Pam asked a question about the daughter of one of her friends. The daughter recently married another woman. Pam’s question was:
Will these two young women go to heaven when they die if they are believers in Jesus Christ?
This question is a common one because most pastors, theologians, and Christian traditions teach that homosexuals will not enter Christ’s kingdom. The logic behind this thinking sounds impressive:
- Major premise: Only those who persevere in faith and good works will make it into Christ’s kingdom.
- Minor premise: Homosexuals are not persevering in faith and good works.
- Conclusion: Homosexuals will not make it into Christ’s kingdom (unless they stop being homosexuals).
The Biblical problem with this syllogism is that the major premise is false. Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ for the gift of God, everlasting life, he is secure forever. No matter what he does or fails to do in the future, his eternal destiny is certain. The Lord Jesus Christ was crystal clear on this point. He said that whoever believes in Him will never perish, will never hunger, will never thirst, will never be cast out, will never be plucked from His hand (John 3:16; 6:35, 37; 10:28). Once saved, always saved applies to everyone who believes, not just those who believe and persevere.
The practical problem with this view is that it makes assurance of everlasting life impossible. If believers who are homosexuals won’t get into the kingdom, what about adulterers? Abusive spouses? Abusive parents? Mean people? Jealous people? Liars?
If you look at the vice lists in Paul’s epistles, he mentions things like jealousy, envy, and outbursts of anger. Most Christian traditions don’t exclude such people because then there wouldn’t be anyone who’d qualify.
A year ago, the 70+ year-old Calvinist pastor of a huge church in Dallas was fired when it was discovered he’d been having an affair for five years with a young woman in her twenties. His Calvinist friends publicly suggested that he had proved himself to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They suggested he was a false professor.
A friend of mine from our days together at Dallas Theological Seminary was later fired from being the lead pastor of a large church. The elders said he was an angry man who yelled and argued constantly with the other elders and the staff. They charged him with being quarrelsome. (Of course, a major reason the church had grown so large was that he was a terrific preacher. The elders put up with his anger for years as the church kept on growing.) One of the requirements of an elder is that a man is “not quarrelsome” (1 Tim 3:3). While no one suggested that he had proved he was not a believer, you could easily see them applying the same logic used against homosexuals. After all, Paul’s vice lists include “outbursts of wrath” (Gal 5:20).
Pam’s question can be taken two ways. First, if a person comes to faith in Christ and then later becomes a homosexual, do they lose their salvation (or prove that they didn’t really believe in Christ in the first place)? Second, can practicing homosexuals be born again without stopping their homosexual behavior?
The promise of everlasting life is that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ has that life and will never perish (John 3:16). There are no exceptions. Anyone who believes in Him is born again and secure forever. That includes those who are homosexuals now and those who will later become homosexuals. That includes angry people now and those who will become angry in the future. It includes jealous and envious people, too. All types of sinners are included because the Lord Jesus Christ removed the barrier of sin when He died on the cross for the sins of the whole world (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2). The issue in salvation is not our sins. The cross dealt with that issue. The issue is that unbelievers are spiritually dead and need everlasting life.
Keep grace in focus, and you won’t be confused about the promise of everlasting life to all who simply believe in the Lord Jesus.
