Often Discriminated, Transgender People Are Accepted by God | Controversy eXtraordinary
By: MrControversyX
Note: I found this article just 'now,' November 1, 2022 after an ongoing discussion with a fellow NT member. I find this article 'opens' up some issues we were discussing prior.
And, it also touches on several other items I had not considered and may even not agree to be the case, nevertheless!
So it can be a 'hot topic' piece. One in which I will trade back and forth accordingly.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
7/25/2020
A certain transgender told me that by regularly watching our television program, he was able to develop an understanding of the teachings of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the time came that he felt a fervent desire in his heart to serve God and to be a part of the Church of God because, like most of us, he also wants to be saved .
But because of his gender identity, he had questions; he was asking if a transgender like him would still be accepted by God and if he could have a place in the Church of God.
It turns out that these negative thoughts were brought about by the harsh and disparaging statements that he has heard from other religious leaders and pastors about those who are transgender, and about the members of the LGBTQ community as a whole, such as that they are of the devil and that they can never be saved unless they become "straight" men and women. Hearing such pronouncements directly from the very mouths of preachers who claim to be of God made him think of himself as someone who is unworthy and undeserving of salvation.
But I told him that those were just mere words of preachers who hardly have any understanding of the words of God because if they do, they would not have said such words at all — for such statements are against the will of God.
According to the Bible, what God wants is for all men to be saved.
As it is written in 1 TIMOTHY 2:4 (KJV),
Who will have all men to be saved , and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
The verse says "all men" therefore, it encompasses the whole of mankind. It is not exclusive to the "straight" men and women but it includes the LGBTQ (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and queer) community and other gender identities.
God is giving all people, including those who are transgender, a chance to salvation — even if a transgender person happens to have undergone surgery or whatever medical procedure in the past. Primarily, this is because he had committed that thing when he had not known the Christian doctrines yet, when he had no knowledge of the truth yet. And people like him have a place in the Church of God.
Actually, one member of the Church had once confessed to me that he is transgender. He was born male but years before he became a member of the Church, he underwent an operation which made his genitalia match his gender identity or the gender that he feels inside. Hence, his male genitalia had been removed and had been replaced by a female's.
But upon accepting the doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ and after submitting himself to holy baptism, wherein all his past transgressions had been forgiven, he obtained God's mercy. And from then on, he started anew. He turned his back from his former way of life and he started spending his life in faithful service to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, without pretending to be a "straight" man, but strictly observing the Christian moral standards that he has understood. And with God's help, until now, he remains steadfast in faith.
God is considerate, just, and merciful. He will not hold anyone accountable for an act which he did ignorantly. And no less than the Apostle Paul experienced His mercy and consideration.
1 TIMOTHY 1:13 (KJV)
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
The Apostle Paul committed grievous sins in the past. He used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor of the early Christians. Nevertheless, he obtained mercy from God; he was forgiven because he did all those things "ignorantly in unbelief."
A transgender person who submitted himself to a medical procedure, which offered him the gender identity that corresponds with the gender that he feels inside, can also obtain God's mercy if it was committed prior to his understanding of the word of God and while he was still outside the jurisdiction of the Church of God. He may still be forgiven the same way that the Apostle Paul was forgiven.
Definitely, if he has undergone an operation, he cannot undo the modifications that doctors have done to his physical body anymore, and neither can he restore what has been removed from it. But that does not outrightly disqualify him from being saved because, like the Apostle Paul, he did them "ignorantly in unbelief."
We just can't help that many religious organizations today are full of pretenses and hypocrisies, as though they are all blameless and sinless, and as if all of them have no gender identity issues. A pastor and pretended song, for instance, do not accept gays or homosexuals in their organization because, according to him, people who belong to the third sex were created, not by God but by the devil.
Such a cruel pronouncement only shows his ignorance about the will of God; it is without any biblical basis. Actually, it is even contrary to what the Bible says because according to the verse cited earlier, God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The Bible tells us that the moment a person submits himself to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of his gender identity, he becomes a new person.
He just has to see to it that after learning and accepting the teachings of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and upon submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the Church of God, he should no longer do the things that he used to do.
Meaning, he should no longer engage in same sex relationship s ,
he should not wear make-up anymore, he should not dress-up gaudily, and he should no longer spend his life in worldly pleasure. Instead, he should start to live a life that is in accordance with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anybody who is in Christ is now considered to be a new creature.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 (KJV)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
. . . .
So, if a transgender person is now in Christ, he automatically becomes a new creature. He is considered a new creature in the sense that there are now noticeable positive changes in him, not necessarily in his physical appearance nor in his gender identity, but more on his way of life. He does not smoke and drink alcoholic beverages anymore, he no longer goes to bars and casinos, and he no longer speaks and behaves roughly. His way of life has changed as it is now disciplined by the teachings of Christ, and his whole person is now being molded after the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only fools would dare say that this "new creature," although a transgender person, would not be accepted by God.
God is welcoming all of those who would return to Him, including those who are transgender and the rest of the LGBTQ community. That being the case, they are also welcome in the Church of God, where they can be happy and gay Christians .
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