Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

 

Can Homosexuals Be Saved?

Homosexuality is defined as a "sexual behavior and sexual attraction between people of the same gender or a sexual orientation." It is now becoming more and more acceptable as an alternate lifestyle to the heterosexual lifestyle (between a man and a woman). In some parts of the world it has been adopted into the legal system to marry two men or women including legally adopting a child into their home. This open acceptability is becoming more and more dominant due largely in part to medical science which says that it is a genetic disposition in a homosexual or lesbian to behave in such a manner. It is like a person who is born right handed or left handed. As such, these people must not be condemned but be lovingly embraced and accepted. Science is their god now, for it dictates and defines laws in ways not known to man before. Movie stars and movies have promoted homosexuality as normal and in some cases even beautiful and very respectable. This sin is becoming more and more acceptable in Singapore as well, and the rest of the world. This is to be expected. God has already prophesied that this day will come some two thousand years ago. That Day is HERE!

 

Jesus has warned us that before His return the world will be like the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrha.

 

Days of Noah and Sodom -- Matt 24:37-39; Luke 17:28-30

a. What were the days of Noah like? --

Matthew 24:37-39 "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

 

Genesis 6:5, 11-13 say, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually . . . The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." [emphasis added]

 

The world was soaked in sin in the days of Noah but the world could not care less, for they went on as usual with their daily lives, eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage! The world today is the same. It is soaked in sin and no one cares, for they are numbed and dead in sin!

 

b. What were the days of Sodom like? --

Luke 17:28-30 "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

 

Jude 1:7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." [emphasis added]

 

The days of Sodom are here! The two sins that characterized Sodom and Gomorrha were fornication and homosexuality. Both these sins are an acceptable way of life today. Fornication is already accepted by the world and the stigma that once accompanied two unmarried persons living together is gone forever. Children born out of wedlock are more common today than children born of married parents. World leaders are promoting and legalizing homosexuality. What little resistance that remains on earth will be swept aside by the carnal tide of evil men.

 

c. What is the world like today compared with Sodom and Noah's time? Exactly the same global sins --

· Homosexuality

· Fornication

· Adultery

· Violence

The indifference of the world in accepting and condoning these sins are similarly reflected in our time as it was in Noah’s time.

 

The Word of God Decides – The final authority in every believer’s life is the perfect Word of God. It is not mathematics, science, archaeology, or any of the other kind of wisdom from sinful men. The kind of man-centered wisdom is subjective and fluctuates from right to wrong to right, again and again. Was it not science that told us in the past that the world was flat when the Bible said clearly that it is round and hangs on nothing? Science can never be used as an absolute, especially when it comes to morality. Therefore the Christian must never use it as the basis for his faith or his conduct. The world needs to know this today more than ever before because the return of Christ is very near.

 

But the worse part in this entire sordid new trend is not found in the world but in the church. Some churches have gay pastors and have openly married their congregational members who have openly professed that they are gays or lesbians. This confusion originates with new interpretations to the Bible including new versions of the Bible such as the New International Version. It has removed all references to the word "sodomite/s" from the entire Bible. The common replacement used is "shrine prostitute/s" (see Deu 23:17; 1Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2Kings 23:7.) The church cannot decide either. The church is made up of men who are far from perfect. Their wisdom is corrupt and very much influenced by the world, especially this end time church which has fallen away into sin and depravity. This is another sign of the second coming of Christ that has already been fulfilled. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (KJV) "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." The falling away, i.e. the apostasy, of the Christian church must take place before the Antichrist can become a leader of the world. The church has fallen and only a remnant remains which is based upon God's promise that He will have His remnant no matter how far gone the church will fall. This is because of God's grace and mercy.

 

When religious leaders from within Christianity call the sin of homosexuality an acceptable way of life, it means that the only bulwark that stands in the path of Satan's ploy to turn this world into Sodom and Gomorrha is destroyed. There is nothing that can stop Satan from succeeding. The world will become Sodom and Gomorrha!

