Pride Month in Light of Scripture

When I was in first grade it was "see spot run." In 2022, a different message is being given to students.

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.

• Romans 1:27

It wasn’t my intention to write on Pride Month again this week.  But sometimes the need to speak out on an issue is such that to remain silent is impossible. 

Homosexuality is a sin, both the acts and the desires.  In the not-too-distant past, this was understood by nearly everyone.  Even those who weren’t Christians by and large understood that sodomy was unnatural and not something to be proud of. 

As recently as 1973, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, an organization that could hardly be considered Christian. 

Yet here we are, forty-nine years later, being told by corporations, government officials of all levels, teachers, schools, healthcare professionals, churches, colleges and universities, athletes, and entertainers that one must not only tolerate sodomy but actually celebrate it.

I personally know someone in the medical field, a Christian, who told me that the organization he works for, a large healthcare provider specializing in children, was actively soliciting doctors to lobby the Ohio legislature in opposition to a bill that would ban puberty blockers, hormone treatments and gender-change surgery for minors in the state.      

Although Scripture does not explicitly use the terms “transgender” or “transgenderism,” it does contain very clear prohibitions on women dressing as men or men as women.  “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment:  for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 22:5).  On this verse, the New Geneva Study Bible has a note that reads, “Women were not to adopt the accouterments of the male (e.g. carrying weapons), and men were not to dress as women.”  In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul writes, “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…shall inherit the kingdom of God.”  One can find other verses that imply that transgenderism is a sin, and I encourage the reader to do his own research.  But with that said, these verses alone make a strong case that transgenderism is a practice outside the law of God. 

Transgenderism is a sin that falls under the category of the Seventh Commandment prohibiting adultery.  According to the Westminster Longer Catechism, “sodomy” is one of the sins prohibited by this commandment as are, “all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affectations.”  Although “transgenderism is not specifically named here, it seems reasonable to consider it as falling under the umbrella of these sins. Indeed, this section of the Catechism ends with, “all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.”  The lack of a specific reference to transgenderism in Scripture or in the Westminster Standards is unsurprising since the term has only recently come into common use. 

The Apostle Paul was unsparing in his condemnation of homosexuality.  In Romans 1, Paul explicitly connects homosexuality with the prior sin of men’s refusing to glorify God, even though he was known to them.  It was their idolatry that caused God to ‘[give] them up to uncleanness,” and to, “dishonor their bodies among themselves….” 

“For this reason [idolatry] God gave them up to vile passions.  For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” Romans 1:26-27.

The very activities that the homosexuals take pride in, and in which all the rest of us are pressured into approving, are condemned by Paul as “against nature.”  Paul concludes Romans chapter 1 by writing that the practitioners of homosexuality and other sins know that God’s righteous judgment demands death for these sins.   

As has already been noted, in 1 Corinthians Paul expressly condemns homosexuality.  This time, however, his condemnation is more detailed.  Paul tells us that neither homosexuals nor sodomites (NKJV) will inherit the kingdom of God.  Some may find this apparent redundancy puzzling.  After all, aren’t homosexuals and sodomites synonymous terms?  In our colloquial language, these terms generally are interchangeable.  But the words “homosexuals” and “sodomites” in this case translate different Greek words.  The Greek word translated by “homosexuals” is malakoi meaning soft or effeminate.  The word translated as “sodomites” is arsenokoitai.  The KJV renders this term “abusers of themselves with mankind.”  This somewhat cumbersome rendering was used in place of the more compact word “homosexuals,” because the latter term was not in use at the time of the writing of the KJV.  Literally, the meaning of the Greek word arsenokoitai is “manbedders.” 

The distinction drawn here by Paul is the difference between that of a passive and an active male homosexual.  The passive “malakoi,” translated “sodomites” in the NKJV, were those on whom the homosexual act was performed.  The “arsenokoitai,” rendered “sodomites” in the NKJV, were the active male partners who performed the act.  Paul’s rather pointed language here is somewhat shocking to us, but this was not a case of the apostle being unduly explicit.  In the Greek-speaking world to which Paul was writing, there was a long tradition of viewing active male homosexuals, not as effeminate as we might today, but as virile and manly.  By writing as he did, he left his audience in no doubt that homosexuals, whether active or passive, were alike under God’s condemnation.       

Whose Glory Is in Their Shame

Writing to the Philippians, Paul spoke of certain people who are enemies of the cross of Christ.  Of them, he said their glory is in their shame.  That’s quite a statement and one which seemingly is contradictory.  In fact, it is contradictory.  But the contradiction lies not with Paul, but with those who so walk.  In describing unbelievers, Paul wrote in Romans 1 that they were “futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  What Paul was saying is that these people couldn’t think straight.  Having rejected God, their sin-addled minds could not function properly and led them to believe all kinds of contradictory and evil ideas.  “Therefore,” Paul tells us, “God also gave them up to uncleanness.” 

It would be hard to find a group of individuals with more debased minds practicing lewd behavior than homosexuals.  And not only are they unashamed of what they do, they are actually quite proud of themselves, throwing their immorality in everyone’s face.  Or as Paul put it, their glory, or boasting, is in their shame.  This is why we have “Pride Month.”  The sodomites are boasting in their shame. 

But Such Were Some of You  

The sodomites and homosexuals of today are, as were the sodomites and homosexuals of Paul’s day, in serious trouble.  The sins they commit with abandon destroy both the body in this life – male homosexuals have a life span that is about 20 years shorter than average – and the soul in eternity. 

But there is good news for sinners of all types, including homosexuals.  Repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.  In the same passage in 1 Corinthians where Paul wrote homosexuals and sodomites will not inherit the kingdom of God, he also wrote this: “And such were some of you.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

“Born this way” was the name of a popular song that expresses the popular idea that homosexuals were born as they are and that no change is possible.  But this is a satanic lie.  We know this because Paul wrote, “And such WERE some of you.”  That one little word “were” makes all the difference.  It is life from the dead.  It is hope for the lost.  That one little word puts to flight all the nonsense that homosexuals cannot change. Paul makes it clear that they can. 

But this is not change accomplished through willpower.  The sons of God are born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Those whom the Lord calls will come to him through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone.