Grace for Your Day January 10

On December 7, 2021 the Canadian Federal Senate unanimously approved of a law that was recently passed in the House of Commons to criminalize a process that is known as “conversion therapy.” According to the Law, conversion therapy is defined as any “practice, treatment or service designed toThe new law carries a penalty of up to five years in prison for breaking it which means that people could go to jail. The government may very well prosecute those who choose to defy it which raises the question: How do we respond to it as a church? What should we do in light of this new bill?

The answer is that we need to go back to the Bible. The church should do what it has done for centuries and return to the Word of God. As it does so, we find these words written in John 3:1-3:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The interesting thing about this story is that Nicodemus was not a homosexual. He was not transgender or bisexual or confused about his gender identity. Instead, he was just the opposite of that because he was a very moral man. Yet the Lord told him that, in order for him to be saved, he must be born again. In other words, he had to be converted because he could not go to Heaven on his own. He needed a new nature and that is what we would say in response to Bill C 4.

If someone wants to be saved, they need to be converted. If they want to go to Heaven whether they are a homosexual or not, they need to receive a new birth because there is no other way. You cannot come to God without it because your soul has to be raised from the dead. The church has taught that ever since Canada became a nation and there is no reason to change it now just because it has fallen out of favour in our society. It needs to be repeated over and over again from the pulpits of this nation which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday, I will be preaching a sermon entitled “Bill C 4 & The Church’s Response to Canada’s Recent Ban on Conversion Therapy.” I am preaching on that topic this week because John MacArthur has asked the church to take a stand on this issue in North America. He has called on pastors across the United States and Canada to preach on it together on January 16 which I am happy to do because it is a time for us to be bold on this issue. We need to be clear that the only way for a person to be saved is through the doctrine of conversion. Please pray for us as we study this passage together. Ask the Lord to give us an extra measure of courage as we address this very sensitive subject that is confronting our land.

The sermon will be livestreamed and made available on our You Tube Channel for all those who are not able to come in person. I hope to see you there! – Jeremy Cagle