 

It is important to caution here that it is foolish for professing Christians to think that by the distortion of the Bible and false translation of the Bible they can change the clear teachings and eternal standard of God! God’s Word will forever stand regardless of how man may think and believe, sincerely or otherwise.

 

That homosexuality is a sin is clearly taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. This sin is first described in the book of Genesis. The sin was committed from the youngest to the oldest, poorest to the richest. The Bible says in Genesis 19:4-7, "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly." From this passage the Bible reveals that the sin of homosexuality is no respecter of age, wealth or status. People from all walks of life can fall into this sin. Yes it is a sin and not a small sin at that. It is a grievous sin. Homosexuality is a very severe and heinous sin in the eyes of God. God said in Genesis 18:20, "And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous…". It was for this very reason, including the sin of fornication, that God sent fire and brimstone to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The certainty of this judgement from God is taught in Jude 1:7, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." And also in 2 Peter 2:6, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly."

 

This became the evidence for definite and irrefutable judgment that will come upon the false teachers and prophets who teach wrong doctrines in the last days, says the Apostle Peter through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Homosexuals who commit this sin must repent of it. The words of man deceive but the perfect Word of God gives life. As long as the homosexual does not regard what he does as a great sin, he will not repent. He will live in sin with a seared conscience. He has been lulled into a life of grievous sin by the world which is what the Bible describes as the deception of the last days.

 

Origin of the sin of homosexuality – The origin of the sin of homosexuality is the sin of idolatry. Among the many fruits of idolatry is the sin of homosexuality. This is clearly taught by God in Romans 1:22-27 (KJV) "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 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." [emphasis added] This sin will remain as long as the sin of idolatry continues to be committed by sinful man. The sin of idolatry is more than just bowing down to tangible idols made of gold, silver or stone or precious metal. The sin of idolatry includes the sin of atheism and agnosticism where man is god! These are the sins where the pride of man dominates.

 

As long as man remains in sin, the sin of idolatry will live on from one generation to the next. The tragedy is that this sin will spread like a wild fire that cannot be stopped. It will consume the whole world unabated and anyone who stands in its path will be destroyed. God alone is able to stop this diabolical evil that turns man, who is made in God's image, into a creature that is worse than a beast!

 

Homosexuals can be saved like all sinners –There is no sin on this earth committed by sinful man that Christ's blood cannot cleanse. Christ came to die for all sinners without exception. But everyone who is saved by Christ must stop sinning and that includes all homosexuals. If the sinner was a fornicator or an adulterer, but becomes born again in Christ, he must stop his sin of fornication and adultery. The sanctifying power of the blood of Christ is the powerful work of God that will cause the believer to stop sinning such sins. It is not the work of man but God. This was the case in the church in Corinth as testified by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (KJV) "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

 

Paul here made it abundantly clear that those who continue to live their lives in the sin of homosexuality will not inherit the Kingdom of God. They must not be deceived by anyone who told them that they will! They have been lied to. It does not matter if those who told them are pastors or seminary professors because they do not hold the keys to heaven. God alone does. God teaches very clearly here that if a homosexual becomes a believer, he must stop the sin of homosexuality whether it is in the heart or in life! He cannot be a homosexual and enter heaven! If he has been washed, sanctified and justified by Jesus Christ his Lord and Saviour, he will never want to sin the sin of homosexuality again because to do so is like crucifying Christ all over again which will never happen!

 

Conclusion -- What we pray for and continue to teach and preach against the sin of homosexuality is not to prevent the world from turning into a gigantic Sodom, but to save as many of our friends and loved ones as possible from this deadly sin and deception! We know that the world will become a gigantic cesspool of fornicators and homosexuals as Christ had already prophesied. Only in Christ Jesus can a sinner be delivered from death and the fire of hell.

 

May God help us to be convicted and turn from sin back to our God, even the Lord Jesus Christ! AMEN.