Contrary to the empty rhetoric of Keller, Hill, Allberry, and Sprinkle, any lawless inclination in our hearts is lust, we are responsible for it, and only Christ can save us from it. But the first step in repenting of these lusts is to agree with God that they are sin. We must call the seed of sin “sin,” like Jesus and James do. Only then will we begin to turn from and starve the lust in our hearts until it is put to death (Rom. 8:13; Col. 1:12–17).

For the month of February and March, Crossway Publishers is generously allowing our readers to download a free copy of John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation (Edited by Kelly M. Kapic & Justin Taylor). This work is an unabridged collection of Owen’s three classic works: Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, and The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin. May God use this resource to help you better understand and overcome sin!

According to Augustine, only the Pelagians taught that “a desire for sins is not a sin and is not something evil, though one does an evil action if one consents to its persuasion.”[1] Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s successor, argued that all the Church Fathers agreed with Augustine, teaching that evil in one’s heart is sin, not a neutral reality.[2] The Protestant confessions agreed that original sin and all that it produces is morally culpable sin: Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Baptists.[3]

But today, some prominent evangelicals use empty rhetoric to teach contrary to Scripture.

Empty Rhetoric

In 2011, Tim Keller taught, “Heterosexuality does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can homosexuality send you to hell?”[4]

Then, in 2014, Preston Sprinkle taught that same-sex attraction “includes a virtuous desire to be intimate—in the David and Jonathan, or Jesus and John sense of the phrase—with people of the same sex.”[5] Today, he teaches that there is a pre-lust evil desire that is not even sin, and same-sex attraction falls in this category.[6]

In 2015, Wesley Hill taught that same-sex attraction can be separated from same-sex sexual attraction. Same-sex attraction can be sanctified if turned toward godly same-sex friendship, but same-sex sexual attraction should be repented of.[7] He also argued that same-sex attraction is the pursuit of same-sex beauty.[8]

In 2015, Sam Alberry taught that he “experiences same-sex attraction,” an unwanted, unchosen, mere temptation that is not sin.[9] And in 2019, he taught that same-sex attraction is “the capacity to be attracted to people of the same-sex,” which is not sin.[10]

Exposing Empty Rhetoric with Empty Rhetoric

Each of these men utilize the same tactic to teach falsely: empty rhetoric, an eisegetical sleight of hand. It’s easy to expose them if you use their rhetoric while substituting other sins that are less acceptable today:

To Keller, one could say, “Being male or female does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can transgenderism send you to hell?” Or, “Heterosexuality does not get you to Heaven, so how in the world can ‘pedophilic sexual interest’ send you to hell?”[11]

To Sprinkle, “‘Pedophilic sexual interest’ includes a virtuous desire to be intimate in the Jesus and children sense” (Matt 19:14). Or, “Every abusive act begins with a pre-abuse orientation or pre-abuse impulse that is not sin.”

To Hill, “Racism can be separated into love for your own race and hatred for other races. Love for your own race can be sanctified if turned toward loving your neighbor, but hatred for other races should be repented of.” Or, “Pedophilia can be separated into pedophilic attraction and ‘pedophilic sexual interest.’ Pedophilic attraction can be sanctified if turned to mentoring or helping children, but ‘pedophilic sexual interest’ must be repented of.”

To Allberry, “I experience murderous attraction and it’s not sin if I don’t submit to it.” Or, “Having the capacity to be tempted to abuse someone is not sin.”

Each of these men taught or teach that, in our hearts, there is a pre-lust or neutral inclination that is aimed at sin, but is not itself sin. Thus, instead of sending sinners to Christ to repent of sin at the root, they use rhetoric to take guilt away, which of course doesn’t really take anyone’s guilt away. Those who adopt such rhetoric never repent of sin at the root, which continually ensnares them in sin.

The remedy for this false teaching is the same as it’s been since the devil used empty rhetoric in the Garden, saying, “Did God actually say?”(Gen 3:1–6): hear God’s word, believe it, receive it, and do what it says from our hearts, by the Holy Spirit through the Son to the Father.

To rebut Keller, Sprinkle, Hill, and Allberry, consider Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:27–30 and James’s words in James 1:13–15:

Exposing Empty Rhetoric With Scripture: Matthew 5:27–30

Exegesis: Context

In Matthew 5:27–30, Jesus preached,

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

The context for Matthew 5:27–30 is Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” where he corrected the teachings of the Pharisees. His goal was not to abolish or correct the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17–20). None of the law will pass away until “all is accomplished” (Matt 5:18).[12]

Jesus fulfills the law through His correct teaching and perfect obedience from His heart. He is the goal of the law.[13] Thus, for Jesus’ hearers to follow His teachings, they must uphold the law perfectly, every “jot and tittle,” exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matt. 5:19–20).[14] But only Jesus exceeds their righteousness; therefore, they must trust in Him alone to save them.

Exegesis: Comments

Matthew 5:27. In Matthew 5:27, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’” He quoted the Seventh Commandment to rebuke a Pharisaical teaching that only the outward action of adultery is sin, not the inward lust. The purpose of the law was not only to forbid the act of sin but also the inward desire to sin as is evident from the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet” (Exod. 20:17).

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