by Jacob Wooten<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/FalseClaimAboutHomosexuality-300x285.jpg\")
I saw this picture below\u00a0posted on Facebook and I’ve seen similar statements before, so I feel like this kind of thinking might be widespread both in the world and perhaps among those who would say they are of faith.\u00a0Let’s examine this reasoning and see what Jesus really says according to the Bible.\u00a0 Don’t forget to use your Bible to follow along and read all of the references.<\/p>\n
Essentially, this picture is an attempt to show that homosexuality is just fine because Jesus never spoke about it.\u00a0 Lots of people seem to take this view of only doing or believing the “words in red” (most Bibles have the words of Jesus in the New Testament in red ink instead of the usual black).\u00a0 This is the main focus of this article, not the issue of homosexuality.\u00a0 Yes, Jesus came as both human (Hebrews 4:14-15; Luke 2:52) and God (John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:23), so clearly His words hold very much importance; they are the words of God (John 12:49)!\u00a0 Yet, this does not nullify the rest of the Bible, does it?\u00a0 Of course not; the rest of the Bible is the word of God as well.\u00a0 This point can even be made from the position of one who only believes the words in red.\u00a0 The following list contains passages where Jesus refers to passages from the Old Testament and implies that they are the true and authoritative word of God:\u00a0 Matthew 4:1-11; 19:4-5; 21:42-44; 24:15; Mark 12:26-27; Luke 4:16-21, etc.\u00a0 Clearly, Jesus studied the Old Testament very well, believed it, and viewed it as authoritative.\u00a0 We should as well.<\/p>\n
Now, let’s examine the words of Jesus to see if we should believe the black words of the New Testament.\u00a0 In John 16:13, Jesus explains to His apostles that the Holy Spirit will come upon them and guide them into all truth.\u00a0 Thus, what the inspired writers of the New Testament were writing was the truth, given to them by God divinely and miraculously through the working of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 2:10-13).\u00a0 Basically, they were prophets just like the ones of old (eg. Ezekiel 2:1-3) whom Jesus gave credibility to when He quoted them.\u00a0 Once we open up the New Testament like this, then we can really understand the words of Peter in II Peter 1:16-21 where he explains that what he and others have preached is not some private, made-up matter, but is a revelation from God.\u00a0 Also, you can see what Paul said in II Timothy 3:16-17 regarding, in particular, the Old Testament and how it was also given by inspiration from God.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, we see that taking only the red text as the basis for your doctrine, life, faith, etc. is a bad approach to the scriptures.\u00a0 Even the red text itself directs you to read the entirety of the word!\u00a0 It is somewhat summarized by Jesus’ prayer in John 17:14-the Words of Jesus came from God and were given to the Apostles.\u00a0 God is the source of the entire Bible.\u00a0 With this in mind, let’s all go and study our Bibles to truly get the sum total of God’s will for us (Psalms 119:160).<\/p>\n
As an aside regarding the issue of homosexuality, however, let’s again go just by the red text here.\u00a0 In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus affirms the evil of adultery and in fact, explains that you can commit adultery in your heart by lusting after someone to whom you’re not married.\u00a0 Furthermore, in a passage I mentioned above, Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus quotes the creation of man and the first marriage (both from Genesis 2), affirming the truth of this account and also showing His view on marriage.\u00a0 Marriage is, as it was in Genesis and therefore as God designed it, the union of man and woman.\u00a0 Based on these two passages alone we can see that Jesus condemns sexual relationships outside of marriage and that Jesus also believed marriage was between a man and a woman; therefore, Jesus would not approve of a homosexual relationship because it would be sex outside of marriage.\u00a0 If you’re not solely beholden to the red text, there are a plethora of other passages that deal with the issue more concretely (eg. I Corinthians 6:9-11); however, I feel that this is the heart of the issue.\u00a0 Homosexuality (which is not a state of mind, but an action like the other sins listed in I Corinthians 6:9-11 and the other issues Jesus deals with in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:25-26, 31-48) is forbidden just as any other form of fornication is.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jacob Wooten I saw this picture below\u00a0posted on Facebook and I’ve seen similar statements before, so I feel like this kind of thinking might be widespread both in the world and perhaps among those who would say they are of faith.\u00a0Let’s examine this reasoning and see what Jesus really says according to the Bible.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[568,78,35,73],"class_list":["post-42742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-authority","tag-homosexuality","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-respond-to-the-i-never-told-you-to-hate-anybody-meme\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":0},"title":"How do I respond to the “I never told you to hate anybody” meme?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I recently came across a post that, rightly so, was completely wrong. The post basically says and I will also attach the picture, that Jesus never said homosexuality is wrong, marriage can be with whomever and it doesn\u2019t matter who you worship. My question is just by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/false-meme-276x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27232,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-united-church-of-christ-is-not-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":1},"title":"The United Church of Christ Is Not of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The prophet Jeremiah wrote, \"But thou shall say unto them, This is a nation that obeys not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receives correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth\" (Jeremiah 7:28). The news unfolds daily how a nation once\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-gospels-more-important-than-the-rest-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":2},"title":"Are the gospels more important than the rest of the New Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently heard a preacher from a non-denominational church. He touched on a point I totally disagreed with, but it will take me some time to research as I read through the gospels and mark out verses. But in the meantime, I was wondering about your opinion. He made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36896,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-homosexuality-only-wrong-if-it-is-promiscuous\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":3},"title":"Is homosexuality only wrong if it is promiscuous?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came to your site following a question about the word pharmakiea, or pharmakon. I had seen some claims that this was the word translated to witchcraft in the New Testament Greek, but that it had an additional meaning of using drugs. At least one source was arguing that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39058,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-answer-some-questions-about-my-coming-out-as-a-homosexual\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":4},"title":"Can you answer some questions about my coming out as a homosexual?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had contacted you once about this. I don't know if you didn't get it yet or are too busy to respond or just not interested in being a part of this kind of thing, but here is a little bit about my project to give you more of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35846,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-defense-of-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":42742,"position":5},"title":"A Defense of Marriage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 9:2-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A recent article in Newsweek was brought to my attention. It is the cover story, called \u201cOur Mutual Joy\u201d by Lisa Miller, published 12\/15\/2008. [https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/gay-marriage-our-mutual-joy-83287] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It claims that those who use the Bible to oppose gay marriages are dishonest. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The article itself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}