Redemption Press Position

At Redemption Press, we believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God and we seek to publish books in accordance with an evangelical Christian understanding of Scripture. This interpretation guides our position on any subject, including homosexuality.

We believe:

First: God loves all of mankind, regardless of their sin.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

And, He requires that we love other people as we love ourselves.

 “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37–39 NLT).

But, it says that each of us is a sinner and that our lives are filled with acts that are contrary to God’s will.

“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . .”  (Romans 3:23 NIV).

We believe that to determine which of our actions, or activities, align with God’s will, we must study the Bible to know God’s mind and will for us. If we search the scriptures about homosexuality, we find:

Old Testament

“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin” (Leviticus 18:22 NLT).

New Testament

“So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.  That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.  And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved” (Romans 1:24–27 NLT).

Knowing what scripture says about homosexual acts, does that then mean that homosexuals cannot be saved? No, we are all unworthy of salvation, and homosexuality is not an unforgivable sin. But, it is a sinful way of living, according to Scriptures, and therefore we cannot publish materials supporting sinful behavior. Scripture teaches us that homosexuality is not an approved lifestyle for those wishing to follow Jesus Christ. It doesn’t give heterosexuals the right to hate or mistreat them, nor does it teach us to keep them at arm’s length. The Bible instructs us to love people who disagree with us and to love and serve them as children of God.

We are taught to love the sinner, even as we disagree with their life choices or activities, and we do. We will not add credibility to anyone denying scriptural teaching as understood by our statement of faith and thereby add to their credibility, authority, and teaching.

So, our position at Redemption Press, stated clearly, is that we love all people and want them to find salvation in Jesus Christ and live a godly lifestyle afterward. We recognize that to live as a practicing homosexual is to live in unrepentant sin.

We are always open to viewpoints that do not deny the deity of Christ or go directly against scripture, and thus we publish many different views, if they are Christ-centered. As a publisher, we would not want to give an author credibility if they have bought into the error of this viewpoint. In other words, we would not publish any message promoting a “Gay Christian” lifestyle as our understanding of scripture finds that lifestyle unacceptable to God. Minimizing the sin of homosexuality, just as minimizing any other sexual sin, is not a message we promote.

 

Click here to view our Statement of Faith.