Homosexuality and the Bible

2003-10-12

Some Relevant Passages

Old Testament: Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19; Leviticus 18
New Testament: Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10; Jude 1:7

Introduction

This article will investigate whether homosexuality is condoned by God in modern times; that is, if the biblical texts on homosexuality are culturally specific to the ancient world or are timeless truths.

Old Testament

A basic understanding of biblical anthropology will be necessary to understand the context of sexuality in the Bible. In Genesis 1:26-29, God tells the purpose of humankind. The purpose of the world is to glorify God; He made it for His own purpose (see Psalm 19). Humankind is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Therefore He made humans in the image of Himself that would rule the world in His name. After He made them, commanded them to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it,” and then have dominion over the other living things (Genesis 1:28).

In Genesis 2:18, God saw that the one man He had created (the word man is literally “Adam”) was alone, and created Eve from one of his ribs. In Genesis 2:24, marriage is ordained. It is a picture of Christ and the church. The man and the woman were created to complement each other. Only together could they produce offspring. They became “one flesh.” This is seen in their offspring: not only do they become one flesh in the process of their marriage, they also create one flesh in their offspring, when the woman gives birth.

Marriage is defined as when a man leaves his parents and “cleaves” to his wife. We must remember the command to the human race: that they are to multiply and replenish (fill) the earth. God’s plan for humankind, as we see so far, can be summarized as this: Humankind is to have dominion over the world, and this dominion will grow as they produce godly offspring (see Malachi 2:15), so that God can receive increasing glory through a world filled with and controlled by godly people (Genesis 1:28). Even after humankind falls away from God in Genesis 3, it is God’s will for humankind to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1) and to produce godly offspring so that the whole world will see the glory of God (see Deuteronomy 4:19).

This plan starts to unfold when Adam and Eve began to have offspring. Sexual relations in the Bible often involve the use of the verb “to know” (yada). The verb can mean ordinarily to know something, but it also can mean to have intimate knowledge of someone, i.e. sexual intercourse. This is seen in Adam knowing Eve, and then Cain was therefore born (Genesis 4:1). Cain knew his wife, and therefore Enoch was born (Genesis 4:17). Again it is seen with the birth of Seth (Genesis 4:25).

This same word yada is used in Genesis 19:5 when the men of Sodom desire to have sexual relations with angels that were in the guise of men. Such activity that brought the men of that city into extreme disfavor with God. Lot called their desires wicked in Genesis 19:7.

Conclusion on sexual intercourse in the Bible: It is for the glory of God, to bring about godly offspring to have dominion over the whole earth. It is the duty for humankind, in the image of the living God, to bring more images of God into the world to rule the world for His glory.

However, since the fall of man, humankind was severely tainted by sin, and deviations from the norm began to rise.

Law of Moses: Leviticus 18 and 20

When Israel was going to enter the Promised Land, they were going to face a lot of customs in the surrounding cultures that were affiliated with pagan culture and polytheism (Israel was supposed to have destroyed these pagan peoples when they came into the Promised Land, but they failed). In Leviticus 18, God lists a long list of sexually immoral acts that many of their neighbors indulged in. These ancient pagan peoples were involved with religions of fertility, believing that sexual relations and acts would produce fertility in women, so they would have offspring, but also in every aspect of their lives, such as a plentiful harvest.

In Leviticus 19, God then declared to Israel that they are to be holy, or set apart, from the heathen nations to be devoted to Him and to bring Him glory.

In Leviticus 20, God returns to the sexual immorality cases, and declares that these acts are to result in the death penalty (lit. "cut off"). Capital punishment for sexual immorality such as homosexuality is nothing new in the Old Testament thus far; all intentional sin required the death penalty. There is no sacrifice instituted for intentional acts of sin (Numbers 15:30-31). There is only sacrifice for accidental or unintentional sin (Praise Jesus for His sacrifice for all sin. See Hebrews 10:26). Some types of sexual immorality are listed by definition: adultery (Leviticus 20:10), incest (Leviticus 20:19), homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), and many others.

Conclusion of sexual relations in the Old Testament: Sexual purity, (i.e. a man and a woman in a marriage context) was important to (a) obey God’s command to produce godly offspring, and (b) to be holy (set apart) before God and not resemble the other nations in the world that engage in idolatry.

