2000-08-22 - Homosexuality

Summer Question Series, Part 8

Jude 7 "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire."

"I know that the Bible does not approve homosexuality and it makes sense to me. However, the thing that I don't get is, if they are born that way (I have a close relative who is a homosexual and he said that it's not his choice to become a homosexual, he was born one, that is he always felt tendencies since he was a child) then what are they supposed to do? What does God want them to do or who does God want them to be with? Because if they were born that way, doesn't that mean the God created them that way? I sometimes feel burdened by this situation because I love my relative very much and yet his lifestyle is not according to the Bible. Well, that's my question and I am looking forward to your answer."

The question here really is, as your relative states, does God create people with inward dispositions toward homosexuality. One helpful start might be to go back to creation, Genesis 1:28 when God states to Adam and Eve what they are to do. "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it..." They were charged with propagation of the human race. It is the first command given to them.

Then in Genesis 2:24, we have a record of cohabitation, which is placed in general terms, and seems to apply not only to Adam and Eve, but beyond them, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." There is no provision for wife and wife, or husband and husband living together and becoming one flesh. Leviticus 18:22 calls it an abomination, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."

It seems from these verses that God's idea of sexuality is that it is to be between a husband and a wife, and that homosexual relations are considered, by Him, an abomination. Or as Romans 1:26 states it, "degrading passions." The language in the Bible is strongly pronounced in this matter. In fact the Romans 1 passage just quoted above ends by saying, "For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is against nature.

The phrase, "against nature," is very telling here. It implies that such behavior is not as God set things up. There is also the Biblical evidence that shows how God punished Sodom and Gomorrah. Lastly, in Israel, under the Judicial Law, the punishment (Leviticus 20:13) for those who take part in such a "detestable act," was death.

So onto the question. Does God create people with a propensity toward homosexuality. I think that such a God would be a complete contradiction with the God we find in Scripture. God has put so many clear examples in His Word concerning His displeasure and wrath against those who practice such a lifestyle that it seems unlikely that He would create someone with such unnatural tendencies.

Consider for a moment the commandment, "Thou shall not seal." (Exodus 20:15) It seems an absurd argument for a habitual car thief to plead his case as, "This is the way God created me." Or take the third commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," (Exodus 20:7) If a child pleads his case to a parent that, "God created me with a disposition to curse." How many parents will respond, "Well, OK, as long as that is the way God created you." The argument is absurd. But that is what the, "God created me gay," argument boils down to.

I know that there are many who read these devotionals who know someone, or who themselves struggle with homosexuality. As I read the Word of God I interpret His revelation to us as saying clearly that homosexuality is a sin. It is not a special sin that deserves extra shame or condemnation from anyone. Sadly, there is almost a stigma in the Christian community that borders on persecuting homosexuals. That is also a sin. We must all remember James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of everything."

I know this is a touchy issue. I have tried to handle it faithfully by focusing on the Word of God. One of the points the gay community consistently makes is that God is a God of love and not of hate. And they are right. Remember Christ's answer to the question, "What is the great commandment?" (Matthew 22:36-40) He responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." Loving one's neighbor includes every neighbor.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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