Does the Bible Teach the Controversial Practice of Conversion Therapy?

Does the Bible Teach the Controversial Practice of Conversion Therapy?

The rash of recent laws concerning conversion therapy (CT) has many pastors worried that their government will declare the Bible to be hate speech in the near future. The LGBTQ+ agenda has made sexual orientation a fluid matter of health, rather than a fixed matter of biology. Combine this with several years of Covid policies that have restricted religious freedoms, and you have a recipe for tyranny.

If you think this an overreaction, consider the following reports from recent days:

Conversion Therapy Laws in the World

It’s Happening in the US too!

This is not only happening in other countries. In the United States, it is currently a state issue that is gaining momentum.

The Bible & Conversion Therapy

Does the Bible teach Conversion Therapy?

Bill C-4 is what led thousands of pastors, myself included, to preach a sermon on Biblical Sexuality. God’s Word on biblical sexuality is under attack from a rebellious world that rejects it and a timid church that is all too often embarrassed by it.

God is clear about his intentions for biblical sexuality. We see this primarily in Genesis 1:26-28; 2:23-24. Jesus refers to this passage as the foundation for our understanding of sex and marriage (Matt 19:4-6). In the sermon I outline several steps the PCA has taken to affirm God’s design for biblical sexuality. For example, it almost unanimously agreed to make the definition of marriage constitutional in 2018. Then, the following year, it commended the Nashville Statement as biblically faithful.

The Bible is equally clear regarding man’s perversion of God’s design. We see this primarily in Romans 1:26-27. This passage not only condemns unnatural acts, but it also includes unnatural desires. You can also refer to Romans 6:11-121 Peter 1:142:11.Those who struggle with such unwanted desires should repent, believe, and honor God’s revealed will.

Bill C-4 defines conversion therapy as a practice, treatment or service designed to change, repress, or reduce a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Is teaching someone about the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual desires and actions tantamount to conversion therapy? It seems like an easy case to argue from the given definition.