The Biblical View on Homosexuality Part 2

In the first part of this post, I discussed God’s view of homosexuality as a sin and the importance that Christians understand this. In this post, I would like to discuss the implications of that as it pertains to the way Christians should show godly love to homosexuals.

For some reason, many Christians today think that the only way to show love and support to the gay community is to somehow accept homosexuality as something that is perfectly normal, acceptable, and absent of any moral implication. The truth is that this is actually one of the most unloving possible responses one could have.

Imagine you had a daughter or friend who gets involved in a heterosexual relationship with a guy who is bad news. He has a criminal history, and you have noticed that he is very influential on your daughter/friend. She begins staying out extremely late, coming home drunk, and eventually gets caught committing some petty crime like shoplifting. Eventually this guys starts dealing drugs, and you find out that he has started involving your daughter/friend in his drug deals. It looks like this relationship is leading her on a path to punishment in prison or death on the street. What would your response be? How would you approach your reaction to this destructive, dysfunctional relationship with your daughter/friend? If we loved her like many Christians are “loving” homosexuals, then we would be loving her straight to prison or death. However, in reality, most people would advise her against this relationship and try to help her see the tragedy that lies in its path. We would do this, not because we hate her and don’t think she should be happy and live how she wants, but because we love her and do not want to see her life ruined.

How much more so should homosexuals be warned of the eternal consequences of the path that life takes! Homosexuality is a damning sin that leads to hell just like any other sin, and if we help homosexuals live in their deception that it is not a sin, then we are loving them straight to hell. Their damned souls are on our hands. How can they repent of something they do not view as a sin, and how can they view it as a sin, if we do not warn them? The way most Christians treat homosexuality now encourages homosexuals to stand self-righteously before God as the Pharisee in the parable of Luke 18 thanking God that he is not a swindler, unjust or adulterer, when he should be like the tax collector crying out, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”

This does not mean that we should pass our own judgment on homosexuals, nor does it mean we should be hateful of them. God does not desire that we persecute or oppress any sinner. What it does mean is that we should be lovingly honest in warning them about the eternal consequences of their sin according to God’s Word and tell them of the hope they have in Christ if they will repent of their sin and put their faith in Him. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, NASB). We have wonderful news to tell them! Jesus Christ offers forgiveness of all kinds of sin including homosexuality if one will repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. That is what it means to show godly love. Let us not be guilty of having a part in the eternal damnation of homosexuals by trying to define love by the world’s standards. Instead, let us demonstrate God’s love by warning the world of its sin and pointing them to the only answer, Jesus Christ.

The Biblical View on Homosexuality Part 1

In light of recent events regarding a certain business owner taking a public stance against gay marriage based on his Christian beliefs that homosexuality is a sin, I have found myself compelled to blog about the subject. This incident has created a firestorm of controversy causing people, Christians and non-Christians alike, all over Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites to chime in with their own opinion either supporting or condemning his opinion.

It is no surprise to me that many non-Christians have come out in anger speaking hatefully and hurtfully of this man, even hoping to somehow ruin his business. However, I am shocked at the number of professing Christians who have joined in on misguided efforts to supposedly love and support homosexuals by trying to advocate homosexuality as a lifestyle that is okay or even inconsequential in God’s eyes. In other words, many Christians today treat homosexuality as if it were not a sinful lifestyle that is displeasing to God. It shows a complete lack of biblical knowledge of one’s faith, and it betrays a tragic lack of wisdom as to what showing godly love to one another is.

First, I think it is important for Christians to understand that homosexuality is a sin. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, God has consistently condemned homosexual behavior as an unacceptable, vile, and immoral sin. Let’s look at some of these passages to see how clear they may be. (This is not going to be a comprehensive discussion of all passages dealing with this sin).

Leviticus 18:22 – You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination (NASB). This is a clear command from God against homosexual behavior given to Israel.

Deuteronomy 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 bloodguiltiness is upon them (NASB). God took this sin so seriously in Israel that He condoned the death sentence as a part of the Law as a deterrent against it. Thank God, through Christ, we are no longer under Law.

1 Corinthians 6:9 – Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God (NASB, emphasis added). Paul explains that those whose lives practice homosexuality (among the other sinful lifestyles listed) unrepentantly will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Jude 1:7 – just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire (NASB). Jude reminds the recipients of his letter of the tragic fate of eternity in hell of those in Sodom and Gomorrah whose primary sin was characterized by homosexual behavior as they sought to have homosexual relations with Lot’s visitors in Genesis 19.

Matthew 19:4 – 5 – And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ (NASB)?” Jesus, while answering a question about divorce, clearly teaches that God’s ordainment of male/female marital relations at creation is still relevant and the only intended pattern for marital relations.

These passages are by no means comprehensive, but they make the point that homosexuality is a sin. Many professing Christians who live homosexual lifestyles deny or try to reinterpret these passages denying the clear Word of God, “and when people reject the truth of the Word of God, they do it because they want to substitute a system which accommodates their desire for sin” (MacArthur, 54-10, gty.org/sermons). There are no excuses. There is no reason anyone could give to God that would make Him see it as an acceptable lifestyle. For instance, some may say, “I was born a homosexual.” This statement, as we will see, is somewhat true and untrue. First, I think it is untrue, because homosexuality is clearly a lifestyle choice. However, let’s say for the sake of argument that it is something someone can be born into. That is still no excuse. Everyone who has ever been born since the Fall of Man in Genesis 3 is a born sinner (Romans 3:10 – 12). This does not compel God to ignore or condone their sin. The same applies to homosexual sin. God is not obligated to accept homosexuality, even if it were something one is born with. God clearly views homosexuality as sin, so in a sense, homosexuals ARE actually born that way. Regardless, they are just as responsible for their sin as all other born sinners are responsible for their sin.

This post has become much longer than I anticipated. I will conclude this part. In this part, I wanted to make it clear to Christians that God views homosexuality as a sin. God does not ignore homosexuality as inconsequential, and He certainly does not approve of it. It damns one to hell just as any other sin would. God’s Word makes this clear. Any Bible believing Christian who denies this in the misguided attempt to appear “loving”, denies the Word of God and inadvertently contributes to the damnation of the homosexuals they are coddling from that Word. See Part 2, which I will actually post soon after this, to see God’s desired reaction from us as Christians to homosexual friends and family or even homosexuals in general.