‘Whosoever shall believe’
Over the last several months I have been writing to a person who is extremely knowledgeable in the Bible. I suspect that he may have graduated from a seminary at one time.
This person once was a transsexual in transition, and he also acknowledges that he is gay. Having come to the conclusion that he will never be able to undergo gender confirmation surgery, he threw away all his feminine clothes and reverted to trying to live the gender of his anatomical sex.
From his letters it is quite apparent that, in his attempt to once again become Bill, he has been talking to some of those church people who insist that we are wrong in our transgenderism — who told him that he can be cured from his transgender desires and his being gay.
In almost all the letters from him in the last few months, there has been some note of condemnation on my pride in being a cross-dresser and my belief that it is a special gift of God to me, a tool that I may accomplish His purpose in life for me. Bill does not believe that one can be a cross-dresser and a Christian, nor does he believe that one can be gay and a Christian.
Writing to Bill has been rather difficult over the past few months. All his friends have deserted him. I made a promise to him that I would not follow them, but that I would continue to be his friend. But I must admit that it is difficult when each letter seems to condemn us for who we are, and for who God made us to be.
The ‘whosoever’ in John 3:16
How can we be a Christian and be transgender, or gay, or both? The answer is pretty clear in John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Now as we read this one verse, we read that “whosoever” shall believe in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be granted everlasting life. In John 3:18, the Bible says that those who believe in Jesus are not condemned. Throughout the Bible we find that the one and only condition to salvation is that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that we accept Him as our salvation for sin.
There are no other conditions to our salvation.
We have but one judge, God Himself. Will He hold our cross-dressing against us? If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then the answer is no, for to hold our cross-dressing against us would make John 3:16 and the entire Bible nothing more than a big sham. As a Christian that is something I am not ready to accept.
In Jeremiah 33:8 God says:
I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sins against Me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sins and rebellion against Me.
‘Whosoever’ is forgiven all their sins
Notice that God says that all of our sins are forgiven — not just some, but all. When someone tries to tell us that our cross-dressing is a sin, it really doesn’t matter, for all our sins were nailed to the cross of Calvary with Jesus — past, present, and future!
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior from sin? If the answer is yes, then John 3:16 guarantees that you will have eternal life. Nothing else matters to God.
Will society ever stop judging us? I think the answer is no. But then their judgment is of no consequence, for we will all be judged by God. Our judgment will be based on one fact and one fact only: Do we believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we accept Him as our Redeemer for sin? Our eternal destination will hang solely on that one question — and that question only.
You may also enjoy:
You Are God’s Masterpiece: Celebrating 25 Years of Being a Whosoever
Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians