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by Steve DuPlessie

FIVE STORIES OF THE GOSPEL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT…

We find the first of our five stories in the opening chapters of the first book of the bible, Genesis. You remember the creation story in Genesis chapter 1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 26 of chapter 1 tells us, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Chapter 2 of Genesis tells us the story of how it was not good for man to be alone, so God created a woman, Eve, and chapter three tells three tells us the story of Eve and Adam falling in temptation. They rebel against God’s authority and instead they choose to believe a lie. So they disobey God’s simple and clear command, and verse 8 of chapter 3 tells us they felt guilty and they hid from God. It’s the nature of temptation to lie: drink this, take this fix, you’ll feel better; a bigger bank account will make you happy; it’s the nature of sin to lie, and it’s the nature of sin to hide.

Their relationship with God—apparently a warm, face-to-face friendship—was broken by their sin. So they tried to hide. And verse 9 of Genesis chapter 3 tells us that God came searching for them. Not content to let them suffer the shame of their sin as something they deserved, which they did, God actually sought them out, confronted the sin, and then God did something simple but powerfully symbolic.

Adam and Eve had suddenly felt ashamed of themselves and tried to hide their nakedness with some fig leaves. But verse 21 tells us God made more substantial, durable clothes for them of animal skins. Ok, so the need for new clothes just confirmed that they were naked and ashamed, but God sacrificed an innocent animal or two, innocent blood was shed, to cover over their shame.

And that act of mercy and grace, that undeserved kindness, right at the very beginning of God’s story in our lives, shows us a quick look at God’s character in the very opening pages of the Bible: awesome in power, perfect in holiness, yet very aware of the fragile weaknesses of his creatures, and very ready to give them grace, provide a way to cover over that guilt and shame, and restore the relationship.

And that leads us into the second gospel story in the OT, Noah and the big boat. You remember that story from Genesis chapter 6?  It starts this way; Genesis 6, verse 5: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor (the KJV says, “Noah found grace…”) in the eyes of the Lord.”

You remember the story. God planned to literally pour out judgment on his rebellious, sinful creatures in a huge rainstorm and flood. But he decided to save one family: Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives; 8 people in all. God told them to build a huge boat, and get ready to take two of each kind of animal on board with them. All Noah’s friends and neighbors laughed at him and called him a fool when he told them what he was doing. But they finished the project and the animals got on board just as it began to rain.

Genesis 7 tells us the earth was covered with a great flood, returning the earth to the same state it was in before creation began. Chapter 7, verse 20 tells us, “The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.”

Verse 23, “God blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.”

So in this second story God again revealed his holiness, refusing to let sin go unpunished. But also God revealed his love and mercy, providing a way out, a way of salvation, the ark, for undeserving receivers of his grace.

The third story of the gospel—God intervening to save, just because of his mercy and grace—is the story, familiar to some, of the hike that a father and son took. Turn in your bible with me to Genesis chapter 22. You might remember the lead characters, Abraham and his wife Sarah had been waiting for a long time for a child that God had promised they would have, a son who would be the first of a huge family. And they waited… a real long time for God to make good on his promise. So after waiting many, many years, Isaac, the child of that promise, was finally born. But chapter 22 of Genesis tells us that one day God told Abraham to take his son, his very precious son, Isaac, to a mountain nearby, and offer him there on top of that mountain as a sacrifice of obedience and loyalty to God.

And the text in chapter 22 says, “So Abraham rose early in the morning…” Abraham did not hesitate or procrastinate to obey what God had told him to do; even this horrible, cruel, and seemingly senseless command.

“So Abraham rose early in the morning saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.”

“Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’” That’s an interesting phrase—“I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you…” That seems to hint that Abraham is testing God’s old promise, and he had faith that somehow this was all going to be okay!

Verse 6: “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went, both of them together.” (Most commentators think Isaac was in his late teens or 20s at this point.) “And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’” So Isaac had watched his father worship God before, he understood the sacrifice of lambs to God. “So they went both of them together.”

Verse 9, “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there…” Most scholars think the place Abraham built this altar is the peak of Mount Moriah where later Solomon’s Temple was built, between Mount Zion on the west and the Mount of Olives on the east.

“…Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood on the altar, and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.” So Jews call this story, to this day, The Binding of Isaac. Verse 10, “Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’”

Verse 23, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘Jehovah-Jireh, The Lord will provide,’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’”

So again in this third gospel story, God, in his mercy and grace provided a way of escape from a death penalty, this time providing an innocent ram as the substitute for the doomed boy, Isaac. The rest of the story in Genesis 22 and again in Hebrews 11 tells us God recognized and rewarded the faith of Abraham, who was willing to trust God and obey.

The fourth gospel story is also very familiar, in Exodus chapter 12. In this case, after 9 previous warnings, God was about to bring the tenth and final judgment on the king, the Pharaoh, and the nation of Egypt who had enslaved and abused the Hebrews for over 400 years. And in chapter 12 God gave Moses very detailed instructions how to save the oldest Hebrew male in every house from the angel of death that was about to strike the country that night. An innocent lamb, one without any spot or blemish, disease or defect, would take the place of the firstborn—man or boy—in a dramatic substitution that saved their life.

