Discernment is not a matter of simply knowing the difference between right and wrong, rather it is knowing the difference between right and almost right. I would not give a penny for your “love of the truth” if it is not accompanied with a hearty hatred of error.
—Charles Haddon Spurgeon—
Key point: We in the Christian community cannot effectively oppose the normalization of homosexuality in the culture if we do not understand what the Bible and nature teach about homosexuality. This doesn’t mean we make our best case in the public square simply by quoting Scripture. It does mean that we must be anchored to God’s truth to effectively contend for it.
-
-
- This article has been adapted from a previous post, which is available here.
- This article is one of several Word Foundations articles highlighting elements in the social justice movement. To access additional articles on social justice, go here.
- A short feature titled “Is Homosexuality Like All Other Sins?” is included in this article; a printable copy of that feature is available here.
-
In the midst of all the misinformation and even propaganda that surrounds us about homosexuality and same-sex attraction, Christians—and Christian leaders in particular—must be very clear about these and related subjects. I’ve heard well meaning pastors say things like this: “I don’t know why we make such a big deal about homosexuality. It’s a sin, but it’s a sin like any other sin. Why, I rank homosexuality right up there…with gluttony!” Comments like these confuse and mislead people. You’ll see why as our discussion unfolds.
Many other well-meaning but damaging statements about homosexuality could be cited here, but let’s consider just two more.
Misleading Statement #1: Heterosexuality does not get you to heaven, so how could homosexuality send you to hell?
When he was interviewed by David Eisenbach in 2008, well-known pastor Tim Keller asked this rhetorical question. “[H]eterosexuality does not get you to heaven…. So, how in the world could homosexuality send you to Hell?”
Let me be clear—Rev. Keller does believe that homosexuality is a sin. He makes this plain in the same interview. Even so, his widely quoted statement is misleading at best, and even deceptive.
Just how widely is Keller quoted? Here’s one example. J. D. Greear, pastor of the multi-campus Summit Church in North Carolina and the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, actually made the same statement in a sermon on Romans 1 he preached at his church on January 27, 2019.1 This assertion that homosexuality doesn’t send anyone to hell because heterosexuality won’t get anyone into heaven is just one of numerous red-flag statements the SBC president made in his sermon. We won’t analyze Greear’s message here, but be aware that it represents represents the direction prominent leaders in the evangelical world—Timothy Keller among them—are taking the church with regard to its perspective on homosexuality.
What does Rev. Keller believe sends a person to hell? He explains that a person goes to hell because of Pharisaism or self-righteousness—an insistence on being one’s own savior. Here is the immediate context of Keller’s comment. A You Tube video that includes this portion of the interview is available here.
First of all, heterosexuality does not get you to heaven. I happen to know this [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER/CLAPPING]. So, how in the world could homosexuality send you to Hell? And actually…uhhh…The Bible…Listen…..This is…this is true. Jesus talks about greed 10x more than he talks about adultery, for example. Now, one of the problems Christians have here is partly…let’s be nice to Christians. You know when you’re committing adultery. I mean you don’t say, ‘Ohhh, you’re not my wife’ [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]. I mean you know when you are committing adultery. But, almost nobody knows when they’re greedy. Nobody admits…thinks they’re greedy. You know cause everybody is comparing yourself to other people and so, it’s a frog in the kettle kind of thing. Ahhh….however, the fact of the matter is…the Bible is much harder on greed/materialism. It’s a horrible sin, terrible sin. Will greed send you to Hell? No! What sends you to Hell is self-righteousness – thinking that you can be your own savior and lord. What sends you to heaven is getting a connection with Christ because you realize you’re a sinner and you need intervention from outside. That’s why it is very misleading actually to say, even to say, ‘Homosexuality is a sin’ because most people…Yes, of course homosexuality is a sin because greed is a sin, because all kinds of things are sins. But what most Christians mean when they say that and certainly what non-Christians think they hear when they hear that is ‘If you’re gay, you are going to Hell for being gay’. It’s just not true. Absolutely not true.
I have some questions for Rev. Keller, and Rev. Greear, and anyone else who uses this cute little cliché. If a murderer dies in his sins, does he or she go to hell for being a killer? If a thief refuses to repent of his or her habit of stealing, does that individual go to hell for being a thief? What about an adulterer? If an adulterer dies with his or her sexual sin or sins unconfessed, does that individual go to hell for adultery?
Scripture Is Very Clear
The following Scripture passages are quite clear, and they’re completely unambiguous about what happens to unrepentant sinners who die in their sins. Not all of them explicitly mention homosexuality or homosexuals, but some do.
-
-
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Note: Please keep this passage in mind, because we will return to later in this post.
- Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).
- Ephesians 5:3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them (Eph. 5:3-7).
- Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience (Col. 3:5-6).
- Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral (Heb. 13:4, NIV).
- Jude 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries (Jude 5-8).
- Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Rev. 21:8).
- Revelation 21:27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 21:27).
- Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie (Rev. 22:14-15).
-
You can find all of these passages displayed online on one page here.
Of course, it is true that that the deciding factor for entrance into heaven is whether or not an individual has repented of sins, trusted Christ as Savior, and acknowledged Him as Lord. This truth does not, however, mean that when a person dies without Christ he won’t go to hell for being a sinner. He absolutely will!
Further Confusing the Issue
Elaborating, explaining, and further confusing the issue, Keller also said this:
We would say homosexuality is not the original design for sexuality. Therefore, it’s not good for human flourishing. We want people to do things that are good for human flourishing. But that’s not what sends you to heaven or Hell. Now, there…maybe we ought to talk about that [NERVOUS LAUGHTER]. What sends you to heaven or Hell really has to do with your faith in the Gospel which is that you can’t….uhhh…be your own savior through your performance and your good works.
Upholding God’s Design
It’s a fact that heterosexuality doesn’t get anyone into heaven. Nevertheless, homosexuality is not on par with heterosexuality. Heterosexuality is a part of God’s design for humanity, and homosexuality stands in defiance of it. It is difficult to overstate this point.
Heterosexuality is a part of God’s design for humanity, and homosexuality stands in defiance of it.
Human flourishing is a part of heterosexuality, but not all of it—not by a long shot. Christians are right to uphold heterosexuality as the norm and the ideal. Moreover, they are right to uphold it as a goal for everyone who is not experiencing it. I’m not talking about imposing our values on anyone, but making recommendations.
As believers, our primary concern should be to lead sinners to repentance and faith in Christ so they can experience God’s forgiveness and receive eternal life. Then the goal becomes holiness, which for the repentant homosexual necessarily includes heterosexuality. Why? As we have said already, heterosexuality is a part of God’s design for humanity, and homosexuality stands in defiance of it.
Christians are right to uphold heterosexuality as the norm and the ideal.
Christians with homosexual sins in their pasts likely will struggle to overcome enticements to act on their same-sex attraction. It’s possible they may not ever be able to shed those temptations completely. Yet with God’s help, the believer can move in the direction of heterosexuality (see 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Phil. 2:13).
For many, a competent counselor or therapist can help a struggler make progress in this area. Mark it down! This challenge is tough enough without cultural pressures designed to force the same-sex attracted individual to remain gay; but today, the militant homosexual lobby has convinced the culture that so-called “conversion therapy” is harmful. Many competent therapists, however, are out there.2 They can provide authentic therapy for those who want it—unless it is illegal! This is why it is so vital to preserve the rights of clients and potential clients to get the counseling services they want and need. I explore this issue in some depth in this series of articles.
In the church and among Christians in other contexts, no one experiencing same-sex attraction ever should be shamed in a way that maligns his or her personhood. (Neither should anyone else, for that matter.) For one thing, a same-sex attracted individual may never have acted on these impulses, and he or she may not even have the slightest clue where they came from. (This doesn’t mean the individual was born gay.)
That said, we need to note that a healthy type of shame exists that encourages people move toward God (see Jer. 6:10-15; 8:4-12; Rom. 6:20-23; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; NIV). Being ashamed of sinful behavior is a step toward sorrow and repentance. For a thorough discussion of this, read The Grace of Shame: 7 Ways the Church Has Failed to Love Homosexuals by Tim Bayly, Joseph Bayly, and Jürgen von Hagen.
But what about love? someone will ask. What about compassion? Compassion, understanding, and love are vital in our ministries, but authentic love never overlooks the truth. Put another way, we can say it never is loving to participate in a lie, or to approve of one. Therefore, we must never encourage anyone, or tell anyone it’s OK, to embrace a homosexual or gay identity along with a Christian one. A gay identity is, without question, rooted in sinful impulses, and no such identity can coexist with a believer’s identity in Christ!
A gay identity and a Christian identity cannot coexist.
The Maligning of Heterosexuality
We do not have to guess where a “merger” of a gay and Christian identities in the thinking of Christians will take the church. Even if celibacy is currently upheld for same-sex-attracted believers as the right path, embracing a gay identity is a clear step in the direction of taking a blatantly rebellious posture before God—that of embracing the anti-biblical teachings that homosexual relationships are normal and healthy, and that God approves of them.
Misleading Statement #2: Godliness is not heterosexuality
Beware! Heterosexuality is being implicitly downplayed and even maligned by leaders in the “gay Christian” movement. I examine some of the problems of this movement in my post about the Revoice Conference, which was held July 26-28, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ed Shaw, a pastor in the United Kingdom, is same-sex attracted. He believes in celibacy for same-sex attracted Christians, but he also has a conviction the church needs to renounce its belief, however unconscious, that “godliness is heterosexuality.” Tellingly, Rev. Shaw’s vehicle for conveying his encouragement to the church in this case was and is The Gospel Coalition.
