There is no doubt that many people, institutions, and governments, now approve of homosexuality. But what about God? Has God, our Creator, spoken on the issue of homosexuality? Yes, homosexuality is clearly addressed in God's authoritative word.
Scripture has been breathed out by God and given to us that we may know what the truth is, that we may know what to believe, what not to believe, how to behave, and how not to behave. As Paul writes,
16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The Bible is from God; therefore, if we desire to know how God views an issue, like homosexuality, we should look to His Word for the answer. In determining your own opinion on this matter, I hope that you would look beyond feelings, experiences, media, and the world and go straight to God's Word since it is the supreme source of truth in issues of belief and behavior. With that being said, let's look at three primary passages that deal with this issue.
1. Romans 1:24-27
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and 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 1:24-27)
The people that Paul is addressing exchanged the truth about the real God for lies and created a false god. Idolatry and sexual immorality go hand in hand. For a sinner to live like they want to, the first thing they must get rid of is God. A holy, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, righteous God really infringes upon a lifestyle of sin. Have you ever seen this happen with people that you know? Perhaps they are in homosexual sin, heterosexual sin, or whatever sin. But when called out on, they say something to the effect of, "Well my god understands me and knows my heart." Such a person has just created another god. Unwilling to repent and change, they stay in their sin and exchange the true God for a false god. Paul uses the homosexual sin as an example of those who have suppressed the truth about the one true God, created their own God, and justified their behavior. Their foolishness and darkness have become so deceptive that they not only attempt to reverse the order of Creator/creature by creating their own God, but they also reverse God's order of sexuality between male and female.
The Apostle Paul writes that homosexuality is "dishonorable." If that is the case, then what is an honorable sexual/marital relationship? Does God give the standard so that we can know what a natural, honorable, God-ordained relationship looks like? Yes, he clearly states it from the beginning in the book of Genesis.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply… (Genesis 1:27)
Jesus Christ later repeats this passage, thus maintaining the original honorable sexual and marital relationship honored by God.
4He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:4-6)
Thousands of years had gone by since the time of Adam and Eve, yet nothing had changed. God was still blessing the union of one man and one woman. As well as speaking about homosexuality as He did in the Old Testament:
22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)
The sin of homosexuality is referred to as an "abomination" by God in the Old Testament. So, what about the New Testament? By examining these passages from Romans, we find that nothing had changed. Paul still spoke of homosexuality in the same way: "impure," "dishonorable," "contrary to nature," "shameless," and that the homosexual will receive the "penalty for their error," which is the wrath of God. Paul's way of speaking about homosexuality in the New Testament shows that God had not changed his mind since setting the standard in Genesis. It also lets us know that God still viewed homosexuality as He did in the Old Testament.
2. 1 Timothy 1:8-10
8Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:8-10)
Here, the sin of homosexuality is in a list that includes those who beat their parents, murder, and lie. Even those who try to defend homosexuality as not a sin would agree that every other act in this list is a sin. If God approves homosexuality, then why would it be on this list of grievous sins? Paul made it clear that homosexuality and the other sins listed were against sound doctrine. That means that these behaviors were contrary to the behaviors that are commanded of us by God.
3. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Why is this text so crucial to the issue of homosexuality? Because homosexuals are listed in the category of "unrighteous" who "will not inherit the kingdom of God." Yet, we have "Christians," "churches," and even "Christian denominations," that are giving their full approval to homosexuality and acting as if it is no longer a sin and that homosexuals will enter the kingdom of God.
What would you do if someone engaged in homosexuality, came to you and wanted to know your thoughts? What would they want you to say? What would God want you to say? Most Christians are finding themselves being pressured to not only approve but to applaud homosexuality. But, as Christians who know the word of God, we must not hide the Biblical truths about this sinful behavior. You only strengthen their deception by hiding or even rejecting how God views homosexuality and failing to warn them of the eternal consequences of remaining in their sin.
Many Christians have been duped into believing that it is unloving to call homosexuality a sin. Instead, they are speaking of it as an activity that is no longer considered a sin. This sounds much like the words of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah:
20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)
Israel was relabeling "right" something that God had already labeled "wrong." This is what our society is currently doing with the sin of homosexuality. However, the creation has no power to change God's mind. Israel suffered God's wrath for their sins against Him, even though they called it "sweet, light, good." The same thing was being done in Jeremiah's day as well:
14They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace, 'when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)
In this situation, God was calling out those who claimed to speak for Him for the sin of speaking incorrectly about how He viewed the people's sin. The false prophets were saying that these people were at peace with God, even though they were living in unrepentant sin and would soon receive the wrath of God.
What are people commanded to do when we sin? Confess and repent of it. This means to speak of the sin as God speaks of it and to change from pursuing disobedience to God to obedience. However, today, some professing Christians are being deceived into believing the lie that homosexuality is not a sin, and that no repentance is needed. By doing so, they have become like those that God was angry with those who claimed to represent Him back in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah, telling people who will not inherit the kingdom of God that they are at peace with God. If we approve of homosexuality, applaud it, encourage it, and do not call upon people to repent of this sin, then we are shutting them out of the kingdom of God.
So, considering 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, will homosexuals go to heaven? In verse nine, Paul states that the "unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God." In the list that follows, he includes those who practice homosexuality in the group of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is important to see that it is not just homosexuals but same-sex sinners, adulterers, and sexually immoral people in general who will not inherit the kingdom of God. However, there is good news! Paul says that many whom he was writing to had been involved in these sins, including homosexuality, but now they had been "washed," "sanctified," and "justified." In other words, they had trusted in the Person and work of Jesus Christ and repented of their sins. The Good News for all sinners, is that there is forgiveness of all sin for those who have faith in Christ and repent of their sins. But for those who remain in their sin, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Summary:
Culturally, homosexual behavior may or may not be seen as wrong.
Criminally, homosexual behavior may or may not be seen as wrong.
Personally, you may or may not believe that homosexual behavior is wrong.
Biblically, God has made it abundantly clear to His creation that homosexual behavior is a sin.
If we, as Christians, approve of homosexuality, then we are:
Misrepresenting God like the false prophets.
Undermining the authority of the Word of God.
Relabeling unrighteous behavior as righteous behavior.
Closing the kingdom of heaven to homosexuals by leaving them in their sin.
Acting unlovingly by withholding the truth about repentance and salvation.
Sharing the truth in love,
Dr. Trey Talley, Lead Pastor and Elder