There are those who like to say that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. Various verses are cited (out of context) and the verses that people use to show that homosexuality is wrong are explained away. The world wants to change God’s words and meanings into something more suitable to its sinful desires. Nevertheless, the truth stands: The Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin. Let’s look at what it says.
Lev. 18:22, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Lev. 20:13, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltness is upon them”
1 Cor. 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Rom. 1:26-28, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”
Homosexuality is clearly condemned by the Bible. It goes against the created order of God. He created Adam and then made a woman. This is what God has ordained and it is what is right. Unlike other sins, homosexuality has a severe judgment administered by God Himself. This judgment is simple: They are given over to their passions. That means that their hearts are allowed to be hardened by their sins (Romans 1:18ff). As a result, they can no longer see the error of what they are doing. Without an awareness of their sinfulness, there will be no repentance and trusting in Jesus. Without Jesus, they will have no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there is no salvation.
What should be the Christian’s Response to the Homosexual?
Just because someone is a homosexual does not mean that we cannot love him (or her) or pray for him (her). Homosexuality is a sin and like any other sin, it needs to be dealt with in the only way possible. It needs to be laid at the cross, repented of, and never done again.
As a Christian, you should pray for the salvation of the homosexual the same you would any other person in sin. The homosexual is still made in the image of God — even though he is in grave sin. Therefore, you should show him same dignity as anyone else you come in contact with. However, this does not mean that you are to approve of their sin. Don’t compromise your witness for a socially acceptable opinion that is void of godliness.
Article from http://www.carm.org/questions/homosexuality.htm
28 Comments
October 22, 2007 at 8:38 pm
i agree….
October 23, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Not just a sin but a sin equal to murder, that said……Hate the sin not the sinner.
I agree with you, but some will say that we are “Homophobic” and will, maybe intentionally, miss the whole point.
October 23, 2007 at 5:34 pm
let them..there are reels of filth to show that is a lie as far as i am concerned..
anyway…
if one tells a crack head they are injuring themselves by their activities…then is that one who tells a crakheadaphobe?..
the homophobe accusation is intended to shame others to silence…it is also a lie…
there is NO reason to be afraid of the name, nor does it carry any power at this point because the homo crowd has abused it too much trying to manipulate others to get their way…
it is realy a word that,as we need to teach our sons, has very little relevent meaning anymore, as it has been demoted to nothing more than a slander toward those that speak out against the harm that the homo lifestyle leads to…
November 4, 2007 at 4:23 am
it seems there is a lot of latent hatred and anger in Wordsseldomsaid’s remarks, as is common throughout the Christian community.
it is unnecessary and offensive to demean substance abusers by referring to them as “crack heads”, as it is infantile to liken people with different sexual orientations to those with drug addictions.
i would argue that a more Christian attitude would assume a less noxious and spiteful tone in his or her criticisms, and incorporate some of the qualities of acceptance and grace that Christ himself was known for.
November 14, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Religion – I am going to talk in general here – religion is and should be the guiding for moral decisions here. The government’s place in a society like ours should deal with the secular and the public realms: education, welfare, defense, economy.
I have (well, more like had, I haven’t talk to any of them in months after moving across the country) friends who are gay, loud and proud. I know people who are promiscuous and admit it. I knew as well gang-bangers, adulterers, open-end believers, swingers, and pimps. Back in the day, I was the odd one because I was the celibate and asexual one; my problem was transgenderism.
Now I live with the advice, “Live and let live.” My friends knew much of what the Bible allowed and disallowed, but they made up their minds that this is what they wanted. Tell them once or twice, and then love on, move on.
November 17, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I think many Christians use the live and let live advice, and I find it to be largely Biblical. Look at the early church in Acts: They shared the basic Gospel over and over, and many hearts and minds wer changed. But their primary focus was the Gospel.
Having said that, as citizens of the U.S. we have the right and duty to vote. And of course we should let our religious views inform our political views. I don’t use the Bible to convince atheists of my political views. But there are always plenty of non-religious arguments to defend pro-life, pro-family views.
November 19, 2007 at 11:57 am
Those verses in Leviticus appear devised to promote the making of babies and preserving the patriarchal structure. They forbid the eating of shellfish, and they don’t list father-daughter incest as a problem.
Are we bound by those rules in Leviticus, especially after the Crucifixion?
November 19, 2007 at 11:59 am
Campaigning against homosexuals, being inhospitable to them, is also clearly condemned by the Bible.
How do we reconcile that?
