For My Transgender Friend #1

So, we've got a double problem in that we deserve judgment and we lack the righteousness that God requires. Well, the Bible says that Christ is the answer to that dilemma.

He shed his blood and offered that life up as a sacrifice to a holy God to satisfy, to turn away the wrath of God from sinners like you and me. The Bible is clear that the transgender worldview is blatantly opposed to the Christian worldview. But as Christians, what should we tell those people struggling with gender confusion? Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Today on the Truth Pulpit, Pastor Don Green continues a series titled The Bible and Pride Month as he continues to teach God's people God's Word. Don, some of us may have loved ones who identify as transgender, but we struggle with loving them yet wanting them to know God's love.

What's your recommendation? Well, Bill, these issues certainly do put us in a pickle sometimes in our personal relationships. But my friend, let me just encourage you with this. Yes, we want to speak gently. We want to speak tenderly to these people who may be hostile to what we have to say, but understand that they need the truth, just like you did before you came to Christ. You were in some kind of manner of sin of your own and someone came and told you about Christ, and now you're so grateful for that person who shared things maybe when you were hostile or indifferent. Well, now it's your turn to be a vessel of grace, to be one who is bringing Christ to someone who needs to hear it, even if they don't want to hear the Word at the time.

You simply share Christ with them and the power of the Holy Spirit and trust God to do his work in their hearts, and God will bless you for it. Thanks, Don. And, Fred, let's join our teacher now with more from the Truth Pulpit. I have spent several weeks in the past couple of months teaching a series titled The Bible and Pride Month, and I have spoken that series based on the text of Scripture and from some very important presuppositions. You see, I am a Christian pastor, and I am committed to the truth claims of the Bible and the truth claims of Jesus Christ. And I'm speaking this message today, this particular message today, in an effort to speak to those who might identify with the transgender community in one way or another. And I ask you to hear me out as I speak and to give me the benefit of 45 minutes of your time and to listen with a receptive ear, even if ultimately you would decide that you don't want anything to do with what I have to say.

What do you have to lose to hear something outside of your worldview for just a short time? You see, the Christian worldview, the worldview of the Bible, is more than simply a critique of the sins of men and the failures of men. The worldview of Christianity gives clarity and it gives hope to transgender people, even as it says that there is a truth claim that overrides and contradicts it. And it's that truth claim to you personally that I want to speak here today. And there's something very important to say and to recognize as I say these things, is that I recognize and I realize that transgender people are not all of one cloth. Transgender people are different from one another, just as Christian people are different from one another. You are not a monolithic group.

You're not all the same, and it would be foolish for any person to speak to you in a way that assumed that you were all alike. Many of you have never even heard about Christ. You've never truly heard about him. I heard of someone recently who didn't even know what the word sermon meant. Heard of others when someone was speaking to them about Christ and the cross. It was new to them.

They had never heard of that. And I realized that there would be many who would identify with the transgender worldview who are in that condition of not even being aware of what the gospel of Jesus Christ is and what it says to you. I want to tell you who Jesus Christ is today and what his claim is on your life. But that's not all. I mean, there are others in the transgender world, transgender community, if you will, that knowingly reject Christ, perhaps based on prior negative religious experience. Your experience of Christianity was negative and turned you away from it.

We could all relate to that to one degree or another. It's not just the world that sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Church of Christ has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I would encourage you to look past that and to look to Christ himself. But in that, I would also want to say this, that in some of your rejections of Christ, some of your pursuits of the transgender world, for some of you, we need to be honest and to state clearly that your intentions are destructive, that your intentions are to destroy things that have been built up, that your intentions are wicked against even Christian people. And to you, I would encourage you to reconsider and to think about the ultimate outcome of what you are pursuing because the judgment of God is a real thing.

And the judgment of God on those who knowingly reject Christ and are wickedly against him is especially severe. And so I give to you a word of warning even as I speak here today. Yours is not one of ignorance. Yours is one of conscious intention to be destructive of the created order that God has established. You're in a position of particular danger, my friend. But beyond that, I would also say this, is that I recognize that some of you are truly hurting in life, and your existence is miserable because of this conflict that you feel inside of yourself.

Perhaps you've even tried to or pursuing detransition, trying to go back to that from which you came. And I would have you that hurt in the midst of your transgender experience to know this, is that a gracious God offers you the mercy of a lifetime, the mercy of eternity, and it's that that I want to share with you in particular here today. So there's multiple applications all coming in the same message and I'll let just let you kind of sort out where you fit in on the scale of those things. What I ask you to do is to hear me out because I am truly speaking to you as a friend even if you don't perceive me that way as we begin. I am speaking to your well-being. I am speaking to help you. I'm speaking to offer you the greatest gift that could possibly be offered to you.

It's my privilege to be able to do that here this morning. And I would say that if someone has given you this message on an audio link or via CD or in a video link, they're trying to be your friend too. They're trying to minister to you and giving you this.

