Would you now please open your Bibles to Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 1 through 8. Listen now to The Word of God. Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. That no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us to impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. That's the reading of God's word. Let's now turn to Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 41, which is on page 892. Lord's Day 41 deals with the seventh commandment, and there are two questions in Lord's Day 41, 108 and 109. I will ask the question, you respond in unison with the answer. Question 108. What is God's will for us in the seventh commandment? That God condemns all unchastity and that we should therefore detest it wholeheartedly and live decent and chaste lives within or outside of the holy state of marriage. Does God in this commandment forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery? We are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul, and God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why God forbids all unchaste actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires, and whatever may incite someone to them. So the topic tonight is the Seventh Commandment, You Shall Not Commit Adultery, and the Heidelberg Catechism correctly interprets that as not only committing adultery, but as a broader command to avoid all unchastity in our actions, our looks, our talk, our thoughts, even our desires. Now this language of chastity and unchastity, so God condemns all unchastity, and he wants us to live decent and chaste lives, all this language of chastity and unchastity is a little bit archaic, I think, and maybe even a little bit vague to our ears. I don't know about you, but for me, it's just a little bit vague. Like, what exactly does that mean? Chastity and unchastity. It kind of seems to be similar to thoughts like modesty or just purity in general. And it seems to me anyway, I'm not sure how you take it, but it seems to me to focus mostly on your inward thoughts. But, I think that this wording of chastity and unchastity can actually be understood a little bit more precisely and carefully. It does include thoughts, it does include the need for being chaste and pure in our thoughts, but really it's a very precise concept. The Christian Reformed Church, which is the church, the denomination that our denomination came from, we left the CRC in 1995 or so, and we were a part of that denomination, and they also, that denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, has the same confessional standards that we do. They hold to the Heidelberg Catechism. And a couple of years ago, the CRC Synod passed a resolution, passed a doctrinal affirmation to clarify the meaning of this word, this word unchastity here in the Heidelberg Catechism. And I think that it's helpful to hear what they have to say here because they're just fleshing out in more detail what is implied in that word. They wrote, unchastity in Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 108 encompasses adultery, premarital sex, extramarital sex, polyamory, pornography, and homosexual sex, all of which violate the Seventh Commandment. Interestingly, they also added, the CRC also added that this interpretation, so it's like a footnote, they're saying, okay, in that place in the Heidelberg Catechism where it says unchastity, footnote, this is what is meant by that. Here are the things we're defining it as being. But they said that that interpretation, that clarifying footnote, has confessional status, meaning that all office bearers in the CRC must affirm it. And of course, that has created a little bit of controversy in that denomination because there are some who are more progressive in their thinking who are uncomfortable with that, especially the part about saying that homosexual sex is also forbidden under the term unchastity. So they're beginning to sort that out and trying to decide how to deal with those office bearers who are attempting to take an exception to that clarified statement on the Heidelberg Catechism. We'll let them work through those things and pray for the Lord's blessing to help them to clarify, and if there needs to be, purification of the church where the progressives are asked to leave, that would be a good thing, I think, in my opinion. But let's leave that aside. That's not the point of this. That's not why I brought this up. I brought up the CRC's clarification because it does help to give us a little bit more precision about that word. Unchastity isn't just simply a vague concept for modesty or purity. It really refers to specific things. It refers to all unlawful sexual intercourse. In fact, that is how Webster's dictionary defines the word chaste. They define the word chaste, so that's not the word unchastity, but it's the opposite. They define the word chaste as being innocent of unlawful sexual intercourse, or refraining from acts or thoughts or desires, we do need to include that, but refraining from acts or thoughts or desires that are not sanctioned by marriage vows. So notice that Webster's Dictionary is saying that this concept of chastity or unchastity is a very precise concept that cannot be understood apart from the concept of what is marriage. That's the main point I'm trying to communicate here, is that chastity and unchastity, though they seem kind of vague, like she's talking about modesty or purity or something like that, it's actually very specific, and it's very specific because it's defined in relation to the concept of marriage, the holy estate of marriage. The Catechism actually mentions that, if you recall. Going back to Lord's