Subtitle: Why are these and their derivatives two of the most controversial subjects in America?

Excerpt: The article examines the controversy surrounding abortion and homosexuality in America, attributing it to Biblical Christian beliefs. It highlights salvation through Jesus Christ, eternal punishment for non-believers, and God’s morality.

Author: Jeff Hilles

The Bible contains over seven hundred thousand words and well over thirty thousand verses. Within those pages are many challenging passages besides the issues of abortion and homosexuality. Examples include:

Only One Path To Heaven

There are multiple passages in Scripture that make it clear that salvation and eternal life in Heaven are available only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, accepting Him not just as a Savior but also as our Lord. This view is fundamental to a Biblical Christian worldview and should infuriate unbelievers due to its exclusivity and the subservient position Christians must hold.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6

Further, the Bible makes clear that all our efforts at being a good person and doing charitable deeds (though important as examples of a changed life – James 2:14, 17) are not the basis of salvation. Instead, God’s grace, limited to those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord of their lives, is the path to eternal life with God. This viewpoint should also anger those who do good, thinking that is sufficient as the ticket to Heaven.

On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ - Matthew 7:22

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

All Others Go To Hell

Of course, if only the few who believe in Jesus as described above go to Heaven, then the vast majority, according to Biblical Christians, are believed to go to Hell. Yet no one is writing scathing articles and protesting outside Bible-based churches, objecting to these holier-than-thou wackos (like me) that suggest most of the world is Hell-bound.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels' ... And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” - Matthew 25:41,46

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." - Matthew 7:13-14

God Does Not Conform to the Standards of Mankind

Perhaps it’s because most people don’t fully grasp a Biblical understanding of God, but the Scriptures are clear that He does not always see morality from the same perspective as mankind. Stark examples of the righteousness of God can be found in the Old Testament, such as the Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the death of the firstborn, and His carving out the Promised Land for the Israelites.

And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. - Genesis 7:21-22

Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. - Genesis 19:24-25

At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. - Exodus 12:29

But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded. - Deuteronomy 20:16-17

Many carnal Christians attempt to rationalize this angry OT God by suggesting the New Testament Jesus is somehow different. Yet it is Jesus who got angry with the merchants (Matthew 21:12-13) and the Pharisees (Matthew 12:34). It was also Jesus who claimed that He was God (John 10:30) and that those who did not believe in Him were bound to Hell (John 3:18). While most unbelievers accept the Christian view that God is love (1 John 4:8), they choose to ignore the evidence that He is also the righteous judge of man’s sinful nature. As Biblical Christians, our willingness to maintain the belief in a loving God while also recognizing His judgement emanates from our faith (Hebrews 11:1).

A Biblical Christian Worldview Summary

Unbelievers generally disregard the core beliefs of a Biblical Christian worldview, which are …

• Salvation (Essential) — Everyone sins and no one can save themselves. It is only through accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior that one can receive eternal life in Heaven. Salvation is available to anyone who acknowledges in their heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins, rose bodily from the grave, and asks Him to forgive them of their sins and save their soul (Romans 10:9). The difference between a saved and an unsaved person is a God-produced difference (Ephesians 2:8-9).

• Trinity — represents one living and true God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• God — created everything, is perfect, and continues to rule. Further, He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

• Jesus Christ — is the eternally preexistent Son, is fully God and was fully man, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life.

• Holy Spirit — lives in every Christian to guide, instruct, and empower the believer.

• Resurrection — Everyone will be resurrected from the grave: the saved to eternal life in Heaven, and the lost to a real and literal Hell.

• Bible — as originally written, is the inspired, infallible, authoritative, and inerrant Word of God and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. Further, God has protected His word down through the ages such that we hold today a trustworthy document that expresses the other core principles listed here.

• Evangelism — It is a responsibility, duty, and joy to spread the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will listen.

Why are these tenets of Biblical Christianity not confronted?

The primary reason most secular unbelievers and carnal Christians pay no attention to what should be very controversial beliefs of a Biblical Christian is because they reject the Bible as an inerrant, divinely inspired, and protected work of God. Once you remove God from the 750k words of Scripture, all of mankind can accept/reject/reinterpret every word to fit their worldview. This approach personalizes these beliefs, reducing them to mere opinions. And yet, to the point of this article, the same is true of abortion and transgenderism. The Bible, rather than individual Christians, presents these concepts within the context of sin. So why are right-to-life and homosexuality so inflammatory as personal viewpoints, while Heaven and Hell remain largely untouched? Three reasons …

First, salvation (Heaven and Hell) remains an obscure construct in the day-to-day self-absorbed life of most Americans. Death is a fearful event for the lost, and many just don’t want to consider what comes next.

Second, though controversial and inflammatory, many believe the Lord blinds those who, in His foreknowledge, will/would not come to Him (2 Corinthians 4:4).

And third, faith is the foundation of a belief in God’s Word. Without that faith (Hebrews 11:1), what the crazy Biblical Christians believe is so ludicrous it does not deserve a challenge.

Why then are Abortion and Homosexuality and their derivatives such a big deal?

The primary reason the Biblical Christian viewpoint on these two issues is controversial to secular individuals and progressive (carnal) Christians is that it conflicts with their desire to act freely whenever they choose, as long as it does not harm anyone else. The issue of Heaven and Hell, or God’s selective damnation of mankind, does not impact the earthly life of today’s unbelievers. However, when laws are challenging a woman’s right to kill her unborn child, or when seeing some of humanity being maligned for their lifestyle choices, it is logical to expect moral outrage. The irony, understandably ignored, is that opinions on these issues reflect the Creator’s views, but not necessarily those of a Biblical Christian himself. This is true in my case.

However, as His ambassadors, regardless of our personal views, we must accept these positions (abortion and homosexuality) while passing through this earthly timeline (Matthew 6:19-21; Philippians 3:20). Further, we acknowledge there will be increasing persecution (2 Timothy 3:12) as we all approach the labor pains of the End Times (1 Thessalonians 5:3), perhaps just ahead.