And again God is shown to judge injustice, defiance and rebellion, but show mercy and provide a way of escape for those he loves. Which brings us to the fifth, and maybe the most unusual gospel story in the OT. I’m thinking of the story of Jonah and the big … … city. You thought I was going to say Fish. Jonah and the big fish, which is of course the title of the Veggie Tales video.

We think of Jonah, and immediately we recall the story of the reluctant, disobedient prophet who was swallowed by a whale, the text says “a big fish.” But when you read the short 4-chapter story of Jonah it’s not really about a fish or a reluctant prophet or even about Jonah at all.

God had told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the ancient capital city of Israel’s long-time cruel and bullying enemy, Assyria. The Assyrians were notorious war criminals who did all sorts of outrageous violence on the nations they conquered. And Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh, now known as the city of Mosul, to tell them to repent or … face God’s certain judgment. So you remember how the story went, after trying really, really hard to avoid the assignment, Jonah finally ended up in Nineveh after all, told them to repent … and they did!

So actually Jonah may not just be a story about the failure of a prophet; it may also be a story about … the success of God. It’s not about a reluctant prophet; it’s about a pursuing God. It’s not about a prophet who doesn’t care about people; it’s about a God who deeply cares about people. It’s not about what Jonah does to get away from Nineveh; the story of Jonah is about what God does to get His love to Nineveh. So it’s not about Jonah running from God but rather it’s all about God running toward a city. It’s not about Jonah wishing judgment on Nineveh; its really about God longing to show mercy on Nineveh! There’s gospel on every page of the story of Jonah!

And that’s your God! The God who made a set of new clothes to cover over the guilt and shame of a woman and her husband who were once really close friends to God, but now were actually hiding from him.

Your God is the one who was furious at the violence and wickedness and evil his creatures lived in, but in his righteous wrath he picked one family—who would later prove to be quite a disappointment, actually—but God chose one family to save from destruction, and re-launch the humankind experiment all over with them. That’s your God!

Your God is the one who keeps his promises, even in the difficult and dark times of life, and who provides a substitute when you need it most, like he did with Abraham and his son Isaac on their hike up Mount Moriah. That’s your God!

Your God is the one who wouldn’t let injustice go un-judged, but he provided a Passover covering from that judgment for the firstborn Hebrew males, even though none of them was totally innocent. That’s your God! And your God is the one who went to persistent, determined, relentless and extraordinary lengths to save a 120,000 women, men and children in a violent, pagan, idol-worshipping city called Nineveh. That’s your God!

He’s the same—Old Testament or New Testament. Loving and just, holy and yet full of mercy and grace.

And the gospel of the OT and the NT is the same. The skins of animals that cover guilt and shame for Eve and Adam all point forward to Jesus, who offers to cover all your guilt and shame. The ark that provided a way of escape for Noah and his family points forward to Jesus, who provides a way of escape for you from God’s just punishment for sin.

The ram that took Isaac’s place on mount Moriah points forward to Jesus who took your place on the cross on the very same mountainside. The innocent lamb that died in the place of the oldest Hebrew male on Passover points forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And God’s heroic effort to offer forgiveness and salvation to the guilty in Nineveh points forward to Jesus, our hero who offers salvation for me and you.

The gospel is all about your God initiating, reaching out to lost and broken, fallen and guilty people that he loves. Showing them undeserved, unearned grace. Providing a way of salvation, even when it means substituting his one and only innocent Son, Jesus, the one who took your guilt and shame so your relationship with God—a relationship broken by your sin and rebellion, your indifference and independence—he wants to fix that so your relationship can be restored.

Maybe you’re struggling with the weight of your brokenness, your sin. And God is offering you forgiveness, deliverance, redemption. Listen to his call to you now to come, repent and believe. Just believe that Jesus is God’s Son who died to pay the penalty for all your sin so you can be set free.

Maybe you’re already trusting Jesus as your savior, but you’re still struggling with deep feelings shame and guilt, with thoughts of unworthiness and worthlessness. And God says to you this morning  “Come to me, all who are weary—I know all about it already and I love you anyway—come now, and I will give you rest for your soul.”

by Steve DuPlessie

So I read a true story the other day about a prostitute who showed up at a soup kitchen with her baby, looking for a meal. She told her story: she was homeless, sick, unable to buy food, using all her money for her addiction. The soup kitchen volunteer listened to her story, sad and horrified at the life this woman and her child were living. Finally, the volunteer asked her if she had thought of going to a church for help.

“Church!” she cried. ”Why would I go there? I’m already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse!” Really? What struck me about that story is that women much like this prostitute actually ran to Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person—woman or man—felt, the more likely they were to find Jesus was a safe person to run to. The woman at the well. The woman caught in the act of adultery. Zaccheus the tax collector. The dying thief on the cross. And the woman who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet.

