In light of some of the recent hullabaloo on social media regarding yet another conservative public figure asserting that practicing homosexuality was a lifestyle choice, it is inevitable that someone is going to proclaim with great zeal and vigor, “it’s not a choice” or “I didn’t choose to be homosexual” ultimately ending in “I was born this way”. The objective Truth of this matter is that, in fact, they were born that way… and so were you.

You are, in fact, Born That Way

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This isn’t only a New Testament understanding, King David also rightly understood this Truth of mankind after the Fall.

Psalm 51:1-6 (ESV) | Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

We were born dead in our sins and trespasses. We were born that way. Dead. The wages of Sin is death, all sin leads to death. David recognized that his sinfulness was his from conception, and his iniquity from birth. We are all born selfish, self-centered, self-gratifying, vindictive, manipulative little sinners. From birth. I love babies of all types, they are beautiful in my sight and they are precious in God’s sight, but the fact remains that they are dead in sin from conception and through birth. No one has to teach a child “right & wrong”, they get the wrong automatically.

Am I excusing sin? Nope. Am I minimizing the sin of homosexuality? Absolutely not. Am I making an equivocation error? No. So let’s get ahead of this train, I’m not saying that homosexuality is “no more of a sin” than gossip, I’m saying that gossip is no less of a sin than homosexuality.

Nature versus Nurture is a False Dichotomy

Dear Christian, there is no point in arguing against the notion that someone is born with homosexual proclivities. No matter how you phrase it, or define words like “homosexual”, “attraction”, “gender identity”… the Truth is that we are all born sinners by nature. And that sin nature will nurture sinfulness leading to death. Where the focus needs to be is in the fact that the Only way out of that death is the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who laid down His life as the perfect and ultimate Sacrifice, taking upon Himself the due penalty of our sin. I strongly recommend conceding the “born that way” point, so that we can move on to the Only Truth that may grant us the faith required to be set free in Jesus Christ.

The homosexual lobby is pushing hard against the Church to accept their sin by insisting that they ARE their sin. They will often assert that since they were “born that way” it’s because God “wanted them to be that way”, so either they are accursed without hope or God accepts their sin since “it’s his fault”. It’s a pale argument, but one that gets many twisted up, particularly in our post-modern anti-Biblical society. God is fully aware of the sin of every man and woman from creation to the end of days. In that Knowledge, He made a way, the Only way, of Salvation.

John 3:16-18 (ESV) | For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

God doesn’t wait for the moment of your conception to decide that you are born in sin. Adam decided that for all of mankind back in the Garden, when he sinned.

Romans 5:10-21 (ESV) | Death in Adam, Life in Christ
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What does it mean for the Law to increase the trespass? Without the Law we’d have no way of knowing just how unworthy of God we truly are. That knowledge does increase our understanding of our sin but it also deepens the understanding of God’s Grace for the one who has faith. Note that we are talking about ALL SIN. Of which sexual immorality is a portion, of which homosexuality is a portion. If there is no forgiveness of the sin of sexual immorality, there is no forgiveness of any sin.

Denial of the Sin Makes Forgiveness Unreachable

The problem with the sin of homosexuality, is that the lobby is pushing to deny that it is a sin. It’s one thing to repent and throw yourself at the mercy of the Judge, but it’s another thing entirely to defy the Judge and declare that a crime was not committed.

Romans 1:28-32 (ESV) 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We are wholly and completely without excuse. Please don’t cherry-pick the sin you hate the most and skim over the others… all who practice such things as whats on this list deserve to die as punishment for sin. That is the Law of God. There simply is no getting around that. There is Only one way for us to deal with the Law, and that is by faith in Christ’s atoning work at the cross on our behalf.

Once Forgiven, Always Repentant

We carry sin in our flesh. We each must deal with the curse of sin for it is appointed for man to die and then face judgement.

Hebrews 9:26-28 (ESV) 26… But as it is, [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

For those who are in Christ Jesus by faith, our forgiveness is assured by the Holy Spirit, so that in that great and final day when the Judge sees us under His blood and made clean by His righteousness. Until that great day, we walk in fallen flesh and we must deal with the temporal with eyes focused on the eternal in Christ.

Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV) | Put On the New Self
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Conclusion

Yes, they were born that way, and so were you. The Gospel is as available to them as it was to you. Preach the Word to them (both Law and Gospel), and pray that God the Holy Spirit might open up their hearts to accept the Word of God and the gift of saving Faith. Rebuke those who would dare make themselves (and their sin) superior to God or His Laws, in love and humility, remembering that you once walked among them in the dark yourselves. There was only One who was righteous, and He became sin on the cross to bear the full brunt of God’s Wrath, so that we wouldn’t have to die in our sin.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge