This article is not meant to discriminate, vilify or foment detestation towards LGBT persons or any persons reading its words. I would like to take this opportunity to communicate love towards any reader who disagrees with what I have stated here. Your life is precious to God and in God we can all find life, love and eternal purpose.
Shawn Stevens
THE BIBLE AND THE GAY LIFESTYLE
The active homosexual and lesbian community today is diverse, spanning the spectrum of ages, classes, occupations, etc. They can be found through much of the world. I want to say upfront that I have no hatred towards those suffering from gender identity issues. Reader, if this is your condition, then know that you are valued and that your life is precious. I do not write this to hurt you but, rather, to try to uncover what the Bible says about this important issue. It is for sinners, heterosexual and homosexual alike, that Jesus died. He died to save us from our sins and to cleanse us from our sins, to set us free. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can be forgiven of our sins. Being forgiven of our sins begins with recognizing our sin for what it is and coming to Jesus with it. It is because recognizing sin for what it is, is so important that I am digging at what the Bible says on this issue.
The institution of marriage is under much attack and is assaulted on many fronts, from the educational establishment to the courts to Hollywood. In our country, and in North America in general, homosexuality has been normalized. What does the Bible say about the same-sex lifestyle?
The Old Testament Teaching on Sodomy
In the order of creation, God made man and then, we are told in Genesis 2:18 that God purposed to make a helper for man. God made a helper and that helper, or mate, was woman (see vs 21-24). The Bible presents this as the divine order, pairing man with woman. God blessed this institution. This is the only institution for marriage and for sexual orientation that the Bible blesses. What other sexual orientation can we read about in the pages of the Bible and read in the Bible that God blesses it? I can find no others.
In the Book of Genesis, we have an account from the life of Lot. Lot was living in the ungodly city of Sodom when angelic visitors, in the form of men, came to him to warn him to flee the city. While this was happening men from the city learned of the visitors and came to Lot's home, desiring to have homosexual relations with them. The Scriptures read:
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.Genesis 19:4-7
In these verses, Lot rebuked the desire of these men; “...do not so wickedly.” Some have claimed that biblical prohibitions on same-sex lifestyle were only for Jews. If homosexual behavior is wickedness for Jews only, then why was the Gentile cities of Sodom and Gomorrah judged for acting in this way? This prohibition is continued elsewhere in the Old Testament. The Book of Leviticus calls homosexual activities an abomination; “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22). Some would again say that this was only a part of God's covenant with natural Jews. However, in verse 24, we read; “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:” Here, from this verse, we see that homosexual behavior is one thing which defiled the nations. Nations, here, means Canaanite, Gentile nations. This shows that God's prohibition on homosexual behavior is not just for Jews but for Gentiles also.
The New Testament Teaching On Sodomy
The New Testament teaching on sodomy is consistent with its Old Testament counterpart. The New Testament repeatedly addresses same-sex lifestyle but even just this one passage in Romans is enough to establish that God opposes it. In the Book of Romans we read:
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
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.
Romans 1:24-27
The teachings of Jesus Christ also, indirectly, confront homosexuality. Scripture records of Christ; “And he answered and said unto them, 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?” (Matthew19:4-5). Here, we see that the teaching of Jesus Christ confronts homosexuality by upholding the God-ordained institution of the marriage of male and female. Just because Jesus didn't use the word “homosexuality” when rebuking sin, does not mean that He approved of it. Jesus didn't mention, by name, many other sins like wife beating, money laundering or drug abuse. However, this does not mean that He supported those things. We read earlier quotations from the Old Testament Law regarding homosexual activity. Did Jesus destroy the law? We read; “ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5: 17-18).
Theology must not be made to fit into the Bible, rather, we must get our theology from the Bible itself. Be aware of the temptation to rationalize your own feelings.
Media has drawn attention to the fact that there is a pro-gay theology movement alive in some mainline Churches. Such theology does not accept the Bible for what it says. Either it rejects the word of God as being authoritative on all issues that it addresses or it says that issues, like the Scripture's teaching on homosexuality, are misinterpreted.
Pro-gay theology says that God's command is to love Him and love our neighbour as ourself, and that this has no bearing on a person's choice to marry someone of the same sex. However, what does the Bible say in the verses that we have already discussed? Yes, we are to love God with all of our heart. One way that we love God is to obey Him. Mark 12:30 says; "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."
Pro-gay theology argues that the Bible's teaching against homosexual sin was written within the context of abusive, exploitative homosexual activity and that that is the type of homosexual activity that it condemns. Many gay Church leaders argue that the Bible does not condemn the committed, loving, gay relationship that homosexuals claim exists. Again, this is greatly stretching the text of Scripture. From the verses we have just read, we can see that the Scripture condemns homosexual sin in very clear and direct language. It is not scholarship to invent a context for changing the meaning of Scripture passages. The most straightforward meaning of these texts calls out the homosexual lifestyle as sin. The Almighty God knew that these passages would be read throughout the ages. If He wanted to condemn only abusive excesses of homosexual activity, He could have made that clear. Are we going to say that God was shortsighted in making the kind of statements that He made?
