1. God Doesn’t Deal in Plan B- In the same way that the trinity did not meet in an emergency session when Adam and Eve fell in the garden He did not do so today. God remains on the throne, and He along keeps His right to declare what is and is not marriage- despite what any mere man or woman may say. Remember that God had the right to create us male and female with a need for one another to procreate and bring God Glory.
2. Stay Calm and Carry On!- My prayer is that we would have enough confidence in the gospel and God’s plan that we are not left in despair or panic. We have lost a battle today, but we do not lose the war in the end. Our mission the Great Commission remains the same! So brother and sisters in Christ carry on in building Godly marriages, homes, and churches...our work continues!
3. Be Tender Towards our LGBT Neighbors- Jesus was tender to those who were cast down by the Pharisees. The reality is that those who don’t know Christ will not have the same ethics that Christians do. We must understand that goats act like goats (Matthew 25:1-6). We should not spew hate nor demonize those who don’t know Christ. Jesus modeled for us how to respond to those who have sexual relations outside his plan of marriage, the women at the well (John 4) and the women caught in adultery (John 8) he dealt tenderly with them and truthfully. So we should follow His example, we should understand others desire to be accepted, as we all desire this at some level. Remember beloved, what business do we have judging those outside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12)? The reality is that because of the Cross, Christ has declared us a right to be accepted by the Father, justified and reconciled forever through the blood of Jesus.
4. Be Tough Towards Anyone Claiming Christ and Seeking to “redefine” the Biblical Sexual Ethic Given to Us by Jesus and the Apostles- The most dangerous group in my mind who is in need of the harshest rebuke is those who are running to change what the Bible says. The Bible instructs us to judge those inside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12). People can read and understand the plainest meaning of Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6:9. To try and change this to appease the culture redefines the Gospel, because Ephesians 5 explains that the marriage between a man and a women is a corporal image of Christ and the Church. Keep in mind that running after the culture’s shifting sands communicates we don’t stand for the timeless truth revealed in God’s Word, but for whichever way the wind blows. To give a blurred or distorted gospel presentation is no gospel at all, and to quickly agree with the culture in an area clearly defined outside God’s revealed will is a flight response to a cultural fight. We are called to be peacemakers and to speak the truth in love, not be all love with no truth. God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and neither does his revealed truth. We have the declared right to rebuke in a Godly manner aimed towards restoration those who claim Christ and seek to shift revealed truth.
This is the dawn of a new day for the church in the United States. We have to figure out how to be the church in this culture and time which will have it's challenges, victories, and defeats. May God give us the grace to be faithful to Him! God's right over us all is the only declared right in the end.
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