Day 41, Question 108, what is God's will for us in the seventh commandment? That God condemns all unchastity and that we should therefore detest it wholeheartedly and live decent and chaste lives, and then notice this last clause here, within or outside of the holy state of marriage. So this concept of marriage is in the background. It's presupposed when we use this language of chastity and unchastity. Unchastity is anything, as Webster's Dictionary states, that violates the marriage vows. Anything that is unlawful sexual intercourse outside of marriage. And again, we're not limiting it only to actions. We also do need to think about thoughts or desires that go against that. But the primary definition is in terms of actions that are not sanctioned by marriage vows. You might be thinking to yourself, is this a biblical idea? Where do we get this idea from in scripture? Well, there's a key verse in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 13, verse four, that is very helpful because it does exactly this. It connects the concept of chastity and unchastity to the concept of marriage. Hebrews 13, four is a key verse. It says, let marriage be held in honor among all. And let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. And the key word that's used there is not chastity or unchastity, but a related word, and that is the term, the sexually immoral. The biblical term for unchastity is porneia. Porneia is the Greek word. It's actually related to the word pornography. Pornography and porneia are connected ideas. Porneia, though, in the New Testament, in the Greek New Testament, the word porneia is the word that is translated as sexually immoral or sexual immorality. It's the word that's used there in that verse in Hebrews 13, 4. It's also the word that was used in our text that we read at the beginning in 1 Thessalonians 4. And verse three, for this is the will of God, your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality. That is that same Greek word, pornea. Now porneia, which is the underlying biblical word for unchastity, and it's defined in Hebrews 13.4 as related to the concept of marriage. So porneia is defined as any behavior that violates the creation standard of holy sexuality between one man and one woman who are joined together in the one flesh union of marriage. So that is the theological, that's kind of the main thing I'm trying to communicate tonight. This is a, it's kind of a profound concept, right, when you really think about it. We have all these vague ideas about sexual sin and this thing and that thing and purity and impurity and holiness, but it's all kind of vague and kind of like not really clear in our minds. But once we have this concept of porneia, which is the biblical term for unchastity, and it means the exact same thing. Porneia and unchastity are identical concepts, although we translate that word porneia as sexual immorality. Once we see that it's a broad term that covers any and all behavior, and thoughts and desires as well, of course we have to add that, but it covers all behavior that violates the creation standard of holy sexuality between one man and one woman joined together in the one flesh union of marriage, then that really clarifies things, doesn't it? And you don't need to figure out, like, is this or is that particular type of thing, is that okay or not? Because we have a clear standard. And notice how it's tied not only to the concept of marriage, but it's tied to the concept of marriage as ordained by God at creation. the one flesh union that God ordained between male and female at creation. That is the key idea here in all of the rest of the teaching of scripture. whether you're talking about passages in the Mosaic Law, whether you're talking about the teaching of Paul, about the importance of sexual holiness and purity, all of the teaching, even the teaching of Jesus about this topic, everything in the Bible is rooted in the creation account and is simply explaining it and drawing out the implications of it. The interesting thing about this definition of porneia, or unchastity, or sexual immorality, is that there are varieties of porneia. Now this concept of varieties of porneia is taught by Paul himself in 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 5 through 7, there's a whole section in there where Paul is dealing with issues related to marriage, sexual sin, there was a particular case of a man in the church who was having an ongoing sexual relationship with his father's wife, so like his stepmother, if you will, and Paul is dealing with these issues. He's dealing with former pagans. The church at Corinth were former pagans who had been involved in all kinds of pagan lifestyle and immorality and even same-sex relationships. Now they've become Christians, and he has to deal with these pastoral problems that are happening in the church. And it's very interesting that he mentions this idea that there are varieties of porneia. So in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1, for example, he says, this is where he's beginning his rebuke against the church because they are failing to exercise discipline against this man. And in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1, he says, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. There's that word, porneia. There is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife." And his real concern here isn't just simply the fact that this is happening, but that the church itself is letting it happen, that they're not doing anything about it. They seem to be just content, oh, it's fine, you know? And he's saying, no, don't you realize this is an ongoing scandal