Should Celibacy Be Recommended for Individuals Who Are Tempted towards Sodomy?

Warning the following message may be offensive to some audiences these audiences may include but are not limited to Professing Christians who never read their Bible sissies sodomites

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People are tired of hearing nothing but doom and despair on the radio.

The message of Christianity is that salvation is found in Christ alone and any who reject

Christ therefore forfeit any hope of salvation any hope of

heaven.

The issue is that humanity is in sin and the wrath of Almighty

God.

Is.

Hanging over our head.

They will hear his words They will not act upon them and when the floods of divine judgment when the fires of wrath

come They will be consumed and they will perish.

God wrapped himself in flesh Condescended and became a

man died on the cross for sin was resurrected on the third day Has ascended to

the right hand of the father where he sits now to make intercession for us.

Jesus is saying there is a group of people who will hear his words They will act upon them and when the floods

of divine judgment come in that final day their house will stand.

And welcome to Bible bashed where we aim to equip the Saints for the works of ministry by

answering the questions.

You're not allowed to ask.

Listen and enjoy this installment of iron sharpening iron as pastor Tim answers your sincere

questions.

Here's pastor Tim.

On this episode of iron sharpening iron We're going to be answering the questions should celibacy be recommended for

individuals who are tempted towards abominable sexual practices.

Now this is a follow -up to our podcast should Christians counsel gays to straighten up and marry a member of the opposite sex.

In response to that episode we had the following post.

No, so should Christians counsel gays to straighten up and marry a member of the opposite sex.

This commenter says no.

No first and foremost Christians should admonish those that deal with SSA.

Notice deal with SSA notice the therapeutic Victim language that's present in the way that

that's phrased.

Christians should admonish those that deal with SSA to follow Christ as this is the main imperative of the

Christian faith.

Jesus was not married, but he was holy.

So note what's being said there that the the admonition essentially is to say that This

in this is part of what's happening in the Celtic gay Christian movement.

The the standard SSA tropes that are being now presented to us in evangelicalism today.

This is the kind of thing that Rosario Butterfield is noted for saying that heterosexuality is not godliness

and you know Individual should not be it's a heresy to you know.

It teaches them to mortify this set of sinful desires and attractions, but essentially they should be taught to

follow Christ.

The end period end of discussion and part of part of the issue with that is That

it is our contention and the Bible Speaks to this very issue that that if you are to

follow Christ then one of the things that you would want to do is follow his teaching and

One of the things that he teaches is that for the vast majority of people Alive on the earth the normal

expectation for humanity.

Is that human God's design for mankind.

Is it?

That men and women come together and the Union of marriage and to procreate and have

offspring in order to fill the earth and subdue it and be fruitful and multiply.

One of the first commands that man has given in the garden After man's single state is described

as not good.

The Bible says it's not good for man to be alone.

One of the first commands that man is given is is the command to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the

earth and subdue It you know for this reason man will leave his father and mother hold fast to his wife the two shall

become one flesh marriage is designed uniquely by God as a fix for sexual

temptation and It's designed to to accomplish God's purposes of filling this world up full

of people who will exercise Dominion over all creation and one of the things you'll notice about that be fruitful and multiply is that it

comes to us in the In the imperative mood.

It's a command the commit.

There's a command given to us to be fruitful and multiply and It's a command that God has

given to the human race.

It's what I would describe as a corporate command just like the Great Commission is a corporate command is a command that's given

to the entire Human race and it's the command that we should be encouraging other people to

pursue.

And if if an individual has a certain set of deviant sexual

Temptations that are coming from his sinful heart You know this the primary counsel that would be

biblical to give would be to mortify those sinful temptations and to Put on

godly attractions and godly affections as you would do with any other sin in life now part of the

reason why this is.

So.

Offensive as we said in our podcast is because In part what what's

happening is that we have certain sets of unshared assumptions now.

One of those assumptions is that this homosexual orientation is somehow a fixed move

unmovable feature of an individual's life that that Has little to no hope of

changing we challenge that assumption in our podcast that this orientation is is a fixed unmovable

characteristic of certain individuals that created feature anything else is it is a deviant set

of Poles that is able to be by God's grace to be mortified just like any other set of

deviant poles.

Another part of the problem though is that you're living in the society this post -sexual revolution.

With easy access to birth control and so in a society like that one of two of the things that have happened

in that sort Of society is that marriage and children are seen in this kind of society and there's

great cultural pressure to view them that way as evidenced by the fact that marriage rates are on the rise and the

birth rates are plummeting.

That marriage and children are viewed as purely optional pursuits that an

individual may engage in if you know in the charismatic language they feel

led or You know in a more crass secular sense if they desire to pursue those things.

But then part of the problem with that is it's just it doesn't pass.

The exegesis tech text of the opening chapters of the Bible.

We're looking at something that's obviously Written to us in an imperative mood is the command and so we need to

do something with it.

