Overview of Most Commonly quoted Scriptures
(Drawn from the EXCELLENT writings of Life Guard Ministries http://lifeguardministriesaustin.org/)
My Personal Thoughts
I am including this page so you will have a quick reference at hand to know what the Bible has to say specifically about Homosexual behaviors and how they are almost always included in a LIST of equally addressed issues. Also, a very important fact I want to emphasize is that if you are affected by SSA, ALL are equally undeserving of the grace we have freely received from God in Christ. So, His grace and forgiveness are freely available for ALL in Jesus Christ…period!
The 6 Scriptures (New Living Translation*)
All of our fleshly orientation is towards SIN, not homosexuality or heterosexuality. As we learn to trust in Him and His grace we find that the desires of our hearts are focused more on our relationship with him, and that the power of sexual sin is greatly diminished or eliminated in our lives. As Romans 2:4 states, “It is His kindness that leads us to repentance!” There are only a few passages in the Bible that discuss homosexuality (and SSA) directly; the following six verses are the most frequently discussed:
- Genesis 19:4-5 “But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
The author Christy McFerren writes beautifully about this passage in her 2012 book, First Steps Out – “Normally we look at the story from the perspective of city dwellers and hold tightly to the promise of deliverance from judgment if we remain righteous in a heathen culture. There’s truth in that, but we forget that Lot’s family had actually chosen to live in that culture. They obviously didn’t hate it because his wife looked back, as we recall, on the comfort she was abandoning as they fled the city. It wasn’t easy for her to leave.
The righteous were delivered from the destruction, as is typically the outcome throughout Scripture. That’s a promise that’s threaded throughout the Bible, so we can take comfort in that, but we should also see that many times, the righteous had chosen to be among them.
I get a sense of the posture we could take toward culture from this passage, don’t you? We could make intercession for our culture before God, we could prefer mercy, and we could go and walk vulnerably among the people in an unbelieving and sometimes violent atmosphere.”
- Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
- Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.”
It appears crystal clear how the Lord feels about homosexuality. But, sadly, many have taught that somehow this SIN is the only SIN that is described as an abomination to God. That is completely wrong. What is often missed in evangelical circles is that the exact same word for abomination (toeba) is also used to describe many other things – idols (2 Kings 23:13), magic (Dt. 18:9-14), sacrifice offered in the wrong spirit (Proverbs 15:8 and Isaiah 1:13), lying (Proverbs 12:22), and double standards, including dishonest scales (Proverbs 20:23).
Have you ever lied, or had a wrong spirit in your religious zeal, or discriminated against somebody? We have all been guilty of doing abominable things before the Lord, both before and after salvation.
McFerren writes in First Steps Out, “It’s safe to say Jesus was heavily relationally invested in frail people whose sins were abominations to God.
Peter had a lying tongue and Judas had a heart that devised wicked schemes. They had haughty eyes at times. All of them, at one time or another made the abomination cut, I’m sure, but Jesus never stopped them or violated their free will. He simply broke bread while He knew full well what Judas was up to.”
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Again it’s clear that homosexuality is wrong, but SO ALSO IS ALL SEXUAL SIN– worship of idols, adultery, thieves, greedy people, and abusive people, etc. The church has no scriptural basis for singling out homosexual SIN as somehow being worse than other SIN(s), yet it is often treated that way in practice. What’s most important about this passage is that its primary intent is to declare a beautiful, victorious statement about the power of grace – we are all cleansed and made holy as we call on His name!
- 1 Timothy 1:10-11 “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently. We know that the law is good when used correctly. For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.”
In this passage homosexuality is taught as contradicting the wholesome teaching found in the Good News—–BUT SO ALSO is lying, slavery, promise breaking, and “anything else” that contradicts this teaching.
Paul’s secondary point is that the law is given to show us our sinfulness, but states clearly in verse 5 that the primary purpose of his instruction is that all believers would be filled with love. Evangelium, the Good News of the gospel, is where we derive the word evangelical.
May God fill evangelicals with love for homosexuals and for all of us who do anything else (sin) that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News of God in Christ.
- Romans 1:25-27 “So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.”
Romans 1 covers Paul’s introduction to the book of Romans, as well as building a case against the entire world that we are all guilty before God. The reason for writing the book of Romans was to share the gospel, and teach that our righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ, showing clearly that we can’t possibly earn righteousness through trying to keep the law. It is in this context that homosexuality, including lesbianism, is portrayed as worshiping the things God created instead of the Creator himself.
But never forget – the pinnacle of Romans is in chapter 8!
Wherever you are, Wherever you’ve been,
Young, Old, Rich, Poor,
NOTHING—-yes—-NOTHING
keeps any of us who are in Christ from the love of our Father, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
*Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
HA of Central Texas 