that's happening in your midst? It's so scandalous, even the pagans know that this is wrong. But notice that phrase there, he says, of a kind. He says there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans. But that phrase, of a kind, shows us that in Paul's mind there are different kinds of porneia. Again, in 1 Corinthians 7, we have another verse that suggests the same idea. In 1 Corinthians 7, he says, He's quoting what they said. So he's not saying that you should never get married, as he will explain later on. He does believe it is okay to get married. But he's saying, you guys asked me this question. You said, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. And then he's responding to that and says, but because of the temptation to sexual immoralities, In English, in the ESV, it says immorality, singular. But in Greek, it's in the plural, okay? But because of the temptation to sexual immoralities, porneas, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. So he doesn't agree with this claim that you should never get married. He doesn't believe that. He thinks that marriage is good and that it's actually one of the ways that God has ordained to help limit sexual sin and to help people to be faithful and to be in committed relationships. But the key there is, again, by using the plural, sexual immoralities, porneas, he's indicating this idea that there are different varieties of pornea. And that then ties back to what the CRC wrote, which was very helpful because they are identifying the different types. I don't even think it's an exhaustive list because there are other things that we could also think of. But they mention adultery as one form of sexual immorality. That's the obvious one. By the way, you might say, Well, adultery is adultery. That's different from porneia. Adultery is breaking a marriage vow. Why would it be referred to as sexual immorality or porneia? Well, interestingly, Jesus refers to it that way two times in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 5.32 and Matthew 19.9 when he says that he's generally against divorce, but he does recognize that sometimes divorce does need to happen in the case of sexual immorality. And he mentions that same word, porneia, there as the exception clause. That when divorce happens over porneia, then divorce is appropriate or can be appropriate. And so Jesus then is showing us by using that word and applying it to adultery, because porneia in a marriage relationship is adultery, but porneia in a marriage relationship is also porneia. So it's showing us that there are different types, different categories, subcategories within this general overarching category. Adultery is just one. There's also premarital sex where neither partner is married. There's also extramarital sex. You might be saying, what is that exactly? I had to look that one up too. Basically it means like, it's like adultery, but instead of it being a betrayal, it's like an open marriage where the partners are saying it's fine for us to go outside of the marriage. An open marriage is extramarital sex. They may not feel betrayed by each other because they've agreed to do it. And so you might say, well then it doesn't seem like adultery. At least from their point of view it's not adultery. From God's point of view it is. But from their point of view they might say, oh no, it's fine. So an open marriage is extramarital sex. And that is also condemned as a form of porneia. Polyamory, that would be, let's say, a triad or some kind of polygamous situation. That is also forbidden. Pornography is also a form of porneia. You can even hear it in the word. Pornography is images of sexual immorality. for the purpose of gratification. And then, of course, we need to include the last variety that the CRC mentioned, which is homosexual sex. That too is a form of porneia. In fact, we know that because Paul himself lists it in his vice list in 1 Corinthians 6 verses 9 and 10, when he's listing off all the different types of porneia, he mentions same-sex relationships, but also the Jews at this time, they called homosexuality by a very special term. They had a special phrase for it. They referred to it as the porneia of Sodom. And so that tells you then that they're thinking, that they're looking at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, and they're interpreting that as a sub-category under this broader category of porneia. And again, going back to my previous point, that the key to understanding what this is, what unchastity is, what porneia is, is to have a clear definition of marriage. If we have the right biblical creation definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, then obviously it follows that A same-sex sexual relationship is not within marriage, because it's not within the biblical definition of marriage. Even though our culture has decided to extend that label marriage to same-sex relationships, same-sex committed relationships, from a biblical point of view, we have to say that those are not true marriages. There may be some judge out there, some civil authority that's willing to sign a piece of paper that says that they're married, but according to the Bible, they are not truly married, and their relationship is a form of porneia. It is the porneia of Sodom, according to the Jewish terminology. That's found in a Jewish writing called the Testament of Benjamin, if you're interested, Testament of Benjamin 9.1. So this is all very helpful then, right? As we kind of dig into this a little bit more deeply, we think we have it all figured out, we think we kind of know basically what sin is, what sexual sin is, but it's really helpful to get