Category: Inspired by “Biblical Counseling” by Chuck Smith

Transsexualism, also known as transgenderism, Gender Identity Disorder, or gender dysphoria, is a feeling that your biological/genetic/physiological gender does not match the gender you identify with and/or perceive yourself to be. Transsexuals/transgenders often describe themselves as feeling “trapped” in a body that does not match their true gender. They often practice (transvestism) and may also seek hormone therapy and/or gender reassignment surgery to bring their bodies into conformity with their perceived gender. The Bible has plenty to say about human sexuality. Most basic to our understanding of gender is that God created two (and only two) genders: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27). All the modern-day speculation about numerous genders or gender fluidity—or even a gender “continuum” with unlimited genders—is foreign to biblical truths.

The closest the Bible comes to mentioning transgenderism is in its condemnations of homosexuality (Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10) and transvestitism (Deuteronomy 22:5). The Greek word often translated “homosexual offenders” or “male prostitutes” in 1 Corinthians 6:9 literally means “effeminate men.” So, while the Bible does not directly mention transgenderism, when it mentions other instances of gender “confusion,” it clearly and explicitly identifies them as sin.  Just because something might have a biological cause does not mean embracing the effects is the right thing to do. Some people are wired with a sexuality on hyper-drive. That does not make it right for them to engage in sexual immorality. It is scientifically proven that some psychopaths/sociopaths have brains with severely weakened impulse-control mechanisms. That does not make it right for them to engage in every deviant behavior that crosses their minds.

No matter if the gender bias has a genetic, hormonal, physiological, or psychological cause, it can be overcome and healed through the acknowledgement of sin and repentance through faith in Christ Jesus and continued reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are engaged in these practices, don’t be deceived into thinking that your church attendance is going to cover your sin. If you are effeminate seeking to be female when you are male, or female seeking to be male, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Corinthian believers are an example of such a change: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11). There is hope for everyone, transsexuals, transgenders, those with gender identity disorder, and transvestites included, because of God’s forgiveness available in Jesus Christ upon the acknowledgement of sin and repentance.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Genesis 1:27	Philippians 1:6	1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Deuteronomy 22:5	2 Corinthians 7:1	1 John 1:6–10
Leviticus 18:22, 24		Romans 13:12–14
Romans 1:27
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE
	Romans 1:18–32

A hot temper is like the wave of the sea that has no rest, driven by the winds of passion. It is like a volcano waiting to erupt.

So often a person will try to strategize a bad temper by saying, “Well, I’ve learned to count to ten before I react.” They try to figure out how to keep from losing their temper, but then they lose control and say all kinds of horrible ugly things, and then they hate themselves for doing it. And yet when faced with a provocation again, they explode.

God has a better way. The person who has yielded his life to follow Jesus Christ is at peace with the circumstances of his life. He has greater patience; he is more gentle. There is a temperance knowing that God rules one’s life. As a person sees God working through their anger, peace begins to replace resentment, bitterness, and negative emotions like a “calm to a storm”. It’s very exciting to see God doing this work within a person what they could not do for themselves. It’s God’s work; it’s His battle. Give your hot temper over to God and let the Holy Spirit help you overcome your anger.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	BIBLICAL EXAMPLES	MAKE A CHANGE
Proverbs 14:29	1 Samuel 20:27-33	Psalm 37:8
Proverbs 15:1, 18	Psalm 106:32-33	Proverbs 22:24-25
Proverbs 25:28		Ephesians 4:31
Proverbs 29:22-23		Colossians 3:8-10
Ecclesiastes 7:9		James 1:19-22
Galatians 5:19-21

Many people have stunted spiritual development because pleasure is their thing. Their minds are distracted and drawn away by the pleasures of this world. Movies and television contribute greatly to this. So many people spend their evenings in front of the television set, seeking pleasure, seeking to be entertained. Yet God’s word says “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22–23 NKJV).

Now you may be true and faithful to your marriage, you may be of the character and sort that you would never cheat on your wife, but if you are watching adultery on TV, in being entertained by it, you are vicariously entering into it.

