Theological Digression: Homosexuality and the Bible

Recently I read that the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul, Minnesota welcomed three lesbian ministers into their church. Sadly, this has become so common that it’s no longer news. Not only do many church accept homosexuality, but they even accept homosexual clergy.

What caught my attention was that the church took this as an opportunity to repent of the “sin” of having condemned homosexuality in the past. That’s right: the church now believes that its previous stance of calling homosexuality a sin was actually a grievous offense against God Himself. In their own words, they said they should have “listened, learned, and included” instead of condemning it as sin and urging homosexuals to repent.

That is a pretty astonishing step to take, even in today’s jaded and immoral culture. At one time churches throughout the country taught that homosexuality was a sin; now they teach that condemning homosexuality is a sin. Times have really changed.

I have heard people try to argue that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. Anyone who tells you that is either ignorant or lying. The Bible not only condemns it, but it condemns it with incredibly strong language.

For example:

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Here we see God saying “Don’t do it.” That’s actually pretty clear. A couple chapters later God elaborates on this idea:

Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

It’s hard to imagine a stronger condemnation of homosexuality than that! In fact, it’s so strong that this verse has caused the Bible to be banned as “hate speech” in numerous countries around the world. That fact alone should put to rest the idea that the Bible smiles approvingly on homosexuality. But God has a great deal more to say about the subject. Do you remember Sodom and Gomorrah? God didn’t look down on those cities with favor, nor did He choose to “listen, learn, and include”. He didn’t seek out their inhabitants and have them put in positions of authority over His children. Instead, He destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them with fire and brimstone:

Genesis 19:24: “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;
25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”

This is about as clear an example of divine judgment upon homosexuality as you could possibly want. But some people may say “Well, that was Old Testament, and God was mean and grumpy back then. In the New Testament things were different.” As foolish as it is, people do make that argument.

The reason it is a foolish thing to say is because God never changes. He is eternal, perfect, and unchanging:

James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

I Samuel 15:29: “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.”

God never changes. Besides this, the New Testament condemns homosexuality as strongly as the Old Testament. In fact, the Bible says that homosexuality is actually a curse:

Romans 1:26: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile afflictions: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.”

What is homosexuality called? A “vile affliction”. The Bible does not depict it as just an “alternative lifestyle”. It is an abomination to God, as the passage goes on to explain:

Romans 1:28: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

God clearly sees homosexuality as an evil thing. It may be acceptable to society but it is not acceptable to God. He calls it a sin and urges all those living that lifestyle to repent of it and come to God for forgiveness, cleansing, and healing. God is more than willing to extend forgiveness, but in order to accept that forgiveness you must first acknowledge that it is a sin, that you are wrong, and that God is right.

People say “Well, we can’t help it. Homosexuality is genetic – there’s just nothing we can do about it.” That in itself is a lie – homosexuality is treatable, and a great many people have left that lifestyle and found healing. But for the sake of the argument, let’s say that there is a genetic disposition toward homosexuality. That does not change the situation at all. After all, if someone had a genetic disposition toward molesting children, would that mean it’s ok for them to do that? Or if someone had a genetic disposition toward mass murder, would that mean “they just can’t help it” and society should just step back, be understanding, and let them disembowel people?

Of course not! A sin is a sin, and sin separates us from God. The fact is, all of us are predisposed to sin because we have sin natures. Sinning is what we do; it’s who we are. But God can change us, if we ask Him to. He can set us free from the bondage of sin and give us a new life.

That is why the actions of this church are so horrible. There are very real consequences to homosexuality – not just in this life, but also in the life to come. The Bible is clear that those who refuse to seek God’s forgiveness and cling to the homosexual lifestyle will not make it to Heaven:

I Corinthians 6:9: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 As such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

The offer that God makes is this: everyone has sinned in God’s sight, but Jesus came to Earth and died in our place – He took upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. If we will agree with God that the things we’ve been doing really are sins, and confess them to God, and ask God to forgive us, then He will. As verse 11 says, God is powerful enough to wash us clean of all our sins, and give us a new heart. He can defeat the sin in our lives, no matter how many times it has defeated us in the past.

That is why the actions of this church are so dangerous. Instead of telling people that they are on the road to Hell and desperately need to turn from their sins and ask God for forgiveness, they tell them that God approves of what they’re doing and that everything is fine. There is nothing loving or kind about that. Which is more loving – to tell people who are on the road to destruction that they’re fine and nothing bad is going to happen to them, or to warn them that they are caught in sin but that God is able and willing to help them escape?

All over the world, criticism of homosexuality is being classified as “hate speech”. And yet those who approve of homosexual behavior are actually the ones guilty of true “hate speech”, for they are encouraging people to engage in a lifestyle that will damn them for eternity. There is nothing loving about that.

The truth is that you cannot fight God. You may hate Him and His laws; you may despise His Word and reject it utterly. The fact remains that one day you will die, and after death – whether you believe in God or not – you will stand before a holy God and give an account of your life. God has made it very clear what will happen to those who insist on clinging to their sins – for if you reject God’s forgiveness and mercy then you will face His wrath. There are no other options. Deciding to not believe in God will not make Him go away.

God is an all-powerful immortal who created the entire universe, and who will one day come back and destroy it. If you refuse His forgiveness then what hope do you think you have? How are you going to defeat an almighty God?