And so I encourage you to respond well to them as well. You know, for many of you I would recognize and imagine that it's hard for you to trust anyone because I know that many of you are in your position with a history of having been abused by people that you trusted. People that hurt you when you were vulnerable.

And that's an awful position for anyone to be in. And so what I have to say to you is a message of mercy from a gracious God who can be trusted no matter what anyone has done to you in the past. It was our Lord Jesus Christ who gave this gracious invitation that you can believe and trust when he said, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

It's that rest that I want to offer to you here this morning. You see, the Bible tells us that there is a gospel. And what the word gospel means is this.

It's a word that means good news. And it's a word of good news to everyone in the world that would hear it. The good news that God would bring to everyone that would hear his word with an open and receptive heart. The gospel is described in the Bible like this, where a man named the Apostle Paul said these words in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He said, now I make known to you, my brethren, the gospel which I preached to you. And then he went on and said what the gospel was. He said that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried. And that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

Now, why would that matter to you? Why is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ good news? And that's what I want to explain to you and to help you see how it applies to you even within your transgender life and your transgender world, what it means for you and what its significance is for you. I believe that everybody ought to be able to hear this at least once in their lifetime, to hear such wonderful news that you ought to be able to hear it at least once explained clearly in a sympathetic way from someone who, on behalf of Christ, is seeking your spiritual good.

Why wouldn't you want to hear that and listen and be able to assess it for yourself? Well, that's what we want to do here in the brief time that we have here this morning. And we need to walk through why we even need good news, because there is some bad news that is embedded in scripture for all of us.

And we'll start here with the first point that I would make to you, that I would share with you here this morning. It's that God is holy. God is holy. You see, the Bible tells us that God is the creator of heaven and earth, that he existed before time began, and everything that we see is a result of the direct creative power of God, that he spoke the worlds into existence, and that this God who is sovereign over all, that he reigns, that he rules, that he's master over all, that it's that God in whom we live and move and have our being.

You can see that in the book of Acts chapter 17 if you want to look it up later in your Bible. And there's something particularly unique about this God, something special about him that makes him different from us. The Bible tells us that this God is holy.

He is morally perfect. He is good in an absolute sense, so good that he cannot tolerate anything in his presence that is inconsistent with his own righteous character. He's holy in the sense also that he is separate from man. He is separate from his creation. Even though he's active in creation, he's completely different and distinct from it. And so great and holy and mighty is he that Scripture says, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. So this is who God is, and this is the God in whom we live and move and have our being. And you might ask the question, what does that have to do with me? I don't even care about God. What difference does it make that God is like that?

I want nothing to do with him. Well, my friend, it's not quite that simple for you. You see, this God is not only holy, he's also a judge, and he is the final judge of the entirety of mankind, of every man, woman, and child that ever lives. Every man, woman, and child will stand before this holy God. The Bible says, also in Acts chapter 17, it says that God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. You see, there is a real day of judgment that is coming that every one of us will stand before this holy God and give an account to him for the way that we've lived. Judgment is coming to all. You, my transgender friend, will one day stand before a holy God, and he will require an account from you for the way that you've lived your life. Now, you might say, so what?

What do I have to fear? Why does this even pertain to me? I don't even believe in that God. Well, it's not quite that simple. The fact that you don't believe in him does not change the reality of his existence, and it does not change or alter in any way, shape, or form his intention to bring judgment upon all men, that all men will give an account to him, and that includes you, and you cannot exempt yourself from that judgment by denying his reality.

It doesn't work that way. And because of that, my next explanation, my next point for you has a particular relevance for you. Our second point here this morning is that you are sinful. You are sinful, and that's a problem. To say that you're sinful is simply a way of saying, we could say in readily understandable language, is that you don't meet the standard that God requires.

Neither do I, frankly. You see, God requires perfection to enter his presence, and anyone who lacks perfection will face his judgment. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, you are to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

And my friend, my transgender friend, even if you're sympathetic to that worldview, even though you don't practice it yourself, you need to understand something really important. It is precisely at this point that you have reason to fear, because you do not meet God's standard of perfection. Scripture describes you in this way, as it describes all men.

Not simply you in a transgender world, but what is said to all men, including the people that are listening to me as I give this message here today. You do not meet God's standard of perfection. You are not a basically good person that simply has a conflict inside of your soul.

You see, the Bible says that your very nature, the very person that you are at the very core of who you are, is depraved, is hostile to God, is dead in trespasses and sin, and that there is not a spark of righteousness in you, just like there was not one in me in a prior time in my life. You see, the Bible says in Romans chapter 3 that there is none righteous, not even one. There's none who understands. There's none who seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless.

There is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave with their tongues, they keep deceiving. Now my friend, this is a tremendous problem for all of us, and a particular problem for you as you're hearing me, as I'm speaking directly to you, is that this is a biblical description of what you're like inside, apart from Christ. You're not righteous, you don't understand, you don't seek for God, you don't do good, and your throat is an open grave.

