IS SEXUAL ORIENTATION INBORN?
To them, it is very harmful to suppress or change one’s sexual orientation because it comes from the genes. They claim that they are born gay and they cannot change that.
Is there any proof for this claim? Much high quality research has been carried out by many scientists to find a genetic cause to homosexuality. These studies involved studying the sexual orientation of identical twins, tracing the sexual orientation of adolescents as they grow into adulthood, measuring the anterior hypothalamus of the brain, and even scanning the entire human genome to find a gay gene. But after more than 20 years of research, there is still no conclusive proof that anyone is born homosexual.
One significant finding however is that same-sex attraction is fluid and can diminish and disappear over time. A longitudinal study was conducted by the Health Research Council of New Zealand involving 1,037 children over a period of 23 years. The findings, published in 2003, revealed that rates of same-sex attraction were almost halved by the age of 26 in both sexes. This fluidity of sexual attraction shows that homosexuality is not caused by the genes. If it is caused by the genes, it can never change over time.
Our Sinful Orientation
While homosexual orientation is not inborn, the Word of God tells us that sinful orientation is inborn: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) Paul referred to this sinful orientation in Romans 7:17-18 – “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
We all have an inborn sinful nature which is manifested in different ways. Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:19) This does not mean that every person will become a blasphemous, adulterous, lying thief and murderer. It means that the sinful nature we are born with expresses itself in different ways in different people.
In some people it tends to express itself as an uncontrollable rage that may lead to murder if unchecked. In others, it produces a life of dishonesty and deceit. And in some people, that same sinful nature is expressed in a tendency to commit sexual sins, such as adultery and fornication. Thus, each person has his or her own personal besetting sins.
Different Tendencies
This is reflected in 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 which says, “…neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Fornicators are unmarried persons who indulge in sexual acts. Adulterers are married persons who indulge in sexual acts with someone other than their spouse. The word ‘effeminate’ literally means ‘soft’ and it refers to men who willingly submit to homosexual acts, while ‘abusers of themselves with mankind’ literally means those who go to bed with males, and it refers to male homosexuals. All these sins were very common in Corinth, which was a cesspool of sexual immorality. What we need to observe here, is that those who commit homosexual sins are placed together with eight others who commit other kinds of sins, e.g. thieves, drunkards, revilers and extortioners.
This shows that each of us have different sinful tendencies, and if we yield to them we end up sinning against God. One person may be easily tempted to steal whenever there is an opportunity to steal. But he must resist the temptation to steal, and if he has already stolen from others, then he must put a stop to his habit of stealing. Another person has no problems at all with temptations to steal, but is easily tempted to drink. Whenever he sees the bottle he struggles hard to resist the temptation and sometimes he ends up getting drunk.
What if both of them decide one day that it is too hard to keep up this resistance to temptation. And then in order to justify their habits of stealing and drinking, they both say, “I am born this way, and therefore I can never change.” Can they be absolved of all responsibility to change their behaviour simply by saying, “I am born this way”? The answer is clearly, No. The same thing must then apply to all the rest in this list.
Some people are sorely tempted to commit homosexual acts. The people they meet and the places where they live in are filled with such temptations, and the sinful nature that is in them makes them particularly vulnerable. But this does not excuse them from resisting these temptations. Like everyone else, they can choose to resist their particular temptation so that they do not commit sin. But many homosexuals say, “I am born this way” because they could not overcome the temptation. They could not change their sinful habits in their own strength, and so they resort to deluding themselves that they are born this way and hence they can never change.
Power to Change
But here is the good news that all homosexuals need to hear: There is power available for those who sincerely want to change. In fact some of the homosexuals in Corinth had successfully changed their sexual orientation. This is clear from what Paul says: “…neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
The words “and such were some of you” reveal that some Corinthian Christians had been homosexuals before. The rest of verse 11 describes how they received God’s power to change – they were washed, sanctified and justified. This change took place as they trusted fully in the Lord Jesus alone to save and heal them, and as the Spirit of God worked in them after that. To put it all succinctly: No one is born gay, but everyone is born in sin, and everyone needs to be born again by turning to Jesus Christ to deal with sin.
This power to change is freely available to all homosexuals today, and the key to finding it is to admit that one has a problem. Homosexuals who keep insisting that they are born gay will never be able to change because they don’t think that they have a problem.
This principle is found in Mark 2:16-17 – “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw [Jesus] eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto His disciples, How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The Pharisees were actually just as sinful as the publicans and sinners, but they kept insisting that they were righteous. Hence Jesus told them that since they thought that they were whole and had no problem at all, they won’t get the help they need. But the publicans and sinners were convinced that they were spiritually sick, and hence they sought His help to be delivered.
The same thing applies to homosexuals. They must first be convinced that they have a problem. Their mind-set has to change. They need to accept the truth that they were not born gay and that their sexual orientation is not normal. It is the result of the sinful nature within them interacting with a sinful environment. And this interaction has caused them to fall into a sinful lifestyle.
The Freedom We Need
If you are a homosexual you need to know that there is great hope for you. You need to confess that your lifestyle is sinful, repent of it and seek the Lord’s forgiveness and help to change. What you need most is not freedom to love, but freedom from sin and freedom to experience the love and power of God working in your life.
Please understand that we are not homophobic, for we are just as sinful in God’s sight as you are. Our sins may be different from yours, but they are just as hateful to God. Hence we do not discriminate against homosexuals at all. We simply want homosexuals to experience the same salvation and deliverance from sin that we have found in Christ.
May our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified more and more as sinners of every kind come and find salvation and deliverance from sin by being washed, sanctified and justified through Him.
Rev Charles Seet – Life B-P Church Weekly