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This new resource from Ligonier Ministries offers biblical answers to questions about gender, sexuality, and identity. Each answer seeks to help Christians stand firm in their convictions, navigate relationships with true compassion, and proclaim the liberating hope of the gospel. If you have been to a Ligonier Ministries conference, the book is set up similar to one of the “Question and Answer” sessions from the conference. I’ve heard some of these questions asked and answered over the past few years.
The field guide is arranged in the four main sections:
- Being Human
- Homosexuality and Transgenderism
- Events and Associations
- The Gospel and Love
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
I’M CURRENTLY READING….
Each section is comprised of questions and answers related to the that particular section. Saturated with Scripture, the book is short enough to read in one afternoon. It is priced such that you can purchase extra copies to give to others.
Among the subjects addressed in this field guide are being made in the image of God, sex, identity, gender, same-sex attraction, attending an LGBTQ wedding, internal and external temptations, gender dysphoria, pronouns, matter of conscience, friendship, disassociation, compassion, sharing the gospel with LGBTQ people and more.
Here are five helpful quotes from each of the four sections of the book:
Being Human
- Sex is the God-created means by which a man and a woman who are joined together in a covenant marriage bond can produce offspring and enjoy exclusive relational and physical intimacy together. There is also another important purpose for sex. God made sex for the husband and wife to enjoy one another and to fulfill within the marriage covenant the relational and sexual longings with which He created them (see Gen. 2:23). This dual purpose of sex highlights the goodness of God’s design and helps us identify erroneous views and mishandlings of the gift of sex.
- When humans use sex in a wrongful manner, it displeases God and undermines the purposes for which He created sex.
- With respect to our gender, we do not choose; God does, because He created us.
- Biological sex is an objective truth revealed by God. To reject the truth about how God has made us is to reject the wisdom and goodness of God, and therefore, it is to reject God Himself.
- History, biology, Scripture, and common sense tell us that there are only two sexes and that one’s sex cannot be changed.
Homosexuality and Transgenderism
- Romans 1:26–27 and 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 tell us that same-sex sexual acts are wicked and will incur the eternal judgment of God if a person never turns from them and trusts in Christ alone for salvation.
- Gender dysphoria relates to desires and feelings that people experience but do not necessarily act on, while transgenderism culminates in actions and behaviors that a person takes to depart from or reject his or her biological sex.
- Christians should not use terms such as “gay Christian” to describe themselves because doing so bears false witness to Christ and His work.
- Homosexual sin is more scandalous than other sins because it is a departure from God’s creational design and standards for sex. While homosexual sin is a severe sin, it is not the unforgivable sin (Luke 12:10).
- Christians who experience same-sex attraction need encouragement from other brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when their unnatural attractions don’t die easily.
Events and Associations
- Christians cannot attend a gay wedding or celebrate the marriage by using their talents to celebrate the union.
- A Christian should not intentionally use a person’s preferred pronouns if those pronouns clearly do not reflect the person’s biological sex.
- It is the purview of the church to determine whether someone is the innocent party in a divorce. If the church judges that someone is the innocent party, that person is free to remarry, and a Christian may freely attend the wedding. If the church has determined that the person is not innocent, then the Christian should not attend the wedding, as it is illegitimate and should not go forward.
- Christians must exercise wisdom and discernment when people request to be addressed by a proper name that may appear inconsistent with their biological sex.
- Pronouns are sex-specific, so to intentionally use pronouns that plainly do not reflect the biological sex of the individual requires adopting a view of mankind that is antithetical to the Bible’s view of mankind.
The Gospel and Love
- When people call us judgmental or bigoted because we hold to Christian truth we should not be surprised.
- Christians will face opposition when they explain the Bible’s teachings on gender and sexuality.
- We ought to make clear that in declaring the truth of God, we are not merely stating our personal opinion.
- We can and should point to Scripture and indicate that we are merely repeating what God the Creator says to us.
- We should make clear that we hold to these things not because they are our ideas but because God has revealed them.
Book News:
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.
- What You Read Builds Who You Are. Randy Alcorn writes “As we read, and encourage others to do so, including our children, may God help us to renew our minds, set our minds on things above, and love God with all our hearts and minds.”
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the second half of WCF 15 Of Repentance unto Life. Here are a few helpful quotes from the chapter:
- If repentance is not preached, the message is a false gospel.
- We are justified only by the free grace of God, based solely on the righteousness of Christ, not on anything we do. We have nothing to contribute to our salvation.
- Calvin said that all sin is mortal in the sense that it deserves death. But no sin is mortal in the sense that it actually destroys the saving grace that Christ has given to His people.
- We conclude, as do many biblical scholars, that the unforgivable sin is blasphemy against Christ when we know better— when we already know who He is.
- Christians can fall radically and seriously, but not fully and finally.
- Christians do not need to worry about committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit Himself restrains us from doing so if we are ever tempted to do so. It is by God’s grace that we do not do it.
