Gay Christian?

This was originally written and posted on Facebook by Cassidy Martin Phillips. Her response to this timely question was so good that I had to share it as a blog post on my site.

I bet you’ve heard this question thrown around a lot, especially in the past couple decades. However, to get more in depth at the risk of honest vulnerability, maybe this should no longer be the question we use. The night after I got saved in 2015 (after over a decade being attracted to the same sex), I had a lot of questions; that being one of them. I remember the Lord boldly, yet calmly spoke these words to me, “I’ve called you to follow Me into holiness.”

Then came the question that I was afraid to ask but had to for the truth to be known and solidify everything: “Can you be gay and walk in holiness?”

I waited patiently for an answer with preparation of the truth, yet the moment I exhaled the question, my heart started pounding harder and my chest became numb. It terrified me to the core at first. I was afraid that everything could change if He said “No.” But I encountered the One who can answer any question, especially the difficult ones, and answer 100% truthfully but it was up to me to listen.

The answer was so real that I couldn't ignore it anymore. I began feeling hungry to understand and be obedient no matter what He said. He invaded my heart that everything not of God had to be evicted. It was stronger than any affection or attraction that I'd ever felt before. Afterwards, discernment invaded and it all began to make sense. God didn't call me into heterosexuality. He called me into holiness. The Holy Spirit became my guide to live and walk in holiness, therefore I realized the truth.

There is no compromise when you are completely surrendered to Christ and like He said, “You cannot serve two masters.” (You can try, but eventually one will take over the other.)

Before I move on, I want to clarify and elaborate on exactly what holiness is. At first, it was extremely hard for me to accept, but I chose the truth even when pain, compromise, and offense tried to form a barrier between. Offense is a weapon from the enemy used to push back conviction of the Holy Spirit that results in ignorance and close-mindedness [emphasis mine]. You first have to open your heart if you really want to know and walk in the truth.

“...and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

Before I was saved, I believed that you could be a Christian and attracted to the same sex. I met so many people who professed their faith, but were also proud of who they were as a homosexual, bisexual, transgender, etc. After truly accepting Christ into my life, I couldn't understand how. How come I was changed and they weren't? Is that even fair? Why did I lose my same-sex attraction? Then it was revealed. There are many who claim to know Christ, but refuse to give up their ways. Some give only part to God while using the rest to satisfy their temptation.

Toleration is a wall we put up to shun conviction because we truly don't want to be changed by God. A.W. Tozer explains it like this:

“If your Christian conversion did not reverse the direction of your life, if it did not transform it then you are not converted at all. You are simply a victim of the ‘accept Jesus’ heresy.”

It's a choice to accept Jesus, but refusing to fully surrender or walk in it makes the conversion void. Accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are washed and made pure only if you surrender your whole life to Him. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says

“If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”

When I was called to deny myself, I laid down my desires, my own beliefs, “my truth”, and especially my pride. You can never have a full desire to follow Christ if you continue to hold on to desires of the self. When you fully lay down yourself and truly accept a desire to follow Christ, sanctification takes place.

The definition of sanctified means to be set apart as or be declared holy. Walking in holiness means to walk in your new identity of sanctification; no longer who you used to be. It says that through Christ and by the Spirit, we are transformed. Therefore, my new identity was embraced and welcomed into my heart.

It felt like a new beginning and everything that previously happened no longer mattered; every choice, every word, every accusation against me was no longer bound to me. It was His love that led me to conviction, and then came the cleansing process, purification, and then walking blamelessly as a new creation. “The old is gone and the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Every record of my sin was washed in the blood of Jesus. I truly began to understand His sacrifice and how extremely vital it is, but though I have been made clean, there was a call I could no longer ignore – the call to walk in that freedom and to be set apart and separated for the Lord. I no longer have any desire of returning to my old ways or even picking them up again.

We are called to a life of purity and righteousness, but what exactly is that? It means to not partake in anything against God that is revealed through the Word; to think pure thoughts and make choices based on what is holy. Yes, temptation is still out there orchestrated by an enemy who masquerades as an “angel of light”, encouraging that compromise and sprouting a lie that we can be one and the other, as well as teaching a lie that “my truth” exists. And no, we are not perfect and will fall. That's why we need grace. But we have been given access to listen to the Spirit of Truth who is the main advocate for holiness and will never lead us or go against the Word of God. This is why it's so important to walk out our sanctification in Christ; to deny ourselves daily. Also, we are not to flaunt it, but to be a light to others and expose the truth to those around us. That is what we get to do.

I unapologetically choose to cling to the truth and I will say this: If you don't walk in holiness, you will never walk in wholeness. 1 Peter 1: 13-21