Has the church lost that gift? The gift of grace? The best definition of grace is the simple one:  grace is the free and unmerited or unearned favor of God. A while back Zach defined mercy as not getting what you deserve and grace as getting what you don’t deserve! That grace—that undeserved favor of God—is at the very core of the good news of the gospel.

Talking about Jesus, Titus 2:11 tells us, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” The bible makes it clear, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take any credit for this; it is a gift from God,” (Eph 2:8 NLT).

What sets biblical Christianity apart…
In fact, grace is what separates biblical Christian faith from all the religions of the world. I was sitting in an Interfaith group a few years ago for a monthly conversation to help us understand each other better, and the question for discussion that month was, “If you saw a poor man lying on the sidewalk, what does your faith tradition say you should do?” When it was his turn to speak, the Hindu priest in the group said, “I would step over him. I don’t want to interfere with his Karma.” I guess there’s no concept of undeserved grace there.

Where Buddhism and Islam, Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hinduism and traditional tribal religions all say Do, biblical Christianity says Done: “While we were still sinners (still guilty and still unrepentant), Christ (already)cdied for us,” Romans 5:8.

So we talk about the good news of Jesus, the gospel, in terms of God’s grace, God’s unearned favor poured out on unworthy sinners. And of course, everyone wants to get grace. But our attitudes and our actions seem to show our neighbors that followers of Jesus who have received God’s grace aren’t particularly quick to give it.

Not sounding too good…
Multiple surveys show that Americans think very highly of Jesus, the giver of grace … but his followers not so much.  In a twenty-year span starting in the mid-nineties, research shows that favorable opinions of Christianity in general have plummeted drastically—and opinions of Evangelicals have taken even deeper dives. Christians have lost respect, influence, and reputation in a newly emerging post-Christian culture.

There’re a lot of reasons for this. Some see Evangelicals too tied to a particular political agenda or political party and it seems you have to make a political conversion before you can make a spiritual conversion. Some see Evangelicals as too negative and too judgmental, known more for what they are against than what they are for. The list goes on.

And to be honest, I have to admit that it’s pretty easy for me to look at someone and make a quick judgment call—maybe justified, maybe not—about the moral condition of someone who would do that…but that judgment call simply reinforces my own sense that I’m a pretty good guy, at least compared to that one and that one.

Scores please…
Ok, so I grew up in a church that drew sharp lines between the Age of Law that we find in the Old Testament, and the Age of Grace that began after Jesus. But even though we talked a lot about grace, we had our own Do and Don’t list that rivaled the best lists of the Pharisees: at the top of our list was no smoking and no drinking. Followed by no divorce. No movies. Period. As a kid that also meant no TV and no comic books for me. No dancing. (I was class president, all four years in HS, and never went to a dance or prom; I was always on the clean-up committee!) And for us there were no sports—playing or watching—or any other amusements on Sunday, the Sabbath, the day of rest. And no secular music. No playing cards or gambling. It also meant head coverings and long skirts for women and short hair for men. And other churches had their own lists: the Church of Christ, the Amish and the Mennonites, The Southern Baptists, the Assemblies of God; they all had their lists. In spite of talking about grace, it seemed like God’s favor was earned, or at least held onto, by keeping the rules on the list.

Churches that were supposed to be about undeserved, unearned grace were actually about performance and compliance to a list that would judge spiritual condition on a scale. Not only was there an attitude of judgment and superiority on those sinners outside, it was also on the supposed saints inside.  So no wonder the prostitute I mentioned at the beginning was pretty sure a church was the last place she wanted to be. She might have already experienced “grace” in a church.

Now to be fair, I know a lot of followers of Jesus who are generous givers of grace. Countless parents who forgive a child who shamed them. Many who give their lives and their time and money to serving people in need—in most cases serving people they don’t even know personally—people who might well be undeserving and who could never possibly repay that kindness.

But if the recent studies are correct, then all the followers of Jesus need to work together to change the conversation, change the perception in the secular culture around us—in our workplace, in our school, in our neighborhood and community, in our family—change the perception that we’re all about judging and condemning—because our Jesus, the one we say we are following, was all about … grace. John, one of the closest followers of Jesus wrote,“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” (John 3:17).

3 stories of God’s heart…
Jesus could have come here in as the angry judge, condemning the woman caught in adultery to death under a hail storm of stones. He could have told the dying thief on the cross to go to Hell. He could have totally ignored and avoided the awkward conversation with the woman at the well, the one who’d already had five husbands and was shacking up with another guy at the time. But Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save those who are lost,” Luke 19:10.

So to make that point, Jesus told stories like the story of the lost sheep: the shepherd left the 99 sheep behind to find the one lost wandering sheep. And the lost coin: the woman swept her house from top to bottom until she found a single coin she had misplaced. And the lost son: the father hoisted up his coat and ran like a schoolboy down the street to hug the rebellious son who had shamed and impoverished him.

Jesus told those three stories of undeserved, unmerited grace to show the heart of God to a crowd of super religious people who didn’t like it when Jesus hung out and ate his meals with hated tax collectors and other notorious public sinners.

