A printable copy of this feature is available here.
Certainly every sin is serious. Just one sin, by itself, is enough to render an individual guilty before God and unable to have fellowship with Him. In other words, it only takes one sin—any sin—to make an individual worthy of hell. Also, all human beings are born into sin and have a sin nature. In Jeremiah 17:9 the inspired prophet wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
Even so, not all sins are equal in weight. In John 19:10-11, Jesus is standing before Pilate, and this exchange occurs:
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (emphasis added).
Sexual Sins Are Very Serious Sins
Furthermore, Paul indicated that sexual sins are more serious than sins committed outside the body. He wrote,
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Cor. 6:18-20).
Homosexuality Is Unique Among Sexual Sins
Beyond this, homosexual acts are unique among sexual sins. In Romans 1:26-27, Paul indicated homosexuality was “against nature” or “unnatural.” By contrast, heterosexual intercourse outside of marriage, though sinful, is natural.
Dr. James Boice says that while we need God’s Word to know that heterosexual sex outside of marriage is wrong, we don’t even need it to know homosexuality is wrong: “A look at one’s sexual apparatus should convince anyone that practices of this kind are not…meant to be.”1 Yet the Bible still informs us, so we need to heed its warning.
By the way, be aware that in Scripture, homosexuality isn’t an identity, but an activity.2 God freely forgives repentant homosexuals, just as He pardons repentant thieves, adulterers, and other sinners.
There’s more. Paul wrote that those who continue to rebel against God are without excuse because they deny what they know intuitively about God and worship His creation rather than Him. So “God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Rom. 1:24). Paul went on to describe homosexual activity among women and among men but also named other sins (see vv. 18-32).
“God…Gave Them Up”
Dr. Boice observes that people tend to think of God’s giving people up to their desires (see vv. 24,26) as being akin to releasing a porcelain pitcher in outer space and letting it float harmlessly away. Not so. It really is like letting go of the pitcher on earth, where gravity causes it to drop to the ground and possibly shatter completely.3 Sin has dire consequences, but through repentance and faith in Christ we can find forgiveness.
Additional Bible Passages that Mention Homosexuality
Six passages in the Bible speak about homosexuality or homosexuals explicitly. Taken together, the passages are:
-
-
- Genesis 19:1-29
- Leviticus 18:22
- Leviticus 20:13
- Romans 1:18-32
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
- 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
-
Ezekiel 16:49-50 and Jude 5-7 also are noteworthy, although these verses mention homosexuality by inference.4 Moreover, even though the creation account in Genesis 1–2 doesn’t directly mention homosexuality, it does implicitly exclude it from God’s plan, or design, for the human family. In other words, heterosexuality aligns with holiness in the Christian life, and homosexuality (whether manifested in actions, desires, or both) works against it. Yes, there are expressions of heterosexuality that are sinful; but homosexuality is inherently sinful. Heterosexuality is not innately sinful because it is part of God’s design and plan.
The Bible condemns the sin of homosexuality in strong language in both the Old and New Testaments.
Jesus Assumed Heterosexuality as the Norm
Although we have no record of Jesus’ ever mentioning homosexuality, it is significant within itself that He assumed heterosexuality as the norm. For example, He condemned lust and adultery. Moreover, Jesus explicitly affirmed God’s design for marriage in Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12. Furthermore, He upheld God’s moral law (see Matt. 5:17-20).
Jesus’ assuming heterosexuality as the norm speaks volumes. It perhaps tells us even more than if He had addressed the issue of homosexuality directly.
Are Homosexuality and Christianity Compatible?
Because homosexual behavior is sinful, homosexual desires are sinful desires that the Christian is commanded to “mortify,” or put to death (see Col. 3:5-6). This is not to say every homosexual temptation necessarily is a sin, but it is to say that same-sex attraction involves sinful urges that Christians are compelled to renounce and reject (see these passages:
-
-
-
- Romans 8:12-14
- Romans 12:1-2
- Romans 13:11-14
- 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
- Ephesians 4:17-24
- Ephesians 5:1-14
- Colossians 3:17
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
- 2 Timothy 2:20-22
- 1 Peter 4:1-5
- 1 John 2:28-29.
-
-
Copyright © 2018 by. B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages have been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
top image credit: Photo by Raphael Renter on Unsplash
Notes:
1James Montgomery Boice, Romans: An Expositional Commentary—Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1–4, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 181.
2Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche, eds., The Complete Christian Guide to Understanding Homosexuality: A Biblical and Compassionate Response to Same-Sex Attraction, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2010), 99.
3James Montgomery Boice, Romans: An Expositional Commentary—Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1–4, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 178-179.
4In relation to Sodom, Ezekiel 16:49-50 mentions several sins: 16:49 “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” Especially in light of Genesis 19:1-29 and Jude 5-7, it is clear that the phrase “committed abomination before Me” includes homosexuality. Of course, homosexuality wasn’t the only sin of which Sodom was guilty.