Pro-gay theology argues that those taking the Bible literally today, concerning judgment on gay lifestyle, are like those who took and used the Bible literally to suppress women throughout the ages. However, this argument is not a fair comparison. The Bible teaches respect for women, regardless of how some have interpreted it to the contrary. The Bible includes the stories of many virtuous women such as Mary, Martha, Mary the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, Priscilla, etc. The first people to believe in the resurrection of Christ were women. Some Bible women are heroes such as Esther and Debra. Where are the examples of homosexuals in the Bible who were heroes of faith? There are no examples in scripture. The homosexual lifestyle is spoken of in negative terms wherever it appears in Scripture.
Pentecostalism has always shunned homosexual activity. The Assemblies of God, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, issued this statement in 1979, saying that homosexuality represented the “alarming erosion of national moral standards”. 1
Many who struggle with gender identity issues already know that the Bible calls it sin and are dealing with the problem. They have taken the courageous steps of repenting from this lifestyle and may have sought support. They are grieved at the impulses felt inside of them and are not justifying those feelings. They want to change. There is great hope for such ones. However, there are many who struggle with gender identity issues who have not yet come to this place of recognition and repentance. Perhaps they have been told by a teacher or counselor that it is just an alternative lifestyle. Sexuality is something created by God and God, alone, has the right to set boundaries on sexual conduct. How does one find God's answer and will regarding gender identity issues? The answer is found in God's Book, The Holy Bible.
Jesus Christ died to save both heterosexual and homosexual sinners. His love reaches out today to those who will respond to His call. Homosexual activity is sodomy, one of the sins of Sodom. The timeless Word of God calls it an abomination (see Leviticus 18:22). Jesus taught a marriage picture that was between a man and a woman. We love God and love our neighbours as we carefully obey God and when we fail, we come to Him, acknowledge the struggle and call for His help. There is peace when we choose God's higher road of holiness, wholeness and love, made possible through the redemptive death of Jesus Christ.
God bless you. Wherever you are at on this issue, know that you are loved.
Shawn Stevens
ENDNOTES :
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“Sex Survey Results ” Genre, (October 1996).
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Lettie L. Lockhart et al, “Letting Out the Secret : Violence in Lesbian Relationships ” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9, (1994), 469-492.
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D. Island and P. Letellier, Men Who Beat The Men Who Love Them : Battered Gay Men & Domestic Violence (New York: Haworth Press, 1991), 14.
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Gregory L. Greenwood, et al, “Battering Victimization among a Probability – Based Sample of Men Who Have Sex with Men,” American Journal of Public Health 92 (December 2002): 1966-1967).
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“Violence Between Intimates ” Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, November 1994, 2.
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Sotirios Sarantakos, “Children in three contexts : Family, education and social development, “Children Australia, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1996), 24-28.
11. Jakii Edwards, with Nancy Kurrack, Like Mother, Like Daughter? The effects of growing up in a homosexaul home. Vienna: Xulon Press, 2001, pg.8.
12. http://www.ag.org/info/position/34-4181.htm The General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, quoted in Timothy J. Dailey, The Bible, The Church & Homosexuality :Exposing The 'Gay ' Theology (Washington: Family Research Council, 2004), 36.
REFERENCES :
Brown, Michael Ph.D., Homosexuality, The Church And Society, Producer Bill Coleman,
City On A Hill Productions, 2007.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, November 1994, 2. “Violence Between Intimates. ”
Edwards, Jakii, with Nancy Kurrack,Like Mother, Like Daughter? The effects of growing up in a homosexaul home. Vienna: Xulon Press, 2001, pg. 8.
Genre,(October 1996).“Sex Survey Results ”
Greenwood, Gregory L. et al, “Battering Victimization among a Probability – Based Sample of Men Who Have Sex with Men,” American Journal of Public Health 92 (December 2002): 1966-1967).
Island, D and P. Letellier, Men Who Beat The Men Who Love Them : Battered Gay Men & Domestic Violence (New York: Haworth Press, 1991), 14.
Van de Ven, Paul, et al. “A Comparative Demagraphic and Sexual Profile of Older Homosexually Active Men,” Journal of Sex Research 34, (1997), 354.
Lockhart Lettie L. et al, “Letting Out the Secret : Violence in Lesbian Relationships ” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9, (1994), 469-492.
Nicolosi, Joseph Ph.D. and Linda Ames Nicolosi. A Parent's Guide To Preventing Homosexuality. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Sarantakos, Sotirios. “Children in three contexts : Family, education and social development, ” Children Australia, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1996), 24-28.
Sprigg, Peter and Timothy Dailey. Ed. Getting it Straight : What the Research Shows about Homosexuality Washington: Family Research Council, 2004.
Ward, Charles G. The Billy Graham Christian Worker’s Handbook. Minniapolis: World Wide Publications, 1984.
http://www.ag.org/info/position/34-4181.htm The General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, quoted in Timothy J. Dailey, The Bible, The Church & Homosexuality :Exposing The 'Gay ' Theology (Washington: Family Research Council, 2004), 36.
Scripture taken from the King James Version.