Is Homosexuality sinful according to the bible?
Homosexuality is definately sin according to the bible. There are a number of scriptures which bear upon this issue. One point to be clear about is that God loves homosexuals or people who struggle with homosexuality. Homosexual behavior, and all sexual perversions, are sinful. Christ even said that if a person simply has sexual lust in their heart, it is sin, without actually committing the act. In this, almost all of us are condemned. But there is no sin which cannot be forgiven by God if a person truly repents. As far as our salvation goes, God says the playing field is level regarding our sinfulness. He says "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). None of us is better than another, and no matter how "big" or "small" our sins are, any sin renders us unfit for His presence. Absolute holiness is required to come into God's presence (Heb. 12:14) Adam and Eve simply ate the fruit of a tree in disobedience, and immediately knew they were unfit for God. The "good news" of the gospel, is that "all men everywhere" can and should repent and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, no matter who they are or what they have done. God would "have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4).
Any sexual activity outside of marriage is unacceptable to God. And marriage, contrary to very recent notions in our society, can only exist between a man and a woman. (A side note: even within marriage, sex can be sinful if it is done out of lust rather than true godly love. The bigger issue is one of the heart- having sex within marriage doesn't validate our lustful thoughts and motivations) This brings us to our first verses.
Creation
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:27-28)
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:18-24)
This is God's account of his creation of mankind and the institution of marriage. Mankind was created in two genders, male and female, and partly in order that they would multiply and spread over the earth. No other creature could fulfill the need of man except the woman. The woman was specially created particularly suitable for him. Much is made of the special creation of the woman in these early chapters of Genesis and this should make it clear to us that it is God's intention from the beginning of creation that marriage is between one man and one woman, specially created for each other.
Jesus' Interpretation of the Creation Story with Regard to Marriage and Sexuality
"The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 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? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:3-12)
The Lord, in answer to a specific question about marriage, goes back to the foundation of the institution using the same two passages in Genesis quoted above. The Lord emphasizes the way God created mankind with two genders as well as the importance of the fact that the marriage couple physically become one, and that they shall remain one on the authority of these scriptures in Genesis which emphasize the special place and importance of the marriage relationship.
It is significant that no sexual relations of any kind are ever condoned in the bible outside of marriage. And as we have seen, marriage, according to Genesis and according to the Lord's interpretation of it, is between a man and a woman in virtue of the way God created mankind.
Now these scriptures should be sufficient to answer the question regarding God's order for marriage and the sinfulness of twisting it to meet our own needs. The Lord's firmness on the issue that marriage be according to God's original created order as described in Genesis seemed harsh to the disciples and even prompted them to think it was better not to be married at all. Sometimes walking in the truth is not easy.
But why did God create us "male and female" and create a special marriage relationship between one man and one woman and emphasize its importance and the depth of the commitment involved? Is it simply an arbitrary rule instituted to test our will power, or is there something more to it? In fact, God has poured great meaning into the marriage relationship and the importance of male and female gender differences in general. The bible says that male-female gender differences, and specifically the marriage relationship, are symbolic of the relationship of Christ and the church, which is spoken of as His bride:
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33)
Here we see God's purpose for
marriage and the distinctions in male-female gender roles described in the bible
that flow from the order of God's original creation. This explanation amplifies
and solidifies the importance of God's order for men and women, particularly
with regard to marriage. It cannot be misunderstood that so-called homosexual
"unions" cannot fulfill the important symbolic function of marriage and in fact
obliterate the meaning. Throughout the bible, God is represented as male and His
people corporately are represented as women. It is not accidental, arbitrary or
"sexist", but rather full of great meaning and should be a daily lesson in
humility, love and grace for us. God is in charge, and we are not, but
He loves us and has given His all for us, and He deserves our submission and
obedience. We should all strive to be better examples both in the symbol and the
substance of this truth!
We have covered the positive foundation principles of marriage from the basic principles of God's order in creation and that should be enough for us to rule out any thoughts that God might condone homosexuality; however, that is not all the scriptures have to say about the topic. There are also many specific prohibitions and detailed descriptive verses related to marriage and sexuality in the bible which give us further details- for the purpose of our article we will focus on those related primarily to homosexuality.
Leviticus 18:22 says, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Additionally, Leviticus 20:13 says, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." These verses clearly prohibit homosexuality in very strong terms.
The NT also clearly condemns homosexuality in I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10 which specifically mention it in their respective lists of sins. The phrase translated "abusers of themselves with mankind" in the KJV and "homosexuals" in most newer translations, refers to Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. The greek word arsenokoites is a combination of the same greek words used to translate Leviticus 18:20 and 20:13 in the LXX translation. The LXX is the greek translation of the OT that Jesus and Paul routinely quoted from.
Paul also specifically condemns homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27: "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." Paul speaks of homosexuality as one step in a downward spiral of sin beginning with unthankfulness toward God and ending with fornication, murder, pride and other sins mentioned through the end of the chapter. Homosexuality is said to be unnatural; in other words, outside of God's order of creation. It is also referred to as vile, an expression of lust, unseemly, and worthy of God's judgment. The language here could hardly be more clear and does not hinge on the meaning of any one particular greek word as is the case with I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10.
Common Objections to Biblical
Teaching Against Homosexuality
Advocates of homosexuality attempt to explain away these verses by saying:
1) they refer only to homosexual acts related to idol worship such as those of temple prostitutes mentioned in the OT.
2) they refer only to homosexual acts outside of a "committed" homosexual relationship
3) they refer only to homosexual acts committed by "heterosexual" people
4) Another argument used to explain away the verses is that as Christians, we are no longer under the law, and that the verses in Leviticus 18 and 20 only refer to ceremonial uncleaness similar to the kosher food laws which only applied to Israel and not the gentiles and do not apply to christians. This of course is immediately dismissed by the preceeding discussion which includes verses from the NT as well as the OT. And the NT verses in I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10 which mention homosexuality refer to the OT verses in Leviticus so that we are not left to our own discernment to determine whether those particular OT prohibitions agains homosexuality apply to Christians today- they do.
5) Other objections are used by those that make no attempt at respecting or following the bible, such as: that the writers of the bible were somehow not as culturally enlightened as we are today; or that the personal experience of homosexuals who believe they were born, or made, homosexual by God is more valid evidence that homosexuality is acceptable than what the bible says. These are basic attacks on the integrity and inspiration of the bible which is discussed in other places- this article will deal with the objections that relate to interpreting what the bible says and not whether the bible is inspired, authoritative or preserved by God.
Objection #1: Idol Worship
Are the verses related to homosexuality only speaking in relation to idol worship and temple prostitutes? Our answer is certainly not- first of all, in Leviticus 18 and 20 there is no mention in the verses regarding idol worship practices except in the case of child sacrifice. Those who make a claim that the entire chapter is related only to idolatrous worship practices are bringing their preconceived "context" to the chapter rather than getting the context from the chapter. And aside from this mistake, is child sacrifice morally acceptable if it is not associated with idolatry? Is adultery acceptable if it is not done in connection with idol worship? Interpreting the chapters this way in order to justify homosexuality is a totally inconsistent interpretation besides being an imaginary one.
The second argument is related to temple prostitution. Do these verses related to sexuality only relate to temple prostitution that was commonly associated with idolatry? Again, there is nothing in the chapter to lead us to that conclusion- it is a preconceived notion brought to the text. In fact, there are verses in the bible that refer to temple prostitutes, but the hebrew word used in those passages is a distinct one (quedesh- strong's #06945) which is used in Deuteronomy 23:17, I Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46 and II Kings 23:7, but not in Leviticus. If God wanted to refer specifically to temple prostitution, he could have used that word as He did in other passages. And as we have stated, the references to homosexuality in I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10 are taken directly from Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Additional testimony that these references are not related to idolatry or prostitution is that idolatry and fornication (prostitution, whether for money or not, i.e., all premarital sex) are mentioned separately in the same list in I Corinthians 6:9-10. This would be redundant if the homosexual behavior was only wrong because it was idolatrous or prostitution.
