The incursion of Revoice theology into the PCA has caused great division and confusion in our churches. We have been told to accept as an “orientation” what God’s Word calls “contrary to nature” and “dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26-27). Some of our own Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders have made and continue to make the claim that homosexual desires are akin to blindness; a disability not a moral problem. Please understand that such a claim represents a bold contradiction to the witness of God’s Word. In equating dishonorable passions to a physical disability, they deny that homosexual attractions are sinful in and of themselves.
We are told that those who experience but do not physically act upon their unnatural affections are “brave” and “self-denying” for abstaining from sin. But are “brave” and “courageous” the right words to describe abstinence from abominable sin? Would we describe the man who does not commit adultery as courageous for not doing so? Mortifying sin is not courageous; it is the duty we owe our King.
We are told by some pastors in the PCA that those with unnatural affections will almost certainly not experience a change in those affections. Indeed, the belief that those enslaved by unnatural desires for the same sex can actually see those desires changed by the sanctifying power of God’s grace was described as “Wesleyan” and “Keswick” spirituality. We were told that any expectation that God’s sanctifying grace can re-order a sinful affection was “not Reformed.” Such a claim reflects, at best, a lack of understanding concerning what the Bible and our confessions actually teach about sanctification.
The weak and ineffectual doctrine of sanctification taught within the “Side B homosexual” and Revoice camps leaves no real hope for the one struggling with unnatural desires. We’ve been told by one of our pastors that “Jesus didn’t make me straight.” We’ve been told that the homosexual “orientation” will not or is highly likely not to change. And rather than lament such a sorry state, we’ve even been told that there will be “queer treasures” in the new creation. Is this what now passes in the PCA for a biblical and Reformed doctrine of sanctification? Does the gospel offer no hope for these men, other than life-long celibacy and childlessness?
There are implications for ordained office as well. For the first time the PCA has ordained men who identify themselves as gay, with the understanding that this “orientation” is in and of itself not a sin to be mortified but only the lusts or actions that may spring from that “orientation.” This sort of linguistic and doctrinal gymnastics is what happens when contemporary therapeutic categories shape our interpretation of Scripture. Read more»
Todd Pruitt | “A Clear Message from the 48th General Assembly of the PCA” | Reformation 21 | July 5, 2021
Resources
- How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia
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- Heidelmedia Resources
- The Ecumenical Creeds
- The Reformed Confessions
- The Heidelberg Catechism
- Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008).
- Post-GA: Resources For The PCA Between Now And The Next Presbytery
- “Homosexual” And “Homosexuality” In The New Testament
- All Welcome. No Exceptions.
- Homosexual Desire Is Also Sin
- On Jesus, Assumptions, Temptation, And Speculation
- Gay Christians?
- Same-Sex Attraction Is Not A Means of Grace
- Therapy, Sin, and Shame
- Is Persisting Sin Our Identity And May We Offer It To God?
- Presbyterians And Homosexuals Together: The Crisis Of Christ And Culture
- The Judgment Of An Apostolic Father On Homosexuality
- All Sins Are Not Alike: Porneia, Chastity, And Wisdom
- Paul Cites Homosexual Behavior As Proof of Natural Law
- American College of Pediatricians: No One is Born Homosexual
- Homosexuality: Untethered From Natural Law
- It is Not Heroic To Be A Celibate Homosexual
- PCA Presbytery Objects To ‘Post-Freudian Blather’
- It Was Not So From The Beginning: What Nature And Grace Teach Us About SSA
- With Presbycast On Same-Sex Attraction, Side B, And Concupiscence
- Concupiscence: Sin And The Mother Of Sin
- Same-Sex Attraction Is Not A Means Of Grace Or Why We Distinguish Nature And Grace
- A Notable Omission In The PCA Report On Sexuality: Nature
- Office Hours: With Jon Payne On Discipleship And Revoice
- Revoice, Nashville, And The Therapeutic Revolution
- Heidelcast 135: Calls About Bears, Corporate Repentance, Revoice, FV, And A Poll (UPDATED)
- Gagnon: Revoice Is About Self-Affirmation Not Repentance
- Memo To NAPARC Re Side B/”Gay Christianity:” It Will Not End Well
- Resources On LGBTQ And Revoice
- Rosaria Butterfield: Believers Are Not Defined By Their Sins
- Rosaria Butterfield’s Alternative To Revoice
- AGR Audio: Rosaria Butterfield—From Victim To Guest
- Rosaria Explains Intersectionality In One Paragraph
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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