That's really serious. And why is that such a problem? It's a problem because God is holy, because God is a God of truth, of absolute truth, and he does not allow any deception or any lies or anything like that in his presence, nor the ones who practice such things. And so we find that there is a terrible problem here that is of consequence that goes beyond our lives. You see, my friend, you see God is an eternal God, and a violation of his character, a sin against him, is a matter of eternal consequence. It's something that requires eternal judgment, everlasting condemnation, because it's not simply that we lie to one another and maybe we hurt each other humanly in the process.

A holy God sees that and rejects it and judges it because it's a violation of the very nature that he is. And this coming judgment as we all march down the aisle toward judgment with God, we're carrying a weight of deception, a weight of sin, a weight of rebellion and indifference to God that we're going to show up on judgment day. What do you expect to happen to you when that comes?

That can't go well for you, my friend, just like it couldn't go well for anyone in this room that's listening to me. And Scripture makes this very, very evident. It's a very burdensome thing to say things like this out because I'm concerned not only for the glory of God, but I'm concerned for the reality of your eternal soul, because the Bible says that those who die in sin will face eternal death. Scripture says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, it says this, the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.

This is pretty serious. It's not like God didn't tell us in advance about his intentions to judge the world. Now, my friend, I want to be really clear here in terms of what I'm saying to you. Your sin against God is more than being transgender, although it does include that. You see, it's a bigger problem than the way that we choose to live life or the way that we choose to represent ourselves before men or even the way that we choose to think about ourselves.

Those things are involved, but it's a bigger problem than that, and that's what you really need to understand. You see, your sin is the fact that you've lived for self, not for Christ. Your sin is that you have not loved Christ or known him. See, you are like I once was. You're lost, and your sins have separated you from God, and that you are dwelling in darkness, and you are moving forward to a judgment from a God that you do not know and who has declared his intention to judge people just like you. What an awful place to be in. It breaks my heart to think about it.

It truly does. And you see, friends, I can understand the situation because I was there too. I was never transgender, but I was a sinner rebelling against God who had no use for God. I had no desire for his word, no desire for Christ. I was once lost also, and so I speak to you as one who's been there in the realm of my own manifestation of sin, you might say. How is there any good news when we are like that and when there is judgment coming and we can't undo the consequences of our sin? My friend, let me tell you, you cannot work your way out of that situation. You cannot suddenly get religion and fix it because your account carries a debt of sin and guilt that you do not have the power to forgive. You can't forgive it?

You don't have the power to wash it away? How then is there any hope? Where can we go for good news? Let's get to the good news then. The good news, and the third matter that I would share with you this morning is this, is that Jesus Christ is the Savior.

He is the Savior, the one and only, the Savior of the world, the only Savior that the world knows. There is no salvation for you in your transgender worldview. There is no salvation for you amongst your transgender friends. There is no salvation for you among those who would affirm you in your chosen lifestyle.

There is no hope in that. You need to come to Christ to find the only hope that can deliver you from eternal judgment. And the wonderful thing about the message of the Gospel, the wonderful thing about Jesus Christ is this, is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners just like you, and sinners just like me, and sinners just like the ones that are hearing me in this room here this morning. You see, the eternal Son of God took on the body of a man and thereby gave meaning to our physical flesh and our physical existence. The eternal Son of God became man so that he could identify with men, and he had a specific reason for doing that.

In grace and in mercy he was coming to save people just like you from sin. You see, unlike all of us, Christ actually did live a perfect life. He lived a perfectly righteous life in complete obedience to this holy God. And he did so as the eternal Son of God.

He was God himself in human flesh. And Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapter 8, he said, I always do the things that are pleasing to my Father. Scripture says, maybe you've heard the verse, John 3 16, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

You see, this is a command that comes with a promise attached. The command is repent and believe in Christ. Receive him unconditionally.

The promise is complete forgiveness of all of your sins, complete welcome into the family of God, complete heaven forever with him. And so, my friend, in the name of Christ I call upon you to repent of your sins and to believe in Christ for eternal salvation. I plead with you, as the Apostle Paul said, I beg you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. The Bible says that all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. And that's why we need a Savior, Jesus Christ. And whether people believe in him now or not, they will one day stand before him. So our role is to help others embrace his love and truth now so they too can discover true freedom in Christ.

And now Don's back in studio. He has a closing message about this series. Well, my friend, thank you for being with us today on The Truth Pulpit. You know, our biblical voice on these ethical matters is an increasingly minority opinion in culture today. But I'm encouraged nonetheless. It may surprise you to know that our ministry reaches nearly all 50 states and over 40 countries on a consistent monthly basis.

And so God's word is having an impact and he will never allow it to return void. You know, friend, would you consider supporting our broadcast to enable these podcasts and airing over local radio stations to continue as we minister God's word? You can find the ability to give on our website, thetruthpulpit.com.

That's thetruthpulpit.com. Thank you so much and God bless you. Thanks Don. And friends, that's all the time we have for today. I'm Bill Wright, inviting you back next time when Don Green continues teaching God's people God's word from The Truth Pulpit.