When Good Becomes Evil and Evil Becomes Good

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
- Isaiah 5:20

In this particular verse the prophet Isaiah is describing one of the sins that the Jewish people are guilty of that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians in 720 BC, and later on to the destruction of the Southern Kingdom by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

This was not the only sin mentioned in this passage; abuse of alcohol, immoral revelry, dishonesty, corruption and arrogance before God were other violations that were cited. These things were serious enough but in verse 20 Isaiah describes not just a sinful act but rather what this sinful nation had come to: they were so wicked and proud that they celebrated and promoted what was essentially evil, and labeled as evil what had traditionally been seen as good.

Isaiah was telling the people that they had completely reversed the moral order and that God would punish them for this. It wasn't simply that they had failed to obey or comply to God's moral order, nothing new there, people had always failed in this regard. What was new was their attempt to actually change the order itself so that sinfulness was now considered acceptable, and holiness, faith and obedience were to be rejected.

Isaiah was warning them that once they headed down this road the only result would be destruction. Destruction because if they completely rejected God's moral order and created one of their own, they would no longer be of any use to Him as His chosen people.

Trying but failing to obey God's commands left them depending on God's mercy and strength for life and salvation, and this was acceptable to God. Making up and following their own laws and moral framework would, as history shows, lead to a complete shattering of their nation.

The Supreme Court's Decision

We don't use the term "call evil good and good evil" anymore. Today we have more subtle ways of deconstructing the moral order set by God in His Word. We say things like:

• love is what matters
• every lifestyle deserves respect
• we must guarantee everyone's rights
• gender equality
• marriage equality
• a woman's right to choose
• and my personal favorite: "You don't want to be on the wrong side of history do you?" Meaning you need to keep up with the "new" order, or else pay the consequences.

Don't get me wrong, these terms are legitimate in themselves. Love does matter and we must respect everyone and this idea is often guaranteed by Law. But these terms have been hijacked by godless ideologues who use them to recreate the moral order of our nation into something that would have been unrecognizable to most Americans 75 years ago, and contrary to God's Word in any generation. I don't need to drag out a laundry list of social ills that plague our nation to make my point, one example can serve to represent the rest.

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision, made marriage between two men or two women legal in all 50 states.

I don't have the time to list all the twisted arguments, political pressures and likely fall-out from this ruling in this short book. Suffice to say that American society, groomed by decades of morally decadent entertainment, misinformed by a secular news media and educational system, and brainwashed by a wealthy and politically well connected Gay lobby actually bought into the ridiculous premise that two men or two women should be able to marry each other with all the rights and privileges that heterosexual couples have.

I say ridiculous because the one basis that all cultures and religions throughout history have agreed on is that marriage is the best environment or relationship to have and raise children.

I say ridiculous because this is the only thing Gay couples cannot do! They can marry, have sex, build a house, live together for 100 years, yes they can even love each other; but they cannot naturally produce a child which is the essential, human, moral and social reason for marriage in the first place!

I could say immoral, unbiblical, unchristian and defend each argument, but I say ridiculous because Gay marriage should never have passed this very lowest bar of credibility.

However, five lawyers who embodied the entire social and intellectual waste of this generation's foolish thinking decided to change the moral order set by God and followed by all societies for thousands of years. Isaiah spoke of these when he said:

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!
- Isaiah 5:21

These three women and two men on the Supreme Court who voted in this way have now enshrined in law a new standard for what is right and what is wrong when it comes to not only marriage, but sexual expression as well.

I'm not one to predict the end of this nation or the time it would take place, God decides these things, but when I saw a picture of the White House lit up in the rainbow colors of the Gay pride movement on the front page of the USA Today newspaper, I knew that something profound had taken place in our country, and there would be no going back to where we once were.

The Wrong Side of History

The proponents of same-sex marriage from the President to the Judges and most news and entertainment personalities love to warn Christians that we're on the wrong side of history in this matter.

They compare this ruling to the emancipation of the slaves after the Civil War, or the right to vote for women. Their argument is that those who are against same-sex marriage today are like the ones who were for slavery in the past or those who didn't want women to have the right to vote. Talk about the wrong side of history!

This accusation coming from people who have ignored and perverted history in order to force their fake civil rights agenda down the throat of an uninformed and gullible nation. The diabolic cleverness of their argument is that they are correct in stating the fact that not allowing Gay couples to marry is discrimination.

For example, not allowing marriage between black and white people, this is discrimination. Not allowing a woman to vote because she is a woman is discrimination. Paying a handicapped accountant less then a non-handicapped accountant is discrimination.

So in this sense they have a correct way to argue their case. For example, if a man and woman can marry, it is discrimination not to let two men or two women marry. After all, they are consenting adults who love each other.

Please do not misunderstand, I said that they have found a correct way to argue their case; an argument based on the principle of civil and human rights. But the argument itself is false: civil or human rights protection is given to those who are by nature or some event brought into a certain condition or status.

In other words, a situation or status over which you have no choice (i.e. you are born or become handicapped in some way, your gender or culture). These are things you have no control over and there are legal protections set in place so that you are not abused or discriminated against just because you are a woman, you are black or you are handicapped in some way.

For many years homosexuals tried to gain acceptance for their lifestyle by using the scientific argument that they were just born that way; it was genetics. They touted research (much of it done by gay researchers) that "suggested" that there might be a link between homosexual behavior and biology. The problem was that they never found the genetic "silver bullet" that proved the existence of a "Gay gene" and if you had it, you would automatically be disposed to homosexuality.

The strongest argument against the "Gay gene" theory was the result of the famous twins research. Here I will read from the report on this research:

"Eight major studies of more than 10,000 sets of identical twins during the last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: Gays were not born that way. 'At best, genetics is a minor factor,' says Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD in biochemistry and statistics. Identical twins have the same genes or DNA and they are nurtured in equal prenatal conditions. Therefore, if homosexuality is caused by genetics or prenatal conditions and one twin is gay, the co-twin should also be gay. If both twins are not gay, then homosexuality cannot be genetically dictated. "The predominant things that create homosexuality in one identical twin and not in the other have to be post-birth factors."
Same-sex attraction (homosexuality) is caused by non-shared factors — things that happen to one twin but not the other, or a personal response to an event by one of the twins and not the other."
- My Genes Made Me Do It!:
Homosexuality and the Scientific Evidence
Neil Whitehead and Briar Whitehead

This is just one of many scientific studies that concluded that genetics had little or no effect on same-sex attraction. The consensus continues to be that same-sex attraction develops when a person is exposed to various experiences and situations as they grow up; for example, homes with no father or a dominant mother and weak father, early exposure to pornography (especially Gay pornography), sexual and physical abuse, same-sex experimentation during puberty, sexual confusion or anxiety, or a permissive society that encourages this lifestyle.

Not everyone who experiences these things becomes Gay, but many of these factors are present in the lives of those who experience same-sex attraction.

Seeing that the scientific argument was going nowhere, the Gay movement switched tactics and began a push to find legitimacy using human and civil rights arguments. They cast themselves as victims of discrimination, tied their wagon to the American Civil Rights Movement, and pressured government using this new approach.

This is why I say that the way they argue is effective (it convinced the media, courts, President and public opinion), but the substance of their argument is false and here's why: to achieve the status of a discriminated against minority, one has to show that their condition is due to:

1. Genetics – race, gender, handicap, etc.
2. Events – accident/injury, loss of ability, etc.
3. Condition – black and poor, ex-convict, immigrant, etc.

Homosexuals fail to qualify in any of these categories.

1. Homosexuality is not the result of genetics. This is not just my opinion, this is scientific fact!
2. No one forces one to become gay, it is a condition that evolves slowly, mostly based on experience, environment and decisions made.
3. Gays are not a downtrodden minority needing protection. They do and have wielded more influence than any other group that at most comprises of about 2% of the total population (Whitehead's research also shows that about 50% of the gay population drifts back to heterosexual behavior as they grow older).

So the point I am making is that Gays have won a significant legal victory by successfully using a false argument to make same-sex marriage possible in all 50 states.

