What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Many Christians today are aware of the following passages but still go to great lengths to dismiss them as unclear or irrelevant. It is both odd and troubling that so many Christians believe the Bible when it instructs us to 'love our neighbors' and condemns ‘judging others’, but these same Christians don’t believe the Bible when it certainly condemns homosexuality.
- Lev. 18:22, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
- Lev. 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 bloodguiltness is upon them"
Some claim the sin of homosexuality only had to do with "ritual uncleanness" and is therefore not applicable today or in the early Church. If the sin of homosexuality only had to do with "ritual uncleanness" (and is therefore not applicable today or in the early Church), then why would the New Testament talk against it (see verses below)? You cannot find any other "ritually unclean sin" such as eating shellfish that is condemned in the New Testament. So why would the mere "ritually unclean" act of homosexuality be condemned? The obvious answer is because the sin of homosexuality falls under the sinful category of SEXUAL IMMORALITY (see 2 minute video below).
- 1 Cor. 6:9-10, "Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Rom. 1:26-28, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper."
- 1 Timothy 1:9-10, "We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine."
- Jude 1:7 “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
For additional clarification regarding homosexuality in the New Testament, please click here.
Bottom line: Sex is a gift from God and is sacred. Sex was meant for a man and a woman who commit their lives to one another. But Satan has perverted the gift of sex and turned it into an insatiable vice for some, a conquest for others, and an evanescent opiate for most who continually suppress that God shaped vacuum in their heart that only Jesus fills.