New Testament

Now it is good to mention the Old Testament commandments, but does Jesus set us free from these laws and commandments? We now must turn to the New Testament and see what God has to say about this in the era of the church.

Paul’s epistle to the Romans is an in-depth examination of the gospel message so that the Romans might know the Gospel in an articulate way. He wanted them to know the Gospel well because Paul planned to make Rome his headquarters to reach Spain with the Gospel. He starts with sin and a short study of the nature of humankind, to explain how entangling sin is. In Romans 1:18-32, Paul gives us a threefold “giving over”. Men were “given over” to their own desires because people wanted to turn from God and do their own thing. When men knowingly choose evil and sin, they are voluntarily saying no to God and yes to themselves. The heart of ungodly religion is this humanistic and selfish perspective. Men knew of God’s existence, but they decided to ‘make’ God into something they were supposed to have dominion over, that is, animals, objects made of stone, etc. When people want to turn from God, God in His goodness gives them what they want, life separated from Him. This is threefold giving over:

Step 1: Though man is in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), man decided to make God in man’s image (or animals, or things that can be seen and made of matter. God was not created, is invisible, and is not composed of matter or the elements) (Romans 1:24-25)

Step 2: Marriage was exchanged for sexual immorality, especially homosexuality between men and between women (Romans 1:26-27)

Step 3: All sin abounded (Romans 1:28-32)

An aside note: This is the path of America. Many of the founding fathers of America were Deists, saying that God left the universe to let it be ruled by reason alone. Homosexuality is now abounding, and the federal court overturned Texas state law that sodomy was illegal in 2003. Now we have our own problems in various states where homosexuals are legally getting ‘married.’ Same sex ‘marriages,’ adoption, having families and raising children, and homosexuals entering the ministry are all things happening today. And certainly sin is truly abounding more than ever, and the more years later you might be reading this, it will be that much worse until the Lord returns.

First Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10 condemn sexual immorality. In the list of sins, these people are said to have nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. Jesus died and rose again that these are forgiven, ex. Hebrews 10:26 and following verses, but if Christians continue in these sins they will feel the sting of disobedience and find it impossible to walk with God, and will face God's discipline. Here are some of the words used in 1 Corinthians 6:9:

Pornos: Fornicator or impure person
Moichos: Adulterer
Malakos: Effeminate
Arsenokoites: Sodomite, also one who lies with a male

Paul was using different terms here to clarify that sexual immorality is wrong. The two latter terms are different types of words for homosexuals to make it crystal clear: there is no room for this sin in our lives. He does not want there to be any mistake about homosexuality!

Conclusion

Sexual relations between man and woman were designed for God’s glory in the covenant of marriage and love, as a means of procreation to fill the earth with images of God. It is an expression of love that is legitimate only within the confines of Biblical marriage. Deviation from this is an assault to God’s character. Sex is the process of reproduction and marital love, but humankind redesigned it for their own purposes. Therefore, God forbids all sexual immorality; though the sin is forgiven for those who believe in Jesus, for those who persist in it they will experience separation from God. These will have barriers in their relationship with God, and will be hindered in spiritual growth (though I would think that their faith is questionable if they live their lives out freely like this without conscience). It is, therefore, a timeless truth that homosexuality and homosexual acts are sins against God.

The most important thing to remember is that marriage was ordained by God in Genesis 2:18 as a man-woman partnership in subduing the earth for God’s glory (Genesis 1:28) by creating godly offspring (Malachi 2:15), which is an intimate love relationship between man and woman.

According to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin. There is no question about that. It is against what God intended sexuality for, which He sees as something very sacred. However, regardless of what one has done in one’s life, all people have fallen short of what God intended them to be. If you have been involved with homosexual activity, regardless of what people have said in the past, you can be forgiven for these things. Homosexuality is just one of a zillion symptoms of a greater disease. That disease is sin, and we all have it. Sin is simply acts of rebellion against God, but also more deeply, being in the state of rebellion against God. No matter what we do to try to escape sinning against God, we are naturally inclined to sin and cannot turn away. But God, in His infinite mercy, brought us the remedy to escape sin. If we believe in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, but was raised from the dead on the third day, God will look on us as righteous and perfect in His sight (Romans 5:1). Remember this: the real issue is not who you are, where you have been, or what you have done. The real issue is: Where do you stand before God? Do you know Jesus Christ as your savior? “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

To read more about what Jesus Christ did for you and me, visit my gospel page.