Homosexuality, Changing Times, & The Bible (Part 2)

(Read Part 1.)

What Does the Bible Say?

We need to turn now from the rapidly changing values concerning sexuality, as is exhibited in our culture, to the never-changing teachings of Scripture. As Christians, we recognize the absolute authority of the Bible, God’s revealed Word, and humbly submit to whatever it proclaims, whether it is popular or not, or as Paul says, “in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:2).

In this regard, it is worth noting that while the Bible says relatively little on homosexuality, what it does say has always been understood, until very recently, even by unbelievers, as a condemnation of the evil nature of the act. And while relatively little is said about homosexuality as such (a fact that the pro-LGBT contingency highlight), a great deal is said about the sinfulness of immorality, of which homosexuality is included. There are seven strategic biblical passages that deal directly with homosexuality.¹

Those who defend homosexual activity call these “clobber verses,” implying that conservative Christians use them as heartless clubs to beat down those with opposing views. But attempting to attack one’s opponent in a debate by belittling them and/or their motives is hardly a valid argument. We must engage with what Scripture actually has to say on the subject, not resort to name-calling and defensiveness. Unfortunately, there is obviously not enough space available in an article of this nature to deal with each of these in any detail. I will hit the highlights below but refer my readers to other books and journals, such as those found in the footnotes of this article, for comprehensive study.

Genesis 1:27, 2:20-25

These passages are not included in the seven biblical texts which discuss homosexuality but they lay the foundation for gender roles and marriage. When the Lord created a helper for Adam (man) he created a human being much like Adam, made in the image of God (1:27). Yet Eve (woman) was unlike Adam in other ways. Adam recognized immediately that the Lord had given him a woman to be “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (2:23). And from that point on, it was determined that men will leave their parents and be joined to a wife (a woman) and they would become one flesh (2:24). The helper God sovereignly chose to be suitable throughout life for Adam specifically, and men in general, would be a female. Nothing in Scripture amends, adjusts or fine-tunes this arrangement. Genders are recognized as equal but having different roles. Marriage, biblically, is defined as a joining of a man and woman in a one-flesh relationship. This has been the undisputed view of the people of God since the beginning of time and accepted almost universally throughout all societies, although not always without some corruption of the design (e.g. polygamy).

Genesis 19:1-11

The first encounter with homosexual behavior in the Bible is found in the infamous story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin for which the cities were destroyed was that of immorality and wide-spread homosexuality that cumulated in an attempted homosexual gang rape of Lot’s visitors (who we know were angels, but which the inhabitants thought were mortal men). Some LGBT revisionists claim the real sin at Sodom was radical inhospitality² and it had nothing to do with homosexuality. While it must be admitted that the key scene in the story is an ugly picture of attempted gang rape, it must also be recalled that the angels were sent to Sodom and Gomorrah, prior to this encounter, because of the inhabitants’ deep moral corruption. Jude 7 makes it clear that the primary evidence of their depravity was homosexual in nature. The attempted rape scene simply reveals the depths to which they had fallen.

Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13

The first verse reads, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination,” and the second states, “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 bloodguiltiness is upon them.” These verses are clear in their denunciation of homosexual activity. But those who desire to dilute their importance point out that these were prohibitions under the Mosaic code which no longer apply to the church age. After all, under the Law the Jews were not to eat catfish or have sexual relationships with one’s wife during her menstrual period (Lev 18:19). These types of laws are no longer binding on Christians so why would we say that laws pertaining to homosexual activity are binding today? But it should be noted that while the ceremonial and civil aspects of the Mosaic Law are no longer incumbent upon believers, the moral code is. As Kevin DeYoung notes, “Jesus referred to Leviticus 19:18 (“love your neighbor as yourself”) more than any other verse in the Old Testament, and the New Testament refers to it ten times.”³ So the moral teachings found in Leviticus cannot simply be dismissed as inapplicable today. In particular, the teachings of the New Testament are identical to those of the Old Testament when it comes to other moral, sexual issues. Both denounce all forms of immorality as sin. Homosexual behavior would not be exempt from these denunciations. It should also be noted that the condemnation of LGBT activity in Leviticus is found in the context of one of the reasons the Canaanites were morally defiled (Lev 18:19-25).

Romans 1:26-27

The context of this text is that of the wrath of God being presently poured out on those who have suppressed God’s truth and chosen to live in unrighteous defiance of the Lord (1:18-23). Because of this rebellion the Lord gives the rebels over to the very sinful passions that they so desire with the result they are further dishonored and degraded (1:24-26). One of the specific degrading passions identified is homosexuality: “For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 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” (vv. 26-27). This seems clear enough; so how does the revisionist get around these verses? According to Stanton they do so by saying that the passage is teaching that when those who are by nature homosexual commit heterosexual acts, or those who are heterosexual commit homosexual acts, they are acting against their nature, and that is wrong. We should all behave sexually in accordance with our nature.⁴ This is clearly stretching the meaning of the text to the point of absurdity. Until the rise of the modern LGBT agenda no one would have even considered such an interpretation. On the one hand, in antiquity few even considered someone being of homosexual orientation. They may have committed homosexual acts but they were not by nature homosexuals. That is not how people thought until the 20^th century. On the other hand, the consistent teaching throughout church history is that homosexuality is a perversion of God’s gift of sex. James White states, “Some believe, along with John Chrysostom, one of the leading commentators of the early Christian church, that the penalty referred to in this passage is the sexual perversion itself. It becomes a cycle, the sin degrading the sinner who is trapped by his or her own lusts.”⁵

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul is writing in this section to the Christians at Corinth warning them that those whose lives are characterized by certain sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. In that list are homosexuals. The NASB translates the Greek words oute malakoi oute arsenokoitai as “nor effeminate, nor homosexuals.” The ESV captures the clear meaning by translating the text, “men who practice homosexuality.”⁶ The idea then is that those who are living out a homosexual lifestyle will not inherit the kingdom of God. Revisionists have claimed that the passage does not reference normal, loving, consensual homosexual acts but perhaps prostitution or rape. But nothing in the context gives anyone the right to narrow the meaning of the words to such an interpretation.

1 Timothy 1:10

Paul is arguing that the Law was made for rebellious people. He then gives characteristics of the kinds of rebels he believes the Law addresses. In a list which includes murderers, kidnappers, liars and those who kill their parents is also found immoral men and homosexuals. Clearly, Scripture categorizes LGBT behavior as a defiance of God and His moral law.

Jude 7

This verse has already been mentioned above because it is an explanation of the atrocities committed at Sodom. Jude claims that the men at Sodom and Gomorrah “indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire” (ESV). The revisionists say the unnatural desire is a reference to trying to have relationships with angels, but there is no indication that these men had any idea that the angels were anything but mortal visitors to the home of Lot. The gross immorality evident in these wicked cities was that of homosexual activity.

The teaching found in Scripture, and understood as such throughout all of history, is that homosexuality is a serious perversion of a marvelous gift from God. It is a sin of immorality and is condemned consistently throughout the Word of God. The only hope of those trying to square LGBT philosophy with Scripture is to revise the traditional meaning of these seven specific texts and numerous general prohibitions against immorality, interpreting them in ways that they have never been understood by anyone in all of history. It is a desperate attempt to change the meaning of God’s revelation to fit the mood of the moment. Only because many Christians today have not been serious students of the Bible could such a frantic effort be even moderately successful within the church.