Jesus Never Said

 

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – II Timothy 4:3

I. The prevalence and defense of non-Biblical positions

Discussions regarding social issues among people who identify as Christians include defense of a wide variety of non-Biblical beliefs and practices (e.g., pro-abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, etc.). Increasingly, people holding such views defend their positions by claiming that “Jesus never said …. __(fill in the blank with your favorite sin)__ ….  was wrong!”

Here is an example from the website of an Episcopal congregation in the United States:

             “Jesus says nothing indicating that being gay or trans is a sin.”

This type of claim is so weak and illogical that it should hardly deserve a second thought. However, because a significant number of church-going, self-identified Christians either make such claims or accept them, a response is appropriate and needed.

II. Why such arguments are not valid

Statements beginning with “Jesus never said…” are categorically invalid as a defense of whatever position is being touted, for at least three reasons:

1) They assume all the teachings of Jesus are recorded in the Bible. Jesus’ ministry was a virtually constant stream of more than 3 years of teaching, while his teaching recorded in the Gospels can be read in their entirety in about 8-10 hours. The vast majority of what Jesus said was not recorded, and to assume the Biblical record contains all he said is ludicrous.

2) Invariably, arguments using “Jesus never said…” support non-Biblical positions by citing out-of-context Scriptures and misapplying them to the issue discussed.

Example: Claiming Jesus’ associating with people the religious leaders did not approve of (When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”) is proof that Jesus affirmed LGBTQ.

3) Those arguing in favor of non-Biblical positions tend to ignore:

   a) the multiple Scriptures that condemn sexual perversion

   b) the fact that Jesus frequently made reference to and declared the truth of Scripture:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.“ – Matthew 5:17-18

c) the Gospel’s call to repentance. Jesus was, without a doubt, “a friend of sinners” but never condoned the sin of the people he encountered. He loved them too much to affirm the things that separated them from God.

III. The basis for misinterpretation

People who advocate non-Biblical positions do not admit, and may even be unaware, that they have made a critical choice regarding moral authority – i.e., they have elevated the values of their culture, the positions of a political party, the opinions of their peers, or their own feelings above the actual teachings of Scripture.

IV. Scriptural references related to sexual sin

This is just a sample of verses applicable to the subject. A careful search of Scripture will reveal many more, as well as the Bible’s coherent teachings regarding human sexuality.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. ¹⁵ Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. -- Malachi 2:13-15

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. – Hebrews 13:4

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:27-28

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery. – Matthew 19:9

Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. – Leviticus 18:22 (part of a long list of forbidden sexual perversions)

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ²¹ 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. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. - Romans 1:20-28

 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
…. ¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. -- I Corinthians 6:9-11, 18-20 (notice the good news in verse 11)

V. False Jesus vs real Jesus

The love-is-all-that-matters, nonjudgmental Jesus created in people’s imagination is not the Jesus who said, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5), or “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11), or “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder” (Mark 7:21), or his chosen apostle’s statement, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable” (I Thessalonians 4:3-4), or “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

He is a Jesus who would say to anyone tempted by sexual sin, “God made you the way you are, including your craving for sex, so let no one disapprove of what you naturally desire. Practice it, celebrate it, and know that anyone who tells you to give it up is not a forgiving Christian, but a bigoted, hateful person.”

VI. A proper response

How are Biblical Christians to respond to false teachings and allegations of bias, bigotry, and prejudice? First, never confuse Jesus’ command to love your neighbor with being afraid to share the truth of God’s Word. However, always do so out of love, not spite, and in a manner consistent with I Peter 3:15-16:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.