Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) executive meeting held on October 30-31, 2018, which deliberated on the recent Supreme Court judgment decriminalising homosexuality and adultery, has asserted that empowering and legalising of such acts were extremely detestable and unacceptable to the Christians under any circumstances.
In a communiqué, NBCC warned all the Christians never to be taken away by such laws as reinterpreting the Bible and the biblical morality and ethics. In September this year, the apex court had decriminalised same sex offence under Section 377 of the IPC and decriminalised adultery after striking down Section 497 of the IPC.
In the light of Supreme Court judgment, NBCC said it was incumbent upon the NBCC to exhort the church on the stand of homosexuality and gay marriage.
NBCC affirmed that marriage was between a man and a woman only and it shall never permit gay sex and the criminalizing of adultery as unconstitutional and archaic by the Supreme Court cannot in any way justify gay sex or adultery. “Adultery is always adultery, so also it is the same with homosexuality or lesbianism,” the church said, adding that the court absolutely cannot change “these true facts.”
NBCC said it strongly and severely condemned gay marriage and adultery strictly as the Bible does. It said there can be no other interpretations on these issues. “It should be absolutely clear to each and everyone that this is not the opinion of the church but it is the biblical teaching upon which the church formulates its uncompromising propriety, morality and ethics,” NBCC maintained.
According to the church, the Christians must stand on their solid ground on issues that impinged on their faith and morality because they have a much higher calling to stay faithful and committed to the teaching of the Bible.
“What is considered as immoral and unethical is not the church’s own construction but we are governed by a higher standard than that of the world, which is the Bible,” NBCC said.
Therefore, the church said Christians must turn to the Bible for proper guidance and definition in such a situation whether be it section 377 of IPC, decriminalising homosexuality or gay marriages or section 497 of IPC which criminalises adultery as unconstitutional.
Making stand clear that the church did not criminalize LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender /transsexual and intersex) and adulterers, NBCC said the church simply proclaims that they were sinful acts and against God’s design for relationship and marriage.
NBCC said it was, therefore, the responsibility of the church to reach out in the spirit of Christian love and compassion to redeem the lost souls without making statement of superiority complex or discriminatory judgement.
Affirming that it stood on the finality of the Bible for all matters of faith, morality and practices, the NBCC said even if the court decriminalizes gay marriage and adultery it cannot not justify against the biblical teaching on such unnatural relationships and unwarranted human behaviours.
“What is defined as sinful in ‘God’s Word’ is always sinful and wrong, the Court has absolutely no authority to redefine or alter the ‘Word of God’ to its own whims and interpretations under any circumstances,” the church stated.
SBC stand
Sumi Baptist Convention (SBC), which consists of three Sumi Baptist Associations (SBAK/SABAK/WSBAK), has resolved and made its stand clear that, on account of its firm biblical position, it would not tolerate any homosexual act.
In a press release, SBC director, Rev. Khehovi Shohe, stated that this was resolved at the SBC biennial session held at Suruhuto Town Baptist Church from October 27-28, 2018.
SBC session, which deliberated the recent Supreme Court ruling on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) decrminilising homosexuality, strongly opposed homosexuality.
The Council has further urged the Sumi Churches “not to afford the practice of homosexuality any degree of approval through same sex marriage.”
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