November 19, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Jesus fulfilled the moral laws, but He didn’t take them away. If we are obedient followers of Christ we’ll want to follow them – not to earn salvation, but because we love Jesus and agree that what He has commanded is best.
The verses in Leviticus 18 are quite clearly moral laws. Just look at the beginning and the end of the chapter, where God warns the Israelites not to do what the pagans did who He is vomiting out of the land. That passage does not change the shellfish command (one of the favorite verses of liberal theologians).
The verses list many principles, from which one could easily infer that father-daughter incest is wrong. As in many parts of the Bible, it doesn’t try to address every possible scenario.
See Problems with pro-gay theology for an example of what happens when you rationalize away these passages.
Teaching the truth about homosexual behavior – especially in this society and to Christians bearing false teachings – is a loving thing to do. Preaching the Bible automatically reconciles with the Bible.
November 19, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Leviticus 18 contains many moral laws, and they are sandwiched by strong statements that the Israelites are not to behave like the pagan Canaanites did (the Israelites are about to displace them and take over the land). God did not expect the Canaanites and other nations to follow the ceremonial laws (such as the favorite verse of liberal theologians, eating shellfish), but He did expect them to follow the moral laws written on our hearts. The Canaanites had committed the offenses noted in Leviticus 18 for hundreds of years, so God was judging them.
Jesus fulfilled the law but didn’t do away with the law. If we love him and trust that He is who He said He is (God), then of course we’ll want to obey his laws.
Teaching the truth of the Bible isn’t being inhospitable. If the pro-gay groups stop campaigning then the orthodox won’t have to spend so much time on this.
November 19, 2007 at 11:37 pm
I think before we campeign anymore for or against gay rights…it should be about things like DIVORCE and finding ways on how to keep families together. First to go was the extended family, now the nuclear family…then what?!
November 20, 2007 at 3:44 pm
it scares me that there are people like you guys in the world. homosexuality equal to murder? wow. why do people who call themselves christians so filled with ignorance, hate and anger?
November 20, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Well crayola, sin is sin…. murder is sin, so is homosexuality.
1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10, ” Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites.
6:10
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Sorry you feel offended but this is the Word of God.
November 20, 2007 at 6:00 pm
No. The Word of God is revealed in Ezekiel. The sin of Sodom was inhospitality — the same inhospitality some Christians now show to homosexuals, the same sort of sexual humiliation the Bush administration endorsed for prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Sorry you’re so far out of step with the Word of God. God doesn’t claim homosexuality is murder. Get a New Testament some day, it’s a good read.
November 20, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Sodom was about homosexuality. To say that God annihilated two whole cities over bad manners (regardless of the human customs of the time)would be funny if the topic weren’t so serious.
Go to Responding to Pro-Gay Theology and search for “Sodom” to see other passages that prove this out. The Ezekiel passage is addressed. Here’s part of the response:
“But Ezekiel also says of the Sodomites: “They were haughty and did detestable things before me” (16:50). The sexual nature of these “detestable” things is suggested in 2 Peter 2:6-7:
If he [God] condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men… ”
The whole link is really thorough and easy to read. I highly recommend it.
November 20, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Genesis doesn’t describe any homosexual sex in Sodom. Genesis doesn’t describe any homosexual relationships in Sodom. Instead, what we see is the age-old practice of humiliating men by using them as women — sexism aside, this is what is described in Genesis as the activities the people of Sodom wished to engage in. What would it look like? See the photos from Abu Ghraib. Think of prison rapes, in male-only prisons.
That’s not homosexuality.
Then read what Ezekiel 16 says — it is the only text in the Bible which says directly why Sodom was destroyed. (KJV)
One may argue that homosexuality was the issue, but scripture will not support that claim. There is no description of homosexual activity, nor is it cited by Ezekiel, a guy who probably knew a bit about what he was talking about.
If God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and making them an example of what happens to the ungodly, perhaps we should look hard at what Ezekiel says made them ungodly.
Homosexual behavior isn’t there.
November 20, 2007 at 11:13 pm
From the previous link I gave:
“Jude 7: In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Dr. Bruce Metzger of Princeton Theological Seminary mentions other references to Sodom’s sexual immorality in 3 Maccabees 2:5: “the people of Sodom who acted arrogantly, who were notorious for their vices.” And again in Jubilees 16:6: “the uncleanness of the Sodomites.”[79]
The pro-gay interpretation of Sodom’s destruction has some merit: homosexual rape was attempted, and the Sodomites were certainly guilty of sins other than homosexuality. But in light of the number of men willing to join in the rape, and the many other references, both Biblical and extra-Biblical, to Sodom’s sexual sins, it is likely homosexuality was widely practiced among the Sodomites. It is also likely that the sin for which they are named was one of many reasons judgment finally fell on them.”
