In my struggle with crossdressing, many Bible verses have been helpful to me. I’ve studied them, memorized some of them, and often read them after failures. I’ll periodically mention and comment on some of them and how they relate to our fight with sexual sin. For those of you who are still struggling, it would surely help you to write some of these down and read them daily, or in times of temptation, or after a failure when you need to be built back up by God’s Word.
Revelation 21:6-8
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
This is another one of many strong biblical passages that I’ve posted about before on this site. On the surface it is such a powerful statement that we might ask, “but who then can be saved?” We’ve all lied, we’ve all been cowardly, many of us if not most or all of us have sinned sexually. Does this mean we won’t be saved?
I think we have to be careful to interpret passages like this correctly. It is indeed a warning so we shouldn’t take it lightly. But we should also not think that we are not saved just because we’ve sinned before. Otherwise no one would be saved. But that is the good news of the Gospel, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). If we sin, we still are assured of forgiveness because we have a Savior and intercessor, our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 1:9). It doesn’t matter whether we were a murderer of God’s people in the past, we can be forgiven in Christ like the apostle Paul. And even when we sin now as believers, we are assured that Jesus’ blood still covers those sins as well (1 John 1:5-10). When we accept Jesus as our Savior, he takes our punishment for our past, present, and future sins.
But the Bible is also very clear that true believers will exhibit transformation and change. When we accept Jesus into our lives, when we truly do so, we can’t help but be changed by his presence in our lives. We start living out the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We become people of love and joy. We become people who obey Jesus and God’s commands. This passage in Revelation refers to people whose lives are characterized by such sins. Liars who keep lying and are not repentant. Those who are murdering even though claiming to be Christians. Those who do not persevere in their walk with God when suffering comes and reject him because of their discomfort (they don’t “overcome”). And those who are living sexually immoral lives even though claiming to be Christians. There is a large difference between someone living a life of unrepentant continual sin, and a Christian who is struggling and trying to live for God, but still falling short. The Christian will continually go back to God in confession and rejoice in God’s grace. This passage in Revelation gives us a sober truth about the judgment that is coming. Only those in Christ, whose lives are no longer characterized by these sins, will be saved during that judgment.
So this passage should be a wake up call for those of us whose lives are characterized by sin. Have we really chosen to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord? Or are we fooling ourselves and calling ourselves Christians when we are living for sin and not for God? If this describes you, please take some time to think about the reality of life and death and God’s judgement for our sin. If you are living in unrepentant sexual immorality, such as crossdressing, you unfortunately sound like one of the people described in this passage. Accept Jesus into your life and repent of your sin. Sit down and talk to him right now. Just speak out loud to him, he will hear; that is what we call prayer. And then walk in new life in Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to slowly transform you into the person God made you to be. Please read the passage below to see how much God invites you into his grace and love.
Whenever I’ve stumbled into sexual sin, I like to read this passage to remind myself of what God wants and does not want in my life. It reminds me that as a Christian my life is not characterized by such sins and shouldn’t be. It’s a helpful way to get refocused into living a holy life of following Jesus.
Revelation 22:12-17
12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
This passage has to be paired with the strong passage of warning above. While this passage repeats the strong warning about God’s judgment, that people living lives of sin will not be invited into God’s wonderful city of life, this passage is also so hopeful and wonderful. God’s invitation to his grace is so amazing. If you are thirsty, and needing forgiveness and love and eternal life, the Holy Spirit says, “Come!” “Come to Jesus and have life.” He will quench your spiritual thirst that cannot be quenched in any other way. It’s a “free gift” of grace. You cannot earn it. You can only accept that Jesus lived and died for you, in your place, and you have to accept it as a free gift.
When it talks about “those who wash their robes” it is referring to those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb is Jesus who died as a sacrifice for our sins. If we know Jesus, if we have given our lives to him, then we have been washed. Our sins are no longer hanging over our head. They have been paid for and we are given Jesus’ righteousness, which are new robes, new clothes to wear. I hope you understand this symbolism. It’s powerful and this passage is one of my favorites of the Bible. It makes me very emotional thinking about how wonderful God’s grace is and how wonderfully inviting God is.
I am also encouraged that Jesus is physically returning to this world someday. May that day be soon! When he come he will judge the world but also make a new heavens and new earth where we his people will live with him forever. There will be no more evil, pain, or suffering. And for our purposes here at this site, when Jesus returns, he will make us new as well. We will not only not crossdress anymore, but we won’t even desire it anymore. He will completely make us new, including removing the taint of sin in our hearts. He will remove our sinful nature completely, and not only will we finally be able to not sin, but we won’t even have the desire to do it anymore. So many of us have given up crossdressing and have successfully fought that sin in our lives. But we get so weary of the desires coming. They are annoying and frustrating and we just want them gone completely. Well someday soon, when Jesus returns, we will finally be at peace with no more weariness of being tempted to sin. Of course this goes beyond crossdressing, to any other temptation to sin that we struggle with whether selfishness, greed, pride, lust, or anything else. Lord Jesus come soon and make us new!
Recent Comments