When pleasure supersedes your relationship with Jesus, it can sap spiritual life from you, and it can keep you in an arrested spiritual state. Those who spend maybe eight, ten hours a week in front of the television will tell you, “Oh, I just didn’t have time to read my Bible.” And so many people allow these other things to become first and supersede their relationship with Jesus. And thus, though they have received Jesus and claim to be Christians, their lives never bring forth fruit. They never develop; they never grow. The fruitfulness is choked out by these other things.

I would like to suggest that this week, during that time when you normally sit down and pollute your mind with television—instead of clicking on the remote, turn your face towards God. Dedicate yourself to prayer and reading the Bible. Turn off your television and turn your face to God.  Cultivating spiritual intimacy with the Lord is vital for Christian growth and service.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Romans 8:7	Isaiah 33:15-16	Psalm 101:3–4
2 Corinthians 10:4-6	Romans 8:13	Romans 13:14
Ephesians 4:17-19		Romans 16:19b
Galatians 6:7-8		Ephesians 5:11-17
1 Corinthians 6:12		Philippians 4:8
		1 Peter 4:1-3

“As a Christian, can I smoke cigarettes? I find that it just calms me down.” Let me ask you this: Can it get a hold on your life so that you’ve just got to have another one? Is that really calming you down? God never intended that man should be ruled by his flesh; God intended that you should be ruled by the Spirit. There are things that will hinder your progress in your walk with the Lord.

You’re a born-again Christian—so why does it seem impossible to stop smoking? Second

Timothy 3:5 (NKJV) says, “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.” That is an accurate description of much of the church today. They observe rituals by going to church every Sunday, and have a form of godliness, but they lack power.

Jesus said, “…Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NKJV). When you come to Christ and understand the cross, you realize not only was Jesus crucified for your sins, but you are crucified with Christ. I no longer am held by the power of sin, but I am dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ. Sin no longer rules over me. So, this is the principle: As a believer, I am now crucified with Christ. I have reckoned my old life and nature to be dead.

Now, that doesn’t mean I completely lose the desires of the flesh, but they no longer rule over me. I no longer have to obey them. I’m no longer a slave to my fleshly desires, but I’m a slave of Jesus Christ. My desire is to obey Him and to please Him. And because of this, I can overcome sin through Him.

God has given us pure air with oxygen to breathe. But when you breathe in chemical substances, such as nicotine, it will affect your brain to give an altered state of consciousness. It will give you a feeling of euphoria or excitement. But the truth is, that isn’t why God created your breathing. By smoking cigarettes, or anything else for that matter, you are twisting the use that God had originally intended. And what happens? You soon become addicted and then you become enslaved. Now your body is ruling over you. You’re no longer in control. God never intended that man should be ruled by his flesh; God intended that you should be ruled by the Spirit.  

There are things that will hinder my progress in my walk with the Lord. Whereby I can label them as sin. In the book of Hebrews it says, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 NKJV). And so, we need to deny those things that would hinder us that stand in the way of following Jesus.

First Corinthians 3:16-17 (NKJV) declares, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” If you are a child of God, then you are a temple of God and the Holy Spirit lives inside you. And as Paul reminds us, God’s temple is holy and shouldn’t be mistreated or defiled.

Every one of us is either a servant of God or a servant of Satan. And it is God’s desire to bring us out of the bondage of the kingdom of darkness, Satan’s kingdom, and to bring us into His glorious kingdom. But there is a war going on, a spiritual warfare, and Satan is doing his best to keep you in bondage. And Satan uses the world and the flesh in order to bring you into bondage unto himself. 

First John 2:14 (NKJV) declares, “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” In other words, John gives us the secret to how these young men overcame sin: they were strong in God’s Word. They lived in it. King David asked, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:9-11 NKJV). 

Oh, how we need the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God working in our lives. To ignore the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word is to teach people how to get along in life without God, and without Him we can’t do anything.

We’re no longer slaves to our flesh, sin or Satan when we’re born again (Romans 6; 2 Timothy 2:26 NKJV). We’re also free from the Law. But we must exercise our freedom in a way that will not bring us back into bondage. 