Pastor Tim Bayly warns the church about falling for this kind of rhetoric. (Footnotes in Bayly’s statements here are deleted for smoothness and readability, but you can examine the original article here).
Context is everything in interpreting the sentences and words of Scripture. Context also matters in coming to understand the sentences and words of the Coalition’s headline, “Godliness Is Not Heterosexuality.”
For two decades, homosexualists have been hard at work gaining the sympathy of middle America. Unsurprisingly, a growing number of evangelical church members want the church to make its peace with this leviathan that is leaving the evangelical establishment looking clueless, brain-dead, passé, insensitive, outmoded, dowdy, fusty, musty, unloving, and just plain stupid.
Just a few weeks before the Obergefell ruling, the Pew Research Center announced its latest figures on the support of homosexual marriage, categorized by age or generation. The numbers were clear. There is now an overwhelming support for homosexuality and homosexual marriage across North America, but what was even more noteworthy in the Pew results was the rapidity of the change in convictions.
For instance, take Millennials (those born after 1980): in 2005, 49 percent supported homosexual marriage, but just ten years later the support had grown to 70 percent—a gain of more than 20 percent.
In a nation in which 70 percent of its citizens claim Christian faith, such a reversal of conviction about such a foundational moral command of Scripture is astounding. Pastors would have to be quite obtuse not to see the importance of this change for our teaching, preaching, and pastoral care. If we’re going to continue to have the ears and hearts of our families and congregations, we must realize our credibility problem is real and growing. And who better to help us adjust to present realities than [Ed Shaw,] a gay Christian pastor from the United Kingdom who wrote the book on it, titled The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-Sex Attraction?
The men of the Gospel Coalition saw the dwindling support for Scripture’s condemnation of homosexuality and felt it was time to distance themselves from their former position. They didn’t want evangelical Millennials to judge them hardline. Kinder, gentler was needed and the Gospel Coalition had it covered.
But in declaring that “godliness is not heterosexuality,” they were too cute by half. Which is to say, they lied.
Godliness is living as the sex God made us and loving the opposite sex, and this is what normal people mean when they speak of “heterosexuality.”
Godliness is living as the sex God made us and loving the opposite sex, and this is what normal people mean when they speak of “heterosexuality.”
—Pastor Tim Bayly—
Brothers and sisters, we must be done with hiding God’s truth behind mincing phrases and half-truths. We may be so self-deceived that we can’t see it ourselves, but everyone else sees and understands our shame at Scripture’s repeated condemnations of androgyny, effeminacy, sodomy, and lesbianism.
We need to be reminded in forthright terms what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. This teaching needs to guide what we as Christians think and say about it, as well.
What does the Bible teach? You can start with this short article, which I’ve reproduced below.
Is Homosexuality Like All Other Sins?
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.
You can find this article as a stand-alone piece on this page.
Real Love Tells the Truth
My Christian brothers and sisters, do we really love God? If we do, we will take great care—and even will be willing to take risks—to make sure we don’t misrepresent Him and the truth of His Word. God is love, but He also is holy. He hates sin and must judge it. Homosexuality probably is the sin about which more misinformation abounds than any other.
Here’s a second question. Do we really love people? If we do, we will be more concerned about their getting what they really need than what they want. We will be more concerned about their hearing the truth than about their feeling good. We always must relate to people with grace and kindness, but we also need to understand that real love never overlooks the truth.
The truth of the gospel is both bad news and good news. We can understand just how good the good news is only if we understand just how bad the bad news is.
Let’s love both God and people with authentic love. When we do, we will not overlook the truth, including both the bad news and the good news.
The truth, after all, sets people free, just as it set the Christians in Corinth free. Earlier we cited a portion of what the apostle Paul wrote to them, and we said we would return to those verses.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
That, for sure, is very bad news; but Paul relayed some good news on the heels of these verses. When we quoted this passage previously, we did not include the next verse. We do so now.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:9-11, emphasis added).
That, my friends, is extremely good news!
In fact, it truly is liberating!
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.
In one place, one verse, and in another, an entire block of passages cited came from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
photo credit: Timothy Keller
Notes:
1J. D. Greear echoes Keller’s statement in this sermon. He uses it at about 55 minutes into the video. Greear’s message contains many true statements, but unfortunately, a good number of other misleading affirmations as well. Actually, some of Greear’s remarks even are dangerous.
- Theologian, teacher, and cultural observer Jon Harris provides an excellent critique of Greear’s sermon in this video.
- An excellent article on Greear’s sermon written by pastor Joseph Spurgeon is available here.
2Go here and here for a couple of examples.
3James Montgomery Boice, Romans: An Expositional Commentary—Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1–4, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 181.
4Joe 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.
5James Montgomery Boice, Romans: An Expositional Commentary—Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1–4, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 178-179.
6In 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.