And we are very ready to take that grace from God, we accept that grace quickly for ourselves, and then too often forget the opportunity that comes with the gift of grace to celebrate and mirror the heart of the giver. So Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God … walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”

We all deserve the punishment of eternity in Hell, but God graciously gave us the unearned gift of His Son for our forgiveness, our salvation, justification, redemption and adoption into his family. So knowing about, and personally experiencing, God’s grace in our own lives should move us to figure out how to show grace to others.

The bottom line…be a giver, not just a taker, of grace.

by Steve DuPlessie | June 11, 2018

Several hundred years ago the Puritans here in New England talked about “the glories of the gospel.” They meant God’s fantastic plan for saving sinners. He saves sinners by declaring them righteous in his sight on the basis of the blood of Jesus, and he does it through simple faith alone. And most amazingly, he justifies sinners while they are still sinners.

Romans 4:5 tells us, “People are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” He doesn’t say, “Clean yourself up and I will accept you.” No! He says to broken and fallen sinners, “Come just as you are … and I will declare you righteous right now.”

The Apostle Paul wrote more about the gospel than anyone else. Let’s look at three ways he described it. First, when you read Romans, chapter 1, verse 1, the Apostle Paul called himself an apostle of … “the gospel of God.” The gospel … begins with God! He made the first move and if he didn’t make the first move, we would make no move at all.

Because the gospel is not actually about us. It’s about what God has already done for us through Jesus Christ. God is the author of the gospel. When confronted with our rebellion, he chose to become our Redeemer and our Deliverer. That’s why the Bible tells us that the Father sent the Son to the earth. It’s not as if a committee of humans petitioned God to send Jesus to the earth. That was entirely God’s idea and God’s doing to fix our sin problem.

And what we know about the gospel comes from God himself. We know what we know because he has told us in his Word. The truth of the gospel does not depend on a church or a powerful, persuasive preacher; on ancient traditions or any particular denomination. So, we base what we say on the reliable authority of God’s Word. And we deny there is any gospel other than the one God revealed to us in the New Testament.

Not only does the gospel begin with God, the gospel centers on Jesus—who he is and what he did; what he accomplished in his life, and death, and resurrection. In these days of political correctness and soft theology, we need to reassert the uniqueness of Jesus.

Even though it isn’t popular, we can only say what the Bible says: The only way to know God is through the death of Jesus Christ in our place, as our substitute. That means the eternal destiny of all people depends on whether they know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Acts 4:12 says that plainly and clearly: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” We may not be comfortable with those exclusive words, but there it is in black and white. Jesus said the same thing in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So I’m not misunderstood, let me be even more explicit. The Bible offers no hope to sincere worshipers of other religions. There is no other way to a saving relationship with God, and no other name than Jesus Christ as savior.

Sincerity is not enough to get you to heaven. Only Jesus saves. And that’s why we don’t apologize for preaching the gospel; that’s why we send missionaries to the ends of the earth; that’s why we train people to talk about Jesus. We’ve got Good News the world needs to hear.

Ok, so to be clear, let me give you the Gospel in a short sound bite … Jesus Christ—fully God and fully man—came into our world. He perfectly obeyed God’s law and perfectly fulfilled God’s will. He died in our place as our substitute, paying God’s penalty due for all our sins. He rose from the dead three days later and then went back to heaven. Jesus will one day return to restore the earth and establish his kingdom. In the meantime, we are commissioned to clearly present the gospel to all people everywhere.

To say it this way means that the gospel doesn’t center in our feelings or our sentimental emotions. The gospel is rooted in time and space, in the facts of history, in the Incarnation birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, in the truth of what God did when he sent his Son to the earth.

God did this out of holy love and holy pity for us. He knew there was no hope for us … unless he took the initiative to save us. Salvation begins and ends with the admission that all the parts of us – our intellect, will, emotion, body, spirit – have all been infected by the fatal disease of sin. The bible says “All have sinned and fall short of God’s perfect standard.”

Nothing in us that can contribute to our salvation. The bible says “We were all once dead in our disobedience and sin…” We are all utterly helpless and hopeless, totally unable to somehow be good enough to make up for our sin and save ourselves, so salvation must come from outside of us. We confess that we need the help that only Jesus can supply.

So God, in an amazing display of love and mercy, offers us salvation on one simple and single condition—a wholehearted faith in Jesus Christ, trusting him alone as Savior, resting on the death of Jesus for complete salvation, giving up all self-confidence, admitting our sin, confessing our need, and crying out to Jesus to save us from the chains and penalty of our sins.

The bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Those who trust in Jesus – and only Jesus – are saved forever. They’re forgiven of all their sins, born again in new spiritual life, adopted into God’s family, and declared to be totally righteous in God’s eyes … all while they are still sinners! That’s nothing short of amazing!

by Steve DuPlessie  |  May 30, 2018

Never before in the history of our country has there been a faster or more significant culture change than the wholesale recognition—in academia, public policy, popular culture, and the marketplace—approving of homosexuality and same-sex relationships.

