The power of sin .................. Parables 423

May 31, 1994

According to a survey by Queens University at Kingston entitled “Canada Youth & AIDS Study”, about 1 percent of the population is homosexual, not 10% as some claim. (Three studies in 12 areas of the United States reach the same percentage figure.) Why is such a small segment of the population given so much clout in determining what moral values should be acceptable in Canada?

The Bible offers one explanation. Romans 1 says, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities... have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that (people) are without excuse.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator... because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.

“Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

This passage of Scripture not only denounces homosexual activity, it explains the reason those with that orientation (which it calls “their perversion”) cannot control themselves. God has taken His hand of grace from them. They have no power over their own lusts.

Those who refuse to acknowledge God as God and who exchange the truth about God for a lie cannot worship and obey Him. Instead, they bow down to their own gods. In New Testament times, these gods were images and carved idols. Today, an idol could be defined as anything people rely on to meet their needs. If it is not the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, then it is an idol.

The power that only 1% of the population wields is really a misconception. The few who are gay are able to convince a larger majority who are not because the larger majority has also rejected God. Just as the mood of the dog can be discerned by the wagging of its tail, the prevailing attitude of Canadians seems to be against godly sexual morals. While not all these would call themselves gay or lesbian, they also have rejected God. As a consequence, many have been turned over to their various sins, as reflected in Canada’s crime rate, the divorce and abortion rate, and the increase in social problems. No one can reject God and maintain goodness.

According to Patrick Johnson’s Operation World, Canada’s population may include about 10% genuine Christians. However, for a nation that largely rejects God, our message is more repulsive than that of the 1%. While they insist on their right to freely sin: we call for a return to God and freedom from sin’s control. Does anyone really want that kind of freedom?