more precise and specifically to understand this key term, porneia. Now what I want to do tonight is to look a little bit more detail at some of these contemporary issues that we have to address. because of our culture, because of what's going on in the world around us. And so there are two contemporary issues that I want to address. One is why we believe that homosexual relationships are porneia and therefore forbidden. But also the second thing I want to address is why we believe that alternative sexual identities are also forbidden. What I mean by that is when somebody identifies a certain way either as gay, or as gender non-binary, or as transgender. They're not really thinking specifically about a particular sexual behavior yet. I mean, that might be a follow-on to it. But what they're really thinking about is their identity. How they view themselves. They view themselves as being gay, or gender non-binary, or transgender. And there things get a little bit more murky and tricky because there's no immediate behavior involved in that, at least at the beginning. Often it does lead to behavior, but at the beginning there's not necessarily. So it might be harder to see why that is also condemned by scripture, but we'll get to that in a minute. Let's first look at the biblical argument against homosexual relationships. There are two ways we can approach it. One way is by the scriptural argument, by looking at all the verses that deal with that topic. And there are. There are plenty of verses that address this very issue explicitly. The other way, though, is through a theological argument, and I'll get to that in a minute. So first, the scriptural argument. In Genesis 19, we have that story of the attempt by the men of Sodom to have sexual relations with Lot's guests. Now, his guests were angels, but they appeared to be in the form of men. And so therefore, when the men of Sodom were beating on the door of Lot's house and saying, give us these men so that we can engage in sexual relations with them, they were clearly seeking to engage in same-sex sin. And we know that because Lot, even though it was a sinful offer that he made, but he offered them his own daughters and said, do with them what you want. He's saying that would be better than engaging in this horrible sin of sodomy. It's bad enough to think of raping the girls, right? That's terrible. But he thought that that's better than the sin of Sodom that they were attempting to commit. And ever since that story in Genesis chapter 19, the Jewish tradition, you see this even in the Talmud, the Jewish tradition has been absolutely against same-sex relationships because of that story. And it doesn't even need to be explained, it just seems obvious that this is a horrific crime that they are about to commit. When you look at the New Testament, we have a passage like Romans chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul, in his description of the sinful state of the Gentiles, and the fact that they are that they know that there is a creator God that they're accountable to, and yet because they have rejected that creator God and gone after idols to worship idolatry and to worship the creature, God has given them over to their lusts. So in Romans 1, he says in verse 26, for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. So here in this verse, Paul not only mentions gay relationships between two men, he also mentions what we call lesbian relationships between women. And he says that both of these are contrary to nature. because the natural use of the male-female relationship has been rejected, and they're going after relationships that are contrary to nature, that is contrary to God's design at creation. Another passage that we could also bring in here is the two verses in Leviticus, Leviticus 18.22 and 20.13, where the Mosaic law forbids a man to lie with another man as with a woman. Now, with that one, those two verses in Leviticus are sometimes challenged by people that are trying to say that the Bible does not condemn same-sex relationships by arguing that, well, this is part of the Mosaic law, and it's mixed in with other ceremonial laws, so if we're gonna say that we have to avoid same-sex relationships because of these verses in Leviticus, then we also have to avoid pork and shellfish, which are also condemned in the book of Leviticus. But there's a big distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law. And these two verses in Leviticus 18 and 20 are part of the moral law. How can you tell? Well, because the rest of the context deals with adultery and fornication, all these sexual sins. Furthermore, even the way that the text is written in Leviticus, it says, a male shall not lie with a male as with a female, using the exact words and terminology from Genesis 127, when it says that God created man male and female. And so therefore, that particular verse in Leviticus is not part of the ceremonial law, but is reaching back to the creation ordinance of marriage between male and female. As well, we have Paul's use of a special term called arsenokoites, which is in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, and 1 Timothy 1, 10, which is translated different ways in our Bibles as men who lie with men, or men who engage in homosexuality. But the Greek word that Paul uses, arsenokoites, is a compound word that either he made up or somebody else made up before him, based upon those verses in Leviticus, where it says, a male shall not lie with a male as with a female. That word to lie is koites, and the word male is arsen. So arsenokoites means a man liar, a man who, somebody who lies with men. So Paul uses this very word here