This immediately presents a challenge and many questions for any followers of Jesus who take what the Bible says seriously.

One of the first questions people might ask is, “If homosexuality is wrong, why didn’t Jesus talk about it?” And your Bible’s concordance will quickly show you that Jesus condemned murder and greed, hypocrisy and pride among other sins, but he never used the “h” word.

But Jesus did condemn “porneia,” the common Greek word usually translated in our English Bibles as “sexual sin” (NLT) or “sexual immorality” (NET, NIV, NASB, NKJV) as in Mark 7:21. Porneia is usually defined as any intercourse outside of marriage. In ancient Greek literature outside of the Bible, porneia included adultery, prostitution, and same-sex acts. Jesus may not have mentioned same-sex acts specifically because all of his listeners understood that same-sex behavior was prohibited in the Hebrew bible, and considered as just one of the many expressions of sexual sin (porneia) off limits for Jews. Besides this, Jesus repeatedly affirmed God’s original design and intent of marriage for one man and one woman.

So then, some ask a second questions, “What about obvious gluttony and rampant divorce? Don’t you people have a big enough plank in your own eye to worry about without picking on someone else?”

And of course they have an embarrassing point. Gluttony is a huge problem, pardon the pun. And it seems quite hypocritical to condemn committed same-sex relationships … when traditional marriages are failing all around us. And the blatant hypocrisy of Jesus-followers is as big a problem as our judgmental attitudes.

But, accepting that criticism with humility, someone’s struggle with cheesy fries and too much of a good thing does not excuse my habit of robbing banks, or her not-so- hidden racism, or his struggle with same-sex behavior. (One sin – hypocritical or not – does not excuse, minimize, or give a pass to another; we all ultimately stand, or fall, before the judge of the living and the dead, God himself.)

Third, some say, “It’s not fair! God made me that way!” And of course the implication is that gays and lesbians, trans and intersex people, are born that way. And while that might seem to be true as you observe one person and another, scientists still have not been able to identify a gay gene that makes it inevitable for a person to be gay. In fact, the most recent statement of the American Psychiatric Association, concludes…

“Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors.”

And that truth is demonstrated simply and un-arguably in the fact that identical twins—exactly alike in their genetic makeup, even down to the prescription for their glasses, and frequently alike in their nurturing environment as well—are not always the same in their sexual preference or behavior, including homosexuality .

But even if biological causes for homosexuality could be isolated—and even if the desire is almost always uninvited and unwelcome—that doesn’t change the conversation. We are all products of both nature and nurture. We all struggle with inbred inclinations and weaknesses—some to addictions, some to anger, others to, whatever—and we all wrestle with learned desires that should not be gratified, and with intense longings for things we should not have or do. Our own sense of desire or pleasure is not self-validating, though just saying that is very unpopular in our current “Me and my rights, my comfort, at any cost” culture.

So then some will ask a fourth question, “But how it is fair for those with same-sex attractions to not be able to ever be married?” Sam Allberry, a single Anglican pastor with same-sex attraction, writes in his brief but excellent book, “Is God Anti-gay?”, that “…for Christians wit same-sex attraction, the only alternative is to actively embrace a life … of hope-filled celibacy.” And again, that self-denial flies in the face of our culture that refuses any personal limits, any denial of personal comfort or pleasure.

But actually, get this now, a life of celibacy is what the Bible expects of all Christians outside of marriage, gay or straight. Those who are single, dating, even engaged. Those who are divorced, widowed, whatever the circumstance. Sex is designed by God (Genesis 2:18-25) not only to be pleasurable but to knit a woman and a man together at a deep and intimate soul level. And God knows that kind of soul intimacy is best reserved for a committed, unbreakable covenant relationship: marriage.

“A life of celibacy is what the Bible expects of all Christians outside of marriage, gay or straight.” – Sam Allberry, Is God Anti-gay?

Resisting sexual desire outside of the marriage relationship is part of discipleship for every Christian of every age and every relationship situation.

So then others ask, “Aren’t you on the wrong side of history, like those who tried to support slavery from the Bible?” Well, that phrase, “the wrong side of history” implies that any progressive change is always good, always positive.

And yes, it certainly was a positive change when Christian activists like Baptist pastor Roger Williams organized the first effort to make slavery illegal in Rhode Island in the 1600s, and later when British Parliamentarian William Wilberforce led the effort to abolish the slave trade in England in the 1700s.

Here in the US, Harriet Tubman made 13 missions to lead slaves to freedom on The Underground Railway from 1849-1865, and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 which exposed the cruelty of American slavery. Among many others, they each were motivated by their devout biblical Christian faith to change the course of history.

But some progressive changes have not been so positive. The move to no-fault divorce in the ’70s and early 80s has, in general, devastated the American family. The advent of the birth-control pill and the resulting sexual freedom movement of the ’60s have devastated the lives of millions of absent-father children. And before that many progressive intellectuals thought that it was best eliminate the “inferior stock” in humankind, Darwinian-style, through restricted immigration, institutionalization, abortion, and sterilization. Not all progressive change is good.

