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## Same Gender Unions

God’s Principles as Our Guide

Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. Neither did He say anything about same gender unions. When confronted by the Pharisees about which commandment was the greatest, He responded that the greatest was to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and souls and that the second was like it: to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22, Mark 12, and Luke 10). The absence of instruction about the nature of same gender unions is not license to throw one’s self into idolatrous, gratuitous, self indulgent sexual experiences that diminish the temple of the Lord (the Christian’s body, 1 Cor. 6:19, 2 Cor. 6:16). To do so would express the antithesis of agape (God’s) love. God’s Word provides us with ample examples of behaviors and relationships that model that relationship between the Father and the Son, Creator and the created, the Savior and the saved, the Grace-giver and the graced, to which Christ calls the Christian. The following outline offers a Biblical foundation to the position of COHSS regarding the nature and context of same gender unions.

OUTLINE:
1. Old Testament Foundation for Human Relationships
2. The Historical Context of the Marriage Institution
3. New Testament Teachings about Marriage
4. The Call of Christ to the Christian’s Heart
5. The COHSS Position Regarding Same Gender Unions

## 1. Old Testament Foundations for Human Relationships

The Genesis account of creation emphasizes the goodness of God’s creative work. In Genesis chapter 1 we read the account of God’s creation of mankind as being in His own image. In Genesis chapter 2 we read where God placed mankind in the Garden of Eden and there decided that it was not good for the mankind to be alone. Therefore He created a helper. This is the second account of creation. This is an account of different genders in the Genesis records of creation. The focus here is two fold: the creation of mankind (different genders), and the foundation for human relationships being helpful (additive) to each of the parties involved. Some theologians contend that this is the foundation for exclusively heterosexual marriage. God’s grace is best understood when we view this as a description of how God saw our need for relationship as individuals and made way for having those relational needs met. This includes heterosexual relationships and does not exclude homosexual relationships. The imagery of the creation story depicts the nature of intimate relationships as being of “one flesh.” This imagery is carried on in the New Testament in the relational account expressed by Jesus as being one with Him as He is one with the Father. The Old Testament is fraught with exhortations regarding personal and spiritual purity. The one-to-one relationship expressed as the marriage relationship was the ideal set forth. From designed intent of relationship came the institution of marriage. This intent was recognized even by the non-Jewish or “pagan” societies of the time.

## 2. The Historical Context of the Marriage Institution

The historical institution of marriage must be disentangled from the modern notion of romantic love that when fueled by fantasy and lust, culminates in a union lasting forever. The fantasy is that this relationship is the one wherein two half persons are brought into wholeness in the union. Marriage is and has been a legal institution that addresses the rights of the participants regarding property. In ancient times the marriage institution was initiated as a means of uniting clans, or acquiring valuable property (land, servants, or animals), or maintaining wealth, or creating a defense against marauders that might attack and destroy the clan (see Boswell). The marriage institution was also a government-sanctioned means of multiplying the numbers of people through propagation. Even until recent history the marriage contract was used as a legal binding contract that impacted the direction of nations. Even the desire to break the marriage contract has had long standing effects on the course of modern Christianity. Henry VIII created the Church of England (Episcopal Church) when he broke with the Roman Church in defiance of the Church’s refusal to grant annulment from Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. This was done so that Henry would be free to marry the woman for whom he lusted, Anne Boleyn, the later beheaded mother of Elizabeth the first. She was the second of what was to be six wives. In today’s world marriage has become either a political sounding board or the modern day golden calf around which the religious demigods dance the idolatrous dance of hetero-exclusivity. It is important to understand that marriage, as an institution is no more to be revered than the deed to a piece of property is to be revered. Both represent a legal transaction that reflects the rights of the individual (often only the male) parties with regard to property. In pre-modern societies the wife and children were considered among the property of the man involved in the marriage. What is ultimately more important is the relationship between two people that reflects the relationship between the Creator and the created. This however is more often than not lost in the rhetoric of marriage and family sanctity. The sanctity of relationship (not legal structure) is that to which Jesus spoke when confronted about the legality of divorce.

