Pascal's Wager

There is a lot at stake, because if my arguments are correct and the sexually immoral are excluded from the kingdom of God and if homosexual practise is included in the term "sexual immorality" then many gay people will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven¹. If I am wrong and the pro-gay theologians are right then you lose nothing eternally and you have suffered for no reason in this life. This is also known as Pascal's wager².

So this is Pascal's wager, if the conservative theologian is correct then you may suffer in this life, but no more than a single Christian who also has to remain celibate. Whether or not the Conservative Christian is right or wrong you still spend eternity in heaven.

Gays want affirmation of their action. Certainly the pro-gay theologian will affirm your actions, but many of them are also gay themselves, they have a vested interest in doing so. Ultimately, it is only God who will affirm or denounce your or my action. So who are you going to believe? God has the ultimate veto, on who he allows into heaven. God is the boss, only He is the judge, the pro-gay theologians are not going to decide your future, you have to decide for yourself, because we only have one judge. Only God will judge you and me and not the pro-gay theologians, they will also be judged by God. It is the affirmation on our life that comes from God that we need, because it is the only affirmation that ultimately counts.

If you believe the pro-gay theologian then you have an OK love life on earth and go to heaven, but if he is wrong then you go to hell. But the pro-gay theologian probably does not believe in hell anyway.

If the conservative theologian is right or wrong you still get to spend eternity in heaven, if the pro-gay theologian is wrong you spend eternity in hell. Much of it depends on a few Greek and Hebrew words arsenokoite and malakos in the Greek and to'evah in the Hebrew. But the scholars, on both sides, seem to ignore so much that the NT says about sexual purity, certainly the heterosexual Christian is very well aware of what the bible says to him or her. We do not have to put our trust in authority figures, because we can read the bible for ourselves. Many of the pro-gay theologians are gay themselves and therefore have a vested interest in the outcome. Anyone who reads their NT will very quickly see that it takes sexual purity very seriously, more so than the OT. The pro-gay theologian will always have to argue that homosexuality is a special case, but I cannot find that in my bible (see Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi, none of these are gay or lesbian). He will always have to resort to special pleading, like the bible only condemns same-sex intercourse within an idolatrous setting. So does that make incest and bestiality lawful within a non-idolatrous setting? Come on, the idea is ludicrous, but that is what they want us to believe. Does love make same-sex intercourse OK? Does love make adultery OK?

So please place your bets, is homosexual practise the same as sexual immorality, does sexual immorality exclude you from the kingdom of heaven? Please place your bets ladies and gentlemen, while I turn the wheel. I am sorry but you will only know the result of the wheel when Jesus returns again. In the mean time you only have your bible to determine your odds.

You have to place your bets on whether it is the pro-gay theologian or the conservative theologian who is correct in his interpretation of bible, please place your bets ladies and gentlemen, while I turn the wheel.

The stakes are high because eternity is involved, in the end only God will rule, not you or I, but in the meantime God has given us his word, so that we can make an informed decision before we place our bets.

I will bet on the red square that says that Jesus died for repentant sexual sinners. Do you want to bet on the black square and rely on the scholarship of pro-gay theologians who argue that same-sex intercourse is not prohibited in scripture? It is up to you because God gives you a free choice.

Much of what is addressed in this article also applies to bisexuals as well as homosexuals, because the biblical prohibitions on same-sex intercourse apply to both homosexuals and bisexuals. Quite a lot will also apply to heterosexuals as I use what the bible says to them to counter some of the arguments coming from the pro-gay theologians.

Please also note that I am talking primarily to Christians and not to unbelievers. I am talking to those who are under the control of righteousness (Rom 6:20).

Rom 6:20-23 NASB³ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. (21) Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. (22) But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. (23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am also talking to those who have failed God many times, I am talking to my weak brothers in the faith. A brother once told me, if God commanded his disciples to forgive you seventy times seven then how much more God will forgive you.

Mat 18:21-22 NASB Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" (22) Jesus *said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

The brother who told me that, when I was a young and struggling Christian, was a formally gay man. God looks at the intent of our heart. We may be a serial backslider, and that will indeed stop us from holding church office because an elder or deacon must be above reproach (Tit 1:6). If we confess our sins then he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins... (1 John 1:9)

1Jo 1:8-10 ESV⁴ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The pro-gay theologians say, but you have not sinned and they make God and his word a liar.

If you struggle to be righteous before God, I am with you in your struggle. I do not believe in all the Gay and Lesbian propaganda. It only distorts and twists the word of God. While they may be well meaning they are dealing with the souls of people, eternal destinies are at stake.

I read a long and very erudite article by one of the pro-gay theologians⁵, but he said that there is no hell, so why should I believe him? Either what Paul or Jesus said was right or it is not.

Ultimately it boils down to a single issue of whether or not God has the right to tell us what to do with our body sexually, and as Creator He does have that right.

Rev 4:11 ESV "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

For a Christian, God does have the right to tell us what to do with our body. Our bodies our not our own, to do as we please, instead we should glorify God with our body. Even if that means that we do not get pleasure from our bodies.

1Co 6:18-20 ESV Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (19) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, (20) for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Footnotes

1 1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

2 Pascal's wager originally referred to the existence of God

3 Scripture quotations marked (NASB) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), Copyright (C) 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

4 Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

5 Difference Is Not A Sin, By Rev. Neil Dawson