Similar arguments are made against Romans 1:26-27 relating it only to idolatrous worship practices. Idolatry is certainly mentioned in the same list of sins, but so are murder, fornication, pride and numerous others. Are these also only related to idolatry? In order to be consistent, we must apply the same interpretation to all unless the verses themselves make a distinction, and they do not. All of the sins mentioned in the end of Romans 1 are individual sins in a downward spiral of unthankfulness and rebellion against God. The evil character of any of them is not dependent on a connection with idolatry; they are all wicked in themselves. To arbitrarily pluck one particular sin out of the list and claim that it alone is not evil in itself but is only mentioned in connection with idolatry is an example of trying to make the text fit our preconceived notions about what is right and wrong.
Objection #2: Pre-marital Homosexual Sex
Are these verses regarding homosexuality only referring to sexual acts outside of "same sex" marriage or a "committed" homosexual relationship? In other words, is pre-marital sex with someone of the same gender prohibited, but homosexual sex within the context of a "same sex" marriage or "committed" homosexual relationship acceptable to God? Again, the verses in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 give no indication that this is what is meant. And again, if we look at what the rest of the bible says about the subject of pre-marital sex, there is definate indication that these are not some of the texts that deals with that topic. Surprisingly, there are few verses in the OT which explicitly prohibit heterosexual pre-marital sex other than adultery, but there are many, of course, that demonstrate that it is wrong, and the entire tenor of the OT indicates it. A simple search of the word harlot or harlotry in the OT will produce numerous negative references to fornication (the word used is typically harlotry, or prostitution, but any pre-marital sex is prostitution- the only difference is the price). A couple of the verses that prohibit it more explicitly are Exodus 22:16 and Deuteronomy 22:28-29 which describe the situation of an unmarried couple caught in pre-marital sex. The consequence of their actions is that the couple must get married, unless the girl's father refuses to allow the marriage. Even then, the man who committed fornication had to pay the dowry of the girl. The OT does not really contemplate men and women committing fornication more than once, because the act of sex normally would lead the couple directly into marriage. After marriage, any extra-marital sexual activity was punishable by death (Lev. 20:10).
The situation was different in the case of homosexual sex- there is no provision for the "couple" to get married as in the case of heterosexuals, but instead the penalty of any homosexual sex is death (Lev. 20:13), and the same is true of bestiality. If homosexual sex was equivalent to heterosexual sex, i.e., allowed within marriage, there would be no verses like Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 which catagorically prohibit it without exception backed with the death penalty. There are no verses in the bible anywhere that indicate that any sort of homosexual relations are acceptable to God in any way. There is not one example in scripture of a homosexual marriage. If we interpret Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 to be condemning only homosexual sex outside of same sex marriage, we must also justify incest and all the other forms of fornication in the same way in order to be consistent. The only item in the lists of prohibitions in Leviticus 18 and 20 that might be acceptable for a Christian within the context of marriage would be sex during menstruation. Sex during menstruation for an OT Jewish married couple caused them to be ceremonially unclean according to Leviticus 15:19-33, but the ceremonial laws generally do not apply to the Christian today. Given the ceremonial laws of Leviticus 15:19-33 and the differences in the context, the wording of its respective prohibitions and the consequences of breaking them compared to those in Leviticus 18:19 and 20:18 (also see Ezekiel 18:6 and 22:10), it is apparent that the references to sex during menstruation in Leviticus 18 and 20 are referring to unmarried couples. In the case of homosexuality, no such exception is found in the OT. Homosexuality in any context is immoral.
