Advocating for the
Traditional Family, the Protection of Children and Proclaiming the Truth about
Homosexuality
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HOMOSEXUALITY
& THE BIBLE
“If sinners will be
damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish,
let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If
hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions,
and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
~ Charles Spurgeon 1860
Sermon at Exeter Hall
How do I
answer when someone states that Jesus never spoke out against homosexuality?
First, as Bible believing Christians, we believe Jesus
Christ is God in the flesh - and believing so, Jesus' strongest stand on
the issue of homosexuality had to be when Sodom and Gomorrah were
destroyed. The Bible says God
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah - and Jesus is part of the triune God. The Bible tells us Jesus was there from the
beginning of creation (Genesis) - and He was responsible for creation as well. How much more clearly can Jesus have been in
his 'speaking out against' homosexuality, than in the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah?
While it is true that the New Testament does not
document any statements of Jesus specifically condemning or condoning homosexuality
- He didn't need to. It was very clear. However, John 21:25 states that "…there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one…even the world itself could not contain the books that should
be written." Further, it should be considered that there is no record of
Jesus’ statements on other sexual practices like rape, incest, bestiality, etc.
Yet it is unlikely that Jesus sanctioned these behaviors.
In addition, Jesus reinforced Old Testament law on sexual
behavior in Matthew 5:27-30 and Mark 7:21-23. Old Testament law condemned the
practice of homosexuality:
"Thou shalt not lie
with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." – Leviticus 18:22
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them hath committed an
abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon
them." – Leviticus 20:13
Clearly, Scripture does not equate homosexual and
heterosexual relationships. In fact, perhaps the best indicator of Jesus’
stance on homosexuality is found in Matthew 19:4-6, where He restates the
Genesis 2:21-25 account of God’s ordination of the marital union. This
reference is consistent with all of Scripture, which esteems marriage, the
union of one man and one woman in covenant union, above every other
relationship, and maintains that all sexual activity must take place within its
confines. Any other sex outside that of the grounds of biblical, heterosexual
marriage is considered fornication, condemned by God.
Homosexuality
was punishable by death in the Old Testament, but we are under the new covenant
of grace now. How does that affect the practice of homosexuality?
Many moral laws are repeated throughout Scripture. Old
Testament civil and ceremonial laws changed under the new covenant of grace.
But Christ Himself affirmed much of the moral law in the gospels – His
dissertation on adultery is just one example. In Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus stated,
"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."
Romans 1:26-27 informs us that sexual immorality and
self-worship brings great consequence to those involved: "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 a woman, burned in their lust toward one another;
men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that
recompense of their error which was meet." These New Testament passages
references the perversion of homosexuality – and affirms that God designed the
sexual relationship for biblical, heterosexual marriage.
Some homosexual individuals twist the meaning of the
Romans passage and argue that what comes "natural" to them is
homosexuality so it would be sin to act contrary to those feelings. However,
what is "natural" and right is defined by God’s created order (Genesis 2:21-25 and Matthew 19:4-6) not our
feelings.
Is
homosexuality worse than any other sin?
The Scriptures in Leviticus (Leviticus 18:22 and
20:13) refer to homosexuality as an abomination, as detestable. Webster defines
abomination as something that is "worthy of or causing disgust or
hatred."
The joining of one man and one woman in a covenant
union (including sexual relationship) is also a picture or type of the Gospel
of Christ. Christ is refereed to as the "bridegroom" and the church
(the body of believers) is referred to as the "bride." The two will
be joined for all eternity at the "marriage supper of the lamb." The
homosexual act perverts this picture to the greatest possible extent. Does this
imply that homosexuals are worse than any other sinner? Certainly
not. All sin is worthy of disgust or hatred. By its very nature, sin is
the antithesis of the character of God. In I Corinthians
6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-11, homosexuality is included among a host of
other sins – sins that endanger an inheritance in the kingdom of God; sins that
the law was designed to punish.
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, 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." – I Corinthians 6:9-10
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a
righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for
sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of
mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with
mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured
persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my
trust." – I Timothy 1:9-11
We should never view the sin of another as more
egregious than our own. All of our sins separated us from our Creator. Christ
died to redeem our lives from sin, and to reinstate our personal relationship
with God.
When using
the Bible to validate the principle that homosexuality is sin, one is often
told, "That is your interpretation." What makes this interpretation
more valid than others?
An individual who uses the preceding argument is
likely using it for one of two reasons. Either the individual (1) does not
understand the methodology of Bible Hermeneutics, or (2) is simply trying to
justify his or her sinful behavior.
There is a vast difference between interpretation and
opinion. Biblical interpretation is guided by hermeneutics. According to
Webster, hermeneutics is "the study of the methodological principles of
interpretation." Webster uses the following words to describe
methodological: systematic, technique, process, discipline, orderliness,
regularity, and classification. This means that Bible study must be done with
great care to avoid arbitrariness and inconsistency.
A careful, systematic reading of both the Old and New
Testaments indicates that marriage between one man and one woman is God’s one
and ONLY plan for mankind, and that homosexuality is
not an “alternative lifestyle” as some wish to define it: it is sin. Any other "interpretation" must be based on
historical or theological revisionism or faulty hermeneutics. A more honest
position by those who desire to support the acceptance of homosexual behavior
would be to simply reject the Bible as God’s authoritative word; a position
which denies any basis for the true Christian faith.
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Homosexuality & The Bible