that's based upon the terminology in Leviticus, and he says that that continues today. It's not part of the ceremonial law that God's prohibition against men who have sex with men is also forbidden in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and 1 Timothy 1, 10. And lest you think, well, he only mentions men there, what about lesbianism? Well, we already saw Romans 1.26, that he mentions that there as well. So that's the scriptural argument. I've kind of went really fast over these verses, and scholars have wrangled back and forth over how to interpret all of these, but I think that these are pretty clear, and the attempts to get around them are not convincing. To me, the most convincing one of all is Romans 1.26 and 27, because of the fact that Paul specifically says that same-sex sexual relationships are contrary to nature. It's not part of the ceremonial law. It's not just, it's not some unique thing that there might be some like power imbalance between an older man and a younger man or anything like that. It's just that it's contrary to nature because of the male-female distinction that God has established at creation. So, dealing with this first topic of why does the Bible and how does the Bible speak to this issue of homosexuality, the first argument is the scriptural argument, looking at Genesis 19, Romans 1, Leviticus, and those verses in Paul. But there's also a theological argument. And I think the theological argument is really the underlying argument that those verses are appealing to, right? When Paul says it's contrary to nature. The theological argument is that same-sex sexual relationships are a form of porneia and therefore it is unlawful sex because it is outside of marriage as biblically defined. So that's the key issue. That's why I began with that topic of dealing with the definition of porneia as being related to the concept of marriage. as defined by Scripture. Not marriage as contemporary people think it's defined, where it's just two people who love each other and are committed to each other. But marriage is defined in Scripture, which is a one-flesh union between one man and one woman. Now, some people have brought up this question. Have you heard this one before? They say, Jesus was silent on this issue. Jesus never said anything about it. So therefore, we shouldn't take the words of Paul or Leviticus too seriously. The response to that is that first, as a good Jew, it would have been unthinkable for Jesus to support homosexuality. As I mentioned, the Talmud is clear based upon those verses in Leviticus and based upon Genesis 1. Secondly, even though Jesus did not directly address the topic of homosexuality, his biblical reasoning in Matthew chapter 19 regarding divorce applies equally to homosexuality. So let's look at that real quick in Matthew chapter 19. In Matthew 19, Jesus is addressing the topic of divorce, not the topic of homosexuality, but the way that he addresses it sets a paradigm for us that would apply directly to homosexuality. Matthew 19 and verse 3, Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? Just for any reason, you know, she burnt the toast, can you just divorce her for whatever reason you want? He answered, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? That sounds like he's almost quoting from Genesis 1.27. In the beginning, God created man, male and female. And then he quotes from another verse in Genesis 2. And this same God who created them male and female said, Genesis 2 verse 24, So notice how Jesus is using this theological reasoning based upon Genesis 1 and 2, based upon creation, to argue that divorce is not acceptable. Now, he does acknowledge that there are exceptions. He mentions the exception there in verse 9. He says whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery. But we shouldn't be looking for all kinds of special reasons to divorce our wives. We shouldn't have this attitude that the Pharisees had that they could just divorce their wives for any reason whatsoever. And the reason is because of the creation ordinance of marriage in Genesis 2.24, which itself is tied even further back to Genesis 1.27, that God created them male and female. And so the way that Jesus is using biblical reasoning here, by tying Genesis 1.27 to Genesis 2.24, and then using that as an argument against divorce, that would apply equally to homosexuality. We could say the exact same thing, the exact same reasoning. Is it lawful for two men to be in a sexual relationship with one another? No. Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And therefore, There's a holy bond between male and female and the one flesh bond of marriage that defines what is acceptable sexuality in the eyes of God. And anything aside from that would be porneia. Jesus uses that very word in verse nine where he mentions sexual immorality. Anything outside of marriage is porneia. And since marriage is defined as a male-female relationship, not as a homosexual relationship, it is therefore forbidden. Okay, so that's the first main topic, which is we need to deal with homosexuality and see how the Bible deals with it. It deals with it explicitly in these verses, but it also deals with it theologically, using this theological argument that any sex outside of marriage, biblically defined, is unlawful. The second main topic, though, that we need to deal with is a little bit more difficult, and that is, what about these alternative sexual identities that they're called? This idea of having a sexual identity, and that can be different things. It can be identifying as gay, or lesbian, or identifying even as gender non-binary. Ever heard that one? People who just say, I'm