Listen:  138.4

I’m not exactly sure what you mean when you say, “because I’m gay,” but if this means that you are currently living a gay lifestyle, then you should be feeling guilty, for Scripture clearly condemns a homosexual lifestyle. This would contradict the profession of faith you’ve made and would call for a repentant heart and confession of this sin before God.  If you have truly received God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and are NO LONGER living a gay lifestyle, you do NOT need to feel guilty. Why? Because God has removed your sin and guilt and He does NOT condemn you. Satan loves to attack the believer and make them feel guilty for sins they’ve committed, but God’s Word assures the believer that he will NEVER be condemned. John 3:17-18 comforts the believer with these words “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned…” On the cross Christ paid for ALL of your sins and though you were once guilty, God has now declared you “not guilty” and has put you in a position where there is “no condemnation.” This position is seen clearly in Romans 8:1 which says “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (NASB). The moment you trusted Christ as your Savior God took you out of your former position as a sinner and He put you “in Christ.” In this new position He sees you in all the value of the work Christ accomplished on the cross. Again, God does NOT condemn you, so do NOT condemn yourself!

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 which reads, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.” Here too we see that the believer is “in Christ” and that he is a “new creation” in God’s sight. Some mistakenly think this verse is teaching us that a believer will no longer sin, that the “old things” refer to “sins” and thus they pass away. But this verse is meant to show us, as Romans 8:1 did, that God sees us in a totally new position before Him.  When we accept Christ as our Savior we are “born again” and thus a “new creation” in God’s sight. This, dear friend, is how we should view ourselves now. Instead of dwelling on “what you WERE,” think of yourself as “what you ARE,” which is a man “in Christ” and a “new creation.” To reinforce this thought let’s consider 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 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).  I would draw your attention especially to those five precious words “Such WERE some of you!” All of us were slaves of sin in one form or another before we believed in Christ, but that’s in the PAST. Do NOT dwell on the “what you were,” but on “what you are.” I have met believers who were alcoholics before they were saved and they still refer to themselves as “recovering alcoholics.” I tell them they need to see themselves as God sees them which will enable them to say, “I WAS an alcoholic, but I’m NOW a new creation in Christ.” In your case you can boldly say, on the authority of Scripture, “I WAS gay, but I’m NOW a new creation in Christ.”

I have one more scripture to share with you that has helped me considerably. In Romans 6:6 we learn “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (NKJV). When Christ was crucified on the cross, God identified us with Christ and condemned our “old man,” which means He condemned “all that we were as members of a fallen human race.” This is linked with all that we have had before us, for because we are seen as being crucified with Christ, we are no longer condemned and are now a “new creation in Christ.” When we are tempted to sin, we need to have this precious, delivering truth before us and then apply it in the power of the Spirit. If you are tempted to go back to a gay lifestyle or to any other sin, take this scripture and face the temptation with this thought, “No, I will NOT go back to what I WAS, for I am now identified with Christ Who died for me. I am NOW a new creation in Christ.” If you can learn to see yourself as a new man in Christ, the “body of sin,” which is the “old nature” you were born with, will be “done away,” which means it will be “put out of commission.” Armed with this truth, you will no “longer be a slave of sin.” Jesus said in John 8:32,”And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” I pray that the truth that has been before us will indeed set you free from feeling guilty and from yielding to any temptation to sin.  (138.4)  (DO)