Maybe we should vote no? Reason #5

Reason #5 to vote no on Overtures 23 and 37:  The term “Gentile” in the New Testament shows that it is okay to use the phrase “gay Christian” because the Apostles (inspired by God) used an adjective for Christians that often meant “sexually immoral, sinful, and far from God.”

First, there are passages that make it clear that “Gentile” was a derogatory name, describing someone whose lifestyle was offensive to God. It was a dirty word because of the lifestyles that characterized the Gentiles who lived apart from the gospel.

Matthew 18:17  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

 

Galatians 2:15  We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.

 

Ephesians 4:17-19  ¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

 

Ephesians 2:11-12  ¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands--  ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5  ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;  ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,  ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.

 

1 Peter 4:3-4  ³ For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.  ⁴ With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.

It is abundantly clear that Jesus, Paul, and Peter used the term Gentile to describe people whose lives were sinful and debauched. They were cut off from the life of God.

Second, there are passages that demonstrated the shocking reality that the Gentiles believed and were receiving the blessings of salvation:

Acts 10:45-48  ⁴⁵ And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.  ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,  ⁴⁷ "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"  ⁴⁸ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

 

Acts 11:1-3 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.  ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,  ³ "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them."

 

Acts 11:18  When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."

 

Acts 15:19-20  ¹⁹ Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,  ²⁰ but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

 

Romans 9:30  What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

These descriptions are so powerful because when the Gentiles became Christians, they didn’t stop being referred to as Gentiles! The term Gentile, which at one time only referred to people who were lost in sin and without hope, this term took on a second meaning, referring to people who had left that lifestyle and were now committed to Jesus and to following His laws.

This is exactly what the gay Christians who are officers in the PCA have done! These Pastors, Elders, and Deacons have renounced their sin and they have given themselves to Jesus as Lord and Savior. These have put their entire lives, including their sexuality, at the feet of Jesus. They have committed themselves to serve and follow Jesus in every area of their lives, especially with their sexuality.

Can't we note that in some ways, their commitment to Jesus is even more costly?  They have committed either to celibacy, or to commit to loving and serving the needs of one woman in a mixed orientation marriage.

Third and finally, there are passages that make it clear that “Gentile Christians” have equal status with Jewish Christians in the church.

 

Romans 3:29-30  ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,  ³⁰ since God is one-- who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Since the New Testament does not have a problem using the term Gentile to describe Christians who have been changed by the gospel, then we have a biblical precedent for using the term gay to describe people who experience temptations or have a past lifestyle that is associated with this kind of sin.

Therefore, we should reject the BCO changes recommended by Overtures 23 and 37 because they contradict the New Testament’s example and standard.

Here are my posts that go further into the reasons to vote no on the PCA Overtures:
A Vision
Reason #1
Reason #2
Reason #3
Reason #4
Reason #5
Reason #6
Reason #7