Calvin Robinson: Christ redeems through repentance of sin, not affirmation

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, August 15th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next: go and sin no more.

A politician in England claims it’s hypocritical to be a Christian and also oppose same-sex marriage.

WORLD Opinions writer Calvin Robinson is a Christian minister in the Free Church of England, he opposes same-sex marriage, and he says he’s no hypocrite.

CALVIN ROBINSON, COMMENTATOR: Wes Streeting, the U.K. Labor Party’s top health official, said in the Telegraph, last week that Christians against gay marriage have a “pick and mix” approach to faith. He criticized those who argue homosexuality is sinful by saying they cannot choose which ten commandments they like or don’t like.

Well, Mr. Streeting makes a fair point in his poor attempt to disparage Christians.

Yes, Christians are called to obey all Ten Commandments. We cannot pick and choose which commandments we observe–to break one is to break them all. James 2:10 reads, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

However, Mr. Streeting seems confused when he speaks of Christians opposed to gay marriage. The Bible’s teaching on issues of holy matrimony and sexuality are not found exclusively in the Ten Commandments. The Seventh Commandment is “thou shalt not commit adultery,” which means one should not cheat on one’s spouse or have intercourse with anyone else’s spouse. That would be a sin. But the Bible also teaches that fornication is a sin, which means that any sex outside of marriage is a sin. Additionally, the Bible teaches that sodomy is a sin, as are other homosexual activities.

It is important to be clear on this. Describing something as “sinful” isn’t a judgment from one man to another. It is God’s Word that explains which actions or thoughts separate us from our Creator. God is love, and God wants the best for us. He teaches us, as any father would, what is good and what is not good for us. He gave us His Word so that we might know how to follow His divine order. We may choose not to, and that is sinning.

Don’t get me wrong, some people are same-sex attracted, and there is something to be said for those who are and manage to follow the teachings of the Scriptures and live a chaste life. Singleness can be a good and holy thing for those who are not called to marriage.

But in a Christian context there is no such thing as gay marriage, and any sexual activity outside marriage is sinful. That is the Christian faith. There is nothing cherry-picked about it, and it is high time our politicians stopped attacking Christians for following the British national faith as we have for nearly 2,000 years. Would we see a shadow minister attacking Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus in the same way they attack Christians? I highly doubt it, somehow. We have protection in law for our religious beliefs, whether they’re currently fashionable or not.

The Biblical message isn’t that some people are sinners, and we should judge them for it. The message is that we are all sinners, in different ways, and we must repent of our sins and have faith in Christ. That is how we are saved, not by affirming our sinful ways but by helping each other sin no more.

I’m Calvin Robinson.

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