Dear Fellow Brother or Sister in Christ,
This is a long letter, so you might want to get yourself a cup of coffee, water, and go to the bathroom before you sit down to read it.
Hi, I’m Kimberly Taylor and I’m an ex-fornicator.
There, I said it. It doesn’t matter what other roles I fulfill in life; I am writing this message as an ex-fornicator who was saved by the grace of God.
Before I state what I believe about gay marriage legalization in the United States, I want to be open about where I was. In that way, you will know that I am not writing this from a “high and mighty” attitude.
I am writing this from a position of humility, in full knowledge of the goodness of God, where I was, and from where God has brought me.
Many Christians are lamenting the Supreme Court’s ruling about homosexual marriage in the U.S. While I don’t agree with the ruling either, I planned to keep my feelings about the issue private originally.
But that changed after discovering that a Christian acquaintance wrote on social media that they were pleased with the ruling. They didn’t explain why and they didn’t have to – after all, their opinion is their right.
However, I do want to go on record as to why I believe what I believe about homosexual marriage. I am writing this to those who declare Jesus as their personal Savior and may not know or are confused about what the Bible says on this issue.
We are exhorted to tell the truth in love and that is what I’m striving to do. My viewpoint on this issue stems from the Believer's relationship with God and His three major roles in our lives: He is our Father, our Judge, and our King.
How you see this issue is linked intimately to how you see God's role in your life.
Please understand that I am not trying to convince anyone to feel as I do. I will let God’s word speak for itself. As the old saying goes, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
If necessary, we can agree to disagree and go forth in love.
God as Our Father
I said the prayer of Salvation to accept Jesus as my Savior back in 1992. But I did not change for nearly 10 years. Although I went to church during that time, I didn’t read the Bible and nor have any personal relationship with God during the week.
However God ended up changing my life starting in 2001. I went to a Christian women’s conference and it was there I experienced God’s love and His desire for me to know Him personally. I never knew that, even though I called myself a Christian for nearly 10 years!
Back then, feelings of abandonment, unworthiness, and unresolved anger haunted me. I also had a boyfriend with whom I was having sex. Fornication, remember?
But once I knew how much God loved me, I had a hunger to know “Who is this God?” So I started reading the Bible, beginning with the book of John. I saw God in action in the person of Jesus Christ. I felt God speaking to me through the Bible.
As I came to know God, I realized that He desired the best for me. Like any good Father, He made it clear in His word what was good for me and what was not.
God as my Father said in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20:
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
God gave me a new identity as His precious daughter. Before that, I saw myself as an illegitimate daughter whose Earthly father did not love nor want her.
But as God’s daughter, I saw that I was made for more than that for which what I was settling. This scripture tells me:
• Sexual immorality hurts my body and emotions ultimately
• My body does not belong to me but to God
• My body has a high purpose as use for God’s glory
Once I saw myself through God’s eyes, then I could no longer accept the substandard relationship I had with my boyfriend. I knew that what I was doing was against my Father’s wishes.
So I broke up with my boyfriend. It was not easy. But since I believe God created my body too, then I figured He must know something about how it works that I do not know!
My Father did not want me causing harm to myself. Above all, I believe He wanted to protect my heart so that He could teach me what real love is. Because I believed in God’s word, I was willing to stop fornicating.
I never had another sexual relationship with anyone until I joined with my husband in Holy Matrimony nearly 10 years later. Yes, the wait was longer than I wanted, but it was worth it!
On our wedding day, we fulfilled God’s view of marriage:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:24-25)."
We continue to operate our marriage according to Biblical principle:
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33)."
I believe that God wants His best for all of His children according to His word and is grieved when we choose to settle for and sanction lifestyles that harm others.
God as Our Judge
Hebrews 4:13 tells me that someday we will all give account to God for what we have done in these Earthly bodies:
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord gives us important information about what He is like:
Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,' says the Lord.'"
While you see that the Lord delights in exercising lovingkindness, He is also a God of judgment and righteousness. Think of a natural judge. Doesn't a judge have standards by which he judges?
A judge is not going to judge based on what the plaintiff nor the defendant see as right in their own eyes. That is going to vary almost as much as the number of eyes!
