Here We Stand
Changing the law of the land does not and will never change the law of God. The Supreme Court decision gives legal sanction and protection to behavior that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, calls sinful.
While our love for God and fidelity to His word will not allow us to support or participate in same sex marriage, at the same time we affirm our duty to love and reach out in Jesus’ name to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation. As those needing God’s mercy and saved by His grace, we cannot but extend mercy and grace to others through the gospel.
We will respectfully decline to participate in, bless or sanction any same sex union. When the laws of man and the laws of God collide, we choose to obey God. As in the early church: But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, was full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) As Christ followers, we purpose to be like Him. We will not sacrifice grace to truth, nor truth to grace.
God designed marriage as a lifelong union of one man and one woman. We choose to honor God’s design and purposes for marriage in our own lives. We commit ourselves to our walk in faithfulness to the wedding vows we have made and to walk in love toward our wives.
We commit to diligently follow the good ways of the Lord and teach them to our children, and as shepherds, to model and teach them to our congregations. All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13)
We commit to pray for our nation with renewed vigor as this issue reveals an increasing rejection of God and His authority over His creation.
We affirm God’s sovereignty over all times and all peoples and believe that in the midst of this, God’s purposes stand firm—Jesus says: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
All this we will do with the strength God provides.
July 1, 2015
(The above statement was signed by all the Pastors of Island Christian Church)
This Statement delineates our deeply held convictions regarding the design and sanctity of marriage.
To further equip us to think Scripturally about this issue, let’s investigate these articles:
- Why the Church Should Neither Cave nor Panic about the Decision on Gay Marriage. by Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention which appeared in the Washington Post.
- The following article, 5 Things Jesus says to the Gay Community is helpful, but the fifth statement, while true, lacks the urgency with which Jesus addressed those who needed to repent of sin of any kind. Sin not only offends God but it is harmful to those He loves, and so Jesus urges immediate repentance.
