The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). With this glorious truth in mind, here are three brief ways that the gospel affects our engagement—personally and spiritually—of transgenderism.
First, the gospel is what fellow sinners most need.
As Christians, we have what every sinner most needs: The news that Christ died to wash our sins and rose from the grave to give us victory over death. This is what we are uniquely placed in the world to do: preach the gospel alongside all the truth of God.
As believers we are very glad for good arguments from reason, science, and other disciplines. But our chief offering to the world is the “good news” that sinners can be totally forgiven and changed by God.
This directs our efforts. We should tell people the truth about their sins and then point them to the hope—truly eternal hope—that faith in Christ gives! We’re not simply trying to get people to stop embracing androgyny or cross-dressing. In other words, we’re praying for the salvation of souls running from God. Don’t follow your heart, we say in love; follow Christ.
Secondly, the gospel compels us to love all people.
As those living in an increasingly pagan culture, it is right to feel many things in response to the evils around us. We should grieve the rebellion against God that we’re witnessing. We should mourn the evil done to children. We should feel a sense of righteous purpose in taking our own humble stand against sinfulness. But above all, we should feel love for those trapped by transgenderism. We are not waging war against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12).
Here is a powerful weapon we wield: Love—Christian love based in Christian truth. This does not mean we honor and affirm people’s sin—not at all. It means that we do all we can to treat even our public-square opponents like they are made in God’s image, and that we go out of our way to be as kind and merciful as we can (2 Timothy 2:25). This always means that we tell the truth, though, and reach out to lost men and women trapped by lies, Satan’s own lies (Colossians 2:8; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6). The way out of transgenderism is not found by following your heart; it’s found by following God’s voice, which we hear authoritatively in God’s Word.
Third, the gospel transforms to the uttermost.
As believers, we must stand against evil. We must do so unflinchingly. We cannot forget, for example, that children are being targeted left and right today by transgender ideology. But while we remain steadfast and immovable in the battle by God’s grace (1 Corinthians 15:58), we must never lose sight of hope. God saves. God changes. God transforms. This transformation begins in a moment, of course, but it does not end there. It plays out as God ordains for most of us over months, years, and decades. It’s not so much a sprint; it’s a marathon, and we run it by God’s grace.
This is good news! For those caught in a transgender identity and lifestyle, there is truly infinite hope in the gospel. Don’t despair: even those who seem light-years from Christianity are but a millimeter away from the gracious hand of God.
*Used with permission, this material has been used and edited from the book, What Does the Bible Teach About Transgenderism? by Owen Strachan and Gavin Peacock.