## 3. New Testament Teachings about Marriage

Matthew, chapter 19, and Mark, chapter 10 record the exhortation of Jesus regarding divorce when challenged by the Pharisees. His words are strong antidotes to the common practice of a man dismissing a wife for any one of a litany of potential offenses. He pointed out that divorce was condoned so as to account for man’s sinful and willful nature, but that the original design as intended by God is for the two to be joined until death parts them. His assertion as to the intent of the marriage relationship only reinforces that indeed His ways are not our ways. In several instances Jesus is found at wedding feasts in the Gospels. His first miracle account was at a wedding feast. Pagan and Jewish societies celebrated marriages which for the most part symbolized the union of families. Revelation speaks of the relationship of God to His Bride (the church) more than once. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus drew the connection between the marriage bond and the bond that exists between Christ and His church.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church – for we are members of His body. ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:25-33 (NIV)

In this depiction, intimacy is complete. The intimacy not as we romanticize, but intimacy in the design by God in relation to Himself and with one another. Although these verses reference a heterosexual union the nature of a same gender union is no less significant before God. The intimate relationship between God and us is one that accepts us as we are, but transforms us through the blood of Jesus Christ into a pure and holy relationship with Him. Likewise honoring the other person in the marriage relationship is a demonstration of honor to God and fulfills the command that Jesus gave over and over – to love one another. This love relationship between God and us is an everlasting one. So too is the intent of the relationship between the united partners – an everlasting (till death parts) one. Mark 12:25 speaks to the lack of marriage “when the dead rise.”

## 4. The Call of Christ to the Christian’s Heart

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV). Jesus repeats Himself over and over again as He charges His disciples to “love one another.” Loving each other is our way of showing love to God. We should take care that the institution of marriage not become the golden calf at whose feet we worship. Marriage is a legal transaction that determines property ownership and potential dispersal of that property at the death of one of the parties. What God calls us to as Christians is the relationship with Him first and foremost. This is true for all persons of all orientations.

The Bible speaks clearly against sexual immorality (sex outside of the marriage relationship) and the spiritual pitfalls therefrom. Using another for one’s own pleasure, even with the other’s consent is the antithesis of loving another as one would love self. Loving others as we would ourselves is the act of loving God. Using others, for whatever purpose, is the act of abusing God’s relationship with us (through Christ, by grace) and leads us away from Him to Whom we have been bonded through the intimate sacrifice of Christ (His life for us). It is the relationship with Him that fosters our spiritual growth and ultimately our eternal bliss.

## 5. The COHSS Position Regarding Same Gender Unions

The Church of the Holy SpiritSong is a ministry of reconciliation, “…igniting the world for Christ, one life at a time.”® As such, we are compelled to teach, encourage, and nurture spiritual growth in our members. Spiritual growth is the result of enhanced relationship with Christ through prayer, worship, Bible study, and commitment to the principles of Christian living. We believe that we are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender by God’s mysterious design. We also believe that God created us as beings capable of and in need of intimacy. The natural expression of that intimacy to other people includes sexual expression in the context of God’s design for relationship. The legal institution of marriage (with exception of one State) is not available to same-sex couples. Neither marriage nor a same-sex union serves a righteous purpose when either becomes the idol to be worshipped. Both will ultimately fail without the foundational commitment to the relationship as demonstrated in the commitment God has made to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

It is the position of the Church of the Holy SpiritSong that where there is commitment of the heart and demonstrated loving care for the good of each other over time, the couple should have their union blessed by the Church. It is the Christian ideal that sexual expressions outside of that blessed union be avoided. The couple wishing to unite as “one flesh” in a loving and eternal relationship is requested to seek pre-union counseling with one of the Pastors to grow in wisdom and knowledge of the commitment being made before God. When the two are united as one, whether privately or publicly by the Pastor, it is the duty and the joy of the whole church body to nurture and respect that union as one holy before God.

Boswell, John, Same Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, (1994), Vintage Books, New York, NY
Ultimate Social Widgets

### Bible Reading Plan

#### Monday

##### Leviticus 12:1-14:32

#### Tuesday

##### Leviticus 14:33-16:34

#### Wednesday

##### Leviticus 17:1-19:37

#### Thursday

##### Leviticus 20:1-22:33

#### Friday

##### Leviticus 23:1-25:23

#### Saturday

##### Leviticus 25:24-26:46

#### Sunday

##### Leviticus 27:1-34

##### Numbers 1:1-54

One Year Chronological
www.oneyearbibleonline.com