Canada’s New Ban on “Conversion Therapy” Is a  Declaration of War on Christianity and God, Part 2

Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything.
—C. S. Lewis—

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Key point: It is no coincidence that the very people who have used ideas like autonomy and freedom to normalize homosexuality are denying autonomy and freedom to those who wish to abandon it — even in their own personal and private lives.

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You can access all the articles in this series from this page.

Last time we noted that on

Sunday, January 16, 2022, a significant number of pastors in Canada and the United States preached on the important subject of biblical sexuality. Their united effort was coordinated and carried out in response to a law in Canada that took effect on January 7. “Bill C-4,” — and the law that resulted from it, are

aimed at preventing any form of conversion therapy by therapists or pastors or religious leaders of [or for] those who are not heterosexual but wish to change their sexual “orientation” to heterosexual. This would apply to…anyone from the LGBTQ community. It is now illegal in Canada to counsel anyone who wishes to “convert” to heterosexual.

Now, we live at a time and in a culture that claims to celebrate autonomy, personal freedom, tolerance, and diversity. However, if the culture truly wanted to uphold these, it would respect those who, of their own free will, desire overcome same-sex attraction and to have heterosexual desires. Just what is at work here, driving these people to use C-4 to prohibit others from charting and pursuing the destinies they themselves want to pursue?

The Real Target: God

C-4 isn’t just an attack on conventional wisdom and nature, but on Christianity and the Bible. Ultimately, it also is an attack on God’s design for humanity and even on God Himself.

Scripture affirms and assumes heterosexuality. At the dawn of creation, God

^{Genesis 1:26} said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

“The LORD God” created the man first, but then He said,

^{Genesis 2:18} “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Thus, at the dawn of time, when He created the first man and the first woman, God also created marriage and the family. He created these, not just for the benefit of humanity, but also as a reflection of the unity and diversity within Himself, and ultimately as a picture of Christ and His relationship to the church.

This is not to say that everyone must marry, but it is to say that heterosexuality is woven into the fabric of God’s design. Moreover, so are maleness and femaleness, with each one being rooted in biological realities. During His ministry, Jesus explicitly affirmed these teachings from the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2. (The above photograph is of Matthew 19:4-6, where Jesus echoed Genesis 1:27; 2:24.) While we have no record of Jesus ever saying anything against homosexuality, His affirmation of the creation order, which includes heterosexuality and man-woman marriage, makes crystal clear His position on homosexuality. And here’s another point. Scripture itself, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, speaks directly against homosexuality and declares it to be sinful.

Jesus Changes Lives!

But wait! More needs to be said. Homosexuality is not an unforgivable sin. Nor does a homosexual need Jesus’ blood to cleanse his or her sins any more than do other sinners need it to cleanse theirs. All sinners are hopeless without Christ, and all Christians are equal at the foot of the cross, because no one has done or can do anything to merit spending eternity with God in heaven. Here’s what the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:

⁹ [D]o you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (NASB, 1995, emphasis added).

Homosexuality, like all other sins, is a practice that Christians — those who have been made alive with Christ — must abandon and “put to death.” Why? because “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” A Christian’s identity is in Christ; it can never be rooted in sin in any form.

We can readily admit that a Christian with homosexuality in his or her past may struggle to overcome homosexual sins, and he or she may struggle greatly and for a long time. Old habits die hard, but God enables His people to live pure lives, even when they are tempted to do otherwise.

Holiness Includes Heterosexuality

No Christian who’s been forgiven of homosexual sins has a right to claim that homosexuality is compatible with Christianity. It isn’t. It has become fashionable for many people today to say, “God hasn’t called the individual coming to Him out of homosexuality to heterosexuality, but to holiness.” Be careful here! While the individual’s struggle to resist homosexual temptations is real, so is God’s power to help him or her overcome temptations! As we said in an earlier post,

• • • We never would say God doesn’t call a thief-turned-Christian to be productive and generous, but to holiness. [See Eph. 4:28.]
    • We never would say that God doesn’t call a liar-turned-Christian to tell the truth, but to holiness.
    • Nor would we ever say that God doesn’t call a murderer to cease killing people, but to holiness.

God calls all His people to forsake sin, and for the forgiven homosexual, that means moving toward, or at least striving, with God’s help, to move toward, heterosexuality. Heterosexuality, you see, is a part of God’s good design, and part of His call to holiness. Homosexuality is contrary to that design.

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Heterosexuality is a part of holiness, because it is a part of God’s good design for humanity, and because homosexuality stands contrary to that design.

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Aiming for God and Christianity

As we said last time, in the lives of many homosexuals, unaddressed emotional wounds exist and remain open. Healing needs to take place, and counseling can help bring healing in the lives of many — if competent counselors and therapy are available. We should not be surprised at this, because numerous other developmental and/or emotional issues have similar causes.

C-4 in Canada and similar laws in the United States are designed to stand in the way of those who want to overcome homosexuality and same-sex attraction. Yet, the effect of C-4 goes far beyond the arena of counseling and therapy. Observers note that it can be used to criminalize biblical teachings on sexuality. Here’s the bottom line: God and Christianity are its primary targets. Read again the preamble to the new law:

Whereas conversion therapy causes harm to the persons who are subjected to it;

Whereas conversion therapy causes harm to society because, among other things, it is based on and propagates myths and stereotypes about sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including the myth that heterosexuality, cisgender gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions;

And whereas, in light of those harms, it is important to discourage and denounce the provision of conversion therapy in order to protect the human dignity and equality of all Canadians;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows…

C-4 and its proponents, therefore, are effectively shaking their fists in God’s face. They are defiantly saying, We know better than You what to do, and we’re going to do what we want to do! We will not follow Your design, and we will keep everyone we can from following it, as well. 

Sawing Off the Branch on Which They Themselves Are Sitting

Despite the ways the Bible, Christianity, and biblical teachings on sexuality have been castigated as “harmful” in C-4, Christianity has been an overwhelming force for good in the world. This is just as true with regard to sexuality, marriage, and the family as it has been with every other arena in culture and life.

A society without clear sexual boundaries will be chaotic and abusive; it cannot be orderly and free. Regardless of their intentions, those who are championing C-4 are paving the way for the demise and ultimate destruction of genuine freedom in society and culture. They are, albeit unknowingly, promoting bondage — especially their own. They are sawing off the very branch on which they themselves are sitting.

Next time, we’ll talk about what the church and its leaders are doing to oppose C-4 and to promote the Bible’s teachings on sexuality. While biblical teachings have been characterized as overly restrictive, antiquated, and oppressive, they are genuinely liberating…

…and those who want to pursue them ought too be able to without being hindered or penalized by other people or by the government.

 

Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

top image credit: Lightstock

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

One passage has been quoted from the 1995 edition of the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.