Conviction with Compassion
This subject has faces. Some who read this carry desires they never asked for. Some feel at odds with their own bodies. Some are parents who heard something hard at the kitchen table. Some have been hurt by Christians on this very subject. This study was written with every one of you in mind, and you are welcome here.
We believe three things together. God made humanity male and female, on purpose, and called it good. Sexual intimacy belongs only in the marriage of one man and one woman, so same-sex behavior, like every sexual act outside of marriage, is sin. And Jesus Christ saves sinners of every kind. If the body of Christ cannot hold conviction with compassion, no one else will.
When we disagree with the Bible, we disagree with God. So we stand for truth, but with much love and grace, the way Jesus did. He was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He told a woman caught in sexual sin, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:11). He did not condemn her, and He did not condone what she had done.
This study teaches God's design and how to live in it. For the arguments of churches that bless same-sex relationships, see Sexuality and the Affirming Church.
This study stays modest, but it takes up grown-up questions. Read it first, decide what your children are ready for, and go through it together when the time is right.
Who gets to say what a human being is: the Maker, or the one He made?
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For Deeper Study
- Holy Sexuality and the GospelAmazon Christopher YuanA Bible teacher who once lived as a gay man explains God's design and the call to holiness for everyone. Evangelical.
- God and the Transgender DebateAmazon Andrew T. WalkerA clear, compassionate introduction by a Southern Baptist ethicist.
- Irreversible DamageAmazon Abigail ShrierA journalist's report on the rapid rise of gender transition among teenage girls. Not a Christian book, and useful for parents because of it. For adults.
- A Field Guide on Gender and SexualityAmazon Ligonier MinistriesShort answers to common questions. Ligonier is Reformed; we differ on election and baptism.
- Recovering Biblical Manhood and WomanhoodAmazon John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds.The standard scholarly defense of distinct roles for men and women. The editors are Reformed; we differ on election.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Sexuality and the Affirming Church
An affirming church blesses same-sex relationships as holy, but Scripture from Genesis to Paul forbids what such a church blesses, so a faithful church welcomes every sinner to Christ and blesses nothing He has forbidden.
Open Doctrine