Dearly Beloved,
I received your last message and it was an interesting read for me. I found it quite intriguing that you have managed to conceal your sexual orientation all these years quite perfectly, but again after reading more I understood while you had to build that façade; after all the Church has never been popular for its tolerance or understanding.
So, first I want to say I’m sorry on our behalf for our insensitivity and failure to model the attitudes that marks the life of Christ; our lack of compassion is only outclassed by our caustic, acerbic and unenlightened response to issues. So, dear brother, I’m sorry we as a church have been blind to your struggles and never really provided any kind of real support or help.
I recognize that somehow(despite the LGBT rights movement and all) you know that this(your same-sex attraction) is not the will of God, I was impressed when you quoted scriptures like Gen19:1-3; Lev18:22-24 and 20:13. I was also happy when you commented that you know that homosexual behavior is condemned by God in the Old Testament under the Law of Moses.
You asked if homosexuality is a sin, after all the law has been done away with, besides there are other verses in Leviticus that condemn specific diets, clothing styles, etc other than homosexual behavior.
Beloved, you are right on many counts.
The law has been done away with.
Rom10:4
Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
Rom3:28, Gal2:16-19, Gal3:10-13 and other scriptures confirm this.
Now, the idea of the law being done away with doesn’t mean we can sin, instead it means how behavior is not the basis of our acceptance before God, instead the finished works of Christ is.
Under the law, you do to get…your righteousness is a function of what you do but under Grace, Jesus did and you get! His right being is the basis of your righteousness! Read Rom3:31 and Romans chapters 8&10 to fully understand this.
However brother, there are some things I will like you to consider.
You asked me why God will make you with these feelings and then tell you it is a sin if you express them, truth is I don’t know.
There are a lot of things I don’t know.
But there are some things I also know.
1. I know you are sincere.
2.I know God is good and perfect and doesn’t contradict himself.
3.I know sin has messed with our minds…
I do not believe that God made you with these desires same way I don’t believe he made me with the desire to sleep with a woman I’m not married to.
I believe he gave me sexual desires- perfect sexual desires but the expression of the desire isn’t always perfect thanks to the devil and sin.
If you study Rom1, you will notice that homosexual behavior isn’t actually ‘the unforgivable sin’ some overzealous brothers make it seem but a manifestation of the sin nature same as disobedience to parents, pride, backbiting, envy, deceit, murder, etc.
You will also notice that it is a result of an humanistic mindset rather than a theological mindset.
It is never wrong to be tempted dearly beloved, what is wrong is giving in to the temptation. Sin(including sexual sins: adultery, fornication, homosexual relations, etc) are always choices we make.
In 1Cor6:9, we see God’s indictment of sin, we also see that by virtue of believing in Christ, by virtue of the Indwelling Holy Spirit, we are changed…from Sinners to Saints and that is irrespective of our behavior. Irrespective. Does that mean we can give in to the desires of the flesh? No! A thousand times, No! It simply means what it means…we are sanctified (set apart unto God) and Justified (made righteous) by Christ and in Christ.
So, understand that brother.
You are under Grace
You are accepted in the Beloved…same sex attraction or not.
The same sex attraction doesn’t make you less of a believer…
Meditate on what God has said about you in his word.
Go through the epistles and note these things… Who you are now in Christ, what you have now in Him and Who Christ is in you.
Meditate on these things.
In my next letter to you, I will talk about specific things to do concerning the attraction.
God bless you.
Blessings.
Ayomipo Jeremiah AMIOLA