Any time man’s teaching conflicts with God’s, we must ask “what has God said?” He is always right (John 17:17; Rom. 12:2).
An example of this principle is seen when considering the subject of gender. Though man has created much confusion about this subject, God is not the source of such confusion. His teaching is clear.
When Jesus was asked a question about divorce in Matthew 19, He responded by going back to God’s original design of gender and marriage. Notice verse 4: [Jesus] answered, “Haven’t you read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female…
God created exactly two genders. They are “male and female” (Gen. 1:27). He created the two with intentional differences, and did not leave it up to any individual to decide what gender he or she is.
God did not create either the male or the female to be superior in importance to the other. However, He did not create them to be identical. Instead, His design is for the two to perfectly complement one another. The uniqueness of man and woman make them suitable for each other (Gen. 2:20-22).
This leads into a second subject that exemplifies the need to ask what God has said: homosexual conduct.
Shortly after creating the first man and woman, God instituted marriage (Gen. 2:24). His design then and now is for a man and woman to be joined in wedlock. Never does God authorize same-sex “marriage.” Given this truth, homosexual conduct is sex outside of God-approved marriage. It is therefore a form of fornication, which is sinful (Gal. 5:19-21). Multiple New Testament passages directly condemn this type of sin (Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:10). These verses leave zero doubt that homosexual conduct is sin. This truth may be unpopular, but that does not make it less true.
Some may claim that homosexual behavior cannot be turned away from (repented of), but God says otherwise. Notice the words “such were some of you” in 1 Corinthians 6:11. These words follow a list of sins that includes homosexual conduct. Those in a same-sex “marriage” can and must leave the relationship to be right with God. Those practicing homosexual conduct can and must cease that behavior to be right with God. Homosexual conduct may be a greater temptation for some than others, but with every temptation there is an option to choose not to yield (Heb. 4:15).
God’s teaching about gender and homosexual conduct closely connects to a third subject that well exemplifies our need to ask what God has said. That is the subject of roles in marriage.
The complementary nature of man and woman is not by accident. God designed marriage to work beautifully when husbands and wives accept the roles He has given.
God’s design is for the wife to submit to her husband, as the church does to Christ, and for the husband to love his wife, as Christ does the church (Eph. 5:22-33). His design is for the husband to be the chief provider and for the wife to be the primary homemaker (Titus 2:5). These truths are unpopular in a society that insists married couples should decide for themselves what roles they’d like to fill. Yet, that does not make them untrue.
A fourth subject that exemplifies the need to ask what God has said is the subject of marriage’s permanency. As homosexual “marriages” exemplify, God does not approve of all that the world defines as marriage. Marriages He does approve of though are intended by God to be for life.
In the Matthew 19 passage, Jesus followed up His reference to Genesis 2 by saying, “So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (verse 6). Shortly after this, Jesus said, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery” (verse 9).
The words “committeth adultery” in verse 9 show that divorce and remarriage that does not meet the exception the Lord gives creates a “marriage” in the eyes of the world that is adultery in the eyes of God. Like those in same-sex “marriages,” those in an adulterous “marriage” must leave that relationship for repentance to take place. This is perhaps as unpopular as any biblical teaching, but that does not make it less true. These four subjects barely scratch the surface of the principle this article centers on. They exemplify, though, the need for us to allow God’s Word to mold us, rather than conforming to the “wisdom” of the world.
– Michael Hickox