There has been a lot of discussion concerning homosexuality recently. Whether it was Kirk Cameron's comments a few weeks ago, or the vote in North Carolina that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, or President Obama's statement that he believed that homosexuals should have the same rights to marry as heterosexuals, people have been talking about gay marriage and homosexuality. A lot of people are talking, but what we should be interested in is what God says about the matter. So, let's go and search the Bible and see what God has to say.
In the Old Testament, we see quite clearly how God saw homosexuality. In Lev. 18: 22, we read, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." God states that homosexuality is an abomination, or sin. In verse 29 of the same chapter, God states, "For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." In Lev. 20:13, we see what the people were to do with those caught in the act - "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." There were only a handful of sins that had death as a punishment, and homosexuality was one of them. It is clear to see that God saw homosexuality as sin, and He was strongly opposed to it.
But that was in the law of Moses, which was given to the Israelites to govern their nation. We, today, do not live under that law, but under the New Law, the one instituted by Jesus Himself (Eph. 2:15). So, what does that law say about homosexuality? In I Cor. 6: 9-10, we read, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." We see a list of people who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and in the middle are two that stick out: effeminate and abusers of themselves with mankind. Abusers of themselves is translated in other versions as homosexuals, and effeminate is translated as sexual perverts. People who practice homosexuality are perverting, or corrupting, what God has designed as normal or natural.
In Romans 1: 17-32, Paul explains to the christians in Rome how God has revealed Himself through those things that are created, and how certain people have denied His existence, to the point where God allowed them to continue in their delusions. In verses 26 and 27, we see one way people were denying God and how God allowed them to do so: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 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 recompence of their error which was meet." Look at how homosexuality is described. "Vile affections", "Change the Natural Use", "Against Nature", "Working that which is Unseemly". This passage clearly shows how God feels about homosexuality. He is against it, calling it unnatural.
But some reading this may say that the above paragraph describes how Paul feels about homosexuality, not God or Jesus. They'll say that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, and therefore cares nothing about it. While it is true that Jesus never expressly talks about homosexuality, He does talk about marriage. Let's see what He has to say about that subject.
In Matt. 19, we see the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask Him a question about marriage and divorce. Let's focus on what Jesus says about marriage. In verses 4-6, we read, "Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." When asked about marriage, Jesus goes back to the Garden of Eden as the example of what a marriage should be - one man, one woman, for life. He says God made the first two humans a male and a female to get married and become one. He doesn't say that two people can get married, but a man and a woman. So, because Jesus never mentions homosexuals getting married, but instead speaks of God's ideal marriage as one man and one woman (Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), it actually proves how against the idea of homosexuality Jesus is. He reaffirms that marriage is between one man and one woman, and only between one man and one woman.
I don't write about this subject out of some hatred against homosexuals, even though that is how many today interpret anything spoken against homosexuality and homosexuals. I do it out of love. This world has been brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is natural and should be celebrated. But that's not what the bible says at all. The bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. You can try and twist the bible to make it say whatever you want, but anyone reading it with an unbiased view will come to the conclusion that homosexuality is a sin. And, just like any other sin, people can come out of it. Let's go back to I Cor. 6 for a second. We read verses 9 and 10, where Paul states which people will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now let's read verse 11 - "And 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." He says that some of the people that were now Christians in the church at Corinth were the people described in verses 9 and 10, but they had been baptized and had changed. Some were no longer homosexuals, but had changed. That is what God wanted when Paul wrote this letter, and that is what God wants from everyone today - no matter what sin you're doing, you can come out of it, be forgiven of it, and be baptized. Just like Peter says in II Peter 3:9 - "[God is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He wants everyone to be saved and go to heaven. In order to go to heaven, one must leave all sin behind, change his life, and follow God. No matter how unpopular it is to say, homosexuality is a sin. It's unnatural and will cause many to lose out on heaven. That is what the bible clearly states, that is how God believes, and that is what we should believe.