not either one. I don't have any sense of male or female. I don't even care about that when I'm looking at romantic relationships. I just look at the person. I just fall in love with the person. That's all that matters to me. I don't care whether they're male or female. I don't think about myself as being male or female either. So there's different identities that are out there. The gay identity, the gender non-binary identity, There are even others as well that we don't need to go into, but they're kind of just taking this to further extremes and just coming up with all kinds of possibilities of how someone could identify in their own mind. But then there's also transgenderism, which is a little bit more than just an identity in your mind, because it goes beyond that to attempting to change one's sex by means of drugs or surgery. or at least by publicly identifying and using clothing and so on to identify as the opposite gender from the one that you were born in. So with this issue of alternative sexual identities besides the standard male and female binary that was established at creation, things get a little bit more murky and tricky. Someone could argue there's no behavior necessarily involved in any of these things. I mean, obviously, if somebody identifies as gay, they're probably going to also seek out gay relationships, but in theory, they don't have to. And there are some supposed gay Christians who say that they're not gonna engage in any kind of relationships, they're gonna be celibate, but they wanna identify with that label. So one could argue, there's no behavior necessarily involved here, so what's the problem? Is there anything necessarily wrong with these alternative sexual identities? So let's deal with that. Let's look at what the Bible says about that issue. In my view, and this is a little bit hard, but I think that this is also condemned by Scripture. For example, in Deuteronomy 22, verse 5, it says, A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. It doesn't sound like it's just a ceremonial law that, you know, make sure that you don't put two different types of seed in the same, you know, when you're sowing your crops. No, this seems to be more serious because it says this is an abomination in the eyes of God. Another verse that also is relevant here is in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, I mentioned this when I was looking at the proof text against homosexuality, but there's something interesting in the text here that may not be readily obvious. In 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, Paul is saying, you know, here are all the things that exclude someone from the kingdom of God. The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, But then in the ESV it says, nor men who practice homosexuality. But if you look at the footnote there in the ESV, there's a footnote that says, there are two Greek words that are being translated here. One of them is the word arsenokoites that I mentioned before, a man who lies with a man. But there's another Greek word in there, and that is the word malakoi. Malakoi means those who are effeminate, those who are soft. Malakoi are men who adopt a soft and feminine external presentation through clothing and makeup. in order to be involved in pederastic relationships with other men. This is a cultural phenomenon that happened in the first century of men who were trying to present as more feminine in order to have a relationship with an older man. But again, notice that it's this idea of adopting a soft and feminine presentation. And so that, to me, would tie in with Deuteronomy 22, five, as showing us that the prohibition in Deuteronomy 22, verse five, isn't just part of the ceremonial law, but also continues even in the New Testament. And the reason it does is because, once again, it's going all the way back to the creation order. Someone who is trying to adopt a sexual identity other than that with which they were born, as male or female, is going against the creation order. They are rebelliously rejecting God's creation order. In Genesis 1.27, the sex binary, male and female, is part of the image of God, right? It says that God created man in his own image, male and female, he created them. So the sex binary, male and female, isn't just simply a choice, it's not just something that you could have a different feeling for or want to identify as, it's part of the very image of God. the image of God in which man was made at creation. And which God pronounced in Genesis 1 verse 31, a few verses later, when he was looking at the finished creation, he pronounced it to be very good. God looked at everything he had made, including the male and the female, and the distinction. And that distinction not only exists in the human species, but also in the animal order, right? And God looked at that and he said, it's very good. It's a very good thing that he made this way. And so if someone tries to adopt a different sexual identity than that in which they were created, they are going against God's creation order. and denying the Creator himself. In fact, it's an act of rebellion. As Paul says in Romans 1, Romans 1, we looked at the verses about the same-sex issue, but right before that, right before it says that God gave them up to dishonorable passions, in verses 24 and 25, it says, therefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator. That's ultimately what someone's doing. If they try to adopt a different identity than that in which they were created, they are serving the creature rather than the creator. They're saying no to the creator. They're saying, no God, you don't have the authority over me to