"How should I witness to a homosexual?"
Rather than offend homosexuals
by directly confronting the issue of their sinful lifestyle,
modern evangelism often tries to soften the approach
by saying that "God hates the sin, but loves the
sinner." This isn’t a new concept.
Charles Finney stated, "God
is not angry merely against the sin abstracted from
the sinner, but against the sinner himself. Some persons
have labored hard to set up this ridiculous and absurd
abstraction, and would fain make it appear that God
is angry at sin, yet not at the sinner. He hates the
theft, but loves the thief. He abhors adultery, but
is pleased with the adulterer. Now this is supreme nonsense.
The sin has no moral character apart from the sinner.
The act is nothing apart from the actor. The very thing
that God hates and disapproves is not the mere event—the
thing done in distinction from the doer; but it is the
doer himself. It grieves and displeases Him that a rational
moral agent, under His government, should array himself
against his own God and Father, against all that is
right and just in the universe. This is the thing that
offends God. The sinner himself is the direct and the
only object of his anger."
So the Bible shows. God
is angry with the wicked [Psalm 7:11], not with the
abstract sin. If the wicked turn not, God will whet
His sword—He has bent His bow and made it ready—not
to shoot at the sin, but the sinner—the wicked
man who has done the abominable thing. This is the only
doctrine of either the Bible or of common sense on this
subject" (The Guilt of Sin).
The biblical way to witness
to a homosexual is not to argue with him about his lifestyle
but to use the Law to bring the knowledge of sin. This
will show him that he is guilty of breaking God’s
holy Law, and he is damned not because of, but despite
his sexual preference. The Law was made for homosexuals,
as well as other lawbreakers. See Psalm 5:5 and 2 Peter
2:6–8 footnotes.
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