Rather, the judge is going to deliver judgment based on what is written in the law. I believe the Lord’s law is written in His word, the Bible. If He judged based on individual opinion, then we could declare Him unjust, prone to partiality. But He is not. He always judges righteously.
When someone engages in a practice that goes against God’s word and a Christian says something about it, they might be told: “You are judging me.” Actually, no they are not because they have no power to judge. Think about this:
You are driving on the Interstate. The posted speed is 70 miles per hour. You are driving the speed limit, but you spot a friend of yours zooming by at 100 miles per hour. Then let’s say that you meet with that friend later.
You tell that friend they should slow down their speed because you don’t want them to get a ticket, end up in jail, or dead. You are not a judge, so you have no power whatsoever to issue a penalty. However, you do warn the friend about what is written because you are concerned about their life and you know that there is going to be a penalty for violating what is written.
Your friend might say that you hate them, that you are narrow-minded, that you are intolerant, or that you are a "Speedophobic."
While none of that is true, it is a risk you should be willing to take as a caring friend. You are just informing them about what is written. As adults, they have the right to choose whether to heed your warning or not.
So regarding the homosexual marriage issue, I give my dissenting viewpoint because I believe that God as my Judge has already written down His ruling on the issue:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
Did you get that? This message is actually written to those who declare Jesus as their Savior. Actually, this message was for me because in addition to other sins, it names “fornication” as one. And the truth is that there are far more fornicators than homosexuals in the typical church.
Thankfully, if you find yourself in sin then God wants to get you out! A promise is found in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Take God at His word. Humble yourself, ask for His help in prayer, and do what He tells you to do. It may not be easy, but you will have confidence that it is right.
People always say “The truth shall set you free” but have no idea of what truth is. Jesus defined it in John 8:31-32:
If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Abiding means “living in.” Jesus Himself is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him (see John 14:6). He said it and I agree with Him! Living according to God’s Word makes you free from sin’s bondage.
If you believe that God has power to forgive you of sin through salvation, don’t you believe that He has power to deliver you from sin through His grace?
God as Our King
One of the saddest statements in the Bible is found in Judges 21:25 and I believe it describes the Spiritual condition of this country today:
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
In those days, the Israelites did not have a king to set policy over them. So each person did whatever they felt like doing. But for those of us who name the name of Christ, we do have a King to set policy over us!
I have already stated what God’s definition is of marriage in Genesis 2:24-25. Because I see God as my King, then I must oppose any man-made definition that contradicts His. I take this scripture as a warning:
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matthew 7:21-23)!'"
To me, what distinguishes a Christ disciple from one who has said the prayer of salvation only is this: The former is one who has said the prayer of salvation, but also wants to learn about and obey the written Word of God. A disciple follows a path of instruction and is submitted to Jesus, not led by what is right in his own eyes.
Jesus Himself said the following in Luke 6:46-49:
But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Because I see God as my King, then His word is final authority in my life.
In summary, I oppose the legalization of homosexual marriage because it opposes God’s word. I do not fear homosexuals, which “phobic” means in the word "homophobic." "Phobic" means "fear." Think of an agoraphobic, a person who fears going outside or an arachnophobic, one who fears spiders.
A Christian has no need to fear speaking God's truth:
Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).’"
I do not hate homosexuals. Just because I disagree with someone’s lifestyle does not mean that I hate them. God does not hate them either. He knows each of their journeys more intimately than I ever could. He knows where they came from and where they are going – just like he does an ex-fornicator like me!
God changed my life through the power of His word. And His desire is that we share the change that we found in Jesus with others, including those who are living the homosexual lifestyle. Jesus died so that they might come to salvation too – and freedom.
We must share our faith in a spirit of love and humility. Scripture never said that others would know that we belong to Jesus by how many Christian songs we know or how many Bible verses we can quote.
John 13:35 gives us our strategy:
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Sometimes love means telling those whom you love what they do not want to hear. You parents out there probably know this better than anyone!
I have decided I am going to keep on standing on God’s word. It hasn’t failed me and I know it never will. I will not be silent about nor sanction lifestyles that I believe destroy people. As a fellow disciple of Christ, I hope you come to the same conclusion.
Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,
Kimberly Taylor
takebackyourtemple.com