During its annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) passed a resolution supporting natural marriage and religious liberty. “This Southern Baptist Convention has sent a strong message in support of natural marriage, biblical sexuality and religious freedom,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. Staver served on the SBC Resolutions Committee.
The Resolution states, in part:
WHEREAS, In the beginning God created male and female in His image as the crowning act of Creation (Gen. 1:26-27); and
WHEREAS, Marriage is between one man and one woman, ordered by God toward the union of the spouses, the means of procreation, formative of family and foundational to the common good of society (Gen. 1:28, 2:18-24); and
WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message asserts, “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it;” and
WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message also affirms, “A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power;” and
WHEREAS, Any law that directly contradicts natural law and biblical truth is an unjust law; and
WHEREAS, Our highest respect for the rule of law requires that we not affirm an unjust law that directly contradicts higher law.
The Resolution states that the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage opinion in 2015 “purporting to redefine marriage does violence to the Constitution and is contrary to the Bible and natural order.” The Resolution “dissents” from this opinion, urges lawmakers to pass legislation that protects religious liberty, and stands in solidarity to those who have faced religious discrimination. The Resolution, among other things, also commits to strengthen biblical marriage and to pray for revival.
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