Gay Marriage

Some Theses on “Gay Marriage”
With respect to the very current debate of so-called “gay marriage”, we submit the following theses for the benefit of our congregation.

1. God’s Word is clear in its condemnation of homosexual activity.
In Romans 1, Paul makes it clear that homosexual activity is an affront to God. He speaks of homosexuality in such terms: “shameful lusts” and “unnatural relations”, “indecent acts” and “perversion”.

2. God’s Word is clear that Christ died for the sins of all, including homosexuals.
Scripture speaks in harsh terms of all sin, but offers sweet Gospel for those who confess sin and receive Christ’s forgiveness in faith. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:10)

3. God’s Word is clear that He, not Man, is the creator of marriage.
Jesus quotes and confirms Genesis: “at the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female’. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Mark 10:6-7).

4. God’s Word is clear that marriage is designed as a union of man and woman.
In all of creation no “suitable helper” could be found for Adam, so God created woman especially for the man. He made her “suitable” and “brought her to the man”. This is the intentional design of a Creator who knows best. When He had created both male and female, only then was creation declared “very good” (See Genesis 1 & 2).

5. God’s Word is clear that marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship with His bride, the Church. God’s gift of marriage also holds deep theological meaning for His people. “For the Husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior”
(Ephesians 5:23). What sort of confusion will follow when this image is tampered with?

6. God’s Word is clear that in marriage, husbands and wives hold distinct roles.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) “…and the wife must respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33)
What sort of role confusion is implied in a marriage with 2 husbands or 2 wives?

7. God’s Word is clear that marriage, as He has given it, is a blessing.
Scripture is replete with references, explicit and implicit, to the blessings that come from God through marriage. Such blessings are obvious, and include companionship, love, and when it is God’s will, the procreation and nurture of children.

We hope and pray that God’s clear will for marriage will be respected, and that marriage, as given and instituted by God, will continue to be a blessing in our world.

We hope and pray that homosexuality, as all sins, will be recognized and confessed, that it might be forgiven in Christ. For this too is God’s clear will!

We encourage individual members of Grace to actively work through the means God has provided, exercising rights of citizenship, to influence public policy in a God-pleasing way.

The Board of Elders of Grace Lutheran Church, Racine, Wisconsin,
Pastor Randal Poppe, Pastor Thomas Chryst
Adopted 4/6/04

Resources for further study:
- “What About…. Homosexuality?” pamphlet, available in our church library.
- A statement from the President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, available online at:
http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/Office of the President/Protection of Marriage Statement.pdf