Objection #3: Homosexual Acts committed by "Heterosexuals"
The thrust of this objection is that the bible only prohibits homosexual acts committed by heterosexual people and not by those who are "truly" homosexual. This objection primarily applies to Romans 1:26-27 but could be applied to any of the scriptures which prohibit homosexuality. The problem with the argument is that is does not come from the scriptures themselves but is instead forced upon the verses in question. The bible nowhere indicates that some people are "naturally" homosexual- it indicates exactly the opposite, that God created them male and female in order to reflect the realities of the relationship between Christ and the church. The prohibitions against homosexual behavior are catagorical with no exceptions, caveats or condition statements. In order to be consistent, those who would justify homosexuality on these grounds would have to justify all sorts of behavior that comes "natural" to certain individuals, including murderers, rapists, liars, etc., who often experience sinful desires which are "natural" to them and exhibit these sinful behaviors from very early age. Some of the most heinous crimes are committed by people who have absolutely no semblance of conscience or remorse for carrying out the evil, yet "natural" desires of their heart. In fact, the bible tells us that we are sinful, even before we are born. Because certain tendencies are "natural" to us tells us little about whether God approves it or not. The bible is our authority, and it prohibits homosexuality without caveats, exceptions or conditional statements.
Objection #4: Not Under the Law
The final argument used to explain away the verses is that as Christians, we are no longer under the law, and that the verses in Leviticus 18 and 20 only refer to ceremonial uncleaness similar to the kosher food laws which only applied to Israel and not the gentiles and do not apply to christians. This of course is immediately dismissed by the preceeding discussion above which includes verses from the NT as well as the OT. And the NT verses in I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10 which mention homosexuality refer to the OT verses in Leviticus so that we are not left to our own discernment to determine whether those particular OT prohibitions agains homosexuality apply to Christians today- they do.
Besides the explicit statements of the NT, look at the context of Leviticus chapter 18. The chapter before relates to animal sacrifice and how the Israelites were to partake of animals. We know from the explicit teaching of the NT that these ceremonial laws have been fulfilled by Christ, were only given to the Israelites, and that as christians we are no longer under these laws (i.e., Romans 14, I Corinthians 8, Hebrews 10, etc.). Chapter 18 begins a new section covering important moral issues. The new subject is offset by the phrase "and the Lord spake unto Moses" as is nearly every distinct section of the book. Some introductory words are also given emphasizing the importance of keeping the statutes. The individual prohibitions are then described, including adultery, purposely looking at others naked (particularly family members), child sacrifice, homosexuality and bestiality. The section is then ended with a few concluding words emphasizing the importance of keeping the statutes and the consequences for not following them.
Are these verses in Leviticus 18 no longer applicable to us as christians because we are no longer under the law? Were these practices ok for the gentiles because they were not subject to the kosher laws of Israel? There is no question that christians are not under the law, and that gentiles never were. However, the basic moral principles of the bible are applicable to all of mankind regardless of when or where they lived or what nationality they were. And it is clear that the prohibitions of chapter 18 and 20:1-24 are of the sort that always apply- they are specifically set apart from other chapters which involve ceremonial matters such as chapter 17 or a mixture of universal moral principles and ceremonial laws such as in chapter 19.
That these items of chapter 18 and 20:1-24 are universal moral principles that did not only apply to the Israelites is demonstrated by the fact that God judged the gentiles for violating them in verses 18:24-30 and 20:23. Notice the use of the phrase "all these" (referring to the list of sins mentioned in the preceding verses) in both 18:24, 27 and 20:23. The gentiles had committed all these things in Leviticus 18 and 20:1-24 and were therefore being judged. Clearly these are unique parts of the law that were moral laws that even in OT times were applicable to all mankind, regardless of whether Jew or gentile.
Conclusion
Homosexuality is clearly sinful according the bible. Both the NT and OT are crystal clear that homosexuality is morally wrong in any context and always has been since the beginning of creation. Even if we had no answers to the many desperate technical arguments concocted to explain away the bible's teaching on homosexuality, the positive truth remains that God created gender differences, marriage and sex for the purpose of conveying important ideas about Himself and our relationship to Him, and these important lessons are destroyed if we begin to pervert His creation to allow whatever behaviors seem good or right to us.