Introduction

Over the last few months, I’ve been watching Reels via YouTube for my news and other social media information. Reels are basically 2-3 minutes long of someone telling you what’s going on in their lives or an excerpt from a longer broadcast. Recently, I saw one reel that appeared to be a religious discussion.

That Familiar Question

A man and woman were seated together; he had a bible in his hand. The woman, presumably the host, asked a question which sounded vaguely familiar to me. She asked the man, “Does the bible really condemn homosexuality?” His response was, “No” and then proceeded to quote 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. He was using the King James Version which uses the word, ‘effeminate’ in verse 9, ignoring the phrase, “abusers of themselves with mankind.”

I tuned it out after that. But this is how people are justifying homosexuality today. The word, homosexual, didn’t come about until the late 19^th century.

Others will claim that the homosexual acts condemned in scripture were that of pagan practice. However you view it, it is still condemned overall (Rom. 1:26-27f). What I want to focus on for this article was her question. Not so much the subject but the framing of it.

The First Question

Going back to the Garden of Eden a question was asked of the woman Eve. In Genesis 3:1, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

This was the first influence of Satan. He made both Adam and Eve to doubt what God really said to them. Rather than outright disagree with God’s statement, Satan craftily posed a question to make them hesitate. He, of course, followed it with his own statement in verse 4-5, Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The Triple Threat

The result of this scene is found in verse 6, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

This is what I call the triple threat. I’d say most, if not all, sin involves three characteristics. Let’s look at the verse again and break it down:

1. The tree was good for food
2. It was pleasant to the eyes
3. A tree desirable to make one wise

By themselves, these seem to be harmless statements. But here’s what the apostle John wrote, For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:16.)

Satan wanted Adam and Eve to ignore what God said by pointing out the worldly aspects of the situation. Below, is a chart of how Eve perceived the fruit and John’s statement that is connected to it.

Conclusion

As John wrote in the previous verse, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15) If you have to question what the bible really says without reading yourself, you do yourself a great disservice and are being influenced by Satan. So many out there don’t want to read and/or study the bible but rather to have the preacher do it for them.

Don’t trust anyone to tell you what the bible says. Read it for yourself! As Luke wrote, These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)