whoremonger” is ‘pornos’. It is #4205 in the Strong’s numbering system. I consulted 4 different Greek dictionaries and found the following: Strong’s: male prostitute; Thayer: male prostitute; Zodiates: male prostitute; Bullinger: sodomite. So there is no doubt that this is referring to homosexual behavior.

According to Paul’s God breathed warning, all the arguments defending homosexuality are nothing but “vain words” we are not to be deceived by, including all the deception of sexual orientation. Concerning the phrase vain words, there is an interesting verse in Jonah 2:8 that I believe can be applied here. “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy”. By clinging to the lying vanity of sexual orientation many are forsaking the mercy in Jesus Christ that could not only forgive them but also set them free.

In spite of this, the proponents of same sex lustology believe they have a trump card, i.e., the ignorance of the writers of Scripture. In one accord they declare that the writers of Scripture were ignorant of the science of human sexuality and the many sexual orientations which comprise it, so because we are more knowledgeable than they were we can ignore what they wrote about homosexuality. Some go so far as to say all the verses prohibiting homosexuality should be removed from the canon of Scripture.
It also blinds many of their friends and family members to that same gospel truth. The lies supporting sexual orientation say to those in bondage to homosexuality: “You do not need freedom, you are not doing anything wrong and it is impossible to change.” It also in effect calls God a liar.