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Job 33:4	1 Corinthians 10:13	Psalm 119:9-11
Romans 6:6	2 Corinthians 7:1	John 8:34, 36
1 Corinthians 2:5	Galatians 6:7-8	Romans 12:1-2
1 Corinthians 3:16-17		Romans 13:14
Galatians 2:20		1 Cor. 6:19-20
2 Timothy 2:26		Galatians 5:13, 24-25
2 Peter 2:19		2 Timothy 3:5
1 John 2:14		Hebrews 12:1
		1 Peter 2:16

	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE
	1 Corinthians 9:27

One of the great weaknesses of the church today is the toleration of sexual immorality such as fornication, or people living together outside of marriage, or homosexuality.

Don’t give it an inch. Make no provision for it but put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s important that we cast off the works of darkness and we put on the armor of light. That means to put a block on the Internet so sexual images don’t pop up. These are the last days, and we must walk in holiness and purity because we want to be found in the righteousness of Christ. 

There are always those who fool themselves into thinking that they could live immorally and still be Christians. But the apostle Paul made it clear that “fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners will not inherit the kingdom of God” (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV). That was a part of your past life. If you want to be God’s child, He will clean up your life. Don’t go back to that.

There are still others who say, “It’s my body, I can do as I please.” Isn’t that what we’re hearing today, especially when it comes to pro-choice? Well, that may be true of the person in the world, but it is not true of the child of God. It’s not your body anymore. It’s been redeemed. You’ve been bought with a price. Jesus redeemed you from that lost, enslaved state, that you might be free now to serve, worship, and to glorify God in your body. The Bible teaches that the end result of being sexually promiscuous will be disastrous. It will destroy you and your life, and it will bring you into poverty. It will rob you of everything that is worthwhile and good, including your health.

Paul said to the church of Corinth, “Don’t you realize that you cannot be joined together with a prostitute? Since you are Christ’s, then you are seeking to make Christ a participator in that immorality” (see 1 Corinthians 6:16-18 NKJV). It can’t be! The Lord won’t join Himself to sin. He cannot be one with sin. 

It is important that we purpose in our hearts to live a life of moral purity. That is what enabled Joseph to flee Potiphar’s wife when she sought to entice him (see Genesis 39 NKJV). He had already determined in his heart that his body belonged to God, so when evil presented itself, he knew he must flee. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Flee youthful lusts…” (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV). 

In our world today we have many people who worship sex; it’s their god or goddess. They’re too sophisticated to carve out little idols anymore, but nonetheless it is still their god. They may have pictures that would be an equivalent in a sense to these idols. If you observe that person’s life, you see that their whole life revolves around sex and sexual encounters. That’s what they live for and that’s what they talk about. It is really the god that controls their life. However, the Bible teaches that the end result of being sexually promiscuous will be disastrous. It will destroy you and your life, and it will bring you into poverty. It will rob you of everything that is worthwhile and good, including your health.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Genesis 2:24	Psalm 119:1-2	Prov. 5:1-23
Exodus 20:14	John 8:32	Proverbs 6:23-29
Leviticus 20:10,13	Galatians 5:16	Proverbs 7:1-5, 24-27
Proverbs 2:16-19		Romans 6:12-13
Matthew 5:27-28		Romans 12:1-2
Romans 1:18-32		Romans 13:14
Galatians 5:19-21		1 Corinthians 6:18-20
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8		Colossians 3:5-7
Hebrews 13:4		2 Timothy 2:22
James 1:13-14		1 Peter 2:11
		1 John 2:15-17

	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE
	Genesis 39:12
	1 Corinthians 6:15-17

When a person gives himself over to lust, he loses all sense of balance and propriety, and as such is a person who has given himself over to pornography. He has to keep going deeper and deeper into that realm to find a sense of satisfaction. But he’s never really satisfied. It’s an appetite that doesn’t quit—until it just has taken over and controls his life. He becomes enslaved and addicted. 

But there is hope for the one who wants to be free from the addiction and slavery of pornography. Psalm 119:9-12 promises, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalms 119:9-16 NKJV) Also, a healthy respect for God and the awareness that He is always with us helps us to purify ourselves, and to live in such a way that we do not offend Him.

It’s a tragic thing to see a person who is really given over to lust, because their life becomes so unbalanced. There’s no moderation at all. They go hog wild. But the tragic thing is that they never find a place of satisfaction. 