That's the problem.

So the Bible tells the human race be fruitful multiply.

We need to do something with that.

That's actually a command so if we're gonna follow Christ We need to follow his commands in the scripture and

and one of his commands seems to be our corporate commands seems to be That for men and women to

come together in marriage and have some babies that's what it says.

So now the problem there is the parent and this is the problem that's brought up since Christ was single and Paul in some sense

encourages singleness.

Wouldn't if following Christ mean following Christ example.

Well, obviously if everyone followed Christ example.

Here's the thing.

Then we would have no new people and essentially human race would die off.

So in order to follow Christ example it seems to me that we need to follow his commands that we find in the Old

Testament and the opening chapters of the Bible is designed for humanity.

But then there seems to be that there is this gift of singleness that we have to figure out what to do with and so.

Is that a contradiction is is a gift of singleness a contradiction with the command in the Old Testament?

What do we do?

Do we become red red -letter Christians ignore everything in the Old Testament?

Do we make silly arguments to say?

Well, it's in the Old Testament and Christ came to overturn the Old Testament knowing that the Bible says

Jesus didn't come to overturn the law but to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

What do we do?

Well, if you do not wish to engage in the Marcionite heresy where you cut the Bible in two and

Obey one to the detriment of the other one of the things you might want to do is attempt to harmonize this corporate

command that you find in Genesis with the gift of singleness now when you attempt to do that Christians have

always had an explanation Readily available in order to give single

people who are discouraged because they're unable to find a spouse.

We've always had counsel to give that sort of individual to determine whether or not they

have a gift of singleness.

I can't tell you how many people particularly in a time where Bert were a marriage for the the

age of Of first -time marriages is so dramatically on the rise

due to a variety of factors.

I can't tell you how many times I've had individuals who come to me and say I think you know I just is impossible for me to found a spouse.

I must have the gift of singleness and the problem is we've always had counsel to give that sort of individual

but when it comes to the individual with the deviant sexual temptations we overlook everything we

say in the one area and give the the The the person struggling with

sodomite sodomy a completely different answer.

So so how how would we normally counsel individuals who are asking that sort of question?

That's the question last.

How would we normally?

Counsel the kind of individual who is wondering do I have the gift of singleness?

Well, here's how we would normally counsel them.

There's two passages that we typically go to if we're going to try to answer this kind of question for the

Individual in question.

1st Corinthians 7 is one of the passages and Matthew 19 now.

After Jesus gave his strong stance on the permanence of marriage in Matthew 19.

The disciples basically said to them as such as the case with the man and his wife.

It's better not to marry, you know, if if divorce is not permissible for any reason including the burning of

the toast.

In the discussion that the rabbis were having at that time if marriage is not permissible for any

reason but only permissible on account of sexual immorality.

The disciples look at him in verse 11 Matthew 19 11.

They say not are in 10 and say if such as a case of a man with his wife.

It's better not to marry.

But he said to them not everyone can receive this thing.

But only to those whom it is given for there have been eunuchs who have been so from birth.

So eunuch is being used in the standard sense of an individual who is missing certain parts

at that point.

There have been eunuchs have been so from birth.

There have been eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men typically in the ancient world if you wanted to have.

One cruel former point punishment was to turn a man into a eunuch.

If you wanted men who are going to guard your harem for you, you would typically castrate them if you were a king.

In order to keep them from expressing their sexual desires.

He says there have been eunuchs have been so from birth.

They're eunuchs have been made eunuchs by men and they're eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom.

No, that's being the only instance in the passage that's being used in a figurative sense.

Meaning not that men have castrated themselves for the kingdom.

Although some have in the course of church history.

But there are those who have intentionally pursued singleness or The absence of offspring

for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

He says let the one who is able to receive it receive it.

So in this passage, one of the things that you find is that if an individual is going to have the gift of

singleness.

This is going to be the kind of individual who is intentionally pursuing the advancement

of God's kingdom.

And.

Believes that he can better pursue the advancement of God's kingdom on this earth By not

being bound to a particular wife over and against Pursuing marriage and so

there are opportunities that are available to a person through marriage to advance God's kingdom and there's opportunities They're available to

singleness.

Paul was able to evangelize the known world at the time because of he Intentionally did not pursue

marriage, but in pursued the advance of the gospel.

He He was constantly in danger of imprisonment and danger by robbers about in

danger by toil and danger by snares he's in danger from the Romans and danger from the

Jews like he's constantly being beaten and whipped and tormented and stoned, you know and shipwrecked and

everything else but then if you had to care for a wife and drag along a family and Make the kind of travels that he made

they would have been a liability to him and advanced in gospel.

So the first question we typically tell Individuals who are wondering do they have a gift of singleness is is we

ask them the question.

Are you attempting to?

Do you do you have a desire to pursue full -time?

Vocational ministry in some sense.

Are you are you you know, you wanting to be a missionary you want to be a pastor?

Now are you wanting to advance the gospel to areas of unreached people groups?

Not just you don't ask him.

Hey, you know, do you you don't want to spend your life?

Building a secular corporation or something like that now, that's where they work and that's fine.

But that's not the kind of person this has in mind the kind of person that has in mind is the one who wants to give all of their time and

all their attention to The spread of the gospel and in a very intentional way so if you look at the person who's

Wondering do they have the gift of singleness because no one seems to be taking them up on marriage first thing you ask is are you wanting to

give your life to the advancement of the gospel and the spread of the gospel and Need more time to be devoted to it and typically

the answer is no.

Now the second kind of question that you normally ask a person in those in that kind of scenario

is You ask him.

Are you free from sexual temptation?

Are you free from sexual temptation?

So here's the thing Paul says in 1st Corinthians 7 he says now concerning the matters about what you wrote It is

good for a man not to have sex sexual relationships with a woman.

That's the question that they're asking him.

Essentially, is it good for a man to?

It to avoid sexual contact with a woman.

Does that defile Individuals, you know as the Greeks are saying is does that defile a person to have sex

with a woman?

Is it better to not now Paul says but because of the temptation to sexual immorality each man should have his own wife in each

Woman her own husband.

In other words God created man and he gave them man and women sexual desires.

And he did not intend for man to sit there and sit on those sexual desires forever.

To delay the fulfillment of those desires until their late 20s and basically spend you know

a good 10 to 15 years post puberty Frustrated with no

lawful outfit Outlet for sexual expression.

One of the things that God's designed is he's designed to give us these overpowering at times

sexual desires but then he's given us a healthy outlet for him and the more that you sit there and try to Suppress them

and try to pretend like that.

You're there the more that you feel cursed.

I can't tell you how many single people who have come to me and basically told me that they feel cursed and they wish God Would just take

their sexual desires away.

And remove them because they're tired of burying him and they would like to get married and they can't and they don't know what to Do and they're just praying

Lord.

Just take it all away.

Just take it all away.

That's the kind of individual that God has not given the gift of singleness.

Now the person who is the SSA Attracted Christian to use the neutral therapeutic language

who is struggling with SSA.

The issue there is that we have had counsel.

We give to single people for a long time and let me suggest in the nicest possible tone

that we should apply that same counsel to individuals who

Have temptations that are coming from their own sinful heart towards abominable sexual practices.

The same thing that's true of every other sin you would tell them to do.

There's a put off to put on dynamic you put off the evil desires you put on righteousness

holiness faithfulness goodness truth.

Far from telling it like one of the things to realize is if you look at that person with those desires and you say hey.

You're gonna be cursed forever and ever and ever to basically burn and Bible says it's better to marry than to burn.

You're gonna be cursed forever and ever to burn because there's God has no hope for you with the

changing these illicit unlawful abominable Temptations

you're basically consigning that person to a life that is going to be filled with

substantial amounts of frustration.

And not only that they're not going to be faithful to God's created design for them.

They're obviously an individual who desires Sexual they have sexual desires that are

able to be lawfully pursued and There's no reason not to pursue them And if you adopt some sort of

homeless or a hopeless framework there that basically says that you're there's no hope for you.

That that.

Will become a self -fulfilling prophecy if you tell them hey this will never change and there's no hope for you.

And you're just gonna have to pursue celibacy forever.

Many people will throw their hands up in despair now obviously here's the thing

not everyone who has sexual desires that are unmet is Guaranteed

or promised marriage from God for some people that truly is their cross to bear.

Me meaning the kind of individual who have lawful sexual attractions that they're not able to do anything with.

That may be their cross to bear and there's there's all sorts of counsel that you would give that kind of person.

It's better to live to live as Christ and to die as gain.

You know there's many people who?

You know died not in faith not receiving the promises.

And you know sometimes the Christian life cost you something sometimes faithfulness cost you something.

However to tell an individual that they are barred from marriage or they discourage them from pursuing

marriage at all Would be a gross mishandling of a scripture.

One of the things that we need to do as it relates to this topic is stop treating

this deviant sexual desire as if it's some fixed immutable part of a person's

character that is either Neutral across the bear some sort of temptation that they can't help anything else

if you if you consider it what it is.

It's a it's a wicked pull from a wicked heart that may sound mean.

But there's great hope in that because if it's a wicked pull from a wicked heart Christ is able to cleanse you from

the other to the other most and it's my hope for those who Have fed

those abominable desires who have fed those To have

who have grown those sets of temptations in their mind.

It's my hope that they find true another deliverance from that not only put off the evil desires But learn to put on the good

desires.

And I can just tell you from my own life that God has helped me.

Do that with a great many sins and that's my hope for you as well.

This has been another installment of iron sharpening iron as Always.

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Now go boldly and obey the truth in the midst of a biblically illiterate world who will be perpetually

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You.