define who I am. It's a matter ultimately of submitting to how God made you. You know, think about all the other things about you besides your sexuality that God imposed on you. I mean, you didn't determine who your parents would be. You didn't choose where you'd be born, when you would be born. You could have been born in the fourth century. You could have been born some other time, some other culture. You didn't choose the color of your eyes, or the color of your hair, or how tall you would be. And so your sex, meaning male or female, is also something that God assigned to you at birth. And when God is the creator, when He assigns that to you, that's also His calling to you. If He made you to be a male, He's calling you to be a male. and to ultimately grow up to be a man, and to live as a man, and ordinarily to become a husband and a father. Of course, not all men are able to do that. In God's providence, it doesn't always work out, but that's the ordinary pattern, and that is what you should seek to fulfill. You should seek to fulfill that calling as a husband and a father, because that's what God made you to be. If you're born female, then you're called to be a woman. And God willing, in his providence, if this is his call for you, to be a wife and a mother. That is what God is calling you to do. And you can see what God's calling is by how he made you. He made you this way and he gave you these qualities and these gifts. If he gave you the quality of being a female or a male, then he's calling you to be that and to live that way. And so he wants you to submit to that calling and to pursue that calling. Transgenderism, which is not only simply having an identity that's contrary to the sex with which we were born, but actually attempting to change your sex, which is impossible, right? Even if you take all kinds of medications and do surgery, you still can't change the fundamental reality of who you are at the chromosomal level. But still, it's the attempt to try to do that, to try to change it, and that is a particularly sinful thing to do. I believe that in itself it is a form of porneia, because Paul mentions the malechoi, the soft effeminate ones in 1 Corinthians 6. Not only is it in itself a form of porneia, it also leads to porneia, because if you are trying to change your sex, then what happens if you now are seeking to be in a relationship with somebody? And either way you think about it, if you think through the matrix of all the possibilities, okay? There's a big chart. I've actually made it out, okay? There's a big chart you can do of all the different types of trans, male to female, female to male. And then you can also have do they identify as gay or straight and all that. And then do they get into a relationship with somebody who's also trans and all that. So it's a huge table. But either way you work it out, right? Either they're going to be in an actual homosexual relationship with somebody of the same sex, or they're going to be in a supposed homosexual relationship where the person that they are in a relationship with is in their minds of the same sex, even though they're not. I know it's complicated, but either way, it leads to porneia. And it is clearly a contrary to God's will. Now we do have to recognize two important things, which is that if someone has fallen into these types of sins, and here I'm including all of them, okay, all of the sins we've talked about, every particular form of porneia, if someone has fallen into those sins, even the really bad ones, like the same-sex ones, or even the worst possible one of trying to change your body, That is a sin, those are sins that are forgivable. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven. It is possible for someone to repent of those sins and to be forgiven. The Apostle Paul mentions that in 1 Corinthians 6. After listing off all the different forms of porneia, he says, but such were some of you, you Corinthian Christians, but you were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified. in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. His listing of those sins is not saying that if you committed one of those sins one time, you're going to hell. His listing of those sins is saying if you persist in those sins without repenting of them, then you will be excluded from the kingdom. But obviously, even among the Corinthian church, there were some former Same-sex men, there were some former, probably even of those Malakoi who were trying to engage in the feminacy thing. But they came to Christ and they repented of their sin and they're washed and they're completely forgiven in the Lord. So that's the first thing to say about all of these things is that none of these things are unforgivable. But the second thing to say as well is that we do need to recognize that many of these sins are not just simply willful acts of just engaging in high-handed rebellion against God, that many of these sins stem from deeper conditions that some people have. For example, gender dysphoria is a real mental disorder that some people have. I don't think that medical procedures on your body is the solution. And in fact, we know from studies that it doesn't really change any of the outcomes as far as suicidality and so on. But we do have to recognize that some of these things are genuine mental conditions that people really deeply struggle with. It's not just simply a matter of just stop it, right? There's a really deep struggle that some people have. And so we need to be sensitive to that and have compassion upon that and not just simply reject people out of hand because they have these struggles. But the important thing is to hold fast to