Why is it seen as a choice?
I am writing this outreach to help those that have not heard or understand why Christians see homosexuality as a choice and not “your nature,” i.e. the way you are born.
Hebrews 9:22 – In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Revelation 1:5 – and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.
Ephesians 1:7 – He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
I use these three verses as a jumping board. With them we see that the only way God can “see” us is without sin, and that is accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ. Now read this:
Jeremiah 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
So how could Jeremiah have been seen? In his time a lamb, a symbol of Jesus Christ, had to be sacrificed to be seen by God. Yet he was seen within the womb.
The implication is clear. We are sinless within the womb and only become exposed to sin upon birth. This is also backed up by the teaching of “free-will.”
“Free-will” is the understanding that each person decides their fate, which again is reinforced by teachings in the Bible of the importance to teach our children of the Bible including what is seen as sin and what is not.
As you can tell it is a complex and interwoven web of knowledge that must be instilled and taught. This also explains why the age of accountability does not begin until thirteen. Thus the reason for the Bar Mitzvah and the Bat Mitzvah at thirteen for those of the Jewish faith. It also explains how God sees those that do harm to children be it physical or mental has done a grievous sin (Matthew 18:6).
So let’s recap slightly:
1) In the womb a person is pure and sinless, so cannot come out of the womb already burdened with a sin within them.
2) We are to teach children the Bible and what is right and wrong, or in other words, what is a sin and what is not a sin.
3) Why? Because of free-will. Our ability to choose if we will sin or not sin and so bare the responsibly for our choices.
Now let’s look at how “nature” is seen by Christianity. For this we need to look to Romans 1. It is a long read but it fully addresses this perfectly.
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities” This is referring to nature. God created nature. God is nature.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities” God allowed this to use their free-will to do as they please. So whenever you see something bad happen and say “Where is God?” This is your answer. It is not God but the person or persons themselves basically flipping off God.
Now we come to the core of this post.
“They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
In the King James it comes this way:
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
“Which is against nature”
Now it will be here that someone say “There is homosexuality in wildlife.”
Those that say this are echoing the verses you just read. They “knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.”
Comparing a being that can build buidlings, create machines, television and fly to the moon with the animals that live off the “need” impulses. The need to eat, because they hunger. The need to drink because they thirst. The need to breed because their system causes them to need a mate, is utterly foolish.
All species upon this planet are meant to propagate their kind and continue that said species. This is the closest we can be compared to wildlife. With that base comparison any that do not cause offspring are against nature. Only a male mating with a female causes propagation. So any that choose through free-will not to live this way are against nature, and so are against God and so are living in sin. This is why Christians see homosexuality have chosen to do so and are living in sin.