Short Answer
God has revealed Himself in Scripture using masculine titles and pronouns, especially as “Father,” and this should not be changed. While God is spirit and not biologically gendered, His self-revelation is intentional and authoritative. Altering that language is seen as departing from how God chose to reveal Himself.
The Overview
The question of whether God should be referred to with gender-neutral language has become more common in modern culture. While it is true that God, as a spirit, does not possess a physical body or biological gender, the Bible consistently reveals Him using masculine language. This includes titles like “Father” and pronouns such as “He,” which are used throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
This language is not accidental or culturally arbitrary—it is part of God’s deliberate self-revelation. Jesus Himself taught His followers to pray using the phrase “Our Father,” reinforcing the relational and personal way God has chosen to be known. Because of this, changing or avoiding these terms is not simply a matter of preference but raises concerns about altering the way God has revealed Himself in Scripture.
At the same time, the Bible affirms that both men and women are created in God’s image. This means that God’s nature is not limited to human gender categories. Scripture even uses certain maternal or nurturing analogies to describe God’s care. However, these illustrations do not replace the consistent pattern of masculine titles and pronouns used to describe Him.
Ultimately, the issue is one of authority and faithfulness to Scripture. If God has chosen to reveal Himself in a particular way, believers are called to respect and retain that revelation rather than reshape it according to cultural pressures. The focus is not on human preference but on honoring how God has made Himself known.
Key Takeaways
- God Is Spirit but Revealed with Masculine Language
The Bible consistently uses terms like “Father” and “He.” - This Language Is Intentional
It reflects God’s chosen way of revealing Himself, not cultural accident. - Jesus Affirmed This Revelation
He taught believers to pray to God as “Father.” - Men and Women Reflect God’s Image
Both genders represent aspects of God’s image, but this does not change His revealed titles. - Faithfulness to Scripture Is Essential
Changing God’s revealed language risks altering biblical truth.
Read Full Raw Transcript
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Hi, Pastor Mac. How are you? >> Good. >> Hey. Yeah, I got my my pastor made a statement that uh kind of disturbed me and he said that uh from now on he was not going to gender God. Um because of course we know spirits don’t have gender but the fact that Jesus calls him father and God set up the familiar construct. >> Uh and along with that construct comes certain benefits of having two parents, one being the father. And I’m I’m just trying to figure out why. I’m I’m I I
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think I figure out why he said it, but I don’t I don’t I don’t necessarily agree with him. Can Can I have your thoughts on that? >> Yeah, I don’t agree with him either, and uh it would disturb me. So, I might be starting to check the internet for another church at that point because you’re not going to get to that place without capitulating to the pressure of the culture. Culture loves this, right? They love this. This has been constant pressure upon the church. Even even bib
00:00:55
even Bible publishers have have have been pressured to try and take gender out of scripture and and you just can’t do it. God has delivered us his word. And if you believe in a high view of scripture, right? God [snorts] has revealed himself in the text. He’s done it through Old Testament Hebrew, New Testament Greek, some Aramaic and certain parts of the Old Testament. And he’s been very clear about how he’s revealed himself. He’s spoken in the first person through the prophets. He’s
00:01:22
used masculine pronouns to describe himself. Now, if I’m going to get, you know, ontological with people and talk about being and all that, you know, I do understand that at the beginning of creation, God creates us human beings in his image, both male and female. So, I recognize that. And even in some of the illustrations that God uses, right, there is a kind of of illustrative concept of seeing God’s care like even a hen would care for her chicks even as Jesus echoes that in the New Testament
00:01:55
about looking at Jerusalem. How often I’d want to gather you under my wing. So the idea of of God uh having uh the concepts of of caring just like Paul said, I cared for you like a mother. he spoke to the Thessalonians uh would care for her her children. I get that. But God has revealed himself with masculine pronouns. And because of that, for me then to take liberty on what God himself has said about himself and say, “No, I’m not going to use those words. I’m not going to use the word father. I’m not
00:02:27
going to use the word he. I’m gonna try to uh nudify God and and and try to to to make him, you know, I’m gonna speak of him in ways that I think a lot of liberal clergy and and liberals would say, “Oh, that’s that’s wonderful.” They would applaud that. I I don’t care what the world thinks. I care what God said about himself. And that is he revealed himself with masculinity in terms of masculine pronouns. He, as Jesus said, I taught us to pray. our father who arted
00:02:56
in heaven. Patros, it’s the Greek word for a dad. And that’s how we’re supposed to view him. And I get that. I I I can’t get away from that. And to change that is really for me to mess with God’s word. I would go so far as to say it’s a lot what was warned by John on the island of Patmas at the end of the book of Revelation. I’m taking away from the word of God. I just am. If I’m gonna say, “Well, I don’t like that uh because, you know, I have some weird
00:03:21
theological, philosophical uh explanation and motivation to take the the paternity of God uh away from him as father. I’m just not going to do that. I dare not do that because God hasn’t done it.” Uh does male and female both represent something in the image of God? Yes, I get that. And as human beings, I love the fact that I’m not um seeing all of life the way I ought to if I don’t take into consideration how a woman and and femininity might see it. And a woman ought to see the same. I I I fully
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recognize my wife needs to know how a masculine view on X, Y, or Z would help her fill in a whole wise look at whatever it is. And together we represent the fullness of what it means to be made in God’s image, both male and female. So I I I get it, but I can’t change what God has said about himself. And there’s something to this. And even as God has sent his son, he sent him right as as XY as a male. And uh that’s just how it’s going to be for all eternity, right? Jesus is not
00:04:28
genderneutral. He’s he’s he has all the male parts and he will dwell in eternity uh and does so right now as as as our male Messiah. So, you know, and again to take to to say as the the liberals so sensitive to so many things think that somehow that detracts from females. I mean, even 1 Corinthians 10 that sets up uh order in the universe and in the family and in the church. I mean, it says we we don’t even have we don’t every everything about gender is interdependent. We we can’t exist right
00:05:01
without females and females can’t exist without males. So, there’s no hierarchy in ontological worth. But there is distinction. And the distinction, God has chosen to represent himself and reveal himself with masculine pronouns and masculine titles like father. And I’m going to utilize that because Christ told me to. He rose from the dead and he has more authority than your pastor or or than all the liberal seminaries put together. So I’m going to do what God said. And I think you should, too.
00:05:32
>> Excellent. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Yeah. Maybe not. So clearly as you you’ve articulated. Thank you so much. >> Well, it’s it’s you’re right. I mean, you’re just right. And to me, there are some things are are nuanced and I got to be careful how I say them, but this one is is not. And and I because I’ve been dealing with this, >> you know, with the academics, it always starts first in the seminaries and the academics. I I I just know I I have no
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doubt and the authority of of God himself. I’m going to tell you, knowing his word, uh you’re right, your pastor’s wrong. And there’s just no way around that. and and he can he can write me and and call me or whatever, but that’s that’s there’s nowhere to go but to stick with what God has said about us. >> I got you. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Huh. >> All right, Keith. I love it. Yeah, I clarity is helpful.