the truth of God's Word, even though you do have the struggle. Let's say you do struggle with being tempted towards same-sex attraction or to gender dysphoria. If you do have that struggle, That is a struggle that is forgiven in Christ, and the key thing is to not give into it and to think that it's okay. That's where the problem begins to lie, where you start to listen to the deceptions of the world, and even as it comes into the church to some degree, there are many progressive Christians, as I mentioned before, in the CRC there are some, who are saying, well, does the Bible really condemn these things? Maybe it's possible for a Christian to live in some of these ways. That's where you're beginning to listen to the lies of the evil one. And the key is to maintain the truth of God's Word and to maintain the truth of what God says about you. What God says about you is that you are a man. He's called you to be a man and to seek out heterosexual relationships. And you're a female, and God has called you to seek out heterosexual relationships. That is what God is calling you to. Unless He's calling you to lifelong service to His kingdom, in some form of celibacy, which is possible. But for most of us, He's calling us to seek out those relationships. Going back to the opening text that I read in 1 Thessalonians 4, we can see that the Apostle Paul is exhorting his Gentile congregation to be careful to control their own bodies in holiness and honor, not in passionate lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. I think that's a really interesting phrase to add at the end there. The Gentiles, they have no problem engaging in all of these types of sins and various forms of porneia, because they don't know God. They're not thinking about the fact that God is the creator and God made them and that they must honor God with their bodies. But we are Christians and we have this robust doctrine of creation that even our sexual bodies, it's an amazing thing to think about that each and every one of us is a sexual being. And of course that leads to all kinds of sexual temptations and sins, but that's how God made us. God made us sexual beings, whether male or female. And He created us to be that way. He created us according to creation, the creation account. He created man good with having that sexual nature. Of course, it's been distorted by sin, and because sin has come into our lives, we have all kinds of distortions of that good male-female distinction that God made within us. But it's still a good thing. And so because we truly know God, we no longer are like pagans who don't know the Creator God. We've come to know the true Creator God through Christ. Therefore, it changes our worldview. It changes our understanding of our sexual bodies. So that now we can see that God is calling us to use our bodies to honor Him. He's calling us to control our own bodies in holiness and honor. The word that's used there, that's translated body, is the word vessel. We're to use our body as a vessel of honor, a vessel that God has created with its particularities and even its own sexual inclinations, but he's given that to us for a reason, and he wants us to control our bodies, to control our vessel in holiness and honor. Because we know God, because we honor Him, not like the Gentiles in Romans 1 that Paul is talking about, who because they rejected the knowledge of God, and rejected the true God, and began worshiping the creature, they have now been given over to all kinds of dishonorable lusts that are completely violating the creation order that God has created. How wonderful it is that we have been reoriented back to the true image of God. The image of God is being restored in us, so that now we can live a life of dignity, even in our embodied selves. And we can use our bodies to the honor and glory of God. The catechism mentions that, that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Of course, the catechism got that from Paul. Paul said that in 1 Corinthians 6 and verses 19 and 20. And so we should use our bodies to His honor and to His glory. He's made you to be who you are, so use that as His calling in your life. Your vocation is to be who He has made you to be and to serve Him in honor and in purity, to serve the Lord in this way. You must glorify God with your body because he made you. It's amazing how God, he doesn't think of bodies as being something icky or unimportant. He made those bodies. And Christ himself, the eternal son of God, took on a true human body for our salvation. and then he went to the cross and then he was raised again and his body was glorified to give us the hope that our body too will one day be transformed to be like his glorious body. Your body is important. Your body means something to God. Your body's been redeemed by Christ. So therefore use it for his glory and for his honor and not as a form of rebellion against him. Let us pray. Lord, how we thank you for the wonderful truths of your word. We thank you that your word is so clear against all the confusion of the world around us and the deceptions of the evil one. We thank you that your word teaches us so clearly what it is that you desire of us, especially in this area of sexual purity and holiness. But Lord, we also are very conscious of how far we fall short and how we have all sinned against you in so many different ways. But we thank you so much for the grace of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that you have redeemed us, body and soul. We belong to you and therefore we can use our bodies for your honor and for your glory. Help us to do that joyfully to the honor of Christ. This we pray in his name, amen.