What the Bible says about Biblical Illiteracy
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 18:23-25 Is God fair in His dealings with man? Has God warned man what he is going to earn in the way of a death penalty if he sins? Consider this list. In Exodus 21, we are warned that striking or cursing parents will result in death. In Leviticus 19, He says that if you desecrate a sacrifice, you are going to die. In Leviticus 24, He says that if you murder somebody, you are going to die. In Exodus 21, He says that if you kidnap somebody, you are going to die. In Leviticus 20, He says if you sacrifice a child in the fire, you are going to die. In Leviticus 24, He says, "If you take My name in vain—if you curse Me, if your use blasphemous statements about Me—you are going to die." In Exodus 35, He issues the death penalty for breaking the Sabbath. In Leviticus 20, He issues the death penalty for consulting mediums. In Leviticus 20, He says that if you are practicing homosexuality, you are going to die. In Leviticus 20, if you practice incest, you are going to die. In Exodus 22, if you practice bestiality, you are going to die. In Deuteronomy 22, He says that if you rape somebody, you are going to die. In Deuteronomy 13, if you give a false prophecy, you are going to die. In Exodus 22, if you practice sorcery, you are going to die. In Exodus 22, if you sacrifice to a false god, you are going to die. In Leviticus, if you commit adultery, you are going to die. In Numbers 4, if you desecrate a holy thing, you are going to die. In Numbers 16, if you disagree with God's judgment, you are going to die. In Leviticus 21, if you are a priest's daughter and you play the harlot, you are going to die. This is only a partial list. God has clearly made known the penalty to mankind. Is God acting fairly? The penalty for some of these offenses really sounds harsh to modern minds. Death for a false prophecy? Death for committing adultery? Death for bestiality or homosexuality? All of these penalties are given in the Old Testament. By contrast, there is no corresponding list of penalties in the New Testament, which misleads some who are close to being biblically illiterate into thinking that they prefer the God of the New Testament to the God of the Old Testament. But the God of the New Testament is exactly the same Being as the God of the Old Testament; He says, "I change not" (Malachi 3:6). "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Those of us who are living under the New Covenant need to begin to think seriously about the way we conduct our lives, and especially in reference to our own relationship with God. We cannot deny that the New Testament list of capital offenses would appear to be a dramatic reduction from the Old. What we fail to consider is that the Old Testament list above is a massive reduction from what appears at the beginning of the Book, as in Genesis 18. The list, mainly out of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, represents an astonishing measure of grace from how things began. John W. Ritenbaugh Justice and Grace Related Topics: Biblical Illiteracy | Death | Death as Wages of Sin | Death Penalty | God's Fairness | God's Justice | Grace | Justice and Grace | New Covenant | Relationship with God

Matthew 19:3-6 The absence of any outright scriptural condemnation of homosexuality from the lips of Jesus has been a mainstay of so-called Christian, pro-gay rhetoric for many years. Arguing from His purported silence on the issue—a rhetorical no-no—defenders of same-sex marriage try to co-opt Jesus as some sort of proto-liberal, a free-love advocate modeled on "Jesus Christ Superstar" rather than the sinless Messiah of the Bible. The argument has been convincing to some due to the ridiculously high level of biblical illiteracy among the general public and even among professing Christians whose doctrinal acumen plunges no deeper than the lyrics of the Beatles' anthem, "All You Need Is Love." It ought to be obvious that the same Man who says He did not come "to destroy the Law or the Prophets" (Matthew 5:17)—which Law stipulates homosexuality to be an abomination (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13)—would teach that same-sex relations are sinful and subject to God's judgment. Yet, a "grace only," dispensational mainstream Christianity has discounted the fact that God is consistent in His character and thus His lawgiving. Therefore, to its adherents, Old Testament pronouncements contain little authority in such matters. Those who think this way require a plain statement from Jesus Himself, and a lack of one is as good as approval. And just to sideline another apparent argument, statements by the apostle Paul, though canonized as Scripture, have no validity to such people. He writes in I Corinthians 6:9-10: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (Emphasis ours. See also his unambiguous denunciation of homosexuality in Romans 1:24-32.) The apostle wholly agrees with the Old Testament law regarding homosexuality, assuring us that God will not accept into His Kingdom those who practice it. Further, in I Timothy 1:8-11, he declares that, "according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God," sodomites are "lawless," "insubordinate," "ungodly," "sinners," "unholy," and "profane." Yet, despite citing the gospel of God, his testimony carries no weight, as he is seen as adding his own Pharisaical prejudices to what Jesus originally delivered. Only Jesus' own words will do. So, what does He say on this subject? He says nothing explicitly about homosexuality in the gospels, but He does make a significant ruling about marriage. What He says about marriage completely precludes same-sex "marriage." He does this in Matthew 19:3-6: The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Using this answer as a template, we actually do know what Jesus thinks about same-sex marriage: He is against it. How can we conclude this? First, notice that both the Pharisees and Jesus share an understanding of marriage as comprising a man and his wife. A binding relationship of any kind other than a man and a woman is not a marriage; it does not fit the formal qualifications of the term. Second, Christ bases His answer on what was written "at the beginning," that is, in God's original intent in creating mankind: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). He is, in effect, saying that Christian teaching on marriage, a relationship between a man and a woman, reflects the Bible's original revelation about being in God's image, which Christians are to conform to now. Concessions (like Moses' laws regarding divorce) made in the meantime due to Israel's carnality undermined God's original intent. Third, Jesus further cites Genesis 2:24: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." With both of His scriptural quotations, He implies that God created humanity in two genders for specific reasons, the most obvious of which is to marry and have children (mentioned in Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and multiply"). Male-male and female-female unions not only nullify God's purpose of complementary genders producing offspring, but they also cannot even consummate a marriage (becoming one flesh) with the sexual organs specific to each gender functioning as God created them. In the face of God's intent for men and women, Jesus ignores "love," "honesty," or "sincerity," or whether a relationship is "damaging to anyone else." God wants men to marry women, and no amount of emotion or attraction between two people of the same sex is enough to dislodge God's purpose for creating mankind in two genders. Jesus, being God in the flesh, establishes the boundaries of marriage for His followers, and He does not permit same-sex marriage. Richard T. Ritenbaugh Would Jesus Approve of Same-Sex Marriage? Related Topics: | Biblical Illiteracy | Cheap Grace | God Created Male and Female | Homosexuality | Homosexuality is Not Normal | Homosexuals Will Not Inherit Kingdom of God | Sexual Perversion | Sodomy

 

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