What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?
What we say and think about the LGBQT+ community should be derived from Scripture, including the ways in which we are to treat one another.
Christians must always start with the Bible in order to hear God’s Word on any subject. His commands are not optional, and he states clearly, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22).
“Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:26).
(Reprinted from "What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?" by Candice Lacey)
Why Do Christians Advocate Obeying Leviticus' Laws on Homosexuality but Not the Others?
A lot of times people have an objection to the way that Christians read the Bible and their objection is basically that we read it selectively and when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, we think about verses in Leviticus, 18, Verse 22, which clearly says you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a woman, for it's an abomination. And Christians are careful to listen to that and heed that as a moral norm for their lives. And so the critiques come to us and say, "Well if you're obeying that, why aren't you obeying all these other laws of the Old Testament? Like you don't wear mixed fabric or why don't you keep the Jewish food laws? How come you're picking and choosing from the Bible? It seems inconsistent."
Well, the answer to that is it's really not a new objection at all. It's not a new issue for Christianity, it's as old as Christianity, as Christians have always been thinking about how the Old Testament relates to the New Testament, and in particular how the Old Testament law relates to the New Testament, to the New Covenant. So if you look for instance in 1 Corinthians, Romans, Paul's letters, he's talking about this all of the time. And he will say things like, "Do you not know that we've died to the law so that we're no longer bound by it." What he means by that is, is that we're not bound or under the condemnation of the law that was due to lawbreakers based on what you see in the Old Testament. There were curses for lawbreakers. He says, "We're no longer bound by this any longer." He was not saying by that that the laws' moral demands have no relevance to the New Covenant Christian. Yet an assortment of commands in the Old Covenant, some of them were ceremonial, some of them were ritual, some of them were civil laws that governed the theocracy of Israel at the time, and then you had some of the laws that were moral laws, which would have been best summed up in the Ten Commandments.
Jesus came in and fulfilled the ceremonial law and the civil law was no longer in effect after the theocracy of Israel went away, but that moral law in the New Testament is still enduring. So that you see, for instance in the Ten Commandments, all of the Ten Commandments, except for one, the Sabbath command are reiterated in the New Testament. Jesus took all of the norms of marriage and of human sexuality and reiterated them. He said in Matthew, "You've heard that it's said do not commit adultery, but I say to you whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." So he confirms the adultery command, and he intensifies it. So those moral commands come over into the New Testament.
So when you look at the Apostle Paul and his reflection on the issue of homosexuality, he is bringing over the Old Testament norm for human sexuality and that norm is very simply one man and one woman in a covenanted union for life. That is the only normative expression for human sexuality. Everything outside of that in the scripture is considered to be sin. And so Paul and Jesus, both of them, whenever they wanted to establish what the deepest meaning of our human sexuality is, what the deepest meaning of marriage is, neither of them would refer back to the polygamist kings or the polygamist patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. They would skip right over those guys, and they would go back directly to Genesis Chapter 2, for this cause, "A man shall leave his father and his mother and the two shall become one flesh."
That was the norm before there was any sin in the world, before there was any fall. There was one man and one woman in a permanent, covenanted union before God. Jesus and Paul, the rest of the New Testament, confirmed that as the norm and everything outside of it is considered to be sin. So there's a moral core from the Old Testament that carries over into the New Testament, and you see that confirmed over and over again.
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(First published August 28, 2013)
How Can Christians Be More loving to Gay People?
Unfortunately, evangelicals are one the biggest contributors to the rapidly snowballing rejection of biblical sexuality. That’s because our actions, past and present, toward members of the LGBT community are nothing short of hateful.
Some may protest, “But I have never been hateful anyone,” all while forgetting the story of the Good Samaritan. There Jesus taught us that the lack of merciful action toward the wounded man was a sinful failure to love their neighbor. The implications of this are obvious, difficult, and eternally important.
Additionally, many evangelicals are prejudiced and self-righteous. Instead of adopting a posture of humility and grace, too often we sound like the Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like those sinners” (Luke 18:11). Can you blame someone for hesitating to trust Jesus when they see his followers living like that?
Finally, evangelicals are sometimes guilty of using unbiblical language when talking about sexuality. We say things like, “You can’t be gay and be a Christian,” which makes it sound like everyone who is tempted with same-sex desires is without hope of salvation. But that is not what the Bible teaches. There is an eternal difference between those who trust Jesus and seek to obey him—even while struggling to resist same-sex desires—and those who refuse to trust Jesus and deliberately rebel against what he says.
In all this we must never forget that our only hope—no matter what form our sexual temptations may take—is the forgiving grace of God in Jesus Christ and the transforming grace of his Spirit. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” Jesus says. But if we abide in him, then everything changes—including us.
(Taken from “How to be (Biblically) Offensive to Gay People” by Doug Ponder)
Further Reading:
Homosexuality: Prepare to Give an Answer
“Mom, Dad… I’m Gay.” A Christian Parent’s Response
Love Into Light: A Christian Approach to Homosexuality
Why Jews Rejected Homosexuality before Christianity Even Existed
How to Be (Biblically) Less Offensive to Gay People
Can a Person Who Practices Homosexuality Be a Christian?
Preaching on Homosexuality: Taking the Road Less Traveled
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Marinela Malcheva