That being said, the Christian church has universally held the traditional view of marriage of “one man and one woman” for the better part of 2,000 years. And while it is possible to be old and wrong, some things are old and right, no matter what the current cultural or political temperature might be.

And then some might ask, “I love my son, but should I go to his gay wedding?” Put another way, is it possible to love someone and still not approve of what they are doing? And of course the answer to that is … yes. Every day parents who love their kids deeply – love them enough to die for them – yet don’t approve everything their kids do. From leaving their wet towel on the bed all day, to picking a loser for a boyfriend, parents can love their kids and still not approve what they do.

But how about a significant life decision? Where they go to school? What job they take? Who they marry? On the kid’s side, it sure is difficult to feel loved when mom or dad don’t approve. Yet parents also are concerned with what is best for their child. Love naturally wants what is best; and Christian parents can love their child deeply and yet, wanting what is best for them not approve of that same-sex relationship or that trans surgery.

So do you go to the wedding, or stay home? Every family has to decide that themselves. I’m inclined to think attending the wedding means “I think this is great! I’m really happy for you! I pray that God will bless this union!” And if you can’t say that with authenticity, then maybe it’s best to stay home that day, and try hard to hold the door open for a relationship based on love and authenticity.

Last question for today. Some might ask, “But I thought the church is a place for broken people. Why not homosexuals?” And the answer is “Yes, praise God, the church is a place for broken people!” And gay people are very welcome here. Let me say that again, LGBTQQIFC (see the endnote below) people are very welcome at GNBC. See, we’re all about God’s story here. We looked for a few minutes earlier at the beginning: Creation, fall… and the central plotline of the Bible is a holy God making a new way to dwell in the middle of unholy people.

From an ark that saved God-fearers from destruction, to a ram that took the place of a doomed son; from the lamb that took the place of the first born in Egypt, to the God-guided trek to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey; from the tent of God’s presence set up in the middle of the camp, to the altar of sacrifice at the entrance to that tabernacle; from the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, to the recall from exile in Babylon—the Bible is story after story after story of God pursuing a rescuing, redeeming relationship with broken and fallen, cursed people.

That’s the story. That’s what the bible is all about. In one sense, there’s not a lot there about homosexuality. The 1,189 chapters of the Bible are not filled with God giving a finger-pointing lecture on same-sex relationships. Although LGBT rights are one of the most pressing and painful controversies of our day, it’s not what the church has been singing and praying and preaching about for 2,000 years. And yet in some ways … it is.

For 2,000 years the church has focused on worshipping a Christ who rescues, a Christ who forgives, a Christ who cleanses, a Christ who challenges and changes us, a Christ who is not content to leave us where we are, but convicts us and converts us. See the good news of the gospel is…

We are all—straight and gay—we are all … more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are all—gay and straight—more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

That’s why Jesus came, holy God living here (John 1:14), in the middle of unholy women and men. He came to live, and finally to die in our place, enduring all of God’s wrath for our brokenness, our sin, taking on himself our curse at the cross. And because of his death in your place, in my place, we can be forgiven, redeemed and restored from our brokenness.

So 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) says, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. (I love that!) Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were (get this) you were … made holy; you were … made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…”

Listen, if you’re struggling with same-sex attraction or other gender issues, the good news for you is that God knows all about that struggle, and God loves you deeply (John 3:16): let me repeat that so you can let that truth from the Bible wash over you… God knows all about your struggle, and God loves you deeply, so deeply actually that sent his Son Jesus to pay the price in full for all your brokenness, all of your sin.

And because God loves you, he wants only what is best for you. And he won’t pat you on the head like a celestial grandfather and say, “Oh, that’s okay.” No, he calls you to repent, that’s turn from your sin, to accept His offer of complete forgiveness, and to trust Him to help you live between the two worlds of broken, but being restored; lost, but coming back home; blind, but beginning to see.

Then again, maybe you’re not struggling with same sex attractions, but there’s something else that has a strong hold on you and won’t let go, and Jesus says, “Come to me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” So the invitation to you is the same: Come, come to the cross where Jesus died for you; give all that stuff to Jesus, and trust Him for forgiveness, healing, and rebuilding.

Is God anti-gay? Well God hates all sin. Let me say that again: God hates all sin. The sinful behaviors of gay people. And the sinful and arrogant pride of straights who look down in judgment on gay people. God hates all sin. The sex-saturated lifestyles of our culture—straight and gay—that value personal freedom over commitment, pleasure over sacrifice, and independence over obedience. God hates it all  because it ignores and rebels against his original design, and so God calls all of us to repent, to accept his offer of forgiveness, and submit to his call to live the holy life he designed us for.

In closing, one last question: How should Christians see and act towards gay and lesbian, bi- and trans-, queer and questioning, intersex and fluid, family and  friends and neighbors, school buddies and family members? Pretty simple really. Follow the example of Jesus who loves people—genuinely loves, authentically loves, sacrificially loves people—just the way they are. Start there. And pray for God’s redeeming love and healing grace to break through.