When they say, "You don't want to be on the wrong side of history, do you?" this is just the shorthand way of tying their cause with the civil rights movement and casting those who disagree as racists, prejudiced and narrow-minded relics of the past. Don't be fooled by their slippery rhetoric and false argument.

Where To Now?

The big question among Christians now that the ruling of the court has come down is, "Where to now?" How do we change this ruling? What kind of laws should we create to protect churches, ministers and Christian institutions like schools and colleges against lawsuits and other attacks?

I suppose these things need to be considered, but for most of us Christians who are not lawyers or responsible for Christian-based organizations, what do we do in the face of this change in the moral order of our country? Here are some suggestions:

1. Stop being surprised and discouraged at what an unbelieving and unregenerated world does!

¹Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ²so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. ³For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. ⁴In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; ⁵but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
- I Peter 4:1-5

From the very beginning, the church has been at odds with the world; Peter is reminding his readers of the status quo that existed then and continues until now. What did you think would happen when the Supreme Court refused to hear or give credit to any argument for traditional marriage based on the Bible? You could argue your case from any point of view except from the Bible's point of view. What kind of law did you think would be created when the judges refused to take into consideration any direction supplied by the original Law-Giver?

In this world there is only discouragement and turmoil, don't let that reality get you down. Remember what Jesus said in John 16:33b: "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

2. Stop worrying about the decline of the world – it's normal!

Christians stress over the decline of morality, values and conduct in their world. They worry if their grandchildren will be able to survive. The moral condition of the world goes up and down in a cyclical fashion. There were times that were terrible (Roman Empire, Middle Ages) and times that were, relatively speaking, good (after WWII in America). But the pendulum swings between the two extremes and will continue to do so until Jesus comes.

³⁶"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
- Matthew 24:36-39

The thing to be concerned about is not the condition of an unbelieving and wicked world; no, the thing to focus on is our own readiness. Unlike the world, we know that Jesus is coming and we know how to be ready for Him. The Bible has already told us that the world won't be ready, it will come by surprise; no need to stress out over that. Just make sure you are ready!

3. Stop trying to "fix" the world.

There are any number of organizations who are trying to fix things: the environment, the poor, immigrants, rights of women, Gays, Black Lives Matter, etc. I'm not saying that these and other efforts are wasted or not worthy, Christianity needs to affect the world in a positive and constructive way like salt and light. But these things don't achieve our primary goal as a church which is the salvation of souls. Jesus didn't tell us to go out and "fix" the world, He told us to call all people to come out of the world and into the kingdom of God, which is the church.

We can't save the world, it is already set for destruction when Jesus comes. We can only provide the means to escape the world and the sure destruction it will suffer, and that is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no fixing the world, there is only coming out of it.

Summary

In closing I'd like to acknowledge that we are on the wrong side of history, the history being written by this unbelieving generation:

• Just like Noah was on the wrong side of history for 100 years...till it started to rain.
• Just like Isaiah who largely spoke of things few of any of his generation understood.
• Just like Jeremiah who was ignored for most of his life and ministry...till the invading armies showed up.
• Just like Jesus was seemingly silenced for three days and three nights...till resurrection Sunday.

I'd rather be on the wrong side of history written by man than the wrong side of God and what is written in His book of life!

So let's not be discouraged or afraid. This may be a time of testing and pruning for the church, for ourselves and our faith. Is losing our tax-exempt status going to keep us from going to church? Let us not compromise what we know to be true about marriage from God's Word.

We need to find ways to articulate this without being mean-spirited or angry. Much of what turns people against us is not simply our Bible teachings, it's our self-righteous and mean-spirited attitude at times. It is unfortunate that there are times when homosexuals cannot see Christ in us and so it makes it easy for them to reject Him because of us.

Never mind the world and its wickedness, let us simply focus on what we're supposed to be doing.

Let us be about our Father's business. Not fixing the world or being discouraged by the sin in the world, but rather preaching the Good News to the world. If we are busy doing this, we won't be burdened by the other.

Isaiah has gone before us warning that there would be times when evil would be considered good and good evil. We are living in those times. However, as Christians, we know what to do. Let's get busy doing it.