To download or view the the issue as a PDF please click on: Til Death Do We Part The Truth About Marriage
The past decade has seen an increase of attacks on the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman for the rest of their lives. Marriage was designed by God to be a covenant between one man and one woman, but in this day and age attacks from theological progressives, political liberals, and with increasing frequency from those who oppose the Biblical view of sexuality, have brought us to the point of no return on the traditional definition of marriage.
Those who hold to the pro-gay marriage view believe that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals. Instead of only pushing for rights for themselves to be acknowledged as couples, those who support “gay marriage” have brought the issue to such a point as to suppress the view of those who hold to the traditional (Biblical) definition of marriage. Under the old definition of tolerance, people could discuss issues and have a conversation about important topics. When a conservative Christian now attempts to discuss issues regarding gay marriage and how the Bible is not in support of it, he/she is shouted down and ridiculed for actually believing and applying what the Bible teaches.
Whenever I write or spoke about homosexuality, I am immediately peppered with a barrage of questions. Most of these questions center around the lack of Bible based Christian churches and the desire to find such places of worship. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of churches, however, who have not bowed the knee to theological progressivism, with its socially-acceptable shifting-sand approach to theology.
As Christians, we have the Word of God which is inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient for faith and practice. Believing that the Bible is authoritative for faith and practice means that we’re not free to do as we wish. Instead our faith and our practice—what we believe, what we say, and do—must match. Theologians call this orthodoxy (what we believe) and orthopraxy (what we do and how we practice our Christian faith). The sad thing is many “Christians” who say they believe the Bible, dismiss biblical orthodoxy (that is what the Bible teaches) and thus call for a practice (homosexuality) that the Bible itself doesn’t support. To get there, they do gymnastics with their hermeneutic (how they intercept the Bible).
As Christians we have one Word (the Bible), one Lord in Jesus, and have been called to proclaim the gospel in faithfulness to God’s Word. This means that what we believe must inform our lives and our practice. When people minimize or deny what they believe, and then people call to support a practice the Bible doesn’t support, they are not being honest. Instead, they are intentionally misleading people away from the revealed Word. Christians can have full confidence in the Word of God. In this issue, we want to help you to grow in your confidence in the authoritative Word by helping you to deal with those who hold to wrong ideas about marriage, and especially homosexuality. This issue isn’t going away, rather it’s becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives and experience each passing day.
My prayer is that this issue will help build your knowledge base and equip you to serve the Risen Christ, by helping you grow in your confidence in His Word, and thus in the work of the gospel.
For the Glory of Christ,
Dave Jenkins
Executive Editor, Theology for Life