With this ugly scene in mind the psalmist wrote, “And God gave them their request [or the lust of their heart], but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:15 NKJV). And that’s always the tragic consequence of giving yourself over to pornography. You suffer spiritually. You see, there is the world of the flesh and there is the world of the spirit, and they are mutually exclusive in that no person can serve two masters. You’re either going to be mastered by your flesh or by the Spirit. And these two are warring against each other. Paul said, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17 NKJV). There is a battle going on for the control of your life. If you give yourself over to the flesh to be controlled by the flesh, then it brings you into the bondage of corruption. It brings you into this desire that cannot be satisfied but only grows. 

Paul the apostle said, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NKJV) And you will find that there’s such a full satisfaction in walking in the Spirit. The problem is that people will not make a true and full commitment to God. They will either make provision or compromise. But the only cure is to commit your life completely to the things of the Spirit. And when you do, you’ll find that you can’t do two things. You cannot be walking after the Spirit and still living after the flesh. But to walk after the Spirit actually puts the flesh in its proper place and under control. 

Now, we still live in a fleshly body—and there are still those body appetites. But thank

God, they don’t rule me anymore. I’m not a slave to them and they take their proper place. God never intended that any of us should be a servant to our flesh, a slave to the desires of our flesh. God intended that we should have victory over the flesh. And that victory comes when the spirit is supreme and we’re walking after the Spirit and living after the things of the Spirit. Then you do not fulfill the desires of your flesh. You don’t need to.  You can have a life that is rich and full, and you’re free from those things that were destroying you.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Psalm 101:2-4	Psalm 119:1-2	Job 31:1
Psalm 106:15	John 8:32	Proverbs 4:23
Proverbs 5:20	Galatians 5:16	1 Corinthians 5:9, 11
Matthew 5:28		Galatians 5:24-25
Romans 13:13-14		Ephesians 2:1-6
Galatians 5:16-21		Ephesians 4:22
James 1:14‐15		2 Timothy 2:22
1 John 2:16		Titus 2:11-12
Revelation 21:8		James 1:14-15
Romans 6:12-16		1 Peter 1:13-16
		1 Peter 2:11

Materialism is a lust for the things of the flesh, allowing worldly things to possess us can lead to idolatry. Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV). That’s the bottom line: Where is your heart? Do you desire heavenly things or earthly things? Do you want a new car, home or clothes, or do you desire spiritual things such as a greater faith in God and a love and kindness towards other people? Whatever things you treasure most reveal the condition of your heart.

Materialism will blind a person to things that are perfectly obvious. God has given us all things to enjoy, our homes, our families, but the sin of materialism turns the blessings of God into a curse. These things that were intended to be a blessing can become a master, and a person can become enslaved to worldly things. The truth of the matter is, you are serving God or mammon, one or the other—but you can’t serve them both; you can’t mix light and darkness. Mammon is a worldly treasure. And since God has given to us the ability and the capacity to reason and to choose, we must decide whether we will serve God or mammon. You’re the one who makes the choice whether you will put your heart and your life into the things that are eternal or into the things that will pass away.

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE	MAKE A CHANGE
Psalm 49:6-20	Luke 12:16-20	Matthew 6:19-21
Proverbs 23:4-5		Mark 4:18–20
Ecclesiastes 5:10		Luke 12:15
Matthew 6:24		Galatians 5:16-18
1 Timothy 6:6-10		Colossians 3:2-4
		1 Timothy 6:17
		Hebrews 13:5
		1 John 2:15-17

Uncleanness is immorality, one of the works of the flesh listed in (Galatians 5:19 NKJV), and it can be a powerful sin that controls your life. So, it’s understandable that you could lose hope.  However, as Christians we are call to a life of sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 NKJV)

If we examine why we do the things that we do, we need to realize that man is a trinity made up of body, mind, and spirit. Either my mind is going to be controlled by fleshly desires, or it is going to be controlled by spiritual desires. If I am living after the flesh, giving in to the passions and desires of my flesh, then the result will be a carnal mind. Paul said we are to bring “…every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV). When we find our minds absorbed in the things of the flesh, it’s important to take a moment and stop and ask the Holy Spirit to take control. Start to sing a worship chorus. Turn your mind toward the Lord. Pray. Get into the Scriptures.