 

________________
Endnote: LGBTQQIFC: The growing academic area of Gender Studies has named some of the numerous ways that people “identify their gender.” L = Lesbian; G = Gay; B = Bi-sexual; T = Transsexual; Q = Queer (a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders); Q = Questioning; I = Intersex (ambiguous anatomy); F = Fluid (individual, personal gender identification is an ever-changing personal choice); and C = Cis (traditional gender identification according to biology/physiology recorded at birth). In this article I use the more common “LGBT” as a shorthand abbreviation for the longer list of gender identifications.

By Steve DuPlessie  |  April 30, 2018

So right up front I want to say that despite the questions from your friends, in spite of the History Channel specials that suggest all sorts of alternative theories, the reliability of the bible is not a hard debate to win. The fact is that the bible is by far the most reliable ancient document in the world.

Ok, so to be clear, when we say “the bible,” what we really mean is a book that is actually a mini library, a collection of books, written over a period of 1,500 years, by more than forty different authors, who wrote to very different audiences and cultures on three different continents, in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  All with one single grand unifying theme: God’s revelation of his love-driven plan to redeem and have a relationship with people like us.

Most people don’t know this. When they say they don’t believe “the bible,” they think they’re rejecting an old book written by one person at one point in history.

Now that would be true for The Book of Mormon, or the Koran (Qur’an,) and the ancient Bhagavad Gita. One guy, Joseph Smith, dictated The Book of Mormon to a groups of scribes in 1830. An Arab trade merchant, Muhammad, wrote the Koran in the years following AD609. The Hindu sage Vyasa composed the 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita, divided into 18 chapters, sometime between 500 and 200BC.

The Bible is different…
But the Bible is different. It’s actually a collection, a compilation, of 66 different books of history and poetry, wisdom and theology, prophecy, biography and advice letters, plus a unique literary form called Apocalyptic. So skeptics don’t get to dismiss the Bible in one fell swoop. They have to examine and dismiss sixty-six different books written by different people to very different audiences at different times. And believers don’t have to defend all 66 books. What I do is defend 27 of them. I focus on the reliability of the New Testament (NT). For two reasons…

First, I think the biggest concern that you should have with a skeptic is to show them evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Don’t get sucked into a discussion of the worldwide flood or people living in whales. There are good answers to those questions, but I suggest you not waste your time on that. Pick your battles.

Second, I argue for the reliability of just the NT because that automatically proves the general reliability of the Old Testament (OT). The NT includes Jesus’ own affirmation of the OT. Jesus teaches the OT is the word of God; so if the NT is reliable, we can also trust the OT.

Let’s look at the evidence…
So let’s look at evidence for the reliability of the NT. Judging the reliability of an ancient document begins with asking how many copies of the document are still available for us to examine. Original manuscripts of ancient documents don’t exist. So copies are as good as it gets. Fortunately for us, copies are enough to prove what the original text actually said.

This process is called Textual Criticism: reconstructing the original from what we have available in the copies of that original. The more copies you have, the easier it is to sort through errors made by the scribes who hand-wrote the copies so you can determine the original text. Here’s an example in English of how you can reconstruct an original text from four different, hypothetical copies of Philippians 4:13…

1. I can do all t#ings through Christ who strengthens me.
2. I can do all th#ngs through Christ who strengthens me.
3. I can do all thi#gs through Christ who strengthens me.
4. I can do all thin#s through Christ who strengthens me.
[Example from Geisler, N. L & Turek, F., I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), p. 228]

So it’s pretty easy to tell that the original text said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is how scholars, using the principles of textual criticism, can reconstruct an original manuscript from its copies. And you can see that the more copies you have, the easier it is, and the more certainty you can have that the reconstruction of thee text is accurate.

So, the question is, how many copies of the NT do we have to work with? Ok, so there are more than … 6,000 manuscripts in existence today in Greek, the original language of the NT. Nearly 600 of those copies were made in the first thousand years of the originals.  The oldest Greek manuscript of the NT, a fragment of verses from John’s Gospel, chapter 18, dates back to AD130, the early second century, just about 40 years after the original was written by John.

How does the Bible compare to…
Ok, but how does that compare to other ancient writings that are known and accepted by everyone as authentic? Well, there are fewer than 2,000 copies of Homer’s epics, Illiad and Odyssey that you had to read in HS world lit class. Written about 850BC, the oldest manuscript of Homer’s work is about 350 years removed from the original – not a few decades.

It’s that way with all the ancient texts: For Ceasar’s Gallic War, composed between 58 and 50BC, there are only 9 good copies, and the oldest is 900 years after Caesar’s day. The Roman historian Tacitus – who gives us so much of what we know today about ancient Rome – his 14 volume set called Histories, written about AD100, has only four-and-a-half surviving copies, and those date from about AD900 – 800 years after they were written.

British scholar, FF Bruce, gives us tons of other examples in his study called The NT Documents: Are they reliable? And in every case, there are more manuscript copies and fragments of the NT available than any other ancient written document. And the NT copies are all closer to the original document than any of the other texts everyone accepts as reliable today.