December 2, 2007 at 11:22 pm
wordsseldomsaid obviously has some issues in his life to address.
December 20, 2007 at 11:36 am
well…things have change din my life…i am and have beena homosexual for many years now…it feels good to come out with the truth instead of supressing it in anger…
January 19, 2008 at 5:23 pm
the above is one sorry job of trying to sound like me….done by a pitiful wretched soul…who wishes he were me …
more of the homo crowds attacks on those that speak against their animalistic behavior…
plus…to the guy who did not like the crack head remark…stop whining…
also, the lev. thing meaning only ceremonial law is crap and does not fit with the rest of the reg.’s in the chapter…
March 15, 2008 at 1:29 am
I think there is one important thing is being over looked in this whole issue. All you people who call yourself christians’ are judging thes individual’s and dont realize that your are taking their sin upon yourself; if any is being committed. God is the only one who judges not a priest, and surely not anyone else. Read the bible live your life according to its message of love, non-judgement, forgiveness, and hope. If the apostles were acting like the way we are today the word of god would not have spread around the world. Stop judging these people for the sake of your own soul. When you stand before God on judgement day, would you say, God I was inforcing your words by taking the postion to judge that gay man to bring him to the light. There would be nothing you could really say to God in your defense because he is the judge. Stop acting like God, and imbrace them as a human beings, God will judge them and will choose to forgive or not to forgive them. May God bless you all, and try to remember love is the only way into the kindom of God-not hate.
March 15, 2008 at 1:51 am
Christian’s who exclude and judge others are damaging themselves more than the person committing the crime-”Sin”. God is the only one who has the ability to pass a judgement. Please don’t condem yourself to hell because of your own Pride and lack of understading.
March 15, 2008 at 8:52 pm
“Please don’t condem yourself to hell because of your own Pride and lack of understading.”
Uh, was that deliberately ironic? John & Georgette, you aren’t judging us to Hell for judging, are you? You aren’t being prideful, are you?
God revealed himself to us in his word. If you think we have misinterpreted that, then by all means correct us. But properly quoting God is not a sin.
The shellfish argument is full of holes but is appealing to many because so few bother to read the passages in context. I encourage you to read flaws of the shellfish argument.
March 20, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hey Neil, Why pick apart the idea of just live and let live? Everyone today loves to agree to disagree, when they don’t want to have a resoulution for a problem. That my friend is a fact because we are doing it right know, you took my own words you agree with but used it against me. What is productive about that, and before you answer think about it. I not trying to fight you own the subject but trying figure out a way to squash the whole ideal with gay people. Were worring about gay people but are losing the fight agaisnt porno, ciggarettes, guns, etc… being handed out and destroying alot of youth and adults today. I think fighting that would be more of a worthy cause.
March 20, 2008 at 10:36 am
“Do not Judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1,2 “Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.”Proverbs 3:5,6 please understand with all your heart, that we all are the same in the eyes of God. Our trivial disagreements should not hold power but giving all love is the place of power! I thankyou, sending love to others as best I can.
March 22, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Hi Georgette – Matthew 7:1-2 is in the context of not judging hypocritically. If you use it as a blanket condemnation of any judgments then of course you are convicting yourself for judging me about judging. There are other verses which tell us to make sound judgments.
Hi John – re. live and let live – I’m actually quite OK with that. I get along great with gays. My daughters are serious ballerinas, and believe it or not, many of the guys are gay. I don’t preach at them and try to convert them. I just treat them the way I would anyone else. If I get a chance to share the Gospel with them, that is great.
But we can’t be naive about the homosexual movement and the garbage being fed to kids as young as kindergarten (see http://www.massresistance.com/ for examples).
I’m all for fighting porno, etc. It isn’t like the gay topic is my only fight or even the main one. I spend more time on pro-life issues, for one.
But if the question of “What does the Bible say?” comes up, as it did in this post, then the answer is clear: It is a sin. To deny that truth would be most unloving.
March 24, 2008 at 10:28 am
That’s cool Neil, and I’m glad you elaborated on that for me God Bless and take care.
May 29, 2008 at 1:28 pm
This is delightful.
Using a book of salvation to foster the condemnation of fellow citizens.
And they say your book helped this country. Ha.