The Bible says, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word” (Psalm 119:9 NKJV). The best defense that we have against the attacks and temptations of Satan is the Word of God hidden in our hearts. Saturate your life with the Word of God. As you are saturated with God’s Word, there is that power against sin. The Word of God hidden in your heart gives you the best defense against the temptations of Satan. Reading God’s Word will help you to live and to walk in the Spirit. When you do, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. 

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Romans 6:6	Romans 8:12-13	Romans 6:12
Galatians 5:19-25		Romans 12:1-2
2 Timothy 2:25-26		Romans 13:14
James 1:13-15		1 Corinthians 6:19-20
1 Peter 2:11		2 Corinthians 7:1
2 Peter 2:19		2 Corinthians 10:3-6
		Galatians 5:16-17
		Ephesians 4:22-24
		Colossians 3:1-3
		1 Peter 4:1-3

Lust can never be satisfied. It will always demand more. The only cure for lust is to starve it to death (Romans 8:13 NKJV). If you feed it, it will go into a feeding frenzy and draw you deeper and deeper into it. 

The sin of lust began in the garden of Eden when Satan tempted Eve. So, wouldn’t it have been better had God not placed the tree there, averting the temptation to lust? But then how would God know you truly loved Him and wanted to obey Him unless you had a choice? Choices are necessary. Man was made in the image of God, self-governing, but there had to be something to choose from—something attractive and desirable. If it was ugly, bitter, or sour, all the temptation in the world couldn’t get you to choose it. John summed it up, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16 NKJV). 

If you are a child of God, you are called to live a life separated from the defilement of the things in the world. So therefore, we are to separate ourselves from living after the lust of our flesh. We are not to be controlled, governed, or following after our fleshly desires. If you fulfill the lust of your flesh, it is a one-way road. You can’t control it. Your flesh will always demand more and more and more. The Bible says, “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3 NKJV). God said, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16 NKJV). So, it’s important for us to live a life of holiness and a life of separation from the world. 

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Proverbs 5:22-23	1 Corinthians 10:13	Proverbs 6:25-27
Proverbs 11:6		Romans 6:12
Matthew 5:27-28		Romans 13:13-14
Romans 8:5-8, 12-13		Galatians 5:16
James 1:14-15		Colossians 3:5-7
2 Peter 1:2–4		1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
1 John 2:16-17		2 Timothy 2:22
Revelation 21:8		Titus 2:11-12
		Hebrews 13:5
		1 Peter 1:13-16
		1 Peter 2:11-12

	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE
	Genesis 3:1-6
	2 Samuel 11:2-4
	2 Samuel 12:1-14
	Job 31:1

There’s nothing wrong with money. It’s a means by which we exchange commodities and goods with one another. The Bible doesn’t say that money is evil––it says, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV). If getting rich is the most important thing to you, and you are obsessed with wanting to get more and more money or possessions—that’s when it becomes evil. When your love for money exceeds your love for the true and the living God, you are actually worshiping the god mammon, and you will then find yourself “…straying from the faith in greediness, and pierced through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV)

There were many people in the Bible whom God blessed with great riches, but when their riches became more important than God, it became sinful. Such was the case for the young man written about in Matthew 19:20-22 (NKJV). His riches stood in the way of his following Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 

Riches are not wrong in and of themselves. But if your riches master your life, and if you are ruled by them and they have precedence over your relationship with God, then they are wrong. That’s the essence; that’s the heart of it. Do you want eternal life? Follow Jesus. 

GOD’S PERSPECTIVE	GOD’S PROMISES	MAKE A CHANGE
Deut. 8:17–20	2 Corinthians 9:6-8	Psalm 62:10
Proverbs 3:9-10	Philippians 4:19	Proverbs 3:9-10
Proverbs 13:7		Proverbs 23:4-5
Proverbs 15:16		1 Timothy 6:17-19
Ecclesiastes 5:10		Hebrews 13:5
Matthew 6:21, 24
Luke 12:15
1 Timothy 3:8
1 Timothy 6:10

	BIBLICAL EXAMPLE
	Luke 19:8
	Philippians 4:11-12
	Mark 12:41-44