Remember Shakespeare?
Let me give you another example, a little bit closer to our time, to make the point. Did you have to read some Shakespeare in High School English lit class or maybe in college? Sure. The Bard of Avon wrote in a short, 20-year period from 1591-1611, just a few years before the Pilgrims arrived down the road here in Plymouth. Among other things, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, from Henry VI to The Tempest.

Now compare that to the NT. 27 books. By 8 different authors including a historian, a physician, a Jewish Pharisee and a Jewish rabbi, some missionaries, a few fishermen, and a Roman-collaborating-tax collector. 27 different books of varying length written over a period of 46 years, from AD50 to AD96.

Here scholar John Lea gives us the report of his analysis of Shakespeare’s 37 plays with the 27 books of the NT. He writes, “With no more than twenty exceptions total, the text of every one of the 7,957 verses in the Greek New Testament has been settled by general consent of scholars, so that any dispute is about the interpretation of the words rather than the actual words themselves. But in every one of Shakespeare’s thirty-seven English plays there are about a hundred uncertain readings still in dispute, a large portion of which materially affect the meaning of the passage.”

Using the techniques of Textual Criticism, the many different English translations we have today come from the Greek NT text that scholars, after literally hundreds of years of examination, have agreed is the original text in Greek. And the same strategy applies to translating the OT.

Because we have such a high degree of confidence that we have the correct version of the Greek NT, the only question that remains for us is, Do the original writers tell us the truth? Did the authors of the NT invent their stories? Were they accurate in what they wrote about Jesus and his teaching? How can we know for sure? Just knowing that we have an accurate copy of the NT isn’t enough. It could just be the accurate copy of a lie.

Passing 4 historical tests…
Well, we have good reason to believe the NT authors told us the truth because their writings pass four very important historical tests. First, the NT displays all the hallmarks of eye witness accounts. First for example, the NT eyewitness testimonies includes embarrassing details about its authors. If you are going to make something up, would you make something up that makes you look bad?

Like arguing who is the greatest on the night Jesus is arrested? Like, denying that you even know Jesus? Like still doubting if Jesus rose from the dead after you had seen and touched him? Like admitting that you persecuted followers of Jesus? All that stuff that makes you look pretty bad if you’re just making it all up!

Second, the eyewitness testimonies include the testimonies of women and in the first century women were not considered reliable sources for testimony in court. So if you’re making this all up, would you include a witness that you knew no one would trust?

Third, the NT records events that have the support of multiple independent sources. Remember, the NT is not one book. It is a curated collection of independent sources that often speak to the same thing. The principle here is that the more sources you have recording the same event, the higher the level of certainty that the event happened. While there are some variations, the major themes of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus for our salvation are consistent throughout.  Plus we have many sources like the Jewish historian Josephus and the very well-known classical quotations from Tacitus, Pliny – some written by hostile non-believers – who never-the-less confirm the facts of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

And fourth, there were many, many eyewitnesses still alive when these documents were written and circulated, any of whom could say “That’s not what happened!”  Made up stories, deliberate fabrications, fake news, gets exposed by people who were there.

Listen, the NT passes every test that historians and scholars, skeptics and critics, can throw at it. I gave you the quick fly-over version. The good news is though I’ve been brief, it’s not from a lack of evidence. There’s a short list of suggested resources on the notes insert in your program if you want to dig deeper or read original scholarship on the question of the reliability of the Bible.

The real Question behind the Question…
But here’s the thing. Most people who question the reliability of the bible … have never actually read the bible, never mind studied it or explored the evidence for the best manuscripts. So their questions, their objections, cover over the question behind the question. It’s not really about trusting the bible at all. The real question behind the question is, “If you could know for sure today that the bible is true, would you believe it?”

If your family-member or friend says Yes, then offer to spend some time together exploring what we talked about today for yourselves. I’m happy to point you to some easy to use tools. I’m pretty confident that if they are sincere in wanting to discover if the bible is reliable, you’ll like where your study together goes.

Because believing the bible is true is just a starting point. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I like the NLT that says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

2 Peter 1:20, 21 further explains, “…no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Inspiration simply means that God directed and used each writer – in their time and culture, with their language skills and their education – to write what God wanted us to know about him and his grand unified plan to redeem broken and fallen people like me a you.

It’s the bible that tells us there is one and only one God. It’s the bible that tells us God loves you so much he sent his one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the total and complete penalty required for your sin so you can be forgiven, redeemed, and adopted into God’s family. It’s the bible that tells us how Jesus rose, alive, after he died, to prove he is God and prove his power over sin and death.  It’s the bible that tells us how God will ultimately redeem and remake all of this broken, fallen creation to what he intended it to be in the first place. It’s the bible that tells us that Jesus will return and usher in justice and peace to replace injustice and evil, sin and sickness, and even death itself.

My mom copied an old quote (author unknown) and wrote it inside the cover of my first bible, “This is the Word of God. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. Christ is its grand subject, our good is its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.”  You can believe it…